Art is the Solution

Happy April Fools’ Day! To celebrate the silliest holiday, I’ve decided to share some of the weirdest and most bizarre paintings I’ve encountered in the history of art.   Truth Coming Out of Her Well Source: Wikimedia Commons 1. Truth Coming Out of Her Well by Jean-Léon Gérôme All of the paintings I’m going to talk about today are weird; however, I have to say that this painting is particularly strange. Truth Coming Out of Her Well is an allegorical paintings that depicts truth as a naked woman climbing out of a well. The piece is based on a quote from the philosopher Democritus: "Of truth we know nothing, for truth is in a well." In Gérôme’s vision of the saying, Truth carries a whip “to chastise mankind.” The image of a naked woman climbing out of a well is pretty absurd on its own, but her ridiculous expression is what really makes this painting so goofy. I mean, look at that face, it’s so memeable! Saint Lucy Source: Wikimedia Commons 2. Saint Lucy by Domenico Beccafumi ...

A few months ago, I wrote a blog post entitled “ Five Female Artists You Should Know .” I enjoyed writing the post, but it didn’t give me nearly enough space to talk about all the female artists I wanted to mention. So, today, I’m going to give you five more! The world of art is vast and varied. However, in almost every culture around the world, female artists have been undervalued or dismissed at some point in history. That being said, female artists have persisted in creating amazing art throughout the ages, and we’re going to continue discussing that today. Lavinia Fontana - Lavinia Fontana was one of great Italian mannerists of the sixteenth century and also happens to be one of the first Western, female artists with a well-documented career (there, of course, were many female artists before the sixteenth century, but their work was often anonymous or misattributed). She was (and is) quite famous in her home city of Bologna and was much in demand as a portrait artist as well as a ...

Christ with the Symbols of the Passion Source: Wikimedia Commons Among the painters of the Mannerist movement, Lavinia Fontana is one of the finest. The Mannerist movement was a rather strange period in art; it was a rejection against the neat and orderly Renaissance style in favor of something much stranger. Mannerist art is full of unusual compositional choices, color, and proportions. Although she is not as famous as her male counterparts these days, Fontana’s work demonstrates incredible skill and, more importantly, an emotional intelligence that allowed her to create paintings that had a psychological impact on viewers. Christ with the Symbols of the Passion is one of her early paintings, and it aptly demonstrates this interest in emotion. Like many painters of her time, Fontana followed the Counter-Reformation dictates that the Catholic Church put forward in response to the Protestant reformation. Following the rise of Protestantism, the Catholic Church sought out art that in...

Noli me Tangere Source: Arthive.com In this time of social distancing, I thought I’d bring you another painting from the mannerist movement: Noli me Tangere by Lavinia Fontana. Noli me Tangere translates to Touch me Not ; it refers to a biblical scene in the Gospel of John in which Mary Magdalene encounters Christ after his resurrection. Jesus tells Mary Magdalene not to touch him, implying that he is now separate from the corporal world. Fontana’s interpretation of this scene is lush and colorful, featuring warm, jewel-toned colors. The figures of Mary Magdalene and Christ dominate the foreground, while the two other Marys arrive at the tomb to meet the angel who tells them that Jesus has been resurrected. Although this scene has been reproduced many times in the history of Western art, Fontana’s painting is unusually warm and tender in comparison to other depictions of the same moment, which usually have a more formal air. Christ stands in a casual pose; his body forms an S sha...

Virgin Adoring the Sleeping Christ Child Source: Museum of Fine Arts Boston Today, I want to return to talking about the Mannerist movement. As I explained last month, Mannerism was a style that emerged in the as a reaction against the Renaissance obsession with proportionality and naturalism. Mannerism is typically characterized by purposeful distortion of the human form and a general sense of artificiality combined with artistic extravagance. Mannerism is a truly odd style, which is one of the reasons mannerist paintings are so visually interesting. Lavinia Fontana was one of great Italian mannerists of the sixteenth century and also happens to be one of the first Western, female artists with a well-documented career (there, of course, were many female artists before the sixteenth century, but their work was often anonymous or misattributed). At only six inches long Virgin Adoring the Sleeping Christ Child is one of Fontana's smallest paintings; however, it holds several...