Category: Art & Music

Visual art opening and exploring the texts we “read, study, learn and inwardly digest.” Music and notes about music used to open and celebrate the texts read in worship.

The Incredulity of St. Thomas, Woodcut, (1508-1510), Albrecht Durer (1471-1528)

Commentary by Hovak Najarian
Related post “Easter, April 8,2012′

After Jesus’ resurrection he made himself known to Mary Magdalene and then to two disciples while they dined in Emmaus. He also talked to disciples at a time when Thomas was not with them. When the disciples told Thomas that Christ had risen, he was skeptical. He said, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.” Jesus was again with the disciples eight days later. Thomas was with them and was invited by Jesus to touch his wounds. When he did, his doubts were erased and he exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!”

Durer treats this subject like a relief sculpture and gives the composition visual balance through bilateral symmetry. Each side is almost a mirror image of the other with Christ in the center flanked by two apostles. Thomas, on the left, leans slightly and receives our attention as we follow his arm to where he is touching Christ’s side. The three figures in the foreground close off pictorial depth while all other figures are relegated to the background; they are neither participating actively nor do they have a clear view of Christ being touched. Instead, Durer depicts this scene as though it is being presented to an audience – the audience being you, the viewer – as it would be if you were standing directly in front of Christ and Thomas.

In The Incredulity of Thomas, the influence of Italian Renaissance painting and sculpture is evident. During Durer’s extended visit to Italy shortly before working on the Small Passion, he immersed himself in the art of the Italian masters who, in turn, learned from the art of the ancient Greeks and Romans. In this woodcut, the garments worn by the apostles are flowing and the folds hang naturally like the garments found in Roman sculpture or in a painting such as Raphael’s The School of Athens. Christ, on the other hand, is almost garmentless as he stands in the center in a contrapposto (Italian for counterpose) position. This pose is one in which a standing person seems relaxed with the body’s weight on one leg. It was used widely by the Greeks and Romans and the pose was very popular again during the Renaissance as well as during the Mannerist period that followed. In form, the unclothed Jesus is standing very much in the manner of a Greek statue such as a Hermes or Apollo.

As Thomas is touching the wounded side, Christ guides Thomas’ arm with his right hand while his left arm is pointing heavenward. The upward pointing fingers are in the well known symbolic position found throughout Christian art. His thumb and first two fingers are extended and the other two fingers are closed. The extended fingers represent the trinity and the closed fingers symbolize the two-fold nature of Christ; God and man. Christ’s halo is depicted the same as in Durer’s Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem; it is again shown as an intense light. It is not contained as a disc or circle but instead radiates out to fill much of the upper quarter of the composition.

Although the Incredulity of Thomas is a small woodcut, Durer’s figures carry visual weight and a sense of solidity. Through the eyes of a German artist with an understanding of Italian Renaissance painting and sculpture, Albrecht Durer gives us his interpretation of how this event occurred.

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© 2012 Hovak Najarian

Easter, Art for Readings April 8,2012

Fra ANGELICO,
(b. ca. 1400, Vicchio nell Mugello, d. 1455, Roma)
Click to open Web Gallery of Art Artist Biography and to explore other works by this artist.

Noli Me Tangere (Cell 1)
1440-42
Fresco, 166 x 125 cm
Convento di San Marco, Florence
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Related art commentary by Hovak Najarian.
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Noli Me Tangere, Fresco (1430), Fra Angelico (c.1387 – 1455)

Commentary by Hovak Najarian
Related post “Easter, April 8,2012′

In 1407, Guido di Pietro joined the Dominican order in Fiesole (near Florence, Italy) and at his vows took the name Giovanni. Thus, he was known as Friar Giovanni da Fiesole (Brother John of Fiesole). Vasari referred to him as Fra Giovanni Angelico (Brother John the Angelic one); now he is known simply as Fra Angelico. In Fra Angelico’s lifetime, Italy was in a state of transition. In the early part of the fifteenth century, medieval art was still a presence but Florence was at the heart of the Renaissance and Fra Angelico was aware fully of the trends toward humanism and the changes in art that were taking place.

In medieval art, figures are generally flat with little sense of individuality. They seem to exist in a mystic realm surrounded by gold leaf that shimmers as though reflecting heavenly light. Figures are not always anatomically correct in proportion and may be made larger or smaller according to a person’s status. During the Renaissance, the interest in humanism, an awareness of the world in which they lived, a better understanding of perspective, and the use of oil paints were factors that led artists toward the creation of paintings that were convincing effects of reality. Figures of a Modonna and Child no longer existed in another realm; they were given anatomically correct proportions and were presented as real people.

Fra Angelico’s life was devoted to the work of the church and one of his major undertakings was at the monastery at San Marcos in Florence where he and his assistants painted the cells (prayer and meditation rooms) with scenes from the life of Christ. Noli Me Tangere (“Don’t touch me”) is a fresco on the wall of one of the cells. The scene depicts Mary Magdalene just after she recognized the risen Christ. She is kneeling and reaching out toward him as Christ subtly gestures to her and steps aside.

There is pictorial depth in this fresco and the modeling creates an effect of solid figures under the draped clothing. Mary Magdalene’s kneeling position is believable as is the sense that Jesus has just moved his right foot as he withdraws slightly from Mary. Yet, although the figures are no longer painted as they would have been in medieval times, the tomb is quite stylized and tightly rendered. The landscape of springtime flowers and the backdrop of trees also are stylized.

Studies by perceptual psychologist Rudolph Arnheim have shown that viewers tend to “read” a painting from left to right. It also has been shown that from the standpoint of visual balance, we are more comfortable when there is more visual weight on the left side of a painting. Fra Angelico followed intuitively these compositional guidelines. If the painting, Noli Me Tangere, were to be divided in half (the background palm tree being the center) the larger and more passive visual mass on the left – the tomb and Mary Magdalene – is balanced by the more active figure of Christ on the right.

In Noli Me Tangere our eyes enter the painting on the left side at the tomb. We make a mental note of the darkness in the open door (this door is not designed to be closed by a large stone) and then we continue our visual journey to Mary Magdalene dressed in red, a color that also carries weight. The direction of Mary’s gaze, her arms, and her hand gesture lead our eyes to the figure of Jesus the focal point of the painting. In the figure of Jesus we find movement and we follow his gaze as it leads us back to the face of Mary. A fence in the background limits pictorial depth and keeps the focus of attention on the figures of Jesus and Mary Magdalene in the foreground. Although Noli Me Tangere seems to be a simple composition there is within the subtle gestures and facial expressions, a subtext that causes us to reflect on the moment this meeting occurred.

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© 2012 Hovak Najarian

Were You There?

To me, a Maundy Thursday or Good Friday service seems incomplete if I don’t hear, at least once, the old spiritual “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?” The text and melody are so simple, yet profound, and I imagine I am not the only one who continues humming it long after the service is over. (Unless it’s a Maundy Thursday service, in which case, I can usually keep quiet at least until we make it to the car!)

As is the case with most of our beloved spirituals, there isn’t a clear composer or date of composition for “Were You There.” We know that it must have originated in the mid-1800s, before the Civil War and the abolishment of slavery. Spirituals developed as “work songs” that were sung while tending the fields, doing laundry, or fulfilling other responsibilities. Because of this, they tend to have simple melodies that are easy to learn and pleasant to sing. Most spirituals contain hidden messages of escape and freedom (such as “Deep River,” “Steal Away,” “Wade in the Water,” and “This Train is Bound for Glory”). Many of these songs carried literal directions, while others subtly provided inspiration for those who may have been thinking of making an escape.

However, it seems that “Were You There?” contains none of these messages, and is, instead, a song of reverence for Jesus’ suffering. Jesus’ story must have been one that American slaves could identify with, as they, too, knew what it was like to be mocked, humiliated, beaten, and abused.

Over time, “Were You There?” and several other spirituals have been included in our collection of regularly sung hymns. This is credited largely to African American composer Harry T. Burleigh (1866-1949). The majority of his life’s work was devoted to arranging spirituals and publishing them to ensure that they would not be forgotten. In 1924, G. Ricordi published his arrangement of “Were You There?” for high voice and piano. This particular arrangement is most closely associated with contralto Marian Anderson, as she released a recording of the piece in 1939.

Though we probably all know the text by heart, I’ve provided it below, along with two recordings of the work.

Were You There?

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?

Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?

Were you there when God raised him from the tomb?
Were you there when God raised him from the tomb?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when God raised him from the tomb?

Source: Lutheran Hymnal 

 Marian Anderson

Solo Piano Meditation

Palm Sunday, April 1,2012

DÜRER, Albrecht
(b. 1471, Nürnberg, d. 1528, Nürnberg)
Click to open Web Gallery of Art Artist Biography and to explore other works by this artist.

Small Passion: 6. Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem
1511
Woodcut
British Museum, London
Click to open Web Gallery of Art commentary page. Click selection 6 for large view.

Woodcut series: The Small Passion (1511)
by Albrecht DÜRERClick to open Web Gallery of Art presentation of the entire Small Passion series of woodcuts.

Related art commentary by Hovak Najarian.
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Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem, woodcut (1508-1510), Albrecht Durer (1471-1528)

Commentary by Hovak Najarian
Related post ‘Palm Sunday, April 1,2012’

When Albrecht Durer was a young boy in Nuremberg,Germany his skills were apparent and his father, a goldsmith, took him into his workshop for training.  As a youth, Durer continued his training by apprenticing with a master engraver and then followed by traveling to other European countries.  His first visit to Italy was in the mid 1490s but nine years later he returned in order to immerse himself in creative work.  In Italy, a rebirth had been underway throughout the fifteenth century and during an extended stay in Venice (from 1505-1507) he made a thorough study of not only art but also the intellectual ideas that led to the Renaissance.  In his life, Durer enjoyed a well deserved reputation as a painter but it was through the unrivaled quality of his woodcuts and metal engravings that his reputation as a Northern Renaissance artist spread throughout Europe.

Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem is from a series of woodcuts known as the Small Passion (the prints are quite small in scale).  Durer started the thirty-seven prints not long after his return to Germany from Italy; he completed them in 1510 and then published them as a book in 1511.  The dates of some of the plates (wood blocks) indicate Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem was the first of this series.  In his original concept, the Passion was to be the only subject of the prints but after completing them, he decided to add six more prints beginning with Adam and Eve. This changed the emphasis from the Passion to mankind’s woes and our salvation through Christ.

In Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem, Jesus is the central figure and is the focus of attention as He rides toward the gate of the city.  The crowd that surrounds him is in a subordinate role; they are the supporting cast to the drama.  As Christ is approaching the gate, an old man is placing a cloak on the ground before him.  Another man is holding a palm frond.  In ancient Rome, a frond symbolized victory and in Christian art it came to be associated with martyrs and a triumph over death.  The palm tree in the background symbolizes the promise of immortality (because its fronds are always green).

Halos in Christian art are intended to suggest radiant light around the heads of saints and heavenly beings, but they have not always been depicted in the familiar circular form.  Sometimes God the Father is given a triangular halo signifying the trinity.  A living person, such as a donor, may be shown with a square halo to indicate they are not one of the saints.  Christ is the only one given a cruciform halo in reference to his death on the cross.   In “Christ’s Entry,” Durer does not use a circular halo but instead shows Christ’s head surrounded by an intense light with rays extending out beyond the glow.

Note:

Making prints from a raised surface (relief print) is a very ancient graphic process in which an image is drawn on a flat block of wood and then everything but the image itself is carved to be slightly below the surface.  When ink is rolled across a prepared block the carved areas, being below the surface, receive no ink; these areas will remain white on the print.  When a piece of paper is placed over the block and it is run through a press or pressed by hand, the ink is pulled from the surface of the block, transferring a reversed image onto the paper.

Many prints can be made from a prepared plate.  Often an artist plans for a limited edition and destroys the plate after a series has been printed.  Copyright laws were not in place during Durer’s time and many copies of his woodcuts were made.  Some of his plates still exist.

Albrecht Durer signed his plates with a stylized letter “A” and a “D” in the lower space of the “A.”  In “Christ’s Entry,” it is likely you noticed the “D” is reversed.  In most instances, Durer reversed his initials on the plate itself in order that it could be read correctly after the print was pulled.  It may have been one of his assistants who did the carving in Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem.

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© 2012 Hovak Najarian

Let us help you meet an artist and his work

Note: These comments are prepared and shared with you so that you can meet Dieric Bouts (artist) and his subject The Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek, a detail of his altarpiece triptych in Sint-Pieterskerk, Leuven The Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek is part of an altarpiece by Dieric Bouts (c.1415 -1475).  Although Bouts, The Elder (his sons also were painters) was Dutch, his career and artistic reputation was established in Flanders (now Belgium) where he lived and worked.  His triptych (trip-tik) for St. Peter’s Church in Leuven is regarded to be one of his finest paintings. A triptych (from the Greek: tri – meaning “three,” plus ptyche – the word for “fold”) is a three-paneled altarpiece found notably in churches from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance.  Early triptychs were relief carvings in wood or ivory but egg tempera became the favored medium of painters during the thirteenth and fourteenth century.  Egg tempera offered a wide range of colors but by the fifteenth century it, too, was being replaced as oils became the medium of choice.  Oil paints offered ease of application and with it a greater range of effects could be achieved.  Dieric Bouts worked in oils on wood panels. In a triptych, the outer panels are usually half the size of the middle panel and are attached with hinges so they can be folded like shutters.  A typical triptych has a familiar Biblical scene in the large center panel while the side panels provide a supporting cast of figures or related stories.  The side panels may also include the donor(s) as part of a tableau.  When the outer panels are folded their reverse sides become the front of the triptych and they also are carved or painted usually in keeping with the overall theme.

Click the image to view the entire Triptych

In the center panel, Bouts’ principal subject in the triptych at Leuven is the Last Supper.  The two outer panels – each containing two paintings one above the other – are Biblical scenes from Old Testament events in which the provision of bread was interpreted as prefiguring the Last Supper.

The left hand panel: The upper painting of the left panel depicts the Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek when Melchizedek offers bread and wine to Abraham as he returns from battle.  Below that painting is the Feast of the Passover in which unleavened bread will be eaten.

The center panel:  Christ is the focus of attention with his face just above the exact center of the triptych.  He and his disciples are seated at a table and are about to break bread and participate in the communion.  The architectural setting is gothic in style.

The right hand panel: The upper painting of the right panel is The Gathering of Manna.  Manna is described as a bread-like tasting substance provided by the Lord.  The painting below it is Elijah in the Desert.  Bread is given to Elijah by an angel.

In Bouts’ triptych, the four Old Testament stories in which bread plays a role are intended to communicate visually the message of a connection between the stories and the Last Supper. Additional Notes:

As is found often in Gothic and Renaissance painting, the clothing and architectural styles in the Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek are not in keeping with the time period being depicted.  The men are dressed in the manner of Europeans of the fifteenth century, and the architecture in the distance is not of Biblical times but rather typical of the time in which Bouts lived.  It even includes a gothic church.

Developments in the art of Europe varied from place to place and often it is difficult to give a name to designate a style.  Historians may refer to the style of fifteenth century Northern Europe as “Late Gothic” whereas the art of Italy during that same time period may be referred to as “Early Renaissance.”

A painting consists of pigment, a surface, and a medium.  Pigments are derived from many sources, ranging from earth colors to organic material.  A surface may be anything as long as it is compatible, or can be coated to make it compatible, with the type of paints that are being used.  The medium is a binder that mixes with the pigments to hold the fine particles together and to bond it to the surface that is being used.  Egg yolk is the medium in egg tempera; linseed or other oils are used in oil paints.

______________ © 2012 Hovak Najarian

The Feast Of The Annunciation, March 25 (celebrated March 26, 2012)

VASARI, Giorgio
(b. 1511, Arezzo, d. 1574, Firenze)
Click to open Web Gallery of Art Artist Biography and to explore other works by this artist.

Annunciation
1570-71
Oil on poplar panel, diameter 157 cm
Móra Ferenc Múzeum, Szeged
Click to open Web Gallery of Art commentary page. Click image again for extra large view.


Annunciation
1570-71
Pen and wash, squared with black chalk, diameter 133 mm
Pierpont Morgan Library, New York Click to open Web Gallery of Art commentary page. Click image again for extra large view.

Separated, misidentified and now united by scholarship.

Annunciation, oil on panel (1570-71), Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574)

by Hovak Najarian

During the High Renaissance of the late fifteenth century, men such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo had what seemed to be unlimited skills.  The term Renaissance man is used even today to designate a person with knowledge and impressive skills in several disciplines.  Although Giorgio Vasari was born in the early sixteenth century and missed being a part of the High Renaissance he was a person with a wide range of interests and skills.  In that respect he was very much like the generation before him.  Today, however, he is remembered primarily for his architecture and the biographies he wrote about Italian artists; his paintings have lost favor.

The art between the High Renaissance and the Baroque period – starting near the end of the sixteenth century – is not clearly defined; for lack of a better term, historians have called it “Mannerism.” Artists of this period painted in a variety of styles; some of it expanding on or “in the manner” of Renaissance ideas and others tending toward an anti-classicism.  Often there would be exaggerated perspective, dramatic lighting, and an absence of the statuesque poses that were part of Renaissance painting.  Vasari’s Annunciation was painted during the latter part of the Mannerist period and like the work of Raphael, his figures are classical both in the carefully delineated contours and in their faces.  Yet, Mary’s pose and that of the angel Gabriel are in keeping with the theatrical presentation found in Mannerist painting.

In Vasari’s preparatory ink and wash study we can see he modified his original idea when he made his painting.  In the study, Mary is at a reading table (at the bottom center of the drawing) with her finger on a book and there is surprise on her face as though this is the moment when she looked up and realized she had a visitor.  In the painting, the book has been shifted out of the way to a stand on the far left side (Mary’s right side) and her extended left hand is now simply making a graceful gesture.  Her face is slightly downward and her eyes are downcast to indicate she is within herself in this serene moment.  In both the study and the painting, her right hand is on her heart.  Gabriel is hovering nearby with arms folded.  In his hand he is holding a lily, the symbol of purity.

Symbols were used widely in the art of ancient cultures and many of them were carried over into Christianity.  Halos (or a comparable glow) and wings were incorporated into Christian art as early as the third century.  The Bible does not say angels had wings but artists added them; now they are standard identifying features.  Unlike the large gold-leafed halos of the fourteenth century, Vasari’s Mary is given a delicate transparent circle.  She is dressed in the colors blue and red; both are muted in tone.  Blue represents heavenly grace and red symbolizes the Holy Spirit.  In paintings, Mary often is dressed in blue.  Gabriel is clothed in yellow and white; yellow represents light and white represents purity, innocence, and virginity.

In Christian art, figures in a painting often exist in a different reality where the source of illumination is not sunlight or artificial light but rather a light that emanates from a holy figure such as Christ.  In Vasari’s Annunciation, the light source is the dove representing the Holy Spirit.

Vasari worked consistently for wealthy patrons and a painting such as the Annunciation was not made for working class people.  Like much of the art of the High Renaissance and the Mannerist period, it was painted to be “fine art” for a sophisticated audience.

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© 2012 Hovak Najarian

B Lent 5, Art for Readings for March 25, 2012

BOUTS, Dieric the Elder
(b. ca. 1415, Haarlem, d. 1475, Leuven)
Click to open Altarpiece of the Holy Sacrament.

The Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek
1464-67
Side Panel from the Altarpiece of the Holy Sacrament
Oil on panel
Sint-Pieterskerk, Leuven
Click to open Web Gallery of Art commentary page. Click image again for extra large view.

“The Crucifixion”

Samuel Barber  (1910-1981) was a highly versatile composer known for his two operatic works (Vanessa and Antony and Cleopatra), along with his many works for orchestra, strings, piano, and voice. Of his compositions for voice and piano, perhaps his best known and most loved is his collection of Hermit Songs. The Hermit Songs is a setting of semi-reverent, semi-crass texts written by Irish monks between the 8th and 13th centuries. The cycle was commissioned by the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation in 1953. That same year, it was premiered at The Library of Congress by soprano Leontyne Price. Barber accompanied.

Of the ten Hermit Songs, the most poignant to me has always been “The Crucifixion.” (Listen once, and you’ll understand exactly why.)

Given that we are just over halfway through Lent, it seems appropriate to share it today. The text reads as follows:

At the cry of the first bird
They began to crucify thee, O Swan.
Never shall lament cease because of that.
It was like the parting of day from night.
Ah, sore was the suffering borne
By the body of Mary’s son.
But sorer still to Him was the grief
Which for His sake came upon His mother.
–Translation by Howard Mumford Jones