Liberal Arts Blog — Rembrandt, “A Kitchen Maid” and “Simeon’s Song of Praise”, plus “Thor”
Liberal Arts Blog — Friday is the Joy of Art, Architecture, Design, Film, and All Things Visual Day
Today’s Topic: Rembrandt, “A Kitchen Maid”(1661) and “Simeon’s Song of Praise” (1669), plus “Thor” (Fogelberg)
Today, we continue the tour of the world’s great art galleries to which I have never been. We started with five posts about selected masterpieces from the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. Last week, we traveled to Moscow where we examined Rembrandt’s “Ahasuerus and Haman,” Cezanne’s “Pierrot and Harlequin,” and Van Gogh’s “Red Vineyard.” Today, Stockholm’s Nationalmuseum. The highlights are two Rembrandts. A bonus feature is a forgotten Swedish sculptor’s “Thor” — part of a trilogy of statues recently reunited in the museum’s sculpture courtyard. Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
REMBRANDT (1606–1669) “The Kitchen Maid” (1661) also known as “The Young Girl at the Window”
1. Rembrandt is perhaps best known for his self-portraits, the scenes from the Bible (eg. Belshazzar’s Feast, the Return of the Prodigal Son), and The Night Watch.
2. But he also painted women — Susanna (1836), Danae (1636), Susanna and the Elders (1647), Bathsheba at Her Bath (1654), A Woman Gazing in the Stream (1654), and Lucretia (1666).
3. Perhaps his most famous painting of a woman is “The Jewish Bride” (1659) of which Van Gogh wrote “”I should be happy to give 10 years of my life if I could go on sitting here in front of this picture [The Jewish Bride] fortnight, with only a crust of dry bread for food.” (See second link below.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kitchen_Maid_(Rembrandt)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rembrandt
REMBRANDT (1606–1669) “Simeon’s Song of Praise” (1669) — his last painting
1. Luke 2:25–35: “Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.”
2. “And inspired by the Spirit he came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said:
3. “Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”
NB: “And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.” The meeting of Jesus, Mary, Joseph and Simeon at the temple is celebrated on Candlemas (February 2nd). Rembrandt had painted a very different version of the scene 38 years before (now at the Mauritshuis in the Hague). See the second link below. Simeon’s “Song of Praise” is called the “Nunc Dimittis” (“Now Let Depart”) and has been part of evening Christian worship services since the 4th century. “The Nunc Dimittis is the traditional ‘Gospel Canticle’ of Night Prayer (Compline), just as Benedictus and Magnificat are the traditional Gospel Canticles of Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer respectively.” Among the many composers to put the “Nunc Dimitis” to music are Heinrich Schutz and JS Bach.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simeon_(Gospel_of_Luke)
https://www.frick.org/exhibitions/mauritshuis/145
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nunc_dimittis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mit_Fried_und_Freud_ich_fahr_dahin,_BWV_125
BENGT ERLAND FOGELBERG (1786–1854) — Thor, Odin, Balder
1. A trio of Norsk Gods is in the sculpture courtyard of the museum.
2. Thor (above) is the God of Thunder, the Nordic Zeus.
3. Odin is the father of Thor and is associated with “wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, victory, sorcery, poetry, frenzy.”
NB: Balder is another son of Odin who is known for his beauty and early death. Some consider him a Christ-figure. Others don’t.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/bengt-erland-fogelbergs-norse-god-statues
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengt_Erland_Fogelberg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationalmuseum
Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Sweden
Sweden National Museum, Stockholm — Sweden
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odin
THE LAST THREE YEARS OF POSTS ORGANIZED THEMATICALLY ARE AVAILABLE HERE:
PDF with headlines — Google Drive
YOUR TURN
Please share the coolest thing you learned recently or ever related to art, sculpture, design, architecture, film, or anything visual.
This is your chance to make some one else’s day. And to cement in your own memory something cool or important you might otherwise forget. Or to think more deeply than you otherwise would about something that is close to your heart.
