MET at NYC - 5/4/07

Artwork by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553)

Deborah R. Pratt

Professor Jerome Nevins May 7, 2007

AH251: The Museum Experience

The Martyrdom of St. Barbara, ca. 1510
Lucas Cranach the Elder (German, 1472–1553)
Oil on wood; Overall 60 3/8 x 54 1/4 in. (153.4 x 137.8 cm); painted surface 59 3/8 x 53 1/8 in. (150.8 x 134.9 cm)
Rogers Fund, 1957 (57.22)

While I was at the Museum we started out on the side with the European sculptures, which I really wasn't interest in. Proceeded to ask a guard for directions to the European Paintings. She said once you pass the pillars you'll see a lot of stairs, take those to the second floor. when I saw all the stairs I started to turn around, but I figured I needed the exercise. Once we arrived what an amazing site!!

Unfortunately, when we were there we didn't get a chance to see the redesign and reinstallation of the Museum’s superb collection of classical art is nearing completion. The New Greek and Roman Gallerieswhich opened up on April 20, 2007. This project was a 15-year project and returning thousands of works from the Museum’s permanent collection to public view. There will be works from 900 B.C. and the early fourth century A.D. Unlike us, hopefully you will get a chance to go.

I focused on a few paintings, but I noticed my attention was drawn to two of Lucas Cranach the Elder's paintings. He was a German painter, etcher and woodcut designer. His named was derived from Kronach in southern Germany, presumably his place of birth. He was born at Kronach, and learned about the art of drawing from his father. Really don't know much his early years, but eventually settled in Vienna. In Vienna, Cranach he painted religious subjects, but wasn't very religious. While he was in Wittenberg, he befriended Martin Luther and became close friends with him. He died on October 16, 1553 at Weimar. His house still stands, and he is commorated as an artist by the Lutheran Church on April 6th.

Cranach had three sons, all artists: John Lucas Cranach (died at Bologna, 1536), Hans Cranach sketchy life history about him, and Lucas who was born in 1515 (died in 1586) . His sons Hans and Lucas followed his style and continued the family workshop.

I decided to write about "The Martyrdom of St. Barbara". This painting was done on oil wood. I really enjoy color so this captured my attention. Red symbolizes wealth or death. In this picture it symbolizes death. Lucas captures the light and dark and contrast is beautiful. This is really sad, because there is a man standing over this lady with a sword, and it looks like he is getting ready to decapitate her. The true story according legend is Saint Barbara was executed by her father when she refused to recant her Christian faith. The four sinister-looking witnesses may be the Roman authorities who tortured Barbara in an attempt to persuade her to sacrifice to pagan gods. This was painted in 1510 and was for the Rehm family of Augsburg.

Here are some other pictures that were taken. I already wrote about Judith with the head of Holofernes, by Orazio Gentileschi. With both pictures the background is black. This time I found another picture, and it's by Lucas Cranach the Elder (German, 1472–1553), Oil on wood; 35 1/4 x 24 3/8 in. (89.5 x 61.9 cm), Rogers Fund, 1911 (11.15).

I also found that I was drawn to Italian artists. The were a lot of colors and very detailed, and bright. The picture below is by Giovanni Batista Tieplo, Italian Venetia 1696-1770 and is called "The Battle of Vercallae, oil on canvas.

The battle has been identified tentatively as the great victory of Gaius Marius over fierce Teutonic tribes in Lombardy in 101 B.C. The tribes of the Cimbri had crossed the Alps near Trent and invaded the Veneto, whose mild climate and delicacies reputedly sapped their strength. Their defeat saved Rome from conquest. The picture—a masterpiece of Tiepolo's early maturity—is from a series of ten canvases painted about 1725–1729 to decorate the main room of the Ca' Dolfin, Venice."

The Battle of Vercellae, 1725–29
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (Italian, Venetian, 1696–1770)\Oil on canvas; Irregular painted surface, 162 x 148 3/8 in. (411.5 x 376.9 cm)
Rogers Fund, 1965 (65.183.3)

Fantastic Landscape
Francesco Guardi (Italian, Venetian, 1712–1793)
Oil on canvas; Irregular, 61 1/4 x 74 1/2 in. (155.6 x 189.2 cm)
Gift of Julia A. Berwind, 1953 (53.225.3)

This picture is called Scenes from the Story of the Argonauts, cassone panel, Biagio di Antonio (Italian, Florentine, active 1446–1516)
Tempera on wood, gilt ornaments; Overall 24 1/8 x 60 3/8 in. (61.3 x 153.4 cm); painted surface 19 5/8 x 56 in. (49.8 x 142.2 cm)
Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1909 (09.136.1)

Luca Signorelli and Workshop, active by 1470 died 1523. The assumption of the Virgin with Saints Michael and Benedict. Oil and Gold on Wood.

The picture was painted for the Olivetan convent of Saint Michael in Signorelli's native city of Cortona. Signorelli clearly designed the altarpiece, and he must also have painted the Virgin and Saint Benedict as well as the vanquished figure of Satan, which are executed with great vigor. The altarpiece seems to date from the late 1480s. Much of the picture is abraded. The figures of angels have especially suffered, but the Virgin and Saint Benedict are relatively well preserved. The frame, partly resurfaced, is of the 16th century.

The Assumption of the Virgin with Saints Michael and Benedict, altarpiece, late 1480s
Luca Signorelli and Workshop (Italian, Tuscan, active by 1470, died 1523)
Oil and gold on wood; 67 1/4 x 51 3/4 in. (170.8 x 131.4 cm)
Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1929 (29.164)

The Penitence of Saint Jerome, triptych, ca. 1518
Joachim Patinir (Netherlandish, active by 1515, died 1524)
Oil on wood; Shaped top: central panel, overall, with engaged frame, 46 1/4 x 32 in. (117.5 x 81.3 cm); each wing, overall, with engaged frame, 47 1/2 x 14 in. (120.7 x 35.6 cm)
Fletcher Fund, 1936 (36.14a–c)

A milestone in the history of European landscape painting, this intact altarpiece may have been made for a church in south Germany. Its outside wings show Saint Sebald, patron saint of Nuremburg, and Saint Anne with the Virgin and Christ Child. Following Netherlandish tradition, large-scale sacred figures dominate the foreground: Christ, who is baptized in the Jordan River, Saint Jerome, and Anthony the Hermit (shown with the monsters that assailed him). The true subject of the picture, however, is Patinir's splendid panoramic landscape, which the viewer is encouraged to travel through visually in the manner of a pilgrimage.

Hope you enjoy as much as I did!!

deborah-debpratt.blogspot.com

Yale Center for British Art - April 11, 2007

Dort Dort or Dordrecht: The Dort Packet-Boat from Rotterdam Becalmed 1817-18
Oil on canvas (62 x 92 in.157.5 x 233.7 cm)

Artwork by Joseph Mallord William Turner (J.M.W. Turner)
Deborah R. Pratt

Professor Jerome Nevins

April 11, 2007

AH251: The Museum Experience

On April 11th, I went to the Yale Center for British Art, 1080 Chapel Street, New Haven, CT. This was another beautiful museum with huge paintings. I was told there were some other paintings, but they were on loan and they are larger than the ones I saw. The museum was under renovation the same time as the Yale Art Museum. The founder of the Yale Center for British Arts was Paul Mellon (1907-1999), and the museum is spearheading a celebration of the centennial of the birth.

The Yale Center for British Art will have a special exhibition showcasing his extraordinary collection of British art. Paul Mellon's Legacy: A Passion for British Art features nearly 250 treasures from the Paul Mellon Collection. There are several works that are not often seen by the public and include drawings and watercolors by: William Hogarth, Thomas Rowlandson, William Blake, and J.M.W. Turner.

The Paul Mellon Collection is one of the most widespread representations of the visual arts of a single culture ever assembled. Paul Mellon's Legacy demonstrates Mr. Mellon's unparalleled collecting activity in the field of British art. His art is arranged chronologically from the 15th Century to the early 20th Century, and the collection features certain themes in British culture, such as early exploration, architecture, sport, travel, fashion, and the natural world. The most important aspect of his exhibition is it also celebrates Mr. Mellon’s remarkable vision in creating an organization in North America that would serve as a public museum for British art and as a research institute of international repute, which is located here at Yale University.

Note: “Following its premiere at the Center, a selection of nearly 150 masterpieces from Paul Mellon's Legacy, including some of the Centers greatest paintings, will travel to the Royal Academy of Arts, London, where it will be on view from October 20, 2007 to January 27, 2008. This will be the first and only time that certain important works such as Turner's Dort or Dordrecht: The Dort Packet-Boat from Rotterdam Becalmed (181718) will ever leave the Center”.

The painting below was by an artist named Joseph Mallord William Turner. He was born in London on April 23, 1775, and educated at the Royal Academy of Arts. At the age of 15 he displayed his paintings at the academy and continued to show his work there until 1850. In 1799, he was elected an associate of the academy in and a full member three years later. During his career he traveled and toured England, Scotland, France, Switzerland, and Italy. J.M.W Turner's early paintings were mainly watercolors and his subjects mostly landscapes. His first oily paintings were exhibited in 1790, used vibrant colors. Turner is also one of the greatest masters of British "watercolour" landscape painting. He is also known as "the painter of light."

J.M.W.T. was an English landscape painter who was known for is natural light effects in land and marine subjects. During 1800-20 he painted many mythological and historical scenes. The colors and details were subdued, but more emphasis were put on details. He was influenced by the French landscape painter Claude Lorrain. During 1820-35 he chose to do more brilliant coloring and by diffusion of light. On December 19, 1851, Turner died in London.

Of course there were numerous paintings, but the painting that captured my attention was Boat from Rotterdam. I noticed the picture had a lot of neutral colors, with the exception of the Flag (has a swan), and the gentleman in the small boat has a red scarf hanging out of his back pocket. It also looks like a dreary day, no sun and plenty of clouds. The clouds, the city and the other boats in the background are not bold colors like the big and small boats. It looks like the larger boat was in route from the big city, which is behind them, and was not able to sail because there was no wind. There are no ripples in the water. Back then, of course, there were no engines. So they solely depended upon the sail. If you look at the lady, who is in the back of the rowboat, her hand is in the water along with paddles trying to move the boat along. I'm sure it's being weighed down along with the food. There are birds in the water, and it also looks like trash, however, it is food. Not sure if the food fell off of the boat accidentally or if the people were eating and discarded the trash overboard.

The true story behind this picture is "The Swan," which sailed regularly between Dordrecht and Rotterdam; while awaiting a change in the wind or tide, the passengers are buying food and drink from enterprising local people in rowboats. This picture was purchased by Paul Mellon in 1966.

Below are other pictures that were taken while I was there. It was a fun time, and I really enjoyed what I saw.