Dear Clare...You intuited perfectly the reason for Rubens's religious art as a conscious tool for the Counter-Reformation.
The first time I ever went to a major museum, I learned from a good guidebook the very valuable exercise of having a cultural-
historical timeline in mind when looking at an artwork so one could consider it in the context of what was happening in the
world at the time it as produced....In the case of Rubens, the context was both the Counter-Reformation and the fact that at
the time, the Low Countries were still under Spanish rule...I tried to go quickly to the first few Rubens biographies online
just now and found this specific reference, in fact, in one of them:
"A devout Roman Catholic, he imbued his many religious paintings with the emotional tenor of the Counter-Reformation.
This aggressively religious stance, along with his deep involvement in public affairs, lent Rubens's work a conservative
and public cast that contrasts sharply with the more private and secular paintings of his great Dutch contemporary, Rembrandt.
But if his roots lay in Italian classical art and in Roman Catholic dogma, Rubens avoided sterile repetition of academic forms
by injecting into his works a lusty exuberance and almost frenetic energy...."
I think it encapsulates much of what so attracts me to his work, including the secular paintings. The contrast with
the 'austere' Rembrandt couldn't be more marked....But that's what makes the visual arts and music so satisfying - there's
room for every taste and style, and one is free to enjoy everything generically or to develop preferences that allow for
the most extreme contrasts...
Crotchet, you touched on the possible relationship between the music and the visual arts during certain periods...I may be
wrong but compared to the visual arts, the development of Western music came relatively late. Nonetheless, I would be
interested, Crotchet, if you could - as an a pleasant exercise - name a piece of music that you think might 'go' with
any of the art works that have already been posted on this thread.
Benefan, I will now go explore your link!....
P.S. I have been to your link, Benefan...Very good background material on sacred images, and a link to icons that made me
realize that, of course, that is yet another whole universe of imagery to explore!...
Clare, just a few remarks on the precious trio of early Annunciations that you posted....The Botticelli Mary is the perfect
visual expression of "Fiat voluntas tua!" - her entire being is a a yielding!...The Monaco is exquisite: Love the medieval feel
(after a century it's still close to the Martini Annunciation); I'm a sucker for the Byzantine use of gold in imagery;
his way with fabrics is delightful; the angel is caught at the moment of arrival before he has 'landed' and one can almost feel
the wind that announced his touchdown; and Monaco does not forget the bird!...Interesting that Della Francesca shows both
God the Father and the Holy Spirit, which makes this Annunciation an interesting conundrum of the Trinity in which
the Second Person is as yet only the Word!
P.S. And guess who also had both the First and Third Persons present in his Annunciation? Raphael, about whom I wanted to
start organizing a Madonna file towards the day when we get around to the Madonna cycle!
Raffaele Sanzio, The Annunciation (Oddi altar, predella), 1502-03
Oil on canvas, 27 x 50 cm, Pinacoteca, Vatican
He was 19-20 when he painted this, and it is one of his earliest surviving works (the earliest being a St. Sebastian
painted in 1501-1502). His color scheme is surprising - flame and sepia predominate, and the angels wings are virtually black.
The space he creates is unusual as Annunciations go, not just between the Virgin and the angel, but with the perspective in
depth receding towards what appears like dawn coming up on the city...
I was intrigued by the similarity with the Botticelli painted in 1489 - same flame color for the angel robe and floor tile
(though to less dramatic effect in Botticelli), identical floor pattern, and similar landscape in the background
(although this was a Renaissance convention). Might Raphael in Urbino have seen something painted less than 15 years earlier
in Florence? Unlikely! And he did not go to Florence till 1504, and Botticelli never left Florence until he went to Rome
to contribute to the Sistine Chapel 'decoration.'
And it is taking us far afield but the Annunciation must be seen with the other paintings
that Raphael did for the Oddi Altar, all of them familiar. The Annuciation was one of 3 panels
painted as a predella for the main altarpiece which was this:
The Crowning of the Virgin (Oddi altar),1502-03
Oil on canvas, 267 x 163 cm, Pinacoteca, Vatican
The other 2 panels of the predella (the row of smaller pictures at the base of the main altarpiece) are the Adoration of the Magi
[with an oddly Carnivalesque retinue} and the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple.
The Adoration of the Magi (Oddi altar),1502-03
Oil on canvas, 27 x 150 cm, Pinacoteca, Vatican
The Presentation in the Temple (Oddi altar, predella),1502-03
Oil on canvas, 27 x 50 cm, Pinacoteca, Vatican
I will limit my comments to this:
In a series of otherwise crowded canvases of variegated color, the Annunciation really stands out
with its unusual color palette and its 'space.' Then, there's the contrast between the Biblical
garments in the main piece and Annunciation, versus the Renaissance finery of the two other paintings.
And really, what can one say about a 19-20 year-old boy who simply emerged full-blown as an artist!
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 16/02/2007 16.20]