Art Guide2015 Columban Art Calendar

2015 Columban Art Calendar

Front Cover

Virgin and Child (detail)by Domenico Ghirlandaio (c.1470-1475)

Amongst the subjects favoured by Renaissance masters and their patrons, that of the Virgin and Child must rank as the most beloved. The archetypal image of a serene young woman embracing her child has never failed to appeal to viewers searching for reassurance or mercy. With consummate skill Ghirlandaio evokes the physical presence of the young mother, whose heavy folds of blue fabric create a protective space to enclose her son. The gold background reminiscent of heaven reminds us of the Virgin’s ancient title as “God- Bearer,” the one who made possible the Incarnation. The rock crystal mounted at the centre of the fabulous jewel had traditionally symbolized purity. Thus the magnificent object, known as a morse, which served to fasten the priest’s robe at the neck, here decorates the Virgin’s neckline. As a symbol of purity, the rock crystal alludes to a quality that both poets and theologians had long ascribed to Christ’s mother. Ghirlandaio’s artistry elevates this rather familiar image into a symbol of Mary’s archetypal role as protector and mediator.

January 2015

St Paul and the Viper (detail) Mural, Canterbury Cathedral by English School (c. 1180)

St Paul is remembered as a great missionary, who after his conversion preached throughout Asia Minor and as far west as Rome and Malta. This wall painting, which once decorated Canterbury Cathedral, recalls an incident recounted in Acts 28:1-6. Paul had been arrested and was on his way to Rome, where he was to be tried. During the voyage he and his companions were ship-wrecked on the island of Malta. The islanders prepared a fire against the rain and cold. As Paul leaned forward to warm himself, a snake attached itself to his arm. He shook the snake off his arm into the fire much to the amazement of the crowd. Who could this man be who emerged unharmed from encountering a snake? Only a God the islanders believed could enable a man to resist such an enemy. Paul remained among the people for some time, curing many of illnesses. This scene from the life of St Paul is all that remains in a chapel originally dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul. The painting gives a tantalising glimpse of the brilliant medieval wall paintings that once decorated the interiors of English cathedrals and churches.

February 2015

Mary and Martha (detail) by Bernardino Luini (c.1480-1532)

Luini, a follower of Leonardo, spent most of his career working in Milan. This painting of two women invites us into their presence but does not make clear to us today that the subject is religious. The original viewers, however, would have understood the visual conventions in this painting, and thus would have recognised the women as the two sisters of Lazarus, Martha (left) and Mary (right). Clues like costume and gesture help us to recognize these sisters. Traditionally the scene portrays the conversion of Mary. According to legend, Martha implores her wayward sister to renounce her dissolute life. The painting depicts the moment when Mary, having heard Christ preach, responds to Martha’s pleas. From now on Mary will follow Christ. At the centre of the painting the sprig of orange blossom suggests the transience of earthly life. The delicate blossom also symbolises the flowering of Mary’s devotion to Christ.

March 2015

St Patrick (detail)from Butler’s Lives of the Saints

by English School (c. 1870)

Throughout the nineteenth century devotion to St Patrick was widespread, not only in Ireland but wherever the Irish had emigrated. Here an unknown artist has chosen to portray the saint in a way that recalls altarpieces of the Italian Renaissance. The saint stands enclosed by an elaborate arch at the centre of the painting. He is dressed in episcopal robes and holds a crook, symbol of a bishop’s office. Patrick is accompanied by St Columba and St Brigid, who occupy niches to either side of him. The majesty of the fictive altarpiece endows Patrick and the accompanying saints with a timeless authority, but with scant regard for historical accuracy. The artist has deployed a grand manner borrowed from the Italian Renaissance in order to exalt Ireland’s saint, who in actuality had repudiated all such grandeur.

April 2015

Pietà (detail)by Annibale Carracci (c. 1603)

At the end of the sixteenth-century the north Italian city of Bologna emerged as a leading centre for the visual arts. Pivotal to the fame of this papal city were three members of the Carracci family, Annibale, his brother Agostino, and their cousin Lodovico. Annibale later moved to Rome, where he established himself as an heir to the masters of the high Renaissance, especially Raphael. This exquisite painting in oil on copper of the subject known as the Pietà depicts the moment after Christ has been taken down from the cross and placed in his mother’s lap. Mary’s exhausted body lies slumped against the side of her son’s tomb. Her face appears drained of all life. Indeed the deathly pallor of both mother and son is heightened by the cool tones of Mary’s intensely blue robes. For a moment the still, almost serene figures of the Virgin and her son appear suspended in a timeless image of grief, where the bloody nails and crown of thorns nevertheless dispel the meditative mood. These brutal symbols of Christ’s suffering remind the viewer of the horror of what has happened. The allusion to pain makes the startling use of blue appeal even more strongly to our emotions.

May 2015

St Catherine of Siena (detail)by Carlo Dolci (c. 1665-1670)

This detail from a painting of St Catherine of Siena alludes to this late medieval saint’s legend. In Dolci’s work Catherine appears in the habit of a Dominican tertiary. By honouring one of the saint’s visions, this painting dramatises her affective spirituality which focused on tears and empathy with Christ’s suffering. Catherine’s letters (of which over 300 survive) and other writings reveal her passionate commitment to uniting herself with Christ. Her intense devotion found expression in love and care for the poor as well as in reprimands to corrupt civic and religious leaders. Throughout her life, she received mystical visions, in which Christ responded to her urgent requests for spiritual assistance. On one such occasion during a period of great difficulty Christ appeared before Catherine and asked her to choose either a precious crown or a crown of thorns. What might the saint’s choice of the latter signify? According to Catherine, her embrace of the crown of thorns declared her unwavering desire to commit herself totally to following the steps of Christ.

June 2015

The Dream of Joachim (detail) by Giotto di Bondone (c. 1305)

Giotto painted this great masterpiece, the fresco cycle of scenes from the life of the Virgin and Christ for the private chapel of a wealthy Paduan Enrico Scrovegni between 1303-1311. Although the gospels do not discuss the Virgin’s parents or any other details about her early years, many legends narrate in great detail the story of the early life of Mary. Her parents, Anna and Joachim were said to be a devout couple who unfortunately had no children. The scene known as The Dream of Joachim relates how Joachim, who has been excluded from the temple because of his childless state, receives a vision from God (not shown in this detail). Giotto situates the episode in a stark landscape, where Joachim has found shelter with poor shepherds. Dreams in Jewish and Christian tradition were thought to provide communication between God and men and women. In this case the dream brings a message of great joy to Joachim, in his dream he learns that he and Anna will have a child. He of course could not know that his long awaited daughter Mary would grow up to receive an angel’s tidings that were even more marvellous.

July 2015

The Three Marys (detail)by Michael Wolgemut (c. 1500)

The earliest images of the Resurrection portrayed the event of Christ’s victory over death with a surprising absence – the figure of the resurrected Christ himself. Instead, artists depicted the angel (often seated on the empty tomb) and three women carrying ointment jars with which to anoint Christ’s body. The women traditionally known as myrrhophores (from the Greek word meaning anointers of Christ or ointment bearers) recall Mark and Luke’s descriptions of how these female companions of Christ visited the empty tomb. This depiction of The Three Marys appears to have originally been part of a larger work, almost certainly a painting of the Resurrection. The artist, Michael Wolgemut, the teacher of Albrecht Dürer, invests the scene with a sense of emotional realism. He does so through the women’s red-rimmed eyes as well as the care with which each figure is individualised. Note how each woman’s costume and pose contain clues that help the viewer to differentiate her status in late medieval society. The figure at the left, almost certainly to be identified as Mary Magdalen, wears an expensive fur-trimmed dress. Moreover, her unbound golden hair further confirms her identity. The woman next to her wears the wimple and veil associated with widows. The final figure in this group of myrrhophores wears the fashionable head-dress typical of the wives of successful burghers. Each of these women would have reminded devout late medieval viewers that compassion and fidelity remain at the heart of the Christian life.

August 2015

The Exodus or The Vases of the Egyptians (detail)

by Frans Francken II the Younger (1581-1642)

The story familiar from The Exodus tells how Moses led his people out of Egypt toward the Promised Land. Many artists have depicted the dramatic episode which describes how God parted the Red Sea so that the Israelites might escape pursuit by Pharoah’s army. The Flemish artist Frans Francken has chosen a less familiar incident from this story. This crowded composition features an earlier moment when the Israelites are preparing to leave captivity. In the foreground the artist calls our attention to the splendid objects which the Israelites will carry on the journey. Golden ewers, elaborate caskets and precious jewels captivate everyone present from the aged to richly dressed women and small children. The artist appeals to a seventeenth-century taste for plenty of spectacle abounding in opulent detail and exotic incident. Indeed Moses would be all but impossible to find, except for the fact that the camel which he rides stands tall at the rear. During this era, preachers liked to remind their congregations that pursuit of worldly vanities might distract them, like the Israelites, from the adoration of God. This painting delivers a kind of sermon warning against worldly indulgence.

September 2015

The Good Samaritan (detail)by Philip Richard Morris (1857)

The English artist Philip Richard Morris imagines Luke’s parable of The Good Samaritan within the historical reality of the Holy Land. Why did this story exercise such a wide appeal during the nineteenth-century? Pre-Raphaelite artists like Morris delighted in recreating the domestic world of first-century Palestine. In addition, Victorian families relished the Samaritan’s example of selflessly serving those in need. In keeping with Victorian values, Morris focuses on the later part of the parable. The Samaritan together with the unfortunate traveller have found their way to an inn, where the Samaritan ensures that the inn-keeper will further nurse the man who has been robbed. Here the inn-keeper’s family, his wife and child proceed to offer support and care to the victim of casual theft and violence. Through the entrance we glimpse the merchant and his horse heading off. Morris shows that the Samaritan can now depart, confident that the inn-keeper and his family will continue to care for the man. The didactic message of Luke’s parable centres of course on Jesus words “Go and do like-wise”. In the painting the small child prominently dressed in red reminds us of Jesus’ words. Clearly frightened by the intrusion of the unkempt stranger, he is never-the-less gently encouraged by his mother to regard the man with compassion. The command to offer hospitality to the stranger resonates from this painting into our own communities.

October 2015

The Sacrifice of Isaac (detail)by Domenichino (Domenico Zampieri)

(1627-1628)

The story we read in Genesis of the so-called sacrifice of Isaac exerts an enduring fascination. Domenichino’s account of the disturbing narrative highlights the dramatic moment when an angel thwarts Abraham’s attempt to fulfil God’s command to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac. The angel gestures downward toward the substitute sacrifice, the ram caught in a thicket. Nearby on the other side of Abraham, Isaac looks upward in acknowledgement of his deliverance. Abraham fills the picture to such an extent that his agitated figure dominates all those around him, and most poignantly his trusting son, Isaac. Against the background of a tranquil landscape, Abraham’s swirling draperies and commanding gesture reinforce our sense of horror and disbelief. Abraham’s outspread arms convey both amazement and gratitude that his obedience to God has ended with such a dramatic confirmation of God’s reward for fidelity.

November 2015

The Finding of Moses (detail)by Sebastien Bourdon (c. 1650)

The French painter Sebastien Bourdon was trained largely in Rome, where he spent his career. His works appealed to patrons there including royalty and members of the papal court. This depiction of an episode from the story of Moses evokes Bourdon’s preference for the classical ideal. From the harmonious landscape populated by classical ruins to the dignified figures who move through it, the narrative unfolds with solemnity. In fear of the Israelites the Pharoah had ordered all new-born male babies to be slaughtered. Moses’s mother saves her child by placing him in a basket made of bulrushes. Ironically it is the Pharoah’s daughter who later rescues and names the child Moses. She sees the basket floating in the river one morning when she and her attendants come to wash at the river. Moses is placed in the care of his sister, Miriam, who in disguise appeals to the daughter of the Pharoah to deliver the child to her care. Bourdon draws attention to the imposing figure of the Pharoah’s daughter, who stands centre stage in a magnificent yellow costume. Around her, female attendants and fishermen play a supportive role in this story of divine rescue.

December 2015

St Joseph and the Christ Child (detail) by Guido Reni (1634-1640)

As one of the most celebrated artists of the early seventeenth century, Guido Reni painted a number of versions of this work, St Joseph and the Christ Child. Until this period Joseph, Christ’s adopted father had seldom featured in paintings or sculptures. As society changed, the role of Joseph gradually gained prominence in people’s spirituality. Reni reveals an intimate moment between father and child. Dressed in his traditional colours of orange and gold, Joseph gazes into his son’s face with great tenderness. He gently cradles the child in his arm, enacting a pose more often associated with the child’s mother, Mary. The child responds with delight and trust. Only the presence of the apple, symbol of Adam’s fall, reminds us that not even Joseph’s protection will spare the son from the full measure of human suffering.

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