Small Changes Can Be Radical Shifts
Often when I’m looking at the paintings of old, I find it hard to understand how or why they were controversial or notably different from other works of the same era. Artwork of centuries past, by today’s standards, hardly appear controversial, but put in their historical context they take on a much deeper meaning. One can more easily grasp the influence a work may have had on a population if they understand the times and tides of the era. This article about a current exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art called “Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus,” discusses how Rembrandt’s choosing to paint Christ as more ethnic and human, was a radical move. As it states, “Jesus was, of course, Jewish. But few artists emphasized his ethnicity, or his humanity, as frankly and directly as Rembrandt did… By changing the face of Christ, he redefined the grand religious narrative scene as a quiet, emphatically human moment.” Strangely, Rembrandt said his depictions of Jesus were “done from life,” causing confusion among viewers. Experts believe he simply meant that he had painted using a live model. Then again, if anyone were privy to a divine visitation, it most certainly could have been Rembrandt.
Next entry: Lessons from a master: De Kooning at MoMA
Previous entry: In Case of Emergency - Smash Glass and Grab the Rubens
