Kunsthistoriches Museum

08/07/09

German word o the day: beantworten – to answer

Friday was an extremely early morning when viewed in the light of the amount of wine that was inhaled the previous evening, followed by the relief of class being cancelled. My splitting headache receded somewhat over the next several hours, which was key to being able to appreciate and enjoy the Art Museum later in the day. In my opinion, the most interesting part of the tour was the incredible display of Peter Paul Ruebens paintings, who I had admired for his incredible detail in the past. Of course we now know that Ruebens’ shop was largely responsible for completing many of the works that are attributed to him, but his incredible proficiency is still almost as impressive. The incredibly religious subject matter lends itself to extravagance, and this draws the eye immediately. The primary focus is always readily evident; whether it is divine light from a central figure, brightly colored clothes, or a prominently focused man or woman in the middle. This seems consistent with religious art on the whole, as it is important to catch the eye and give the viewer an impressed feeling of being in a greater presence.

By contrast, the secular art tended to be understated and more focused on contrast. Rembrandt in particular exemplified this, at least in his self-portraits and portrait of an old woman. At first glance I did not have any of the powerful reaction that the Ruebens paintings gave, but this of course was never the intention. His incredible use of shadowing made me examine the detail that much more closely, and it was then easy to se why Rembrandt is so highly regarded. His genius lies in his understatement, which seems appropriate for the secular nature of the works that we saw.

An interesting contrast of these two was provided by Durer, who had a room featuring his work as well. Two paintings in particular stood out to me; his Madonna with Child and his depiction of a slaughter by Muslim soldiers. The Madonna seemed to be congruent with many depictions of the same scene, though she was not quite as glorified as she often is, and I felt as though this was telling of Durer’s reluctance to overtly display his religious feelings through his art. The other painting of Durer’s featured himself in the middle of a heated battle, accompanied by a contemporary. The brutality of the subject matter could be considered a religious message, but his placement of himself as a primary focus make the scene more of an interested observation. The religiosity of Ruebens and the understated beauty of Rembrandt seem to have something of a middle ground in the work of Durer, which makes the subject much more interesting and that much more difficult to understand.