The Appeal of Classical Mythology for Artists and Patrons - Coursework Example

Topic: ‘What was the appeal ical mythology as a for artists and patrons?’ I. Introduction - general review Before analyzing the position and the value of the Mythology for the inspiration and the creation of works of art, we should make a reference on the meaning and the role of the Mythology for the local cultures during the period of antiquity (with which Mythology is closely and exclusively connected. When speaking for myths we usually refer to stories, which were created a long time ago (to the very ‘far’ past) without having any element of truth. They are however, different from lies to the point that the former are being accepted by whole societies even if they do not respond to the reality. This is the reason of their ‘survival’ until today and of their ‘validity’ with the meaning of the absence of any opposition to their content. Although mythology has been used mostly as source of knowledge and creation, there have been times (and still exist) when the past is used in order to help the achievement of certain ‘aims’ of the present. A view held in the theory is that ‘historians, literary critics and art historians who write about past cultures, often use these cultures for present purposes’ in order to achieve specific purposes (Landauer, C., 1994). Mythology, especially that of Greece and the ‘Roman Empire’ has been a very important resource for a numerous of artists who tried to ‘present’ the stories included in the myths in a variety of works of art, mostly in paintings, sculpture and ornaments. Among the artists that have been influenced from the myths of the ancient Greece are Picasso and Botticceli. The paintings of the first of them, Picasso, contained an extended reference to the myth of Minotaures1. We could refer to the ‘Minotaures and the dead horse in front of the cave’, the ‘war of the Minotaures’ and the ‘Minotaures killed by a sword’. On the other hand, Botticceli tended to refer to the gods of the Greek Mythology. His most famous painting of such kind is the ‘Birth of Aphrodite’ which can be found in Florence and also the ‘Aphrodite and Mars’ in the National Gallery of London. Although the above mentioned painters are known for their preference to the myths and the legends of the ancient cultures (especially those of Rome and Greece), there are also a numerous others who tend to refer to the facts and mostly the myths of these periods of time as for the theme of their works of art. The common element between all the artists that use elements of the Greek and the Roman Mythology is that they approach the subject of the reference from different aspects but within the borders placed by the specific myth (without altering the basic content). As for the area of application, i.e. the particular sector of art, it seems that there is no limit set but instead we can see works of art of all kinds (from paintings to ornaments) created or decorated based on stories and symbols that have developed or that are connected with a myth. II. The role of the myth in the western art We could start the presentation of the artists influenced by the Mythology by Rubens. One of his famous paintings, The Finding of Ericthronius, has been characterized as a unique and mysterious approach of the Mythology regarding both the subject of the painting as also the way of presentation. This painting presents Erichthronius, a ‘monstrous infant who is half-human and half-serpentine’ according to a story given by Ovid (Georgievska – Shine, A., 2004). The scene that is presented in the painting refers to the moment when the ‘daughters of the Athenian Kind Cecrops (Herse, Aglauros and Pandrosos) whom Athena had charged with the safekeeping of the basket holding Erichthronious break their oath to the virgin goddess by uncovering the offspring of this divine indiscretion’ (Georgievska – Shine, A., 2004). Rubens has altered the story of Ovid by adding to his painting characters that were not mentioned from Ovid. More specifically, around the main characters of the story he painted ‘several figures or rather oblique import, including a cupidlike, an old nursemaid, a hermlike figure figure at the distant left and a richly fountain on the right’ which represent according to the critics ‘the allegorical enhancements of the artist’s invention’ (Georgievska – Shine, A., 2004). Another work of Rubens, which represents its passion for the use of allegorical elements, is the series of the twenty-four paintings, which are representing moments from the life of the queen Marie de Medicis of France (Cohen, S.R., 2003). In the above paintings Rubens use images from the Roman Mythology, especially to the points that the ‘appearance of France recalls ancient Roman representations of the goddess Roma’ (Cohen, 2003). Lambertson J.P. (2002) analyses the ideas stated by Alexandra K. Wettlaufer in her book which is referred to the relationship between the paintings made by Girodet, the reaction of Balzak and the Greek myth of Pygmalion2. More specifically, Girodet used the myth of Pygmalion in order to create a totally new ‘version’ of the story. He painted ‘Le sommeil d’ Endymnion’ (1791) which presents ‘Endymnion, a shepherd whom Diana, goddess of the moon, has made to sleep for her passionate noctumal visits’ (Lambertson, 2002). With his painting, Girodet changed the myth and at the same time he ‘reduced Diana3 to a symbolic presence in the moonlight’ (Lambertson, 2002). The specific painting was interpreted as ‘focusing on the body as a site for aesthetic, gendered and political meaning’ and ‘creating a new kind of poetic painting’ (Lambertson, 2002). In addition to the above artists, Rembrandt had a notable number of reading collections from Ovid, Homer, Virgil, Hesiod, Horace, Cicero, Livy and others. This fact can be used to explain the theoretical strength and the later development of Rembrandt as a history painter (Chapman, H.P., 2005). We should mention also, Edward Burne-Jones, a very important representative of the artists that used the Mythology as a resource of inspiration and creation. At the beginning of his career he was concentrated mostly on drawings and watercolors. In the years that followed, he decided to deal also with other types of art like the designs for glass and for furnishings (Helsinger E., 1999). He belonged to the team of ‘Symbolists’ (Britain) who had as a main characteristic the ‘experiments in an antinarrative art’ (1860’s). III. Conclusion According to the above, it seems that the influence of the past cultures is still very strong referring to the design and the formulation of the modern pieces of art. However, because the nature of art is rather unstable there is no a specific limitation of its forms and these can refer and be inspired by certain facts, theories and images according to the decision of the artist. In modern period, art has presented a lot of different types, being based mostly to the freedom of thinking and creating. It seems however that the limitations that were set in the past – regarding the sources and the materials used – were in a point justified by their result and this is proved both by the aesthetical and the financial value of the works of art which was made in the past. Towards that direction, Mickel E.J. (1984) studied the role of the classical antiquity in the area of the art and stated the opinion that the ‘major change in western society and in art occurred not in the Renaissance but in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries’ and also that ‘the emphasis on the ancients and the prominent role of Aristotelian thought eventually led to the revolutionary changes in art and society which began in the late eighteenth century and provided the foundation for the radical changes in philosophy and aesthetics which characterize the modern period’. The above view of Mickel E.J. is very important as he presents a connection between the art created in the past and this of the present and this is, according to his opinion, the art of the classical antiquity – to all of its kinds. References Chapman, H.P., 2005, Rembrandt’s Reading: The Artist’s Bookshelf of Ancient Poetry and History, The Art Bulletin, 85(2):346-358 Cohen, S.R., 2003, Ruben’s France: gender and personification in the Marie de Medicis cycle, The Art Bulletin, 85(3): 490-527 Georgievska – Shine, A., 2004, From Ovid’s Cecrops to Ruben’s City of God in the Finding of Erichthonius, The Art Bulletin, 86(1):58-84 Helsinger, E., 1999, Edward Burne-Jones: Victorian Artist-Dreamer, The Art Bulletin, 81(1):165-171 Lambertson, J.P., 2002, Alexandra K. Wettlaufer. Pen vs. Paintbrush: Girodet, Balzac and the Myth of Pygmalion in Postrevolutionary France, 31(1-2):157-159 Landauer, C., 1994, Erwin Panofsky and the renascence of the Renaissance, Renaissance Quarterly, 47(2):255-269 Mickel, E.J., 1984, Baudelaire’s ‘Peintre de la Vie Moderne’, Symposium, 38(3):234 Read More