tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70547859232141568332024-03-18T00:28:52.150-07:00Giorgione et al..."Giorgione is regarded as a unique figure in the history of art: almost no other Western painter has left so few secure works and enjoyed such fame..." Sylvia Ferino-Pagden.Dr. Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08469403843869655063noreply@blogger.comBlogger304125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054785923214156833.post-64515856175638460422024-03-06T07:04:00.000-08:002024-03-06T07:04:40.117-08:00Review. John Fleming: From Bonaventura to Bellini<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span></p><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">This year I plan to re-post some review essays that have appeared on Giorgione wt al... since its inception in 2010. Today, I repost an essay on John Fleming's study of Giovanni Bellini's <i>St. Francis in the Desert</i>, now in the Frick Museum. Since its original posting on 9/28/2014, it has become one of the most popular posts on this site.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">******************************</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">For over 60 years the Frick Museum in New York City has been my favorite museum. It is a small, easily navigated site quite unlike the Metropolitan only a few blocks away on Fifth Avenue. Its magnificent collection of paintings, acquired for the most part during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by steel baron, Henry Clay Frick, spans the gamut of Western art from late Medieval to the Impressionists.*<br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DbDcnCUf-6Q/VCls6Rthq0I/AAAAAAAADXs/4YgBHfySzkQ/s1600/Bellini%2BSt%2Bfrancis.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="348" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DbDcnCUf-6Q/VCls6Rthq0I/AAAAAAAADXs/4YgBHfySzkQ/w400-h348/Bellini%2BSt%2Bfrancis.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">You cannot visit the Frick and fail to notice that patrons invariably stop in the great central living room to stare and wonder at Giovanni Bellini’s depiction of St. Francis<i>. </i> On one occasion a museum employee confirmed my guess that this painting, despite the presence of works by the likes of Titian, Rembrandt, and Renoir, is the most popular in the whole collection.<br /><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Born in 1430 Giovanni Bellini is arguably the first great master of the Venetian Renaissance. The Venetian version of the Renaissance has long taken a back seat to the Florentine but in the last few decades it has come into its own and today most scholars would agree that Bellini and his younger successors, Giorgione, and Titian, can hold their own as painters with Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael.<br /><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Indeed, the Bellini family studio is now seen as one of the great sources of the Renaissance. Giovanni and his brother, Gentile, who at one point went to Constantinople to paint the Sultan, inherited the studio from their father, Jacopo. Andrea Mantegna, a great painter in his own right, married one of the Bellini sisters and exerted a powerful influence on the studio. Scholars also suspect that both Giorgione and Titian were apprentices at the Bellini studio before they broke out on their own.<br /><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Although he painted the <i>St. Francis</i> around 1480, Bellini continued to paint well into the next century. Until his death he was sought after and courted by public, religious, and private patrons. He is best known as a painter of Madonnas and groups of figures ranged around the Madonna and Child often called “sacra conversazione.” Nevertheless, the <i>St. Francis</i> is a unique work in the history of Renaissance art.<br /><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">What is going on in the painting? St. Francis stands in the foreground a little off center wearing his familiar robe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Behind him is a kind of wooden structure that seems to lead into a cave. The mid-ground is largely made up of a barren landscape whose primary occupant is a small horse or ass. Prominent in the upper left is an oddly shaped tree that appears to be leaning toward St. Francis. In the distant background we see a majestic towered city.<br /><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In one interpretation of the painting Francis is receiving the stigmata, the actual wounds of Christ, on his own body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His hands are outstretched and close examination indicates barely visible wounds on his hands but traditional elements usually employed in depictions of the stigmata episode are absent. His companion, Brother Leo, is not shown and neither are Christ or an angel.<br /><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I prefer the interpretation of John V. Fleming in <i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">From Bonaventure to Bellini</b>, </i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i>an Essay in Franciscan Exegesis</i>. </b>In this often overlooked but extraordinary 1982 monograph Fleming argued that Marcantonio Michiel’s original description of the painting, when he saw it in the home of Venetian patrician, Taddeo Contarini, “St. Francis in the Desert,” was indeed correct.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>Fleming saw the subject of the painting and every detail in it grounded in Franciscan spirituality.<br /><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The landscape in the painting is not La Verna, the site of the stigmata episode, but the desert of the Old Testament or Hebrew scriptures. In particular, it is the Egyptian desert. The prominent animal in mid-ground is the Onager or wild ass of the desert while the heron standing before it is a bird of the Nile delta.<br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V3DzJ6l20-k/VCltZzcM_mI/AAAAAAAADX0/wAysB_xrXik/s1600/Unknown.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V3DzJ6l20-k/VCltZzcM_mI/AAAAAAAADX0/wAysB_xrXik/s1600/Unknown.jpeg" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Franciscans often associated their founder with Moses and Elijah and their life in the desert. In the background beneath the city there is a shepherd tending his flock just as Moses did before his encounter with the Lord. Indeed, the leaning tree so prominent in the upper left refers to the famous burning bush in which the Lord appeared to Moses. It is a laurel which at the time was believed to be impervious to fire. We also notice that Francis has removed his sandals and stands barefoot in the same manner as Moses in the presence of the Lord.<br /><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The wooden structure behind Francis is a Sukkoth, variously translated as tent, hut, booth, or tabernacle, a kind of portable structure used by the Israelites in their wanderings in the desert. The Sukkoth also recalls the scene of the Transfiguration when Christ was revealed in His glory accompanied by Moses and Elijah to the three apostles, Peter, James, and John. Dumfounded, Peter offered to build three booths or Sukkoth for Jesus and his guests.<br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DwGeIZhUJhA/VCnNuLXXhUI/AAAAAAAADYM/NOeqvnbQiwg/s1600/bellinis%2Bmoses%2B%2Belias.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="309" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DwGeIZhUJhA/VCnNuLXXhUI/AAAAAAAADYM/NOeqvnbQiwg/s1600/bellinis%2Bmoses%2B%2Belias.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">If we look closely, we will see beneath the right hand of Francis a rabbit in a hole in the rock, and beneath his left hand a jug. The rabbit was a symbolic reference to Moses who hid his face from the Lord and the jug is a reference to Elijah. Indeed, the abundant vegetation sprouting around Francis is a garden or carmel, another reference to Elijah who was believed to have been the founder of the Carmelite order. Francis stands between Moses and Elijah in the same way as Christ stood between them at the Transfiguration. In Franciscan spirituality and imagery, Francis was the new Christ.<br /><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Just as Moses came to lead his people out of the slavery of Egypt, so too did Francis come to lead his followers out of the slavery of sin. The city in the background then is a place of danger and peril, both physical and spiritual. The desert is symbolic of the life of poverty and humility preached by the famous founder of the Franciscan order.<br /><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Most of the paintings acquired by Henry Clay Frick had a special meaning for him. A committed Mason, Frick admired Francis because of his love of Nature. Others who have viewed the painting since Frick added it to his collection perhaps have had their own reasons for admiring it. Even if we know nothing of Franciscan spirituality, Bellini’s painting is still an image of a human being standing open and receptive to the divine light and transforming the world because of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> **</span><br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">###</span><br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">* This review essay originally appeared as a guest post on Hasan Niyazi's popular Art history blog, "Three Pipe Problem." It was subsequently published on this site in September 2014, a year after Hasan's death. It has become one of the most popular posts on Giorgione et al...</span><br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span>** The Frick and Metropolitan Museum collaborated on a cleaning and restoration of the painting about five years ago. The effort resulted in an exhaustive study of the painting that I believe did not give as much attention to Fleming's interpretation as it deserved. See, Susannah Rutherglen and Charlotte Hale: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I<b>n a New Light</b></i><b>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Giovanni Bellini’s St. Francis in the Desert.</i> </b>The Frick Collection. New York, 2015. </span></div>Dr. Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08469403843869655063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054785923214156833.post-36223914670645673392024-02-03T06:42:00.000-08:002024-02-03T07:16:50.901-08:00Renaissance Exhibition<span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>At age 84 I know that I will be dead before the museums, galleries, and collections that house the mysterious paintings that I have interpreted since 2005 will ever change their labels despite anything I have written. Attempts to correspond over the years with these institutions, and with scholars in the field have elicited few replies. This lack of response led me to create </b></span><b style="font-family: verdana;">Giorgione et al... in 2010 and now I have decided to mount my own online exhibition of these masterpieces from the Renaissance. </b><div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Last year I re-posted brief versions of these interpretative discoveries on this site. Full papers on the major discoveries can be found at academia.edu under <a href="https://independent.academia.edu/FrancisDeStefano">Francis DeStefano</a>. For the other paintings see the posts on this site for 2023. Today, I bring them together with new labels. Enjoy the exhibition.</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">.</span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOF4kz59yIJ4oTKiNoDWNVwmlAqI9jZF8u1PdxX7yceQx5YA-quRAz8c4ToQvxLUMQCo0C54spLst13nIxbg2i2irpNvV3-29hinxOI3uYy4b1ygN7FyUZmv_wINdBUNhsN4WiWuBmwBOnzWLIuom22AFeozI6u0vUBuk-9IT_gbyf8M4vecnqa2_Z/s2000/the-tempest-giorgione.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1803" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOF4kz59yIJ4oTKiNoDWNVwmlAqI9jZF8u1PdxX7yceQx5YA-quRAz8c4ToQvxLUMQCo0C54spLst13nIxbg2i2irpNvV3-29hinxOI3uYy4b1ygN7FyUZmv_wINdBUNhsN4WiWuBmwBOnzWLIuom22AFeozI6u0vUBuk-9IT_gbyf8M4vecnqa2_Z/w360-h400/the-tempest-giorgione.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span><br /></span></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"> Giorgione: <i><a href="https://www.academia.edu/45012201/Giorgiones_Tempest_The_Rest_on_the_Flight_into_Egypt">The Rest on the Flight into Egypt. </a></i></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;">This painting is usually called <i>The Tempest</i> because of the storm in the background. Now we can see that it is Mary who nurses her Child while a young looking St. Joseph stands guard with his traditional staff. The ruins behind him are common in depictions of the Flight into Egypt and the storm in the background can indicate the Massacre of the Infants. Oil on canvas, dated 1509-1510. Galleria dell'Accademia, Venice. </span></b><b><span style="font-family: verdana;">measures 83 by 72 cm,</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXRyBX1gpNZe5adAAJzyzXYQ5PDp2EBIm9RL-E4jvafuuu0MZ4e4miRsh181zuZS_2guUOYe9EdoCjsGV0gpA6P1EQvXyrCBgYod4Ytdf0DpbxfDMz8ZTY0HMIPKgh0B4iC25FWJARy0M_WnTi7cU0yYGBMz4zaJBTtCq8Z509mxKafot75fkL72y6/s900/Tiziano_-_Amor_Sacro_y_Amor_Profano_(Galeri%CC%81a_Borghese,_Roma,_1514).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="357" data-original-width="900" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXRyBX1gpNZe5adAAJzyzXYQ5PDp2EBIm9RL-E4jvafuuu0MZ4e4miRsh181zuZS_2guUOYe9EdoCjsGV0gpA6P1EQvXyrCBgYod4Ytdf0DpbxfDMz8ZTY0HMIPKgh0B4iC25FWJARy0M_WnTi7cU0yYGBMz4zaJBTtCq8Z509mxKafot75fkL72y6/w640-h256/Tiziano_-_Amor_Sacro_y_Amor_Profano_(Galeri%CC%81a_Borghese,_Roma,_1514).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b> Titian: <i><a href="https://www.academia.edu/45112448/Titians_Sacred_and_Profane_Love_The_Conversion_of_Mary_Magdalen">The Conversion of Mary Magdalen.</a></i></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>This famous painting is usually called <i>Sacred and Profane Love,</i> a title attached to it only in 1694. Scholars have disputed the title and now we can see that the two women are Mary Magdalen as a courtesan, and as a penitent discarding her finery after her conversion. The fictive relief in the center represents, from right to left, St. Paul falling from his horse, Cain and Abel, and Adam and Eve. Oil on canvas. 1514. Borghese Gallery, Rome. 118 cm x 273 cm (46” x 110</b></span><b><i><span style="font-family: verdana;"> “).</span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 24pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b><i><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><i></i></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ2ZA899TZdt29NktSOQrtIqqYYNoSTwAf802PFGuswlQiigDK1sXkbs5xz7WDUeCdJrjLjGZpfwZ4Xl78-FkxAcROLK5Mf5ebJdrCVRTJPSY5G24ArU96FaI5BQalvzSfV_l8isejpZlcStHibuvnzCOQX92jEt9Y4lM7LTPESB8RxVD4N2VcD62p/s320/three%20ages.JPG.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="256" data-original-width="320" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ2ZA899TZdt29NktSOQrtIqqYYNoSTwAf802PFGuswlQiigDK1sXkbs5xz7WDUeCdJrjLjGZpfwZ4Xl78-FkxAcROLK5Mf5ebJdrCVRTJPSY5G24ArU96FaI5BQalvzSfV_l8isejpZlcStHibuvnzCOQX92jEt9Y4lM7LTPESB8RxVD4N2VcD62p/w320-h256/three%20ages.JPG.jpeg" width="320" /></a></i></b></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"> Giorgione:<i> <a href="https://www.academia.edu/45280207/Giorgiones_The_Three_Ages_of_Man_The_Encounter_of_Jesus_with_the_Rich_Young_Man">The Encounter of Jesus with the Rich Young Man.</a></i></span></b></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><i><a href="https://www.academia.edu/45280207/Giorgiones_The_Three_Ages_of_Man_The_Encounter_of_Jesus_with_the_Rich_Young_Man"> </a></i></b></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>This painting is usually called </b><b><i>The Three Ages of Man </i></b><b>from the obvious disparity in age of the three men, but </b><b><i></i></b></span><b><span style="font-family: verdana;">the disparity, as well as the clothing, helps to identify Jesus on the right, wearing a green liturgical vestment, instructing the finely dressed rich young man in the center. St. Peter, typically depicted as a balding older man, is dressed in martyr’s red. He looks out and invites the viewer to participate. C. 1500-1501. Pitti Palace, Florence. 62 cm x 77.5 cm (24” x 30.5”). </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaiPCxxEW_eXbsAiQ1ySGWmtywFVAKkhz6M-h2kL6ynntdsQ7WA1u_OePL93_ykyWWzsjJdWSWR5uU7YiFlokR_q1u6SK8K36mWpNMl3DGdL4DrqPeHPu8b5AY5EDLdLH2pfU6oKOm5q2G5xiZ2lCOqGP48Zm3U2cSmgaHRIDCzN0c5y0l2CXlpG32/s1200/1200px-Le_Concert_champe%CC%82tre,_by_Titian,_from_C2RMF_retouched.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="955" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaiPCxxEW_eXbsAiQ1ySGWmtywFVAKkhz6M-h2kL6ynntdsQ7WA1u_OePL93_ykyWWzsjJdWSWR5uU7YiFlokR_q1u6SK8K36mWpNMl3DGdL4DrqPeHPu8b5AY5EDLdLH2pfU6oKOm5q2G5xiZ2lCOqGP48Zm3U2cSmgaHRIDCzN0c5y0l2CXlpG32/w400-h320/1200px-Le_Concert_champe%CC%82tre,_by_Titian,_from_C2RMF_retouched.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b> Titian<i>: <a href="https://www.academia.edu/45554879/Titian_Pastoral_Concert">Homage to Giorgione</a>.</i></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>This small painting, usually</b><b> known as The </b><b><i>Pastoral Concert</i></b></span><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"> and variously attributed to either Giorgione or Titian, can now be seen as Titian’s <i>Homage to Giorgione</i>, his recently deceased mentor and friend. Giorgione is depicted in red finery in the center, but important details indicate that he has died: his face is in shadow; the absence of strings on his lute indicates he will play no more; and the dark sky in the background is ominous. Titian’s portrayal of himself as a young rustic recalls the biblical story of David and Jonathan. The two nude females are the muse Euterpe in different roles. On the left she pours Giorgione’s soul out like a libation, and in the center she hands her musical instrument to Titian. Oil on canvas. c. 1510. Louvre, Paris. 110 cm x 138 cm.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 24pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><i></i></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoTWUYr2VzQXC_akivIifanQxt4Av-otrI8BMfOX8KOfzJjX7_uSP7N2J-PzhyTcWWaZPEPO_XWIKcecFAatcvvmlfYSacKhPLMI2R-5jJ_qe689Q1mHhpcVa99EArSu3QDoiOVZ6bcTfKN535l1dEFXFScTelkPBDzF0Fwhe0rY9WHIRk_skflMdc/s1200/1donitop.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1199" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoTWUYr2VzQXC_akivIifanQxt4Av-otrI8BMfOX8KOfzJjX7_uSP7N2J-PzhyTcWWaZPEPO_XWIKcecFAatcvvmlfYSacKhPLMI2R-5jJ_qe689Q1mHhpcVa99EArSu3QDoiOVZ6bcTfKN535l1dEFXFScTelkPBDzF0Fwhe0rY9WHIRk_skflMdc/w400-h400/1donitop.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></b><b style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Michelangelo:<i> <a href="https://www.academia.edu/45638333/Michelangelo_Doni_Tondo">Behold the Lamb of God.</a></i></span></b></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>This painting is always called the <i>Doni Tondo</i> after Michelangelo’s patron, but scholars disagree about who is handing the infant Jesus to whom, and also about the nudes in the background. Now we can see that Mary elevates her Son as a priest elevates the Host at the consecration of the Mass. Joseph kneels as a communicant would do when receiving the Host. In the midground the young John the Baptist looks at the elevated Jesus and proclaims: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” </b></span><b style="font-family: verdana;">The nudes in the background are the Nephilim or the Giants in the Earth those sinners who could only be destroyed by the Flood in the time of Noah. Uffizi gallery, Florence. c. 1507. Oil and tempera on panel. 120 cm diameter (47.5 ").</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6AgrqKh3wSmoalAjSm6um5xjc4FI5fSTKXzZrkLuH80MXGL5BwftuYwI6_24X3RCZoy0p4V4CYU_UYb39A4WbNK5dtg4IXsccbqqnpBXxQGE0aQb7ZOyYKvxV94cWUabkrVeE6LEm5lXzWq2WkPb7ZJSumhJvJomvE6Oy4INn4JOV8Yhv7kWH5dTR/s1139/Titian%20Rabbit%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1139" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6AgrqKh3wSmoalAjSm6um5xjc4FI5fSTKXzZrkLuH80MXGL5BwftuYwI6_24X3RCZoy0p4V4CYU_UYb39A4WbNK5dtg4IXsccbqqnpBXxQGE0aQb7ZOyYKvxV94cWUabkrVeE6LEm5lXzWq2WkPb7ZJSumhJvJomvE6Oy4INn4JOV8Yhv7kWH5dTR/s320/Titian%20Rabbit%202.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></b><p></p><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b> Titian:</b><b><i> <a href="https://www.academia.edu/49048435/Madonna_of_the_Rabbit">Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine.</a></i></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana;">Usually called <i>The Madonna of the Rabbit</i> because of the conspicuous white rabbit in the center, the subject of this painting is the mystical marriage of St. Catherine of Alexandria. Mary hands her Son to the saint as if she were giving the Eucharistic Host to a communicant. In her other hand she holds the white rabbit, which can now be seen as a symbol of the Eucharistic Host. St. Joseph, in rustic garb, sits off to the side stroking a black sheep that is symbolic of sacrifice. Oil on canvas. c. 1530. Louvre, Paris. 71 cm x 85 cm (28” x 33”).</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL-7IEU8zd6tR-lua5wMuccGGk7Z29Tljc9Qs3L-b8g9fKfmPXr-B8wbHv2qUiQpbKKsVgnnC48qYYjjOC1LYeYAV2yFQ5fPHF5Gqr04Tre5hJLk9EPrRqOKqeF7Bl4dFOFFFHx3Jb9Ye77RSxMFFVe_cQcw9qg0F-9UmAZO6e6l_MpoVDLCS6Tr1_/s400/Juditheuro_art.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="187" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL-7IEU8zd6tR-lua5wMuccGGk7Z29Tljc9Qs3L-b8g9fKfmPXr-B8wbHv2qUiQpbKKsVgnnC48qYYjjOC1LYeYAV2yFQ5fPHF5Gqr04Tre5hJLk9EPrRqOKqeF7Bl4dFOFFFHx3Jb9Ye77RSxMFFVe_cQcw9qg0F-9UmAZO6e6l_MpoVDLCS6Tr1_/w189-h400/Juditheuro_art.jpg" width="189" /></a></b></div><b><i><span style="font-family: verdana;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b><i><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></i></b></p> <span style="font-size: medium;">Giorgione: <a href="https://www.academia.edu/61520494/Giorgione_Judith">Judith</a></span></span></i></b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana;">This painting obviously depicts the Hebrew heroine Judith calmly standing over the decapitated Holofernes. However, her often discussed bared leg can now be recognized as a device used by Giorgione to indicate a woman in danger of sexual assault. Oil on canvas transferred from the original panel. c. 1504. Hermitage, St. Petersburg. 144 cm x 66.5 cm (57” x 26.2").</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b><i><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxmng_hS42Qkl4UEr7aaha32FTrFZF7G6X1zDMIWe4jtZ_VMi-SWA8LVnxXylXMPCptRYO9NUztgAlAL70Ap02hhqwmyEcnfowN8cAFnnTTH1scoVIITjjMhogXYZp_rZioBO_f9BQP2qazWD65QZPJ5pfY9vUF6nAaLJMOm1tGvFatvep9-93emD_/s320/Giorgione%20boy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="285" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxmng_hS42Qkl4UEr7aaha32FTrFZF7G6X1zDMIWe4jtZ_VMi-SWA8LVnxXylXMPCptRYO9NUztgAlAL70Ap02hhqwmyEcnfowN8cAFnnTTH1scoVIITjjMhogXYZp_rZioBO_f9BQP2qazWD65QZPJ5pfY9vUF6nAaLJMOm1tGvFatvep9-93emD_/s1600/Giorgione%20boy.jpg" width="285" /></a></b></div><b><br /></b><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>Giorgione:</b><b><i> St. Sebastian</i></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><i> </i></b><b>This painting is usually called The</b><b><i> Boy with an Arrow</i></b><b>, but the comparison with depictions of St. Sebastian by Raphael and others is obvious. Giorgione characteristically omits the halo but the young man’s angelic face as well as his red garment indicate the famous martyr. Oil on panel. c. 1505. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. 48 cm x 41.8 cm.</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 24pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPwrUi0wMMwFPobR8CszPuS-MJAjwLl6SvEsQTVwYzVB_xlI8MwSEQUyLVEEviZaM6h_AARCqVcJhw3RRdu_RzWfT1-qDH2lKQbujjn86Ly_il6nEavFWJr1pOwKnKznJ6xN-VcD-huL-souXcstr2r3dqTklrNY9f_hn4K0oxnqaosgdY58oNW17k/s655/Giorgione_-_Young_Woman_(%E2%80%9CLaura%E2%80%9D)_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="655" data-original-width="540" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPwrUi0wMMwFPobR8CszPuS-MJAjwLl6SvEsQTVwYzVB_xlI8MwSEQUyLVEEviZaM6h_AARCqVcJhw3RRdu_RzWfT1-qDH2lKQbujjn86Ly_il6nEavFWJr1pOwKnKznJ6xN-VcD-huL-souXcstr2r3dqTklrNY9f_hn4K0oxnqaosgdY58oNW17k/s320/Giorgione_-_Young_Woman_(%E2%80%9CLaura%E2%80%9D)_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" width="264" /></a></b></div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><i> Giorgione: Conversion of Mary Magdalen. </i></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>The traditional labels, <i>Laura</i>, or <i>Portrait of a Woman</i>, do not fit. Scholars find no evidence for Petrarch’s lover, and no respectable woman would have sat for such a portrait. Details in this painting suggesting both a married woman, and a courtesan can only point to Mary Magdalen. Here, she sees the light and sheds her courtesan’s robe to become a bride of Christ. Oil on canvas mounted on panel. 1506. </b></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Kunsthstorisches Museum, Vienna. </b></span><b style="font-family: verdana;">41cm x 34 cm.</b><b style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"><i><span style="font-size: 24pt;"> </span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"><i><span style="font-size: 24pt;"><br /></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVw_IqKzpcpz3oasNaULbQh6bm2uAqvZ6J7w2LjY1_G7-6F2U-JGI3P25pekZmZZF7KXSrYMQVssZUFA7jTd-kgJQsddzmMQovA6IbV87EslkDxww_SVHcVv4q5wX9XhRX1nqijn7HC-hdZvYesEGMSpMobZ7jpAPl9ltwCr8aDGI7i_gigAfWaJYy/s393/Titian-courtesan-c-1509-norton-simon-museum.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVw_IqKzpcpz3oasNaULbQh6bm2uAqvZ6J7w2LjY1_G7-6F2U-JGI3P25pekZmZZF7KXSrYMQVssZUFA7jTd-kgJQsddzmMQovA6IbV87EslkDxww_SVHcVv4q5wX9XhRX1nqijn7HC-hdZvYesEGMSpMobZ7jpAPl9ltwCr8aDGI7i_gigAfWaJYy/s320/Titian-courtesan-c-1509-norton-simon-museum.jpg" width="244" /></a></b></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /> <span style="font-size: medium;">Titian:</span></b><b><i><span style="font-size: medium;"> Conversion of Mary Magdalen.</span></i></b></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b style="font-family: verdana;">Labelled </b><b style="font-family: verdana;"><i>Head of a Venetian Girl</i></b><b style="font-family: verdana;">, this early painting by Titian resembles Giorgione’s </b><b style="font-family: verdana;"><i>Laura. </i></b><b style="font-family: verdana;">Both can now be seen as Mary Magdalen in the process of removing her courtesan’s finery after seeing the light. Later Titian would paint many versions of Mary Magdalen, most of which featured the bared breast, disheveled clothing, and red hair. One even showed the saint with the same multi-colored shawl. Oil on panel transferred to canvas. c. 1509. Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena. 31.8 cm x 23.8 cm (12.5” x 9 .375 “).</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNk6heSZtepXCeIqNNfl-Odg2QexqsdAQhF-U6s2fHTq7DqBt8B4kpu1cZeETHs8srkoMAov1b6MhGnxAQaedOFWG1TNwHK8gTt8qWCqvbZCqrgcrsJ74QRBm0Arr6Z01NAPhdAi5bd6179mXCgXSl5mCDCOEPHewioiHsQNYJSEM8fG7lDjnEewc_/s400/_Flora_-_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNk6heSZtepXCeIqNNfl-Odg2QexqsdAQhF-U6s2fHTq7DqBt8B4kpu1cZeETHs8srkoMAov1b6MhGnxAQaedOFWG1TNwHK8gTt8qWCqvbZCqrgcrsJ74QRBm0Arr6Z01NAPhdAi5bd6179mXCgXSl5mCDCOEPHewioiHsQNYJSEM8fG7lDjnEewc_/s320/_Flora_-_.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"> Titian: Conversion of Mary Magdalen. </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana;">Scholars have questioned the traditional label of this painting as the Roman nymph Flora. Titian painted many images of Mary Magdalen in the process of discarding her courtesan’s garments after her conversion. Her partially bared breast, flowing red hair, and even the flowers in her hand that have sacred symbolism, all point to the great saint. Oil on canvas. c. 1517. Uffizi gallery, Florence. 79.7 cm x 63.5 cm (31.4” x 25”). </span></b><b style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"><i><span style="font-size: 24pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><i></i></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihaLUtL7sCW7PYJu1x4EZ8lzykdQTeDVaveTRV-7Puy9DO9orNezLLM6fadx_-E3AlLMn4aDenKYq8oDJPXdO6RrUW62LxsD262_u31-wKC8zofCO4Xs4blEed43W3XBa_yBwJglbYbc3ImNPP2bgOYxRq7F9wUU-0_JeWuSNKKBjdx3rYQNyPDbLD/s652/Teniers_after_Giorgone_-_The_Discovery_of_Paris.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="442" data-original-width="652" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihaLUtL7sCW7PYJu1x4EZ8lzykdQTeDVaveTRV-7Puy9DO9orNezLLM6fadx_-E3AlLMn4aDenKYq8oDJPXdO6RrUW62LxsD262_u31-wKC8zofCO4Xs4blEed43W3XBa_yBwJglbYbc3ImNPP2bgOYxRq7F9wUU-0_JeWuSNKKBjdx3rYQNyPDbLD/w400-h271/Teniers_after_Giorgone_-_The_Discovery_of_Paris.jpg" width="400" /></a></i></b></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><i><br /> Giorgione: <a href="https://www.academia.edu/101871810/Giorgione_Discovery_of_Paris">The Encounter with Robbers on the Flight into Egypt.</a></i></b></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>This mid-seventeenth centuty copy by David Teniers of a lost Giorgione painting was originally called the </b><b><i>Finding of Paris </i></b><b>after the legendary account of the discovery of the infant Trojan prince. Scholars attach great importance to this small painting because they think it shows Giorgione's early interest in the Trojan War cycle. However, every detail in the painting fits one of the legends about the biblical Flight into Egypt. The two men on the right are robbers and their cohorts can be seen sleeping in the mid-ground. Mary’s bared leg indicates her danger. The infant Jesus lies on a white cloth on the stony ground and the elderly Joseph sits off to the left. Oil on panel. 1656. Museum of Fine Art, Belgium. 21 cm x 30.5 cm. (8.2” x 12”).</b></span><b style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"><i><span style="font-size: 24pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><i></i></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH92bGwyHeJqyJq5BKAmE70BwVS9sC5RUq91YRs9LPjniCu4dys5ZF-if8pbNNL9CsfpxfTmAU4HHnzBIqcenhYUo5XyCFGleEQqTX3YR_3Ox7mtkSjltDXmRYGalS5Vn-MBdIt55BkasMzhrDKWNgWQsxL48_u6mhlspF8WmXvQkecS9BjFRAenI8/s1600/Giorgio%20Philoi.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1081" data-original-width="1600" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH92bGwyHeJqyJq5BKAmE70BwVS9sC5RUq91YRs9LPjniCu4dys5ZF-if8pbNNL9CsfpxfTmAU4HHnzBIqcenhYUo5XyCFGleEQqTX3YR_3Ox7mtkSjltDXmRYGalS5Vn-MBdIt55BkasMzhrDKWNgWQsxL48_u6mhlspF8WmXvQkecS9BjFRAenI8/w400-h270/Giorgio%20Philoi.jpg" width="400" /></a></i></b></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><i><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"> Giorgione: The Three Magi behold the Star.</span></i></b></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><i> </i></b><b>This painting was initially called <i>Three Philosophers </i>when seen in 1525 in the home of a Venetian patrician fifteen years after the death of Giorgione.</b></span><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i> </i>Since that time scholars have not been able to agree on which philosophers are depicted. However, there is evidence that Giorgione has depicted the three Magi when they first behold the star of Bethlehem. The sun is setting in the background but the men are lit by another source of light. The colors of their garments are seen in other depictions of the Magi, and represent the gifts they will bring. Oil on canvas. c. 1506-1509. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. 123 cm x 144 cm (48” x 57”).</span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 24pt; font-style: italic;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b><i><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b><i></i></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsDuooCZBCrWYSQ7vGmyFi3EI4CZQb1x2hiZnto7zSrfJiyaq4dZ4QWICt9ZSS5_XsOid4kQa7FmFZqZIM57aDDEiB8Mawbs80fimeUfu7gGkBqc61L2YH3r2ZAv7gDFV5aVFVzhdIrTKJ8TOCGBZrfAQJ4pOks0Fntz1F0shVUcTERDm2l9n0iFQt/s400/Palma%20Vecchio%20halbardier.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsDuooCZBCrWYSQ7vGmyFi3EI4CZQb1x2hiZnto7zSrfJiyaq4dZ4QWICt9ZSS5_XsOid4kQa7FmFZqZIM57aDDEiB8Mawbs80fimeUfu7gGkBqc61L2YH3r2ZAv7gDFV5aVFVzhdIrTKJ8TOCGBZrfAQJ4pOks0Fntz1F0shVUcTERDm2l9n0iFQt/w400-h300/Palma%20Vecchio%20halbardier.jpg" width="400" /></a></i></b></div><b><i><br /></i></b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>Palma Vecchio:</b><b><i> The Meeting with John the Baptist on the Return from Egypt. </i></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>This large painting, currently in storage at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, is labeled “Allegory” for no good reason. In the center the infant Jesus embraces his older cousin, who according to legend also escaped Herod’s wrath. This very common scene depicts the acceptance by Jesus of his mission. Mary sits and watches on the left and Joseph stands guard on the right. The Lamb in the background helps to recall John’s words: “Behold the Lamb of God.” Oil on panel transferred to canvas. c. 1510-15. Philadelphia Museum of Art.</b></span><b style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"><i><span style="font-size: 24pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>###</b></span></p></div></div></div>Dr. Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08469403843869655063noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054785923214156833.post-9096511963281626092023-12-20T06:57:00.000-08:002023-12-20T06:57:41.585-08:00Giorgione: Adoration of the Shepherds<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>This post originally appeared on this site on December 15, 2015. I do not challenge the traditional label of Giorgione's famous painting, but I do believe that there is much more going on in this painting than a simple Nativity scene.</i></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IjZ84W05RlM/VnLQZlquZ3I/AAAAAAAAEWs/z7xBnkkrzSM/s1600/Adoration%2Bof%2BThe%2BShepherds%2B.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="325" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IjZ84W05RlM/VnLQZlquZ3I/AAAAAAAAEWs/z7xBnkkrzSM/s400/Adoration%2Bof%2BThe%2BShepherds%2B.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Giorgione: Adoration of the Shepherds (Allendale Adoration)<br />National Gallery, Washington<br />96.8cm x 110.5 cm, 35.7" x 43.5"</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Scholars have expended more time dealing with the controversy that has surrounded the attribution to Giorgione of the so-called “Allendale Adoration of the Shepherds” than they have in trying to understand what is actually going on in the painting. Here I would like to deal with the subject and meaning of this famous Nativity scene that is now in Washington’s National Gallery.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The subject of the painting seems so obvious. It is a depiction of the adoration of the shepherds who have left their flocks to seek out the newborn Savior after hearing the angels’ announcement.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Now when the angels had gone from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us..” So they hurried away and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Luke’s account of the angelic appearance to the shepherds is the traditional gospel at the midnight Mass on Christmas . The actual arrival of the shepherds at the stable in Bethlehem is the passage used for the gospel reading for the Christmas Mass at dawn.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The relatively small size of the painting indicates that it was done not as an altarpiece but for private devotion. Although the subject is clear, there is a deeper meaning.* Why is the infant Jesus lying on the rocky ground and not in a manger or feeding trough? Why is he naked? Where are the swaddling clothes? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Actually the newborn infant is lying on a white cloth that just happens to be on the ends of Mary’s elaborate blue robe that the artist has taken great pains to spread over the rocky ground. Giorgione is here using a theme employed earlier by Giovanni Bellini and later by Titian in their famous Frari altarpieces. The naked Christ is the Eucharist that lies on the stone altar at every Mass. The altar is covered with a white cloth that in Rona Goffen’s words “recalls the winding cloth, ritualized as the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">corporale</i>, the cloth spread on the altar to receive the Host of the Mass.” In Franciscan spirituality Mary is regarded as the altar. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Clearly, the viewer-worshipper is meant to identify the Madonna with the altar and the Child with the Eucharist. Bellini's visual assertion of this symbolic equivalence is explained by a common Marian epithet. The Madonna is the "Altar of Heaven." the Ara Coeli, that contains the eucharistic body of Christ” Ave verum Corpus, natum de Maria Virgine.**<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The “Adoration of the Shepherds” represents the first Mass. This was not an unusual concept. Many years ago I attended a talk on the famous Portinari altarpiece that now hangs in the Uffizi. The speaker was Fr. Maurice McNamee, a Jesuit scholar, who argued that Hugo van der Goes had also illustrated a Mass in that Netherlandish altarpiece around the year 1475. His argument centered on the spectacular garments of the kneeling angels that he identified as altar servers wearing vestments of the time. He called them “vested angels,” and they are the subject of his 1998 study, “Vested Angels, Eucharistic Allusions in Early Netherlandish Painting.”<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gl8zagsdjo8/VnLT2WoUj3I/AAAAAAAAEW4/urDSlAUvLZc/s1600/Portinari%2BHugo_van_der_Goes_004.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="272" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gl8zagsdjo8/VnLT2WoUj3I/AAAAAAAAEW4/urDSlAUvLZc/w640-h272/Portinari%2BHugo_van_der_Goes_004.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Hugo van der Goes: Portinari Altarpiece</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">His Eucharistic interpretation explained the naked infant on the hard, rocky ground. The infant Christ is the same as the sacrificial Christ on the Cross and on the altar at every Mass. In a study of Mary in Botticelli’s art Alessandra Galizzi Kroegel referred to this connection.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">it needs to be pointed out first of all that the Renaissance era saw the spread of practices of individual devotion to be carried out primarily in the home…From the theological perspective attention should then be drawn to the emergence of a new trend that…tended to identify the mystery of the Incarnation with the Redemption itself, focusing on the Passion with much less fervour than in the past: whence the growing popularity of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘incarnational’ iconographies celebrating the word made flesh, such as pictures of the Infant Jesus in his mother’s arms…while the demand for images with Christ on the Cross, very common in the fourteenth century was drastically reduced.***<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It would appear that Giorgione has used the same motif although his angels have become little putti who hover around the scene. The shepherds represent participants in the Mass who kneel in adoration. </span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">There are many other iconographical details in this painting that could be discussed. Joseph’s gold robe indicates royal descent from the House of David. The ox and ass in the cave are symbols of the old order that has been renewed with the coming of Christ. So too would be the tree trunk next to the flourishing laurel bush in the left foreground. The laurel is a traditional symbol of joy, triumph, and resurrection.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Giorgione has moved the main characters off to the right away from their traditional place in the center. Rather than diminishing their importance this narrative device serves to make all the action flow from left to right and culminate in the Holy Family. Giovanni Bellini had done the same thing in his “St. Francis in the Desert,” and later Titian would use this device in his Pesaro altarpiece in the Frari.</span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Finally, art historian Mario Lucco has suggested that the long hair of the one indicates a Venetian patrician in shepherd’s clothing.*</span> <span face="Verdana, sans-serif">That may be so but I like to think Giorgione indicated that the Savior, whether present on the ground before the shepherds as a newborn King, or on the altar at Mass, is accessible to all. This King is not protected by armed guards. There is no need to bribe or otherwise court influence with bureaucrats acting as intermediaries. Anyone, even the simplest and the humblest, can approach this King directly and in his or her own fashion.</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"> </span><br /><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">###</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">*Two recent catalogs have offered interpretations. See Mario Lucco’s entry in Brown, David Alan, and Ferino-Pagden, Sylvia, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bellini, Giorgione, Titian, and the Renaissance of Venetian Painting</i></b>, Washington, 2006. Also see the very strange interpretation of Wolfgang Eller in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Giorgione Catalog Raisonne</i></b>, Petersberg, 2007.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">**Rona Goffen, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Piety and Patronage in Renaissance Venice</i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">,</b> Yale, 1986. P. 53.</span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><!--StartFragment--><!--EndFragment--><br /></span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***Alessandra Galizzi Kroegel, “The Figure of Mary in Botticelli’s Art.” Botticelli: from Lorenzo the Magnificent to Savonarola, 2003. (ex. cat), p. 56.</span></div>Dr. Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08469403843869655063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054785923214156833.post-73004800987735804982023-12-05T06:53:00.000-08:002023-12-05T06:55:42.648-08:00Raphael: Vision of Ezekiel?<p><i>I believe that the small painting attributed to Raphael depicts the vision of St. John on the island of Patmos, and not the vision of Ezekiel. See below for my interpretation of this paining that originally appeared on this site some years ago. Note that in depictions of a vision, the visionary is a tiny figure, but the vision fills the painting.</i></p><p>Scholars still question Vasari's attribution to Raphael of a small painting called, <i><b>The Vision of Ezekiel</b>. </i> I will leave the question of attribution to others but I do think that the subject of the painting has been misunderstood ever since Vasari mentioned it in his biography of Raphael.</p><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GNJnWmj40w8/VO5XQbPvSGI/AAAAAAAADzw/s65qqsmKIh8/s1600/Raffael_099.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GNJnWmj40w8/VO5XQbPvSGI/AAAAAAAADzw/s65qqsmKIh8/s1600/Raffael_099.jpg" width="236" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">Raphael: Vision of Ezekiel</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Here is what Vasari wrote:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>At a later period, our artist painted a small picture, which is now at Bologna, in the possession of the Count Vincenzio Ercolani. The subject of this work is Christ enthroned amid the clouds, after the manner in which Jupiter is so frequently depicted. But the Saviour is surrounded by the four Evangelists, as described in the Book of Ezekiel: one in the form of a man, that is to say; another in that of a lion; the third as an eagle; and the fourth as an ox. The earth beneath exhibits a small landscape, and this work, in its minuteness—all the figures being very small—is no less beautiful than are the others in their grandeur of extent.*</i></blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Vasari said that the subject of the painting is “Christ enthroned amid the clouds.” He did mention that Christ was surrounded by the four animals that Ezekiel saw in his vision. Even though the painting called to Vasari’s mind the vision of Ezekiel, the artist, whoever he was, must certainly have had a different vision in mind.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The vision in this painting is the vision of St. John from the Book of Revelation (Apocalypse). Let’s just compare the two visions. Here is the account from the book of the Prophet Ezekiel.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>As I was among the exiles on the bank of the river Chebar, heaven opened and I saw visions from God… Ezekiel 1:1<o:p> </o:p>A stormy wind blew from the north, a great cloud with light around it, a fire from which flashes of lightning darted, and in the center a sheen like bronze at the heart of the fire. In the center I saw what seemed four animals. They looked like this. They were of human form. Each had four faces, each had four wings. …As to what they looked like, they had human faces, and all four had a lion’s face to the right, and all four had a bull’s face to the left, and all four had an eagle’s face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their wings were spread upward; each had two wings that touched, and two wings that covered his body;… Their wings were spread upward; each had two wings that touched, and two wings that covered his body…Ezekiel 1: 4-12</i></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>Between these animals something could be seen like flaming brands or torches, darting between the animals; the fire flashed light, and lightning streaked from the fire. And the creatures ran to and fro like thunderbolts.” Ezekiel 1: 13-14.</i></blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The animals are in Ezekiel’s vision but there is no God or Christ enthroned among them. Ezekiel’s vision found its way into the Book of Revelation, a book replete with imagery from the Hebrew Scriptures. Here is St. John’s vision (Jerusalem Bible).<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>My name is John…I was on the island of Patmos for having preached God’s word and witnessed for Jesus; it was the Lord’s day and the Spirit possessed me, and I heard a voice behind me, shouting like a trumpet, “Write down all that you see in a book…" Revelation 1: 9-13. </i></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>Then, in my vision, I saw a door open in heaven and heard the same voice speaking to me, the voice like a trumpet, saying, “Come up here: I will show you what is to come in the future.” With that, the Spirit possessed me and I saw a throne standing in heaven, and the One who was sitting on the throne, and the Person sitting there looked like a diamond and a ruby….In the center, grouped around the throne itself, were four animals with many eyes, in front and behind. The first animal was like a lion, the second like a bull, the third animal had a human face, and the fourth animal was like a flying eagle. Each of the four animals had six wings and had eyes all the way around as well as inside;… <o:p></o:p>Revelation 4: 1-8.</i></blockquote></blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">In John’s vision God the Creator, “the One” sitting on the throne in the midst of the four creatures, is the most prominent figure. Vasari identified the figure as Christ but the figure more closely resembles Michelangelo’s images of God the Father in the Sistine chapel. Only later in John’s account would the Lamb join the One sitting on the throne.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">In the Vision of Ezekiel the small figure on the left receiving the vision must then be identified not as Ezekiel but John, exiled on the isle of Patmos. It is hard to tell, but he seems to be on an island facing a broad expanse of sea rather than in a crowd of people at the bank of the river Chebar.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Some scholars have argued that there is a companion piece to the <i>Vision of Ezekiel</i> that did not find its way back to Italy after the fall of Napoleon. In his study of Raphael Jean-Pierre Cuzin discussed a small oil on panel of the Holy Family.<o:p></o:p><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1GmHtqZF_iM/VD03b2DMORI/AAAAAAAADb8/wSuUniHsYVs/s1600/familleJB_small.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1GmHtqZF_iM/VD03b2DMORI/AAAAAAAADb8/wSuUniHsYVs/s1600/familleJB_small.jpg" width="243" /></a></div><br /></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>The kinship in style and execution of the small Holy Family and the Vision of Ezekiel in the Pitti Palace at Florence, which have the same dimensions is striking: the rounded, thick-set bodies, strongly modeled by black shadows and lively touches of light, and the vigorous impasto execution, invite one to see an identical hand in both pictures—that of Penni, for Konrad Oberhuber. Others have more often thought of Giulio Romano. The Vision of Ezekiel, unlike the neglected picture in the Louvre, counts among Raphael’s celebrated works; it is identified with a picture described by Vasari at Bologna in the house of Count Ercolani. **</i></blockquote></blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The small Holy Family is also a misnomer. It is actually a depiction of the encounter of Mary and the infant Jesus on their return from the flight into Egypt with her cousin Elizabeth and the infant John the Baptist. With or without St. Joseph, this legendary meeting was a very popular subject since it marked the initial acceptance of the mission of Christ. Usually the Christ child accepts a small cross from the young Baptist but in this case he accepts the Baptist himself.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">If the two paintings are companion pieces, they would then represent the beginning and the end of Christ’s mission. The meeting of the two infants in the Judean desert recalls the words of the Baptist, “Behold the Lamb of God,” and in the vision from the Book of Revelation, the Lamb who was sacrificed will join “the One seated on the Throne.” <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">###<br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">*Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, selected, edited and introduced by Marilyn Aronberg Lavin, Volume II, New York, 1967. p. 41.<br /><br />**Jean-Pierre Cuzin: Raphael, His Life and Works, New Jersey, 1985. p. 226.</div></div>Dr. Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08469403843869655063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054785923214156833.post-46225525411170446012023-11-21T06:59:00.000-08:002023-11-21T07:16:43.654-08:00Lorenzo Lotto: Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine<p><br /></p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>In my interpretation of Giorgione's Tempest as "The Rest on the Flight into Egypt" I explained the reasons why Giorgione chose to portray St. Joseph as a virile, young man. Shortly after Giorgione's death, contemporaries like Paris Bordone, and Lorenzo Lotto also depicted a virile, youthful St. Joseph in versions of the Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine. Here is a discussion of Lotto's version.</i></span><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjVTyzsFLH0fPhl4VrejlRbNS60akNaxRxo8xSjzoGJUEoPWQgdyVcWc0k_81UeRSS33aoTE9_JPmU5RDH5ZelSLuvPc90biRTlcff9KudfDtsZnA50MAiTXehtrLBXwCfq5faHOZt0uOnxoTHQl6qP0Jsgk76l6Chg5Y-X8qQ6LXi5L2UWzXQcUSi/s400/GG_101_Web-400.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="305" data-original-width="400" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjVTyzsFLH0fPhl4VrejlRbNS60akNaxRxo8xSjzoGJUEoPWQgdyVcWc0k_81UeRSS33aoTE9_JPmU5RDH5ZelSLuvPc90biRTlcff9KudfDtsZnA50MAiTXehtrLBXwCfq5faHOZt0uOnxoTHQl6qP0Jsgk76l6Chg5Y-X8qQ6LXi5L2UWzXQcUSi/w400-h305/GG_101_Web-400.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lorenzo: Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">A painting by Lorenzo Lotto of the Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine provides another example of a young, virile St. Joseph by a contemporary of Giorgione. The </span><a href="https://www.khm.at/en/objectdb/detail/1128/?pid=2582&back=576&offset=12&lv=listpackages-5477" style="font-family: verdana;">painting</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna where the man, formerly identified as St. James is now identified as St. Thomas. He kneels next to St. Catherine who gazes at him and not at the infant Christ. They are obviously exchanging vows., and it can only be St. Joseph who acts as a proxy for the marriage of the infant Child, and the legendary Queen of Alexandria. Joseph is shown with his staff but his virile good looks and the spear-point at the end of the staff have led scholars astray.</span></div><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />In his work on Lotto, Bernard Berenson identified the kneeling man as St. James the Greater but provided no explanation. In the catalog of the 1997/1998 Lotto exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, Peter Humfrey identified the man as St. Thomas because of the spear.* A decade later in the Bellini, Giorgione, Titian exhibition in Vienna, however, the man was still identified as St. James. There is no good reason for either St. James or St. Thomas to be in the desert participating in the mystic marriage of St. Catherine. <br /><br />On at least two occasions, and at about the same time as Lotto, Paris Bordone painted the mystic marriage of Catherine with a rustic-looking, vigorous Joseph playing a prominent role. <br /><br /><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cTEDjXDTze4/TYZRsshgQgI/AAAAAAAAAPU/cqcCSaFOpNQ/s400/bordone%2BC.jpeg" /><br /><br /><br />One of Bordone’s versions was featured in the same Bellini, Giorgione, Titian exhibition. In that painting Joseph’s muscular, bare foreleg is evidence of his role as the proxy for the mystic union of Catherine with the Christ child. The other version is at the Hermitage and also features the muscular, bare leg. In that version the Madonna has already passed the infant Christ to Joseph.</span></p><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">In Lotto’s painting the Madonna holds the child out to observe the ceremony. In the Lotto catalog Peter Humfrey noted that the painting “is first recorded by Marco Boschini in his 1660 Venetian dialect poem La Carts del Navigar Pittoresco.” Boschini identified the man as St. Joseph. "The majesty to be found in the venerable and devout old St. Joseph is for me expressed by only one brush: a brush that is most singular and memorable!" </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Boschini’s description of Joseph as old, “vechiarelo,” is belied by the saint’s dark beard, full head of hair, and robust physique. In Humfrey’s opinion Boschini’s “accurate evocation of the pictorial qualities of the work is remarkable,” but he claimed that the identification of St. Joseph was “mistaken.” Humfrey believed that it was unlikely that Boschini had actually seen the painting in person, and that the spear-point told against St. Joseph. It is true that a point on the end of Joseph’s spear must be explained but on the whole it is much easier to explain that small item than it is to explain the presence of either St. James or St. Thomas at the marriage of Catherine, or the absence of St. Joseph from this familiar scene.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Years after writing this post in 2011, I can only guess that Joseph's protective role had assumed a martial aspect. The Man in the <i>Tempest</i> was called a "soldier" by a Venetian observer two decades after Giorgione's death mainly, I believe, because of his pose. But he carried a staff, a tradition associated with St. Joseph. For some reason, followers of Giorgione added a spear point to the staff, or even turned it into a halberd.**</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_tIDzxR8ZyY/X61SEXBgB0I/AAAAAAAAHU0/3BqXDZuPapMKOxLvcOjazFke5l1naHVdwCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Palma%2BVecchio%2Bhalbardier.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_tIDzxR8ZyY/X61SEXBgB0I/AAAAAAAAHU0/3BqXDZuPapMKOxLvcOjazFke5l1naHVdwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Palma%2BVecchio%2Bhalbardier.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Palma Vecchio or follower<br />Philadelphia Museum</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">###</span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"> *Lorenzo Lotto, Rediscovered Master of the Renaissance, New Haven, 1997. Catalog #31. “Virgin and Child with Saints Catherine of Alexandria and Thomas,” c. 1528-1530, oil on canvas, 113.5 x 152, Kunsthistorische Museum, Vienna.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">** See the discussion of this painting in the previous post at Giorgione et al..</span></div></div></div></div>Dr. Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08469403843869655063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054785923214156833.post-46372662955084150002023-10-31T06:19:00.008-07:002023-10-31T06:19:57.093-07:00Paris Bordone: Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>This year I have been posting my various Renaissance art discoveries, and while there is no doubt about the subject of Paris Bordone's depiction of The Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine, I believe that I am the first to explain St. Joseph's prominence in the painting as well as his muscular bare leg. Below I reproduce an essay on the painting that first appeared on this site 13 years ago.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Paris Bordone's depiction of the </span><i style="font-family: verdana;">Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine</i><span style="font-family: verdana;"> featured a young and virile St. Joseph in the center. Bordone's depiction confirmed <a href="https://www.academia.edu/45012201/Giorgiones_Tempest_The_Rest_on_the_Flight_into_Egypt">my argument</a> that the young man in Giorgione's </span><i style="font-family: verdana;">Tempest</i><span style="font-family: verdana;"> was also St. Joseph. In looking at Bordone's painting at the remarkable Bellini, Giorgione, Titian exhibition at Washington's National Gallery in 2006, and again in Vienna in 2007, I also discovered the reasons for the prominence of Joseph's muscular bared leg, as well as a stunning visual trick used by Bordone to expose Catherine's thigh.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs_-N5FJOIvyqVIOZ6RuTst5WVrRy5XjcnIQyXWZVV8Gxs8Mqi2Wy1rh_VqyRz4IJqXSfl6diGJHebPtUEfKHcbjLZaf3rdXnnxiqO8Z4EAkxP6GyRAE4fuMnCR7NiSeZyA8M6OQsbh_SQCoq5eWRRukAvbjL5kvOsT-2RN_40oSh3gvCLs0opwWnR/s391/bordone%20C.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="276" data-original-width="391" height="453" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs_-N5FJOIvyqVIOZ6RuTst5WVrRy5XjcnIQyXWZVV8Gxs8Mqi2Wy1rh_VqyRz4IJqXSfl6diGJHebPtUEfKHcbjLZaf3rdXnnxiqO8Z4EAkxP6GyRAE4fuMnCR7NiSeZyA8M6OQsbh_SQCoq5eWRRukAvbjL5kvOsT-2RN_40oSh3gvCLs0opwWnR/w640-h453/bordone%20C.jpeg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The highlight of the 2006 art world must surely have been the magnificent exhibition of Venetian Renaissance painting jointly sponsored by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, and the Kunsthistorische Museum in Vienna. The exhibition, "Bellini, Giorgione, Titian and The Renaissance of Venetian Painting," also produced a beautiful catalog. Although the works of the three great masters named in the title were the focus of the exhibition, paintings by a few lesser known artists like Lorenzo Lotto and Paris Bordone were also included.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />Indeed, one of Bordone's paintings, "The Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine," was a real eye stopping crowd pleaser in both locations. Painted around 1524, this extremely colorful and dramatic painting which measures about 58 by 102 inches tells the story of the legendary marriage of Saint Catherine of Alexandria to the Christ child.<br /><br />According to the medieval legend which Crusaders brought back from the East, Catherine was a Queen of Alexandria around the middle of the fourth century. In the story Catherine, even as a young girl, was enamored of philosophy. By her teens she was a student of Plato and Socrates and surpassed all the philosophers of Egypt in knowledge and wisdom. At the death of her father she became Queen of Alexandria but resisted all efforts by her nobles to impel her to marry. Eventually she converted to Christianity in order to marry Christ for she regarded Him as the only one greater than her in status, knowledge and wealth. Subsequently, when Catherine rebuffed the overtures of the Roman emperor in Egypt to have her for his own, he had her put to death. Initial attempts to break her on a wheel failed and she was finally beheaded. The wheel would become the symbol by which she can easily be identified in Medieval and Renaissance art.<br /><br />Next to Mary Magdalen, Catherine became the most popular female saint in the Middle Ages. She was "venerated by men as the divine patroness of learning," and by women as "the type of female intellect and eloquence, as well as of courageous piety and chastity." Her "mystic marriage" became a favorite subject for painters especially in convents where the nuns could look to her "mystic marriage" to Christ as a prototype of their own. This was especially true among the Dominicans whose favorite daughter, Catherine of Siena, was often paired in paintings with her namesake from Alexandria.<br /><br />The most common way to depict the "mystic marriage" was to tie it in with the biblical account of the Flight into Egypt. Even though Catherine was supposed to have lived about 350 years after the birth of Christ, artists were not so much interested in historical accuracy as they were in an allegorical rendition of a soul's spiritual union with Christ. So Catherine is usually depicted meeting the Holy Family as they are about to return to Judea from Egypt. We know that it is the return from Egypt because we see the young John the Baptist in the painting. According to another legend the Holy Family met the future Baptist, who had fortunately escaped the massacre of the Innocents, on their return from Egypt.<br /><br />Paris Bordone's depiction of "The Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine" is one of the most dramatic and unusual representations of this episode. Like other Venetian painters of the early sixteenth century, Bordone has chosen to move the Madonna and Child out of the center of the painting. They are at the left side with the cloth representing their throne hanging from a tree. The Madonna looks down and away from her Child at the Baptist who is depicted as a young boy clothed in his desert garb and leading a lamb. John looks at the infant Jesus as if to say "behold the Lamb of God."<br /><br />More than anything else it is the portrayal of St. Joseph which is most dramatic and unusual in Bordone's painting. In a striking departure from traditional representations Joseph is portrayed as a virile young man. Moreover, he has been taken out of the background where we usually find him and placed right in the center of the painting. His powerful and uncovered foreleg is prominently displayed. As the beautiful Catherine approaches from the right, Joseph places his hand on her wrist and directs her outstretched finger to the wedding ring held out by the infant Christ.<br /><br />As devotion to St. Joseph grew throughout the Quattrocento, he began to figure more prominently in representations of the Holy Family. His role as spouse, father, worker, and protector had a special appeal in the Renaissance. Nevertheless, in this painting there is something else going on that explains the central role of Joseph. In this painting Joseph is acting as a "proxy" for the marriage between Catherine and the infant Christ.<br /><br />In marriages where the parties, usually royalty, were separated by distance, it was common to celebrate a marriage by proxy. Such a marriage was considered to be a real marriage, and not just a contract for some future event. In theory and practice both parties did not have to be present for a legal marriage to occur. It only required the consent of both even if one of the parties gave a written consent. It was not necessary for a clergyman to be present.<br /><br />One particular way of "consummating" this marriage by proxy is alluded to in this painting. I don't know where or how it began, or how extensive it was, or when it ceased to be used but the practice was common in the sixteenth century. An ambassador or proxy would be sent to the court of the bride to perform the ritual. In the presence of notable witnesses, the young woman would be conducted to the nuptial bed wearing a loose fitting gown. The "proxy" would then remove his shoe and stocking from one leg before entering the bed. Apparently, he would then expose a part of her leg and touch it with his own to consummate the marriage.<br /><br />Here is Hester Chapman's description of the "proxy" marriage of Mary Tudor, the beautiful 18 year old younger sister of Henry VIII to the elderly Louis XII of France in August 1514 at Greenwich. The Duc de Longueville acted as proxy.<br /></span><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: verdana;">After High Mass and a Latin sermon preached by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the marriage vows were exchanged and the ring was placed on the Princess's finger. The ceremonies did not end there. To make assurance doubly sure, Henry had arranged that symbolic intimacy should take place. Surrounded by his court and the foreign ambassadors...he talked informally with de Longueville, while Mary left to change her dress for a robe giving the effect of a nightgown. When she reappeared, Katherine and her ladies led her to a state bed, on which she lay down. De Longueville then advanced, pausing at the foot of the dais to take off one of his scarlet boots, thus revealing a bare leg. Lying beside the Princess, he touched one of her legs with his naked foot. His gentlemen then replaced his boot, and he came down into the hall, while Mary retired again to change into a ball-dress.</span></blockquote><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />De Longueville acted as Louis XII. It was as if the King of France had really been there. From that moment Mary Tudor could call herself Queen of France.<br /><br />Why did Paris Bordone choose to depict the "mystic marriage" of St. Catherine as a marriage by proxy? Countless paintings of the same subject during this era take a much more traditional approach. Catherine is usually shown in her regal robes kneeling before the Holy Family. Usually she is gazing lovingly at the infant Christ. Sometimes she will touch Him, and sometimes she will even cradle Him in her arms. Often, He is about to place a ring on her finger.<br /><br />In fact, in another version of the "mystic marriage" Bordone also used the "proxy" theme. This painting hangs in the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg and appears to have been painted about the same time. In this version we again see the young, virile Joseph with his powerful foreleg exposed. However, now Joseph is placed on the right side and remarkably holds the infant Christ in his hands! Madonna, who has released her Child from her grasp, leans backward to hear Catherine's proposal. In this picture there is no John the Baptist.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_chs2_7PGBEU/TOPkA5-nrNI/AAAAAAAAAGc/4lEYj8eh0Z0/s1600/Bordone_Paris_Holy_Family_with_St_Catherine_-_GJ-219__large.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540522670810442962" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/_chs2_7PGBEU/TOPkA5-nrNI/AAAAAAAAAGc/4lEYj8eh0Z0/s320/Bordone_Paris_Holy_Family_with_St_Catherine_-_GJ-219__large.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 258px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />Scholars date both paintings between 1520 and 1524. We are still in the High Renaissance but we are also in the beginnings of the Reformation. Perhaps after a century of growing devotion, Joseph had come to be seen as not only the protector of Madonna and Child but also as the protector of the Church. In these paintings does he represent the Church, the intermediary between God and man? In a "proxy marriage" the proxy was the representative of the King, and union with the proxy was union with the King. After Martin Luther's assault on the role of the Church as mediator, was Bordone or his theological advisor reaffirming the role of the Church?<br /><br />In both paintings the Infant Jesus is moving away from the Madonna. Perhaps Bordone is recalling Christ's words about marriage. "For this reason a man will leave father and mother and cleave to his wife." But the painting could also refer to another biblical passage. "Did you not know that I must be about my Father's business?" In Franciscan spirituality the nude infant Jesus is equated with the naked Christ on the Cross and with the Eucharist on the Altar. Marriage is the sacrament of love, the complete giving of one's life for another. On the return to Judea, Christ would begin his journey to Calvary. The legendary Catherine would stay in Egypt and give her life for Him.<br /><br />Finally, a word about Catherine. Her gown is pink, almost matching the color of her skin. Has Bordone exposed a part of her right thigh? It is almost impossible to notice in a reproduction. Even standing in front of the painting it is not immediately obvious. But looking closely her gown appears to have parted to reveal a dark band across her exposed thigh. Bordone has played a masterful eye-catching trick here leaving it to the beholder to make up his or her own mind. This painting certainly deserves modern scientific treatment to discover if there is anything in the underpainting that would indicate that Catherine bared her leg in the same manner as Mary Tudor.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">###</span></div>Dr. Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08469403843869655063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054785923214156833.post-75964951875699891632023-10-16T07:29:00.002-07:002024-01-30T07:38:19.649-08:00Palma Vecchio: The Meeting of the Holy Family with the Infant Baptist on the Return from Egypt<p><i>This year I have been re-posting my interpretations of some mysterious Renaissance paintings by Giorgione and his contemporaries. Here is the latest, a painting, identified as Allegory in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, that bears a striking resemblance to Giorgione’s Tempest, even though there is no trace of a storm.</i></p><div><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SbqYT4n9ke8/TYiqDVt33RI/AAAAAAAAAPk/WEeSozxB650/s1600/Palma%2BVecchio%2Bhalbardier.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586902312098979090" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SbqYT4n9ke8/TYiqDVt33RI/AAAAAAAAAPk/WEeSozxB650/s400/Palma%2BVecchio%2Bhalbardier.jpg" style="float: left; height: 300px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 400px;" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Palma Vecchio: Allegory<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Edgar Wind, who identified the subject of the <i>Tempest</i> as “Fortezza e Carita,” pointed out the resemblance in his 1969 study, "Giorgione’s Tempesta."<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>This subject. Fortezza e Carita, was trivialized, inevitably, by some of Giorgione’s disciples. A Giorgionesque painting in the collection of the Marquess of Northampton and a painting by Palma Vecchio in the Philadelphia Museum omit the ominous character of the storm-swept landscape but retain the easy contrast between a soldier leaning on his lance and a woman seated on the ground, with a child or two. (p. 3)</i></blockquote>In a footnote, Wind elaborated.<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>In Palma Vecchio’s tame conversation piece, which might be called ‘The Peaceable Warrior (ex bello pax)’, the children play like Eros and Anteros, whose mythological parents were Mars and Venus....The lethargic guardsman in this picture is a surprisingly weak invention, particularly if compared with the fine paraphrase of Giorgione's soldier in the altarpiece for Santo Stefano in Vicenza... (p, 21, n.13).</i></blockquote><br />In the Philadelphia Museum website the painting is given the title “Allegory,” and is attributed to “a follower of Palma il Vecchio.” It is dated 1510. Over ten years ago, a curator at the Museum very kindly allowed my wife and I to view this spectacular painting that was in a basement studio under restoration. It is a very large canvas, much larger than the <i>Tempest</i>, and despite the need for restoration it is still a beautiful painting. Today, the Museum's website indicates that it is still not on public view.<br /><br />I believe that this painting is a version of an episode deriving from the brief scriptural account of the "Flight into Egypt.” The man is St. Joseph, dressed as a young Venetian patrician, standing watch over the Madonna who is seated on the left. The two children are the Christ child and John the Baptist, who is also identified by the lamb in the background. John is often introduced into the Flight into Egypt legend when he meets the Holy Family in the desert on their return from Egypt, a very common subject at the time.<br /><br />The other painting mentioned by Wind is now on loan to the Fogg Art Museum. Attributed by Wind to a “Follower” of Giorgione, there are three figures in a landscape. In the foreground a fully clothed plainly dressed woman sits on the ground with her infant son standing beside her supported by her arm. She is left of center and looks to the right in the direction of an armored soldier standing guard. He leans not on a staff but on a formidable looking halberd. For Wind the subject of the painting was an allegory, “Fortezza and Carita,” the same subject he claimed for the <i>Tempesta</i>.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xBcYr9lvZnU/UCEYSbLTY7I/AAAAAAAABHE/68F25OGlxUc/s1600/Rustic+Idyll.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xBcYr9lvZnU/UCEYSbLTY7I/AAAAAAAABHE/68F25OGlxUc/s320/Rustic+Idyll.jpg" width="308" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Follower of Giorgione: <i>Rustic Idyll</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div>This painting should also be recognized as a version of "The Rest on the Flight into Egypt." The only objections would be the plainly dressed Madonna and the armed virile Joseph.<br /><br />In each painting Joseph’s traditional staff has become a halberd, the weapon of choice of the famed Swiss soldiers who had been introduced into Italy a few years earlier by Pope Julius II. Why is Joseph now being presented as an armed and armored protector of the Madonna and Child? Perhaps the Cambrai war required Joseph to take on a more martial aspect. It seems that it would be easier to answer that question than to try to fit these two paintings, which bear a striking resemblance to the <i>Tempest</i>, into an allegorical interpretation.<br /><br />Another question arises about the plainness of the woman's attire in each painting. It is so plain that viewers have argued that the women are gypsies. When Marcantonio Michiel, a Venetian patrician and art collector, saw the <i>Tempest</i> in 1530 in the home of patrician Gabriele Vendramin, he described it as "the little landscape on canvas, representing stormy weather and a gipsy woman with a soldier..."* <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MZnzhlevzls/WqFVQ3E3_5I/AAAAAAAAFoM/xTK28rhGAcQoaPGXxHqw3tjx3nOknQFtACLcBGAs/s1600/gio%2Btempesta.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="860" data-original-width="770" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MZnzhlevzls/WqFVQ3E3_5I/AAAAAAAAFoM/xTK28rhGAcQoaPGXxHqw3tjx3nOknQFtACLcBGAs/s320/gio%2Btempesta.jpg" width="286" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">Giorgione <b><i>Tempest</i></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Of course the woman in the <i>Tempest</i> is nude but in the twenty years following Giorgione's death in 1510, paintings like the two discussed above might have led to Michiel's faulty description. <br /><br />Why did Marcantonio Michiel mistakenly identify the nude woman and the man in the <i>Tempest</i> as “a gipsy woman with a soldier”? After all, the nude woman nursing an equally nude infant does not resemble contemporary descriptions of a gypsy. Moreover, the young man’s posture might resemble that of a soldier but he is neither armed nor armored.<br /><br />It seems obvious that Michiel’s notes were hastily drawn and fragmentary but why did he guess “a gipsy woman with a soldier” for the two characters in the famous landscape? I would like to offer the following as an hypothesis that would also apply to the two paintings mentioned above..<br /><br />In one of his sermons Savonarola criticized the artists of his time for depicting the Madonna dressed in splendor and finery. He said, “think ye that the Virgin should be painted, as ye paint her? I tell ye that she went clothed as a beggar.”<br /><br />This quotation from Savonarola’s “Prediche sopra Amos e Zaccaria,” is found in Professor Pasquale Villari’s monumental biography of Savonarola, originally published in 1888 after years of research in original sources, many of which he discovered hidden in Florentine archives. In his work Professor Villari devoted a few pages to the famous or infamous Dominican friar’s views on art and poetry. **<br /><br />Villari disputed the notion, popular in his time and even more popular in ours, that Savonarola was a reactionary opponent of Art, Poetry, and Learning. Although known to popular history as the moving force behind the “Bonfire of the Vanities,” Savonarola was respected and admired by contemporary artists and philosophers including Botticelli and Michelangelo, "who, in his old age, constantly read and reread the Friar’s sermons, and never forgot the potent charm of that orator’s gestures and voice.”<br /><br />In the beginning of the sixteenth century it would appear that attempts were made to portray the Madonna as a poor beggar especially in paintings depicting scenes from the Flight into Egypt. So even though Giorgione did not paint a “gypsy” woman or a soldier in the <i>Tempest</i>, the similarity of this painting with depictions of a Madonna dressed like a beggar in the desert with a protector standing guard might have led to Michiel’s mistake 20 years later.</div><div><br /></div><div>Although most art historians have rejected Michiel's description, in 1995 Paul Holberton argued that the woman in the <i>Tempest </i>really was indeed a gypsy and offered a number of arguments and illustrations to prove his point. He went so far as to argue that some images, usually taken for the Madonna, were actually gypsy women. **<br /><br />Holberton came so close. If he could only have seen the <i>Tempest</i> as Giorgione’s version of the "Rest on the Flight into Egypt", so much of his evidence would have fallen easily into place. Instead of claiming that identifications of images of the Madonna were mistaken, he should have asked why the Madonna came to be depicted wearing a gypsy headdress in some of the paintings he describes.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9G-fIsK6_7k/WrJtLLdHoTI/AAAAAAAAFqM/EsyX8wmQRMgNbG1qQJZ3PWtP0FLo2I1NACLcBGAs/s1600/Barbari%2BHoly%2BFamily.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="267" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9G-fIsK6_7k/WrJtLLdHoTI/AAAAAAAAFqM/EsyX8wmQRMgNbG1qQJZ3PWtP0FLo2I1NACLcBGAs/s1600/Barbari%2BHoly%2BFamily.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">De' Barbari: Holy Family</td></tr></tbody></table><br />For example, at one point he argued that a de’ Barbari drawing could not be a Holy Family because of the gypsy headpiece of the woman. Yet, Correggio painted a Madonna and Child where the Madonna appears with a similar headpiece, and it is commonly called La Zingarella.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bab1VFdbfco/WrJrrhDP_KI/AAAAAAAAFqA/76QReUDpp7QYWh05OVDetVioOyJl9j0AACLcBGAs/s1600/Correggio%252C_zingarella.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="724" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bab1VFdbfco/WrJrrhDP_KI/AAAAAAAAFqA/76QReUDpp7QYWh05OVDetVioOyJl9j0AACLcBGAs/s320/Correggio%252C_zingarella.jpg" width="257" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">Correggio: Madonna and Child</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Edgar Wind was correct to see the similarity between the <i>Tempest</i> and the "Allegory" in the Philadelphia Museum, and "The Rustic Idyll" in the Fogg Art Museum, but we can now see them all as derived from the Flight into Egypt, one of the most common sources in the art of the Venetian Renaissance.</div><div><br /></div><div>###<br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><!--StartFragment--><!--EndFragment--><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 6.25in;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">*<b><i>The Anonimo</i></b><i>, Notes on Pictures and Works of Art in Italy made by an Anonymous Writer in the Sixteenth Century: </i>ed. By George C. Williamson, London, 1903, p. 123.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 6.25in;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 6.25in;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">**Professor Pasquale Villari, <i>Life and Times of Girolamo Savonarola</i>, New York, tenth edition, 1909. pp. 495-499.</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><p>***Paul Holberton: “Giorgione’s Tempest”, Art History, vol. 18, no. 3, September 1995. (Holberton has posted the article on his website with a slide show.) </p>Dr. Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08469403843869655063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054785923214156833.post-17298274754562893692023-09-25T09:36:00.002-07:002023-09-25T09:36:55.338-07:00GiorgioneL Man of Sorrows<p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><i>Back in 2011 I identified a painting often called "Homage to a Poet" as Giorgione's version of the Man of Sorrows. I reprise it here even though I believe that more work needs to be done. Nevertheless, I still believe this interpretation of the subject fits better than any other offered to date.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">*********************** </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">In his monumental 2009 study of Giorgione, Enrico Maria dal Pozzolo began his discussion of the individual paintings with a work that is not usually given to the master from Castelfranco.*<br /><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l0vHxihHbqQ/W6loffKnOvI/AAAAAAAAF5U/STp2iHGx7NE5H93Um7hkdHIbrUNwxgLNQCLcBGAs/s1600/giorgione_saturn-im-exil.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="689" data-original-width="595" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l0vHxihHbqQ/W6loffKnOvI/AAAAAAAAF5U/STp2iHGx7NE5H93Um7hkdHIbrUNwxgLNQCLcBGAs/w345-h400/giorgione_saturn-im-exil.jpg" width="345" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: italic;">In a clearing, a figure with a melancholy air, who is dressed in dark cloth save his showy yellow cloak, sits on a throne covered with an oriental rug, surrounded by books varying in size and sealed with metal clasps. Standing before him is a young boy wearing a heavy grey garment with a fur collar; he is staring straight ahead as if he were waiting for something. Behind him a servant kneels as he holds out a bowl full of flowers and leaves; he has taken off his hat as a sign of respect…On the first step of the throne a lute player, wearing tights and a pleated shirt, hints at a chord while staring in the direction of the viewer. </span>(120) **</span></blockquote></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Pozzolo believed that this medium-sized panel (59x 48 cm), now at the National Gallery in London, “might be the first of Zorzi’s works to have been handed down to us." He called it a “bizarre” painting and pointed out the difficulties surrounding it.<br /></span></p><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The use of the conditional concerns every single aspect of it—the attribution, the date, the subject—because it is a work unlike any other from that time…” </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">It was purchased by the National Gallery in London in 1885: from that moment on its attribution has bounced back and forth between the master… and his workshop or circle… Similarly, much uncertainty has always surrounded its dating (ranging from the early 1490s to around 1550) , and the subject it is supposed to represent. </span>(120)</span></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">He noted that some have believed the main figure is David or Solomon, while others have argued for Jason or Zeus, or even an indistinct “Poet.” Then, Pozzolo himself went out on a limb and made an astounding assertion.<br /></span></p><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium; font-style: italic;">But the main figure is none other than Saturn, the god who devoured his own children, was castrated and denounced by Zeus, represented here in decline and exile in a hortus conclusus inside which human beings and animals live together in peace, all within the bounds of a “virtuous “laurel shrub….</span></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Enrico dal Pozzolo is one of the world’s foremost Giorgione authorities and I have no problem agreeing with him that this work could be an early Giorgione. His interpretation, however, leaves much to be desired. He himself admits that even on those rare occasions when painters depicted Saturn, he was never shown as in this painting.<br /><br />It seems much more likely to me that this painting is a version of the “Man of Sorrows” in a landscape filled with iconographical elements that Venetian artists like Giorgione loved to employ. Although not bare-chested, </span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">He has the same sorrowful visage of the “Man of Sorrows,” and looks out at the viewer in the same way that so many others do. He wears a royal golden robe and sits on a throne placed upon what could easily be the steps of an altar.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br />Instead of waiting to be devoured, the young men are in postures of humility and adoration. The one identified as a servant appears to be making an offering. The little baldachin above the figure of Christ has Eucharistic significance. I cannot identify all the iconographical elements in the painting but the peacock is usually a sign of incorruptibility or immortality, and the leopard a sign of sin. In the Giorgionesque rocky outcrop someone appears to be kneeling in contemplation.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br />A few years ago, my wife and I visited MOBIA, the now defunct Museum of Biblical Art in New York City, to view an exhibition entitled, “Passion in Venice, Crivelli to Tintoretto and Veronese." The title of the exhibition was a little misleading since it was given over almost entirely to images of the suffering Christ or "Man of Sorrows." a popular subject in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. #<br /></span></p><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium; font-style: italic;">Its origins rooted in Byzantium, the figure entered Venetian art in the late Middle Ages after which it flourished locally for centuries, eventually acquiring its own name in dialect, Cristo Passo...</span></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mnriy9M9fYw/W645x3NDifI/AAAAAAAAF6E/SqOV0pnQ8PojWmaW8SNGrW5IkyWH-MU-QCLcBGAs/s1600/passion-1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="395" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mnriy9M9fYw/W645x3NDifI/AAAAAAAAF6E/SqOV0pnQ8PojWmaW8SNGrW5IkyWH-MU-QCLcBGAs/s320/passion-1.jpg" width="168" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br />The first thing to note about the subject was its ubiquity. “Cristo Passo” was obviously popular in Venice but the exhibition had works from all over Europe. Moreover, the image appeared in all different types of media, “Illuminated manuscripts, paintings, prints, sculpture, and liturgical objects." There was even a striking polychrome paper mache relief based on a Donatello pictured here.<br /></span></p><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span></span><br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JpT1suaBZwU/W6lpkXhxEpI/AAAAAAAAF5g/FSiYdtie2Z8Rp6ffhRKt8pv_wTqvfUIwgCLcBGAs/s1600/Donatello%2Bman.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="467" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JpT1suaBZwU/W6lpkXhxEpI/AAAAAAAAF5g/FSiYdtie2Z8Rp6ffhRKt8pv_wTqvfUIwgCLcBGAs/s320/Donatello%2Bman.jpg" width="312" /></span></a></div></div><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /><br />The next thing that struck me was that all the images, despite their obvious differences, were basically the same. It was as if all these artists, the great and the not so great, all used the same model, especially when it came to the head of Christ. Even without his cruciform halo, he is easily recognized. He is a man who has suffered, who has been beaten and humiliated, and whose head slumps to one side, usually his right. His beard is short and pointed albeit ragged. Artists could not depart far from this model.<br /><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P24ioUr3SPw/W6lqbBXD5II/AAAAAAAAF5s/ZnSyFkNBPkkgEdzEtu1MQhUukYQtCtzWQCLcBGAs/s1600/Giorgione%2BChrist___1506_07.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="587" height="244" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P24ioUr3SPw/W6lqbBXD5II/AAAAAAAAF5s/ZnSyFkNBPkkgEdzEtu1MQhUukYQtCtzWQCLcBGAs/s320/Giorgione%2BChrist___1506_07.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /><br />In addition to the "Saturn Exiled" that Dr. Dal Pozzolo placed at the very beginning of Giorgione's career, the famous “Christ Carrying the Cross” could also be a depiction of the "Man of Sorrows." Vasari claimed that this painting had miraculous healing powers from the time it was first unveiled in the Scuola di San Rocco. Vasari originally claimed that Giorgione did the painting, but in his second edition he gave it to Titian. Since that time scholars have not been able to resolve the question of attribution.<br /><br />Whether by Giorgione or Titian, the face of Christ that looks out at the viewer, certainly seems derived from the standard image of the “Man of Sorrows.”<br /><br />What was the reason for the popularity of the image of the “Man of Sorrows?” It was obviously based on the Gospel of Matthew. In chapter 8 after recording a number of the miracles of Jesus, Matthew echoed the words of Isaiah:<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">“He took away our infirmities and bore our diseases.”</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span>Matthew drew from the famous account in Isaiah 53 of the suffering servant:<br /></span></p><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: italic;">A thing despised and rejected by men, </span><span style="font-style: italic;">a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering… </span><span style="font-style: italic;">And yet ours were the sufferings he bore, </span><span style="font-style: italic;">Ours the sufferings he carried… </span><span style="font-style: italic;">Yet he was pierced through for our faults, </span><span style="font-style: italic;">Crushed for our sins. </span><span style="font-style: italic;">On him lies a punishment that brings us peace, </span><span style="font-style: italic;">And through his wounds we were healed.</span></span></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The MOBIA exhibition demonstrated that every Venetian would have immediately recognized the figure in the painting in the National Gallery.<br /><br />###<br /><br />*Enrico Maria dal Pozzolo, <i><b>Giorgione</b></i>, Milan, 2009. Giorgione catalogs by Anderson (1997), and Eller (2007) do not agree with dal Pozzolo's attribution. They accept the title "Homage to a Poet", but without much discussion.</span></p><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"># <i>Passion in Venice: Crivelli to Tintoretto and Veronese</i>, exhibition catalog, ed. Catherine Puglisi, 2010.<br /><br />**Edit. 11/2/2013. Please notice the baldachino above the head of the Man in Giorgione's painting. It looks somewhat like an ornate lampshade. In an exchange with David Orme, an English friend and lover of Venice, he told me that he had seen similar fixtures still existing in Venice. Below is an image supplied by his friend, Albert Hickson.<br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BAMZWHbqdZo/UnVYJIfnR_I/AAAAAAAACp8/GtKhTFVLFFI/s1600/Baldachino+venice10+Hickson+.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BAMZWHbqdZo/UnVYJIfnR_I/AAAAAAAACp8/GtKhTFVLFFI/s320/Baldachino+venice10+Hickson+.JPG" width="212" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br />It covers a Madonna and Child on the Rio Ognisanti near San Trovaso. Many thanks, David and Albert.</span></div>Dr. Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08469403843869655063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054785923214156833.post-61318986821332913112023-08-29T15:30:00.000-07:002023-08-29T15:30:04.917-07:00Giorgione: Three Philosophers or Three Magi<p> <span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><i>This year on Giorgione et al... I have been reprising my interpretive discoveries on Giorgione and other Renaissance masters. I am not the first to claim that the three men in the so-called Three Philosophers are the Magi, but I believe I am the first to point out the significance of the colors of their garments. My first post on the subject was back on 9/20/2010, and the post below is an update from 11/18/2018. </i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">*************************** </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">The Giorgione painting known as <i>The Three Philosophers </i>is one of a handful now definitively attributed to the great Venetian Renaissance master. It depicts three men on a hilltop overlooking a beautiful valley with the sun setting in the West behind a range of mountains. They are dressed in colorful robes and face a dark rock formation or cave. They and the cave are illuminated by another source of light. Who are they and what are they doing there?<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oUzGdpgGIBA/W-79M6OkhVI/AAAAAAAAF-0/_NeMIw1T0Rsd3O9loCfWik5nqOK1vBGPACLcBGAs/s1600/Giorgione_-_Three_Philosophers_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="871" data-original-width="1024" height="340" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oUzGdpgGIBA/W-79M6OkhVI/AAAAAAAAF-0/_NeMIw1T0Rsd3O9loCfWik5nqOK1vBGPACLcBGAs/w400-h340/Giorgione_-_Three_Philosophers_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">In 1525 Marcantonio Michiel, a Venetian patrician and connoisseur, listed the paintings in the collection of Taddeo Contarini, another Venetian aristocrat, and described this one as "three philosophers in a Landscape." Two hundred and fifty years later the painting had found its way to the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, its current home. In a 1783 catalog it was called, "Three Magi." Since then, scholars have debated whether the men are philosophers, astronomers, surveyors, representatives of the three ages of man, representatives of three religions, or the Wise Men or Magi of the Biblical account.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Today, most scholars accept the "philosopher" interpretation even though they find it difficult to identify which ones. However, recent findings suggest that the Magi are making a comeback.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">In the catalog of the unprecedented Giorgione exhibition in 2004, Mino Gabriele argued that in this painting Giorgione depicted the Magi not at the end of their journey but at the beginning, when they first saw the Star of Bethlehem. His most compelling point had to do with the lighting of the painting. If we look carefully, we can see the sun setting in the West behind the mountains, but the three men and the rock formation in the foreground are being illuminated by another source. According to the medieval legend the light of the Star, which rose in the East, was even brighter than the sun at midday. *<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Moreover, at the conclusion of a symposium, that ended the “Bellini, Giorgione, Titian” exhibition at the National Gallery in Washington in 2006, Salvatore Settis offered a striking piece of evidence in support of the Magi. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">The exhibition itself had done an excellent job of educating the public on the value of using scientific techniques to evaluate the "underpainting" of some of these Renaissance masterpieces. X-rays and other techniques show many "pentimenti" or changes of mind on the part of the artists. When working with oils, the artists would frequently alter their paintings by painting over the original. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">In the original version the old man on the right dressed in gold is wearing an elaborate headpiece crowned with a kind of solar disk. For some reason Giorgione decided to discard it in favor of a simple hood. Nevertheless, when Settis projected an image on a huge screen of a painting by Vittore Carpaccio of the Magi on horseback approaching the Holy Family, the old man in that painting was wearing the kind of headpiece discarded by Giorgione. <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sw6UF5UrxmQ/W-7-BvKKwDI/AAAAAAAAF_A/azGaCctqhEcuJtOhcnj6x1kRRMSXZ154wCLcBGAs/s1600/thumbnail.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="487" data-original-width="791" height="198" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sw6UF5UrxmQ/W-7-BvKKwDI/AAAAAAAAF_A/azGaCctqhEcuJtOhcnj6x1kRRMSXZ154wCLcBGAs/s320/thumbnail.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">Carpaccio: Holy Family with Magi in Background<br />detail provided by Dr. Settis</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">In a 2010 post at Giorgione et al… I added my two cents to the question and argued that the colors of the garments of the three men are symbolic of the gifts of the Magi: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The most obvious, but usually overlooked, feature in the painting is the brilliant color of the costumes. In the medieval legend, the oldest of the Magi was the bearer of the gold; the middle-aged man carried the myrrh; and the youngest brought the frankincense. The golden garment of the oldest man needs no explanation. In my encyclopedia the color of myrrh is a dark red, while the color of frankincense can be white or green, the colors of the clothing of the sitting young man. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">In other versions of the Adoration of the Magi, gold is almost invariably the color of the oldest man’s garb, but there is no one color scheme for the other two. However, there is a version of the Adoration of the Magi done around 1499 by Francesco Raibolini, known all over Italy as Francia, where he used a similar color scheme for the three Magi. In Francia’s painting, that I believe is now in the Dresden Gemaldegalerie, the eldest man is clothed in gold, the middle-aged one in red, and the youngest in green.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SyeDFT-NcTQ/W-7--R4A4II/AAAAAAAAF_M/1EonrXdmPbY5Lg82cCQVoPcUZuWkfKJrQCLcBGAs/s1600/Francia%2BMagi.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1185" data-original-width="1600" height="236" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SyeDFT-NcTQ/W-7--R4A4II/AAAAAAAAF_M/1EonrXdmPbY5Lg82cCQVoPcUZuWkfKJrQCLcBGAs/s320/Francia%2BMagi.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">Francia: Adoration of the Magi</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">I also believe that <i>The Three Philosophers</i> was not the only instance in which Giorgione used colors symbolically to identify his religious figures rather than resorting to stock symbols. In the so-called <i>Three Ages of Man, </i>that now hangs in the Pitti Palace, the colors of the garments of the three men are more than enough to identify them. St. Peter, in particular, is identified by his bright red robe; red being the color of martyrdom. The green of Christ’s garment is the color of the vestment used by a priest during most of the liturgical year, and the purple and gold of the young man are a sign of his wealth.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KGPjbLL4uNc/W-7_cOmDpbI/AAAAAAAAF_U/k84dYdZs_Xgo6VRKJ8PWNhnJxk6x-QqRQCLcBGAs/s1600/%2Bages.JPG.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="492" data-original-width="614" height="256" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KGPjbLL4uNc/W-7_cOmDpbI/AAAAAAAAF_U/k84dYdZs_Xgo6VRKJ8PWNhnJxk6x-QqRQCLcBGAs/w320-h256/%2Bages.JPG.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Giorgione also used red for the tunic of the young man in the so-called <i>Boy with an Arrow</i>. Red should help to identify this mysterious figure holding an arrow as the martyr, St. Sebastian. ** <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_FHMHpEZ5OE/W-7_vCpquOI/AAAAAAAAF_c/VGBgvXJTTgQmUs-h_8qWgEDkCn7k3Ik_gCLcBGAs/s1600/Giorgione%2Bboy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="446" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_FHMHpEZ5OE/W-7_vCpquOI/AAAAAAAAF_c/VGBgvXJTTgQmUs-h_8qWgEDkCn7k3Ik_gCLcBGAs/s200/Giorgione%2Bboy.jpg" width="178" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Perhaps Giorgione, Carpaccio and Francia took their inspiration from the elaborate public processions honoring the Magi, which were common in the later Medieval world. Nowhere were they more elaborate than in Venice. More than any other city, Venice was aware of the styles and costumes of the Orient. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Could it be that Giorgione hid his subject by making it obvious? I think it more likely that most contemporary Venetians would have seen the Magi in this great masterpiece. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">###<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">*Mino Gabriele, “The Three Philosophers”, the Magi and the Nocturnal.” <i>Giorgione, Myth and Enigma</i>, ed. Sylvia Ferino-Pagden and Giovanna Nepi Scire, 2004. Pp.79-85.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">** Discussions of both of these Giorgione paintings have already been posted this year on this site.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Addendum:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Credit must be given here to Anna Jameson, the popular British art maven of the nineteenth century. Neglected today by most art historians, I believe that she was one of the few who worked to restore the original meaning and significance of Medieval and Renaissance art from the ignorance of the Enlightenment. In her discussion of the Adoration of the Magi she paused to discuss Giorgione’s painting. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I must mention a picture by Giorgione in the Belvedere Gallery, well known as one of the few undoubted productions of that rare and fascinating painter, and often referred to because of its beauty. Its significance has hitherto escaped all writers on art, as far as I am acquainted with them, and has been dismissed as one of his enigmatical allegories. It is called in German, Die Feldmasser (the Land Surveyors), and sometimes styled in English the Geometricians, or the Philosophers, or the Astrologers. …I have myself no doubt that this beautiful picture represents the “three wise men of the East,” watching on the Chaldean hills the appearance of the miraculous star, and that the light breaking in the far horizon, called in the German description, the rising sun, is intended to express the rising of the star of Jacob.” #<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">In a footnote, Jameson mentioned a print by Giulio Bonasoni, “which appears to represent the wise men watching for the star.” <span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14pt;">#</span>Anna Brownell Jameson, <b><i>Legends of the Madonna, as Represented in the Fine Arts</i>, </b>Boston and New York, 1885, pp. 347-8.</div>Dr. Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08469403843869655063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054785923214156833.post-38527612336234431802023-08-10T07:16:00.005-07:002023-08-10T07:16:54.444-07:00Titian: Flora or Mary Magdalen<p> </p><p><br /></p><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><i>The following post originally appeared on Giorgione et al... on March 14, 2012. Since the beginning of this year, I have been revisiting my original interpretations of famous but mysterious Renaissance paintings. In my previous post I argued that Giorgione's "Laura" was actually Mary Magdalen. Below I argue that Titian's "Flora" is also Mary Magdalen.</i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>****************************</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Is it possible that Titian’s so-called “Flora” could be a representation of Mary Magdalen? In my <a href="https://www.academia.edu/45112448/Titians_Sacred_and_Profane_Love_The_Conversion_of_Mary_Magdalen">interpretation</a> of the “Sacred and Profane Love” I argued that Titian represented Mary Magdalen in two guises: first, as a beautiful courtesan contemplating the error of her ways, and second, as the penitent sinner of the apocryphal gospels. <o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m3sc1qs4y9w/T2C0RXYQ4DI/AAAAAAAAAzg/OXU7qGF0x9U/s1600/_Flora_-_.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m3sc1qs4y9w/T2C0RXYQ4DI/AAAAAAAAAzg/OXU7qGF0x9U/s400/_Flora_-_.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Titian: Flora, c. 1515-20, Uffizi</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Titian painted many versions of the Magdalen during his long career reflecting not only his own regard for the saint as a personal intercessor, but also the demands of his patrons for beautiful images of the female saint who was second only in popularity to the Madonna.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-joc5fDKzNm8/T2C2IbRWaUI/AAAAAAAAAz4/HcgT7y5P9TY/s1600/giorgione+laura.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-joc5fDKzNm8/T2C2IbRWaUI/AAAAAAAAAz4/HcgT7y5P9TY/s320/giorgione+laura.jpg" width="257" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7wgc7QutUKs/T2C2_lv-nhI/AAAAAAAAA0A/1ulwmea5uyo/s1600/Titian-courtesan-c-1509-norton-simon-museum.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7wgc7QutUKs/T2C2_lv-nhI/AAAAAAAAA0A/1ulwmea5uyo/s320/Titian-courtesan-c-1509-norton-simon-museum.jpg" width="244" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>In his study of Titian’s early career Paul Joannides discussed a painting of a young woman “often thought to be a portrait of a courtesan,” and noted “an obvious link of mood and gesture with Giorgione’s Laura.” He wondered about the ambiguity of the action. Was the woman “opening her dress to reveal her breast, like Laura, or closing it in modesty”? He speculated that the woman might be “ a Magdalene in a Mary and Martha,” a subject “that would certainly have appealed to Titian, allowing him to contrast female types.”* [95-6]</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Joannides failed to note that the “courtesan” wore a multi colored shawl that was the same as the one worn by one of his Magdalens painted much later. <o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QNtW5zm8-CY/T2C3YcMYAZI/AAAAAAAAA0I/izXJst9qsPg/s1600/titian-naples+magdalene.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QNtW5zm8-CY/T2C3YcMYAZI/AAAAAAAAA0I/izXJst9qsPg/s320/titian-naples+magdalene.jpg" width="260" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>The similarities between this “courtesan” of the early Titian, Giorgione’s “Laura”, and the “Flora” are remarkable. All three have been seen as courtesans and all are disheveled or in the process of shedding their finery. Scholars agree that their exposed breasts make them idealized images rather than portraits. Also, any erotic aspects are offset by symbols of modesty and chastity.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>No one has ever been able to make more than a guess about the subject of the “Flora”. It was only in the mid-seventeenth century that a commentator attached the name of the Roman goddess of flowers to the beautiful woman in the painting. Although the name has stuck, modern commentators have brought forth objections and offered their own hesitant interpretations.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b> In 1980 Charles Hope introduced the painting in his catalog by noting that Titian “painted virtually no mythological pictures based in this way on ekphrastic texts, and none at all of comparable scale or importance.” He added that while Venetian patrons might have been interested in erotic subjects, “they were relatively indifferent to classical precedent.” **(61-2)<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Hope looked in another direction for the meaning of the “Flora.”<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><b>But there was also a distinctive and more pervasive local tradition of pictures in portrait format of anonymous pretty girls, either clothed or partially nude, which were no more than elaborate pin-ups…. The identity of the girl as Flora is established both by the flowers in her hand and by her costume, which is of the type worn by nymphs in contemporary stage productions….(61-2)<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Although he remarked that the subject was treated with “extreme sensitivity and discretion,” the painting was still a pin-up whose erotic implications are “central to its meaning.” (62)<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>In a 2003 catalog of an exhibition at London’s National Gallery, David Jaffe described the painting in this fashion.***(cat. # 11)<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><b>Flora is perhaps the supreme example of a genre developed in early sixteenth-century Venice showing ‘belle donne’, beautiful women, for the sake simply of their beauty. They were neither portraits—as such they would have seemed improper—nor did they usually have allegorical significance or mythological references….Titian did not invent the type, but developed the tradition represented by works such as Giorgione’s ‘Laura’….<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><b>The painting is a magnificent evocation of sensuality. The tumbling locks of hair, sometimes minutely described, trail down across her cheek and shoulder to her undergarment, which laps her breast and shoulder in undulating waves…before ebbing into the barely supported rose cloth which she gathers, or is perhaps discarding…<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><b>The image may be read as a generalized ‘Venus’ type. The flowers, perhaps roses, suggest identification with Flora. <o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>In the catalog of the 2006 Bellini, Giorgione, Titian exhibition jointly sponsored by Washington’s national Gallery and Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum, Sylvia Ferino Pagden considered the Flora “the finest and most successful of all sensuous half-length female figures in sixteenth-century Venetian painting….” She noted its “Venus-like sensuousness” but pointed out the ambiguity of the subject. <o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><b>If it was Titian’s intention here to depict Flora, was he thinking of Ovid’s goddesses or Boccaccio’s courtesan? Or is his portrait an artistic blending of the two?...yet his Flora has more the demeanor of a goddess….her lack of attention to the viewer makes him aware of his own insignificance….<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><b>Titian’s re-creation of the classical goddess, however, lacks any reference to antiquity, even in the drapery….Flora’s chemise—usually seen merely peeking out from under a gown at the neck and sleeves but here serving as her main article of clothing overlaid by a cloth of brocade or damask—does not correspond to that of any classical figure and certainly not a Venetian bride,…# (226)<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>It should be noted that Titian’s “Flora” bears little resemblance to the goddess of flowers. There are no flowers tumbling from her hair and her dress was depicted by Ovid as adorned with many colors. <o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Ferino-Pagden did identify the flowers in the hands of Flora as rose, jasmine, and violet and claimed that they provide “a key to interpreting her.” However, she provided no further explanation. </b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>In her study, <i>Nature and Its Symbols,</i> Lucia Impelluso noted that “the jasmine has often been considered a flower of Heaven or a symbol of divine love.” While usually associated with the innocence and purity of the Virgin Mary, it can often be seen “woven into garlands adorning the heads of angels and saints.” Moreover, “if associated with roses, it can connote faith.” ## (101)<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>The wild rose is also associated with Mary Magdalen. As far as the violet is concerned, Impelluso noted: <o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><b>In the popular imagination, the little, strong-scented violet is a symbol of modesty and humility, and it was interpreted likewise by the Fathers of the Church as well.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>I realize that the jasmine, rose, and violet that “Flora” holds in her hand could refer to some one else, but one should certainly at least suspect Mary Magdalen.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Giorgione’s “Laura,” Titian’s early “courtesan,” and the “Flora” could all be considered versions of Mary Magdalen, and not just pin-ups. One significant objection, however, is the absence in each instance of the jar of ointment that is always associated with the Magdalen. Later, Titian displayed it prominently in the “Sacred and Profane Love,” as well as in his more obvious Magdalens. <o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Perhaps in this brief moment in time Venetian artists had come to believe that they could depict the essence of the Magdalen without resort to obvious iconographical symbols. Earlier, Giovanni Bellini had painted a Madonna and Child surrounded by two female saints. One is obviously Mary Magdalen but she is only recognized by her flowing red hair. ###<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Znc_tvKG0W0/T2C49FEBLyI/AAAAAAAAA0Q/E911Gggff5g/s1600/Bellini+virgin-and-child-with-st-catherine-and-mary-magdalene.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="215" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Znc_tvKG0W0/T2C49FEBLyI/AAAAAAAAA0Q/E911Gggff5g/s400/Bellini+virgin-and-child-with-st-catherine-and-mary-magdalene.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">Giovanni Bellini: Madonna and Child with Female Saints</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">* Joannides, Paul: <b>Titian to 1518</b>, Yale, 2001.</div><div class="MsoNormal">** Hope, Charles: <b>Titian</b>, NY, 1980.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>*** Titian,</b> catalogue edited by David Jaffe, London, 2003.</div><div class="MsoNormal"># Brown, David Alan, and Ferino-Pagden, Sylvia, <b><i>Bellini, Giorgione, Titian, and the Renaissance of Venetian Painting</i></b>, Washington, 2006.</div><div class="MsoNormal">## Impelluso, Lucia: <b><i>Nature and Its Symbols,</i></b> translated by Stephen Sartarelli, Los Angeles, 2003.</div>Dr. Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08469403843869655063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054785923214156833.post-57413993724670792822023-07-22T06:58:00.005-07:002023-07-22T07:02:10.608-07:00Giorgione: Laura or Mary Magdalen?<p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">I have argued on this site that Giorgione’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Portrait of a Young Woman</i>, commonly called “Laura” could actually be his version of “The Conversion of Mary Magdalen.” I believe that I am not the first to suggest Mary Magdalen but a number of distinguished catalogs in the past two decades do not even consider the possibility. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PdWTIc1kwGU/V-vM1NSYD3I/AAAAAAAAEy0/nR9wlLhFQJk-DCEj4CtJpt_9GfCY_F7HgCLcB/s1600/Giorgione_-_Young_Woman_%2528%25E2%2580%259CLaura%25E2%2580%259D%2529_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PdWTIc1kwGU/V-vM1NSYD3I/AAAAAAAAEy0/nR9wlLhFQJk-DCEj4CtJpt_9GfCY_F7HgCLcB/s320/Giorgione_-_Young_Woman_%2528%25E2%2580%259CLaura%25E2%2580%259D%2529_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" width="264" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Giorgione: Portrait of a Young Woman (Laura)<br />Oil on canvas, mounted on panel, 51 x 33.6 cm<br />Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">While scholars are unanimous in attributing the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Laura</i> to Giorgione, they have not been able to agree on the subject of this painting of a partially nude young woman. Most agree that Laura is a misnomer and that the painting has nothing to do with Petrarch's lover. All do point out the paradoxical iconographic symbols. On one hand, there are the robe and bared breast of a Venetian courtesan, but on the other, there are symbols of chastity and conjugal love such as the laurel leaves and head scarf.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">Only one person fits this description and that is Mary Magdalen. This most famous female saint of the Middle Ages was generally regarded in the Renaissance as a prostitute who after her encounter with Jesus became a true and virtuous bride of Christ. After her conversion she is often portrayed with breasts bared.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">After I first interpreted Giorgione's <i>Tempest</i> as “The Rest on the Flight into Egypt,” back in 2005, I began to suspect that some of his other inexplicable or mysterious paintings might actually be sacred subjects. Shortly after I began Giorgione et al… in the fall of 2010, I put up a brief post on the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Laura</i> that explored the Magdalen interpretation. Three years later I put up a more expansive post that discussed its similarity with other mysterious paintings of beautiful women by Titian. [</span><span><a href="http://giorgionetempesta.blogspot.com/2013/08/giorgiones-laura-titians-flora-and-mary.html">Giorgione’s Laura,Titian’s Flora, and Mary Magdalen. </a>8/19/2013.]<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">Giorgione’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Laura</i> has been recognized as a revolutionary turning point in the development of the art of the Venetian Renaissance. In his magnificent 2009 Giorgione catalog, Enrico dal Pozzolo devoted nine pages to the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Laura </i>in a section entitled, “a sense of beauty.” He described the little painting in almost poetic terms.*<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><i>Imagined up against an impenetrable, dark background…, the painting has the power to suddenly brighten up the room where it hangs through a light that would appear to shine forth from her snow-white skin. She turns to her viewer sideways, and bares her right breast; her eyes trained on something or someone outside,…</i>[291]<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">He called the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Laura</i> “one of the most astonishing paintings of the European Renaissance,” and claimed that it had a profound impact on artists who followed Giorgione. [291] He drew comparisons between the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Laura </i>and Giovanni Cariani’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Judith</i>, Boccaccio Boccacino’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Portrait of a Girl</i>, and even Albrecht Durer’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Portrait of a Young Woman</i> that also hangs in Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum. He argued that Giorgione’s painting was a revolutionary departure.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><i>There is no question that a work of this kind broke completely with previous Venetian portraiture. It was a turning point, if not a breaking point, which described a manner of conceiving the pictorial medium that was not just unprecedented, but actually elevated the descriptive datum to a metaphorical level.</i> [297]<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">Nevertheless, the painting could also mark a revolutionary departure in depictions of Mary Magdalen. After Giorgione, painters such as Titian and Correggio would paint versions of an emotionally charged Magdalen with symbols representing both sinner and saint. Titian’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sacred and Profane Love</i>, painted shortly after Giorgione’s death, should be seen as one example.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">In earlier posts I have also agreed with those who interpret Giorgione’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Three Philosophers </i>as the Three Magi when they first see the Star of Bethlehem. I have also agreed with those who see his <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Boy with an Arrow</i> as St. Sebastian. Coincidentally, an English friend back from a visit to Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum sent me an image (taken I suspect while the guards were looking the other way) of the three paintings hanging side by side. In the few years left to me I don’t expect the famed Museum to change the labels but what would we think of Giorgione and the Venetian Renaissance if we could stand before these paintings and see Mary Magdalen and St. Sebastian flanking the Three Magi at the first sign of the Incarnation?</span><span style="font-family: calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MD4P2lby2Gc/V-vSk7MTiOI/AAAAAAAAEzE/_1bW7rkli3ANgMFn7dRIOQfcmLXIg_mWgCLcB/s1600/khm.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MD4P2lby2Gc/V-vSk7MTiOI/AAAAAAAAEzE/_1bW7rkli3ANgMFn7dRIOQfcmLXIg_mWgCLcB/s320/khm.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">Giorgione wall, Kunsthistorisches Museum.<br />Image courtesy of D.O.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br /></div><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><!--StartFragment--><!--EndFragment--><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">* Enrico Maria dal Pozzolo: <i>Giorgione</i>, Milan, 2009. Page numbers in brackets.</span></div>Dr. Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08469403843869655063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054785923214156833.post-58111833443685825262023-07-03T14:18:00.001-07:002023-07-03T14:18:34.875-07:00Giorgione: Boy with an Arrow<p> </p><p><br /></p><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b><i>This year I have been re-posting my various interpretive essays that followed upon my discovery back in 2005 that Giorgione's Tempest, the most famous painting by the Venetian Renaissance master, has a "sacred" subject, "The Rest of the Holy Family on the Flight into Egypt," Below find an essay on "The Boy with an Arrow" that originally appeared here in 2011 but has been augmented since then.</i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b><i>....................................</i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b>As far as I know the most important iconographical detail in Giorgione’s <i>Boy with an Arrow </i>has largely been ignored. I must confess that in an earlier post on the painting, I also failed to see it. It is the color of the young man’s tunic. Why did Giorgione deliberately choose to clothe him in red? In that earlier post I agreed with those who identified the subject of Giorgione’s painting as the Christian martyr St. Sebastian. I was struck especially by the resemblance of Giorgione’s painting to an earlier St. Sebastian by Raphael. <o:p></o:p></b></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-58iubvpXLu8/W9YryPpF6tI/AAAAAAAAF8k/DZd4g2nvXWYRIRex_EssXhklVZhzqaQZACLcBGAs/s1600/Giorgione%2Bboy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="446" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-58iubvpXLu8/W9YryPpF6tI/AAAAAAAAF8k/DZd4g2nvXWYRIRex_EssXhklVZhzqaQZACLcBGAs/s320/Giorgione%2Bboy.jpg" width="286" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Giorgione: Boy with an Arrow<br />Poplar, 48x42 cm<br />Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b><i>Boy with and Arrow </i>is another of Giorgione’s mysterious paintings, that has elicited a number of different interpretations. The exhibition catalog for the 2004 Giorgione exhibition jointly held in Venice and Vienna provided a full discussion of the interpretive history of the painting. Marianne Koos, the author of the catalog entry, noted that the painting was not always attributed to Giorgione and that his authorship was only generally accepted after 1955. She also noted that “it is usually dated to his mature period, between 1506 and 1508.” *<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b>Koos, whose essay derived from her own doctoral dissertation, did a very nice job of summarizing and analyzing the different views. She indicated that Bernard Berenson accepted the St. Sebastian identification in 1957, but noted that most scholars since have supported a mythological reading such as Apollo or Eros. However, after pointing out the shortcomings of each interpretation, she offered one of her own to which she devoted most of her catalog entry.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in;"><b><i>Giorgione’s youth remains primarily a subject in the discourse of love, an ideal male figure, with whom the male observer may also form an alliance in thought. The ideal-boy picture is not only a painting of…desire, but also of narcissistic identification and a homosocial avowal of brotherhood.</i> [186]<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b>Her interpretation is what one might expect from a modern art historian but I do not believe that her argument against the St. Sebastian interpretation is very strong. It is certainly true that most depictions of the martyr show a full-length nude figure riddled with arrows. Yet it is also true that a fully clothed, half-length figure of a doleful young man holding an arrow was popular at the time. <o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b>As mentioned above, there is a great similarity between Giorgione’s painting and an earlier depiction of St. Sebastian by Raphael. Both depicted a soulful looking young man with head tilted to one side and holding one arrow in his hand. Raphael also departed from the traditional version of a partially nude man tied to a tree or column and riddled with arrows symbolic of the plague. **</b><br /><b><br /></b><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jVC4AO56bI8/W9YuBJNWJrI/AAAAAAAAF8w/rZ6fyh1EJ4YctL0PJVyQ846E_NFxc-hTgCLcBGAs/s1600/Raphael%2BSt%2Bsebastian.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="252" data-original-width="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jVC4AO56bI8/W9YuBJNWJrI/AAAAAAAAF8w/rZ6fyh1EJ4YctL0PJVyQ846E_NFxc-hTgCLcBGAs/s1600/Raphael%2BSt%2Bsebastian.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">Raphael: St. Sebastian</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><b>Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio, a follower of Leonardo da Vinci in Milan, also produced a number of half-length versions of St. Sebastian in which he depicted a soulful fully clothed young man holding an arrow in his hand. Like Raphael, Boltraffio included the traditional halo.</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b><br /></b><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5_BHpkWEm3E/W9YxFc58-9I/AAAAAAAAF9E/ub-OZ7wwpOka82EJ-IKydWbw3kN7qCv3wCLcBGAs/s1600/Boltraffio.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="438" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5_BHpkWEm3E/W9YxFc58-9I/AAAAAAAAF9E/ub-OZ7wwpOka82EJ-IKydWbw3kN7qCv3wCLcBGAs/s320/Boltraffio.jpg" width="234" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">Boltraffio: St. Sebastian</td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /></b><b><br /></b><b>The similarities between Raphael’s and Boltraffio’s versions of St. Sebastian and Giorgione’s <i>Boy with an Arrow </i>greatly outweigh the dissimilarities. Typically, Giorgione removes an obvious iconographical sign like the halo and replaces it with something that I have come to believe characterizes much of his work. He uses color to identify the subject.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8UOKbs2LShI/X0ZsV8s_zwI/AAAAAAAAHG0/Omj9bZqxGVcZPFVYTPMnHB3jzEp6ePtYACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/%2Bages.JPG.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="492" data-original-width="614" height="256" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8UOKbs2LShI/X0ZsV8s_zwI/AAAAAAAAHG0/Omj9bZqxGVcZPFVYTPMnHB3jzEp6ePtYACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/%2Bages.JPG.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><b><br /></b><b>Red is the symbol of martyrdom. It is the color of the vestment of the priest at every Mass that commemorates a martyr. In <a href="https://www.academia.edu/45280207/Giorgiones_The_Three_Ages_of_Man_The_Encounter_of_Jesus_with_the_Rich_Young_Man">an essay</a> on Giorgione’s <i>Three Ages of Man </i>I have argued that the color of the garments of the three figures in that mysterious painting identifies them as Jesus, Peter, and the rich young man of the Gospel of Matthew. Peter’s robe is bold red, a symbol of his eventual martyrdom. Christ is shown in green, in what looks like the vestment that a priest commonly wears on most Sundays of the liturgical year. The gold lapels of the young man indicate his wealth.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b>I have also argued that the colors of the garments worn by the three men in Giorgione’s <i>Three Philosophers </i>support those who interpret that mysterious painting as the Three Magi. The color of their garments refers to their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. <o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b>Anyone looking at Giorgione’s painting side-by side with Raphael’s and Boltraffio’s would be hard pressed not to see the saint in the young man. The small size of the three paintings would indicate that they were all made for private devotion. There was a real market for St. Sebastian in the days of recurring plague.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b>Scholars do not like to recognize Giorgione’s boy with an arrow as the martyr, St. Sebastian. I have come to believe that in addition to the color of his garment, the face of the young man has an angelic quality that can also be observed in the paintings by Raphael and Boltraffio. This face would be appropriate for a martyr. In the account of the persecution and death of St. Stephen, the first martyr, we are told that his face appeared to his accusers as the face of an angel.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>And all that sat in the council, looking at him, saw his face as if it had been the face of an angel.</i></span></b></blockquote></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b>Giorgione dressed the young man in the <i>Boy with an Arrow </i>in the color of a martyr. There is perhaps an insight contained in the metaphorical interpretation of Marianne Koos. Neoplatonic discussions of love and desire were not regarded as antithetical to Christian belief. On the contrary, in many respects they brought, if only for a brief moment, Christian beliefs to a new level on the eve of the Reformation. <o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;"><b>Where it had been common to invoke St. Sebastian as a protector against the plague, now it would appear that Giorgione and others were seeing him again in his original guise; as one who gave his life for his fellow man. In this respect, he was truly a symbol of Christ-like love. No wonder his story inspired Christians throughout the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and even beyond.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">###</span><span style="font-family: , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">* </span><span style="font-family: "cambria";">Ferino-Pagden, Sylvia, and Nepi-Scire, Giovanna: exh. Cat.</span><span style="font-family: "cambria";"> </span><b style="font-family: Cambria;"><i>Giorgione, Myth and Enigma</i></b><span style="font-family: "cambria";">, Vienna, 2004.</span><br /><span style="font-family: "cambria";"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "cambria";">** The following description of Raphael's St. Sebastian could easily fit Giorgione's Boy with an Arrow.</span><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">“the St. Sebastian in the Accademia Carrara at Bergamo, so Peruginesque at first glance, reveals on further analysis the distance that exists between Raphael and his master from his very earliest paintings. Perugino painted many such studies of young men and women, their heads tilted, viewed full-face. However several subtle differences—a firmer chin, a more finely modeled mouth, the very well structured nose whose bridge appears to join the arch of the eyebrow, a greater sense of volume—show this painting to be far removed from him….</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">The highly embroidered robe, the pattern on the shirt like notes of music, the slashed velvet of the jerkin…point to a love of ornamentation which comes from Pinturicchio but the saint’s neck-chain, clearly copied from a real example…is close to northern painting and has no equivalent in the work of Perugino or Pinturicchio. The saint grasps the fragile arrow of his martyrdom like a scepter; it is a marvelous image, a tour de force. The subtle treatment of the head, slightly tilted away from the spectator, is close in style to the Madonna with St. Jerome and St. Francis in spite of the difference in scale and like that painting, striking in its icon-like character and lack of three-dimensionality, it can be dated a little later in the same year, 1501."*</blockquote><span style="font-family: "cambria";"></span><br />* Jean-Pierre Cuzin, Raphael, His Life and Works, 1985, p.20.</div>Dr. Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08469403843869655063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054785923214156833.post-27780239434831889262023-06-17T07:26:00.000-07:002023-06-17T07:26:00.855-07:00Giorgione: Judith<p> </p><p><br /></p><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">This year I have been posting my various interpretive discoveries on this site. The following discussion of Giorgione's Judith is the eighth in the series.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;"><span style="font-size: 18.66666603088379px;">Although originally given to Raphael, scholars for over a century have agreed that</span><span style="font-size: 18.66666603088379px;"> </span><b style="font-size: 18.66666603088379px;"><i>Judith with the Head of Holofernes </i></b><span style="font-size: 18.66666603088379px;">is an early work by Giorgione. According to recent catalogs, it was a ground-breaking work.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P-z482HlEjQ/W5UwZZGWcOI/AAAAAAAAF4M/6TUc7tdEe0UBjIPlymFfT74jLTLxzxx9ACLcBGAs/s1600/Judith_ca_1504.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="748" data-original-width="340" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P-z482HlEjQ/W5UwZZGWcOI/AAAAAAAAF4M/6TUc7tdEe0UBjIPlymFfT74jLTLxzxx9ACLcBGAs/s400/Judith_ca_1504.jpg" width="182" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giorgione Judith<br />Hermitage, St. Petersburg</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In her 1996 catalog Jaynie Anderson credited Giorgione with the introduction of “the Jewish heroine of the Apocrypha to Venetian painting….” * Three years later Terisio Pignatti wrote that Giorgione’s <i>Judith</i> introduced “numerous innovations that make the painting fascinating, particularly in the field of iconography..." ** In a 2007 catalog Wolfgang Eller claimed that Giorgione’s figure of Judith “is the first really feminine and the first graceful figure in Venetian art.” ***</span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Characteristically, Giorgione avoided the use of stock or standard iconographical elements. Eller noted that Giorgione’s <i>Judith</i> contains “no optical indication of the events. There is no female servant, no tent, no besieged city, and no waiting figures in the background that illustrate the story.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">All commentators seem to agree that the most striking element in the painting is the bare leg of Judith. According to Pignatti, "Giorgione inserts a completely new motif in the garments which reveal the left leg of the woman." For explanation, scholars fall back on "eroticism" and "sensuality." Eller regards the bare leg as highly erotic.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">the raised leg makes an extensive laying bare of the female thigh possible for the painter. In Giorgione’s time, this was considered highly erotic, for a woman to show only her calves was even more daring than a bare bosom. Thus from the aspect of the observer of those times, the depicted figure is identifiable as being erotic. (48)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">It would appear, however, that in depicting the “bare thigh” Giorgione was just paying close attention to the biblical account in the Latin Vulgate, the only Bible in use at the time. Chapter 9 of the Book of Judith gives the famous prayer of the Jewish heroine as she prepares for her encounter with the enemy tyrant. Here is verse 2 taken from the Jerusalem Bible.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><i> Lord, God of my father Simeon,</i></span><br /><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><i> You armed him with a sword to take vengeance on the foreigners</i></span><br /><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><i> who had undone a virgin's girdle to her shame,</i></span><br /><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><i> laid bare her thigh to her confusion,</i></span><br /><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><i> violated her womb to her dishonor...</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Judith is referring to the story of the rape of Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and the sister of Simeon, from the Book of Genesis, 34: 1-3.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Dinah, who was Jacob’s daughter by Leah, went out to visit the women of that region. Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, who was ruler of that region, saw her, carried her off and raped her, and so dishonoured her.</span></blockquote></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">This incident led to the slaughter of the Hivite men after they had been tricked into undergoing circumcision. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Apparently, Giorgione used an exposed thigh to indicate a woman in danger of sexual assault. In an early work that we only have in a seventeenth century copy by David Teniers, Giorgione used the same motif. He exposed the thigh of another woman in danger of sexual assault.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xMQHw_Kpc3A/X14c1bQ5HwI/AAAAAAAAHJs/eW2N96fPxUs03uvJVdQd1F36ycJ5L30AgCLcBGAsYHQ/s652/Teniers_robbers.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="442" data-original-width="652" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xMQHw_Kpc3A/X14c1bQ5HwI/AAAAAAAAHJs/eW2N96fPxUs03uvJVdQd1F36ycJ5L30AgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Teniers_robbers.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">David Teniers: copy of a lost Giorgione<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Although the painting is usually called the “Discovery of Paris,” it is actually a depiction of the apocryphal legend of the encounter of the Holy Family with robbers on the flight into Egypt. The young Giorgione had the audacity to depict the bare leg of the Madonna who, according to the legend, escaped dishonor when one of the robbers persuaded the other to let the Holy Family proceed on their journey in peace. # <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Giorgione also paid close attention to another element in the biblical account. Chapter 10 of the Book of Judith gives a detailed account of Judith putting on her finery.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">There she removed the sackcloth she was wearing and, taking off her widow’s dress, she washed all over, anointed herself with costly perfumes, dressed her hair, wrapped a turban around it and put on the dress she used to wear on joyful occasions when her husband Manasseh was alive. She put sandals on her feet, put on her necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings, and all her jewelry, and made herself beautiful enough to catch the eye of every man who saw her.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Judith’s deed is usually seen as an heroic attempt to deliver not just herself but her people from danger. Yet during the Renaissance she was often seen as a prototype of Mary. Perhaps it was this aspect that influenced Giorgione or his patron. Judith’s prayer (9:11) sounds very similar to Mary’s famous Magnificat. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Your strength does not lie in numbers,<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Nor your might in violent men;<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Since you are the God of the humble, <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The help of the oppressed, <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The support of the weak,<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The refuge of the forsaken,<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The savior of the despairing.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;"><span style="font-size: 18.66666603088379px;">The Book of Judith is still included in Catholic bibles today, but it was rejected by Protestants. Nevertheless, the story remained popular after the Reformation and paintings of the subject by Artemesia Gentileschi and Caravaggio are famous although far more graphic than Giorgione’s version.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">###</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;"><span style="font-size: 18.66666603088379px;">Note 1: This post originally appeared on Giorgione et al... on 4/17/2011. Later, on 11/16/2014, I discussed a depiction of Judith on the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, a Giorgione/Titian collaboration. In that fresco the identity of the helmeted soldier can also be found in the Book of Judith. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;"><span style="font-size: 18.66666603088379px;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AETt8iw1k64/X14fmtF_woI/AAAAAAAAHJ4/pkA-JTRqcFQuH3b0tVox76GaXgjru_HiwCLcBGAsYHQ/s480/Fondaco_dei_Tedeschi%252CVenice._Etching_after_fresco%253B_Antonio_Zanetti%253B_after_Giorgione.18th_c.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AETt8iw1k64/X14fmtF_woI/AAAAAAAAHJ4/pkA-JTRqcFQuH3b0tVox76GaXgjru_HiwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Fondaco_dei_Tedeschi%252CVenice._Etching_after_fresco%253B_Antonio_Zanetti%253B_after_Giorgione.18th_c.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;"><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13px;">Note 2: J.C. comments. Thank you for sharing your latest Giorgione post. It might be useful to include a reference to Donatello's bronze David. The exposed thigh and how Judith holds the sword and stands on the head of Holofernes is similar to Donatello' s David's pose. A new female hero with the attendant weaker physical force overcoming a greater physical force.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_lci9HdKg28/X1-6bO8Md1I/AAAAAAAAHKc/gU4-SdChFXQ4hMifUB4PWtOQbtekCmkmgCLcBGAsYHQ/s826/512px-Donatello_-_David_-_Florenc%25CC%25A7a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="826" data-original-width="512" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_lci9HdKg28/X1-6bO8Md1I/AAAAAAAAHKc/gU4-SdChFXQ4hMifUB4PWtOQbtekCmkmgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/512px-Donatello_-_David_-_Florenc%25CC%25A7a.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="font-family: cambria; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in;"><br /></div><div><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><div id="edn1"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;">* Anderson, Jaynie: <b><i>Giorgione</i></b>, 1997.p. 292. According to Anderson the “Judith” was originally a door panel since there is evidence of a painted over keyhole. </div></div><div id="edn2"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;">** Pignatti, Terisio and Pedrocco, Filippo: <b><i>Giorgione</i></b>, Rizzoli, NY, p. 52.</div></div><div id="edn3"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;">*** Eller, Wolfgang: <b><i>Giorgione Catalog Raisonne</i></b>, Petersberg, 2007, p. 47.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: cambria; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt -0.1in;"># My analysis of this painting that is usually called "The Discovery of Paris" can be found elsewhere on this site by using the search box. </div></div></div>Dr. Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08469403843869655063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054785923214156833.post-30241579992958028912023-06-01T11:53:00.000-07:002023-06-01T11:53:32.130-07:00Titian: Madonna of the Rabbit<p> </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-29DcDBYOITk/UswVCGn-9XI/AAAAAAAAC2o/Z_mUZ-TSHP4/s1600/Titian+rabbit.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-29DcDBYOITk/UswVCGn-9XI/AAAAAAAAC2o/Z_mUZ-TSHP4/s1600/Titian+rabbit.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Titian’s “Virgin and Child with Saint Catherine and a Shepherd” is commonly called the “Madonna of the Rabbit” because of the white rabbit prominently featured in the center. The rabbit is held by the Madonna with a thin white cloth that is hardly visible today. The relatively small painting ( 71 x 87 cm.) that bears Titian’s own signature is in the Louvre and most scholars date it to 1530 although some believe it could have been laid in as early as 1520. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The Louvre’s website provides a very comprehensive video examination of the painting featuring curator Jean Habert. He begins with a discussion of Titian’s naturalism and suggests that these figures in a landscape could almost be a genre painting, something like a picnic in the countryside. Nevertheless, Habert admits that it is obviously a religious painting and a “sacra conversazione” in particular. The Madonna and Child are in conversation with St. Catherine while the shepherd off to the right represents pagan antiquity.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">This description echoes what can be found in recent catalogues beginning with the 1991 “Titian, Prince of Painters” where the essay on the painting was also written by Habert. Subsequently, Filippo Pedrocco discussed the painting in his Titian catalog of 2001, and then two years later David Jaffe wrote the article in another exhibition catalog, entitled simply “Titian”. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Despite this virtual unanimity the painting is still largely misunderstood. The title, Madonna of the Rabbit, is almost childish and the painting is not a “sacra conversazione.” The painting is a version of the “Mystical Marriage of St. Catherine”, a very popular subject in the early sixteenth century.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">It is very difficult for scholars today to understand the importance of St. Catherine in the Renaissance. It would even be difficult for a modern devout Catholic. Writing in the nineteenth century Anna Jameson noted that Saints Catherine, Barbara, Ursula, and Margaret were in a class by themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Other female martyrs were merely women glorified in heaven, for virtues exercised on earth; but <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">these </i>were absolutely, in all but the name, Divinities… with regard to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">these</i>, all such traces of an individual existence seem to have been completely merged in the abstract ideas they represented. The worship of the others was confined to certain localities, certain occasions; but <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">these</i> were invoked everywhere, and at all seasons; they were <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">powers</i>…and though the Church assumed that theirs was a delegated power, it was never so considered by the people. They were styled intercessors; for when a man addressed his prayers to St. Catherine to obtain a boon, it was with the full conviction that she had power to grant it. * <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In “Sacred and Legendary Art” Mrs. Jameson devoted a long section to St. Catherine, her legend, and her representations in art. Although largely forgotten today, the legend must have been well known during the Renaissance especially given the fact that the famous monastery that bore her name on Mt. Sinai had become a favorite pilgrimage site. Let me just paraphrase Mrs. Jameson’s telling of the story with special attention to elements that might help to explain Titian’s painting. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">According to the legend Catherine was born late in the third century to the pagan King and Queen of Egypt. By the time she was fourteen the young princess had already won renown for her great beauty and intellect. At that point her father died and she acceded to the throne. Despite her breeding and wisdom, her noble subjects insisted that she find a husband who could assist her in governing the Kingdom. She agreed but only if they could find a man whose wisdom and wealth exceeded her own. Of course, no such man could be found.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">However, the Madonna, from her place in heaven, intervened and directed an Egyptian hermit to approach Catherine and tell her that Mary’s son is more than worthy of her hand. Then, Catherine has a dream and is taken up into the heavens where she enters into a room filled with beautiful saints and angels. They take her deeper into the sanctuary where she is introduced to Madonna herself, who then escorts her into the presence of her Son. But Jesus turns away and refuses to accept her. At this point, an anguished Catherine wakes from her dream. What had gone wrong? She seeks out the hermit who tells her she was rejected because she was a heathen. Immediately, Catherine takes instruction and is baptized a Christian.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Now Catherine has another dream. Once again she is welcomed into Heaven and ushered into the presence of the Madonna who presents her to her son and vouches for her by saying that she herself has become godmother to Catherine at the baptism. This time the Lord accepts Catherine and places a ring on her finger, a ring that is still there when she wakes from the dream. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">It is only after this “mystical marriage” that Catherine would go on to suffer torture and death at the hands of a cruel Roman tyrant whose offers of marriage she spurns. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Titian’s painting is not about historical accuracy. It is an account of Catherine’s dream. Painters typically portrayed the mystical marriage as taking place in the Egyptian desert three hundred years before the time of Catherine. The Holy Family is returning from their sojourn in Egypt when Catherine comes upon them.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In Titian’s version of the Mystic marriage Catherine is easily identified by her regal, golden finery although she is somewhat disheveled. Her red robe has fallen around her thighs. She kneels on a wooden box that most commentators have identified as the broken wheel, the famous instrument of her later torture. She has taken the Christ Child in her arms and while he appears to look away, he strokes her chin with his hand.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Madonna sits on the ground wearing her familiar red dress and blue robe. She has obviously handed the child off to Catherine but still looks intently at him. Scientific investigation of the underpainting has revealed that she was originally looking at the man off to the side. Her right arm is hidden but her left hand holds, with a hardly visible white cloth, a striking white rabbit. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The man on the right dressed in rustic clothing is usually called a shepherd but he can only be St. Joseph. Who else would be with Mary and the Child in the Egyptian desert? In contemporary paintings of the same subject by Paris Bordone and Lorenzo Lotto he would figure even more prominently. Both Bordone and Lotto portrayed Joseph as quite young and virile and in one Bordone version, now in the Hermitage, Joseph’s garb is also rustic. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OiPOxXXLoJQ/UswVn-Di1sI/AAAAAAAAC2w/af1ODp_ar_A/s1600/Bordone_Paris_Holy_Family_with_St_Catherine_-_GJ-219__large.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OiPOxXXLoJQ/UswVn-Di1sI/AAAAAAAAC2w/af1ODp_ar_A/s1600/Bordone_Paris_Holy_Family_with_St_Catherine_-_GJ-219__large.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Paris Bordone, Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Moreover, even when commentators have called him a shepherd, they note some regal features like the laurel wreath in his hair. Some think it might even be a portrait of Titian’s noble patron. The fact that the underpainting shows that the Madonna was originally looking at him also points to his elevated status. Joseph sits on the ground stroking another animal, either a black sheep or ram. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Titian’s “Madonna of the Rabbit” is full of Eucharistic significance. In the 1991 catalog entry Jean Habert noted: <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The fruit in the basket…gives the scene, notwithstanding the naturalism of a motif that indicates autumn, a mystical significance of redemption, since these fruits are the symbols of the Passion (original sin redeemed by the wine of the Eucharist). **<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><!--StartFragment--><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">There is much more than the fruit in the basket to indicate the Eucharist. The strawberry plant in front of St. Catherine is often associated with an earthly paradise, but can also symbolize the Passion. The prominent plant in the foreground to the viewer’s right appears to be the cinquefoil (Potentilla simplex), with its characteristic five pointed leaf. It was common in Europe and was often used in Medieval architectural decoration. This painting would seem to indicate that its five leaves symbolize the five wounds of Christ. #<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Passion of Christ was re-enacted at every Mass and in Franciscan theology Mary was regarded as the altar on which her child is consecrated. Her infant son and the symbolic white rabbit are one and the same. The Infant looks at the rabbit to affirm their identity. Habert claimed that the rabbit is a sign of Mary’s purity or fecundity but why then would she be holding it with a white cloth? In her study of Titian’s famed Pesaro altarpiece Rona Goffen noted the symbolism of the white cloth or </span><i>corporale</i>. A white cloth is always placed on the altar on which the host rests. *** <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></div><!--EndFragment--></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Cambria;">Catherine like all her pious admirers has just offered herself to the Lord and now receives Him from Mary. Catherine herself holds the Infant with a white cloth. It’s as if she had just been handed the communion host by a priest. Joseph sits off to the right and strokes a black sheep or ram, itself recalling the Eucharistic symbolism of the scapegoat from Leviticus 16:20-22.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. </span><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">21 </span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. </span><b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">22 </span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness.<o:p></o:p></span></blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Years ago famed art historian Erwin Panofsky noted that it is important to go beyond the naturalism and beauty of these famous and mysterious Renaissance paintings.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In a work of art, “form” cannot be divorced from “content”; the distribution of color and lines, light and shade, volumes and planes, however delightful as a spectacle, must also be understood as carrying a more-than-visual meaning. ****<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In the years immediately following the onset of the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Church responded with renewed devotion to the Eucharist. Artists and their patrons naturally followed suit. Titian, Bordone, and Lotto became increasingly responsive to the devotional needs of their patrons.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"># The cinquefoil identification is by my younger brother, Robert DeStefano, a master botanist.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">* Anna Jameson, <u><i>Sacred and Legendary Art</i></u>, ed. By Estelle H. Hurrl, II, Boston and New York, 1895, v. II, 458.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">**<i>Titian, Prince of Painters</i>, 1991, cat. entry #23.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">*** Rona Goffen, <u><i>Piety and Patronage in Renaissance Venice</i></u>, Yale, 1986, 114.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">****Titian’s Allegory of Prudence: a Postscript, in Erwin Panofsky, <u><i>Meaning in the Visual Arts</i></u>, Garden City, NY, 1955, p. 168.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">### </span></b></div>Dr. Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08469403843869655063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054785923214156833.post-84029783611924437482023-05-16T13:39:00.000-07:002023-05-16T13:39:06.549-07:00Giorgione: Discovery of Paris<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 32px;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 32px;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 32px;"> Dr. Francis P. DeStefano:</span></b><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 32px;"> <b>Giorgione:</b> <b><i>"Encounter with the Robbers on the Flight into Egypt” </i> </b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 32px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 32px;">A “lost” Giorgione painting which has been misidentified for almost 500 years can shed new light on the work and career of this most mysterious, and perhaps the greatest of all Venetian Renaissance painters.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 32px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHFF8uC97dISRvQnIRccNeQhicCg6C5CWDszQFkJbTMV0tcQTnAZw6W7FYXzXvgzSr8JrCxO0LxUMqTJuCZ5Df2P-N_eRKgsgcw_H3qMsV4gt6brNUIagwkJqd8m22AIFioAgBLGIRUavoh6XkICLZ4FeJ-oittITZDe1wDyrLMUTVF-95SOddjg/s652/Teniers_robbers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="442" data-original-width="652" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHFF8uC97dISRvQnIRccNeQhicCg6C5CWDszQFkJbTMV0tcQTnAZw6W7FYXzXvgzSr8JrCxO0LxUMqTJuCZ5Df2P-N_eRKgsgcw_H3qMsV4gt6brNUIagwkJqd8m22AIFioAgBLGIRUavoh6XkICLZ4FeJ-oittITZDe1wDyrLMUTVF-95SOddjg/w400-h272/Teniers_robbers.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 32px;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 32px;">In 1525, fifteen years after the death of Giorgione, Marcantonio Michiel noticed a painting in the home of Venetian patrician, Taddeo Contarini, and described it as a “picture on canvas, representing the birth of Paris, in a landscape, with two shepherds standing.…” Michiel noted that it was one of Giorgione’s “early works.”<a href="applewebdata://0C245A46-A6E6-4499-9300-250F5BA5CBAE#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">[i]</span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 32px;">This painting has been lost, but copies exist from the seventeenth century. The editor of the 1903 translation of Michiel’s notes cited a description in an “old manuscript catalog of the time.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 32px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">A landscape on canvas, in oil, where there are on one side, a half nude woman and an old man, seated, with a flute.<a href="applewebdata://0C245A46-A6E6-4499-9300-250F5BA5CBAE#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">[ii]</span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 32px;">One of the copies, made by David Teniers around 1655, is currently in a private collection but was discussed in two recent catalogues. The authors of both catalogues agree that it is a copy of an early Giorgione and also accept, although with some puzzlement, Michiel’s identification of the painting as “the birth of Paris.”<a href="applewebdata://0C245A46-A6E6-4499-9300-250F5BA5CBAE#_edn3" name="_ednref3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">[iii]</span></span></span></a> However, details in this early Giorgione indicate that it has quite a different subject than the one imagined by Michiel. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 32px;">The subject of this “lost” Giorgione comes from a legendary episode on the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt. Here is the version from the apocryphal “Arabic Gospel of the Infancy.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 32px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Joseph and the lady Mary departed and came to a desert place, and when they heard that it was infested with raids by robbers, they decided to pass through this region by night. But behold, on the way they saw two robbers lying on the road, and with them a crowd of robbers who belonged to them, likewise sleeping. Now these two robbers, into whose hands they had fallen, were Titus and Dumachus. And Titus said to Dumachus: ‘I ask you to let these (people) go free, and in such a way that our companions do not observe them.’ But Dumachus refused and Titus said again: <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">‘Take from me forty drachmae and have them as a pledge.’ At the same time he reached him the girdle which he wore round him, that he might hold his tongue and not speak.<a href="applewebdata://0C245A46-A6E6-4499-9300-250F5BA5CBAE#_edn4" name="_ednref4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">[iv]</span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 32px;"> In <i>Legends of the Madonna</i><u> </u>Anna Jameson called the encounter with the robbers an “ancient tradition,” and added another detail. After the acceptance of his offer, “the merciful robber led the Holy Travellers to his stronghold on the rock, and gave them lodging for the night.”<a href="applewebdata://0C245A46-A6E6-4499-9300-250F5BA5CBAE#_edn5" name="_ednref5" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">[v]</span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 32px;">The landscape in the background of the painting is commonplace in depictions of the Rest on the Flight into Egypt. The stream is often seen in versions of the “Rest.” It was used by the Madonna to either bathe, or to wash the swaddling clothes of her Son.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 32px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 32px;">Bathing might explain Mary’s exposed leg and arms but the disarray of her clothing could also be Giorgione’s way of representing her obvious danger from the robbers. In a painting now in the Hermitage Giorgione exposed the thigh of Judith, the famous Jewish heroine whose virtue was also threatened.<a href="applewebdata://0C245A46-A6E6-4499-9300-250F5BA5CBAE#_edn6" name="_ednref6" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">[vi]</span></span></span></a> In any case Mary sits with her back to Joseph with her eyes intent on her Son, her real protector. Joseph is portrayed as an elderly graybeard as in Giorgione’s well-known Nativities. The infant Christ lies on a white cloth and returns his mother’s imploring look. The white cloth recalls the <i>corporale</i>, the cloth used to cover the altar on which the Eucharist is placed.<a href="applewebdata://0C245A46-A6E6-4499-9300-250F5BA5CBAE#_edn7" name="_ednref7" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">[vii]</span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 32px;">The two men on the right side are not shepherds but robbers. A Giorgione shepherd would be kneeling or bending over the Child in adoration. The one with the red jacket has just convinced the other to leave the Holy Family in peace. He has taken off his “girdle” leaving himself somewhat exposed and given it to the other who is in the process of fixing it around his waist. The band of robbers can be seen lounging in the middle ground. Joseph’s flute recalls the well-known verse from Juvenal: “A wanderer who has nothing can sing in a robber’s face.”<a href="applewebdata://0C245A46-A6E6-4499-9300-250F5BA5CBAE#_edn8" name="_ednref8" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">[viii]</span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 32px;">In “The Encounter with the Robbers in the Desert” Giorgione did not attempt to hide the subject of that early work. If no one has recognized its subject from Michiel’s time to ours, it is because the very popular apocryphal legends have largely been forgotten. Early in his career Giorgione was working not on a pagan subject derived from the legend of Paris but on a depiction of an apocryphal legend based on the Flight into Egypt. Moreover, he showed an inclination, even at this early stage in his brief career, to depict the Madonna in a very unusual way.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 32px;"> Marcantonio Michiel may not have been the first to describe this painting. In 1510, the year of Giorgione’s death, Isabella D’Este, the Marchioness of Mantua and a noted collector, was trying to acquire a work by Giorgione for her<i> camerino</i>. When she was informed by Taddeo Albano, her agent in Venice, that Giorgione had just died, she urged him to try to acquire a “<i>Notte</i>” from his estate:<a href="applewebdata://0C245A46-A6E6-4499-9300-250F5BA5CBAE#_edn9" name="_ednref9" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">[ix]</span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">we hear that among the possessions left by Zorzo da Castelfranco, the painter, there is a picture of a <i>Notte</i>, very beautiful and original. If this is the case, we wish to have it, and beg your Lorenzo da Pavia or any other person of taste and judgment to go and see if it is a really excellent thing. If it is, I hope you will endeavor to secure this picture for me, with the help of our dearest <i>compare</i> the <i>Magnifico</i> Carlo Valerio, or of any one else you may think fit. Find out the price and let us have the exact sum; but if it is really a fine thing, and you think well to clench the bargain for fear others should carry it off, do what you think best…”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Albano replied,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">I have spoken in your interests to some of my friends who were very intimate with him, and they assure me that there is no such picture among his possessions. It is true that the said Zorzo painted a <i>Notte </i>for M. Taddeo Contarini, which, according to the information which I have, is not as perfect as you would desire. Another picture of the <i>Notte</i> was painted by Zorzo for a certain Vittore Beccaro, which, from what I hear, is finer in design and better finished than that of Contarini. But Beccaro is not at present in Venice, and from what I hear neither picture is for sale, because the owners have had them painted for their own pleasure, so that I regret I am unable to satisfy Your Excellency’s wish.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 32px;">According to Michiel’s notes the only painting in the home of Taddeo Contarini that could be a “notte” would be the “Discovery of Paris,” or as we have called it, “The Encounter with the Robbers on the Flight into Egypt.” Scholars have never agreed about what Isabella D’Este could have meant by “<i>Notte</i>.” Some think she was referring to a Nativity but Isabella knew a Nativity when she saw one, or when she requested one from Giovanni Bellini. No, the “Encounter with the Robbers” indicates that a “<i>Notte</i>” was an evening scene where the sun was setting over a landscape at the end of day. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 32px;">What about the other “notte”? It is certainly possible that the one done for Vittore Beccaro, the one finer in design and better finished; the one described by Isabella as “very beautiful and original” could have been the <i>Tempesta.</i> In the “Encounter with the Robbers” Giorgione was “stretching the envelope” with a presentation of a disheveled and partially nude Madonna. Later he would go even further in the “Tempesta.” But that is another story.<a href="applewebdata://0C245A46-A6E6-4499-9300-250F5BA5CBAE#_edn10" name="_ednref10" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">[x]</span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><div><br clear="all" /><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><div id="edn1"><p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><a href="applewebdata://0C245A46-A6E6-4499-9300-250F5BA5CBAE#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[i]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <u>The Anonimo,</u> Notes on Pictures and Works of Art in Italy made by an Anonymous Writer in the Sixteenth Century, ed. George C. Williamson, London, 1903. p. 104.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="edn2"><p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><a href="applewebdata://0C245A46-A6E6-4499-9300-250F5BA5CBAE#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[ii]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> ibid. note 1.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p></div><div id="edn3"><p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><a href="applewebdata://0C245A46-A6E6-4499-9300-250F5BA5CBAE#_ednref3" name="_edn3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[iii]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Jaynie Anderson, <u>Giorgione</u>, 1997, p. 317; and Wolfgang Eller, <u>Giorgione Catalog Raisonne</u>, Petersburg, 2007, pp. 171-173. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p></div><div id="edn4"><p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><a href="applewebdata://0C245A46-A6E6-4499-9300-250F5BA5CBAE#_ednref4" name="_edn4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[iv]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Extract from the Arabic Infancy Gospel in Edgar Hennecke, <u>New Testament Apocrypha</u>, edited by Wilhelm Schneemelcher, English translation edited by R. McL. Wilson, Volume One, Philadelphia 1963. p. 408. On the web a search for the<u> </u>First Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus, Chapter. VIII, will give the story with slightly different wording. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p></div><div id="edn5"><p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><a href="applewebdata://0C245A46-A6E6-4499-9300-250F5BA5CBAE#_ednref5" name="_edn5" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[v]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Jameson, <u>Legends of the Madonna,</u> Boston, 1885. pp. 361-362. Mrs. Jameson noted that the encounter with the robbers has been “seldom treated” as an artistic subject but did indicate that she had seen two representations. “One is a fresco by Giovanni di San Giovanni, which, having been cut from the wall of some suppressed convent, is now in the academy at Florence. The other is a composition by Zuccaro.” In a later edition she provided a sketch of the Zuccaro “Encounter,” which shows Joseph assisting the Madonna down from the Ass at the behest of the armed robber.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p></div><div id="edn6"><p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><a href="applewebdata://0C245A46-A6E6-4499-9300-250F5BA5CBAE#_ednref6" name="_edn6" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[vi]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> In Judith’s famous prayer she recalled her ancestor Simeon who took vengeance on the foreigners “who had undone a virgin’s girdle to her shame, laid bare her thigh to her confusion…” Judith 9:2, Jerusalem Bible.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p></div><div id="edn7"><p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><a href="applewebdata://0C245A46-A6E6-4499-9300-250F5BA5CBAE#_ednref7" name="_edn7" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[vii]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> For the <i>corporale</i> see the discussion of Titian’s <i>Pesaro Altarpiece</i> in Rona Goffen, <u>Piety and Patronage in Renaissance Venice</u>, Yale, 1986, p. 114.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p></div><div id="edn8"><p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><a href="applewebdata://0C245A46-A6E6-4499-9300-250F5BA5CBAE#_ednref8" name="_edn8" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[viii]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Juvenal, Satires, X, 22. I thank Dr. Karin Zeleny of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna for the Juvenal reference.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p></div><div id="edn9"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><a href="applewebdata://0C245A46-A6E6-4499-9300-250F5BA5CBAE#_ednref9" name="_edn9" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[ix]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> The correspondence is in Julia Cartwright, <u>Isabella d’Este, Marchioness of Mantua,</u> 1474-1539. London, 1932. Pp. 390-391.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p></div><div id="edn10"><p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><a href="applewebdata://0C245A46-A6E6-4499-9300-250F5BA5CBAE#_ednref10" name="_edn10" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[x]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> See Francis P. DeStefano, “Giorgione’s Tempest,” at academia.edu.</span><o:p></o:p></p></div></div><p> </p>Dr. Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08469403843869655063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054785923214156833.post-71940437883415238132023-05-01T10:15:00.000-07:002023-05-01T10:15:44.890-07:00Michelangelo: Doni Tondo Nudes<div class="separator"><br /></div><p> </p><br /><i>I published my interpretation of Michelangelo's Doni Tondo in installments on this site back in 2015. The </i><a href="https://www.academia.edu/45638333/Michelangelo_Doni_Tondo" style="font-style: italic;">complete paper</a><i> can now be read or downloaded at academia.edu. I have decided to re-post it this year win order to bring together all of my interpretive discoveries. In the two previous posts I argued that in the foreground of the painting Michelangelo depicted the Madonna offering her Son in the same way that a priest offers the Eucharistic host during the Consecration of the Mass. The second post discussed the role of the young John the Baptist in the mid-ground. Today, I reprise the third part of that paper that identified the nudes in the background as the Nephilim of the Hebrew scriptures at the time of Noah.</i><br /><br />***<br /><div><br /></div><div>In recent years the five nude young men in the background of Michelangelo’s <i>Doni Tondo </i>have received as much, if not more, attention than the Holy Family in the foreground. There would appear to be no agreement as to who they are or what they represent. Among other things, they have been variously interpreted as angels without wings, sinners, penitents awaiting Baptism, figures from pagan antiquity, or figures from the Old Testament.<br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpxk4ggNTMs3gNVSSpwg86KembubRqI-_9ykHiEcyk_PRHUsY5udE_9lipeOP3gpFl--GVaiwdtZuHkBLVy9BDhrLFAqkJekux3hj2WklGd7Cuqw2Lzneh6uZZQ6gfbrTPqGOTl2hcbcLlZJ6NRsVGMgefw59mEWz-9HV0Qxqq4dcpqY2jPqachg/s644/Tondo-Doni22.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="644" data-original-width="636" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpxk4ggNTMs3gNVSSpwg86KembubRqI-_9ykHiEcyk_PRHUsY5udE_9lipeOP3gpFl--GVaiwdtZuHkBLVy9BDhrLFAqkJekux3hj2WklGd7Cuqw2Lzneh6uZZQ6gfbrTPqGOTl2hcbcLlZJ6NRsVGMgefw59mEWz-9HV0Qxqq4dcpqY2jPqachg/w395-h400/Tondo-Doni22.jpg" width="395" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><br />In a paper, entitled “Michelangelo’s Doni Tondo: Holy Family and Family Myth,” Andree Hayum concentrated on the scene in the background. She noted the many different interpretations offered for the five nude men, but found the source in the Old Testament account of the drunkenness of Noah. She saw an obvious connection between the young men and Michelangelo’s famous depiction of the Noah story on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel.<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>But if one thinks of them as a constellation of three, the figures they recall are Michelangelo’s sons of Noah in the Sistine fresco of Noah’s Drunkenness. The most notable feature of Michelangelo’s sons of Noah is their nudity.*</i></blockquote><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ny2QY5nDt5M/Va5Rk13e4sI/AAAAAAAAEI0/rHb1oiSvvVc/s1600/Michelangelo_The-Drunkenness-of-Noah___Source.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ny2QY5nDt5M/Va5Rk13e4sI/AAAAAAAAEI0/rHb1oiSvvVc/s320/Michelangelo_The-Drunkenness-of-Noah___Source.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">Michelangelo: Drunkenness of Noah</td></tr></tbody></table><br />In her interpretation the three men on the viewer’s right in the <i>Doni Tondo</i> would be Noah’s sons Ham, Seth, and Japheth before the incident of their father’s humiliating drunkenness. After drinking of the fruit of the vine, Noah had fallen naked into a stupor in his tent. Ham looked upon his father’s nakedness but the other two averted their faces and covered him. When Noah awoke and realized what had happened, he cursed Ham. Hayum argued that the two innocent or sinless sons are therefore depicted after the episode on the viewer’s left.<br /><br />There is a connection between the young John the Baptist in the midground of the <i>Doni Tondo</i> and the story of Noah. Not only did theologians and artists see the Baptist, the last and greatest of the Hebrew prophets, as a link between the Old and New Covenants, but also they had related the story of Noah to Baptism.<br /><br />In the First Letter of St. Peter the saving of Noah and his family are seen as prefiguring Baptism. Just as the waters of the Flood wiped away sin, so too do the waters of Baptism. There can be no doubt of the prominence of the Noah story during Michelangelo’s time. Savonarola, his favorite preacher, had given perhaps his most famous series of sermons on Noah and the Flood right before the French invasion of Italy in 1494. Michelangelo featured the Noah story on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel only a few years after the completion of the <i>Doni Tondo</i>.<br /><br />Nevertheless, I have some questions about Hayum’s hypothesis. In the first place, where is Noah in the Doni Tondo? For Hayum this question was not a problem because she saw Noah in the figure of St. Joseph.<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>As in the sacrifice of Noah, the Holy Family alludes to Noah and his sibylline daughter-in-law. They have come to rest holding up the future male child. Like the ritual of sacrifice, the thanksgiving and the gift are one, and a sense of celebration prevails. **</i></blockquote><br />Noah’s daughter-in-law was reputed to be a sibyl and given the sibyls in the Sistine chapel, it was easy for Hayum and others to recognize a sibyl in Mary’s posture. Nevertheless, I believe it would be impossible to find another reference to Joseph as Noah. If anything, Noah is a type of Christ, not of St. Joseph. Noah’s salvation of mankind from destruction at the time of the Flood prefigured the salvation effected by Christ on the Cross.<br /><br />My second question relates to the postures of the nude figures in the Doni Tondo. Rather than participating in the scene of their father’s drunkenness, they lounge about like modern Italian men on a street corner ogling passing young women. A similar posture can be seen in an earlier devotional tondo by Luca Signorelli that is usually called the Medici Madonna. Hayum and others have seen a connection between the five nudes in Michelangelo’s tondo and the four practically nude young men in Signorelli’s painting.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lxwYtCSvKp8/XaHd6aDTV4I/AAAAAAAAGcs/Z_nrrDPcXYQPzGgeOPyAJRNn7Fwv6lu8QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Signorelli%252C_tondo_della_madonna_col_bambino_01.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="762" data-original-width="537" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lxwYtCSvKp8/XaHd6aDTV4I/AAAAAAAAGcs/Z_nrrDPcXYQPzGgeOPyAJRNn7Fwv6lu8QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Signorelli%252C_tondo_della_madonna_col_bambino_01.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">Luca Signorelli: Medice Madonn</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br />In the foreground of Signorelli’s painting the Madonna sits on the ground while her son appears to be taking his first step. St. Joseph and John the Baptist are absent but a bust of the Baptist as a man appears in the fictive frame above the tondo with a banner reading “Ecce Agnius Dei”. However, the four young men in Signorelli’s tondo also appear to be idlers. It is hard to see how they could be the sons of Noah either before or after the incident of his drunkenness.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K9fbj_uzOEQ/XaHl7bi2NoI/AAAAAAAAGc4/7FFtJxxSM9Yba7WeEM8jV9RsD2uVuI9aQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Tondo_Doni_-_tone_corrected.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="336" data-original-width="640" height="168" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K9fbj_uzOEQ/XaHl7bi2NoI/AAAAAAAAGc4/7FFtJxxSM9Yba7WeEM8jV9RsD2uVuI9aQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Tondo_Doni_-_tone_corrected.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /><br />I would like to suggest that the nudes in both paintings are related to the story of Noah but that they are not his sons. In the Book of Genesis there is a brief reference to giants upon the earth. Here is an English translation of the Vulgate Latin.<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>Now giants (gigantes) were upon the earth in those days. For after the sons of God went in to the daughters of men, and they brought forth children, these are the mighty men of old, men of renown. [Genesis 6:4]</i></blockquote><br />The Golden Legend embellished the biblical account of the time of Noah.<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>This time men began to multiply upon the earth, and the children of God, that is to say of Seth, as religious, saw the daughters of men, that is to say of Cain, and were overcome by concupiscence and took them to their wives. This time was so much sin on earth in the sin of lechery, which was misused against nature, wherefore God was displeased…</i></blockquote>A fuller account can be found in the apocryphal legends of the Jews.<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>Unlike Istehar, the pious maiden, Naamah, the lovely sister of Tubal-cain, led the angels astray with her beauty, and from her union with Shamdon sprang the devil Asmodeus. She was as shameless as all the other descendants of Cain, and as prone to bestial indulgences. Cainite women and Cainite men alike were in the habit of walking abroad naked, and they gave themselves up to every conceivable manner of lewd practices. Of such were the women whose beauty and sensual charms tempted the angels from the path of virtue. The angels, on the other hand, no sooner had they rebelled against God and descended to earth than they lost their transcendental qualities, and were invested with sublunary bodies, so that a union with the daughters of men became possible. The offspring of these alliances between the angels and the Cainite women were the giants, known for their strength and their sinfulness… ***</i></blockquote><br />The legends of the Jews ascribed a number of names to these giants but one was Nephilim, “because bringing the world to its fall, they themselves fell.” The modern Jerusalem bible does use the word Nephilim instead of giants to describe these troublemakers whose sins were so great that it took a flood to wipe them out. In addition to walking about naked, the Nephilim were noted for their arrogance and wantonness.<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>They knew neither toil nor care, and as a consequence of their extraordinary prosperity they grew insolent. In their arrogance they rose up against God…. It was their care-free life that gave them space and leisure for their infamies.</i> ***</blockquote><br /><br />The description of the Nephilim in the Jewish legends fits the depiction of the nude young men in the background of both Signorelli’s <i>Medici Madonna</i> and Michelangelo’s <i>Doni Tondo</i>. The painter of the ceiling of the Sistine chapel certainly had knowledge of the Book of Genesis. Scholars have demonstrated that he could have read the text in Italian because of the publication of the vernacular Malerbi bible in 1490. He obviously used the Malerbi woodcuts in his work in the Sistine chapel.<br /><br />Could he have been familiar with the folklore and legends of the Jews? Michelangelo grew up in a Florence that was a center of Hebraic studies. Michelangelo trained at the Medici court where Pico della Mirandola was known for his knowledge of the Hebrew lore and traditions that were all lumped together under the heading of Cabala. Most of Savonarola’s sermons were based on the books of the Old Testament. Also, Sante Pagnini, who succeeded Savonarola as Prior of San Marco, was a Dominican specialist in Hebrew language and grammar. He spent practically his entire career translating the Hebrew Scriptures into Latin.<br /><br />Finally, another source for the Nephilim was readily available in a book published only a decade before Michelangelo painted the <i>Doni Tondo</i>. David Whitford’s 2009 study, <i>The Curse of Ham in the Early Modern Era</i>, included a chapter devoted to the Giants or Nephilim. In particular, he discussed the Commentaria of Annius of Viterbo, a Dominican friar, whose book containing alleged writings and fragments of pre-Christian Greek and Latin authors appeared in 1498. Contemporary humanists suspected that the Commentaria and its author were frauds. Annius claimed linguistic knowledge that he did not possess, and even planned a fake archaeological discovery. Nevertheless, the book became very popular and was reprinted in 1515 with only minor corrections.<br /><br />Here is Whitford’s account of Annius on Noah and the Nephilim.<br /><br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>Book One begins by stating that before the “famous catastrophe of the waters, by which the entire world perished, many ages passed.” In these ages, giants ruled the world from their great city, Enos. The giants were corrupt and prone to tyranny, lechery, and debauchery. They devoted themselves to sexual immorality such that, “they had intercourse with their mothers, their daughters, their sisters, with other men and with wild beasts.” They also despised religion and the gods. Despite warnings and prophecies that the world would be destroyed because of this wickedness, the giants continued their impiety. Only one giant, who was more “reverential to the gods and wiser than the rest,” paid any attention to the prophecies; because of this he survived. His name was Noa “and he had three sons, Samus, Japetus, and Chem.” Noa (or Noah) survived because he could read the stars and foresaw the deluge to come. Thus, beginning 78 years before the Flood, he built an ark. When the floods came, the whole human race was drowned, except for Noa and his family. From this family sprang all the peoples of the earth. #</i></blockquote><br />Despite the spurious nature of the Commentaria, it would appear that the story of the Nephilim was in the air even before its publication in 1498, and that the Commentaria of Annius only added to its popularity.<br /><br />Why would Michelangelo place the proud giants or Nephilim in the <i>Doni Tondo</i>? I can only offer the following suggestion. The painting is a devotional image. The Madonna elevates her infant Son in the way a priest elevates the Host at Mass. John the Baptist looks at the Host and utters the words of the Agnus Dei: Behold the Lamb of God…. But the full version of the ancient prayer is “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.<br /><br />The Nephilim represent the sins of the world. I suggest that they are the nudes in the background of both the <i>Doni Tondo</i> and Signorelli’s <i>Medici Madonna</i>. In both paintings the Madonna and Child have turned their backs on the nudes in the background. Instead of a Flood, the Lord has sent his only Son to take away the sins of the world.<br /><br />###<br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 16pt;"><br /><br />*Andree Hayum, "Michelangelo’s Doni Tondo: Holy Family and Family Myth". Reprinted in <i>Michelangelo, Selected Scholarship in English</i>, edited with Introduction by William E. Wallace, New York and London, 1995, V. 1.Life and Early Works, p. 421-424.<br /><br />** Hayum, op. cit., p. 427.<br /><br />*** Louis Ginzberg, T<i>he Legends of the Jews</i>, 1909, V. 1, c. 4. Available online.<br /><br /># David Whitford, <i>The Curse of Ham in the Early Modern Era</i>. 2009.</div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Dr. Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08469403843869655063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054785923214156833.post-31491439203983214162023-04-15T07:22:00.004-07:002023-04-15T07:22:30.890-07:00Michelangelo: Doni Tondo--Behold the Lamb of God<p> </p><p><br /></p><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 6.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 6.25in;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><i>So far this year I have been re-posting my interpretations of famous but mysterious Renaissance paintings. In my previous post, I put up the first part of my interpretation of Michelangelo's Doni Tondo. Below find the second part. The <a href="https://www.academia.edu/45638333/Michelangelo_Doni_Tondo">full version</a> can be found on academia.edu.</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 6.25in;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 6.25in;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">**************************</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 6.25in;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 6.25in;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">In the <i>Doni Tondo</i> Michelangelo placed the Holy Family outside in a landscape. He used the setting of one of the most popular legendary subjects of the day, the encounter of the Holy Family with the infant John the Baptist on the return from their sojourn in Egypt. Obviously, the infant John had also been saved from the murderous designs of King Herod. While the Holy Family had fled to the safety of Egypt, popular legends recounted the escape of the Baptist and his mother Elizabeth by taking refuge in a desert cave or grotto.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wUGWHzAuBEc/VZafT2qctII/AAAAAAAAEHI/1OG5tzMF06I/s1600/Doni%2Bframe.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><img border="0" height="318" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wUGWHzAuBEc/VZafT2qctII/AAAAAAAAEHI/1OG5tzMF06I/s320/Doni%2Bframe.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">Scripture does not record how long the Holy Family remained in Egypt but the legends claimed that when they finally did return to Judea, they encountered the young John the Baptist in the desert. The significance of the meeting was not lost on theologians, ordinary folk, and the artists who found a ready market for paintings of the meeting of the two infants.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">The meeting in the desert was regarded as a precursor of the meeting at the Jordan some thirty years later that marked the beginning of the public life of Jesus. At the Baptism of Jesus, John had proclaimed, “behold the lamb of God”, a prophecy of the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. When artists portrayed the two infants meeting and sometimes embracing in the desert, they were depicting the acceptance by Jesus of his sacrificial mission.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivS3QTn9OglWbyMe1OZm39fetMao_B7700eWSeD_pcGcu0hXyGwhrLvZRR6bCMtmmVTy9HQ0DxqTHGLxoQzoATO80ZgDcRVB06c58I-2wnRx5nt0je6907nzIfKVzSHvvi-dffZi_OvjIajNiG0YQ7TSZ3I51qiGJoMlApnzO1t9Nc8nybrMC7GQ/s1903/Leonardo_Da_Vinci_-_Vergine_delle_Rocce_(Louvre).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1903" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivS3QTn9OglWbyMe1OZm39fetMao_B7700eWSeD_pcGcu0hXyGwhrLvZRR6bCMtmmVTy9HQ0DxqTHGLxoQzoATO80ZgDcRVB06c58I-2wnRx5nt0je6907nzIfKVzSHvvi-dffZi_OvjIajNiG0YQ7TSZ3I51qiGJoMlApnzO1t9Nc8nybrMC7GQ/s320/Leonardo_Da_Vinci_-_Vergine_delle_Rocce_(Louvre).jpg" width="202" /></a></div><br /><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal">Leonardo’s so-called “Madonna of the Rocks” is a good example of the encounter with the young John the Baptist. Leonardo placed the meeting in the cave or grotto in which the Baptist and his mother Elizabeth took refuge. One version, now in London, even depicts the Baptist showing the little cross to the infant Jesus.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQmpUCadMgV6gEm1gtOdHW7RHjinYQeL3K0N6YQJOyTA1TDPfuIeO-CrMJFS3PHikBUcO8mLfg6P6npsqboS4V7oJDnpXyjeTE6VrnVMqyHie7YX7z862NquMeg7Q7MBnl_yaGCgqHduAPOxEi5m8FRAalTBX1Wv1_tgvZjdK27Sq83ZelhCFnxw/s1088/3burlin.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1088" data-original-width="832" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQmpUCadMgV6gEm1gtOdHW7RHjinYQeL3K0N6YQJOyTA1TDPfuIeO-CrMJFS3PHikBUcO8mLfg6P6npsqboS4V7oJDnpXyjeTE6VrnVMqyHie7YX7z862NquMeg7Q7MBnl_yaGCgqHduAPOxEi5m8FRAalTBX1Wv1_tgvZjdK27Sq83ZelhCFnxw/s320/3burlin.jpg" width="245" /></a></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">Leonardo’s equally famous depiction of Mary, her mother Anne, and the two young boys is also a version of the encounter in the desert. In the original cartoon Leonardo included the two boys but he substituted a lamb for the Baptist in the final version. Leonardo exhibited the cartoon on his return to Florence shortly before Michelangelo began working on the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Doni Tondo</i> but Michelangelo finished his painting before the completion of Leonardo’s final version.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgygDYxwDmGFeUsCrXLxXQqw0sOMJWjcRs5ZqI-nHMWEqtc3yxBvcJvDXNbRiq-6NbkkIMccT3Z0yfOr_g33wU9bfi9xOQ4OmpDa1z305sTe85FASIWfLCU5jApGW7tFL6CMHCF9Jvi__HnkedGru9rfbF8dD9mulh_UhLeAFo6rbqdFa7ZYc1O5w/s1680/Tondo_Doni,_por_Miguel_A%CC%81ngel.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1680" data-original-width="1651" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgygDYxwDmGFeUsCrXLxXQqw0sOMJWjcRs5ZqI-nHMWEqtc3yxBvcJvDXNbRiq-6NbkkIMccT3Z0yfOr_g33wU9bfi9xOQ4OmpDa1z305sTe85FASIWfLCU5jApGW7tFL6CMHCF9Jvi__HnkedGru9rfbF8dD9mulh_UhLeAFo6rbqdFa7ZYc1O5w/s320/Tondo_Doni,_por_Miguel_A%CC%81ngel.jpg" width="314" /></a></div><br /><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">In Michelangelo’s tondo the young John does not embrace or gambol with Jesus. Neither does he cozy up with the Holy Family or even join up with the group as he does in so many depictions. He stands behind or leans on a parapet that separates him from the Holy Family as if he were a member of a congregation. As Mary elevates her Child, it is as if John is observing the elevation of the Host at Mass. His words, “Behold the Lamb of God”, form part of the “Agnus Dei”, one of the most ancient prayers of the Mass. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">The sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross was reenacted at every Mass. When the priest elevated the Host at the Consecration, the congregation could not only see the Host but also a crucifix on the wall above or hung on the altar screen. It is difficult to know what went through an ordinary person’s mind at that point in the Mass. Early in the twentieth century Pope Pius X urged Catholics not to bow in reverence but to look upon the elevated Host and say to themselves the words of doubting Thomas, “my Lord and my God.” But during the Renaissance we most likely have to turn to the artists for the answer. When John the Baptist approached Jesus either as a child in the desert or at the Jordan years later, his words, “behold the Lamb of God” called to mind the elevation of the Host at the Consecration.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">There are points of comparison between Michelangelo’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Doni Tondo</i> and an earlier Florentine tondo by Luca Signorelli commonly called the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Medici Madonna </i>but actually a depiction of the return from Egypt. In the foreground the Madonna sits on the ground while her son appears to be taking his first step. St. Joseph is absent but a bust of John the Baptist as a man appears in the fictive frame above the tondo. Beneath the bust is a banner with the words “Ecce Agnius Dei”. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-reZTFshmMJs/VZagB8_rikI/AAAAAAAAEHQ/83yKWfD_raI/s1600/Signorelli%252C_tondo_della_madonna_col_bambino_01.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-reZTFshmMJs/VZagB8_rikI/AAAAAAAAEHQ/83yKWfD_raI/s320/Signorelli%252C_tondo_della_madonna_col_bambino_01.jpg" width="225" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: small;">Luca Signorelli: <i>Medici Madonna</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">Most scholars have noted that Michelangelo placed the Baptist in the midground of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Doni Tondo </i>as a link between the Holy Family in the foreground and the five nude young men in the background of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Doni Tondo</i>. It has been argued that the Baptist, the last and greatest of the Hebrew prophets, acts as a link between the Old and New Covenants. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><!--StartFragment--><!--EndFragment--><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">In the background of the Signorelli tondo mentioned above there are also some practically nude young men in various poses. It has been argued that Michelangelo must have been aware of the Signorelli <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Medici Madonna</i>. But in each case, who are these nude young men, or what do they represent? This question is the one that seems to absorb modern scholarship the most, and I will turn to it in my next post. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">###</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>Dr. Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08469403843869655063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054785923214156833.post-38441215317389528382023-04-01T07:01:00.002-07:002023-04-01T07:01:55.735-07:00Michelangelo: Doni Tondo<p> </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">This year I have been reprising my interpretations of some of the most famous and mysterious paintings of the Renaissance. I originally concentrated on the Venetian Renaissance but in 2015 took a closer look at Michelangelo's <i>Doni Tondo. Below is the first part of a three part essay that first appeared in 2015. The <a href="https://www.academia.edu/45638333/Michelangelo_Doni_Tondo">full paper </a>can now be found at academia.edu. I still believe the painting should be labelled, "Behold the Lamb of God."</i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>************************</i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Michelangelo’s <i>Doni Tondo</i> is one of the greatest masterpieces of the High Renaissance. It is his only surviving panel painting and now hangs in the Uffizi in its original frame. Most scholars date it somewhere between Michelangelo’s completion of the David in 1504 and his departure from Florence to Rome in 1506. Like many of the masterpieces of this era, it has elicited many different interpretations. At first glance it appears to be simply a traditional rendering of the Holy Family but, on closer inspection, a number of questions arise. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UY5J39Kz_7c/VWsZ71D8NcI/AAAAAAAAEBc/ArzjdTOdiXE/s1600/Doni%2Bframe.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="398" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UY5J39Kz_7c/VWsZ71D8NcI/AAAAAAAAEBc/ArzjdTOdiXE/w400-h398/Doni%2Bframe.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div></div><br /><br />In the foreground Mary, Joseph, and the Infant Jesus are situated in a landscape. But what is going on? Is Mary handing the Child to Joseph, or is Joseph handing the Child to Mary? Why does Mary look as she does with muscular arms shockingly uncovered? What is Joseph doing in the painting? Why, despite tradition, has he been brought so prominently into the center to play an apparently key role? What is the young John the Baptist doing behind a parapet or wall in the midground? Finally, who are the five male nudes in the background, and why are they there?<br /><br />As far as the first question is concerned, I originally agreed with Giorgio Vasari’s view that Mary “presents” the child to Joseph. In his life of Michelangelo, Vasari wrote<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>There came to Angelo Doni, a Florentine citizen and a friend of Michelagnolo. who much delighted to have beautiful things both by ancient and by modern craftsmen, a desire to possess some work by Michelagnolo; wherefore that master began for him a round picture containing a Madonna, who, kneeling on both knees, has an Infant in her arms and presents Him to Joseph, who receives him. Here Michelagnolo expresses in the turn of the head of the Mother of Christ and in the gaze of her eyes, which she keeps fixed on the supreme beauty of her Son, her marvelous contentment and her lovingness in sharing it with that saintly old man, who receives Him with equal affection, tenderness, and reverence, as may be seen very readily in his countenance, without considering it too long. </i><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7054785923214156833#_edn1">[i]</a></blockquote>Most modern scholars disagree with Vasari’s opinion. In a 1968 essay Mirella Levi d’Ancona, because of her belief that Michelangelo was supporting a Dominican view of Mary’s Immaculate Conception, saw the Child raising himself out of his mother’s body as if he was actually being born and sanctifying his mother at the moment of His birth. She wrote,<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>The Christ child—God incarnated in human form—is issuing from the body of the Virgin to take his human form, and at the same time blesses his mother, to bestow on her a special sanctification. </i><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7054785923214156833#_edn2">[ii]</a></blockquote><br />On the other hand, in 2003 Timothy Verdon believed that the source of the Doni Tondo could be found in Marsilio Ficino’s Neoplatonic concept of three kinds of love. As a result, Verdon argued that not only was Mary receiving the Child but that the man in the painting was not even St. Joseph. <br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>the old man in the Tondo Doni seems to flout the tradition of a passive Joseph, separate from Mary, for the simple reason that he is not Joseph: he does not represent the surrogate father, but the real one, God, from whom the Son proceeds ab aeterno. Vasari was mistaken when he said that the old man “takes” the baby from Mary; it is rather the baby who emerges from the Father, with his left foot on the Father’s thigh and his little hands in Mary’s hair to maintain his balance. The Baby, with his right foot on Mary’s arm, is about to push himself up and over, in order to descend into the Virgin’s womb.</i><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7054785923214156833#_edn3">[iii]</a></blockquote>I now believe that neither view is correct. Vasari was often mistaken or ill informed but he was a close friend and confidant of Michelangelo. It would be almost the height of temerity to reject his eyewitness description of the central feature in this painting. Nevertheless, it would appear that he did not take more than a glance at the painting. For example, he saw the Madonna kneeling although she is obviously sitting. <br /><br />It is so easy to overlook or ignore important and obvious details in a Renaissance masterpiece, but there are significant elements in the <i>Doni Tondo</i> that call for a new interpretation. Rather than handing off the Child to Joseph, I would argue that Mary is actually elevating the body of her Son in the same way that a priest elevates the Host or Body of Christ at the Consecration of every Mass. The keys to this interpretation are the hands of Mary, and the posture of Joseph.<br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nEijlMzGrAg/XXewZd1L64I/AAAAAAAAGZk/CAKeAM-zvec5Kq1R2Vhg_wClgUDMdqxpACEwYBhgL/s1600/michelangelo%2Bdoni%2Btondo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="866" data-original-width="857" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nEijlMzGrAg/XXewZd1L64I/AAAAAAAAGZk/CAKeAM-zvec5Kq1R2Vhg_wClgUDMdqxpACEwYBhgL/w395-h400/michelangelo%2Bdoni%2Btondo.jpg" width="395" /></a></div><div><br /><br />The position of Mary’s hands and fingers cannot allow her to either hand the Infant Jesus off to Joseph or take the Child from him. As I pondered the painting, I asked myself where had I seen hands like that before. Eventually, I realized that Mary’s hands and fingers resembled a priest’s at the Consecration. After the Second Vatican council liturgical norms in the Catholic church were somewhat relaxed, but I remembered from my childhood that the priest would take the host between the thumb and forefinger of both hands before and during the elevation. Naturally, his other fingers would then close or cup in the shape of Mary’s as he raised the host. Since the priest’s back was to the congregation, he would raise the Host high above his head and look at it intently in the same way Mary does in the <i>Doni Tondo</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5qzn4SKSLsw/XXexiP7QyQI/AAAAAAAAGZs/EDbrHz6Ek0EpifyiQhIid2b6kigy83DWwCLcBGAs/s1600/Mass%2BElevation-01.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="751" data-original-width="1491" height="161" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5qzn4SKSLsw/XXexiP7QyQI/AAAAAAAAGZs/EDbrHz6Ek0EpifyiQhIid2b6kigy83DWwCLcBGAs/s320/Mass%2BElevation-01.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /><br />In the art of the Renaissance it was common to equate the infant Jesus lying on his mother’s lap, or on the ground surrounded by various worshippers, with the Eucharistic host. The <i>Portinari Altarpiece </i>is one of the best examples. The infant Jesus lies on the ground surrounded by worshippers including angels wearing the vestments of altar servers. In Franciscan theology, for example, even when Mary was holding her infant Son on her lap, she was the altar on which the Eucharist rested.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vTIYdCfOOc4/XXex--sVBTI/AAAAAAAAGZ0/CbpWy8mWdeE-phaN4XAMX5R8ASogHI1EwCLcBGAs/s1600/Portinari%2BHugo_van_der_Goes_004.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="545" data-original-width="1280" height="272" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vTIYdCfOOc4/XXex--sVBTI/AAAAAAAAGZ0/CbpWy8mWdeE-phaN4XAMX5R8ASogHI1EwCLcBGAs/w640-h272/Portinari%2BHugo_van_der_Goes_004.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">Hugo van der Goes: <i>Portinari Altarpiece</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br />Verdon noted that his view partly arose out of a conversation with the late famed art historian Leo Steinberg. In 1974 Steinberg published a brief essay on the <i>Doni Tondo</i> in Vogue magazine. Steinberg’s reputation was so great that practically every commentator on the <i>Doni Tondo</i> refers to the Vogue essay. In that essay Steinberg saw deliberate ambiguity in Michelangelo’s famous painting that makes it very difficult to determine who is handing the Child to whom. But he did find four levels of meaning including a Eucharistic one. Here is his ending. <br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>Christian tradition made the Virgin’s identity interchangeable with Ecclesia; and it made Joseph the typus apostolorum, protector and spouse of the Church, “guardian of the living bread for himself and the whole world” (St. Bernard). And as the maternal function of the Church culminates in the Mass, which engenders the sacramental body of Christ, so in the tondo, the unprecedented pitch of the Child above the Madonna prefigures the Elevation of the Host, of the Corpus Verum, the Eucharist—literally, a “Thanksgiving.”</i><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7054785923214156833#_edn4">[iv</a></blockquote><br />Steinberg did note the “furled fingers” of Mary but only concluded that since no woman would ever receive a child in that way, “she must have just let it go.” So, in his opinion, the raising of the Child only “prefigures" the Elevation of the Host….”</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H8PLLPwULmo/XXezJw5Y3dI/AAAAAAAAGaA/RqfxyK7YRr03Vu230F1MXDHJ3GcBtm1aQCLcBGAs/s1600/Doni-Tondo-detail%2Bcopy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="461" data-original-width="600" height="245" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H8PLLPwULmo/XXezJw5Y3dI/AAAAAAAAGaA/RqfxyK7YRr03Vu230F1MXDHJ3GcBtm1aQCLcBGAs/s320/Doni-Tondo-detail%2Bcopy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /><br /><br />I would also like to point out that the garments of Mary indicate a priestly role. Michelangelo depicted her in her traditional red dress with her blue cloak or mantle draped over her legs. But there is also a green cloth wrapped around her on which a book, perhaps a Missal, rests. Green is still the color of the priest’s vestments on most of the Sundays of the Church year.<br /><br />The concept of St. Joseph as protector and spouse of the Church is sufficient to explain his prominent position in the Eucharistic celebration. The man in Michelangelo’s tondo bears all the characteristics of St. Joseph as he was portrayed during the early decades of the sixteenth century. Joseph was increasingly depicted as a virile man quite capable of protecting his family especially on the flight into Egypt. One just has to look at Raphael’s <i>Sposalizio</i> in the Brera. In addition, the purple and gold coloring of his garments also identifies Joseph as from the line of King David.<br /><br />The posture of Joseph also confirms his identification. He is behind Mary and the Body of Christ. At the consecration of the Mass the sacrifice is offered to the Father above at the heavenly altar. Also, we see that Joseph is not standing since he does not tower over the sitting Madonna. Is he squatting awkwardly? Is he sitting on a hidden stool? We can only see his right leg but it is bent at the knee. It would appear that Joseph is kneeling or genuflecting as all worshippers do as the priest elevates the Body of Christ. At the same time his left hand is placed firmly on the Infant’s chest. Is he actually receiving Communion or just indicating the central role of the Church in the acceptance of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist? <br /><br /><br />Even before the Reformation doubts had arisen about the Real Presence. The building of the great Cathedral in Orvieto in response to the Eucharistic miracle at Bolsena is one example of the Church's response to these doubts. Raphael's so-called <i>Disputa</i> in the Vatican Stanze is another response. <br /><br />Subsequent posts will discuss the young John the Baptist in the mid-ground, and the five nude men in the background.<br /><br /><br />###<br /><br />*This post originally appeared on Giorgione et al... on May 31, 2015.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7054785923214156833#_ednref">[i]</a> Giorgio Vasari, <i>Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects</i>, translated by Gaston du C. De Vere, with an introduction and notes by David Ekserdjian, Everyman’s Library, 1996, v. II, p. 656.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7054785923214156833#_ednref">[ii]</a> Mirella Levi D’Ancona: "The Doni Madonna by Michelangelo: An Iconographic Study." Reprinted in <i>Michelangelo, Selected Scholarship in English</i>, edited with Introduction by William E. Wallace, New York and London, 1995, V. 1.Life and Early Works, p. 404. This paper originally appeared in the Art Bulletin in 1968.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7054785923214156833#_ednref">[iii]</a> Timothy Verdon, <i>Mary in Florentine Art</i>, Firenze, 2003, pp. 97-98.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7054785923214156833#_ednref">[iv]</a> Leo Steinberg, “Michelangelo’s Doni Tondo,” Vogue, December, 1974, pp. 138.</div>Dr. Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08469403843869655063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054785923214156833.post-8043104640042227212023-03-16T09:55:00.008-07:002023-03-16T10:03:20.292-07:00Titian: Pastoral Concert<p> </p><p><br /></p><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; mso-outline-level: 1;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Since 2013 I have argued that the so-called <i>Pastoral Concert</i> that hangs in the Louvre should be recognized as Titian's <i>Homage to the Recently Deceased Giorgione. The</i> <a href=" https://www.academia.edu/45554879/Titian_Pastoral_Concert ">full paper</a> can now be found on academia.edu., and below find a shortened version that first appeared on Giorgione et al... back in 2013 with some more recent notes.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">***************** </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0.25in; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.25in;">The “Pastoral Concert” or “Concert Champetre” that now hangs in the Louvre is universally recognized as one of the world’s great masterpieces. Usually dated around 1510-1511 it is surrounded, like other famous products of the Venetian Renaissance, by an aura of mystery and enigma. Not only has scholarly opinion been divided about whether to attribute the painting to Giorgione or Titian, but also no one has been able to come up with a plausible explanation of the subject or meaning of the painting.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0.25in; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.25in;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lnrWtDwdgOc/UdGCqWKFpQI/AAAAAAAACV4/Y5AIvjWbQX4/s1600/Concert_.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="321" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lnrWtDwdgOc/UdGCqWKFpQI/AAAAAAAACV4/Y5AIvjWbQX4/s400/Concert_.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Titian: Pastoral Concert (Louvre)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;">In this post I present a synopsis of a “working hypothesis” that provides a new interpretation of the subject of the "Pastoral Concert" and also resolves the question of attribution. I argue that Titian used the famous Biblical story of Jonathan and David to provide a framework for a personal homage to Giorgione, his recently deceased mentor and friend. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;">Before going any further it should be noted that my reading is speculative and unorthodox. As far as I know a painterly homage would be unique and unprecedented in the art of the Venetian Renaissance.* Nevertheless, there is no settled opinion on the subject of the “Pastoral Concert”, and a Titian homage to Giorgione answers most of the questions that have surrounded the painting. **<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;">This interpretation explains why Titian put so many Giorgionesque elements in the painting, but also identifies the four main figures in the painting as well as their relationship with one another. The man on the left wearing finery and holding the lute is Giorgione. Many of the features of Giorgione that Vasari mentions in his short biography can be seen in this young man. Moreover, three here-to-fore inexplicable details in the painting indicate that Giorgione is dead: his face is in shadow; the lute has no strings; and the nude on the left is pouring into a well. ***<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;">This interpretation then identifies the young rustic on the right as Titian. He depicts himself as Giorgione’s social inferior but also as his successor. His closeness to the other man as well as his connection with the flock in the mid ground brings to mind the biblical story of David and Jonathan. Titian identifies himself with David, the soul-mate and successor of Jonathan.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pk57f-pqUHM/UdGFNBvOCEI/AAAAAAAACWE/EwwHdA7nvIg/s1122/Cima_David_Jonathan.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pk57f-pqUHM/UdGFNBvOCEI/AAAAAAAACWE/EwwHdA7nvIg/s320/Cima_David_Jonathan.jpg" width="313" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">Cima da Conegliano: David and Jonathan<br />National Gallery, London, c. 1506-10.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;">My interpretation agrees with those scholars who have observed that the two female nudes in the painting are muses who are invisible to the two men. Although muses are the source of inspiration, the men are oblivious of their presence. Indeed, I argue that the two nudes are the same muse. She is Euterpe, the muse of lyric poetry and music. The standing nude is pouring Giorgione’s spirit out, but on the right she is looking directly at Titian.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;">To express his homage to the deceased Giorgione, Titian incorporated many Giorgionesque elements into the painting. Practically everything that Vasari said about Giorgione can be found in this painting. The most telling evidence is the reference to the story of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">paragone</i> where Giorgione claimed supremacy for painting over sculpture since he could portray every aspect of a figure on a flat surface. In one glance the viewer sees the front, the back and the profile of the nude Euterpe.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;">Many have seen that the relationship between the two young men in the “Pastoral Concert” is the key to the painting. Some have even seen a strong trace of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“homo-eroticism.” In my opinion the bond between two young warriors, or two young artists is sufficient to explain the painting. Look at the painting and consider David’s lament on hearing the news of the death of Jonathan.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><br /></div><blockquote class="tr_bq">O Jonathan, in your death I am stricken<br />I am desolate for you, Jonathan my brother.<br />Very dear to me you were,<br />Your love to me more wonderful<br />than the love of a woman. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> 2 Samuel</span> 1:19-26</blockquote></blockquote><p>### </p><p>* I originally wrote these words in May, 2013. Only in 2020 did I discover that art historian Christiane Joost-Gaugier had seen the painting as Titian's homage to the deceased Giorgione back in 1999. (<span style="font-family: "times";">Joost-Gaugier, Christiane L. "The mute poetry of the Fete Champetre: Titian’s memorial to Giorgione." Gazette des Beaux Arts, January 1999, Issue 1560, pp. 1-14.)</span></p><p>Initially, this discovery was somewhat embarrassing since I should have found Dr. Gaugier's interpretation earlier. However, it became somewhat comforting to find that I had come independently to a similar conclusion with someone of her stature, knowledge, and experience. Nevertheless, while I agree with much of Dr. Gaugier's analysis, I do have disagreements with some of the conclusions she drew from her insights. I discussed the areas of agreement and disagreement in a <a href="https://giorgionetempesta.blogspot.com/2020/06/titian-memorial-to-giorgione.html">subsequent post</a>.</p><p>** For a<a href="https://giorgionetempesta.blogspot.com/2013/06/pastoral-concert.html"> bibliographical essay</a> on the painting see the post on Giorgione et al... dated 6/17/2013.</p><p>*** Since 2013, I have come to recognize that the dark clouds in the background are also a sign of the death of Giorgione. </p>Dr. Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08469403843869655063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054785923214156833.post-56332082238239579822023-02-28T07:17:00.008-08:002023-03-14T14:11:27.468-07:00Giorgione: Three Ages of Man<p>Old age and diminished eyesight have practically brought my art history career to an end. As a result, in 2023 I have decided to reproduce my various interpretive discoveries once again on giorgione et al... as a kind of archive. In the last month I have republished condensed versions of my interpretations of Giorgione's <i>Tempest</i>, as well as Titian's <i>Sacred and Profane Love</i>. Below find a third interpretive discovery that originally appeared here on October 11, 2011. The <a href="https://www.academia.edu/45280207/Giorgiones_The_Three_Ages_of_Man_The_Encounter_of_Jesus_with_the_Rich_Young">full paper</a> can be found on academia.edu. </p><p><br /></p><p>**************</p><p> Giorgione’s <i><b>Three Ages of Man</b></i> is another one of his paintings that has so far eluded identification. The name of the painting that now hangs in the Pitti Palace is pure guesswork stemming only from the obvious disparity in ages of the three men. One appears to be about 60, another in his early thirties, and the last a young man in his teens.</p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3h05sXnrsQo/VwurotgCHxI/AAAAAAAAEjc/hX-tfD-VDloM77BZzlS8Ynif9macmWUtQ/s1600/three%2Bages.JPG.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3h05sXnrsQo/VwurotgCHxI/AAAAAAAAEjc/hX-tfD-VDloM77BZzlS8Ynif9macmWUtQ/s320/three%2Bages.JPG.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">Giorgione: Three Ages of Man<br />Pitti Palace, Florence<br />Oil on wood, 62 cm x 77.5 cm</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Scholars today object to the popular title. Some think it represents a music lesson and that the man on the viewer’s right is pointing to musical notes on the paper held by the young man. Others claim that it represents the education of the young emperor/philosopher Marcus Aurelius. Others just throw up their hands and claim that it contains, like other Giorgione works, multiple levels of meaning.<br /><br />However, the most spectacular element in this mysterious painting has so far received little notice. Venetian painters were known for their coloration. Just look at the garments of the three men. Nothing in a Renaissance painting is there by accident or whim. The colors in this painting provide a real clue to its subject.<br /><br />As far as I know no one has suggested that the painting has a “sacred” subject, but yet, it appears that Giorgione has depicted a scene from the nineteenth chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew. It is the story of the encounter of Jesus with the young man of great wealth. (See below for full text)<br /><br />In Matthew’s account the young man asked Jesus what he could do to attain eternal life. Jesus told him to keep the Commandments, and specifically named the most important. The man replied that he had done so but still felt that something was wanting. Jesus then uttered the famous words, “If thou wilt be perfect, go, sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” The gospel relates that the young man went away sad for he had many possessions.<br /><br />How has Giorgione depicted this story and who is the third man? The man in the middle is obviously young and the golden lapels of his garment as well as his fashionable hat indicate that he is well to do. He is holding a piece of paper or parchment that contains some indecipherable writing that under magnification hardly looks like Renaissance musical notation.<br /><br />On the right most Venetians would have immediately recognized the visage of Jesus. There is no halo or nimbus but Giorgione never employed that device. The pointed finger is certainly characteristic of Jesus. Here he points not at a sheet of music but at the Commandments, which the gospel account has just enumerated.<br /><br />Jesus wears a green garment or vestment, certainly an unusual color for him. In fact, it looks like the robe or chasuble worn by a priest during Mass. At the hand of Jesus we can also see the white sleeve of the “alb", a long white robe always worn under the chasuble. Green is the color used by the Catholic Church during Ordinary time, that part of the Church year not identified with any of the great feasts.<br /><br />The third man is St. Peter. He is the only other person identified in Matthew’s account of this incident. He stands on the left, head turned toward the viewer. Giorgione uses Peter as an interlocutor, a well-known Renaissance artistic device designed to draw the viewer into the painting and encourage emotional participation. The old man’s face is the traditional iconographical rendering of Peter with his baldhead and short stubby beard. As Anna Jameson noted many years ago, Peter is often portrayed as ”a robust old man, with a broad forehead, and rather coarse features.” **<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GdB3fx_78DY/XrB0wYvxGsI/AAAAAAAAGyA/gFFrBd6xOigHamjSD7NDNPjqKnuC1-UhgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Durer%2Bpeter.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="164" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GdB3fx_78DY/XrB0wYvxGsI/AAAAAAAAGyA/gFFrBd6xOigHamjSD7NDNPjqKnuC1-UhgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Durer%2Bpeter.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">Durer: St. Peter detail</td></tr></tbody></table>Giovanni Bellini and Albrecht Durer, both Giorgione contemporaries, depicted Peter’s head in this fashion. About a hundred years later Caravaggio still used it in striking fashion in the "Martyrdom of St. Peter" in S. Maria del Popolo in Rome, and in the "Denial of Peter" now in New York’s Metropolitan Museum.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2AvbiDCAfpU/XrB0-kfdRpI/AAAAAAAAGyE/m3aVjxidnXotYKbhI38uTdTl1g4uXeAHQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Caravaggio%2Bpeter.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="238" data-original-width="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2AvbiDCAfpU/XrB0-kfdRpI/AAAAAAAAGyE/m3aVjxidnXotYKbhI38uTdTl1g4uXeAHQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Caravaggio%2Bpeter.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">Caravaggio: Denial of Peter</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The color of Peter’s robe is also liturgically significant. Peter is rarely shown wearing red, but Giorgione has chosen to show him wearing the color reserved for the feast days of the martyrs. In the gospel account immediately after the young man went away sad, Peter, speaking for the other disciples as well as for the viewer of Giorgione’s painting, had asked, “Behold we have left all and followed thee: what then shall we have?”<br /><br />In the first decade of the sixteenth century Venice was at the apex of its glory. It would suffer a great defeat at the end of the decade during the War of the League of Cambrai but until that time it was arguably the wealthiest and most powerful of all the European nations. It was certainly the only one that dared confront the mighty Ottoman Empire.<br /><br />Nevertheless, some young Venetian patricians were wondering whether the whole life of politics, commercial rivalry, and warfare was worthwhile. One of them, Tommaso Giustiniani, a scion of one of the greatest families, did actually sell all his possessions, including his art collection, in order to live as a hermit in a Camaldolensian monastery. At one point he wrote to a few friends, who were also considering a similar move, about the futility of their daily lives. He argued that Venetian life was agitated, completely outward, and continually dominated by ambition. It was the reason for all their worry.<br /><br /><blockquote>“If, then, a Stoic philosopher appeared to free their minds from all these disturbances, his efforts would be in vain, so completely does agitation dominate and enfetter their whole lives. How can anyone not feel disgust for such an empty existence.”? ***</blockquote><br />Peter and the other disciples were shocked when Jesus said that it would be harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. “Who then can be saved,” they asked? The response of Jesus was full of hope: “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Green, the liturgical color used throughout the Church year, is also the color of hope.<br /><br />“The Encounter of Jesus with the Rich Young Man,” the name we can now give to the painting in the Pitti Palace, would certainly appear to have an historical context in Giorgione’s time. Five hundred years after the death of this short-lived genius perhaps we can begin to understand that Giorgione was a unique and original painter of sacred subjects.<br /><br />###<br /><br />Full text of Matthew 19:16-27.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">And behold, a certain man came to him and said, “Good Master, what good work shall I do to have eternal life?” He said to him, “Why dost thou ask me about what is good? One there is who is good, and he is God. But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which?” And Jesus said,<br /><br />Thou shalt not kill,<br />Thou shalt not commit adultery,<br />Thou shalt not steal,<br />Thou shalt not bear false witness,<br />Honor thy father and mother, and,<br />Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”<br /><br />The young man said to him, “All these I have kept; what is yet wanting to me?” Jesus said to him, “If thou wilt be perfect, go, sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” But when the young man heard the saying, he went away sad, for he had great possessions.<br /><br />But Jesus said to his disciples, “Amen I say to you, with difficulty will a rich man enter the kingdom of heaven. And further I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.” The disciples hearing this, were exceedingly astonished, and said, “who then can be saved?” And looking upon them, Jesus said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”<br /><br />Then Peter addressed him, saying, “Behold we have left all and followed thee: what then shall we have?”</span><br /><br />* Note: This article first appeared in Giorgione et al... on Oct. 8, 2011. It followed upon my interpretations of Giorgione's <i><b>Tempest</b></i>, and Titian's <b><i>Sacred and Profane Love</i></b> as sacred subjects. The full papers can be found on my website, <a href="http://giorgionetempesta.com/?page_id=86">MyGiorgione</a>.<br /><br />** Anna Jameson, "Sacred and Legendary Art," Boston, 1896, Vol. 1, p. 191.<br /><br />*** Dom Jean LeClercq, <i>Camaldolese Extraordinary, The Life, Doctrine, and Rule of Blessed Paul Giustiniani</i>, Bloomingdale, Ohio, 2003, pp. 61-62.Dr. Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08469403843869655063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054785923214156833.post-24490556963438311302023-02-15T07:34:00.005-08:002023-02-15T07:35:24.576-08:00Titian: Sacred and Profane Love<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">On a chance visit to Rome's Borghese Gallery in 2010, my wife and I entered a large upstairs room and were struck by Titian's famous painting, the so-called "Sacred and Profane Love." I turned to her and said, "It's Mary Magdalen." On our return home, this initial intuition led to the research that provided confirmation. I originally published my findings on Three Pipe Problem, a very popular art history blog created by Hasan Niyazi. After his untimely death, I published it on Giorgione et al... and on MyGiorgione. Recently, I have put the <a href="https://www.academia.edu/45112448/Titians_Sacred_and_Profane_Love_The_Conversion_of_Mary_Magdalen">full version</a> on academia.edu. Below is a shorter version.</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mAwM-PlqSW0/Udrzfh-dbTI/AAAAAAAACYM/E7cGC13News/s1600/SAPL+best+.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="160" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mAwM-PlqSW0/Udrzfh-dbTI/AAAAAAAACYM/E7cGC13News/w400-h160/SAPL+best+.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Cambria;"><b> </b></span></o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Cambria;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">Perhaps the most spectacular work of art in the magnificent collection of Rome’s Borghese Gallery is Titian’s “Sacred and Profane Love,” one of the great masterpieces of the Venetian Renaissance. Early in the last century a collector offered more for this one painting than the appraised value of the entire Museum. Measuring over 9.5 by 3.5 feet this beautiful painting seems to dominate almost an entire wall in one of the largest rooms. <span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">Despite its fame there has never been agreement on the subject of Titian’s painting. The title “Sacred and Profane Love” was only attached to it long after Titian’s death in an attempt to describe the two beautiful fair-haired women in the foreground. One is fully clothed in a sumptuous gown, and the other is semi-nude except for garments that billow around her but only cover her privates.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">Commentators have always noted the resemblance between the two women. Some call them sisters, even twins. Most scholars have accepted the view, expressed by famed Art historian Erwin Panofsky almost 75 years ago, that the women are versions of a Neoplatonic Venus, one earthly and the other celestial. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">More recently, another famed art historian argued that Titian represented one woman in two guises. </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The woman was an idealized version of a bride, chaste and sexual at the same time. Indeed, the painting appears to commemorate the marriage in 1514 of a young widow, Laura Bagarotto, to a Venetian official, Niccolo Aurelio, whose coat of arms can be seen on the mysterious fountain.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">I agree that Titian did depict one woman in two separate guises, but the only person who could be portrayed at the same time as a well dressed, even sumptuously dressed, woman, and as a semi-nude figure is Mary Magdalen, whose perceived life was the epitome of sexuality and chastity. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">The popularity that Mary Magdalen enjoyed during the Renaissance was different than the resurgence she is having in our own time. Today, authors like to depict her as the literal wife and sexual partner of Jesus. Feminist scholars don’t usually go so far but they elevate her to the rank of Apostle, even to the rank of first among the Apostles.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">However, during the Renaissance the sinful and fallen women of the gospels were all considered to be Mary Magdalen. Indeed, it was the imputed sinfulness of her life that brought her nearer to her devotees. She was the sinner with the heart of gold who had finally seen the light. In Venice a long established tradition of venerating the penitent Magdalen w</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">ent hand in hand with the largest concentration of prostitutes in Europe. </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Artists often depicted the Magdalen as a richly attired and seductive courtesan contemplating the folly of her life and considering the opportunity that had been opened up to her by the words of Jesus to sin no more. </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">She could, however, also be portrayed as a semi-nude penitent sinner fasting and mortifying herself, according to legend, in a desert. </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Donatello’s penitent Magdalen; gaunt, haggard, and covered almost entirely by long hair that reaches to her ankles is the most famous fifteenth century version.</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">Apparently Venetian patrons preferred a beautiful to a gaunt Magdalen. Usually she would be depicted in the vestiges of her finery but at the same time tearful, sorrowful, and disheveled with breasts fully or partially exposed.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">Titian became the most prolific and famous painter of Mary Magdalens. His half-length depictions of a beautiful, full-figured semi-nude show her long red hair around her body but parted to reveal bared breasts. She looks upward with the jar of ointment-- used to anoint Jesus-- beside her.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;"><o:p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eAhJy-ldsr0/Udrre_8BqgI/AAAAAAAACXQ/20-aqLmxrLg/s1600/titian+mm.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eAhJy-ldsr0/Udrre_8BqgI/AAAAAAAACXQ/20-aqLmxrLg/s200/titian+mm.jpg" width="163" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">Titian: Mary Magdalen</td></tr></tbody></table></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">However, in the “Sacred and Profane Love” Titian separated the Magdalen into both guises. The clothed woman is the courtesan contemplating the error of her ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Contemporary preachers often complained that Venetian women in their finery could hardly be distinguished from courtesans. Some scholars believe that the folds of her gown and her spread legs are sensual and erotic but I can’t see it. To me she seems to stare off into the distance rapt in contemplation of a life changing decision. It almost appears that she is about to fall to her knees.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mLLarPtnCnQ/Udrr9aYNfNI/AAAAAAAACXY/xcbDUov_vjU/s1600/SAPL+courtesan.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mLLarPtnCnQ/Udrr9aYNfNI/AAAAAAAACXY/xcbDUov_vjU/s320/SAPL+courtesan.jpg" width="234" /></span></a></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">We notice the woman’s beautiful red hair so characteristic of Titian’s later Magdalens. The red color of her sleeve is also a Magdalen attribute as is the sprig of wild rose she holds in her hand. Her left hand rests on a container that could hold her jewels and perfumes. Both hands are gloved. Mary Magdalen was the patroness of all those engaged in producing female luxury items like perfumes and gloves. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 16pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">On the right the semi-nude woman is the newly converted, penitent Magdalen rejecting her jewels and finery. Legend had it that she spent the last 30 years of her life fasting and mortifying herself in a desert outside of Marseilles. The converted sinner in the “Sacred and Profane Love” has the same flowing red hair as well as the red garment of the courtesan. In her left hand she holds aloft the jar of oil that is the single most recognizable symbol of Mary Magdalen.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gr-e-lYt8xY/UdrsaboHKTI/AAAAAAAACXg/b_wbuKnoleU/s1600/Titian+SAPl+nude+.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gr-e-lYt8xY/UdrsaboHKTI/AAAAAAAACXg/b_wbuKnoleU/s320/Titian+SAPl+nude+.jpg" width="234" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 16pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">Titian joked of his Magdalens that he liked to portray them at the beginning of their fasting rather than as thin, wasted figures. Joking aside, in the “Sacred and Profane Love” Titian could actually be portraying the moment of conversion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Both the Magdalens sit on a sarcophagus-like fountain that further serves to connect them. The wild rose bush in front is also a traditional symbol of Mary Magdalen. The fountain is a puzzle in itself and the relief has also eluded identification. </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xju2TP908Gc/UdrsymM1rvI/AAAAAAAACX0/Y_RcQ9KD4mo/s1600/SAPL+relief.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="145" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xju2TP908Gc/UdrsymM1rvI/AAAAAAAACX0/Y_RcQ9KD4mo/w400-h145/SAPL+relief.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">There are three scenes on the relief and we can now see that they depict great sinners. On the far right two nudes stand on each side of a tree. The figure on the left is Eve portrayed in her usual full frontal nudity. Adam is on the other side of the tree. Moving toward the center we see an act of murderous violence that represents the story of Cain and Abel, the first incident of sin after the Fall.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">On the other side of the relief a man leads a horse whose rider appears to be falling off. The falling rider can only be St. Paul, one of the few sinners capable of being mentioned in the same breath as Mary Magdalen. </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times;">In his letter to Timothy, Paul called himself the greatest of sinners.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 16pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">If there was any woman in Venice who thought of turning to Mary Magdalen as an intercessor, it might have been the wife of the man who commissioned the painting. The arms of Niccolo Aurelio, a Venetian official, can be seen on the fountain. In 1514 he married Laura Bagarotto, a widow from Padua, whose father, as well as her husband, had been accused of treason in 1509 by the Venetian government for collaboration with the enemy during the War of the League of Cambrai. The husband most likely died in the war and the father was publicly hanged in the Piazza di San Marco, an execution that his wife and daughter were forced to witness. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 16pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">Laura’s goods, including her substantial dowry, were confiscated. Subsequently, she campaigned for the restoration of the family’s good name as well as for the restoration of the dowry. Her marriage to Niccolo Aurelio in 1514 must have been an important step in her rehabilitation since her dowry was only restored the day before the marriage. One would like to think that Niccolo was honoring his new wife, or seeking to aid in her rehabilitation with this painting. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 16pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;">Given the ups and downs of her own life, Laura Bagarotto might have looked to the Magdalen as a patron. On that fateful day in 1509 she lost both her father and her patrimony. If she had not been a woman, she might have lost her own life. Eventually, she would provide the aging Niccolo with a beloved daughter and then a male heir. Who can doubt that she had prayed to the Magdalen, the patron saint of all women hoping for a family? </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 16pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;"><i>###</i></span></b></div>Dr. Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08469403843869655063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054785923214156833.post-48824059749749049762023-02-01T07:15:00.011-08:002023-02-01T07:23:30.189-08:00Giorgione: The Tempest<p><i><span style="font-family: verdana;">Since its inception in 2010 Giorgione et al... has received over 565000 page views. Followers of the site may have realized that for the past few years, I have been reproducing older posts. Old age has taken its toll. I will continue the practice in the current year. New readers may enjoy these posts and hopefully be encouraged to build on the ideas presented. Below is the text of my first essay on The Tempest that originally appeared in the Masterpiece section of the Wall Street Journal in May, 2006. The text of the fully developed paper can now be found on <a href="http://academia.edu.">a</a>cademia.edu under the title <a href="https://www.academia.edu/45012201/Giorgiones_Tempest_The_Rest_on_the_Flight_into_Rgypt">Giorgione's Tempest, the Rest on the Flight into Egypt.</a></span></i></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">...............</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">No great work of art has mystified art historians and critics more than Giorgione’s <i><b>Tempest,</b></i> one of a handful of paintings definitively attributed to the Venetian Renaissance master. After his untimely death in 1510 of the plague at about the age of 30, most of his paintings were either lost or completed by others, especially his colleague, Titian. Although little is known of his life, Giorgione was apparently apprenticed to the great Giovanni Bellini at the outset of his career, and certainly was a major influence on Titian.</span></p><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uTzL6rwuMtQ/VzXk54ruk3I/AAAAAAAAEnU/DeS3BDQJ07UmfHwKPes-lyi4WmFzTtcngCLcB/s1600/Giorgione%2BTempest%2BWP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uTzL6rwuMtQ/VzXk54ruk3I/AAAAAAAAEnU/DeS3BDQJ07UmfHwKPes-lyi4WmFzTtcngCLcB/s320/Giorgione%2BTempest%2BWP.jpg" width="284" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />While the <i><b>Tempest</b></i> is universally admired as a pioneering work of landscape art because of its dramatic use of color and shadow, art historians have not been able to agree on the subject matter of this masterpiece of the High Renaissance. More than the painting itself, it was the mystery about its subject matter that first attracted me.<br /><br />This relatively small painting (82 x 73cm.) currently hangs in the Accademia in Venice. Over a hundred years ago my favorite travel author, Edward Hutton, described it as “a delicious landscape of green and shady valley, of stream and ruin and towering country town.” The town is visible in the background and above it, clouds and a flash of lightning indicate that a storm is raging. In the middle distance, separated from the town by a bridge, are overgrown ruins and two broken columns. In a glade in the foreground, a nude woman nursing an infant sits on the right, while on the left, a young man dressed in contemporary Venetian clothing holds a long staff.<br /><br />Although never named by Giorgione himself, the painting is usually called “La Tempesta” because of the storm. Sometimes it is called “The Soldier and the Gypsy,” even though critics have pointed out that the man is not a soldier and the nude woman is not a gypsy.<br /><br />One tends to accept works of art at face value, particularly when they are as famous as this one. But one question struck me: Why is the woman nude? Other than a white cloth draped around her shoulder, there is no sign of any clothing. After all, it isn’t necessary for a woman to completely undress to nurse a baby. I believe that if the nursing woman were clothed, the subject would be immediately recognizable for what it is: “The Rest of the Holy Family on the Flight into Egypt.”<br /><br />The “Flight” is a common subject in the history of art. It illustrates a passage from the Gospel of St. Matthew in which Jesus, Mary and Joseph, escaping from the deadly designs of King Herod, find an idyllic rest stop upon arrival in Egypt. Giorgione’s painting has all the elements common to a “Flight” image: Mary holding or nursing the baby Jesus; Joseph standing off to the side or in the background; a town in the distance; and ruins.<br /><br />Why ruins? Emile Male, the great French art historian, pointed out that it was common for medieval artists to draw on the legend of the “Fall of Idols” when painting the “Flight.” According to the legend, when the infant Jesus entered Egypt, all the idols crumbled. Artists commonly used broken columns to represent this episode.<br /><br />Giorgione was a master of artistic narrative. In this painting the Holy Family has left Judea and its dangers, symbolized by the storm, behind. They have crossed the bridge and stream representing the border between Judea and Egypt. They have entered Egypt and the idols, symbolized by the broken columns, lie broken behind them. We notice that the tempest is raging in the distance. The glade in which they rest is serene. Now they rest in safety.<br /><br />It is only the depiction of the man and the woman that has deterred experts from recognizing this painting as the "Rest on the Flight into Egypt." Joseph is usually portrayed as an old man by Medieval artists. Nevertheless, in the fifteenth century he began to be depicted as young and virile. In Raphael’s depiction of the marriage of Joseph and Mary, the <i>Sposalizio</i>, Joseph appears to be about the same age as Giorgione’s man. Italians especially found it unseemly to show Mary being married to an old man.<br /><br />But why the nude Madonna? The explanation lies in the Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, a doctrine of which every Venetian would have been aware. Simply put it was the belief that Mary, from the first moment of her existence, had been created free from the stain of original sin which every other descendant of Adam and Eve had inherited.<br /><br />The concept of Mary’s Immaculate Conception had been vigorously debated by theologians during the previous 250 years. The great advocates of the doctrine were the Franciscans; whose center in Venice, the “Frari” became a virtual shrine to the Immaculate Conception. Special impetus to the belief had been given by Pope Sixtus IV, himself a Franciscan, in 1476 when he added the feast of the Conception to the liturgy of the entire Western Church.<br /><br />Theologians called Mary the new or second Eve. Artists had difficulty in expressing this increasingly popular doctrine. By Giorgione’s time they had not yet settled on the now familiar image of the “Woman Clothed with the Sun” from the Book of Revelation. Giorgione had the unprecedented audacity to portray a nude Madonna as Eve would have appeared in the Garden of Eden before the Fall.<br /><br />Nothing is in Giorgione’s painting by accident. The white cloth on which the Madonna sits is a symbol of the winding sheet or burial cloth of Christ. Franciscans regarded Mary as the altar on which the Eucharist rested. The altar was always covered with a white cloth.<br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nDRr8s2_1JY/XhiT5GFJWdI/AAAAAAAAGnM/KyMNDSqW7Eo_oR9m9HM14dQZPOrrC9XMgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Giorgione-woman.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nDRr8s2_1JY/XhiT5GFJWdI/AAAAAAAAGnM/KyMNDSqW7Eo_oR9m9HM14dQZPOrrC9XMgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Giorgione-woman.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />Finally, in front of the Madonna a scraggly bush rises out of bare rock. Artists frequently used plants or flowers symbolically to identify characters. From the way it is growing, the plant could be a member of the nightshade family, a common plant found in Italy at the time. The most well known form of nightshade is the aptly named “belladonna.” This plant is associated with witchcraft and the Devil. Is that why the plant below the heel of the Woman has withered and died?<br /><br />###<br /><br />Note:<br /><br />The essay above is a copy, with some slight changes, of my original essay that appeared in the Masterpiece section of the Wall Street Journal on 5/13/2006. It was originally entitled, "A Renaissance Mystery Solved?" with the cautious editor adding the question mark. I reproduce it here at the start of 2020 because at age 80 I want to devote this year to posts dealing with what I consider to be major discoveries that followed upon my initial intuition that the <i><b>Tempest</b></i> was actually Giorgione's version of "The Rest on the Flight into Egypt." The <a href="http://giorgionetempesta.com/?page_id=12">full version</a> of my paper can be found at my website, MyGiorgione, along with other interpretive discoveries.<br /><br /></span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I cannot say that my interpretation has taken the world by storm. I've sent it to most of the leading scholars in the field and only a handful have had the courtesy to even reply or acknowledge receipt. Academic publications have turned it down but I did get a chance to read it at the annual meeting of the Renaissance Society of America held in Venice in 2010, the five hundredth anniversary of Giorgione's death. It was a huge conference but only about fifteen people turned up to hear a paper by an unknown independent scholar who had spent most of his career as a financial advisor. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span>The experience in Venice led me to turn to the web as a means of publishing my work. I created MyGiorgione as an archive, and then began, with the great help of my late friend, Hasan Niyazi, to create Giorgione et al... which by last month has received over 565000 page views. The website contains subsequent discoveries like my interpretation of Giorgione's <i>Three Ages of Man </i>as <i>The Encounter of Jesus with the Rich Young Man</i>; Titian's <i>Sacred and Profane Love</i> as <i>The Conversion of Mary Magdalen</i>, Titian's <i>Pastoral Concert</i> as his <i>Homage to the Recently Deceased Giorgione, and Michelangelo's Doni Tondo as "Behold the Lamb of God."</i></span><br /><span><i><br /></i></span><span><i>Frank DeStefano</i></span></span></div></div>Dr. Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08469403843869655063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054785923214156833.post-60208846004084026162022-12-22T06:15:00.000-08:002022-12-22T06:15:05.565-08:00Giorgione: Christmas Stamp<p> </p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xWl7m2niFVA/UNkQYZnYULI/AAAAAAAABmc/AvamEZ1LgKo/s1600/Giorgione_TheAdorationOfTheShepherds.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="323" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xWl7m2niFVA/UNkQYZnYULI/AAAAAAAABmc/AvamEZ1LgKo/s400/Giorgione_TheAdorationOfTheShepherds.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Giorgione: Adoration of the Shepherds</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; mso-outline-level: 1;"><br /></div><blockquote class="tr_bq">In 1971, an incredible 1.2 billion copies of a single postage stamp were printed by the U.S. Postal Service. It was the largest stamp printing order in the world since postage stamps were first introduced in 1840. It was almost ten times larger that the usual printing of an American commemorative stamp. The stamp was one of two Christmas stamps issued that year. It depicted a Nativity scene by the Venetian painter Giorgione, Adoration of the Shepherds, and portrayed Mary, Joseph, the Christ Child, and two shepherds.*</blockquote><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;">The Postal Service probably picked Giorgione’s “Adoration of the Shepherds” because it was one of the most prized possessions of the National Gallery. The scene is so familiar that it is easy to overlook its real meaning.**</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;">This King is not protected by armed guards. There is no need to bribe or otherwise court influence with bureaucrats acting as intermediaries. Anyone, even the simplest and the humblest, can approach this King directly and in his or her own fashion.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;">Merry Christmas to all readers and followers of Giorgione et al...</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;">* M.W. Martin: “Christmas in Stamps,” in Catholic digest Christmas Book, ed. Father Kenneth Ryan, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1977.<br /><br />** For a discussion of the painting click on this link to an earlier post at <a href="http://giorgionetempesta.blogspot.com/2012/01/giorgione-allendale-adoration-of.html">Giorgione et al...</a></div>Dr. Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08469403843869655063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054785923214156833.post-87536758581407244242022-12-08T06:57:00.006-08:002022-12-08T06:57:47.464-08:00The Immaculate Conception in Renaissance Art<p> </p><p><br /></p><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">In my interpretation of Giorgione's <b><i>Tempest</i></b> as "The Rest on the Flight into Egypt", I argued that Giorgione had the audacity to portray a nude Madonna in an attempt to depict Mary as the Immaculate Conception. Although the era of the Renaissance witnessed a tremendous increase in interest in the Immaculate Conception, artists were </span><span style="line-height: 24px;">struggling</span><span style="line-height: 24px;"> to find a way to depict the mysterious doctrine that had no settled artistic tradition to use. Below is a section from <a href="http://giorgionetempesta.com/?page_id=12">my paper</a> that sought to explain Giorgione's idiosyncratic use of a nude nursing Madonna as the Immaculate Conception.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--Z0vQkbb4Ck/VIXDeG8IWAI/AAAAAAAADmM/I4NvcE5MZQI/s1600/gio%2Btempesta.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--Z0vQkbb4Ck/VIXDeG8IWAI/AAAAAAAADmM/I4NvcE5MZQI/s1600/gio%2Btempesta.jpg" width="286" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">The explanation lies in the Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, a doctrine of which every Venetian would have been aware. Simply put, the doctrine affirms that Mary had been created free from the stain of original sin inherited by every other descendant of Adam and Eve. Indeed, Mary was regarded as the "new" or "second" Eve.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Significant developments in the fifteenth century had brought the idea of the Immaculate Conception to prominence by the end of the century. In the first place, the century witnessed a continued increase in devotion to the Madonna, which naturally led to an increased interest in the "Conception." This interest was fostered by religious orders, most notably the Franciscans. Secondly, controversy about the doctrine between the Franciscans and the Dominicans, the two great teaching orders, contributed to its development.<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7054785923214156833#_edn1" name="_ednref" style="mso-endnote-id: edn;" title="">[i]</a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7054785923214156833#_edn1" name="_ednref" title=""></a></span></span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">In 1438 the Council of Basel, no doubt responding to the upsurge of devotion to Mary, affirmed the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, but only after Papal legates and others had left the Council. Without Papal support the Council and its decrees could not become binding on the Church. Nevertheless, the concept of the Immaculate Conception had been given tremendous impetus. Nowhere did it receive greater support than in Venice.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">In her study of Venetian patrons and their piety, Rona Goffen<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>argued that Venice itself became identified with the Immaculate Conception by the end of the Quattrocento.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7054785923214156833#_edn2" name="_ednref" style="mso-endnote-id: edn;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;">[ii]</span></span></a> Besides the many churches and innumerable altars dedicated to the Madonna, churches like S. Maria dei Miracoli and S. Maria della Carita were dedicated specifically to the "Immaculata." In 1498, the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception was founded in Venice, and it worshipped at the Frari's famous Pesaro altar, itself dedicated to the Immaculate Conception.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two great figures played a key role in the spiritual life of Venice in the 15th century. Goffen noted the importance of the sermons of St. Bernardino of Siena, who was made a patron saint of Venice in 1470; and of Lorenzo Giustiniani, the saintly first patriarch of the Republic. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-line-height-alt: 12.0pt;"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>In these and other similar passages, Bernardino and Giustiniani declared their belief in the Immaculacy of the Madonna. Their influence on Venetian piety must have been as pervasive during the Renaissance as it is difficult today to gauge in any precise way. Nonetheless, their thoughts and writings constitute part--a very important part--of the original context of sacred art in Renaissance Venice. One must attempt to reconstruct that context in the historically informed imagination.</i><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7054785923214156833#_edn3" name="_ednref" style="mso-endnote-id: edn;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">[iii]</span></a></blockquote><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 12.0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">After his death in 1453, Giustiniani’s sermons circulated widely and were finally published in Venice in 1506.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">The Papacy also played a role. Francesco della Rovere, the scholarly Vicar-General of the Franciscan order, was elected Pope Sixtus IV in 1471. In the previous year he had written a treatise on the Immaculate Conception in which he had tried to reconcile the differing opinions of supporters and opponents. Subsequently, he added its Feast to the liturgy for the entire Western Church, and ordered new offices to be composed. One was even composed especially for Franciscan use. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Art followed doctrine although the doctrine was a difficult subject to render. After all, it dealt not with Mary's birth but with her conception. Early attempts in the fifteenth century had crudely attempted to portray an infant Mary in the womb of her own mother, Anne. By the end of the century this image, which bordered on heresy, was being replaced by a combination of three symbolic images taken from different scriptural sources. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">First, there was the image of the woman crushing the serpent beneath her heel from Genesis 3:15. The Latin Vulgate gave this passage as, "inimicitias ponam inter te et mulierem et semen tuum et semen illius ipsa conteret caput tuum et tu insidiaberis calcaneo eius." "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed; she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel." This image first began to appear in the early fifteenth century.<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7054785923214156833#_edn4" name="_ednref" style="mso-endnote-id: edn;" title="">[iv]</a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7054785923214156833#_edn4" name="_ednref" title=""></a></span></span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Secondly, there was the image of the spouse from the Song of Songs 4:7, "Thou art all fair my love, and there is no stain in thee." In this image, the "tota pulchra es," Mary is not a Madonna holding her infant Son, but a beautiful woman standing alone and surrounded by images from the Old Testament that symbolize her purity and role. Rona Goffen noted the prevalence of this image in the devotional literature of the time especially in the “offices for the feast of the Immaculate Conception by Nogarolis and by Bernardino de Bustis.”<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7054785923214156833#_edn5" name="_ednref" style="mso-endnote-id: edn;" title="">[v]</a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7054785923214156833#_edn5" name="_ednref" title=""></a></span></span><o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ac0Y_JEozVQ/VIXHo-Z-srI/AAAAAAAADmY/jirWJJx9pBc/s1600/Gtimani%2BIC%2BWiki_.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ac0Y_JEozVQ/VIXHo-Z-srI/AAAAAAAADmY/jirWJJx9pBc/s1600/Gtimani%2BIC%2BWiki_.jpg" width="250" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">Grimani Breviary</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Finally, the image of the woman from the Book of Revelation "clothed with the sun" with "stars in her crown" and standing on the crescent moon (that would become the standard after the Reformation) began to appear. These images were rarely used alone but most often in combination. In the Grimani Breviary, named for the Venetian cardinal and art collector who was a contemporary of Giorgione's, there is a miniature of the Woman of the Apocalypse and the "tota pulchra es."<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7054785923214156833#_edn6" name="_ednref" style="mso-endnote-id: edn;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;">[vi]</span></span></a> Interestingly, on the facing page in the Breviary there is an image of the “Rest on the Flight into Egypt.”<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span><br /><span style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-34szZ8ztD2A/VIXIZ8pnQfI/AAAAAAAADmg/BcXaEzNtZws/s1600/grimani2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-34szZ8ztD2A/VIXIZ8pnQfI/AAAAAAAADmg/BcXaEzNtZws/s1600/grimani2.jpg" width="236" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">Grimani Breviary</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Advocates of the Immaculate Conception regarded Mary as a new Eve, whose status was the same as Eve's before the Fall. Giorgione had the audacity to portray a "nude Madonna" as Eve would have appeared before the Fall.<br />###<br />Addendum: In the "Tempest" the Madonna's heel is shown over a dead section of a plant that looks like belladonna, a plant associated with witchcraft and the devil. Despite the storm in the background of the painting, the woman is clothed only in bright sunlight. Finally, no one has ever doubted her beauty. She is "all fair." ###<o:p></o:p><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OK3kmxH7T9k/VIXJF0IQi5I/AAAAAAAADmo/b1ImnMWy1U4/s1600/Giorgione-woman.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="319" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OK3kmxH7T9k/VIXJF0IQi5I/AAAAAAAADmo/b1ImnMWy1U4/s1600/Giorgione-woman.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></div><br /><div style="mso-element: endnote-list;"><br clear="all" /><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><br /><div id="edn" style="mso-element: endnote;"><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7054785923214156833#_ednref" name="_edn1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">[i]</span></a> For a comprehensive discussion of the doctrine and the controversy surrounding it see <u>The Dogma of the Immaculate Conception</u>, <u>History and Significance</u>, ed. Edward Dennis O’Connor, University of Notre Dame Press, 1958, c. VI. See also the article on the Immaculate Conception in <u>The Catholic Encyclopedia</u>, 1910.</div><div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="line-height: 24pt;"><br /></div></div><div id="edn" style="mso-element: endnote;"><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7054785923214156833#_ednref" name="_edn2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">[ii]</span></a>Rona Goffen,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>Piety and Patronage in Renaissance Venice</u>,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yale, 1986, p. 154.</div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br /></div></div><div id="edn" style="mso-element: endnote;"><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7054785923214156833#_ednref" name="_edn3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">[iii]</span></a>Goffen, <u>op. cit</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>p. 79.</div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br /></div></div><div id="edn" style="mso-element: endnote;"><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7054785923214156833#_ednref" name="_edn4" style="mso-endnote-id: edn;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">[iv]</span></a>For a discussion of these images see Maurice Vloberg, "The Immaculate Conception in Art," in<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>The</u> <u>Dogma of the Immaculate Conception</u>,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>University of Notre Dame Press, 1958, pp.463-507.</div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br /></div></div><div id="edn" style="mso-element: endnote;"><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7054785923214156833#_ednref" name="_edn5" style="mso-endnote-id: edn;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">[v]</span></a> Goffen, <u>op. cit</u>. p.149.</div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br /></div></div><div id="edn" style="mso-element: endnote;"><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7054785923214156833#_ednref" name="_edn6" style="mso-endnote-id: edn;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">[vi]</span></a><u>The Grimani Breviary</u>, Levenger Press, DelRay Beach, Florida, 2007, plate 109. See also, Vloberg, <u>op. cit</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>plate XIV.</div></div></div>Dr. Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08469403843869655063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7054785923214156833.post-69100070738111341022022-11-23T06:20:00.000-08:002022-11-23T06:20:11.129-08:00Raphael: Vision of Ezekiel<p> </p><p><br /></p><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Scholars still question Vasari's attribution to Raphael of a small painting called, <i>The Vision of Ezekiel. </i> I will leave the question of attribution to others but I do think that the subject of the painting has been misunderstood ever since Vasari mentioned it in his biography of Raphael.<br /><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GNJnWmj40w8/VO5XQbPvSGI/AAAAAAAADzw/s65qqsmKIh8/s1600/Raffael_099.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GNJnWmj40w8/VO5XQbPvSGI/AAAAAAAADzw/s65qqsmKIh8/s1600/Raffael_099.jpg" width="236" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">Raphael: Vision of Ezekiel</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Here is what Vasari wrote:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>At a later period, our artist painted a small picture, which is now at Bologna, in the possession of the Count Vincenzio Ercolani. The subject of this work is Christ enthroned amid the clouds, after the manner in which Jupiter is so frequently depicted. But the Saviour is surrounded by the four Evangelists, as described in the Book of Ezekiel: one in the form of a man, that is to say; another in that of a lion; the third as an eagle; and the fourth as an ox. The earth beneath exhibits a small landscape, and this work, in its minuteness—all the figures being very small—is no less beautiful than are the others in their grandeur of extent.*</i></blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Vasari said that the subject of the painting is “Christ enthroned amid the clouds.” He did mention that Christ was surrounded by the four animals that Ezekiel saw in his vision. Even though the painting called to Vasari’s mind the vision of Ezekiel, the artist, whoever he was, must certainly have had a different vision in mind.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The vision in this painting is the vision of St. John from the Book of Revelation (Apocalypse). Let’s just compare the two visions. Here is the account from the book of the Prophet Ezekiel.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>As I was among the exiles on the bank of the river Chebar, heaven opened and I saw visions from God… Ezekiel 1:1<o:p> </o:p>A stormy wind blew from the north, a great cloud with light around it, a fire from which flashes of lightning darted, and in the center a sheen like bronze at the heart of the fire. In the center I saw what seemed four animals. They looked like this. They were of human form. Each had four faces, each had four wings. …As to what they looked like, they had human faces, and all four had a lion’s face to the right, and all four had a bull’s face to the left, and all four had an eagle’s face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their wings were spread upward; each had two wings that touched, and two wings that covered his body;… Their wings were spread upward; each had two wings that touched, and two wings that covered his body…Ezekiel 1: 4-12</i></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>Between these animals something could be seen like flaming brands or torches, darting between the animals; the fire flashed light, and lightning streaked from the fire. And the creatures ran to and fro like thunderbolts.” Ezekiel 1: 13-14.</i></blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The animals are in Ezekiel’s vision but there is no God or Christ enthroned among them. Ezekiel’s vision found its way into the Book of Revelation, a book replete with imagery from the Hebrew Scriptures. Here is St. John’s vision (Jerusalem Bible).<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>My name is John…I was on the island of Patmos for having preached God’s word and witnessed for Jesus; it was the Lord’s day and the Spirit possessed me, and I heard a voice behind me, shouting like a trumpet, “Write down all that you see in a book…" Revelation 1: 9-13. </i></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>Then, in my vision, I saw a door open in heaven and heard the same voice speaking to me, the voice like a trumpet, saying, “Come up here: I will show you what is to come in the future.” With that, the Spirit possessed me and I saw a throne standing in heaven, and the One who was sitting on the throne, and the Person sitting there looked like a diamond and a ruby….In the center, grouped around the throne itself, were four animals with many eyes, in front and behind. The first animal was like a lion, the second like a bull, the third animal had a human face, and the fourth animal was like a flying eagle. Each of the four animals had six wings and had eyes all the way around as well as inside;… <o:p></o:p>Revelation 4: 1-8.</i></blockquote></blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">In John’s vision God the Creator, “the One” sitting on the throne in the midst of the four creatures, is the most prominent figure. Vasari identified the figure as Christ but the figure more closely resembles Michelangelo’s images of God the Father in the Sistine chapel. Only later in John’s account would the Lamb join the One sitting on the throne.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">In the Vision of Ezekiel the small figure on the left receiving the vision must then be identified not as Ezekiel but John, exiled on the isle of Patmos. It is hard to tell, but he seems to be on an island facing a broad expanse of sea rather than in a crowd of people at the bank of the river Chebar.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Some scholars have argued that there is a companion piece to the <i>Vision of Ezekiel</i> that did not find its way back to Italy after the fall of Napoleon. In his study of Raphael Jean-Pierre Cuzin discussed a small oil on panel of the Holy Family.<o:p></o:p><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1GmHtqZF_iM/VD03b2DMORI/AAAAAAAADb8/wSuUniHsYVs/s1600/familleJB_small.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1GmHtqZF_iM/VD03b2DMORI/AAAAAAAADb8/wSuUniHsYVs/s1600/familleJB_small.jpg" width="243" /></a></div><br /></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>The kinship in style and execution of the small Holy Family and the Vision of Ezekiel in the Pitti Palace at Florence, which have the same dimensions is striking: the rounded, thick-set bodies, strongly modeled by black shadows and lively touches of light, and the vigorous impasto execution, invite one to see an identical hand in both pictures—that of Penni, for Konrad Oberhuber. Others have more often thought of Giulio Romano. The Vision of Ezekiel, unlike the neglected picture in the Louvre, counts among Raphael’s celebrated works; it is identified with a picture described by Vasari at Bologna in the house of Count Ercolani. **</i></blockquote></blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The small Holy Family is also a misnomer. It is actually a depiction of the encounter of Mary and the infant Jesus on their return from the flight into Egypt with her cousin Elizabeth and the infant John the Baptist. With or without St. Joseph, this legendary meeting was a very popular subject since it marked the initial acceptance of the mission of Christ. Usually the Christ child accepts a small cross from the young Baptist but in this case he accepts the Baptist himself.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">If the two paintings are companion pieces, they would then represent the beginning and the end of Christ’s mission. The meeting of the two infants in the Judean desert recalls the words of the Baptist, “Behold the Lamb of God,” and in the vision from the Book of Revelation, the Lamb who was sacrificed will join “the One seated on the Throne.” <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">###<br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">*Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, selected, edited and introduced by Marilyn Aronberg Lavin, Volume II, New York, 1967. p. 41.<br /><br />**Jean-Pierre Cuzin: Raphael, His Life and Works, New Jersey, 1985. p. 226.</div></div>Dr. Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08469403843869655063noreply@blogger.com0