Lord Leighton is one of my personal gods. I love his art – so I was pretty excited to hear that his work would be on display at the Villa Stuck here in Munich.
What an disappointment.
Only a few paintings came to Munich – it was mostly sketches and a few sculptors.
Bah!
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1. Click player below to start the music. 2. Click the image above to dive into the art. 3. Study for three minutes this great piece of art. |
The Story of Elijah is a huge epic – for Jews, Christians and Muslims alike. He has raised the dead and brought fire from haven. Quite a religious superman. But he had his weak moments too.
He challenged King Ahab and Queen Jezebel of Israel to a contest – and was promptly forced to flee their anger. As usual for prophets in the region he was stranded in the desolate wilderness with hardly enough food and water. He has a harsh time ahead of him (from Wikipedia):
Elijah travels, for forty days and forty nights, to Mount Horeb and seeks shelter in a cave. God again speaks to Elijah (1 Kings 19:9): “What doest thou here, Elijah?” Elijah lays out all his complaints and his despair. Up until this time Elijah has only the word of God to guide him, but now he is told to go outside the cave and “stand before the Lord.” A terrible wind passes, but God is not in the wind. A great earthquake shakes the mountain, but God is not in the earthquake. Then a fire passes the mountain, but God is not in the fire. Then a “still small voice” comes to Elijah and asks again, “What doest thou here, Elijah?” Elijah responds again with his complaints and his sense of hopelessness.
In the scene above we see an Angel bringing supplies to the sleeping Elijah.
Lord Leighton has this keen sense for drama and posture for his scenes. He knows how to place his actors for full effect. Too bad he never made movies – I am sure he would have been a great director for something like Cleopatra or Gone with the Wind.
Daedalus and Icarus are getting ready to escape the evil king Minos with their newly built wings. Imprisoned in a high tower of the royal palace they get ready to fly away. They are excited, they are nervous. Will they be discovered before they are ready? Will it work? Can they escape? Or will they plunge to death?
A final deep breath and they jump down …
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1. Click player below to start the music. 2. Click the image to dive into the art. 3. Study for three minutes this great piece of art and all the drama. |
This is one of the most iconic images of the series: the cranky and bend father preparing the young and beautiful son for the escape. Note the wind in the ropes – and especially the black rope behind Icarus as a bad omen of what’s to come.
I also like that Leighton has made some effort to present the Greek theme with the statue in the background as well as including a high place for a better takeoff.
Part of the Art Motive Series: "The Story of Daedalus and Icarus"
Apart from the nice Lady – all our psyches need to cleaned and relaxed in a steamy bath from time to time. Your psyche – like your body – needs care and proper maintenance. And make sure not to feed your many any crap that comes around – like your stomach it won’t digest bad mental food properly.