The Sacred Made Real in Zurbaràn's Crucifixion

May 1, 2012, 10:33 pm

≫ Next: Elisabeth Vigee-LeBrunn and Jean Metzinger - A Dialog About Maternite

Francisco de Zurbaran, The Crucifixion, 1627
(Art Institute of Chicago)

We contemplate, analyze and even fall in love with works of art, but encountering them in sterile museum settings, away from their original locations, original intent, something vital of their true essence can get lost. Especially when trying to recreate a narrative about people and events from four centuries ago involving the most sacred of subjects "feeling the love" can be quite challenging. Zurbaràn’s Crucifixion however, is such a phenomenal painting that it can enchant a viewer despite differences in religion, culture, geography even centuries.

↧

Elisabeth Vigee-LeBrunn and Jean Metzinger - A Dialog About Maternite

May 19, 2012, 5:55 am

≫ Next: Happy Birthday Mary Cassatt - A True Feminist

≪ Previous: The Sacred Made Real in Zurbaràn's Crucifixion

Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrunn, Madame Vigee LeBrunn and
Her Daughter, Jeanne Lucie Louise, 1789
(Musee du Louvre)

Jean Metzinger, Femme a la Fenetre (Maternite), 1911
(Private Collection, Switzerland)

Last week was mother's day and since I was busy celebrating as a mother, sister and an aunt, I could not find the time to sit and write. Just because I have been remiss does not mean I can pass up an opportunity to write about the most utilized theme in art history, Mother and Child.

↧

Happy Birthday Mary Cassatt - A True Feminist

May 22, 2012, 3:37 pm

≫ Next: THE STEINS COLLECT @ the Met

≪ Previous: Elisabeth Vigee-LeBrunn and Jean Metzinger - A Dialog About Maternite

Mary Cassatt, A Woman and A Girl Driving, 1881
(Philadelphia Museum of Art)

Mary Cassatt was a maverick among her peers that broke all the conventions of 19th century society while living a perfectly respectable life (which was the most important thing at her day and age) and enjoying success and acceptance as an American Impressionist artist in Paris. When we are still discussing gender discrimination and social gendered roles, Cassatt managed to work as a professional artist, exhibit with the Impressionists and leave behind an exceptional legacy for all American artists to follow. Some might argue at this point that she was born into a privileged background allowing her to pursue her career as an artist in Paris but I would like to point out that she was from a wealthy family in Philadelphia which was a conservative area with very strict expectations from a woman of her position. Like all women of her class, she was expected to marry and have children, not go traipsing about in Europe learning to paint and displaying her talents for all the world to see.

↧

THE STEINS COLLECT @ the Met

June 3, 2012, 4:00 am

≫ Next: Berthe Morisot -The Wet Nurse

≪ Previous: Happy Birthday Mary Cassatt - A True Feminist

Pablo Picasso, Pomme, 1918
(Gertrude's Apple is a similar watercolor)

The incredible exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, THE STEINS COLLECT: Matisse, Picasso and the Parisian Avant-Garde, is closing today and I am going back to see it before it does. I am not going back to see the whole exhibit either. I already spent four delicious hours on a beautiful spring day, devouring each and every one of the art works. No, this time I am going back to see the Apple Picasso sent to Gertrude and Alice as a Christmas present in 1914 when she was upset over loosing Three Apples by Cezanne to her brother Leo when they separated their collection, and the drawing of Cocks, 1905, which Picasso gave to a friend of Gertrude Stein's in exchange for a Chinese gown for his girlfriend, Fernande.

↧

Berthe Morisot -The Wet Nurse

June 9, 2012, 6:15 pm

≫ Next: Berthe Morisot from the Philadelphia Museum of Art Collection

≪ Previous: THE STEINS COLLECT @ the Met

Berthe Morisot, The Wet Nurse and Julie, 1880
(Private Collection)

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Mother Nursing Her Child, 1886
(Private Collection)

Art history is full of female mavericks that not only overcame their gendered roles by actually producing works that went down in history but also made bold statements quite contrary to the popular culture and beliefs of the society they were living in. I was watching the latest rendition of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre for the big screen last night where I was reminded once again of how incredibly modern and wonderfully askew a story it was. It is so refreshing to be witness to a strong female character who not only overcomes her "Tale of Woe" but also comes back at the end to rescue the love of her life, Mr. Rochester who is now debilitated. She has become rich while he has become blind...Jane Eyre is the veritable knight in shining armor or the prince on the white horse charging to rescue the damsel in distress...

↧

Berthe Morisot from the Philadelphia Museum of Art Collection

June 16, 2012, 10:31 pm

≫ Next: A Chance Rendezvous with Sublime Images @ MOMA

≪ Previous: Berthe Morisot -The Wet Nurse

Berthe Morisot, Branch of Plums, 1891
(Philadelphia Museum of Art)

Philadelphia Museum of Art has a wonderful collection that includes some of the most renown Impressionist paintings from art history. It is always a treat to visit this enchanting institution with its charming location situated at the end of Benjamin Franklin Parkway, similar to the Arc de Triomphe at the end of the Champs-Elysees in Paris. Of all of their vast collection today, I would like to mention the small number of paintings by Berthe Morisot that is displayed in Gallery 162 on the second floor of the European Art 1850-1900 section.

Last week I wrote about Berthe Morisot's intriguing painting The Wet Nurse and Julie which unfortunately is in a private collection and today I want to share what can be seen of this artist's work locally.

↧

A Chance Rendezvous with Sublime Images @ MOMA

June 19, 2012, 2:08 am

≫ Next: Byzantium and Islam : Age of Transition

≪ Previous: Berthe Morisot from the Philadelphia Museum of Art Collection

Being in close proximity to New York with all its museums is one of my life's greatest gifts. I love to just walk around this wonderful city and capture images that I come across during my meanderings. I have a collection of these impromptu photos taken on the streets, in the museums and of the people of New York. I want to share my latest additions here...

Today I was in the city with my husband and while he met with a friend, I had two hours to myself... so I ran into MOMA to just wander around and see what chance encounter I might come upon. As I strolled aimlessly enjoying the midweek not-so crowded halls of MOMA, I zoomed in on an exhibition that captured my interest - New to the Print Collection: Matisse to Bourgeois. This turned out to be a selection of the latest additions to their print collection in a gallery on the second floor of the museum. I walked around, enjoying the art works and recorded the works that most appealed to me. So, here they are, my pick from MOMA's new additions to their print collection with their gallery labels...

↧

Byzantium and Islam : Age of Transition

July 1, 2012, 7:02 am

≫ Next: Cross-Cultural Comparisons Between Colonial Latin America and the Islamic World

≪ Previous: A Chance Rendezvous with Sublime Images @ MOMA

Although my ancestors are from Asia Minor, the geography that has been identified as the Heartland of Byzantium, and I spent most of my life in its capital city, Istanbul (Constantinople) where the biggest monument to this once great empire, the Hagia Sophia, is part of the backdrop of everyday life, there was something I always found a little elusive in deciphering the Byzantine civilization and culture. Considering Byzantium was actually an extension of the Greco-Roman culture which happens to form the foundations of the predominant culture in the West today, it is actually quite surprising how little is clearly known of this once central power of late antiquity and early middle ages, especially in contrast to the obsession we seem to possess for the culture of ancient Greece and Rome. Thanks to the enlightening exhibition going on at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that is due to close on July 8th, I feel I have finally found some of the clues to these curious concepts.

↧

Cross-Cultural Comparisons Between Colonial Latin America and the Islamic World

July 15, 2012, 10:40 pm

≫ Next: The Bellelli Sisters - Edgar Degas

≪ Previous: Byzantium and Islam : Age of Transition

"Threads of Every Color"

by Michael Schreffler

Ceiling, 16th century, Spain
(Metropolitan Museum of Art)

The exchange of ideas, the fusion of diverse cultures and the expressions that emanate from the extension of these influences are some of the most fascinating aspects of art history. One excellent example of this exchange is the wooden sixteenth century Spanish church ceiling in the Koc Family Galleries (Gallery 459) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's newly renovated galleries for Islamic art. The Met gallery label states "The ceiling covering this gallery is a testament to the resilience and persistence of traditional Islamic design in Andalusia after the Christian Reconquista." This exquisite ceiling, a representative of the influence of Islamic design in art and architecture on non-Muslim societies, however, is not the first of its kind that has made its way across the Atlantic between Spain and the Americas. Actually the mudejar style, was transported to the "New World" at the end of the sixteenth century with the arrival of the Spanish conquerors. This in itself might not be a surprising revelation, but I found the discourse on the transference of the concept of "the Other" by the colonialists onto the people and the culture of Latin America outlined with fascinating examples in a research paper by Dr. Michael Schreffler quite revelatory.

↧

The Bellelli Sisters - Edgar Degas

July 19, 2012, 4:10 pm

≫ Next: A Procession of Virgin Martyrs -Francisco de Zurbaràn

≪ Previous: Cross-Cultural Comparisons Between Colonial Latin America and the Islamic World

Edgar Degas, The Bellelli Sisters, 1865-66,
(LACMA)

Edgar Hilaire Germain Degas, one of the most well known and beloved (all those ballerinas...) of Impressionist artists is also one of the most enigmatic.Since it is assumed his ballerinas are lovely and graceful, people seem to not make the connection to the licentious world the artist was actually depicting. But of all of Degas' paintings revealing modernity with all its concurrent problems, it's the family portrait's that I find the most mesmerizing. There is something so disturbing about the discordance and the disconnect that is so palpable in his family portrayals. The protagonists are usually looking in opposite directions, barely touching with solemn, melancholy expressions. But this painting with the one girl's face blurred is even more puzzling than most of his other portraits.

Edgar Degas, The Bellelli Family (Family Portrait), 1858-1867
(Musee d'Orsay)

I wrote about the haunting Bellelli Family Portrait last year and it was quite a surprise running into The Bellelli Sisters, during my visit to Los Angeles Country Museum of Art two months ago, as if running into an old friend. In this portrait Degas' nieces, Giovanna and Guiliana Bellini, are depicted as young ladies as opposed to the little girls in pinafores they are in the family portrait. Degas was very fond of this painting and did not part with it his whole life because he never saw his cousins again after he painted this portrait. If he cared so much for his cousins, and taking into consideration the closeness he presumably shared with the girls' mother, his aunt Laura, then this begs the question of why he always chose to represent families in disconnect. Was it just a part of his artist-journalist persona of reporting his observations of the human condition or was it something else. The gallery label provides a comprehensive conclusion:

"Edgar Degas's talent for portraiture was manifested in radical compositions and the ability to express the character of his sitters with great subtlety. In this double portrait of his Italian cousins, he gives each figure her own space and direction, suggesting their distinct personalities. Giovanna faces the viewer, while Giulia is turned aside , focused elsewhere. The two sisters are a study in contrast:: one fair, the other dark; one in black, the other in a lighter, brown dress. Degas blurred the details of Giulia's face, perhaps imitating effects of photography."

Resources:

LACMA gallery label and website

ARTstor.org

↧

A Procession of Virgin Martyrs -Francisco de Zurbaràn

August 4, 2012, 1:28 pm

≫ Next: Contemplating Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres on his birthday

≪ Previous: The Bellelli Sisters - Edgar Degas

Francisco de Zurbaràn, Saint Rufina, 1635

There are two full length, life size female portraits in the Hispanic Society's collection in New York hanging amongst their Spanish Golden Age masterworks section. The two portraits appear almost as pendants painted using the same color palette, with both figures composed in a similar pose looking up towards the same point outside the picture frame. These two figures are actually, Saint Lucy, ca. 1630 and Saint Rufina, ca. 1635, by Francisco de Zurbaràn.

Renowned for his monastic commissions, (I wrote in depth about this in an earlier post) the most popular works from Zurbaràn's oeuvre were his series of female saints. Also known as the virgin martyrs, each one comes with a very interesting legend attached to their name. Saint Lucy’s name Lucia, means light in Latin and it is supposed to herald the Light of the World, which is why she is appealed to against disorders of the eye and carries her eyes as her attributes. There are also embellished versions of her story where she rips out her eyes to send them to her suitor. Saint Rufina, who was martyred in Seville in the 3^rd century, was a potter who refused to sell her wares to be used for a pagan celebration and as a result was executed for being a Christian.

↧

Contemplating Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres on his birthday

August 29, 2012, 8:20 pm

≫ Next: Turkish Embassy Letters 2012

≪ Previous: A Procession of Virgin Martyrs -Francisco de Zurbaràn

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres,
Josephine-Eleonore-Marie-Pauline de Galard de Brassac de Bearn, Princesse de Broglie,
1851-53
(Metropolitan Museum of Art)

"In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you."

- Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy (Pride and Prejudice)

There are some artists whose works bring to my mind the famous words exchanged between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett at the time of his surprising and "uncivil" declaration. I find myself baffled as I contemplate these masterpieces and find that "I like them against my will, against my reason, and even against my character." Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres is one such artist. Strange that even though my preferences run towards Romanticism rather than Classicism, I am transfixed by Ingres' portraits. It could be the calm, cold gaze of Monsieur Ingres' subjects, engaging the viewer in such a manner that one just can't look away, or the perfection of his line and forms plus the impeccable rendering of the different surfaces throughout his superbly finished canvases. Although Ingres idealizes and distorts his figures, one is left with the impression that they are standing before a very real presence.

↧

Turkish Embassy Letters 2012

September 11, 2012, 3:45 pm

≫ Next: Michelle Obama, The Queen of Cyprus, Eleonora of Aragon and Isotta degli Atti - what could they possibly have in common?

≪ Previous: Contemplating Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres on his birthday

I hope the name of this diary will not give anyone pause, for I am no Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and neither is my husband the ambassador to Turkey. But almost two hundred and fifty years after it was first published, Lady Montagu's Turkish Embassy Letters still continues to inspire and impress and I want to see if I can revisit the idea of the lady adventurer recording her observations of the Orient for Western consumption. Lady Montagu's account of eighteenth century Ottoman Empire is especially important for Easterners and Westerners alike since she may in fact be the first Westerner to ever enter the inner sanctum of a Turkish household and her descriptions are considered to be in accordance with Turkish historical sources.

As for me, spending my whole life traversing between two cultures, two countries makes traveling to Turkey neither unique nor an adventure but I can be creative, even in my perceptions. Besides I always fancied to turn out to be a lady adventurer myself (the influence of watching too many historical British movies no doubt.) I am going to be living in Turkey for the next four months and thought to record my own observations and experiences here... I hope I can make Lady Mary proud.

September 11 2012, Istanbul

"I am now got into a new world where every thing I see appears to me a change of scene, and I write to your Lady-ship with some content of mind, hoping at least that you will find the charm of novelty in my letters and no longer reproach me that I tell nothing extraordinary"

- Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, 1 April 1717, Adrianople1

We have safely arrived in Istanbul yesterday, the journey to be classified as tedious at worst. It was by a direct flight from Newark airport making the preparations for the trip more problematic than the nine and a half hour flight itself. Even though I consider myself a seasoned traveler, I can never seem to master the art of minimalism when it comes to packing. This was even more problematic this time since there were books I could not bear to leave behind. In any case, we arrived with three bags, travel worn and disoriented, this last bit due to the exhaustion of the last few days at home.

I am currently reading Travel: A Literary History by Peter Whitfield, a Eurocentric (by the author's own admission) history of travel writing. Mr Whitfield's remarks about the inner journey, the transforming experience of traveling and especially travel writing resonated with me since this particular journey to the place where I grew up holds the promise of being exactly that. Although I grew up in Istanbul and have been traveling back and forth ever since my family moved to the States in the late seventies, this time I will be venturing to new territories.

Is it possible to relive your life all over again? I guess so. Although family obligations necessitated my decision to come to Istanbul, I cannot deny the appeal of studying Byzantine and Ottoman art and culture in situ. So, I am back where I started from but same as Lady Mary "I am now got into a new world where every thing I see appears to me a change of scene, and I write to you ... with some content of mind, hoping at least that you will find the charm of novelty in my letters."

1 Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, The Turkish Embassy Letters, Little Brown Book Group, 1994

↧

Michelle Obama, The Queen of Cyprus, Eleonora of Aragon and Isotta degli Atti - what could they possibly have in common?

September 14, 2012, 3:33 pm

≫ Next: Turkish Embassy Letter 2012

≪ Previous: Turkish Embassy Letters 2012

Andrea Mantegna, The Meeting Camera degli Sposi, the Ducal Palace, Mantua,1471-74

"All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players."

The last week of August and the first in September, the American political world was on stage and the Republican and Democrats were merely the players. While I am the least political person, I do make exceptions for big events such as these. Besides, my brother, Cenk was hosting the coverage of both the conventions on Current TV so we had no choice but to watch the full four hours even if it was just out of family loyalty. While I gave only half my attention to most of the speeches, I listened with apt attention when Ann Romney at the Republican and Michelle Obama at the Democratic Convention took the stage. These ladies were on a mission to paint a more human, personal picture of their husbands for the delegates and the American public as compassionate, loving individuals. They were taking their part in creating their husband's public image. Even I was impressed with Michele Obama's amazing speech (Link) and I couldn't help but compare the image of the powerful (in every sense of the word) First Lady with those of others from the past.

Andrea Mantegna, The Court of Mantua, Camera degli Sposi, the Ducal Palace, Mantua,1471-74
(Ludovico II Gonzaga with his wife Barbara von Brandenburg)

At this time, I was working on my book review (Link) for 3PP on the exhibition catalog for The Renaissance Portrait from Donatello to Bellini, an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art which contained portrayals of some of the most prominent individuals from fifteenth-century Renaissance. In contrast to the image both the first lady and Mrs. Romney portrayed of their husbands as being 'regular guys', who could understand the American people, magnificence was the attribute that was largely cultivated during the Renaissance. Especially the highly idealized female portrait with elaborate costumes and costly jewels was a greatly utilized tool to promote the persona and the status of their husbands. While the rights and role of women is still being manipulated in our present day political arena, I thought we might take a look at some other consorts as well as leaders from fifteenth-century Renaissance to see what kind of an image they cultivated to further their cause.

↧

Turkish Embassy Letter 2012

September 21, 2012, 4:36 pm

≫ Next: The Renaissance Portraits from the Courts of Italy to the Ottoman Empire

≪ Previous: Michelle Obama, The Queen of Cyprus, Eleonora of Aragon and Isotta degli Atti - what could they possibly have in common?

"I won't trouble you with a relation of our tedious journey, but I must not omit what I saw remarkable at ... one of the most beautiful towns in the Turkish empire..."

Lady Mary Wortley Montague, 1 April 1717, Adrianople

Being happily settled in Istanbul for the past week, I am now in the possession of many remarkable details in order to start weaving my particular tale of adventures. The rich and exuberant layers of Turkey's history, culture, even people brings to mind the colorful forms of nomadic textiles, enchanting yet ambiguous all at the same time. Ironically this enigma, at times, holds true for Turks and foreigners alike. I embark upon my journey hoping I can be an interpreter of sorts for this country that has fascinated and perplexed people from near and far for so many centuries.

My place of residence for the duration of my stay will be our modest apartment in Sisli, close to the center of town while my daily duties will take me to another part of the city quite far from all the hustle and bustle. The purpose of my extended visit is to study at Koc University for the next four months concentrating on the history of the civilizations and the people that have passed through this unique geography going as far back as prehistoric Anatolia. Having not been a student in this particular country for the better part of thirty years, this promises to be an unforgettable experience.

↧

The Renaissance Portraits from the Courts of Italy to the Ottoman Empire

October 5, 2012, 4:00 pm

≫ Next: Searching for traces of Byzantine Empire in Modern Istanbul

≪ Previous: Turkish Embassy Letter 2012

Gentile Bellini, The Sultan Mehmet II, 1480
(National Gallery, London)

"Bellini portrayed Sultan Mehmed from life so well, that it was considered a miracle."

- Giorgio Vasari

Of all the genres in the history of art, portraiture has a very special place due to its intimate nature of enabling vis-a-vis encounters with illustrious figures from the past. The Renaissance Portrait from Donatello to Bellini exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art earlier this year was a great example of the art of depicting likenesses transcending centuries and making the absent present more than five hundred years after the portraits had been made. One of the highlights of the exhibit was the gallery devoted to portrait medals featuring primarily the works by Antonio Pisanello who is ascribed as the inventor of the portrait medal in Quattrocento. The portrait medal that was utilized by rulers of the Italian Renaissance to cultivate their image pertaining to their right to rule, lineage and intellectual capacity is a fascinating symbol of the philosophy of the the time. It also is a great testament to the mobility of artists, ideas and influences as well as works of art - all of which can be garnered from examining Pisanello's body of work and it's effects as it pertains to the portrait medal. This mobility and influence seems to have extended out to the most eastern reaches of Europe, to a land that was ruled by Turks, the Ottoman Empire.

Antonio Pisanello,
Studies of Emperor John VIII Palaeologus and Members of the Greek Delegation to the Council of Ferrara and Florence, 1438-39
(Musee du Louvre, Paris)

In the absence of sources as to the artist or real intent of a work of art, most of the conclusions made have to be based on conjecture but following the visual clues that have survived enables even a novice a fascinating view into an enchanting period in history. I assume the best way to embark upon such a journey should be chronologically. The medallion, John VIII Palaeologus by Pisanello is accepted as the first Renaissance portrait medal which was supposed to have been cast on the occasion of the Byzantine emperor's visit to Ferrara for the council to reunite the Eastern and Western Churches. The Eastern delegation is said to have really fascinated the Italians with their colorful costumes and interesting ways (the Emperor was out hunting instead of sitting in on the meetings) inspiring Pisanello to make the detailed drawings seen above.

↧

Searching for traces of Byzantine Empire in Modern Istanbul

October 23, 2012, 3:05 pm

≫ Next: Byzantine Pilgrimage Objects - Phenomenon of Sacred Artifacts or Contemporary Reality?

≪ Previous: The Renaissance Portraits from the Courts of Italy to the Ottoman Empire

View from the Golden Gate, 2012

"When I was subsequently dwelling in the "City of the Sultan", and that reality had succeeded to anticipation, much of the mist of romance, indeed, rolled away: but the fair face of the landscape suffered little from its absence, for Constantinople needs no aid from the imagination to make one of the brightest gems in the diadem of nature: its clear calm sky, its glittering sea, its amphitheatre of thickly-peopled hills... its surpassing novelty, tend to make every day and every hour in that gorgeous scene, and under the sunny sky, a season of intense enjoyment"

- Miss Julia Pardoe, The Beauties of the Bosphorus (London 1839)

Being already somewhat familiar with the "City of the Sultan," in coming to Istanbul this time, I was hoping to discover the "City of the Byzantine Emperors". I aspired to visualize Istanbul as the Roman city it once was which is challenging in spite of Hagia Sophia's indisputable and iconic presence.

Knowing Constantinople was celebrated as the "New Rome" for more than a thousand years, beginning with the 11th of May of the year 330 by Roman Emperors with all their displays of imperial magnificence adorning the environs of the city, might be cause for expectation on one's part. Although it is possible to still hear the humming of the distant tunes from bygone eras around every corner in Istanbul, finding tangible traces of Byzantium can be a perplexing endeavor. Even with the few remaining monuments dispersed throughout the city, uninterrupted habitation combined with the change of ideology of the consecutive empires has caused Istanbul to metamorphose into a totally unique entity.

↧

Byzantine Pilgrimage Objects - Phenomenon of Sacred Artifacts or Contemporary Reality?

November 10, 2012, 11:57 am

≫ Next: Queen Elizabeth I to Sultan Murad III - Imperial Imagery

≪ Previous: Searching for traces of Byzantine Empire in Modern Istanbul

As fascinating as we may find a slab of stone, an object or a painting from the past, these objects we study as art historians or archaeologists may seem irrelevant or even trivial to someone with no connection to the specific culture. While we can wax lyrical about the iconography or the theories related to a work of art, to someone with no knowledge, interest or cultural memory of the object of our admiration, these might sound like peculiar ramblings. Being able to engage with a work of art on a personal level, however, can have the ability to change one's perception of the significance of these artifacts. But, since the vast majority of artifacts remaining from the past represent the lives and concerns of the privileged classes, this can be cause for further impediment to this engagement. Ironically, while studying Byzantine pilgrimage objects, I have come to consider the phenomenon of early Christian pilgrimage objects, as an occurrence that has the potential to transcend centuries and reach the souls of a vast audience of people no matter what their religious affiliations or cultural background.

↧

Queen Elizabeth I to Sultan Murad III - Imperial Imagery

November 25, 2012, 2:33 pm

≫ Next: Reading History Through Jewellery

≪ Previous: Byzantine Pilgrimage Objects - Phenomenon of Sacred Artifacts or Contemporary Reality?

att. George Gower, Queen Elizabeth I, 1588
(National Portrait Gallery, London)

This portrait of Queen Elizabeth I painted in honor of the biggest victory of her reign over the Spanish Armada of 1588 brings back a distant memory of standing in the middle of the National Portrait Gallery, listening to my niece relaying the story of having to count the pearls on the queen's dress for a school assignment. While we stood before the life-size portrait of 'Bess', admiring the elaborate treatment of the surfaces and observing her intrinsic features, I realized we did not have any equivalent to this, from our own history except for the one portrait, The Sultan Mehmed II, by Gentile Bellini. In an earlier post, I had discussed the mobility of artists, influences and ideas as well as works of art in the fifteenth-century in regards to Mehmed II. However, after Mehmed's death, commissions for portraiture in the Italian Quattrocento tradition seems to completely disappear from the Ottoman court. The common belief that this was due to the religious inclinations of Bayezid II seems to be unanimous. As a consequence of this, instead of portrait galleries full of life-size, oil on canvas likenesses of the Ottoman Sultans, Topkapi Palace museum contains folios full of manuscript illuminations with depictions in the Ottoman tradition. What I want to discuss here is where the images for the Sultan portraits in these manuscripts came from if no known likenesses existed?

↧

Reading History Through Jewellery

December 22, 2012, 6:52 pm

≫ Next: From an Athenian Maid to Empress to the Roman Empire... Aelia Eudocia Augusta

≪ Previous: Queen Elizabeth I to Sultan Murad III - Imperial Imagery

Square emerald aigrette, TSM 2/313, 18th century
(Topkapi Palace Musem)

"Made up of the glories of the most precious gems, to describe them is a matter of inexpressible difficulty. For there is amongst them the gentler fire of the ruby, there is the rich purple of the amethyst, there is the sea-green of the emerald, and all shining together in an indescribable union. Others, by an excessive heightening of their hues equal all the colours of the painter, others the flame of burning brimstone, or of a fire quickened by oil."

~ Pliny the Elder (describing opals)

From philosopher to the ordinary woman/man for centuries jewels have been a source of fascination; their natural brilliance, vibrant colors and expressiveness have been compared to all the wonders of the universe. But jewelry, as part of the persona of a sovereign has greater connotations than mere beauty or worth - it becomes a symbol of imperial magnificence portraying their might and refinement concurrently. When the sovereign in question is the Ottoman Sultan these symbols take on a more exotic, intriguing configuration that may need further elucidation. During a talk about her latest book, Imperial Ottoman Jewellery: Reading History Through Jewellery, Prof. Dr. Gul Irepoglu provided some enlightening facts as well as stunning visuals of the jewelry of the Ottoman Sultans. One of the most interesting parts of her talk was the inclusion of miniatures, which are considered to be historical documents, to highlight where and how these jewels were utilized.

↧

Latest Images