St. Francis

“St. Francis” Late 15^th century, Italian Renaissance, Giovanni Bellini

              Saint Francis was a greatly beloved home grown Italian, born in the 12^th century and died in the 13^th. He had great love for the poor, visiting people with leprosy and giving his compassion. He believed in poverty, and being as humble as possible. He started a brotherhood (a religious order). He is shown wearing a “habit”, and a rope instead of a leather belt.

                  

              Towards the end of his life, St. Francis prays for humanity. The skull shown on his desk is a reminder of death, a reminder that we are all mortals, (Clear indication of memento mori). He is in the wilderness, writing poetry. A specific piece is called “Hymn”, which celebrates nature, addresses the sky as “brother sky” and the moon as “sister moon”.  It is believed that the painting shows Francis composing a hymn to the sun. Many others believe he is receiving the stigmata, and is praying to Jesus. The stigmata is when bodily marks such as wounds, scars, etc are present as they were after the crucifixion of Jesus (hands and feet).

                  According to the “Golden Legend”(written in the 13^th century by Jacobus de Voragine, tells stories of major saints), tell us that Francis has a powerful vision supported by six winged Angels and Jesus, and received five Stigmata, which became “Religious ecstasy”, in which wounds are an honor to be received. (This is where the title, “St. Francis in Ecstasy” comes from).

                  The whole painting is lit up, it must be day time. But if you look closely, you see that the city is dead, no-one is visible. This tells us that it could possibly be the end of the day of even night time. You may think to yourself, “I don’t see the vision!” This could obviously be “off camera”. A part of the painting is missing from the top left, and we do not have records to what was there, so this could have possibly been it. Notice that his pose hints the cross, and he has wounds on his hands (signifying the stigmata). The rock behind Francis has a large crack, possibly also receiving the stigmata. The shade, angles and position of this rock are symbolic of Francis with his back bending and position.

                  

                  There is a bunny under his right (viewer’s left) hand sticking his head out. Fun fact: Bunnies usually only run around at sundown or at night, since hawks hunt during the day. So, this tells us that the bunny is stunned and curious that all of a sudden, in the middle of the night, this sharp daylight is hitting the side of the cliff where he resides.
                 

                  Francis removes his shoes because of the presence of God, as did Moses. Francis is known as the “new Moses” to his followers.  There is a water spout coming out of rock on the bottom left. (Another reference to Moses, where he struck water)

                  There Is ivy and grapes on the roof garden above Francis, associated with Dyonisis (the God of Wine) In the distant city, noone is present except for the shepherd, who does not have a “nine-to-five” like everyone else, but more of a position involving both days and nights. 

Overview: Memento Mori on his desk, spout coming out of rock, wounds on hands indicating Stigmata, cliff next to Francis showing similar “movement”, slippers are off, fig leaf, grape arbor, startled bunny rabbit. 

Pesaro Madonna

Pesaro Madonna”, 1526, Italian Renaissance in style

High Renaissance Italian Painter, Tiziano Vecelli, or Titian.

                  This work shows the Madonna with child and Saints.  Take a notice of the small face on the bottom right looking straight at the viewer. Madonna and Jesus are not directly placed in the center, as usually shown in works that include them.  They are smaller than usual, making them the same size as all the others. Although this may show that the usual signs of hierarchy are missing, they are still placed higher than most.  Titian’s actually used his wife as a model to paint Mary. Everyone present is by the large arch. Two “pooti” angels (little boys) holding a large cross practically upright. This is a depiction of memento mori (remember your mortality).  In dead center sits St. Peter (one of the twelve apostles), holding the “keys to heaven”, given to him by Jesus. To the left there are two knights carrying a Turkish and a Moor prisoner. This is said to depict the naval victory of Jacopo Pesaro over the Turks in 1502. The Pesaro family commissioned this work to be done in a chapel they acquired in 1518.  Notice that the figures we have not mentioned are all at motionless poses, these are all the Pesaro family members. All figures in the work are placed in a triangular-diagonal way, drawing the viewer’s attention from one person to the next and eventually settling with Mary. This is a main reason that Titian broke the pattern of painting Mary and Jesus in the center. 

Madonna and Child with St. Anne

We now move to Leonardo da Vinci and his “Madonna and Child with St Anne” or “The Virgin and Child with St. Anne”.

16^th century, Italian Renaissance

Mary is sitting on St. Anne’s lap (this is still not clear whether it was a traditional way of showing mother-daughter relationship, portraying symbolism, or something we still do not understand) Da Vinci shows them uncomfortably sitting on the edge of a precipice. Very strange choice of location compared to Raphael’s “Madonna of Goldfinch”. Mary looks like she is about to slide off the edge of the cliff! Clearly Da Vinci was a bit strange, yet he was a genius.

                  Baby Jesus has his leg around the neck of a lamb, while pulling his ear. It is believed that this lamb represents a follower, or the “Agnus Dei” or Lamb of God. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamb_of_God All heads are aligned and there is no symmetry like in Raphael’s piece.

                  Sigmund Freud wrote “Leonardo Da Vinci, a Memory of his Childhood”, and in this book Freud portrays his use of different techniques such as sfumato and asymmetry, his bizarre agression as a child, and of course the overall Freudian interpretation. This painting has a large play in the book, such as Mary’s garment revealing a vulture when turned sideways, portraying details of Da Vinci’s childhood.

More details about Freud’s interpretations will be available in a few weeks on this page.

Madonna del Cardellino

"Madonna of Goldfinch” (Madonna del Cardellino)

Raphael, 16^th century, High-end Renaissance.

          The Gold Finch depicted in this piece, is the finch held in John’s hands, (John the Baptist) Why is he gold? In paintings and works prior to this, anytime a finch was painted, the heads were the same color as the rest of the body. Finches were considered savior birds. Raphael gave this finch a red head, indicating Jesus’ blood. This blood came from the crown of thorns digging into Jesus’ head, and the little finch had gotten some of the blood on himself from feeding in the area.

There is an interesting blend between narrative and iconic situations in the work.  

                  Open and Closed Forms are very relevant in these types of Renaissance Art. Open forms usually define a star-like shape, where objects or body parts stick out into open space. In closed forms, the main focus is contained within a certain shape, such as a triangle or a circle.

                  John is an open form, with complex contours defining his silhouette, and his legs sticking out in different directions. Jesus is in a fairly compact and closed form, apart from his hand. Mary is also in a closed form apart from the book that she is holding. A Contraposto pose is shown with Jesus, defining divinity. ( only Jesus can stand this way)

                  Giorgio Vasari, an Italian painter who was famous for his art historical writing, said “Raphael chose good poses to recognize who’s who. Meaning, even if a certain figure is blacked out, the viewer who is well educated in the particular figure would know from the pose who the Artist is portraying.

                  A black belt going through Mary’s waist coincides with the river behind her, as her shoulders with the horizon. All in all, the she corresponds with the landscape. If you have not noticed already, the three figures form a triangle. Being a classical painter, Raphael uses the triangle as a prime shape that defines the figures. In terms of Symbolism, if you look closely into the deep distance to the right, the city resembles Florence, but may also define “Heavenly Jerusalem”. (In the minds of Christians, this “Heavenly Jerusalem” is where they want to go when they die. To the left, a rough stream is shown, and as it moves towards Jesus’ side, it becomes calm.  Passing over the rough side of the stream, there is a jsmall bridge. John is the first Christian Saint and the last profit, and he predicts the coming of the Messiah, (Jesus is the Messiah). John, being the fore-runner, preaches to his crowd of listeners and followers about the coming of a greater person (Jesus). This small bridge is associated with him in the way that it takes anyone who becomes a Christian will go from rough waters to calm waters, provided they do all good and right. Clouds above Mary part to give an “echo” to her halo.

Santa Lucia de' Magnoli

                 Dominico Veneziano, a proto-Renaissance Italian painter, created this unbelievable work, “St. Lucy Alterpiece”( Santa Lucia de' Magnoli )(1445-55), showing a Sacra Conversazione (Sacred conversation, or sacred meeting place to have intelligent conversations)

            A significance of this work is that Veneziano incorporated geometric perspective, which was a great innovation in the early Renaissance period. The piece is actually a part of a large alter piece which had Predella Panels. These are panels incorporated on the bottom, top and sides of paintings, normally including small narrative paintings.

 

Pisa Madonna, Massacio

"Pisa Madonna” by Massacio, an Italian Renaissance painter.

           This is part of a large alter piece that was originally made for the chapel, St. Julian, the “Pisa Alter piece”, but sadly is now cut up into pieces which are all over the world.

               In this specific icon, there are many forms of disguised symbolism, such as the baby eating the grapes (symbolizing the communion), this also defines “moment mori”, which in Latin, translates into “remember your mortality”

A Greco-Roman style is present, indicated with details such as rosettes and strigil shapes.

January 23rd. Start of the Spring 2012 semester. Class #1

"Calumny of Apelles"

       

         Apelles was one of the most praised painters of the ancient world. He painted Alexander the Great multiple times, and was a popular court-painter in his prime. The “Column of Apelles” is an extremely interesting piece. The Original painting, which was executed in the Italian Renaissance era, has not been around for hundreds of years, which is upsetting. Fortunately, and Italian Humanist, author, artist, architect, priest, poet and cryptographer, Leon Battista Alberti, (yes, he was quite the juggler), took a detailed description written by Apelles about the work, and urged many artists to re-create a new “Calumny of Apelles”, based on his description, which should be read AFTER you take the painting in and attempt to understand what is going on. (Description is at the end of this post.

Not many Artists were willing to take the time and complete this work, but as more time passed, interests began to rise! Sandro Botticelli created the closest representation of the “Calumny of Apelles”, which is pictured above. This was completed in the 15^th century (1494).

Discussion:

Does the piece show Allegory? Personification? Yes. An allegory is a poem, story, or piece of art that is interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, most likely a moral or political one.

Personification is the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form.[1]

^Keeping that in mind, moving on..

If you were to divide the people in the painting into two groups, what is the best way to do this? Men & Women? Cloaked and Un-cloaked? Nude and Clothed?

Yes! Notice all the different actions going on, and you can kind of divide the two groups into “teams”.

The nude (or semi-nude, we’ll call him nude for arguments’ sake) boy is being dragged on the cold floor towards the podium by the woman in blue linens, yet, if you look closely, she is too being dragged by her wrist by the cloaked man in front of her.

Jumping to the beautiful figure far left, oh my what is she doing! As we discussed earlier, if her and the nude boy are on the same “team” what is she doing waving her hand around not helping?! Well, this is “The Naked Truth”, created by Horace (Roman writer), He spoke about nudity being expressing truthfulness and honesty, just like Adam & Eve, and unlike the Medieval Era where is was complete blasphemy.

Alright we will get straight to the point now. Why is the figure portraying the “Naked Truth” action? (This is actually considered a “contrapposto” pose, although it is more a “Venus Pudica” pose, where the figure has one hand on the breast and the other on the uterus). Well, she is praying for the boy who is being dragged by his hair, being convicted on charges of slander!!!!

Rewinding a bit to the actual name of the work, “Calumny of Apelles”

Calumny is a much more educated word for Slander.

Beginning to make sense?

Apelles was slandered, and falsely accused of a crime he did not commit. The boy in the painting is not actually Apelles, but a boy Apelles portrayed as himself. The woman dragging the boy is named “Slander” The black cloaked man grasping Slanders’ wrist is known as “Envy” or in some cases, “Hatred”. On the chair, sits “Midas” with ears of a donkey. On his two sides are his advisors, “Suspicion” and “Ignorance”. The cloaked figure on the left is “Repentance”. The two females jumping around Slander are named “Fraud” and “Conspiracy”

Although some of these could be wonderful names for your children, their actual meanings may have you change your mind!

Now that we roughly understand what is going on, you may go ahead and read the actual Artists’ description:

On the right of it sits a man with very large ears, almost like those of Midas, extending his hand to Slander while she is still at some distance from him. Near him, on one side, stand two women—Ignorance and Suspicion. On the other side, Slander is coming up, a woman beautiful beyond measure, but full of malignant passion and excitement, evincing as she does fury and wrath by carrying in her left hand a blazing torch and with the other dragging by the hair a young man who stretches out his hands to heaven and calls the gods to witness his innocence. She is conducted by a pale ugly man who has piercing eye and looks as if he had wasted away in long illness; he represents envy. There are two women in attendance to Slander, one is Fraud and the other Conspiracy. They are followed by a woman dressed in deep mourning, with black clothes all in tatters—she is Repentance. At all events, she is turning back with tears in her eyes and casting a stealthy glance, full of shame, at Truth, who is slowly approaching[2]

To conclude this lesson and help all of you sleep at night, Apelles did not end up with the death penalty, which is the usual punishment for the crime he was blamed on committing, which is posted below thanks to Wikipedia!

After the trial, he rushed to his studio, and created one of his most brilliant masterpieces ever filled with anguish and emotion. Too bad we will never see it L.

An apocryphal story is connected to the painting. Rudolph Altrocchi, in 1921, relates that Apelles had himself been slandered, accused by a rival of helping Theodotus of Aetolia to foster revolt in Tyre. (Altrocchi assures readers that the story cannot be true, as Apelles had been long dead before the revolt of which he is accused.) Ptolemy was on the verge of executing Apelles for the deed, so the story goes, when a friend revealed the truth and the slanderer himself was sold into slavery. Nevertheless, Apelles expressed his resentment for Ptolemy and the peril in which he found himself in his painting.[3]

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[1] Google Dictionary

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calumny_of_Apelles_(Botticelli)

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calumny_of_Apelles_(Botticelli)#cite_note-1