Since there are only 30+ paintings attributed to Johannes Vermeer along with a handful of disputed works, I thought it would be fun to post one every day to start out the new year. I will post the ones I like the least first and the ones I like the best last.
Nationality: Dutch Born-Died: 1632-1675 Creation Date: before 1655 Size: 63 × 55.9 inch (160 × 142 cm) Media: Oil on canvas Location: The National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
This is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, known Vermeer works. Unfortuately, it is really nothing special as Vermeer paintings go. I have seen this work in person several times and it has never impressed me when I compared it to similar works from the same time period. It is quite large and the vivid, lush surface distinctive of Vermeers later work isn't there. Scenes of this kind, called "history paintings," were considered the loftiest subject for an artist tackle and it is believed that an ambitious, young Vermeer sought to tackle it as well. The theme of Jesus in the house of Mary and Martha was one that many artists in Vermeer's region and time period painted as well.
Rand described Vermeer as a "Naturalist" and this is one of the many Vermeer paintings that doesn't really fit that categorization.
Please enjoy Jennifer's fascinating take on this unusual work. If you would like to host this blog for a day, feel free to drop me a line.
Nationality: AmericanBorn/Died: 1986- Creation Date: 2011Media: Musical recording and video recording
Lady Gaga is a rare performer who is both wildly popular and wildly underrated. I first recognized the "wildly underrated" part when I tried convincing a couple people that the song Bad Romance is an utterly transcendent song by someone who obviously knows "the total passion for the total height." They remained unconvinced.
Now, Lady Gaga has turned out a video that's a jaw-dropping allegory of virtue and vice. Not a simple song "advocating Satan-worship," as some YouTube commentators think, nor a slightly-less-simple ditty about a girl who likes the bad boy, Lady Gaga makes it abundantly clear that in this song, "Jesus is my virtue; Judas is the demon I cling to."
I invite you to watch the video now, before reading this analysis, as many times as you like. The more you notice on your own, the more fun this will be.
Throughout history Christan mythology has been depicted with great variety. Because images of Jesus are so common in the history of art, I thought it would be interesting to explore some of the more unusual works.Although I consider this piece to be a mediocre work of art, this engraving is one of the most technically proficient, and in that regard, visually spellbinding works I have ever seen. It is a depiction of a depiction--an image of Veronica's veil that, according to the myth, was said to bear the likeness of Jesus after he wiped his face on her cloth. Playing off the "miraculous" nature of that image, Mellan used it as an opportunity to demonstrate his "miraculous" skill. I'm fortunate to have seen a print from this block in person. You really have to see the close-up image of it to appreciate it and I suggest clicking on the full image below as well to really experience the artist's technique and the "optical" effect that occurs while looking at it.
Throughout history Christan mythology has been depicted with great variety. Because images of Jesus are so common in the history of art, I thought it would be interesting to explore some of the more unusual works.
If my memory serves me I do not think that the miracles performed in the New Testament have descriptions of visual phenomena. Perhaps there are bright lights with one or two, but usually the event just seems to occur without much visual grandeur associated with it. While halos and back-lighting are standard, there are not that many paintings of Jesus that show him performing acts accompanied by lights, shapes and colors. To me these images make Jesus look like some kind of wizard casting a magical spell.
Throughout history Christan mythology has been depicted with great variety. Because images of Jesus are so common in the history of art, I thought it would be interesting to explore some of the more unusual works.
Although I am not a student of the history of China, it is my understanding that when Westerners started expanding into China they brought their religious beliefs with them. The Chinese (converts?) then translated these biblical accounts into a visual language that they were familiar with. Although these Asian versions of Jesus seem strange to me, the rosey-cheeked, doe-eyed, light-skinned, "standard" depiction of Jesus in Western art is certainly historically inaccurate as well.
I cannot say how old these images are (some appear older than others) although the second one is apparently from the 1800's.
Throughout history Christan mythology has been depicted with great variety. Because images of Jesus are so common in the history of art, I thought it would be interesting to explore some of the more unusual works.
This painting of Jesus as dead from AD 1521-1522 is extremely unusual. It is life-sized and the horizontal format is tight to the body like a casket. The flesh is beginning to darken and decompose and the eyes and mouth of the corpse have gone gracelessly slack. The body, however, is gaunt, stiff and emaciated--particularly the hands. Effort has been made to depict Jesus as thoroughly dead without a trace of divinity. While many (but not all) depictions of Jesus as deceased present him as a muscular, sleeping man with minor wounds, Holbein went to great lengths to present the opposite view. I suspect Holbein's intention was to concretize the idea that Jesus most certainly did die like any human being would.
Throughout history Christan mythology has been depicted with great variety. Because images of Jesus are so common in the history of art, I thought it would be interesting to explore some of the more unusual works.
Throughout history Christan mythology has been depicted with great variety. Because images of Jesus are so common in the history of art, I thought it would be interesting to explore some of the more unusual works.
I recently discovered that it was a trend in German-speaking Europe since the Middle Ages to depict Jesus as (of all things) a pharmacist or apothecary as it was known at the time. Apparently the metaphor involved distributing blessings and virtues as "cures" (in medicine jars), the weighing of morality in the same way a pharmacist or apothecary weighs ingredients for drugs, and similar symbols. These strange paintings were usually displayed in apothecary shops and I can't help but wonder if other professions had their own images of Jesus performing those tasks.
Throughout history Christan mythology has been depicted with great variety. Because images of Jesus are so common in the history of art, I thought it would be interesting to explore some of the more unusual works.
Today I'm posting several paintings of Jesus that are strangely feminine. In some instances, his femininity is so extreme that it appears he was painted as a bearded woman or as having a male body with a female head. I assume that the thought process behind this decision was to make Jesus appear non-aggressive and benevolent, however, I find it strange that rather than looking to the features of non-aggressive and benevolent males, these artists looked to the features of non-males. Though some of these images depict Jesus as a boy or as young man, these works still seem to be more like paintings of girls and young women and if I didn't know they were supposed to be males I would have assumed they were females.
Unknown artist's Christ Child with Passion Symbols
I have a great deal of respect for this painting. Although some of the figures are not rendered as solidly as they could have been, the chaotic design of this painting nicely emphasizes the serenity of Jesus in the center. Everyone around him is ugly and distorted while he remains beautiful and "good." Religiosity aside, I love this painting.
