Friday, March 30, 2018

Good Friday

Ecce Homo:


by Bartolomeo Manfredi, c/1612, oil on canvas. This is on permanent display at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.

from the description from the museum website:
Ecce Homo, meaning “Behold the Man,” depicts four half-length figures, a compositional structure Manfredi may have learned in Northern Italy from such artists as Mantegna and Bellini. Central to the image is the captive Christ, placed against the blood red of his cape (a symbol of his impending fate), a turbaned Pontius Pilate, and two flanking soldiers. The painted ledge, extending halfway from the left, is a reference to the slab on which the dead Christ will be laid out and which, after his death, will become a symbol of his sacrifice, the altar itself. This seemingly insignificant element forms a point of transition between the space of the viewer and that of the painting, thus making the beholder's involvement in the tragic scene all the more compelling.

8 comments:

  1. Wow, what an amazing painting! I bet seeing it up close is very moving and the way he captured the light is stunning 😁. Thanks for sharing the meaning of Easter through this wonderful painting! Happy Easter! J 😊 x

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    1. These paintings are stunning in person, you're right!

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  2. Not only beautiful gardens but looks like this museum has some amazing art also. Thanks for sharing this piece with us. :) Happy weekend. Hugs-Erika

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    1. It's the Dixon Gallery that has the gardens. The Dixon was originally a private home and was bequeathed for an art museum. The Brooks is much older and was funded as an art museum for the city. We are blessed to have 2 art museums this good :)

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  3. A very moving and beautiful painting, and one you chose well for Good Friday, which sadly has passed since my keyboard refused to wake up and act right. Thanks for sharing this and happy Easter weekend.

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    1. That keyboard is troublesome! :( It's annoying, I know, when technology is uncooperative.

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  4. WOW this painting is perfectly timed (as I am playing late day catch up on blog reading). Mr Man & I talked about a Sunday school movie & we both thought it was the same title but our memories were focused on different actors. Verified online (thanks Google) it is the same movie & we found at the local second hand movie store - The Robe.

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    1. The Robe! I remember that one :) I don't know how I'd manage without Google as my memory supplement ;)

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