Artworks Damaged/Destroyed by Islamic Totalitarians: Nergal Gate at Ninevah

Nationality: Mesopotamian

Creation Date: c. 700 BC

Media: Granite

Location: Nineveh, Iraq

This sculpture was named after Nergal, an ancient Mesopotamian deity.  It was intended to be a protective figure.  More information about this type of human/animal sculpture can be found here. 

In February of 2015 ISIS attempted to deface/vandalize/destroy this huge granite sculpture.  This piece was not in great shape before 2015, but you can see that the are behind the figure's head has been removed.

Before:

Georges de la Tour's "The Education of the Virgin"*

Seven works of art I would like to see at the Frick

I recently visited New York and seeing the Frick was part of my plans, but due to time constraints I couldn't do it.  Anyway, in an effort to turn lemons into lemonade, I'm going to post seven works of art from the Frick that I wish I could have seen.  

Nationality: French

Born-Died: 1593-1652

Creation Date: c. 1600 to 1652

Size: 33 x 39 1/2  in (83.8 x 100.3 cm)

Media: Oil on canvas 

Location: The Frick Collection, New York City, New York, USA

I don't know for sure but it's possible that the image here is actually from a copy in France, but it is extremely similar to the painting in the Frick nonetheless.  The anatomical rendering here is slightly awkward--it reminds me of George Tooker--but the light is great (as I would expect.)  In any case I'd like to see this painting.

* the authorship of this painting has been questioned.

Unkown Artist's Crucifixion Tapestry

Nationality: Flemish
Creation Date: c. 1500-1525

Size: 71.7 x 76 in (182 x 193 cm)

Media: tapestry in wool, silk, silver-gilt thread

This tapestry is interesting to me in that it is a wonderful example of visually concretized values. The first image below looks patchy because I used Photoshop to piece together the detail images that were available--unfortunately, I don't know where this tapestry is located or who made it.  In any case, flanking Jesus are the two thieves, one good, one evil.  Their body language is quite different as they hang from their crosses making it easy to guess which thief is which. 

Gerrit van Honthorst's "Samson and Delilah"

Nationality: Dutch

Born-Died: 1590-1656

Creation Date: c. 1621
Size: 50.75 x 37 inch (129 x 94 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas

Location: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

This scene appears to be quite tender despite the maliciousness of the act.

Henry Ryland's "Rachel at the Well"

Nationality: English

Born-Died: 1856-1924

Creation Date: c. 1890

Media: Watercolor on paper

Location: Private collection (?)

I just discovered this artist.  Although I think his work is sometimes hit-or-miss, this is a beautiful painting.

St. Giles Cathedral, Day 6: A Variety of Carvings and Architectural Details

Nationality: Scottish
Media: Marble
Location: St. Giles Church, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

St. Giles Cathedral, Day 2: Stained Glass Window

Nationality: Scottish
Media: Stained glass
Location: St. Giles Church, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

Photo by me.

Johannes Vermeer's "An Allegory of Faith"

Nationality: Dutch
Born-Died: 1632-1675
Creation Date: c. 1670-72
Size: 45 × 35 inch (114.3 × 88.9 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas
Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, New York, USA

I recently read some criticism of this painting that said Vermeer's departure from his usually intimate, introspective imagery in favor of this semi-bombastic depiction of religious passion falls flat.  I agree.  This ode to faith doesn't appeal to me in terms of content, but it also doesn't interest me in the way it's presented.  I'm not a fan of artistic "symbol adding" where a scene is loaded with pre-established symbols for different things, all of which add up to a grand statement.  Apparently, it is not known why Vermeer decided to paint such an image as he was not particularly passionate about religion throughout his life.

Starting the Year with Johannes Vermeer: "Saint Praxedis"

Nationality: Dutch
Born-Died: 1632-1675
Creation Date: c.1655
Size: 40 × 33 inch (102 × 83 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas
Location: Private Collection

This is another work with a disputed authorship. 

Starting the Year with Johannes Vermeer: "Christ in the House of Martha and Mary"

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.

Art I Hate and Why: Lovis Corinth's "Samson Blinded"

Nationality: German
Born-Died: 1858-1925

Creation Date: 1912

Media: Oil on canvas

Location: Nationalgalerie, Berlin , Germany

This is not merely an illustration of Samson, a character from the Old Testament.  Its value as art lies in the fact that what it represents is much more fundamental: a view of man—an opinion about the nature of all men embodied in the image of one man.  The view of man offered in this painting is the following: man is weak, groping blindly, crushed, sickly, incapable, brutish, and (at best) formerly powerful. 

(Possibly) Arnolfo di Cambio's "St. Peter"

Nationality: Italian
Born-Died: 1240/c. 1300-1310

Media: Stone

Location: St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, Rome, Italy

This is a detail photograph that I took of a sculpture in St. Peters in Rome.  In my various travels I have seen a lot of sculptures with noses, feet, etc. that have been polished smooth by the countless touches of human hands, but this sculpture is the most worn away I have ever seen.  It looks like the feet have melted--like they have actually lost material.  It's a shame that the work has been damaged in this way, but it's also quite amazing to think of stone being polished and literally eroded away by millions upon millions of soft, human hands over the course of centuries. 

Thomas Cole's "The Voyage of Life: Manhood"

Nationality: American
Born/Died: 1801-1848
Creation Date: 1840
Size: 52.3 in × 78 in. (132.8 × 198.1 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas
Location: The National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., USA

Charles-Marie Bouton's "Gothic Chapel"

Nationality: French
Born/Died: 1781-1853

Creation Date: 1650
Size: 18.375 x 15.25 in. (46.7 x 38.7 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas
Location: The Metropolitan Museum, New York City, New York, USA

This is a painting that is rich with meaning. All photos by me.

Pictures from Inside the Sistine Chapel

As a nice little bonus I thought I'd post these photos I took from inside the Sistine Chapel.

Michelangelo Buonarroti's "Pietà"

Nationality: Italian
Born/Died: 1978

Creation Date: 1475-1564
Media: Marble
Location: St Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, Rome, Italy



Below is a photo I took of this amazing sculpture. Obviously the photo above is much better, but this is what it looks like in context.

Michelangelo Buonarroti's "Moses"

Nationality: Italian
Born/Died: 1475-1564

Creation Date: c. 1513-1515
Size: h: 92.5 in. (h: 235 cm)
Media: Marble
Location: San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome, Italy

Jennifer Kern's Pick: Lady Gaga's "Judas"

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.

Bouguereau x 2 Week - "The Virgin With Angels" and "Little Esmeralda"

On this Day in the History of Art: Vilhelm Hammershøi born (1864), Emily Dickinson died (1886)

This week I'm going to post two images per day of Bouguereau’s work--one piece that I don't like and one that I do.

Nationality: French
Born-Died: 1825-1905



The Virgin With Angels
Creation Date: 1900
Media: Oil on canvas

This painting is an example of artistic second-handedness that would rival the likes of Peter Keating.

Albrecht Dürer's "Self Portrait"

On this Day in the History of Art: Nathaniel Dance-Holland born (1735), Bertalan Székely born (1835), Paramount Pictures founded (1912), Saul Bass born (1930), “The Fountainhead” published (1943)

Nationality: German
Born-Died: 1471-1528
Creation Date: 1787
Size: 26.1 in × 19 in. (66.3 cm × 49 cm)
Media: Oil on wood panel
Location: Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany