Art and life
August 9: Wedneday
Today we went to the art history, or Kunsthistorisches, museum.
The Kunsthistorisches Museum is located in the Maria-Theresien-Platz, part of the Museum Quarter of Vienna - one of the oldest parts of the city. It was the first place we visited as a class when we arrived, and it's only half a dozen blocks or so from our apartments.
You can see it in the picture below (not taken by me, by the way). In the center of the Maria-Theresien-Platz is that big green statue of Maria Theresia herself. Pictured behind her statue is the art history museum; behind the photographer is the Natural History Museum, build at the same time (mid-1800s).
Above: One of my roommates, Jared, and I accidently making an alright rap album cover.
History in Pictures
It would be difficult for me to describe in detail everything we saw in the museum (which was mostly early modern and romantic artwork, stuff from the 1500s-1600s). But there were a few of note that I'd like to talk mention.
Miracles of St. Ignatius
The most visually impressive room in the entire Kunstshistoriches Museum, to me, was the great hall filled with Peter Paul Rubens paintings. Rubens was the epitome of Catholic Baroque, and the floor-to-ceiling paintings were particularly stunning to see in person; the picture doesn't do it justice.
One of these massive paintings was the one on the left, depicting St. Ignatius (obviously in gold) delivering an exorcism. The look of contorted terror and fury on the woman's face is a shock to the eyes. Every single person in the painting is a part of the experience. Go, St. Iggy! Cure this evil woman of her evil womanly actions!
But seriously, it's an amazing painting. Stunning. It takes you a moment to even notice the dark, shadowy forms to the left - the demons, leaving the woman's form after banishment. Rubens was the go-to Counter-Reformation painter, and I can see why such grand imagery in church would make Catholics appreciate and adore their church more.
There were so many giant Peter Paul Rubens paintings in this one room that it was a wonder to me how he could paint out so many in his lifetime. Who does he think he is, the Stephen King of Renaissance painting?!
Well, as I learned in the museum he's actually more like the Robert Pattinson of Renaissance panting, because much of his work was ghost-painted.
See, Rubens had an entire team of young painters at his side, doing much of his work for him. Now, he still had the vision for the paintings - he would create minituarized versions of the paintings beforehand, with all the details basically in place. But it would be up to all his unknown apprentices to finish the job. I don't know how to feel about that. But I think his reply to anything I would say would be something along the lines of "Only God can judge me."
You know, with a name that sounds like "Peter Paul and Mary," I should have expected for the works of Peter Paul Rubens to have been done by multiple people banding together...
Book-Art?
One of the more interesting pieces is to the right (and sorry for the unexpectedly poor picture quality). What is it? Well, it's sort of a series of stories - Bible stories. In the center, if you really squint, you can see Christ's crucifixion. All the scenes are covered by a sort of word-bubble referencing what is happening, with a note of where in the Bible the event happens.
This is Protestant art, pure and simple. Nothing too flashy. Just pictures and information. See, Protestantism was characterized by its encouragement of people to read their own Bible - something Catholics never did.
Before the Reformation, the Bible was a rather exclusive book, only read by priests - who of course had to read it in Latin. The coming of Luther's religious revolution coincided with the spread of the printing press, and lo and behold, Protestantism became a religion of readers. It was also more austere - less likely to approve of the bright, fanciful icons of the Catholic faith. Painters like Rubens would epitomize the Catholic obsession with the dramatic and flashy in their art.
But this book-art is cool too. It seems like a convenient way to read and understand Bible stories - like church and entertainment all in one. And who can look at this and not think, Hey, did 17th century Protestants invent the freaking comic book?!
Portrait of Marie Antoinette
I assume by this point we all know that "Let them eat cake" is a complete fabrication.
But here's something I didn't know - or at least keep forgetting: Marie Antoinette was sister to the Holy Roman Emperor - she was an Austrian Hapsburg! Little wonder that Austria was so peeved at the thought of her incarcerated - and probably more peeved when her head rolled (Bless her soul).
Side note: In pre-revolution French cartoons, Marie was depicted as an ostrich. Why? Because the French word for Ostritch, autruche, looks so much like the word for Austrian, autrichien. Crafty!
Here's something else I can't help but note: see the bust at top-right? That's her husband, Louis XVI. I don't know if it's a typical habit for paintings of queens to include their kings in them - I don't see that in paintings of Maria Theresia. It's easy to overanlyze art, but it does give me the vibe of patriarchy. Both she and the bust of her husband are looking out in the same direction, as if he is saying that "everything you look over, I look over, too."
Just a stray thought of mine, though.
A bear with a gun
What? It's a bear with a gun, what do you expect?!
And it has a little hat too! Ahhh!
