Liberal Arts Blog — The Frick Gallery (Part Two) Bellini, “St. Francis In The Desert” Flanked By Two Titians (“The Man iI The Red Cap” And “Pietro Aretino”)
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Today’s Topic: The Frick Gallery (Part Two) Bellini, “St. Francis in the Desert” flanked by two Titians (“The Man in the Red Cap” and “Pietro Aretino”)
Last time, the El Greco portrait of St. Jerome, centered between two portraits by Hans Holbein — Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell, both men executed by King Henry VIII — in 1535 and 1540, respectively. Today, the three paintings on the opposite wall of the “Living Hall” of the Frick which has been kept exactly as the collector originally intended it. Below, a few notes on each of the three. How do they fit together? St. Francis in ecstasy flanked by a fashionable young man to the right and an old curmudgeon to the left.
What room in what museum in what country has as powerful a set of opposite walls? I know of none.
Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
ST. FRANCIS IN THE DESERT (1480) by Giovanni Bellini (1430–1516) — in a “state of ecstasy” as he receives “the stigmata” — the wounds that Jesus received on the cross — at least one critic has called this “the most beautiful painting in America” — what would your candidate be?
1. “St. Francis of Assisi is widely considered the first recorded stigmatic in Christian history. In 1224, two years before his death, he embarked on a journey to Mount La Verna for a forty-day fast. The legend states that one morning, near the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, a six-winged angel appeared to Francis while he prayed. As the angel approached, Francis could see that the angel was crucified. He was humbled by the sight, and his heart was filled with elation joined by pain and suffering.
When the angel departed, Francis was left with wounds in his hands, feet, and side as if caused by the same lance that pierced Christ’s side. The image of nails immediately appeared in his hands and feet, and the wound in his side often seeped blood. Pope Alexander IV and other witnesses declared that they had seen these marks both before and after his death.”
2. “In the left middle-ground is a donkey which can be interpreted as a symbol of humility and patience. In the lower right corner on a rustic reading table is a skull representing mortality.. The cave may relate Francis to Saint Jerome, lived in a cave or cell. The stream in the left middle-ground symbolizes Moses and the great spring, while the barren tree in the center of the painting represents the Burning Bush. The saint has left his wooden pattens (clog-like overshoes to elevate you above the mud) behind and stands barefoot like Moses.”
3. The details in the painting are extraordinary — such as the “long necked heron perched on a cliff of blocky stones” and “a rabbit peering through a crevice.” (see fourth link below)
NB: “Giovanni Bellini’s “St. Francis in the Desert” is regarded by many as the most beautiful painting in America. I’m with the many…” Sebastian Smee, Pulizer-Prize winning art critic for the Washington Post. “Born in the late 12 century, Francis was the son of a wealthy silk merchant and a noblewoman from Provence. Like Siddhartha Gautama. The Buddha, Francis was a handsome, intelligent young man who renounced a life of privilege to preach a doctine of poverty, good works, and spiritual attunement. He cherished the natural world and identified deeply with Jesus.”
“THE MAN IN THE RED CAP” (1516) by Titian (1477–1576) the subject has not been identified — what an intriguing contrast to St. Francis! A version of St. Francis before his renunciation of all his worldly goods?
1. Titian “ was successful from the start, and he became sought after by patrons, initially from Venice and its possessions, then joined by the north Italian princes, and finally the Hapsburgs and the papacy.”
2. “Along with Giorgione he is considered a founder of the Venetian school of Italian Renaissance painting.”
3. “In 1590, the painter and art theorist Giovanni Paolo Lomazzo described Titian as “the sun amidst small stars not only among the Italians but all the painters of the world.” Agree? Disagree?
“PIETRO ARETINO” (1537) by Titian (1477–1576) — Aretino was a friend of Titian’s and a famous writer, poet, playwright, and satirist known as the “scourge of princes” — a Diogenes kind of guy, as was Francis, in his own way
1. Titian painted three portraits of Aretino.
2. “Aretino is said to have died of suffocation from “laughing too much.” The more mundane truth may be that he died from a stroke or heart attack.”
3. He was not above blackmail and is also known for his erotic literature.
NB: “I am a free man. I do not need to copy Petrarch or Boccaccio. My own genius is enough. Let others worry themselves about style and so cease to be themselves.
Without a master, without a model, without a guide, without artifice, I go to work and earn my living, my well-being, and my fame. What do I need more? With a goose quill and a few sheets of paper, I mock the universe.” To me the spirit is very much that of Diogenes, who, lying on the ground at the foot of Alexander the Great, scorned the conqueror’s offer of his own kingdom, complaining that the conqueror was blocking the sun and commanding him to move.
Saint Francis in Ecstasy (Bellini) — Wikipedia
Smarthistory — Giovanni Bellini, St. Francis in the Desert (or St. Francis in Ecstasy)
Alone in the Wilderness and the Spotlight (Published 2011)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_a_Man_in_a_Red_Cap
Diogenes and Alexander — Wikipedia
Portrait of Pietro Aretino — Wikipedia
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
My spin — then periodically review, re-rank, and exchange your list with those you love. I call this the “Orion Exchange” because seven is about as many as any human can digest at a time. Game?
LAST FOUR YEARS OF POSTS ORGANIZED THEMATICALLY
Updating PDFs: 2023 — Google Drive
ATTACHMENTS BELOW:
#1 A graphic guide to justice (9 metaphors on one page).
#2 “39 Songs, Prayers, and Poems: the Keys to the Hearts of Seven Billion People” — Adams House Senior Common Room Presentation, (11/17/20)
NB: Palestine Orion (Decision) — let’s exchange Orions, let’s find Rumi’s field (“Beyond all ideas of right and wrong, there is a field. Meet me there” Rumi, 13 century Persian Sufi mystic)
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 someone 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.
