Reliance and Confinement: Washington Allston’s Dual Attitudes Towards European Ideals in His Paintings

The paper examines the dual attitudes reflected in the artistic work of Washington Allston. Born in 1779 and died in 1843, Allston is a famous American painter and poet whose artworks are greatly shaped by European philosophical concepts and artistic traditions. Allston's inheritance of such traditions could be mainly reflected by the deliberate representation of the concept of sublimity and divinity in his artistic creation. This could be readily seen from Allston’s artistic techniques, by which he better instills his aesthetics into his religious paintings while arousing greater empathy among the audience. However, against the background of American Romanticism, Allston was faced with the conflict between conforming to the European aesthetic standards in terms of “general air” and tradition, and the dramatic departure of objects from their “proper place”. As a result, Allston resorted to the institutional liberation, thus forming his distinct artistic style with an evident feature of dual attitudes.

Сult and Critique of Raphael in the Late Nazarene Movement

The cult of Raphael is an important part of German romantic culture of the beginning of the 19th century. There were the Nazarenes who developed the cult of the Renaissance genius, and Raphael’s modern reputation is based on these romantic tradition. The article reveals special features of late romantic cult of Raphael, which caused the critique of the Italian master in the second half of the 19th — 20th centuries. The article discusses the art works of the Nazarenes (Franz Pforr, Peter von Cornelius, Franz and Johann Christian Riepenhausen). Special attention was paid to the art works and texts of the founder of Nazarene movement J.F. Overbeck of the 1830–1840s. This material was compared with the German art criticism of the same years, dedicated to the Düsseldorf Academy, an art school considerably influenced by the Nazarenes (A. Fahne, H. Püttmann). Typical for the Nazarene movement is the cult of Raphael as the main Christian painter, whose art is characterized as pure and harmonious. Other features of Raphael’s works, such as dynamic and emotional expressiveness of the form, were ignored or criticized. Such approach was firstly used in the J.F. Overbeck’s comment to the program painting The Triumph of Religion in the Arts (1829–1840) and developed in his later works (The Marriage of the Virgin, 1834–1836; The Lamentation, 1840–1845). This simplified image of Raphael became the subject of criticism for the next authors’ generation who supported the realistic searches of the masters of the mid-19th century. Nevertheless, Raphael’s works continued to be used as a standard for discussing of modern religious paintings.

Gustave Doré and the Modern Biblical Imagination

Gustave Doré and the Modern Biblical Imagination explores the role of biblical imagery in modernity through the lens of Gustave Doré (1832–83), whose work is among the most reproduced and adapted scriptural imagery in the history of Judeo-Christianity. First published in France in late 1865, Doré’s Bible illustrations received widespread critical acclaim among both religious and lay audiences, and the next several decades saw unprecedented dissemination of the images on an international scale. In 1868, the Doré Gallery opened in London, featuring monumental religious paintings that drew 2.5 million visitors over the course of a quarter century; when the gallery’s holdings traveled to the United States in 1892, exhibitions at venues such as the Art Institute of Chicago drew record crowds. The United States saw the most creative appropriations of Doré’s images among a plethora of media, from prayer cards and magic lantern slides to massive stained-glass windows and the spectacular epic films of Cecil B. DeMille. This book repositions biblical imagery at the center of modernity, an era that has often been defined through a process of secularization. The veracity and authority of the Bible came under unprecedented scrutiny and were at the center of a range of historical, theological, and cultural debates. Gustave Doré is at the nexus of these narratives, as his work established the most pervasive visual language for biblical imagery in the past two and a half centuries and constitutes the means by which the Bible has persistently been translated visually for modern audiences.

Ludovico Carracci a Roma

This essay focuses on Ludovico Carracci (1555-1619) and this reputation in Rome in his lifetime and afterwards. Well-known, but often overlooked literary and visual evidence on Ludovico's appreciation in Rome is brought to bear, in order to reassess his contemporary fame, superior to his cousins', as is suggested by works attributed to him in the main seventeenth-century Roman collections. His present-day partial disgrace is the result of a number of changes soon brought about by several factors, including the probability of untold doubts on his religious orthodoxy raising in the early seventeenth-century. His use of German prints especially in his late religious paintings may have a lot to do with this. On cover:ANNIBALE CARRACCI (BOLOGNA 1560 - ROME 1609), An Allegory of Truth and Time c. 1584-1585.Oil on canvas | 130,0 x 169,6 cm. (support, canvas/panel/str external) | RCIN 404770Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2021.

A Dataset and a Convolutional Model for Iconography Classification in Paintings

Iconography in art is the discipline that studies the visual content of artworks to determine their motifs and themes and to characterize the way these are represented. It is a subject of active research for a variety of purposes, including the interpretation of meaning, the investigation of the origin and diffusion in time and space of representations, and the study of influences across artists and artworks. With the proliferation of digital archives of art images, the possibility arises of applying Computer Vision techniques to the analysis of art images at an unprecedented scale, which may support iconography research and education. In this article, we introduce a novel paintings dataset for iconography classification and present the quantitative and qualitative results of applying a Convolutional Neural Network ( CNN ) classifier to the recognition of the iconography of artworks. The proposed classifier achieves good performances (71.17% Precision, 70.89% Recall, 70.25% F1-Score, and 72.73% Average Precision) in the task of identifying saints in Christian religious paintings, a task made difficult by the presence of classes with very similar visual features. Qualitative analysis of the results shows that the CNN focuses on the traditional iconic motifs that characterize the representation of each saint and exploits such hints to attain correct identification. The ultimate goal of our work is to enable the automatic extraction, decomposition, and comparison of iconography elements to support iconographic studies and automatic artwork annotation.

The rediscovery of an Adoration of the Shepherds by Jacques Jordaens: a multidisciplinary approach combining dendroarchaeology and art history

The implementation of multidisciplinary research approaches is an essential prerequisite to obtain comprehensive insights into the life and works of the old masters and their timeline in the production of the arts. In this study, traditional art history, cultural heritage, and natural science methods were combined to shed light on an Adoration of the Shepherds painting by Jacques Jordaens (1593–1678), which until now had been considered as a copy. From dendrochronological analysis of the wooden support, it was concluded that the planks in the panel painting were made from Baltic oak trees felled after 1608. An independent dating based on the panel maker’s mark, and the guild’s quality control marks suggests a production period of the panel between 1617 and 1627. Furthermore, the size of the panel corresponds to the dimension known as salvator, which was commonly used for religious paintings during the period 1615 to 1621. Finally, the interpretation of the stylistic elements of the painting suggests that it was made by Jordaens between 1616 and 1618. To conclude, from the synthesis of: (i) dendrochronological analysis, (ii) panel makers’ punch mark and Antwerp Guild brand marks, (iii) re-examination of secondary sources, and (iv) stylistic comparisons to other Jordaens paintings, we suggest that the examined Adoration of the Shepherds should be considered as an original by Jordaens and likely painted in the period 1617–1618. The study is a striking example of the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary approach to investigate panel paintings.

Valaam Monastery School of Painting

The article is dedicated to the formation of Valaam’s own school of painting for monks and novices of the monastery. This process consisted of several stages connected to both the historical development of the monastery itself, as well as the expanding influence of the Russian Imperial Academy of Arts. The official establishment of the painting school, which trained artists according to academic methods, dates back to the late 19th – early 20th centuries. The entire preceding history of the monastery paved the way for the inauguration of the school. In particular, the monastery gathered a carefully selected collection of engravings and reproductions of famous religious paintings, art manuals, human anatomy atlases and picturesque copies of popular works of art. Construction of the new Transfiguration Cathedral, to be supposedly painted by monastery artists, provided the main impetus for the eventual opening of the school. Gifted Valaam monks Alipiy (Konstantinov) and Luka (Bogdanov), as well as a student of the Russian Academy of Arts, V. A. Bondarenko, taught at the monastery’s school. Among some of the most diligent students of the school were hegumen Gavrill (Gavrilov), the main proponent of its establishment and its trustee, along with monk Fotiy (Yablokov), the future head of the icon painting workshop. The school continued to operate until the monks of the Valaam Monastery were forced to flee to Finland as a result of hostilities that broke out in the archipelago during the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939–1940.

Manifestation of female image in iconography of the Tibetan thangka and orthodox icon

This article analyzes the female beginning reflected in the Buddhist art of thangka, and emphasizes its specificity in comparison with the Orthodox icon. The author examines symbolism of the key visual elements that form iconography of female characters and their color solution, as well as analyzes the symbolism of light in thangka painting and painting of icons. In drawing parallels between light symbolism of a female image in both types of religious paintings, the author determines their definite similarity in perception of light as a divine beginning of enlightened mind. The subject of this study is the Tibetan thangka and the Orthodox icon, viewed in the context of evolution of the female divine image within the chronological framework of the XV – XVII centuries. The relevance is substantiated by the growing interest of various experts to the religious painting thangka. In examination of sacred images of Buddhist thangkas and Orthodox icons were applied the comparative-historical and iconographic methods that lean on philosophical, culturological and art scientific materials. The novelty consists in the fact that based comparative analysis of the material of Tibetan thangkas and Orthodox icons, the author explores the traditions of depicting light manifestations of sacred images of women. Iconographic plot traces the formation of light and its role in creation of the female guise of wisdom. The conclusion is made that for assessing the Tibetan Buddhist art of thangka and Orthodox icon it is necessary to grasp the essence of female beginning and significance of the symbolism of light that indicates the aspect of wisdom and love on the path of spiritual growth. 

Lujo y devoción en el espacio residencial de doña Leonor Rodríguez de Fonseca y Toledo, marquesa de Campotéjar (1605-1651)

A partir de fuentes notariales -cartas dotales, testamentos, codicilos, inventarios de bienes, tasación, adjudicación a herederos- se traza la biografía de doña Leonor Rodríguez de Fonseca y Toledo, marquesa de Campotéjar, así como el lujo y devoción que le acompañaron en vida. Lujo manifiesto por el mobiliario mueble, textil, plata y joyas de que disfrutó, y devoción por las pinturas religiosas, esculturas y oratorio privado que, además de ornar su residencia, muestran su indudable fervor religioso. Signos externos plenamente compatibles para dar a conocer la riqueza que se posee, expresar el rango elevado, refinado gusto y declaración inequívoca de piedad devota. Todo ello un buen ejemplo de otros muchos títulos de Castilla residentes en la Villa y Corte en pleno Siglo de Oro From notarial sources -dot cards, testaments, codicils, inventories of goods, valuation, award to heirs- the biography of doña Leonor Rodríguez de Fonseca y Toledo, Marquise de Campotéjar is traced, as well as the luxury and devotion who accompanied him during his lifetime. Luxury manifested by furniture, textiles, silver and jewelry that he enjoyed, and devotion to religious paintings, sculptures and private oratory that, in addition to adorning his residence, show his undoubted religious fervor. External signs fully compatible to make known the wealth that is possessed, express the high rank, refined taste and unequivocal declaration of devout piety. All this a good example of many other titles of Castilla residents in the Villa and Court in the middle of the Golden Age