Hodegetria of Smolensk by Dionisius (ca. 1440 – 1502)
Dionisius led the Moscow school of icon painters at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries. Dionisius painted very much in the manner of Doménikos Theotokópoulos (1541 Crete – 7 April 1614), a Spanish Renaissance painter, sculptor and architect known as “El Greco” because of his Greek origin.
Icons are religious works of art practiced by the Eastern Church and dating back to the early days of Christianity. By and large, these icons are stylised. Icons portraying the Virgin and Child resemble one another. In the Eastern Church, the Madonna is called the Theotokos, meaning the Birth-Giver of God. Before the Fall of Constantinople, on 29 May 1453, several icons were made in Constantinople, the capital of the Christian Byzantine Empire.
The Byzantine Empire, however, fell to the Ottoman Empire. Therefore, Greek scholars fled to the West, inaugurating the Renaissance, while others fled East, to Russia, hence the Moscow school of icon painters.
It would appear that Mannerism, a style characterized by the elongated limbs of the subjects it portrays, exerted an influence on the art of Dionisius who is referred to as manneristic, “Muscovite mannerism.” However, a better example of mannerism is Parmigianino‘s Madonna with the Long Neck, painted in the 1530s (1534-1540).
Under Wikipedia’s picture of Parmigianino’s Madonna, the author writes that mannerism “makes itself known by elongated proportions, highly stylized poses, and lack of clear perspective.” (Mannerism, in Wikipedia). We have now left the sober art of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and the early art of Michelangelo.
In short, Dionisius may have brought to Russian icons the mannerism of certain late Renaissance works of art, but it could be that icons associated with “Muscovite mannerism” resemble earlier icons of the Theotokos, such as the very famous Theotokos of Vladimir, shown below. Given the length of the child’s neck, one suspects a significant degree of continuity.
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.
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.
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.
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 andalso 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 madechiaroscuroone 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.
