• Aboriginals in North America
  • Beast Literature
  • Canadiana.1
  • Dances & Music
  • Europe: Ukraine & Russia
  • Fables and Fairy Tales
  • Fables by Jean de La Fontaine
  • Feasts & Liturgy
  • Great Books Online
  • La Princesse de Clèves
  • Middle East
  • Molière
  • Nominations
  • Posts on Love Celebrated
  • Posts on the United States
  • The Art and Music of Russia
  • The French Revolution & Napoleon Bonaparte
  • Voyageurs Posts
  • Canadiana.2

Micheline's Blog

~ Art, music, books, history & current events

Micheline's Blog

Tag Archives: Diego Velázquez

Chiaroscuro: Shades & Shapes

21 Saturday Apr 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Art

≈ Comments Off on Chiaroscuro: Shades & Shapes

Tags

Caravaggio, Chiaroscuro, Diego Velázquez, El Greco, Encyclopædia Britannica, Georges de la Tour, Raphael, Rembrandt

Allegory, Boy Lighting Candle in Company of Ape and Fool by El Greco

Allegory, Boy Lighting Candle in Company of Ape and Fool by El Greco

El Greco (1541 – 7 April 1614)

This painting was inserted in my last post and was supposed to grow larger when one clicked on the picture.  It didn’t.  So I have reintroduced El Greco’s “Allegory” as it is a fascinating example of candlelight chiaroscuro.

Movements and Techniques

The above painting, by El Greco, born Doménikos Theotokópoulos, constitutes in fact an instance of the successful use of both chiaroscuro and the Golden section, but it is also an example of mannerism in painting.  Mannerism follows the High Renaissance painting of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino) and it is a movement.  Chiaroscuro is not a movement.  It is a technique.

El Greco’s manneristic paintings are characterized by elongated and occasionally distorted elements, such as somewhat mishapen body limbs.  His paintings are also busy, which is not case with neo-classical works.  Moreover, in the painting featured above, El Greco uses a form of chiaroscuro, but mannerism, a movement, does not have to feature chiaroscuro.

Caravaggio (29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610)

Caravaggio (le Caravage) is the artist who introduced chiaroscuro, and there are degrees of chiaroscuro.  Tenebrism is its strongest expression.  I suspect, however, that the historical importance of Caravaggio lies more in his effort to give objects relief or dimensionality, which was a chief concern of Renaissance realism and which situates the introduction of chiaroscuro at a specific moment in history.

The moment is the Renaissance.  The Renaissance is its birthplace, as it is the birthplace of the point de fuite or the vanishing point.  But it remains that, as a technique, chiaroscuro will be a lasting legacy, as will the vanishing point and perspective in general, whereas movements will follow the whims of fashion.  To a large extent, chiaroscuro will in fact be a matter of choice, which differentiates it from perspective, a more permanent feature.  Yet, it remains a technique.

Other artists are associated with the use of chiaroscuro (light-dark, or vice-versa). The following is a quotation from the Encyclopædia Britannica: “The single most important painter in the tradition was the Frenchman Georges de La Tour, though echoes of Caravaggio’s style can also be found in the works of such giants as Rembrandt van Rijn and Diego Velázquez.” [i]

So there are forms of chiaroscuro.  There are paintings where a light emanating from a candle makes an area of the painting light.  Georges de La Tour uses this technique frequently, but he is not a mannerist.

Georges de La Tour (1593 – 1652)

The Newborn by Georges de la Tour (Photo credit: WikiArt.org)

The Newborn by Georges de La Tour
(Photo credit: WikiArt.org)

As indicated in the Encyclopædia Britannica, the use of chiaroscuro is prevalent in the paintings of Georges de la Tour (1593-1652).  But La Tour is a realist.  Moreover, here we are looking at the above-mentioned candlelight chiaroscuro.  On an excellent internet site devoted to La Tour’s realism, Misty Amanda Vandergriff, writes that La Tour is also considered “to be a follower of Caravaggio [29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610] due to his dependency on specific elements of the Caravaggesque style (most notably the use of chiaroscuro and tenebristic techniques).” [ii]
 
 
 

Contemporaries

Also associated with the use of chiaroscuro are Italian artists such as Artemisia Gentileschi (July 8, 1593–1652), Spanish artist Jusepe de Ribera and Dutch artists Gerrit van Honthorst and Dirck van Baburen.  Honthorst and Baburen were Utrecht artists.

Judith and her Maidservant  (1613-14) by Artemesia Gentileschi

Judith and her Maidservant
(1613-14) by Artemisia Gentileschi

In other words, the history of Fine Arts presents similarities with the history of literature and with history in general.  When Caravaggio introduced chiaroscuro, he was innovating.  Renaissance imperatives called for as faithful a depiction of reality as could be achieved.  This led to the development of certain techniques, some of which ended up overriding the moment and movements.

We have long left the Renaissance, but the use of chiaroscuro has lasted.  Moreover, we still have the grisaille, a monochrome, chrome meaning colour, form of chiaroscuro.  But, the time has come to close this post.  So let’s look at David’s use of chiaroscuro and also look at one of his grisailles and then walk away from the computer.

Jacques-Louis David (1748 – 1825)

Jacques-Louis David‘s (30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) “Death of Marat” does indeed demonstrate the enduring usefulness of chiaroscuro.  “The Death of Marat” dates back to 1793.  The years had therefore made chiaroscuro one of many tools used by artists to achieve an aesthetic goal.  In the case of Jacques-Louis David’s depiction of the “Death of Marat,” chiaroscuro lends drama to David’s painting and serves to explain why “La Mort de Marat” is considered a masterpiece.  But, I am also including “Patroclus,” a grisaille by David, where chiaroscuro is achieved to a large extent by the use of a beam of light, another form of chiaroscuro.

Patroclus by Jacques-Louis David (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Patroclus by Jacques-Louis David (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

La Mort de Marat by Jacques-Louis David, 1793 (Photo credit: WikiArt.org

La Mort de Marat by Jacques-Louis David, 1793 (Photo credit: WikiArt.org)

[i] “Caravaggio,”  Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 20 Apr. 2012.
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/94587/Caravaggio>.
 
[ii] Misty Amanda Vandergriff, “The Realism of Georges de la Tour” http://www.students.sbc.edu/vandergriff04/georgesdelatour.html
 

—ooo—

Georges de la Tour (1593-1652) 
Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791)
Requiem K 626
                      

Judith_and_MaidservantPitti

© Micheline Walker
April 21st, 2012
WordPress

 

0.000000 0.000000

Micheline's Blog

  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

“And life sprouts up from root to branch…”

05 Thursday Apr 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Art, Music

≈ 539 Comments

Tags

Christian, Diego Velázquez, Easter, Marian Antiphons, Mary, Notre-Dame de Paris, Salve Regina, Trinity Sunday

Regina Cæli, by Diego Velázquez (1641 – 1644), Museo del Prado

Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez  (6 June 1599 – 6 August 1660) was a Spanish painter and the most prominent artist at the court of King Philip IV.

In his description of the Ave Regina Cælorum, the Notre-Dame de Paris author wrote:

isn’t spring the time when days get endlessly longer and life sprouts up from root to branch?

As of  tomorrow, 6 April 2012, the Marian Antiphon will be the Regina Cæli and it will remain the seasonal Antiphon until Vespers of Trinity Sunday.  But although the Antiphon will change, we will still celebrate the refreshing newness of seasons and the eternal return of spring.

The Marian Antiphons

Immediately below, is our list of Marian Antiphons.  It is probably best to keep them under our eyes.

Please click on the titles to hear the music.

  • Ave Redemptoris Mater (Advent through February 2)
  • Ave Regina Cœlorum (Presentation of the Lord through Good Friday)
  • Regina Cæli (Easter season)
  • Salve Regina (from first Vespers of Trinity Sunday until None of the Saturday before Advent)

However, let us go to Notre-Dame’s Regina Cæli‘s site and read about the Marian antiphony that begins tomorrow.  So I am quoting:

The most recent Antiphony dedicated to Mary (14th century) used to end services. It is sung during the Easter season and makes no mention of the valley of tears, like the Salve Regina, but instead sings of resurrection and heaven, where Mary reigns alongside her Son. This is how many of Notre-Dame de Paris’s sculptures and windows represent her.

May I suggest that even in the stained glass window shown below there is “no mention of the valley of tears.” (Notre-Dame de Paris author).  Tomorrow, 6 April 2012, we will continue to celebrate the refreshing newness each season brings and the return of Spring.

Regina Cæli (Photo credit: Notre-Dame de Paris)

Regína caéli, lætáre, Allelúia!
Quia quem meruísti portáre, Allelúia!
Resurréxit, sicut dixit, Allelúia!
Ora pro nóbis Déum, Allelúia!

Queen of heaven, be joyful, alleluia!
The Son whom you merited to bear, alleluia!
Has risen, as He said, alleluia!
Queen of heaven, pray to God for us, alleluia!

The Velásquez painting shown at the top of this post represents the Holy Trinity crowning Mary,  She is Regina or Queen of heaven and as I have mentioned in a previous post, I believe her importance in the eyes of Christians is that she seems more accessible than the Trinity.  She is a mother and Christians pray to her because they believe she will convey their prayers to Jesus and to God the Father.  She is a mother, the person to whom we confide our hopes, our fears, our sorrows, our joys.

On the Notre-Dame site you will find an interpretation of the Regina Cæli (just click on the title and scroll down).

I have listed next to the image below previous posts you may wish to refer to.

Backside Gregorian Chant - Regina Caeli, Bened...

Backside Gregorian Chant – Regina Caeli, Benediktiner Abtei St. Maurice & St. Maur, Clervaux (Photo credit: Piano Piano!)

_________________________

  • Fra Angelico & the Annunciation
  • On Calendars & Feast Days
  • The Blessed Virgin: Mariology
  • A Christmas Offering: Hymns to Mary
  • Canonical Hours and the Divine Office
 © Micheline Walker
 WordPress
 

0.000000 0.000000

Micheline's Blog

  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Europa

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 2,507 other subscribers

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Categories

Recent Posts

  • Epiphany 2023
  • Pavarotti sings Schubert’s « Ave Maria »
  • Yves Montand chante “À Bicyclette”
  • Almost ready
  • Bicycles for Migrant Farm Workers
  • Tout Molière.net : parti …
  • Remembering Belaud
  • Monet’s Magpie
  • To Lori Weber: Language Laws in Quebec, 2
  • To Lori Weber: Language Laws

Archives

Calendar

February 2023
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728  
« Jan    

Social

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • WordPress.org

micheline.walker@videotron.ca

Micheline Walker

Micheline Walker

Social

Social

  • View belaud44’s profile on Facebook
  • View Follow @mouchette_02’s profile on Twitter
  • View Micheline Walker’s profile on LinkedIn
  • View belaud44’s profile on YouTube
  • View Miicheline Walker’s profile on Google+
  • View michelinewalker’s profile on WordPress.org

Micheline Walker

Micheline Walker
Follow Micheline's Blog on WordPress.com

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com

  • Follow Following
    • Micheline's Blog
    • Join 2,475 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Micheline's Blog
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: