Folio Society's 100 Greatest Paintings: "The Birth of the World" by Joan Miro (1925)

The Editor explains that they narrowed the choice by only including mainstream European-school paintings, and by only allowing one work by each artist. The breakdown was 25 Italian paintings, 22 French, Low Countries (19), and various other countries.

First up: "The Rucellai Madonna" by Duccio

c. 1285, tempera on panel, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

[image=http://www.wga.hu/art/d/duccio/buoninse/ruccelai/3ruccela.jpg]

The Madonna and child are supported by six angels, and disciples are in the rondels of the frame. Originally attributed to Cimabue by the art historian Vasari, it was re-attributed at the end of the 19th Century to Duccio.

 

This will be fun!

This one isn't particularly my style.

 

Hmm...Not one of my favorites.

I look forward to this.

 

Next: "The Lamentation" by Giotto

c. 1305, fresco, Arena Chapel, Padua

[image=http://www.astronomynow.com/news/040304_v838_mon_m.jpg]

The dead Christ is taken down from the cross and is held in the arms of various mourners. His mother cradles his head, Mary Magdelene his feet. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus stand at the right. St. John the Evangelist flings his arms back in the centre. The tree at the right looks dead, but has buds on it.

This fresco has an unusual amount of emotion for the time, and it is rigorously composed. But there are some problems: Christ's body is very oddly proportioned, and the angels in the sky are curiously foreshortened.

 

[image=http://www.ablemuse.com/premiere/images/bhouston_lamentation.jpg]

Thats the right pic.

Nothing impressive. For me anyhow.

I liked the Space one, it was beautiful.

 

And the moral of this story is...don't post in your photography and painting threads at the same time.

Thank you, Malcolm. You get three free edits of Malcolmisms in return.

 

Yay!

But this painting is nothing too impressive.

 

That's one...I think you have to look at the painting in context.

 

Well I'm very atheist and find Christianity pretty out there.

But this scene has been painted sooo many times. The only painting of Jesus I like are done by Leonardo da Vinci. I'm sure he's on the list. Closer to the top.

 

That's two edits...the point is, at the time, which is c. 1305, this was hot stuff.

 

Yeah true.

 

Next: "The Annunication" by Simone Martini

1333, tempera on panel, Galleria Degli Uffizi, Florence

[image=http://www.artandarchitecture.org.uk/fourpaintings/daddi/large/d14.jpg]

The book shows only the centre panel. If you look closely, you can see the words "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee" going from the angels to Mary.

 

Next: "The Wilton Diptych" (Anonymous)

c. 1395-9, tempera on panel, National Gallery, London

[image=http://www.wga.hu/art/m/master/yunk_fr/yunk_fr1/06wilton.jpg]

[image=http://www.wga.hu/art/m/master/yunk_fr/yunk_fr1/07wilton.jpg]

Not much is known about this beautiful painting. It seems to have been commissioned by Richard II (a famous patron of the arts); his emblem is on the closed cover. Richard is kneeling in the first panel, and is presented by his patron saint, St. John the Baptist and two predecessors, Edward the Confessor, and Edmund, last king of East Anglia. He wears his white hart emblem.

In the left hand painting, the angels wear Richard's emblem, and the Madonna and child offer Richard a banner. The contrasting blues in this section are very beautiful. Painted in England; the artist was probably Italian.

First recorded in the collection of Charles I.

 

It's a very beautiful piece and the color suprising. Richard sure wanted anyone who saw it to know how important he was. Pretty typical for rulers at that time to invoke divine blessings.

 

Didn't do him much good; he would up deposed and murdered.

But it's a beautiful piece. Too bad the artist is unknown.

 

Next: "The Deposition" by Fra Angelico

c. 1432, Museo di San Marco, Florence

[image=http://www.artofeurope.com/angelico/fra4.jpg]

This shows the lowering of Christ from the cross, though the scene is contemporary. It was begun by Lorenzo Monaco, who painted the pinnacles, and the framing beams. He died in 1423, and was replaced by Fra Angelico, possibly because Angelico was Monaco's apprentice.

 

I once heard an art critic say that he quite liked the style of these kinds of paintings, but really how many crucifixions could one really look at? I rather see his point.

Except I don't really like the style.

It's difficult, I guess, to see these with the eyes of the people who saw them way back when.

 

I know what you're saying; since I'm a Protestant, I don't have the cultural background to know the Catholic iconography, either.

Next: "Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife" by Jan van Eyck

[image=http://www.usc.edu/schools/annenberg/asc/projects/comm544/library/images/621.jpg]

c. 1434, oil on panel, National Gallery, London

This very famous portrait is from the Burgundian Netherlands, at the height of its riches. It shows a man, his wife, their dog, and his shoes (at left). The mirror at centre reflects the couple, van Eyck and (possibly) a servant.

The technicial expertise is really astonishing--check out the chandelier, the fur trim, the wife's headdress. Van Eyck was court painter to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, and Philip's accountants didn't want to pay his wages. Philip insisted, saying van Eyck was without equal.

This painting ended up in the collection of Philip II of Spain (who ruled the Netherlands a couple of centuries later and was a descendant of Philip the Good). The book says it was 'somehow acquired' by a Scottish soldier during the Peninsular War (try 'looted') and brought to England.

 

A classic work; you see something new every time you look at it. The first thing that strikes is how ridiculous (and, in the case of one member, pregnant) the couple looks. The second thing is the dog, that seems about to leap out of the picture into your arms. The third thing is that mirror; would that be the art world's smallest, most subtle self-portrait?

 

They do look odd; that's fashion for you. The richer you are, the dumber you look in retrospect.

 

Next: "St. Luke Drawing the Virgin" by Rogier van der Weyden

c. 1435, oil on panel, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

[image=http://www.thecityreview.com/byzant19.jpg]

St. Luke, as well as being a doctor, was also supposedly an artist. In this very influential (ie. heavily copied) painting, he paints the Virgin Mary and child.

 

Next: "The Wolf of Gubbio" by Sassetta

[image=http://www.roland-collection.com/rolandcollection/images/stills/5-0.gif]

c. 1444, tempera on panel, National Gallery, London

This is not the picture in question, but it is by Sassetta, and it does have the same shape.

Sassetta painted a series of eight scenes from the life of St. Francis, of which this is one (7 are in the National Gallery, the 8th in Chantilly). They were originally arranged in pairs flanking a statute of the saint and formed a splendid double-sided alterpiece.

 

Next: "The Baptism of Christ" by Piero della Francesco

c. 1450-60, tempura on panel, National Gallery, London

[image=http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/MCG/FD1332~The-Baptism-of-Christ-1450-Posters.jpg]

Christ is being baptised by his cousin, St. John. Above him is a dove, painted to resemble the clouds, and a shower of gold, now less visible than it used to be.

 

Next: "Saint Jerome in his Study" by Antonello da Messina

c. 1465, oil on canvas, National Gallery, London'

[image=http://imagesource.art.com/images/-/Antonello-da-Messina/St-Jerome-in-His-Study-circa-1475-Giclee-Print-C11724446.jpeg]

A very curious picture; St. Jerome is shown in his study, but it's like a cross between a doll's house and an architectural model. The sacred section is on the right; the secular on the left. And St. Jerome wrote a famous defense of the virginity of the Madonna, so there are symbols for that...the pyx boxes, the carafe of water, and carnations. But there are also symbols for what the book calls 'lust and fornication'...the dirty hand towel, the cat. The three symbols in the front are the peacock (immortality); a pheasant (Truth of Christ) and the bowl (baptism). A very ambivilant piece of art.

 

Next: "Pieta" by Giovanni Bellini

c. 1468, tempera on panel, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan


[image=http://www.huntfor.com/absoluteig/gallery%2Fbellini%2Fbellini5.jpg]

Pietas usually show Christ alone; here he is shown with his mother and St. John the Evangelist, whose emotions are clearly illustrated. Christ looks 'beatic' according to the book; his mother 'curiously interrogative.' The scene is seen in close-up, which increases the impact.