Yesterday evening found me distracted again, chasing one tangent after another until I landed on Cornelis van Haarlem (1562-1638), a most talented painter. He was a Northern Mannerist, and given all the foibles of that particular style, he made his characters luminous and achingly beautiful, even when they were misbehaving. Click all images for full size. The first painting which caught my eye was A Monk With A Beguine, painted in 1591:
Een monnik en een begijn, A monk with a beguine, by Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem.
The detail and light are wonderful, it’s all so…lustrous. And reluctantly lusty. You can almost feel their consciences attempting to get the better of them, and failing. The story of the Beguines is an interesting one. I think there’s a lot to be said for such structures as the beguines, just sans religion. At the time, this was a good option for a lot of women, when they had few choices in life.
What grabbed my attention next was Venus and Adonis:
Venus and Adonis, by Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem.
You can see in Adonis’s face there’s some problem, one which has him quite emotional, while Venus has the solid air of confidence and casual comfort. Again, the details are astonishing in their beauty and light; the pearls are translucent.
I’ll add just one more here, The Fall of the Titans, which leads me to the conclusion that all men should have a dragonfly for their dick. Yep. Here’s a detail first, then the full painting:
Detail from The Fall of the Titans by Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem.
The Fall of the Titans by Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem.
Look at the faces, those expressions. Incredibly poignant, once you can stop looking at the dragonflied and butterflied* genitals. Also, dragonfly dick and the character at the bottom right are same person.
*Not meant in that way!
And the guy to the far right, above super-buttocks is also the same person as dragonfly dick and the guy in the far right corner. There are probably more of him in there somewhere.
Note the perfectly spherical breasts, just like in the Dance of Death. Must have been a Medieval ideal.
Butterfly-dick: buzzing with pleasure! (Or something silly like that)
Yes, such idealised people and such rich colours. I wonder how big the origninal paintings are. I was awestruck when I first saw a Rembradt and a Dali in real life. The pictures were so tiny!
I don’t know, but yes, size can really surprise you sometimes. Some works are huge, but you’d never get that looking at a digital version. There’s a lot to be said for seeing the originals.
Well, I had some very interesting reading about the Beguines!
re: dragonfly dick
It looks cool, but from a practical aspect, I have some questions… Though if you want slow, gentle strokes, butterfly dick is a better bet.
“Super-buttocks” is about right… and with the breasts, perhaps since circles and spheres were considered something close to perfection, the symbolism transferred to the sexy body parts? Or maybe they’re just defying gravity because that was the fashion. Who knows.
The expressiveness in the faces in general, though, is beautiful -- a bit odd (none of them seem to be looking at each other, but just slightly past, making emotional faces but never quite meeting each other’s eyes, and that says something, too), but so luminous and deliciously painted.
Oh re: painting size
Apparently this is what makes a Rothko: on the page or the screen, it’s a rectangle of two or three rather bright colours with fuzzy edges. In real life, it’s the sheer size and intensity that overwhelms the senses -- it’s meant to absorb the viewer. Incidentally, the Rothko Museum has 6 of his paintings, and it might just be time to go see if this is true.