Stations of the Cross: Giandomenico Tiepolo, San Polo Church, Venice Italy and Art Institute, Chicago USA

Giandomenico Tiepolo (1727-1804) was the son of Giambattista Tiepolo, a master of painting.

He never achieved the status and fame of his father.

San Polo Church, Venice

However, between 1747 and 1749 he painted “Via Crucis”, the stations of the Cross, in the Oratory of the Crucifixion in the Venetian Church of San Polo. In the same period he also etched the sequence of prints with the same title.

This sequence of 14 paintings is for me the most moving sequence of Christ’s path to the Cross and the Beyond.

Inside the San Polo Church (when I visited) there were on display only some of the 14 paintings, the ones I photographed and have included here.

To my delight, I discovered some of the etchings on paper at the Art Institute of Chicago, which I also display here. Although they do not form a complete series, they supplement the paintings very nicely.

I followed the numerical sequence for both the prints and the paintings.

Frontispiece to Stations of the Cross, c. 1748, published 1749 (Art Institute of Chicago)

Frontispiece to the set of etchings

Station I: Christ is Condemed to Death, plate one from Stations of the Cross, c. 1748, published 1749 (Art Institute of Chicago)

Station I: Christ is Condemed to Death

Station II: Christ Receives the Cross, plate two from Stations of the Cross, c. 1748, published 1749 (Art Institute of Chicago)

Station II: Christ Receives the Cross

Station III: Christ Falls Beneath the Cross for the First Time, plate three from Stations of the Cross, c. 1748, published 1749 (Art Institute of Chicago)

Station III: Christ Falls Beneath the Cross for the First Time

Station IV: Christ Meets his Mother, plate four from Stations of the Cross, c. 1748, published 1749 (Art Institute of Chicago)

Station IV: Christ Meets his Mother

Station V: Christ is Helped by Simon of Cyrene, plate five from Stations of the Cross, c. 1748, published 1749 (Art Institute of Chicago)

Station V: Christ is Helped by Simon of Cyrene

Station VI: Christ's Face is Wiped by St. Veronica, plate six from Stations of the Cross, c. 1748, published 1749 (Art Institute of Chicago)

Station VI: Christ’s Face is Wiped by St. Veronica

Station VII: Christ Consoles the Weeping Women, plate seven from Stations of the Cross, c. 1748, published 1749 (Art Institute of Chicago)

Station VII: Christ Consoles the Weeping Women

Station IX: Christ Falls Beneath the Cross for the Third Time, plate nine from Stations of the Cross, c. 1748, published 1749 (Art Institute of Chicago)

Station IX: Christ Falls Beneath the Cross for the Third Time

Painting IX: Christ Falls Beneath the Cross for the Third Time, San Polo Church, Venice

Station IX: Christ Falls Beneath the Cross for the Third Time

Painting IX - Detail: the crowd

The crowd is shown full of anticipation.

Station X: Christ is Stripped of His Garments, plate ten from Stations of the Cross, c. 1748, published 1749 (Art Institute of Chicago)

Station X: Christ is Stripped of His Garments

Painting X: Christ is Stripped of His Garments, San Polo Church, Venice

Station X: Christ is Stripped of His Garments

Painting X - Detail

The elder

Painting X - Detail: Mother and Daughter

Mother and daughter observing

Station XI: Christ is Nailed to the Cross, plate eleven from Stations of the Cross, c. 1748, published 1749 (Art Institute of Chicago)

Station XI: Christ is Nailed to the Cross

Painting XI: Christ is Nailed to the Cross, San Polo Church, Venice

Station XI: Christ is Nailed to the Cross

Painting XI - Detail: Christ

Christ unconscious

Painting XI - Detail: Crowd

The watching crowd

Painting XII: Crucifixion, San Polo Church, Venice

Station XII: Christ crucified

Painting XIII: Deposition, San Polo Church, Venice

Station XIII: The deposition of Christ

Painting XIII - Detail

Deposition detail

Painting XIV - Entombment, San Polo Church, Venice

Station XIV: Entombment

Titian’s Pieta: The master of light … plunges into darkness

Tiziano: Pieta, detail

I borrowed half of the title of today’s post from an article by Jonathan Jones in the Guardian.

As Jones says,

“Titian painted the Pietà when Venice was struck by plague. It was made as an ex voto offering, a prayer for the survival of himself and his beloved son, Orazio. In the bottom right-hand, propped under the stone lion, is a tablet on which Titian and Orazio are depicted praying to the Virgin for delivery from the plague. His plea went unanswered. Titian is recorded as having died “of fever” on August 27, 1576. Orazio also died during the plague.”

Titian: Transfiguration

Compare the dark oppressing colours of the Pieta to the exhuberant light of the Transfiguration of Christ in San Salvador in Venice,

Titian: Assumption of the Virgin

or the Assumption of the Virgin, in Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice.

Titian: Pieta (detail)

The world of the light has been transformed into the underworld of the Dead.

Titian: Pieta (detail, Nikodemus)

The kneeling Nikodemus is a self-portrait of the painter himself. The brushwork is visible only in some parts of the huge canvas. In many others, the careful observer can see smudges of paint, rather than brush strokes.

Titian: Pieta (detail, tablet)

The tablet in the right-bottom under the lion shows the painter and his son Orazio pleading to the Virgin for salvation.

Titian: Pieta, detail

But there has been no salvation. And the painting itself is anticipating this. It is full of fear, and silent resignation to the inevitability of Death. A Death that is anticipated as the entry in a dark, damp, frozen chamber, without any natural light. The painter of light, the admirer of women, the master of color, locks himself in the vision of his own death in the most horrific way imaginable.

The Pieta is allegedly Titian’s last painting. He did not even manage to finish it. According to the incription at the bottom of the picture, it was finished by Palma the Younger, one of his apprentices.

A Cretan Madonna in Venice: Mesopanditissa in Santa Maria della Salute (Saint Mary of Health)

JMW Turner: Santa Maria della Salute

Today I want to honor the centuries’ old ties between Byzantium and Venice, by kneeling in front of the “Mesopanditissa” Madonna, a 12th or 13th century Byzantine icon that was brought to Venice in 1669, after Candia (Herakleion) fell to the Ottoman Turks. The picture is kept in the main altar of the Church of Santa Maria della Salute (Holy Mary of the Health). Lets start with the historical background.

Santa Maria della Salute is one of the jewels of Venice. Baldassare Longhena was 32 years old when he won a competition in 1631 to design a shrine honoring the Virgin Mary for saving Venice from a plague that in the space of two years (1629-30) killed 47,000 residents, or one-third the population of the city. Outside, this ornate white Istrian stone octagon is topped by a colossal cupola with snail-like ornamental buttresses and a baroque facade; inside are a polychrome marble floor and six chapels.

The Byzantine icon above the main altar has been venerated as the Madonna della Salute (Madonna of Health) since 1670, when Francesco Morosini brought it here from Crete. The icon and other holy relics, were brought to Venice by Morosini when Crete fell to the Ottoman Turks.

It was the jewel of the Church of Saint Titus in the center of Candia, today’s Irakleion. Morosini also brought to Venice the remains of Saint Titus. They were kept in Saint Mark’s Basilica until 1966, when they were returned to Crete.

Above it is a sculpture showing Venice on her knees to the Madonna as she drives the wretched plague from the city.

I must confess that the baroque sculptures surrounding the Madonna did not impress me, but they are not in nay way obstructing the view of the magnificent icon.

The Madonna is serene, understanding, can absorb the pain of the whole world. The Holy Child is contemplative.

The icon is at home in the magnificent Church. It stands next to Titian, Giordano, Tintoretto, like they are the most natural companion.

This is the glory of Byzantium, glory that remains alive and strong in Venice. More on the subject will follow.

The Kaisariani Monastery, near Athens, Greece – Η Μονη Καισαριανης

Το υπεροχο μοναστηρι της Καισαριανης μετα απο 2 χρονια επισκευων και συντηρησης ανοιξε ξανα τις πυλες στους επισκεπτες του. Υπευθυνη για την συντηρηση της μονης και της περιοχης στο δασος του Υμηττου ειναι η Φιλοδασικη Ενωση Αθηνων, την οποια και ευχαριστω γιατι και η περιοχη αλλα και η μονη Καισαριανης αποτελουν θυλακες οξυγονου κυριολεκτικα και μεταφορικα στην δοκιμασμενη Αττικη.

Χαρτης Φιλοδασικης

Η μονη κτιστηκε στη θεση αρχαιου ιερου, μαλλον της Δημητρας της οικογενειας των Λυκομηδων.  Στην περιοχη σωζονται και τα θεμελια τρικλιτης παλαιοχριστιανικης Βασιλικης του 5ου – 6ου μ.Χ. αιωνα.

Κυρια Εισοδος

Ο ναος που διασωζεται σημερα, ειναι βυζαντινου ρυθμου, εγγεγραμμενος σταυροειδης με τρουλο (*) και κτισθηκε τον 11 αιωνα, αφιερωμενος στα Εισοδια της Θεοτοκου. Πολλα απο τα μαρμαρα του αρχαιοτερου ναου χρησιμοποιηθηκαν σαν δομικα στοιχεια.

Τοπογραφικο της Μονης

Η μονη απεκτησε μεγαλη φημη τον 12 και 13 αιωνα και η βιβλιοθηκη της ηταν απο τις πιο πλουσιες στο Βυζαντιο. Οι υπευθυνοι της μονης ειχαν πολυ καλες διπλωματικες ικανοτητες και καταφεραν να τα εχουν καλα και με τους Φραγκους οταν αυτοι κατεκτησαν την Αττικη στις αρχες του 13 αιωνα, αλλα και με τους Τουρκους.

Ναος Εισοδιων της Θεοτοκου και παρεκκλησιο Αγιου Αντωνιου

Το 1204 ο πάπας Ιννοκέντιος ο Γ’ υπέβαλλε την Μονή Καισαριανής στη δικαιοδοσία του λατίνου αρχιεπισκόπου Αθηνών. (**) Το 1458 οι Τούρκοι καταλαμβάνουν την Αττική και ο Μωάμεθ προσέρχεται στη Μονή (***) όπου, σύμφωνα με τον γάλλο γιατρό από την Λυών, Jacob Spon (1675), του παραδίδονται τα κλειδιά της πόλης. Το 1678 ο πατριάρχης Διονύσιος ο Δ’ καθορίζει την Μονή ως “Σταυροπηγική” (****) δηλαδή “ελεύθερη και ασύδοτη” ως πρός τον μητροπολίτη της Αθήνας στον οποίο έχει μόνο μία υποχρέωση: να τον μνημονεύει στη λειτουργία. Το 1792 ο πατριάρχης Νεόφυτος καταργεί με Σιγίλλιο την ελευθερία της Μονής η οποία θα υπαχθεί και πάλι στην μητρόπολη των Αθηνών. Το 1824 η Μονή πλέον “?υποδουλώνεται και οικονομείται ως ίδιον κτήμα των αγίων αρχιερέων. Τί δέν εσυνέβησαν εις αυτό, ποίας τύχας δέν εδοκίμασεν; εκατήντησεν έπαυλις βοών, όνων και αλόγων ζώων το πρώην δυνατόν νά σώση καί να φωτίση πολλάς ψυχάς ανθρώπων”. (Πηγη: Φιλοδασικη Ενωση Αθηνων).

Λουτρα

Τα βιβλια της διασημης βιβλιοθηκης μεταφερθηκαν το 1821 στην Μητροπολη Αθηνων για να προστατευθουν απο την επικειμενη συγκρουση με τους Τουρκους. Δυστυχως συνεβη το ακριβως αντιθετο. Τα βιβλια κατεληξαν στον Παρθενωνα οπου χρησιμοποιηθηκαν για να παρασκευασθουν φυσιγγια κατα την πολιορκια της απο τον Κιουταχη (αναφερεται απο τον Γιωργο Καραχαλιο στα Φαινομενα, Ελευθερος Τυπος, 11 Δεκεμβριου 2010).

Καθολικο Ναου

(*) Ο εγγεγραμμένος σταυροειδής με τρούλο είναι ο αντιπροσωπευτικός βυζαντινός ρυθμός. Κύριο χαρακτηριστικό στοιχείο αυτού του θαυμαστού ρυθμού είναι ο σχηματισμός σταυρού εσωτερικά και εξωτερικά στο σχεδόν τετράγωνο πια κτίσμα, με τον έναν ή τους πέντε τρούλους. Η δημιουργία κογχών στη βόρεια και νότια πλευρά όχι μόνο αυξάνουν τον εσωτερικό χώρο,αλλά χαρίζουν παράλληλα ομορφιά και χάρη. Υπάρχουν πάμπλλα δείγματα αυτού του θαυμασίου ρυθμού, όπως η Γοργοεπίκοος (άγιος Ελευθέριος), άγιοι Θεόδωροι, Καπνικαρέα, Καισαριανή στην Αθήνα, Παναγία των Χαλκαίων στη Θεσσαλονίκη, οι εκκλησίες του Μυστρά, κ.α.(Πηγη: Αποστολικη Διακονια της Εκκλησιας της Ελλαδος)

Η Αγια Τριαδα

(**) Μετά την κατάκτηση της Κων/πόλεως από τους σταυροφόρους επακολούθησε δια προκαταρκτικής συνθήκης διανομή ολόκληρου του Βυζαντινού κράτους μεταξύ των Φράγκων σε λατινικά φέουδα. Στο μαρκήσιο Βονιφάτιο Μομφερατικό, γνωστό στρατηγό της άλωσης της Κων/πόλεως παραχωρήθηκε ήδη από το Σεπτέμβριο 1204 το ιδρυθέν τότε Φραγκικό βασίλειο της Θεσσαλονίκης, το οποίο περιελάμβανε και την χώρα των Αθηνών. Έτσι οδηγήθηκε ο Βονιφάτιος προς κατάκτηση των περιοχών του. Η Αθήνα μετά της Ακροπόλεως καταλήφθηκαν αμαχητί. Η πόλη είχε παραμεληθεί τελείως υπό των Βυζαντινών από αρκετών δε ετών στερούταν διοικητικής κεφαλής. Η «θρυλούμενη και χρυσή πόλη Αθήνα η «πάλαι μεν μήτηρ σοφίας παντοδαπής και πάσης καθηγεμών αρετής» στις παραμονής της Δ΄ Σταυροφορίας καταπιεσμένη από τους φόρους και την απληστία των αρχόντων και λησμονημένη από τους ανθρώπους, είχε χάσει σύμφωνα με την μαρτυρία του Μιχαήλ Χωνιάτη, την παλαιά της δόξα και είχε μεταβληθεί σε μικρό και «αοίκητο χωριό» που την τύχη της ακολούθησε και το «ένδοξο επίνειό της».

Βρεφοκρατουσα

(***) Οι Τούρκοι κατέλαβαν την Αθήνα τον Ιούνιο του 1458, μετά την κατόπιν συνθηκολόγησης παράδοση της Ακρόπολης από τον τελευταίο δούκα των Αθηνών, τον Francesco II Acciajuoli, στον διοικητή της θεσσαλίας Ομάρ. Στη μακραίωνη ιστορία της πόλης των Αθηνών, αυτή η κατάληψη από τους Τούρκους αποτελεί τη μοναδική περίπτωση «ειρηνικής» κατάκτησής της χωρίς καταστροφή. Ο Μωάμεθ Β’ επισκέφτηκε την πόλη γύρω στα τέλη του Αυγούστου της ίδιας χρονιάς, προκειμένου να την επιθεωρήσει αλλά και να θαυμάσει τα περίφημα αρχαία μνημεία που την κοσμούσαν. Η εντύπωση που του προκάλεσαν τα τελευταία, ιδίως η Ακρόπολη, ήταν τεράστια. Μάλιστα, σύγχρονοι χρονογράφοι αποδίδουν σε αυτήν την επιείκεια με την οποία αντιμετώπισε τους Αθηναίους, παραχωρώντας τους ποικίλα προνόμια, όπως την ελευθερία της λατρείας και τη σχετική αυτοδιοίκηση. Έτσι, σταδιακά η πόλη αναπτύχθηκε και πάλι, μετά την εξαθλίωση στην οποία είχε περιπέσει κατά τη Φραγκοκρατία.

Παντοκρατωρ

(****) Σταυροπηγιακή μονή : Σταυροπηγιακή ή πατριαρχική χαρακτηρίζεται η μονή η οποία υπάγεται άμεσα στον Οικουμενικό Πατριάρχη και κατά συνέπεια αποσυνδέεται από την διοικητική εποπτεία του επιχώριου μητροπολίτη ή επισκόπου. Σύμφωνα με την κανονική παράδοση της Ορθόδοξης Εκκλησίας, ο Πατριάρχης έχει το δικαίωμα κατά την ίδρυση μονής σε περιοχή της δικαιοδοσίας του να αποστέλλει σταυρό, ο οποίος τοποθετείται στα θεμέλια της μονής και θεμελιώνει την άμεση εξάρτησή της από αυτόν.

Το Καθολικό και ο λουτρώνας είναι τα αρχικά κτίρια του 11ου αιώνα αλλά ο νάρθηκας, το καμπαναριό καθώς και το παρεκκλήσι του Αγίου Αντωνίου είναι προσθήκες μεταγενέστερες της περιόδου της Τουρκοκρατίας. Τα κτίσματα ήσαν διατεταγμένα γύρω από την εσωτερική αυλή, Στο ανατολικό μέρος υπήρχε το Καθολικό, στο δυτικό η τράπεζα με το μαγειρείο, στη νότια πλευρά ο λουτρώνας μετασκευασμένος στα χρόνια της Τουρκοκρατίας σε ελαιοτριβείο της μονής και δίπλα διώροφα κτίρια με τα κελιά πού είχαν μπροστά ανοιχτή στοά

Η Ανασταση του Λαζαρου

Τοιχογραφίες: Η παλαιότερη τοιχογραφία βρισκόταν στον εξωτερικό νότιο τοίχο του καθολικού πού σήμερα περιλαμβάνεται μέσα στο παρεκκλήσι του Αγίου Αντωνίου. Είναι μία μορφή Παναγίας, δεομένης προς αριστερά, με αδρές γραμμές σχεδίου που φανερώνουν επαρχιακή τεχνοτροπία του 14ου αιώνα.
Ο ναός και ο νάρθηκας κοσμούνται από τοιχογραφίες τής εποχής της τουρκοκρατίας. Οι τοιχογραφίες του νάρθηκα έγιναν από τον Ιωάννη Ύπατο από την Πελοπόννησο, το 1682 και με δαπάνες του Μπενιζέλου, σύμφωνα με επιγραφή που υπάρχει στον δυτικό τοίχο.

Στον τρούλλο παριστάνεται ο Χριστός Παντοκράτωρ, στο τύμπανο, που χωρίζεται σε δύο ζώνες και εικονίζονται η Ετοιμασία του θρόνου, η Παναγία, ο Ιωάννης ο Πρόδρομος, οι άγγελοι καθώς και τετράμορφο σύμπλεγμα των τεσσάρων Ευαγγελιστών. Στην κόγχη του ιερού παριστάνεται η Θεοτόκος Πλατυτέρα, ένθρονη, πλαισιωμένη από δύο σεβίζοντες αγγέλους.

Οι τοιχογραφίες του ναού δεν διακρίνονται για καινοτομίες στους εικονογραφικούς τύπους αλλά ανήκουν σε κρητικά εικονογραφικά πρότυπα του 16ου αιώνα που συναντούμε στις εκκλησίες του Αγίου Όρους.

Ο χαρακτήρας των τοιχογραφιών του 17ου αιώνα γίνεται πάντως όλο και πιο λαϊκός. Η τάση αυτή είναι φανερή στις τοιχογραφίες του νάρθηκα τόσο στο στυλ όσο και στην τεχνική εκτέλεση. Είναι φανερή πλέον η βούληση του ζωγράφου να απομακρυνθεί από τα πρότυπα της Κρητικής Σχολής.

Η Τραπεζα

Τράπεζα

Απέναντι από το καθολικό, στη δυτική πλευρά του τείχους, μέσα σε ένα ενιαίο και αυτοτελές κτίριο βρίσκονται η τράπεζα και το μαγειρείο. Η τράπεζα είναι μια επιμήκης ορθογώνια θολωτή αίθουσα που χωρίζεται σε δύο χώρους. Το μαγειρείο είναι προσκολλημένο στη νότια πλευρά της τράπεζας, είναι τετράγωνο με θολωτή οροφή απ’όπου υψώνεται η καπνοδόχος. Η εστία βρίσκεται στη μέση και γύρω της έχει κτιστό πεζούλι προσκολλημένο στους τέσσερις τοίχους. Το κτίριο αυτό χρονολογείται πιθανότατα από τον 16ο ή τον 17ο αιώνα.

Αγορι και Γαιδουρακι

Entierro con Lagrimas de Cera – Burial with Tears of Wax – Ενταφιασμος με Κερινα Δακρυα

This is the result of a juxtraposition of the creations of two people who have not met in their lifetime. Both made Spain their home. Both originated in another country (culture). The occasion of this is the Holy Week that is now approaching its climax. I chose to focus on the zenith of the drama, the burial. The beginning of the trip to Hades.

The creators:

El Greco, The Burial of Count Orgaz, Self-portrait (Detail)

El Greco: Domenikos Theotokopoulos, Painter.

Born in Crete, Greece, El Greco was trained as an icon painter.
It was as a painter who “felt the mystical inner construction” of life that El Greco was admired by Franz Marc and the members of the Blue Rider (Blaue Reiter) school: someone whose art stood as a rejection of the materialist culture of modern life.

Source:El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos) (1541–1614) | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

El Lebrijano

El Lebrijano: Juan Peña Fernández. Lebrija (Seville), 1941. Singer.

García Marquez wrote: “When Lebrijano sings, water gets wet.”

(Please refer to FlamencoWorld for a biography and more).

The works:

The Burial of Count of Ortaz

El Greco, The Burial of the Count of Orgaz

The huge painting is in the Church of Santo Tome, in Toledo, the city that El Greco made his home in Spain.

Lagrimas de Cera (Tears of Wax)

“…The director of the company wanted to record right away and it occurred to me to say, almost as a joke, “I’m going to make a record about Holy Week.” When I was on the AVE to Seville I asked myself, “What did I say to this guy?” He called me up and said “How are you going to do it?” And I said to him, “What am I doing?” Then he said to me, “Come to Madrid because Hugo is here.”….As soon as we got there, in a recording studio on the Alameda de Hércules in Seville, we put together a multicolored musical ensemble: a Belgian producer with his French engineer, the Moroccan brothers that Juan has worked with for 10 years on strings and vocals, four Bulgarian singers, Antonio Moya de Utrera on guitar, Rosario Amador, niece of Raimundo also on vocals, and Sainkho from Southern Siberia. “It was like the U.N.,” jokes El Lebrijano.” (exerpt from an  1999 interview to Louis Clemente, published in Flamenco World)

This stunning music written for “Santa Semana” – the Holy Week – evokes the Universal aspect of Passion and Drama, universality that knows no boundaries or religions. The music unites the Christians and the Arabs with the itinerant Romas and the Jews in mourning for the Death and Burial of a Man, a God, our own.

The Video (Slide Show)

I have put together a slide show with photos of the painting, and one song from “LAgrimas de Cera” as audio background. Here it is.

The Flagellation of Christ – τον δε Ιησουν φραγγελωσας

The flagellation of Christ is the beginning of the final turn to the End.

But the End is not near yet. The crowd must have fun in the process. The violence exercised against a defenseless victim is beyond description and comprehension.  The flagellation first, then the crowning with thorns, then the carrying of the Cross up the hill, and, finally, the Crucufixion.

Modern day execution looks like an act of extreme Humanism biewed in the context of Jesus’ last hours before the Crucifixion.

Georges Roualt, The Flagellation of Christ

τοτε απελυσεν αυτοις τον Βαραββαν, τον δε Ιησουν φραγγελωσας παρεδωκεν ινα σταυρωθη” (κατα Ματθαιον 27:26)

then released he Barabbas unto them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified (Mathew 27:26)

Cimabue, Flagellation of Christ, 1280

ο δε πιλατος βουλομενος τω οχλω το ικανον ποιησαι απελυσεν αυτοις τον βαραββαν και παρεδωκεν τον ιησουν φραγελλωσας ινα σταυρωθη (κατα Μαρκον 15 15)

Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified (Mark 15;15)

Luca Signorelli, the Scourging of Christ, 1480

παιδευσας ουν αυτον απολυσω (κατα Λουκαν 23 16)

I will therefore chastise him and release him (Luke 23;16)

Tiziano, The Flagellation of Christ, 1550

τοτε ουν ελαβεν ο πιλατος τον ιησουν και εμαστιγωσεν

και οι στρατιωται πλεξαντες στεφανον εξ ακανθων επεθηκαν αυτου τη κεφαλη και ιματιον πορφυρουν περιεβαλον αυτον

και ελεγον χαιρε ο βασιλευς των ιουδαιων και εδιδουν αυτω ραπισματα

(κατα Ιωαννην 19 1-3)

Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.

And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe,

And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands.

(John 19;1-3)

Caravaggio, The Flagellation of Christ, 1607

“The expression on Christ’s face shows his awareness of being scourged in order to fulfil the Old Testament prophecies. Yet his passion is more “active” than “passive.” Fried sees this in Christ’s right hand which willingly reaches for the broken reed as a mock scepter. Even more striking is the proximity of Christ’s hand to that of the seated, armor-clad figure to his left.” (Michael Fried, The “Moment” of Caravaggio)

Caravaggio, Christ crowned with Thorns, 1602

Beheading of St John the Baptist – Ο αποκεφαλισμος του Βαπτιστη Ιωαννη

The itinerant John the Baptist has baptized Christ. In the Gospels, John announces the coming of Jesus and is therefore considered the “forerunner”. He died a cruel death by beheading. One of the variants of the story is that his death was the result of the wish of Herod’s stepdaughter, Salome.

There have been many renderings of the beheading of St John the Baptist by Salome.

In my view the best is the interpretation by the sublime brush of Caravaggio.

Salome looks away, although she is carrying the tray with the motionless head. The sword-man contemplates the fate of humans, while the servant observes in silence. This is a silent motionless picture full of tension.

There have also been a few “staged” photos. Frantisek Dritkol’s black and white photo shows an ecstatic Salome, delirious with joy, holding the head to her chest.

Finally, in prints Aubrey Beardsley’s depiction is minimal, but in my view highly effective.

Umayyad Mosque in Damascus Syria, built on the Christian Basilica dedicated to St John the Baptist, is one of the places claiming to have St John’s head.

Umayyad Mosque: St John's Shrine

The mosque holds a shrine which still today may contain the head of John the Baptist(Yahya), honored as a prophet by both Christians and Muslims alike. (Source wikipedia).

There is no better end to such a quick tour of the macabre end to the story, than Salome’s dance as interpreted by Karita Mattila. to the music of Richard Strauss’s opera “Salome”.

The opera is based on a the Oscar Wilde’s play “Salome”.

“In Salome, Oscar Wilde expresses a dangerous relationship between sight and sexual desire that leads to death.  The play depicts a night in a royal court on which Herod, the Tetrarch of Judea, and his wife, Herodias, hold a dinner party for some Jewish officials.  Herodias’s daughter Salome leaves the party and occupies the terrace, where she attracts the gaze of other male characters, while she herself becomes attracted to the prophet, Iokanaan.  Her carnal desire for Iokanaan leads to his beheading, an act that brings her sexual gratification and leads her to kiss the lips of his severed head.  Similarly, Herod comes to desire his step-daughter Salome, and, after persuading her to dance a highly sexualized dance, he is disgusted when she kisses Iokanaan’s lips and orders his soldiers to kill her.”

More on the play in the excellent article by Leland Tabares, which is the source of the above summary.

Birgit Nilsson as Salome

“A scherzo with a fatal conclusion” was Richard Strauss’ own tongue-in-cheek description of Salome. Upon hearing the freshly composed score played at the keyboard, his father—a famous musician himself—declared that it conjured the feeling of countless bugs crawling inside his pants. (From Washington National Opera’s feature article on Salome).

Images of Theotokos, the Mother of God – From North to South

Today we are celebrating the Dormition of the Mother of God, Theotokos, and I want to share with you some of my favorite images of Her.  I will start from the North of Europe, and the turn from Gothic to Early Renaissance. The direction is from North to South.

The North begins with Jan van Eyck, the Master who opened the way for the rejuvenation of art in the north, for the decisive transition from the Gothic to the Renaissance. His influence is visible in the works of all the Masters who succeeded him.

Jan van Eyck: Lucca Madonna c. 1430

Rogier van der Weyden was an Old Master who following the lead of van Eyck, pioneers Early Renaissance in Northern Europe (second half of 15th century).

Rogier van der Weyden: Head of the Virgin, c. 1440

This extraordinary study of the head of the Virgin is one of very few surviving drawings that can be attributed with any certainty to the early Flemish masters, and one of an even smaller number of drawings with a generally accepted attribution to Rogier van der Weyden. Its extreme sobriety and intensity of expression are utterly characteristic of van der Weyden’s work.

Source: Louvre Museum, Prints and Drawings, Head of the Virgin

Rogier van der Weyden: Madonna and Child c. 1460

Martin Schongauer was a follower of van der Weyden and a superb engraver. He was born and worked in the town of Colmar in Alsace.  The Madonna in a Rose Garden is his masterpiece. It can be seen in the Dominican Church, in Colmar.

Martin Schongauer: Mary in a Rose Garden

Matthias Gruenewald was one of Schongauer’s students. His masterpiece is the Isenheim Altarpiece, to which I have dedicated a separate post. In this post I want to present another of his major works, the Stuppach Madonna.

Around 6 km/4 miles from Bad Mergentheim’s old town in the suburb Stuppach is a small, unremarkable chapel that houses a remarkable painting, the Stuppacher Madonna. This painting of Mary with Child was removed from the Maria Schnee Kapelle in Aschaffenburg during the 1525 Peasants’ War. It remained in the hands of the Teutonic Order until it came to this chapel in 1812.The Stuppacher Madonna was long thought to be the work of Rubens. Only in 1908 was it recognized as one of the pieces from the Marienaltar (Mary Altar) and the 1519 work of the great German Renaissance painter Matthias Grünewald. (A second piece of the altar is in Freiburg, while Aschaffenburg only has copies.)

Source: European Traveller, Top Sights in Bad Merghentheim

Matthias Gruenewald: Stuppacher Madonna

And in order to remember the Isenheim Altarpiece, here is a detail from the Nativity panel.

Matthias Gruenewald: Madonna and Child, detail from the Nativity panel

We are now going south, to meet the Italian Masters, and a Greek who became Spanish.

I begin with Lorenzo Monaco, whose brilliant colors make him one of the pioneers of Renaissance in Italy. See in the picture below how wonderfully the pink becomes the dominant color of the picture, eliminating the black. The picture is practically flat, maintaining in this respect the Byzantine tradition.

Lorenzo Monaco: Virgin and Child on the Throne with Six Angels c.1415-1420

Giovanni Bellini, the Venetian Master, with his solemn Madonna is next. I love the use of green in the painting, it becomes the center of the harmonies and works superbly with the pale blue of the sky and the ultramarine of Madonna’s dress.

Giovanni Bellini: Madonna degli Alberetti c. 1487

Young Rafaello, with his Madonna del Granduca, gives us a masterpiece in the study of black. In this he anticipates Caravaggio and chiaroscuro.

Rafaello: Madonna del Granduca c.1505

Titian, turns the tables and presents a dark haired pale woman as his Madonna, named the  Gypsy Madonna. She is like a an ordinary girl carrying a huge burden. You notice the green curtain in the background, tribute to Giovanni Bellini.

Titian: The Gypsy Madonna c. 1515

Rafaello a few years later gave us the Madonna of the Chair, a much more vivid and “alive” painting, where the faces almost jump out of the canvas to reach us.

Rafaello: Madonna of the Chair c. 1518

El Greco, the Greek, Dominikos Theotokopoulos, started his life in Crete, and via Venice ended in Toledo, Spain.

El Greco: Virgin and Child with St Martina and St Agnes, 1597-9

El Greco lifts us up in the skies and the clouds and the greyness of the storm that is about to come.  El Greco does not use the domestic environment used by the other artists. He belongs in the sky, and this is what he paints.

El Greco: Immaculate Conception with St John the Evangelist

Back to where it all started. the most fitting end of all.

We traveled from the North to the South, from the Earth to the Skies, from the simple, ordinary faces of everyday women, to the incredibly beautiful faces of sheer perfection. Next trip will be from the West to the East.

“Arantzan zu?!” (Thou, among the thorns?!) – The Basilica and Sanctuary of Arantzazu in the Basque Country

According to the legend, these were the words of the shepherd Rodrigo de Balanzategui, who discovered the sculpture of the Virgin in a thorn-bush in the Onati county in the South of the Basque Country.

These words named the place Arantzazu, a holy place for the Basques, where they have erected a Sanctuary.

I visited the Sanctuary of Arantzazu more than a month ago, during a day that the skies were grey and the water was falling continuously, all day long.  As we approach the Virgin’s Assumption on the 15th of August, I felt is would be appropriate to share with you some of my pictures from the Basque Madonna.

The whole area of the Sanctuary is developed for people. You can walk, rest, enjoy the natural environment, visit the Church and the other edifices. The Basilica was rebuilt in 1951, when it was decided that no further extension of the old building made sense.

The Church is modern. The imposing belfry tower has a minimal cross on top.

The main entrance of the Church is modern but powerful.

The spikes of the facade are “thorns”.

The four doors of the main entrance were made by Eduardo Chillida. In the page of Onati dedicated to Arantzazu, we read: “The four doors that provide access to the church were designed by Eduardo Chillida and seem to be almost below ground, being set at the bottom of a steep staircase.”

“With their mineral appearance, the doors suggest the entrance to the underground world, an impression which is further reinforced inside the church by the massive high altarpiece, which measures over 600 square metres. The altarpiece was designed by Lucio Muñoz and is carved in wood of many different colors.”

The 14 Apostles guarding the entrance are the work of Jorge Oteiza. The Bilbao Guggenheim organized in 2005 a major retrospective of Oteiza’s work. We read in the Exhibition program: ” In the same year (1950), he began work tentatively on a major commission for the statuary of the basilica at Aránzazu, a huge undertaking finally realized in 1969. Here, religious motifs are depersonalized; figures are emptied, opened to space, and filled with spiritual content.”

The Pieta crowns the 14 Apostles.

The crypt is accessible from the inside of the Basilica. It is utterly modern, and captivating. The Onati site comments: “The crypt, decorated by Nestor Basterretxea, contains 18 murals of exceptional expressive strength, which have a somewhat aggressive use of color.”

The 15th century statute of the Virgin.

May her Mercy envelop and deliver us more true and free to the world.

May her Grace help us to sustain pain and sorrow.

May her Heart keep us warm in the cold and dark terrain of solitude and remembrance.

Exiting the Chillida doors.

Time to go.

Time to get lost in the mountains and the clouds.

La Mezquita in Cordoba – Part I

I am not familiar with Islamic art. But my recent visit to the Great Mosque of Cordoba in Spain was an ecstatic experience. This is the first part of an article on the Mezquita of Cordoba.

I start with some history, borrowed from the vast resources of the Metropolian Museum of Art in New York, then continue with a short tour of the outside, and conclude the first part with the entrance in the Mezquita and the first impressions and feelings.

“On July 19, 711, an army of Arabs and Berbers unified under the aegis of the Islamic Umayyad caliphate landed on the Iberian Peninsula. Over the next seven years, through diplomacy and warfare, they brought the entire peninsula except for Galicia and Asturias in the far north under Islamic control; however, frontiers with the Christian north were constantly in flux. The new Islamic territories, referred to as al-Andalus by Muslims, were administered by a provincial government established in the name of the Umayyad caliphate in Damascus and centered in Córdoba. Of works of art and other material culture only coins and scant ceramic fragments remain from this early period of the Umayyad governors (711–56).

When the Umayyad caliphate of Damascus was overthrown by the Abbasids in 750, the last surviving member of the Umayyad dynasty fled to Spain, establishing himself as Emir Abd al-Rahman I and thus initiating the Umayyad emirate (756–929). Abd al-Rahman I (r. 756–88) made Córdoba his capital and unified al-Andalus under his rule with a firm hand, while establishing diplomatic ties with the northern Christian kingdoms, North Africa, and the Byzantine empire and maintaining cultural contact with the Abbasids in Baghdad. The initial construction of the Great Mosque of Córdoba under his patronage was the crowning achievement of this formative period of Hispano-Islamic art and architecture.”

(Source: The Art of the Umayyad Period in Spain (711–1031) | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art).

Aerial view of the Mezquita in Cordoba (source: Wikipedia)

The Great Mosque of Cordoba was built over a period of three centuries, from the 8th to the 11th. It is a rectangle with a orange tree court with a basin adjacent to it. This court is the oldest Moorish garden in Spain (marked as 7 in the plan that follows).

The concept was to imitate if not exceed the Great Mosque of Damascus.

At the edge of the tree line at the bottom of the photo is the bank of the famous river, Guadalquivir. The plan of the Mezquita that follows is “turned upside down” compared to the photo. The river is at the top. The resolution of the plan is high so that you can download it and view it in full resolution for the details.

The Minaret, enveloped by a Baroque Tower in 17c

Door of Forgiveness (1 in the plan)

Puerta San Esteban (Door of Saint Stephen) - Marked 3 on the plan

Puerta San Miguel (Door of Saint Michael’s) – Marked 4 on the Plan.

Door of the Psalms, viewed from the Orange Tree Court – Marked 6 on the Plan.

Carved wooden beams in the cloisters – detail (Marked 8 on the plan)

When the Moors first arrived in Cordoba, they were content to share the Visigothic Church of Saint Vincent with the Christians. When this became insufficient, AdbAl-Rahman purchased their part and started building  the Mosque (marked 9 on the plan) with 11 aisles, opening onto the Orange Tree Court. The architectural innovation in the mosque was the superimposition of two tiers of arches to give added height and spaciousness. They used marble pillars and Roman stone from St Vicent’s Church and other buildings in the area.

Once you are inside (you enter in the area marked 8 on the plan) you get overwhelmed by the “forest of pillars” as one traveler put it, and the  completely new feeling of space. It is as if space is distorted, but yet it returns to its normal state, If there is one thing that I will never forget from my visit there is this “feeling” of space. The last time I felt this was when I visited the Chillida museum in the Basque country. The photos cannot convey this feeling, but you get an idea.

This is one of the corridors that take you from the entrance to the Mihrab (marked 13 on the plan), which you can barely see at the end. The two pillars at the beginning of this corridor are supporting the Christian Cathedral that is almost embedded in the Great Mosque. In the photo below you see the parallel corridor on the left as we face the Mihrab.

As I walk down this corridor with direction towards the Mihrab, I get to see some of the marvelous arches within arches of the Great Mosque.

With these first impressions of the inside area, I conclude Part I of my visit to the Mezquita of Cordoba.

In Part II I will cover the Christian Cathedral and the area of the Mahrib.