The main goal of this course
The main goal of this course has been to learn about art, particularly narrative art. It's intriguing to see how the artist portrays history. Furthermore, its context and message have a big impact on how I feel about ancient items.
The stained glass window at Notre Dame de la Belle Verriere
The stained glass window at Notre Dame de la Belle Verriere and the picture "the musicians" by Caravaggio stand out as my two favorite pieces of art from this course. As a result, I will go into great length about these two works of art as well as their historical context.
The Musicians (Caravaggio)
The Italian Baroque master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio painted The Musicians, commonly referred to as the concert of youth, in 1595. The painting, since 1952 has been held in New York, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Moreover, in 1983 it endured an extensive restoration.
Caravaggio's Inspiration
The Musicians is thought to be the first work done by Caravaggio after he entered the Cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte household around 1595. The work was done plainly for the cardinal. According to Giovanni Baglione – his biographer, Caravaggio work was about the boys in the cardinal who engaged in music (Posner 302-324). The work inspiration was drawn from a teenager playing lute as well nature. The image depicts four boys in quasi-Classical attire in which one boy is reaching for a bunch of grapes who is dressed as a Cupid while the others are playing with various musical instrument and or singing.
The Musicians and the Revival of Music
Caravaggio painted the image in a period when the revival of music was being advocated by the church. New forms, as well as styles in art, were encouraged especially by progressive and educated cardinals including Del Monte. As a result, the scenes in the Musicians painting were a trending theme at that time (Pericolo and Stone 34-100). However, these scenes are secular rather than religious, which were identified to hark back to the previously established custom of “Concerts picture”- a genre exemplified by Titian's Le concert champetre in its earliest form, and originating from Venice.
The Composition of the Painting
It is believed that Caravaggio composed the painting basing on two figures he had studied. The Cupid boy resembled the boy in the “Boy Peeling Fruit” painting that was work prepared prior a few years or the Saint Francis of Assisi angel in Ecstasy. The central boy who is playing lute is identified as Mario Minniti – Caravaggio’s acquaintance and the boy facing the viewer who is also opposite to Minniti is probably a self-depiction of him (Caravaggio).
The Madrigals and the Song of Love
According to manuscripts about the paint, the boys are practicing madrigals in which they are referring or singing about love. The lutenist’s eyes – the main figure, are soaking with tears. As a result, the song has been presumed to narrate about the distress of love instead of its pleasures. In the forefront, there is a violin, which suggests the presence a fifth participant that may be the viewers in the image.
The Complexity of the Work
To date, this work remains as Caravaggio's most complex and ambitious composition. However, the general effect of the work is described as clumsy. Currently, the painting is in deprived condition with the manuscript severely damaged due to past restoration (Lemoine and Christiansen 143-166). However, an alto and a tenor can be made out. Nonetheless, the originality of the work remains undimmed despite considerable paint loss.
Notre Dame de la Belle Verriere - Stained Glass Window
The Chartres Cathedral, a church in France, is among the famous and most beautiful examples of French Gothic Architecture. Its splendor and its 176 stained glass windows amplify its fame. However, a fire ruined the great Romanesque cathedral of Bishop Fulbert in 1194 (Huysmans 1-10). Before this incident, the structure was surrounded by stained glasses, but only a few subsisted of which most were considered not worthy for reuse in the new cathedral with the Notre Dame de la Belle Verriere, which is perhaps the most stunning of all the windows and the windows in the west facade as the remnants.
The Depiction of Mary and Jesus
The window and its glasses (Notre Dame de la Belle Verriere) depicts a crowned Mary who is throne-dressed in a blue attire. Jesus, with a nimbus surrounding his head, is situated in her lap. In Jesus’s hand (left) there is an open writing with the words Omnis Vallis Implebitur, which are quotations from the book of Isaiah 40:4.
The Renovation of the Window
In the close-up of the glasses, there is a pearled nimbus that surrounds Mary’s head. The glazier Gaudin renovated this part of the window in 1906. There before, Mary’s gaze was stationed straight ahead, but after the glasses were repaired, her head inclined to the left (Legault 2-15). Moreover, depending on the light which fractures subject to the season, time of the day and outside condition, this window glows, thereby creating a magnificent view.
The Artists and Their Narratives
With no doubt, the artists behind these works were talented as well as well acquainted with their environment. Although they share some standard features such as sophisticated convention, they both occur in different times and unfold a different story. The Musicians paint can be said to be a panoptic narrative while Notre Dame de la Belle Verriere - stained glass window can be referred to as a Monoscenic narrative.
Works Cited
Huysmans, Joris-Karl. The Cathedral. Booklassic, 2015. 1-10
Legault, Richard J. “Chartres Adventus.” (2015). 2-15
Lemoine, Annick, and Keith Christiansen. Valentin de Boulogne: Beyond Caravaggio. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2016. 143-166
Pericolo, Lorenzo, and David M. Stone, eds. Caravaggio: reflections and refractions. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2014. 34-100
Posner, Donald. “Caravaggio’s homo-erotic early works.” Art Quarterly 34.3 (1971): 302-24.
