It's been a couple of years since our first string of recreations. They were a fun diversion during the monotony of Covid, but outside of quarantine life speeds up and there's shockingly little time for playing dress-up. At any rate, I remember them as fun but inherently stressful, with much cajoling and complaining, bribes and threats to achieve the end results. My kids apparently remember them differently, and still occasionally ask to do more. Here are the handful we've managed to do over the last year. Enjoy.
The Death of Julius Caesar
Vincenzo Camuccini
Oils, 1806
The Death of Julius
Caesar was his first independent work. The first version was completed
around 1798, but he disliked it and started over; the second version was
completed in 1806. As you might guess from the name, it depicts the death
of the first Roman emperor at the hands of the Senate on the Ides of March in
44 B.C. Caesar was stabbed 23 times. The Senators claimed to be
acting out of fears that Caesar was undermining the Republic, but despite their
actions it led to a civil war and the Republic would be ruled by emperors for
the next 500 years until its fall.
What I like about this picture is the variety of emotions expressed in it. Caesar, noble and larger than life even as he falls, and the senators run the gauntlet from passion and hate to shame and hesitation. The scene is incredibly dynamic. This was one of the easiest to recreate. Have bedsheets and wide range of easily accessible knives, will stab.
Boreas
John William Waterhouse
Oil on Canvas, 1903
Apparently, if you're doing recreations, you can't get
away from the Pre-Raphaelites. They pop up everywhere like daisies.
Waterhouse's
work, if you remember from previous posts, focused mostly on women from Greek
mythology and Arthurian legend. He was born to painters and grew up among
artists of many kinds. Many of his paintings are based on works from Homer, Ovid,
Shakespeare, Tennyson, and Keats. He is most famous for his string of
Ophelia paintings, which depict the doomed heroine from Hamlet.
Waterhouse died from cancer in 1917, and is buried in London.
The
painting is named after Boreas, the Greek god of the north wind. It is
notable for having been "misplaced" for some 90 years, then sold at
auction for $1.3 million. Like many other pieces of Waterhouse's, it depicts a young woman in nature. The setting is less idyllic, the rough northern wind buffeting the young woman, but she still has a serenity and stillness in the storm that harkens back to Greek statuary. The painting is deceptively simple; the longer you look the more detail you see, from the intricate folds in her shawl to the ornate pattern on her dress to the windblown flowers about her knees. Incredible.
It was
challenging to recreate this one because while we have no shortage of wind in
our corner of Texas, it doesn't blow on demand or in the direction you want,
even when you ask nicely. Cloth doesn't always billow artistically,
either. Oh well.
Vanity
Frank Cadogan Cowper
Oil on panel, 1907
Frank Cadogan Cowper
is an English Artist who worked in oils, tempera, and watercolor; he also
worked as a book illustrator and worked on a mural in the Houses of Parliament
with several other artists. He is sometimes described as "the last
Pre-Raphaelite" because although he was not one of the original
brotherhood, his paintings echoed the rich colors, complex emotions, and detailed compositions for
which the Pre-Raphaelites were celebrated.
Vanity is one of Cowper's most famous paintings. The title refers to paintings popular in the 16th and 17th centuries known as vanitas, which were meant to remind the viewers of their mortality. We are meant to realize that everything in the painting will fade and die, and so shall we. The young woman is typical of Pre-Raphaelite subjects, richly dressed and with long reddish hair. She is mostly dressed in the style of the Italian Renaissance, but a few of her accessories--the silver hand mirror and string of pearls--were more common to the early 1900s when Cowper was painting. It was perhaps a way of making this painting and its theme more universal.
I don't have a lot to say about this production. J is typically a one-shot model, she just seems to get it. The grapes came from our own vine in the backyard. The one real change I'd make is that I would have put down a yellow cloth, I missed a detail on this one.
The Garden of Death
Hugo Simberg
Watercolor and Gouache, 1896
One of the odd ducks in our group of artists, Hugo Simberg was a Finnish symbolist painter and graphic artist. His works are often macabre or supernatural in nature, with a contradictory subject. Symbolist artists sought to represent absolute truths through language and metaphors, and was primarily a reaction to the naturalist and realist movements. The lack of concern with realism is apparent in the lack of depth and perspective in the painting; the skeletons and garden beds are almost flat, and the skeletons are very similar in size despite the second and third being farther back in the picture. The meaning of the picture, not the objects in it, is the most important thing.
Like his most famous painting,
The Wounded Angel,
The Garden of Death is a prime example of symbolism. The skeletons, typically a symbol of death, are tending to a thriving garden, which is usually a sign of rebirth and life. Instead of being frightening, the genial, gentle depiction of the skeleton gardeners--almost monk-like in their cassocks--offer another perspective on death. Rather than a final end, we can infer that death nourishes life. It also references the Garden of Eden and the Garden of Gethsemane, both of which were intricately linked with death and life and transcendence. The exact meaning has been debated for decades because Simberg preferred to let his audience interpret his work. What is clear, however, is that Simberg had a fondness for this painting as he reproduced it several times, including as a fresco in the Tampere Cathedral.
This is one time my costume box failed me and we had to hit the store. A couple pairs of white pantyhose as well as an entire compact of black eyeshadow were sacrificed, but we managed to make three skeletons that didn't melt in the El Paso sun. They also couldn't resist throwing some sass into the outtakes.
Small Girl Presenting Cherries
John Russell
Oil, 1780
John Russell was born in Surrey, England, in 1745. The son of book and print seller, Russell became a respected artist and teacher known for his oil and pastel portraits. He was influenced by Rosalba Carriera, a pastel portraitist known for her ability to add highlights and glowing details to her work. Russell was one of the court painters of King George III as well as an amateur astronomer, engraving a highly accurate lunar map that took twenty years to finish. Russell was a devout Methodist, and also suffered from ill health for most of his life, including a bout of cholera that left him almost deaf and ultimately dying after contracting typhus.
I can't find much on the painting itself, but it is done in the Rococo style, which means it is highly ornate with heightened, joyful pastel colors. The girl's pose is asymmetrical and gracefully curved, her expression charming and cherublike. Her face is reminiscent of the quadratura, the illusionist ceiling paintings typical of Rococo that often depicted cherubs gazing down from the heavens on the occupants of the room.
The Arnolfini Portrait
(The Arnolfini Wedding)
Jan van Eyck
Oil on wood (oak), 1434
Jan Van Eyck was one of the early artists of the Northern Renaissance, notable for his oil paintings with rich, realistic details. He painted both secular and religious pieces, often on wood panels, and his work was highly influential on other artists. As his own personal joke, he often signed his work with a pun on his name--"Als Ich Kan," which translates "As I (Eyck) Can." Other times he would use some version of "Jan Van Eyck was here." He often embedded iconographic images in his art, tying together the spiritual and the material. Van Eyck served as the court painter to several notable courts, including that of Phillip, Duke of Burgundy.
The Arnolfini Portrait is one of Van Eyck's most famous works. It is thought to depict Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his wife. The glowing colors were achieved with multiple layers of thin translucent glazes, and really bring the opulence of Arnolfini's world to life. This painting also exemplifies Van Eyck's wet-on-wet technique, a method of painting on wet paint to capture subtle changes in light and shade. The level of detail in the painting is insane, exemplified in the round mirror in the back of the painting; it is such a small part of the painting, but it has a fully reversed reflection that has a slight distortion from the rounded mirror. The mirror also is where Van Eyck hid his punny signature.
This was another one of the more complicated pieces to recreate. The wide-brimmed black hat is a combination of two hats. The picture was a group effort, with the red draperies on the bed achieved with the assistance of a helpful but complaining scarlet ghost and the belly held in place by a smaller sister. Duncan was originally cast as the small dog at the foot of the portrait, but due to creative differences he was replaced by a stuffed pup.
Charles I in Three Positions (Triple Portrait of Charles I)
Anthony van Dyck
Oil on Canvas, 1635
Antoon Van Dyck was a Flemish artist from Antwerp. Thanks to his portraits of the aristocracy, particularly of Charles I, he became the dominant influence on English portraits for the next century. His talent was notable even in his youth, and at 18 years old he was admitted to the painters' guild of Antwerp as a free master. He trained under Peter Paul Rubens, who was considered one of the most influential artists of the Flemish Baroque movement, which emphasized color, movement, grandeur, detail, and sensuality. Though famous in his own country, Van Dyck became even more well known after moving to London. Van Dyck's various portraits showcased the sharply pointed and trimmed goatees popular at the time which came to be known as Van Dykes, as well as the Van Dyke collar, which is the wide white collar trimmed with lace--the image of the cavalier.
Charles I in Three Positions (or The Triple Portrait of Charles I), showed the king from three viewpoints--full profile, straight on, and three-quarter. It was so detailed that it was sent to the famous sculptor Bernini in Rome as a reference for a bust. The painting depicts the king in three different outfits, but each image wears the blue ribbon of the Order of the Garter, an order of chivalry and most senior order of knighthood, a great honor. History buffs will remember Charles I as the king who fought a civil war with his own Parliament because he refused cede the divine right to rule and to accept their demands for a constitutional monarchy; he was tried, convicted, and executed for high treason in 1649. He was followed by everyone's favorite friendly Puritan, Oliver Cromwell, before the monarchy was restored to Charles' son, Charles II, in 1660.
Naturally, the spiderman triple point was a must.
Portrait of a Young Woman
Raphael and Giulio Romano
Oil on panel (poplar), 1516-20
This piece was a collaboration by Raphael and one of his students, Giulio Romano. It is widely believed that Raphael drew the sketch which was then painted by Romano, with Raphael adding the hand and sleeves. Giulio Romano, also known as Giulio Pippi, was a painter and architect known for his contributions to Mannerism, a reaction to Renaissance art that exaggerates portion, balance, and ideal beauty resulting in pieces that are asymmetrical or elegant in an unnatural way. Romano worked with Raphael until his death, and along with Perino del Vaga, Romano finished the Raphael Rooms inside the Vatican. Romano also has the privilege of being the only Renaissance artist mentioned by Shakespeare, referenced in The Winter's Tale as "that rare Italian master, Julio Romano." Romano lived a large part of his life in Mantua, where his contributions to architecture include the Palazzo Te, the Ducal Palace and cathedral, and the Church of San Benedetto.
Though Romano was noted for his Mannerist technique, this Portrait is very much in the high classical style typical of Raphael. It is very similar in position to other paintings of young women done by Raphael, such as La Fornarina, La Muta, and Young Woman with Unicorn. This is not uncommon as it was easier to change a face than an entire painting, and if you look at his portraits of young women you will find notable similarities in posture, dress, and anatomy. The identity of this particular woman is unknown.
Lady Godiva
John Collier
Oil on canvas, 1897
Collier was a prolific artist who, though considered a Pre-Raphaelite in style, had a wide-ranging set of subjects that included portraiture of some of leading names of his day such as Rudyard Kipling, Charles Darwin, explorer Edward Inglefield, religious and state leaders, actors, educators, soldiers, royalty, and various members of his own family. He was also known as an Orientalist, which means he depicted the Eastern world, particularly the Middle East, in some of his work. He was not a fan of religion in general and saw it as one of the weaknesses of men.
His work often had a moody, melancholic feel, with a startling slash of color but an otherwise muted palette. Like any good Pre-Raphaelite, his non-portrait work often focused on women in myths, such as Lilith, Cassandra, and the Delphi Oracle, or on historical figures like the Borgias and Lady Godiva. Godiva was modeled after Mab Paul, an artist and actress who was painted several times by Collier.
Lady Godiva is a well documented and very real woman in the 11th century, but the story of her famous nude ride to protest her husband's excessive taxation of his tenants is apocryphal at best. According to the legend, she pled with her husband to reduce the tax burden on his tenants, and he finally got tired of her bothering him and offered her a deal--if she'd ride naked through the town, he'd lower the taxes. She sent a warning through the town, stripped down, and rode out. Out of respect and obedience none of the townfolk looked on her except for one man named Thomas who peeked at her and was struck either blind or dead, depending on which version you hear. This is the origin of the term "peeping Tom."
Collier's Lady is not the defiant heroine that you'd expect but seems modest and almost sad, especially juxtaposed with her proud, energetic mount. She is very exposed, her famous hair all but hidden, and yet her nakedness is not flamboyant. The sharp contrast between light and dark keeps your attention on Godiva, and it's hard to look past her to the intricate details of the background, horse, and barding.
This is the last picture we did due to the logistics. Our previous pony, Bill, didn't make the trip from Alaska with us so we needed to make another one. It also took some time to find a nude suit. For some reason, my model didn't want to just freestyle in the front yard for the sake of art. She rocked it, though, and even got to throw a personal spin on the outtake.
And that brings us to the end. I have no idea if we'll do it again, but if you find a picture that sparks joy (or gives you a "I triple dog dare you" vibe) send it my way, and I'll check my costume box.
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