Broque Art: Velasquez, part 2: Vulcan's Forge

Velasquez returned from a trip to Rome, where he came under Michelangelo's influence, in 1629. He was 30 years old.  In the next year he painted Vulcan's Forge and Jacob's Coat.

I like 'em both.

Bu I have a problem with Vulcan's Forge:

The scene, from Ovid, depicts Apollo telling Vulcan that Venus -- Vulcan's wife -- is having an affair with Mars.

I have problems both with this story and with the God Apollo is depicted.

First, if I were inclined to worship a god, Apollo would be one of three I would choose.  (The other two are Dionysus and Lord Buddha, after he became Nothingness.  Some years ago Athenians worshiped Apollo for nine months a year, and Dionysus for three, which seems like a good proportion to me.  Worshipping Nothingness is becoming easier for me, and soon enough I will be nothing, so its worship should be a piece of cake.)   So, as I say, I don't like Ovid's depiction of Apollo as a tattletale, and conclude Ovid must have got it wrong.

Second, Velasquez depicts him as a popinjay and he obviously cannot be a popinjay:  Apollo is the kouros, a beardless athletic youth,  :  no a popinjay.  Here, for example is Apollo grieving over the death of Hyacinth, whom the wicked Zephyr killed by blowing a discus throw by Apollo off course, striking Hyacinth.

So, through the magic of the God Computer (powerful and unimaginative) I excise the popinjay:

I don't think the painting is harmed; you may disagree.

Here are some bits of he painting, blown up so I can see them better:

(Art historians are pleased to mention the white vase as an example of Velasquez' still like.)

I can't imagine how this was painted.  I also don't know how Velasquez kept all he men's feet on the ground.

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Other painters have painted Vulcan's Forge, sometimes with Venus present.  Here are some I like and some I think are incredible.  Image that follow are from athe great  collection at Lib Art (lib-art.com).

I like this painting by Francesco Bassano for itself, and also . . .

.a . . for the putti playing with the doggie.  I likes doggie, I do, and Putti ain't bad either .

This painting doesn't much resemble Mary Nye's dad's blacksmith shop, which we passed every day on the way to school, but I guess it is realistic.  At least the figures aren't idealizes in this classical manner.

In this painting, by Palma Giovani, the forge is almost an afterthought.  There is a long string of reclining nude women, beginning in the early Renaissance and continuing today, all in similar poses.

Foris Farns' young gentleman artisans are brave indeed:  I'd worry about my tallywhacker getting whacked.

These youngsters were consumed, perhaps, by  John Galliano,who is, he says, not Mel Gibson.  

Can't understand the costumes any ol' way.  Perhaps they were added later, ant the command of some "religious" person, perhaps at the demand o the Grand Inquisitor, of whom, later.

This Goya painting is of men at a forge.  It is not Vulcan's forge, but Goya is always good to measure the competence of other painters by.  I don't think he can be beat -- very often.

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Mars and Venus also attracted a fair amount of painterly attention, for obvious reasons.  Here are three that I like:

Botticelli's Venus and Mars: delicate, precise, and wonderful as always

Tintoretto

Tintoretto, detail

Carlo Saraceni, and boy! are the putti having fun!

The neo-classical painter David, whom I like but shouldn't.

Joachim Wtewael.  And finally, the gods burst out laughing when Mars andVenus are discovered in bed.

Detail: Apollo, not a popinjay, but heavier than he should be 

I'm delighted to see a god, perhaps Poseidon, who wears his hair like mine.

Zeus, enjoying someone else's discomfiture, as befits a god.

And finally the cuckolded husband, Vulcan, his forge in the foreground, looking a bit more godly than when we first met him.

Baroque Art: Valesquez, part 1: a note of explanation

Rik asked me to explain what there is about Las Meninas  that moves me.  My response:

1.  I don't get a kick out of the painting itself.

2.  To paint your self painting the pic, while you look on from the background, is a double-conceit, claver for the time, and I admire that.

3.  The Royal Family must have ben really ugly, since in what I suppose is a glamorized version of them, they are ugly.  And kings in them days (as now, come to think of it) could chop heads of at will.  Took some guts, I imagine.  The Rule of Law, for all it's defects, is better to live with than to live in the many lands today where it does not prevail.

4.  I like what Picasso and followers did with the painting.  The string gives a good clear history of art since we were kids. 

Here are some uneducated notes on some of the paintings from 1957 forward:


The undated Picasso represents a colossal investment of time, is inventive and somehow compelling, and unintelligible to me.  I've tried to like Picasso as I've tried to like jazz, and failed; and still I can't turn away from him.

The Vietnam war ended on April 30, 1975, the year in which Cristobal Toral's D’après Las Meninas,  was painted.  I don't know how the war affected Toral but I know how it affected me.

There are lots of picture elements to look at in this 1987 work by  Joel Peter Witkin, entitled Las Meninas (Self Portrait). It's a moving piece.  I feel a kinship with Witkins, and later will explore other of his works.

After the clutter of the original painting and the previous works I can understand the desire for open spaces in this 1991 painting, but still . . . .

This 2005 painting by Thomas Struth  does give the feel of a modern art museum.  Other artists have captured this feel, too.  For those of us stuck in the Hinterland the feel is important though I don't suppose Struth had us in mind when he painted  Las Meninas by Velasquez (Prado).

Abe and I can form a civil union on January 1, coming.  I guess it will be called being "unionized".  I wonder if the new law is broad enough to allow us to include goggle in our union.  I love google.  From 2008.

And finally, Miss Monroe, with her entourage, makes her appearance, and I like it.  I guess it's Miss Monroe; might be any number o f more modern "personalities."  Look what Gérard Rancinan has done to poor old Velasquez.  No respect; or perhaps none for the modern cameraman. 

Baroque art: Velasquez, part 1: Las Meninas

Dylan Thomas, as he contemplated death on his 35th birthday, said "the louder the sun blooms."

I have loved that notion for many years.  Still, considerably past my 35th birthday, the sun blooms loudly, sometimes when I contemplate Diego Valesquez' paintings.  Herewith two, much loved by subsequent painters:

Las Meninas (1778), Velaaquez' most famous painting.  It shows a painter painting the Royal Family.  Velasquez stands back to admire hi work.  He also stands in the background doorway.

Details, with doggie.

Painters, to the present day, have reinterpreted this work.  What follows is taken from a helpful blog, Covers:

Picasso, 1957

Picasso, 1957

Picasso, 1957

Picasso 1947

Picasso

Cristobal Toral, D’après Las Meninas, 1975

Manolo Valdés & Rafael Solves (Equipo Cronica), El recinte, 1971

Philippe Comar, Objeto, 1978

Louis Cane, Meninas ajupides, 1982

Soledad Sevilla, Las Meninas num. 9, 1981-83

Micheline Lo, Les Ménines selon Hergé, 1985

Joel Peter Witkin, Las Meninas (Self Portrait), 1987

Avigdor Arikha, Interior del taller amb mirall, 1987

Herman Braun-Vega, double éclairage sur Occident (Velázquez et Picasso), 1987

Henri Jacobs, Salle à manger - salle à mourir, 1988-89

Giulio Paolini, Contemplator Enim VI (Fuori l’autore), 1991

Sophie Matisse, Las Meninas, 2001

Eve Sussman, 89 Seconds at Alcazar, 2003

Howard Podeswa, The Walkers (after Las Meninas), 2005

Thomas Struth, Las Meninas by Velasquez (Prado), 2005

Lluis Barba, Las Meninas (after Velasquez), 2007

Google, 2008

Alexander Stanuga, Las Meninas, 2008

Alexander Stanuga, Las Meninas, 2008

Bob Kessel, Las Meninas, 2009

If you double-click an image and it behaves itself, it should open to a lager size for you.  Peering at this old image and how it has changed oer time will teach something, and, in me, lights up something I like.

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Velasquez' Portrait of Juan de Pareja is said by art historians to reflect new concepts in the use of light.  I once wished to be an art historian, so I mustn't disagree.

This is how Picasso saw it:

Am i wrong about that?  Guess I must be. An authoritative blog has this

as the successor to this El Grco painting:

Part 2 has no more "afters"; just Velasquez, and my favorites.