The allegory between wisdom and strength - Essay Example

The Allegory of Wisdom and Strength by Francois Boucher The focus of this essay is discussing, in summary, the paintingAllegory of Wisdom and Strength by Francois Boucher (1703-1770), originally painted by Paolo Veronese (c.1528-1588) c. 1580. Some background of the painting’s artist will be done as well as try to answer the question of: what aspect of the Baroque humanism does the artist exemplify in the painting? A conclusion will be drawn towards the end of the essay and also give the connection of the two artists that I related to in the representation of the art. Summary of the Painting The piece is an oiled painting on canvas and measuring 223 by 171 cm. The genre of this artwork is of an allegorical painting reproduction and the artist using the style of Baroque Era. The authentic of the Boucher’s canvas replica painting capture the original Veronese work’s texture, color depth and also its subtle brushstrokes that have been applied by hand.1 A female figure that is richly dress, wisdom, is looking upward to heaven while the light is shining on her face. The woman stands on an orb, which is symbolizing the world. Below the woman, there are crowns, jewels, scepters, coins and military banners. Hercules with his lion’s skin rests on his club, standing as a symbol of power, brute strength and force, as well as evidence of violence. To the left, there is a description on the pedestals of the column that has a quotation from Ecclesiastes, which is “All is Vanity”. It means that all earthly thing including power, nations, wars, kingship, love and strength and are hence meaningless comparing to heavenly ones, as embodied by Divine. This is evident in Baroque style of painting, representation of the divine in painting. In addition, the theme here is the strength of Hercules, which by no means is comparable to the virtues of divine understanding. Boucher’s position of the figures in the painting, he places the mighty Hercules below Wisdom, who almost slumps downwards. A divine light is above the head of the woman and has one of her breast exposed. Apparently, based on a celestial figure, the saintly woman stands on a small globe, which symbolizes the world as she cast her eyes up to the heavens.2 It could also suggest that the male (Hercules) is falling while female (Wisdom) is rising. The woman is surrounded by a blue sky while the man is surrounded by earth colors. One could argue that the painting is suggesting that the force fails when faced by gentleness. The halo of light, which is above the woman, is a reflection of her spiritual wisdom.3 The painting suggests the power harnessing outside the everyday. The structure and patterns that the two artist use, are derived from the energies of the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious. However, mythic images are not presented in the person unconscious, but in a domain of unconscious mythology, whose primeval images are the vulgar heritage of humanity. That the energies exist in the collective unconscious is derived from their manifestation as well as an individual expression of art object and in the conscious mind.4 Artist’s Background Francois Boucher can be said to be the most celebrated decorative artist of the 18th century because most of his work reflected the Rococo style.5 He was born in Paris to lace designer Nicolas Boucher. At the age of 17, Boucher was indentured by his father to Francois Lemoyne and later worked for the engraver Jean-Francois. Reflecting inspirations that Boucher had gained from the artists like Rubens and Antoine Watteau, his early work celebrates the tranquil and idyllic aspects of art, portraying landscapes and nature with great elan. These activities, in 1728, financed his trip to Italy where his interests focused largely on masters of the Baroque. Nevertheless, Boucher’s art typically forgoes traditional rural innocence, thus portraying scenes with a definitive style of eroticism. In addition, his mythological scenes are depicted with passion and amorousness as opposed to traditionally epic. In the paintings like The Breakfast (1739), which has a family scene, also depicts Boucher as a master of the genre scene because he regularly used his wife as well as his family as models. The intimate family scenes depicted by Boucher in the painting are in contract to the licentious style, which is evident in his Odalisque portraits. Odalisque’s portraits of dark-haired version prompted claims by Diderot that the artist was prostituting his wife. In addition, the Blonde Odalisque was a portrait, which illustrated the king’s extramarital relationships. Through getting private commissions for the wealthy collectors, Boucher gained lasting notoriety. However, after the ever-moral Diderot conveyed his disapproval, thus Boucher’s reputation continuously came under increasing vital attack in the last time of his creative years. Apart from his painting, Boucher also designed theatre costumes and sets as well as ardent intrigues of the Favart’s comic operas (1710-1792) closely parallel to his own painting style. His designs for all of the aforesaid augmented Boucher’s earlier reputation, which resulted in many engravings from his artwork and even reproduction of his theme onto biscuit and porcelain-wear at the Sevres and Vincennes factories.6 Under the teaching of Boucher, Jacques-Louis David, a neoclassicist had begun his painting instructions. Boucher is famous for his unique saying that the natural world was too green and badly lit (trop verte et mal eclaire). He passed on in 1770 in Paris, France. Boucher can be denoted a one of those people who represent the taste of a century, who personify, express and embody it. Aspects of Baroque Humanism During the Baroque Era, humanism became a key motif for sculptors, painters and artist of the like. Baroque artist used allegory in decorative cycles for churches, places and institutions as well as private buildings. Most of the Medieval Era artworks were religious-based while, in the Baroque era, the artists aimed towards more human-based ideals instead of religious themes. The artists discovered the beauty in the human form as humanity itself was being recognized. The portrayals of the human figure in the Baroque Era are more frequently than not appear nude and full, hence embracing humanism.7 In the painting of discussion, one of the woman’s breasts is exposed, which means that the artist is appreciative of the woman figure. On the other hand, the man is almost completely naked, which means that Boucher embrace the humanism appearance. The artists of this era focused more on art composition as opposed to content and subject matter. For an instance, the male figure’s (Hercules) muscles are full, delivering a sense of strength. One could argue that Boucher had added muscle to the male figure to try to further his depiction of the male form and the ideals of humanism. The viewer of the painting can almost imagine Hercules’ blood pulsing through his veins in his hands. With this, it is evident that Baroque art had a sense of energy, movement, and tension. Just like in the painting, Allegory of Wisdom and Strength by Boucher, strong contrasts of light and shadow enhanced dramatic effects paintings and infinite space arts of the Baroque era.8 The figures in the piece are not generalized types but human beings with their own personalities. Therefore, the artists of this period were concerned with the inner working of the mind and attempted portraying the passions of the soul via the facial features of their subjects. The individualism, intensity and immediacy as well as details of Baroque art, observed things like the convincing depicting of cloth and skin textures, which is evident in the Allegory of Wisdom and Strength. An aspect of the Baroque humanism that Boucher exemplifies is the passing of symbolizing haloes over holy figures. In Boucher’s painting, a halo of light is above the female figure reflecting her spiritual wisdom and holiness. The use of haloes in the Baroque art depicts the receding religious values in the Baroque Era. Baroque art consistent of emotional, intensity and ambiguity attributes. During the Baroque art, the continuing captivation with the classical antiquity invoked artists’ into renewing their approach to the antique and nude tradition.9 The use of nudity in the Boucher’s painting was to heighten the drama of the allegory works, with a decision of representing the male nude, muscular and powerful. The Baroque artists’ taste for allegories, which were based on classical metaphors, favored undraped figures that were used in personifying concepts like Grace and Truth. Realism is a key feature that was applied by the artist in their artworks in the Baroque art. It means that the figures in the paintings were not just objects but individuals with their own personalities. Since the Baroque artists were more concerned with the individuals’ inner workings of the mind, therefore, they had to apply realism. This was in order to try to portray the passions of the souls on the faces of those sculpted and painted. This feature of realism helps in bringing out the aspect of humanism in art has figures in the paintings are represented as a human beings with souls and feelings.10 Connection to their piece and my representation of the work The connection that I feel with their work in this re-presentation of the piece is how involved both the artist put the audience. The artists are not only depicting the strength of the man and the wisdom of the woman, but also engaging this depiction with the viewer. Their piece is not simply from the Baroque era depicting humanism, but the baroque humanism is in the painting. The representation of nudity in the painting is an excellent aspect of humanism, which is still used in depicting that the human body is appreciated.11 The artists have revealed significant information to the viewer in terms of Divine and human body though the painting with the intension of depicting humanism. The ways in which the artists represent the woman with a halo of light above her head reflecting her spiritual wisdom depict the real life experiences where the righteous individuals are represented by the light. The painting includes types that have been drawn from everyday life activities, engaged in totally believable, heroic, active, and tender depictions of religious as well as mythological subjects, which is a grand humanism of the Baroque art. All these are depicted in the painting, whereby Hercules is a mythological subject and the woman having a halo of light above her head depicting a religious subject. In conclusion, the painting, Allegory of Wisdom and Strength by Francois Boucher is an amazing piece depicting a different aspect of the humanism of the Baroque Era. The way the artist use oil canvas and the replica painting capturing the original Veronese work’s texture, color depth and also its subtle brushstrokes that have been applied by hand.12 This makes the painting exceptional and creative. Bibliography Glueck, Grace. Veronese at the Frick: A Renaissance Explorer with a Brush. 2006. New York Times Web 28 Apr. 2015 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/14/arts/design/14vero.html?_r=0 Hedley, Jo. François Boucher: Seductive Visions. Exhibition catalogue.. London: Wallace Collection, 2004. Bye Joy, Divination: Exemplifying and Configuring Archetypes in Ceramics. The University of Sydney press, 2009 “Veronese Paolo.” Encyclopedia of World Biography: 2004. Encyclopedia.com. Web 28 Apr. 2015 http://www.encyclopedia.com Sorabella, Jean. “The Nude in Baroque and Later Art;” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000, Web 28 Apr. 2015 http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/nuba/hd_nuba.htm Stein, Perrin. "François Boucher (1703–1770)". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. Web 28 Apr. 2015. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/bouc/hd_bouc.htm Read More