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Jusepe
de Ribera, Spain, 1591-1652
Saint Onuphrius, ca. 1642
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| Saint
Onuphrius depicts the 4th century hermit who rejected
his royal patrimony, alluded to by the crown and royal
scepter, to seek spiritual perfection through a life
of deprivation in a cave in the wilderness near Thebes.
The rough cross and wooden rosary bears witness to his
faith. As in many Baroque paintings of this period,
piety is conveyed through gesture (hands clasped together
in prayer) and glance (eyes directed heavenward). What
distinguishes Ribera’s work is the fact that the
elderly saint is an unidealized, remarkably lifelike
figure whose depth of spiritual experience radiates
from his weather-beaten face, bloodshot eyes, and ravaged
body. As means of inspiring religious devotion, Saint
Onuphrius exemplifies the goals of Counter-Reformation
painting by affording the worshipper a profoundly moving
spiritual encounter. |
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Thomas
Gainsborough, England, 1727-1788
Portrait of Mrs. Collins, ca. 1770-1775
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| Alongside
his bitter rival, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough
was considered a leading portrait painter of his day.
Gainsborough, who was born in the Suffolk countryside,
trained in London and returned to his home around 1750.
Although he began producing portraits in a French Rococo
style, his preferred subject matter was landscape painting.
In 1759 Gainsborough moved his studio to Bath, England's
most fashionable winter resort, where he remained until
1774, when the growing demand for his portraits led
him to resettle in London. Painted in Bath, the Portrait
of Mrs. Collins portrays the wife of a naval captain
in the simple, bust-length format used for family keepsakes.
The likeness is undoubtedly accurate, since Gainsborough
never worked without the sitter in front of him. |
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Francisco
José de Goya y Lucientes, Spain, 1746-1828
Jose Antonio, Marques de Caballero, 1807
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| As
painter to the court, Goya was often commissioned to paint
official portraits of courtiers with whom he was not in
political or personal sympathy. The Marques de Caballero,
Minister of Grace and Justice, was a reactionary who was
unpopular even within his own circle. This painting demonstrates
Goya's skills as a portraitist, diplomatically pleasing
the sitter with a commanding, dignified pose and a rich
display of gold brocade and official decorations, yet
at the same time revealing the arrogance and vulgarity
of the man. |
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Paul
Gauguin, France, 1848-1903
Le Chaland et la barque [The Barge and the Boat],
1882
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| Gauguin
frequently visited his artistic mentor, Camille Pissarro,
in Pontoise, a market town about thirty-two kilometers
northwest of Paris. In the 1870s and early 1880s, under
Pissarro's influence, Gauguin often painted subjects
of rustic life, concentrating on farmers and workers
in lightstruck landscapes. Together they painted along
the banks of the River Oise, which is seen in The
Barge and the Boat. During this period, Gauguin
adopted the Impressionist method of painting outdoors,
spontaneously noting effects of tone and color in small,
broken brushstrokes that heavily textured the surface
of his paintings. Later, beginning in 1888, Gauguin
broke with Impressionist practice and moved away from
naturalism. The Barge and the Boat, although
painted in Gauguin's early Impressionist style, is particularly
interesting because it anticipates his later use of
flattened forms and a tendency toward abstracted and
symbolic composition. |
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