my etcetera

On the last day of 2009, we went to Dulwich Picture Gallery. Founded in 1811, it is England’s first public art gallery. Today, Dulwich is an affluent neighbourhood in the south of London; an area which had it not been so cold, we would have probably enjoyed more.

The idea of the gallery is to showcase works of the masters “for the inspection of the public”. The permanent exhibition consists of some remarkable works by painters such as Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Murillo, Poussin, Watteau, Gainsborough, Rubens, Tiepolo and Canaletto. We also went to the special exhibition, “Drawing Attention”, which includes drawings and watercolours by Picasso, Matisse, Van Gogh, Turner, Rembrandt and more.

Below you will find some pictures of my favourites. The descriptions are from the gallery.

Batolome Esteban MURILLO’s “Three Boys”

This painting [...] shows Murillo’s interest in children. Murillo was the youngest of fourteen children, and had nine of his own. His sons and his black slave Juan could have posed for this group. Certainly, these plump and happy urchins inhabit a different world to the harsh and the many street children in Serville. The black boy, distinguished by the shoes he wears as the best off in the trio, is probably employed as a water carrier — the danger here is not so much hunger, as dereliction of duty.

Batolome Esteban MURILLO’s “Invitation to the Game of Argolla”

These two beautifully-characterised boys may represent Industry (the boy with the jug) and Idleness. The seated boy, who has been playing argolla (like a simple form of croquet), is tempting his friend to join him in this frivolous pastime, possibly with an eye to acquiring his food. There is certainly no doubt that the little dog’s hopes lie in that direction.

William Hazlitt wrote of this painting “The merit of these two faces consists in the absolute and unadorned truth in their expression… Their expressions are almost entirely animal.” John Ruskin, twenty years later, reacted quite different; for him, these “repulsive and wicked children” showed Murillo’s “mere delight in foulness“.

Nicolas POUSSIN’s “Rinaldo and Armida”

The subject is from Torquato Tasso’s epic poem, Gerusalemme Liberata, first published in 1851, which tells of the liberation of Jerusalem during the first Crusade. Rinaldo, the Christian hero, has been lured to sleep by magic powers of Armida, the Saracen heroine. Just as she is about to kill him, she is overwhelmed by his beauty, and love (in this case personified in the form of Cupid) stays her hand.

Sebastiano RICCI’s “The Fall of the Rebel Angels”

As the rebels are driven from heavens by St. Michael, they acquire demonic features — angelic wings become more like bats’ wings.

Thomas GAINSBOROUGH’s “Mrs Moody and her Children”

Elizabeth Johnson was the first wife of Samuel Gainsborough. She died, aged 26, in December 1782 leaving two sons, Samuel, then twenty months old, and Thomas, eight months. Thomas inherited this portrait and left it to the Gallery.

The painting is typical of Gainsborough’s late manner, where glamourous women walk through sketchy landscapes in superb costumes. Dated c. 1778-82 the boys seem older than their ages at the time of their mother’s death. X-rays confirm that they were added later — originally she was on her own, toying with her pearls. The two shadowy feet peeping from under her skirts show the changes Gainsborough made to accommodate the new composition.

Pieter BOEL’s “Head of a Hound”

This hound has always startled with its realism and textual brilliance. Its recent conservation — a simple clean, and a little structural consolidation — makes him seem ready to leap from the canvas.

Cornelis de VOS’s “Portrait of a Woman”

Until 1880, this picture was catalogued as a portrait by Rubens of his mother. The attribution to De Vos, who worked with Rubens on some projects, is more recent, but generally accepted. The portrait is tentatively dated to c. 1630. If that is the case, then this formidable lady would be, as perhaps befits her age, rather out of fashion — she has clung to the uncomfortable starched ruff and stiff stomacher of the previous generation.

THE BRITISH SCHOOL (1560), “The Judd Marriage”

The skull, over which the couple’s hands meet, and the candle, are references to the transcience of life, as — rather more obviously — is the corpse. The arms by the man’s head have been identified as those of the Judd family, who seem to have been in the wool trade; a woolpack sits on either side of the candle. The bride, from her coat-of-arms, may tentatively be identified as one of the daughters of Walter Cromwell — Joan or Anne.

Stephen Poyntz DENNING’s “Victoria, aged Four”

Denning was Keeper of the Gallery from 1821 – 1864. Bought in 1891, this image of the ‘old Queen’ in her distant childhood rapidly became one of the most popular images in the Gallery.

PIETER Coecke van Aelst’s “The Fall of Man”

We know this story too well. (This is T’s own description.)

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