How can an artwork be ugly in some periods and strikingly beautiful in others?
-
- Swabian “Portrait of a Woman of the Hofer Family”, about 1470, Oil on silver fir – The National Gallery, London © The National Gallery, London
-
- Jan Gossaert (active 1503; died 1532), “A Man holding a Glove”, about 1530 2, Oil on oak. The National Gallery, London © The National Gallery, London
-
- Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/8 1543), “Jean de Dinteville and Georges de Selve (‘The Ambassadors’)”, 1533, Oil on oak, The National Gallery, London © The National Gallery, London
-
- Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472 1553), “Charity”, 1537 50, Oil on beech. The National Gallery, London © The National Gallery, London
-
- Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472 1553), “Cupid complaining to Venus”, about 1525. Oil on wood. The National Gallery, London © The National Gallery, London
-
- Albrecht Dürer (1471 – 1528),”Adam and Eve”, 1504, Engraving, 25.2 x 19.3 cm © The British Museum, London
There are some shows which are able to maintain the rigor of scientific studies while offering to the general public an excellent insights on art.
One of these exhibitions is now on at the National Gallery, London, until 11 May, titled “Strange Beauty: Masters of the German Renaissance“. It is a major show that offers visitors great masterpieces and that seeks to stimulate reflection on the changing taste of the public throughout the centuries. In short, it is an attempt to show how a work can be considered bad in some periods and, in contrast, strikingly beautiful in other ones.
Amongst the pieces on display we find, to name just a few, the drawing of “An Elderly Woman with Clasped Hands” by Matthias Grünewald, the renowned Holbein miniature of “Anne of Cleves” and “Portrait of Young Man with a Rosari” by Hans Baldung Grien, “Christ taking Leave of his Mother” by Albrecht Altdorfer, “Cupid complaining to Venus” by Lucas Cranach the Elder, and a collection of fine drawings and prints by Holbein, Dürer and Altdorfer: all works that today we consider masterpieces haven’t always enjoyed the right appreciation from critics and from the public. While highly praised during the 16th century, German Renaissance art was perceived with ambiguous feelings in the last two centuries.
The exhibition, then, is a further confirmation of the fact that every work is like a hardware: in order for it to function, it needs the right software. Furthermore, it highlights how the interpretation of a painting of the past is always the result of a complex system of information related to the context in which the work was produced and linked to the cultural environment in which the visitor lives.
July 18, 2015
