The Kunsthistorisches Museum is an imposing structure that draws your attention and holds it for a long time. Surrounding the entire perimeter are golden inscriptions of the names of Europe's greatest minds including famous painters, philosophers, and artists. But the ability to lose one's self in the details of this building only escalate when entering.
I like the phrase that Kathy used on the trip frequently to describe the rapid jumping back and forth in time we would do when studying Vienna; historical whiplash. That does a great job of conveying the disorientation my mind felt when first walking into the museum and seeing the classical style paintings on the walls done by Klimt (The Spandrels), beside some ancient Egyptian statues adorning the entrance to the Egyptian exibit, as well as a huge marble depiction of Theseus slaying a centaur from Greek mythology.
But this study of history, not only as each individual time period presents itself to the world, but also how the world presented this time period through history turned out to be a major theme of this trip. Time and time again I would see original art and architecture, like the medieval gothic church in Klosterneuburg, as well as later people's interpretation of that art and architecture, like Laxenburg. What remains of the original and what is left out is a fascinating subject of selective memory and the power of drawing upon ancient civilizations in the artistic depictions of one's state/monarchy.
Just take Emperor Francis II (I) as an example,
If this doesn't give you whiplash, I don't know what will.
Of the two entire floors I explored during my three separate visits while in Vienna, I could write half a book at least. The exhibits were so rich with topics that enthrall me that it was almost dizzying. In this blog I'll keep it to four of the most interesting.
First, was something that our fantastic tour guide, Lisa Regan, pointed out to the group at the Pieter Bruegel the Elder exhibit. I'll try to summarize her expert opinion on the piece called, Hunters in the Snow that really made a great impression on me. Bruegel, apparently, set a great importance on humanity's ignorance of their own impending doom in his paintings. He would often hide this theme in plain sight. Bruegel wanted people to focus on saving their souls before it was too late because judgement was just around the corner. And in this painting he shows the viewer that danger is only a matter of perspective. Look at the bird perched on a branch at the very center of the painting. To it's right, on the other side of the tree, is a bird trap that was set up by the people living in that house, intended to capture birds for consumption. Clearly we can see that the bird must be about 100 feet closer to the foreground compared to the trap, considering the bird takes up more space on the canvas than the trap. So, from the bird's perspective it is safe from danger. However, from our perspective as viewers of the painting, the bird and the trap are only centimeters apart. This too, its how God sees his creations from afar. To us mortals, the danger is far away, but to a higher being with a different vantage point, the danger of judgement lies right at our feet.
What intrigued me next was the singular Vermeer they had on display, The Art of Painting . Vermeer is easily one of my top three favorite artists, and so I spent a lot of time analyzing this one piece. Vermeer is unique in the way that his paintings make me feel. The use of light is superb, to the point where he recreates our own experience of vision in some ways. If you look at the artist's right hand you see that it is fairly uncharacteristically blurry for how detailed the rest of the painting is. For example, the details of the stool the painter is sitting on are hyper crisp on its top left corner. This incredible disparity in resolution acts just like our eyes. Human beings only really focus on a few things at a time with any serious image resolution. The rest of what we see is blurry and insignificant. This is why I think Vermeer does such a better job of recreating the experience of viewing a moment in space and time than most of this contemporaries.
However the first thing that popped out to me when I saw this painting upon my first visit, was the striking similarity of the chandelier hanging above the painter and the chandeliers they had hanging in the Stephansdom.
The image in the middle is from the painting, and the two on the left and right are pictures I took at Stephansdom. Notice the double eagle present in all three, as well as the the intertwining infinity symbol iconography directly underneath the eagle that is especially visible in the middle and right image. What's going on?? Is this just because the Habsburgs ruled the Netherlands during Vermeer's time, and so they were required to have Habsburg symbology on their chandeliers? Or was it just a popular style? Perhaps I'm overreacting.
Lucas Cranach the Elder was another artist that caught my eye, but in this case for a completely different reason.
His painting will draw any eye if I'm going to be honest. It's gruesome and off putting, which likely why I heard Kathy talking about making a picture of her in front of it her new profile picture for the Study Abroad website. The painting is called Judith with the Head of Holofernes, and after much investigation into the work I found out that it has a lot more to offer its audience than just a biblical story.
Lucas Cranach the Elder was a renowned artist from Saxony who painted during the 15th and 16th centuries. More specifically, he was working out of Wittenberg, which rings all sorts of bells for people like me who took a class on the Reformations. Not only was he a practicing Protestant, but a close friend of Martin Luther (his best man, and his son's godfather). So just knowing that tells me that there has to be some sort of profound Protestant message in this piece. Lo and behold, this painting was a cry of Protestant resistance in the face of Catholicism. Fascinating! The story, in its abridged version, is of a woman named Judith who lives in a Jewish town that is being besieged by the Assyrians. In the final days of the attack it seems that the town will fall to the Assyrians, but Judith has a plan. She puts on her finest clothes, walks up to the Assyrian general's tent and seduces the general. He becomes inebriated and when the opportunity presents itself, Judith cuts off his head and brings it back to the town. The Assyrians then retreat, making Judith a hero.
The sensuality of Judith in her contemporary 16th century dress, tight bodice, and luxurious jewelry speaks to the appeal of the Protestant faith just as the sword and the severed head speaks to its ability to fight back ruthlessly if provoked.
Here's the famous portrait of Luther by Cranach. The similarities in style are quite apparent
Another really interesting point about Lucas Cranach the Elder, and specifically Judith with the Head of Holofernes, is that several rooms over and tucked away around a corner I found a copy! This painting was made several times by Cranach, and the story was already quite popular, so it must have made the rounds in early modern Europe. Copies soon sprung up everywhere, some better than others. This one, by Joseph Heintz, was made for Rudolph II who, "did not baulk at copies or sensitive new creations" according to the plaque beneath it. The museum also remarks, "The severed head is now served on a platter, the sword is missing, and the picture's format as well as some details of the clothes were changed. In terms of colouring, Heintz succeeds in alluding to Cranach, yet his painting is more smooth and picturesque". Art clearly served different purposes to early modern Europeans than it does to us today. Modernity is so hyper focused on the artist and their life (ex. the tormented mind of people like Egon Schiele) as opposed to the piece necessarily.
*Side note, this is not of Judith and Holofernes. This is supposed to be Salome with the Head of John the Baptist. This happens to be the opera that Gretel, another tour guide and friend of Kathy's, will be working on next summer (2020) in Bergen. Kathy, if you're reading this can I please get her email because I'd love to go see the performance while I'm there and maybe say hi!
The last thing in the Kunsthistorisches Museum that made me stop to really look at it was another Bruegel, this time by his son. It's the Massacre of the Innocents, a biblical story, that this time takes place in the prelude to the Eighty Year's War (Dutch revolt against the Spanish). It's a striking depiction of children being slaughtered, which apparently was such an affront to the senses that Emperor Rudolph II had the original painted over to hide the dead and dying children. Copies, like the one that resides in the Kunsthistorisches Museum still show the gruesome details.
Here is a slideshow comparing the two. Click back and forth and notice how many of the children are replaced with game (geese, boar, etc). One fairly clear example is the soldier holding the goose by the neck in the middle left portion of the painting. In the one in Vienna, the soldier is holding a child by the wrist.
Bonus round!
Check out these ridiculous figurines from ancient Egypt. Got a good laugh out of me
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