Harp Guitar Larson Bas 1920

I had never seen or heard of a harp guitar until I saw this lovly one at the MFA. Apparently, they have been around for over two centuries and have a long fan list that includes the likes of Jimmy Page.

I was curious about how it sounded, so I youtubed it like anyone would. Here is a Link for you. It's a nice sounding instrument. I am sad it's not used more.

Dore's Maenads in a Wood

Okay, yesterday I mentioned this bas-relief when I was talking about the painting of Summer. Housed in the same museum (MFA Boston) this is tucked neatly in a hall surrounded by a glass case. Right across the hall from a bust of Dante and Virgil.

Maenads are the worshippers of Dionysus (Bacchus) and their name literally means "the raving ones". Given their ecstatic frenzy from dancing and drinking. they are said to lose all self control and engage in wild sex and hunt down animals and men to tear apart with their bare hands and devour raw.

Me thinks this might be a *smiiiiidge* exaggerated. Possibly.

I could get into the sexual politics of vilifying women who behave against societal codes of submissiveness, but that is for another blog. Back to the art.

Hey, this pic is almost good! Yay me!

This sculpture feature deliciously fleshy nubile young women on a very dangerous precipice. Even though the title says "in a wood", it seems they have come to the end of the wood and are now looking over a cliff. Metaphor for the problems of such worship perhaps? Dore seems to have a fondness of masses of flesh piled on top of each other. Here the maenads, still in ecstatic state, dance and crawl around the central figure the only solid and sober seeming figure of the group. All are blissfully unaware of the danger before them.

The majority of the piece is actually plain "rock" only the upper portion is the figures themselves. Perhaps Dore meant for the piece to be seen from much further below than the museum has it to emphasis the dangerous pursuit of pleasure of the drunken followers of Dionysus.

Dore's Summer

I always say the best way to view and understand art is to gauge the emotional reaction you have to the art in question. I can tell you the backgrounds of the artists. I can tell you about symbols the artist used. I can tell you what it means to me but ultimately your reaction to it is the key to understanding the piece.

In this review, I have to say i was taken by surprise and awestruck by this painting.  It hangs in the delicious Museum of Fine Arts in Boston MA. When I lived there I had the privilege of seeing it often.
Paul Gustave Dore was a french artist. He was born January 6 1832 and died January 23 1883. He worked primarily as an engraver, his most well known work was the illustrations for the bible and the divine comedy. Which is how I was introduced to his work.  He was also a gifted sculpture. There is a bas relief housed in the MFA Boston that I am going to review soon.

Another example of my mad photography skills xD

This work is awe inspiring not because of the size (damn thing is huge) it the content. In the painting the startling element is the scythe. It seems out of place. Around it is vibrant lush life, but it is still too early for harvest. So the scythe lies there, impotent. However, death is patient. it will wait. it will be calm  for death knows there are cycles and seasons to everything. For now life triumphs.

All in all, it seems to me the overall message is one of hope.

St. Cecilia by Bernardo Cavallino

Bernardo Cavallino was born in Naples in 1616 and is thought to have died of the plague somewhere around 1656. Almost nothing is known of his background or training and it is hard to pinpoint if the many paintings attributed to him are his as less than 10 are signed. His work is noted for it's intense expressive religious allegory. The most famous example is probably the Blessed Virgin.

This painting however, is St. Cecilia. Patron saint of musicians and church music because it is said she sang to God as she died, which is impressive after a botched beheading.
Not to mention them trying to steam her to death. Why is the martyrs always seemed to get the horrific deaths? Don't just shoot them or anything. (Ooooo sorry St. Sebastian)

My crappy photo taken this year at the MFA. The security guard noticed my delight when I found her and tried to see what the hell I was looking at, lol.

This painting is probably one of my most favorite in the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. (Here on out known as the MFA). You can see my crummy photo here. Since the MFA hasn't completed their renovations they have her tucked away in a temporary gallery hiiiiiiiiiiigh up on the wall. I took it with max zoom. Fortunately, I was able to find on the MFA website a professional photo for your enjoyment.

This is the MFA's professional pic, I found it at  http://educators.mfa.org/galleries/slideshow/1352

What strikes me so about this work is the composition. The blood red scarf flowing around her obviously aloft on the holy energy her music is producing as she channels Gods favor. Wrapping around her, it continuously moves you back to her serene and beautiful face.

Without the scarf, this could be called "Young Girl Playing the Violin" it would be a typical genre piece and like many others that fade into historical obscurity. But this is no ordinary young girl. This is a holy woman. God's chosen saint. A martyr. She plays music for the soul. Even the light that pours on her is from above and left, not humble earthly light, as from a candle but God's own light.
St. Cecilia playing her violin is a holy act and we are privileged to witness the ritual.