Something Beautiful

Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860)

I've long been familiar with this portrait that American artist Rembrandt Peale did of his brother Rubens when the artist was 23 and his brother just 17 years old. Only tonight did I come across this much later work in which Peale portrays himself at age 50. The resemblance between the brothers is strong. The difference in appearance due to age is, to my mind, quite touching.

Portrait of a Nun

I've never heard of Pierre Subleyras before but this evening somehow came across his work. These are a little weird, but also somewhat wonderful:

Venerable Battista Vernazza, c. 1740.

St, John of Avila, c. 1745.

Sculptured Altarpiece (Riemenschneider)

Medieval German wood sculptor Tilman Riemenschneider has long been a favorite of mine. Even so, I was unfamiliar with this sculptured altarpiece which Riemenschneider and his workshop carved in, probably, the early 1500s. The main figures are: St. Sebastian, Emperor Henry II, and St. Stephanus. The altarpiece is in Bamberg Cathedral, Germany, where it is seen by thousands of tourists each year.

Coronation of Napoleon

This Coronation of Napoleon, by Jean-Louis David might not look like much at first. If you pursue the high resolution possibilities, however, you will be amply rewarded. Put it on full-screen mode and it will be even better. Just look at the faces, the feathers, all that brocade! A truly sumptuous painting!

Canaletto

It's been too long since I linked to a work by the Italian artist Giovanni Antonio Canal (Canaletto). Here's one at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.: The Square of Saint Mark's, Venice (1742/1744).

Madonna of Humility

The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid has a Madonna of Humility by Fra Angelico. You'll be able to appreciate the work much better if you check out the much larger image here.

There is something about this work that, when viewed in its larger incarnation, makes me feel better. I can feel my muscles literally relax, and a bit of health creeping into my bones. May it be the same for you!

Ghiberti's Doors

I've been doing some research on Florence, Italy, and my attention is naturally drawn again and again to the Baptistery eastern doors fashioned by Lorenzo Ghiberti in the early 1400s. The doors as a whole command one's attention. Only by examining them one by one, though, can we really appreciate their artistry, their sheer mastery.   From top to bottom, and left to right, the ten scenes are as follows:

Adam and Eve;  Cain and Abel;

Noah;               Abraham;

Isaac & sons;    Joseph;

Moses;             Joshua;

David;              Solomon & Queen. 

Two additional sets of photos are at Mary Ann Sullivan's site.  One set provides close-ups of the facsimile doors which are today actually on the Baptistery.   Another set shows the original doors. 

If you become as entranced as I am by the doors, you can download and view the extraordinary 10.8 MB version of these bronze doors at Wikipedia.  It shows not only the bronze plaques, but also all the surrounding figures and other decoration. 

Annunciation (simply extraordinary)

The Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain, possesses one of Fra Angelico's Annunciation altarpieces. The Museum has done us the great favor of placing three different versions of the work, each in a different size, on its website. First, there is the usual introductory page. Next comes an image significantly enlarged. Finally, and most wonderfully, there is a zoom image that will make you feel as though you are standing in front of this very painting.

Santa Trinità altarpiece

Let's take a look at the Santa Trinità Altarpiece, by Fra Angelico, 1437-40. Here the artist has managed to transform a sad, even tragic, subject into one that affects us in a completely unexpected way. Instead of feeling the tragedy of the event, we are calmed and reassured. How does he do that?

To be truthful, I don't know. I can only refer you to the painting, to a more detailed study of its components, and to your own understanding of how they work together.

Here is the altarpiece as a whole.

And here are its main components --

Left:

Women on left

Jerusalem, in the distance

Center:

Four men holding the body of Christ

Bearded man in blue

Right:

Men on right

Background on the right

Background, close-up

Fra Angelico (c. 1395 – 1455)

Fra Angelico has been on my mind for the last few days. This description seems to explain something of why his works have the effect they do --

He led the devout and ascetic life of a Dominican friar, and never rose above that rank; he followed the dictates of the order in caring for the poor; he was always good-humored. All of his many paintings were of divine subjects, and it seems that he never altered or retouched them, perhaps from a religious conviction that, because his paintings were divinely inspired, they should retain their original form.

His biographer continues --

He was wont to say that he who illustrates the acts of Christ should be with Christ. It is averred that he never handled a brush without fervent prayer and he wept when he painted a Crucifixion. The Last Judgment and the Annunciation were two of the subjects he most frequently treated. — William Michael Rossetti