More adoring shepherds and some commentary thereupon

I still have some Shepherds left in the bottom of the bag. Above is a Rubens. I am fond of Rubens but this one doesn't carry as well to the modern eye as that Rembrandt we saw last night. Those putti flying above with their roll of Charmin just seem corny to our contemporary eyes. But the figure of Mary lifting the swaddling clothes to reveal the Christ child is beautiful. Like the Mary in the Rembrandt, she is illuminated by the source of light which seems to be the child. Her arm cuts in front of that illumination, like the figure I discussed last night. Thats a nice touch. It establishes space in there and amplifies the effect.

About the Christ child are a pinwheel of limbs formed by the leg of the kneeling shepherd, Marys raised arm, the woman in the hats arm, and then the shepherds arm. The baby is in the center of a maelstrom of converging arcs.

The painting above is by Gerit Von Honthorst, who lived at the same time as Rembrandt but was a few years his senior. Honthorst was a wildly successful artist and studied in Rome to learn the Carravagiast style. That is, he painted scenes using the chiaroscuro style of Caravagio. Rembrandt too was a follower of that style but became so unique that the label was to small to fit him.

I think the darks scattered about this painting are less well designed than those or the Rubens above or that Rembrandt from the other day. The same illuminated by a baby against a dark field ploy goes on in all of these pictures and Gerit isn't quite as good at it. Squint at the picture and notice the following slightly clunky little darks.

• The dark behind the praying shepherd on the lefts hands.
• The dark below the chin of the cow
• and the dark shape to the right of Marys head.

All of these were put in to relieve the light shapes against a dark, but they seem a little artificial.Also the distribution of the light is sort of matter of fact. In the Rembrandt from yesterday the light is dramatically arrayed to pick out the things that carry the story, in the Honthorst the light is sort of everywhere. It illuminates the yellow sleeve of the shepherd on the right, for instance nearly as much as the face of Mary. Try covering it with your hand and see if you don't agree that Mary "lights up". Lastly the shepherd on the left of Mary has his nose jammed against the top of the praying shepherds head, a Rembrandt or a Rubens wouldn't contain an annoying little tangent like that.

Above is a Bernardo Strozzi who was born just a little before Rembrandt is playing the same theme too, with the illuminated shapes set against the darkness. Marys gesture is lovely and there is a silvery cast to this painting that is a little different than the golden glow of the dutch paintings we have been seeing. Squint way down on this one and see what fine shapes Strozzi has made. The radiating spoke like shapes formed by the draperies supporting Christ work really well. The two vertical staffs on either side of Mary are a great counter to all of the ovoid shapes in there. Thats a neat design idea too.

The Adoration of the Shepherds

above, Corregio

Xave a xolly Jolly Xmas, its the best time of the year! Xappy Xollidays! Xo,xo, xo Merry Xmas!
I'll be xome for xmas, youx can count on me! Phrosteee the xnowman! Xrudolph the xred nosed xreindeer, Xad a very Xhiny noxe.

OK, here's the scripture;
¹And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.²(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) ³And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. ⁴And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)⁵To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.⁶And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.⁷And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.⁸And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night ⁹And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

¹⁰And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.¹¹For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.¹²And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,¹⁴Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.¹⁵And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.¹⁶And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.¹⁷And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.¹⁸And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. ¹⁹But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

Artists have loved the adoration of the shepherds for a number of reasons. First of all you have the great event, angels, some local rustics, maybe some barnyard animals and weird backcountry architecture, but more than that ITS A NIGHT SCENE! all suffused with awe and holiness. That's a marvelous opportunity for a painter. Painters have used dramatic lighting, like in the Rembrandt above.That is an absolutely stunning picture by the way. Rembrandts Christ in born in a stable, and he knew what a stable was and he knew what Shepherds looked like too.Notice the big areas of darks in both pictures above and how they "sew" the pictures together. The light effect in this Rembrandt is so great, and he has all the possible variations going on too. He has Christ as a light source, the holy family and their visitors are illuminated by that light, and a figure cuts in front of it.That even further capitalize on the pictorial devices made available by his use of this light source. But most importantly I think Rembrandt has created a scene of awe and hushed reverence. These people are aware of the giant importance of what they are seeing. I don't really think there are a lot of better paintings than this one, but as I said before, Rembrandt is the Beatles of painting.

This is a Boucher, he takes a very different approach, his painting is decorative and very stylized. He was a mannerist painter and everything he did was that way. A very different approach, I think less effective too, but its still great painting. Everything in it is arrayed in a sort of swooping inverted arc, like a big U shape with Christ placed at the balance point. Boucher is a generation or so later than Rembrandt and his art is a revolution away from that dark style and is considered Rococo. Incidentally the famous and wonderful quote from Boucher is "Nature is too green, and badly lit" wouldn't that make a great neck tattoo for a landscape painter?
Xmerri Xmas!

images from artrenewal.org

The Annunciation

Well here I am, I am sick but I am functional, I am going to go controversial on you tonight. I am going to talk about some paintings that have to do with the birth of Christ. That's because of Christmas is upon us and I think its appropriate. Above is a glorious Titian. The scene is traditionally called the Annunciation and is found in the book of Luke. I think he makes the scene look important and earthshaking, but below we have a Caravaggio who portrays it as a quieter event.

Below is the scripture from Luke upon which these are based. I expect many of you think scripture, particularly in the more artful King James version is a little hard to read. Humor me and read it. I will see you on the other side.

1. ²⁶And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth ²⁷To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.²⁸And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. ²⁹And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. ³⁰And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. ³¹And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. ³²He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:³³And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. ³⁴Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?³⁵And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Here is El Greco's version. Mary was probably about fifteen tears old and was betrothed to Joseph. In those times custom decreed a year long wait before marriage, to be certain the bride was not pregnant.There was no way Mary was going to make the cut. Joseph was informed of Gods intentions in a dream. Mary was chosen because of her deep faith and goodness. There were lots of other virgins around.

Here is a Dante Gabrielle Rossetti of the annunciation. This one is less overblown and I think reads better from our 21st century viewpoint. Mary looks shocked, as well she should be. Stunned. She would have had to be thinking, why me?

Here is Raphael on the same subject. Mary is in a palace of some kind, maybe Greek. Wonderful painting but I personally feel it is so formal the narrative gets lost.

This is my favorite, Mary looks shocked and Gabriel is gliding towards her in a slightly supernatural way I love the color in this painting. It is by Waterhouse, the Victorian English master. It is not overdone and it tells the story.
Well as I am still sick. That's about what I can do tonight. I did get through it, I hope it makes sense. Tomorrow I think we will have to find some Shepherds watching their flocks by night.

More Rembrandt landscape etchings

Here I am ,vertical. Is this how swine feel all of the time?" I hope what I write makes sense, I am running a fever. There are sullen rabbits clucking at me from the corners of the room, "fraud, deceiver, wurlitzer!" Fie! on ye, Shuffler of slippers! Dugong!
OK, lets see...... Rembrandts father was a miller, like Constables oddly. The mill above is lovingly observed, but I am surprised at how he placed it against the side of the picture like that. I guess that pole that protrudes from its right hand edge with the rope saves it. If I cover the pole with my shaking febrile hand the design seems weakened. The shapes of the blades of the windmill are beautiful and I guess he gets away with it all. Rembrandt was familiar with oriental wood block art, the tea that came from the east was wrapped in it. I suppose this bizarre design is taken from woodbock prints from the orient. Etchings have been particularly influenced by oriental design. Amsterdam's trade made it a crossroads of culture.

This next piece is a little gem though. Here Rembrandt is using the arabesque or the decorative outline of the quaint cottage to make his design go. The varied and wandering outline is full of charm. The little guy to the right of the house is indicated by the rising line that sweeps around the front of the house to point him out. That springy slightly concave line the guy is walking on is nice too. Its rhythmic. Usually using concave lines in a landscape is dangerous but here Rembrandt has done it. This house must have been thought of as charming and quaint in Rembrandt's day. Notice the strong reflected light enlivening the right hand wall of the structure. That takes away any feeling of heaviness and substitutes a glow that seems warm and welcoming. I can feel the sun bouncing around in there.

Here's another little piece of pastoral lowlands country. On the right a little man carries buckets with a yoke. All of these etchings were made to appeal to a middle class merchant society that arose from the trade out of Amsterdam in the 1600's. Artists before this had mostly worked for popes and aristocrats who wanted something very different than the scenes that would have been familiar to Rembrandt's clientele. The country side and home and hearth sort of themes are characteristic of a democratic art. Instead of gods and mythological ruins, we have simple everyday life presented unadorned and truthfully.
Our own art of America was later to be built on the same model. I have always felt that the influence of Dutch painting on American art has been under appreciated.
There you have it. A blog post. Now I am taking my mumbling, hissing, fever bunnies and going back to bed.
images from archive.org