This is a very good exploration of an under recognized aspect of Marian art. I have probably read about 100 papers on various paintings of the annunciation in my time studying art, many of which obviously take place in a hortus conclusus, yet it is almost never mentioned, and when it is mentioned it’s as an after thought and not explained.
I've found that academic coverage of Christian sacred art in western countries is almost entirely useless. The only ones who have any kind of idea about it are from the Orthodox perspective.
Yes, I thought about getting a Phd but the more academic art history I read, the more convinced I became that it would be a waste of time…There are a few good ones, but most make little to no effort to immerse themselves in the Bible or the liturgy or hymns that inspire the art.
Gertrud Schiller’s Christian Iconography and Emile Male’s books on the French Gothic are my favorites..
Way back when I was doing legislative analysis and research for the national pro-life lobby, I learned I had a skill or talent or something for reading and talking to people much, much smarter and better educated than me, asking them questions about what they're saying and interpreting all that technical stuff for ordinary people - esp. MPs and Senators (who are really dumb - way dumber than the average taxpayer, btw). So, now that I'm not doing bioethics and biotechnologies interpreting anymore I'm realising I've still got that skill, and can apply it to what the Orthodox say about art. Because they're like the equivalent of the biotechnology PhDs and Nobel Prize winners I used to talk to only for sacred art. I was delighted that I found them, and the things they say (once I figured out the lingo) really are SO much better than anyone in the west is saying or thinking. And that has really been the basis of all my work.
The west desperately needs the wisdom from the east now as we become more and more Protestant. I was just thinking about how all of the Marian imagery post reformation has morphed into the ever-present image of Mary with chubby angels in the clouds. I really haven’t studied icons in depth but their Marian images are so much more varied and interesting than ours. Of course, you find many of these images in the west too, in hymns and such, but not after the reformation. I’m beginning to be influenced by your ideas about the Renaissance, but I’m still very attached to the Baroque because I love Rome so much.
Just lovely, Hilary! I found it interesting that the baby Jesus was being offered an apple in one of the paintings!
I think it would be interesting to your readers to comment on the high foreheads of the ladies in
the paintings. Memling's especially, always seem so exaggerated.
Just the aristocratic fashion of the time. Ladies plucked their foreheads to make it look higher.
This is a very good exploration of an under recognized aspect of Marian art. I have probably read about 100 papers on various paintings of the annunciation in my time studying art, many of which obviously take place in a hortus conclusus, yet it is almost never mentioned, and when it is mentioned it’s as an after thought and not explained.
I've found that academic coverage of Christian sacred art in western countries is almost entirely useless. The only ones who have any kind of idea about it are from the Orthodox perspective.
Yes, I thought about getting a Phd but the more academic art history I read, the more convinced I became that it would be a waste of time…There are a few good ones, but most make little to no effort to immerse themselves in the Bible or the liturgy or hymns that inspire the art.
Gertrud Schiller’s Christian Iconography and Emile Male’s books on the French Gothic are my favorites..
Way back when I was doing legislative analysis and research for the national pro-life lobby, I learned I had a skill or talent or something for reading and talking to people much, much smarter and better educated than me, asking them questions about what they're saying and interpreting all that technical stuff for ordinary people - esp. MPs and Senators (who are really dumb - way dumber than the average taxpayer, btw). So, now that I'm not doing bioethics and biotechnologies interpreting anymore I'm realising I've still got that skill, and can apply it to what the Orthodox say about art. Because they're like the equivalent of the biotechnology PhDs and Nobel Prize winners I used to talk to only for sacred art. I was delighted that I found them, and the things they say (once I figured out the lingo) really are SO much better than anyone in the west is saying or thinking. And that has really been the basis of all my work.
The west desperately needs the wisdom from the east now as we become more and more Protestant. I was just thinking about how all of the Marian imagery post reformation has morphed into the ever-present image of Mary with chubby angels in the clouds. I really haven’t studied icons in depth but their Marian images are so much more varied and interesting than ours. Of course, you find many of these images in the west too, in hymns and such, but not after the reformation. I’m beginning to be influenced by your ideas about the Renaissance, but I’m still very attached to the Baroque because I love Rome so much.
oh, it wasn't the Prods that gave us the flying infants. cf: Raphael.
live there for a while. Rome will cure you of any love.
Oh yeah, those sentences were two separate thoughts that I didn’t separate very clearly.
lol…It probably would… I’ve only spent a couple of days there in my entire life.