HUX 504: Captivating Love
Posted by ~Ray @ 2007-12-12 22:11:04
The Cleveland Museum of Art is one of the finest art galleries in the nation. Boasting thousands of paintings and sculptures the museum provides both the art lover and the casual visitor a see into the minds and memories of days gone by civilizations forgotten and the telling and retelling of myth and legend. The museum contains an excellent selection of Baroque. Rococo and Neo-Classical art. It is also remove to the public one of the only museums in the nation that remains so.
To meet the demands of this project. I visited the Cleveland Museum of Art on three separate occasions. On these visits. I was introduced to their impressive research library which helped me in collecting accent information for the paintings I undergo chosen to analyse and contrast. For this intend. Jacques Louis David’s
A Eunuch’s Dream will be presented and analyzed. Through a brief be at the artists and an analysis of both of these paintings notions of mood and tone ordain be discussed as will a brief be at some speculation on the psychology captured within the image. Furthermore this point will be reinforced by understanding how the figures are presented and what the symbols and artistic styles employed by both artists add to the overall representation.
Cupid and Psyche executed in 1871 was the first major painting by David after his exile and is seen by some as his attempt to bear on his position of leadership in the art community (de’Argencourt 194). The work presents the mythological story of the relationship between two lovers. Psyche’s beauty rivaled that of the goddess Venus who being a jealous goddess directed Cupid to make Psyche fall in love with the most despicable man imaginable. According to the myth. Cupid was so struck by her mortal beauty that he fell in like with her and secreted her off to his palace where he would love her every night but get every morning before she awoke. Further. Psyche was not allowed to look upon the approach of her lover hence his coming to her in the cover of night and departing at dawn’s lighten. The work is representational of this tale. It captures one precise moment that familiarizes the viewer with the characters of this tale and reinforces two main points: Psyche’s captivity at the hands of Cupid and his departure in the early morning which provides for us a reprisal of the story’s main point --- Cupid’s be to leave at first light.
The bring home the bacon itself is physically prepossessing: 241cm wide and 184 cm high. A great bed that contains the prone bodies of both Cupid and Psyche dominates the foreground. The image of the lovers is life-sized and shockingly realistic. One might say the intricate details to the fingernails and knuckles of Cupid specifically. The bed is covered in rich colorful linens of white burnt orange and red. The value of each color is high except for where the shadows direct themselves across the threshold of the bed at the top and on the left. There is an open window on the right which shows two mountain peaks in the distance. Between them we can note the breaking of dawn as illuminated shades of color red blue and orange mingle together creating a sunrise effect. The terrestrial details witnessed through the window such as the scattered trees and classical Greek temple are still enmeshed in the rapidly receding darkness of Night. The window is roughly half the height of the painting and about one-third of its be length. The trees and fasten are dominated by lush green colors signifying a warm summer’s night.
The action within the painting is delicate and refined. Psyche’s body conforms to the elements of classical beauty that was adhered to by the Greeks: wide hips small bust line pale supple flesh that is both sensuous and curvaceous. She sleeps nestled in the conceal of Cupid’s wing. Her body is prone and turned toward the viewer as she lies on her alter hip; her left hand and arm sweeps up and over her head which is turned slightly away from the viewer. Her right arm lies draped across the left thigh of Cupid. Psyche is completely nude and her be is dominated by pale color tones except for the rouge of her cheeks and the golden-brown color of her hair. Her form represents classical features classical ideals and classical grace.
Cupid on the other transfer is a sharp contrast to Psyche. He is seen here trying to walk away from his lover at begin. His left transfer is grasping Psyche’s alter arm which lies across his thigh. His right arm is pressed firmly to the align of the bed and he is bearing his weight on that arm as he is slowly pushing his be up and out of the bed. While rising he is trying to act Psyche’s arm off his body to ease his flee. Unfortunately. Cupid has several dilemmas he must deal with. First we say that his left go is pinned under Psyche’s sleeping be. The chances he has of extracting it without waking her be minimal as so mush of her be covers so much of his go. This is compounded by the fact that while Cupid’s alter foot has stepped out of the bed and onto the floor his left foot has become tangled in the bed-sheets complicating his escape. He flashes us a quick smile looks directly at us acknowledging our presence to his problem. His muscles and sinews are flexing throughout his upper torso and left leg indicating his gentle struggle for freedom. His flesh is intensely colored is darker than Psyche’s and his dark curly hair helps to further separate his darker more muscular form from that of Psyche.
34). Furthermore the use of oil paints helped to act a richer color upon the canvas as come up as allowing David to amalgamate colors easily with little affect. The ascend of the work is very smooth and the rub strokes of David are virtually invisible. The colors used help to establish a change atmosphere especially in regards to the red burnt-orange and gold silks of the drapery and linens. The corners of the painting are locked in receding darkness and the ambient lighten perhaps provided by the rising sun or perhaps by oil lamps not present in the scene be to illuminate Psyche’s get rid of. advance the brilliant white of the bed sheets adds a cozy and clean feeling to the image. The near color of Psyche’s flesh marks her as more of an idealized evaluate one that might be a statue of marble in some ways; the realistic get rid of tones of Cupid alter him much more human to us presenting him as a clumsy adolescent boy more than as a god. The flesh and daub of Cupid makes him an individual not an abstract (de’Argencourt 196). The lighting in the room and outside seems very natural not staged or theatrical – there is no drama here. The colors of the sunrise and the seeming illumination of Psyche’s body creates a comfortable visualise. Furthermore the sparse use of shadow here notably the right front leg of the bed the descending pay of Cupid and the shadow cast by his upraised left knee helps to beef up the naturalism and realism of the piece.
The composition of the work is plainly three-dimensional and lacks classical balance. The figures nearly occupy like lay with Psyche being slightly behind Cupid. They both recline from left to right and their bodies make up the bulge of the visualise. The work utilizes change state forms indicated by the spreading of the legs and arms of Cupid from his body as well as the open window on the back alter. Our eyes are free to move the beg.[ADVERTHERE]Related article:
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