Pieter Bruegel. The Parable of the Blind. 1568. Tempera on Canvas. Displayed at the Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples, Italy.
Peter Bruegel (1525-1569) lived in Flanders in the 16th century. He was influenced by Hieronymus Bosch after Bruegel turned away from painting landscapes.
This painting is an illustration of the proverb: “And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into a ditch.” The blind beggars are being lead into a ditch by their blind leader. The path that they’re on could be of suffering rather than salvation. They are being led away from the church in the background and instead to the pit in the foreground, into which the leader of the beggars has fallen. This pit could symbolize Hell and eternal suffering, whereas the church is salvation. The second beggar from the left is wearing a cross, showing that even the pious can be led astray from their beliefs.
Bruegel’s eye for detail shows in the faces of the beggars. They’re accurate to the point that a French physician was able to determine what eye diseases that each of the beggars had.
Joseph M. W. Turner. Snow Storm: Steamboat off a Harbor’s Mouth 1842. Oil on canvas. Displayed in the Clore Collection, Tate Gallery, London, England.
Joseph M. W. Turner (1775-1851) lived in England. He began his artistic career as a watercolor painter, but switched to oils as his career progressed and he began painting landscapes. As time went on, Turner stopped focusing on the realistic details and instead focused on painting how light and atmosphere effect the subject matter.
Snow Storm: Steamboat off a Harbor’s Mouth shocked and infuriated many critics when it was displayed. This was not a traditional portrait of a ship at sea. Instead it was blurry and violent. Turner was trying to paint things like speed, wind and atmosphere, which cannot be traditionally portrayed in artwork. Turner’s work gradually became more abstract to the point where he had to attach rings to the back so galleries could know which way to hang the painting.
The Merry Fiddler - Gerard van Honthorst
I just wanted to post a painting that I liked. I love art of the Dutch era, when Protestants strayed away from religious subjects and instead painted people and landscapes and life. These were called genre paintings.
I love ‘The Merry Fiddler’ because he’s just so, well, merry. His cheeks are red, there’s alcohol in his hand, and he’s grinning from ear to ear. There’s not really much to this post, I just wanted to share that I love Dutch era art and this painting.
Hieronymus Bosch. ‘Death and the Miser’ 1485-90. Oil on panel. Displayed at the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516) was a Flemish painter whose paintings were influenced by the style of Italian mannerists.
When ‘Death and the Miser’ was created, many people were under the impression that growing religious conflict, caused by the Protestant Reformation which lead to the Catholic Counter-Reformation, was a sign that God’s anger was building and soon he would punish them all.
‘Death and the Miser’ deals with a man’s struggle between good and evil. Two scenes are shown within the piece. At the foot of the bed, the miser, in old age, is placing money into a bag at the foot of his bed. He’s hoarding money, which was seen as an evil deed. However he has a rosary in the other hand, showing the good in him.
In the bed is the miser, older and near death. Death is at the doorway, posed to strike the man with the arrow in his hand. The devil peeks out from under the curtain beside the bed, tempting the miser with a bag of money. On the other side, an angel directs the miser’s attention to the crucifix perched in the window. The angel is urging the miser to follow the way of God. The miser is reaching for the bag of money with one hand, and towards the crucifix with another. I noticed that he is reaching for the crucifix with the same hand that he is holding the rosary with in the foreground, but I don’t know if that was intentional on the artist’s part. Bosch often told stories in his paintings, and here we can see that he’s telling the story of a man’s choice between good and evil, and being on his deathbed, knowing that if he asks for forgiveness before passing, he can be saved.
Parmigianino - ‘The Madonna with the Long Neck’ 1535. Oil on panel. Displayed at Galleria delgi Uffizi, Florence, Italy.
Francesco Mazzola (1503-1540), called Parmigianino, was one of the first-generation Mannerists in Rome.
‘The Madonna with the Long Neck’ interests me because so much of the painting makes no sense. First off, there’s no way to tell if this is an exterior setting or an interior setting. The columns in the back on the right indicate that this is outside, however the drapes to the left suggest otherwise.
Madonna herself is enormous, towering over the greeters who have come to see the Christ child, despite being seated. Her neck is long and unnatural, her proportions are unreal. The Christ child in her arms in lifeless and pale, and the positioning of the woman’s hand makes it appear as if the child’s head is not even attached to the body. Moreover, the child looks about ready to fall from Madonna’s lap, but she shows no interest, only observing the child with a calm, pleased look upon her face.
The figures to the left appear to be crowded around to see the Christ child, however none of the visitors are even looking at the subjects. One appears to be looking straight at the viewer. Notice the leg in the front far left of the piece - who does it belong to?
The mysterious man in the back is noticed when you move your eyes to the right. There’s no way to tell just how far away the man is, or why he is even there. Parmigianino gives no clues to the identity of this man or why he’s there.
