Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, (1824–1898)
The Beheading of St John the Baptist, circa 1869
Oil on canvas
Height: 240 cm (94.5 in). Width: 316 cm (124.4 in).
National Gallery
John the Baptist (sometimes called John in the
Wilderness; also referred to as the Angel of the Desert). The story
of John the Baptist is told in the Gospels. John was the cousin of Jesus, and
his calling was to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah. He lived in
the wilderness of Judea between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, "his raiment
of camel's hair, and a leather girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts
and wild honey." He baptised Jesus in the Jordan.
According to the Bible, King Herod's daughter Salome requested
Saint John the Baptist's beheading. She was prompted by her mother, Herodias,
who sought revenge, because the prophet had condemned her incestuous marriage
to Herod. More John the Baptist
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (14 December 1824 – 24
October 1898) was a French
painter best known for his mural painting, who came to be known as 'the painter
for France'. He became the co-founder and president of the Société Nationale
des Beaux-Arts, and his work influenced many other artists, notably Robert Genin.
Puvis de Chavannes was a prominent painter in the early Third Republic. Émile
Zola described his work as "an art made of reason, passion, and
will" More on Pierre Puvis de Chavannes
After Jacopo Tintoretto
ST ROCH IN PRISON VISITED BY AN ANGEL
Oil on canvas
68.5 x 164.5cm
Private collection
Saint Roch or Rocco (lived c. 1348 – 15/16 August 1376/79 (traditionally c. 1295 – 16 August 1327))
was a Catholic saint, a confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August; he
is specially invoked against the plague. He may also be called Rock in English,
and has the designation of St Rollox in Glasgow, Scotland. He is a patron saint
of dogs, falsely accused people, bachelors, and several other things.
Sources
say he was born at Montpellier, France, son of the governor. He went on
pilgrimage to Rome and devoted himself to caring for the victims of a plague
that was ravaging Italy. He became a victim himself at Piacenza but recovered
and was reputed to have performed many miracles of healing.
On his
return to Montpellier, he was imprisoned for five years as a spy in pilgrim's
disguise when his uncle, who was governor, ordered him imprisoned (His uncle
failed to recognize him, and Roch failed to identify himself.) Roch died in
prison and was only then identified as the former governor's son by a birthmark
in the form of a cross on his chest. Another biographer says that he was
arrested as a spy at Angers, Lombardi, and died in prison there.
When miracles were reported at his intercession after his
death, a popular cult developed and he is invoked against pestilence and
plague. He is also the patron of invalids. More on Saint
Roch
Tintoretto; born Jacopo Comin, (October,
1518 – May 31, 1594) was an Italian painter and a notable
exponent of the Renaissance school. For his phenomenal energy in painting he
was termed Il Furioso. His work is characterized by its muscular figures,
dramatic gestures, and bold use of perspective in the Mannerist style, while
maintaining color and light typical of the Venetian School.
In his youth, Tintoretto was also known as Jacopo Robusti
as his father had defended the gates of Padua in a way that others called
robust, against the imperial troops during the War of the League of Cambrai
(1509–1516). His real name "Comin" has only recently been discovered
by Miguel Falomir, the curator of the Museo del Prado, Madrid, and was made
public on the occasion of the retrospective of Tintoretto at the Prado in
2007. More on
Tintoretto
Tiziano Vecellio, called Titian, and workshop
PIEVE DI CADORE CIRCA 1485/90 - 1576 VENICE
SAINT MARGARET
Oil on canvas
78 by 66 in.; 198 by 167.5 cm.
Private collection
Margaret is
celebrated as a saint by the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches on July 20
and on July 17 in the Orthodox Church. Her historical existence has been
questioned. She was declared apocryphal by Pope Gelasius I in 494, but devotion
to her revived in the West with the Crusades. She was reputed to have promised
very powerful indulgences to those who wrote or read her life, or invoked her
intercessions; these no doubt helped the spread of her cultus.
She was a native of "Antioch" and the
daughter of a pagan priest named Aedesius. Her mother having died soon after
her birth, Margaret was nursed by a Christian woman five or six leagues from
Antioch. Having embraced Christianity and consecrated her virginity to God,
Margaret was disowned by her father, adopted by her nurse, and lived in the
country keeping sheep with her foster mother (in what is now Turkey). Olybrius,
Governor of the Roman Diocese of the East, asked to marry her, but with the
demand that she renounce Christianity. Upon her refusal, she was cruelly
tortured, during which various miraculous incidents occurred. One of these
involved being swallowed by Satan in the shape of a dragon, from which she
escaped alive when the cross she carried irritated the dragon's innards. The
Golden Legend, in an atypical passage of skepticism, describes this last
incident as "apocryphal and not to be taken seriously". She was put
to death in AD 304.
As Saint Marina, she is associated with
the sea, which "may in turn point to an older goddess tradition,"
reflecting the pagan divinity, Aphrodite. More on Margaret
Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio, or Titian
(1488/1490 – 27 August 1576), was an Italian painter, the most
important member of the 16th-century Venetian school.
Recognized
by his contemporaries as "The Sun Amidst Small Stars", Titian was one
of the most versatile of Italian painters, equally adept with portraits,
landscape backgrounds, and mythological and religious subjects. His painting
methods, particularly in the application and use of color, would exercise a
profound influence not only on painters of the Italian Renaissance, but on
future generations of Western art.
During the course of his long life, Titian's artistic
manner changed drastically but he retained a lifelong interest in color.
Although his mature works may not contain the vivid, luminous tints of his
early pieces, their loose brushwork and subtlety of tone are without precedent
in the history of Western painting. More Titian
The Master of the Female Half-lengths
THE MAGDALENE, HALF-LENGTH, HOLDING A JAR OF UNGUENT
oil on panel
62 x 47.2 cm.; 24 1/2 x 18 5/8 in.
Private collection
Here the figure lifts the lid of an unguent jar that identifies her as Mary Magdalene, the most prominent of Christ’s female followers. Her magnificent, richly ornamented clothing and headdress are typical of sixteenth-century courtly dress. The pristine condition of the paint surface preserves each of the finest details, every strand of hair and thread of gold, of this mysterious Mary Magdalene. More on this painting
Mary Magdalene was a Jewish woman who,
according to texts included in the New Testament, traveled with Jesus as one of
his followers. She is said to have witnessed Jesus' crucifixion and
resurrection. Based on texts of the early Christian era in the third century,
it seems that her status as an “apostle" rivals even Peter's.
She is
most prominent in the narrative of the crucifixion of Jesus, at which she was
present. She was also present two days later, either alone or as a member of a
group of women, the first to testify to the resurrection of Jesus.
Ideas that
go beyond the gospel presentation of Mary Magdalene as a prominent
representative of the women who followed Jesus have been put forward over the
centuries.
During the Middle Ages, Mary Magdalene was regarded in
Western Christianity as a repentant prostitute or promiscuous woman, claims not
found in any of the four canonical gospels. More Mary Magdalene
The Master of the Female Half-Lengths was
a painter, or likely a group of painters of a workshop, active in the sixteenth
century. The name was given in the 19th century to identify the maker or makers
of a body of work consisting of 67 paintings to which since 40 more have been
added.
The works
were apparently the product of a large workshop that specialized in small-scale
panels depicting aristocratic young ladies at half-length. The ladies are
engaging in various activities such as reading, writing, or playing musical
instruments and are typically placed in a wood-panelled interior or against a
neutral background. Some of the women are represented with an ointment jar, the
attribute of Mary Magdalene. To the Master are also attributed a few paintings
of mythological subjects and copies of standardized compositions such as the
Crucifixion, the Deposition, the Virgin of Sorrows, St Jerome and Lucretia.
There is no agreement on the Master’s identity and the
place and period of his activity. Antwerp, Bruges, Ghent, Mechelen and the
French court have been proposed for the location of his workshop. Estimates for
his period of activity vary from the early to the late 16th century. More
on The Master of the Female Half-Lengths
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