We've seen a fair among of religious art on our travels so far. It's quite striking how it's very difficult to remember a single painting with someone smiling or expressing joy some other way. We've seen some great stuff, including a couple of brilliant Rembrandts in St Petersburg. However, they do seem to concentrate on the solemn and striking rather than joy. I wonder whether it's churches which emphasise the solemnity more than the joy influencing painters/suggesting what's appropriate or whether painters decide that this is the style of painting they wish to adopt (may be that style makes for the best paintings?).
posted from Bloggeroid
... long story as to the explanation of that. One being the tradition of "icons" in the Orthodox tradition and that genre of image making and it aim to be a window to the eternal. However, that doesn't work for Rembrandt who was protestant, but there in may lie the answer to solemnity in some of his paintings. Protestants where not people of joy at those times, in their mind - the Catholics were too indulgent with their practice of festivals all the time, Protestants therefore reacted by banning things like: dancing and many of the festivals including (in the case of Cromwell's Puritanism) the "non-biblical" practice of Christmas. Which maybe why we have a famous laughing Cavalier painting but not a laughing Roundhead painting.
ReplyDeleteHaving said all that Rembrandt knew about letting his hair down also, see self-reflective prodigal son image, with the lady on his lap.