Nicolas Poussin, The Ecstasy of St Paul, 1649-50. Musée du Louvre, Paris. On the whole I try not to get carried away by things, although, as I’m sure most of you know, my enthusiasm does mean that I rarely have the discipline to edit my presentations adequately – hence my now standard length of anContinue reading “142 – Getting carried away”
Category Archives: Saints
138 – Transfigured
Apse Mosaic, c. 549. Sant’Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna. This coming Tuesday, at 6pm, I will be Revealing Ravenna – or at least, talking about the remarkable mosaics, putting them in their historical and religious context, and explaining why the best Byzantine art is in Italy, rather than in Istanbul. And the following week I willContinue reading “138 – Transfigured”
134 – Displaced Angels
Raphael, The Sistine Madonna, 1512-14. Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden. I am constantly reminded of something that, when I first heard it, was attributed to Mark Twain: ‘I am sorry to have written such a long letter: I didn’t have time to write a short one’. Since then I have heard it attributed to any numberContinue reading “134 – Displaced Angels”
Lent 46
Andrea Bonaiuti, The Crucifixion, 1365-68. The Spanish Chapel, Santa Maria Novella, Florence. As I said on Thursday, the Master of Delft does not take us any further than Good Friday, and so, for the final day of Lent we will leave the Netherlands and head down to Italy, and to Florence, to consider one ofContinue reading “Lent 46”
Lent 45 – Good Friday
The Master of Delft, Triptych: Scenes from the Passion of Christ, about 1510. National Gallery London. https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/NG2922.1 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/NG2922.2https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/NG2922.3
Lent 44
On the right hand panel of the triptych, Christ is taken down from the cross. The stark, empty form appears against the sky, which is partially clouded, as we witness the gradual emptying of the top half of the painting. A ladder leans against the cross, one man climbing down, lowering the lifeless form asContinue reading “Lent 44”
Lent 43
The central panel of the triptych shows The Crucifixion. Christ appears at the top centre of the painting, outlined against the sky, the weather deteriorating from the clear blue we saw yesterday as we move from left to right. He is presented formally to us, an icon outside of the worldly clamour all around. TheContinue reading “Lent 43”
Lent 41
This is the same painting – although you would be forgiven for not recognising it. The work is a triptych – a painting on three panels – and for most of the time it would have been closed, only to be opened when mass was celebrated at the altar on which it was originally found.Continue reading “Lent 41”
Lent 32
By now, we know which side we stand, but at the foot of the cross it is not so simple. Proximity is always a good thing, but it doesn’t mean that you are good, just because you are there. Three people take their places, looking up towards Jesus. Their attitudes are completely different, but abundantlyContinue reading “Lent 32”
Lent 27
At least one of the characters here looks up to our right – so they must be located to the left of the cross, under Jesus’s right hand: they are the good people, among the blessed, and the donor is somewhere in their company. We have seen at least three of them before. The manContinue reading “Lent 27”
dr richard stemp 