Sunday, April 29, 2012

Miracles of St. Peter – The Brancacci Chapel


Masaccio, St. Peter Healing With His Shadow
Italian, 1426-1427
Florence, Santa Maria del Carmine, Brancacci Chapel
Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said:
"Leaders of the people and elders:
If we are being examined today
about a good deed done to a cripple,
namely, by what means he was saved,
then all of you and all the people of Israel should know
that it was in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean
whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead;
in his name this man stands before you healed.
He is the stone rejected by you, the builders,
which has become the cornerstone.
There is no salvation through anyone else,
nor is there any other name under heaven
given to the human race by which we are to be saved."
(Acts 4:8-12) First Reading for the Fourth Sunday of Easter Year B)1

Since the liturgical reforms of Vatican Council II, the Catholic Church follows a three-year cycle (Years A, B and C) of readings on Sundays (and a two year cycle on weekdays). This means that, with a very few exceptions, the readings for a given Sunday rotate from year to year. However, there is sometimes a relationship between readings over the three-year cycle. The Fourth Sunday of Easter, which occurs this year on April 29th, is a case in point. It is known as “Good Shepherd Sunday” and, in each phase of the cycle, features a Gospel reading that is drawn from different portions of Chapter 10 of the Gospel of John. This year (2012) the passage is the actual “I am the Good Shepherd” portion (John 10:11-18).

During the Easter Season, also, the first of the three weekly readings is drawn from the Acts of the Apostles. But, unlike the Gospel reading for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, the first reading varies by year within the cycle. In Year B (2012) the reading for this Fourth Sunday is a continuation of the readings from Acts that have been read at the daily Masses during the past few weeks. Acts Chapters 3, 4 and 5 focus on a series of events in the life of St. Peter and the other apostles at the very beginning of the Church.
Masaccio, View of Brancacci Chapel

During the years 1425-1427 these events from the life of St. Peter formed the basis for one of the seminal artistic projects that mark the beginning of the transition of Italian Renaissance art from the still medieval Quattrocento toward the pinnacle of the High Renaissance.

This project was the decoration of a chapel, financed by the Brancacci family, in the church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence by two artists with the first name of Thomas: Tommaso di Cristoforo Fini, known as Masolino da Panicale, and Tommaso di Ser Giovanni de Simone, better known as Masaccio. 2
Masolino, View of Brancacci Chapel

The contribution of the older artist, Masolino, is limited. He began the project, with Masaccio as his assistant, but abandoned it for other work. From 1426 Masaccio carried on alone. The majority of the work in the chapel is his. However, he too was forced to abandon his work in 1427 when he was called to work in Rome, where he died, at the early age of 27, in 1428. The final paintings were completed by Filippino Lippi much later in the century.

The subject of the Gospel reading for today (see above) is the healing of a cripple by St. Peter. The illustration of this scene in the Brancacci Chapel is the work of Masolino and it is interesting as a comparison with a similar subject (the Raising of the Son of Theophilus) by Masaccio.
Masolino, Healing of the Cripple
Italian, 1425-1426
Florence, Santa Maria del Carmine, Brancacci Chapel

Masolino, detail of Healing of the
Cripple

Masolino’s painting belongs to the still Gothic style that continued into the middle years of the 15th century. The figures are graceful and elegant, painted as though in silhouette against the background. They seem flat and the folds of their draperies are soft, graceful and more the idea of a fold than the reality of one. The clothing of the witness figures, who are dressed in contemporary, 15th century attire, is particularly telling. The emphasis is on line and pattern, not volume. Indeed, in the left of the two men, seen strolling in conversation to the right of the saints, we see the use of pattern at its most extreme.  His body is completely eradicated by the heavily patterned bell-like shape of his cloak, to the point that "he" becomes merely a patterned bell with legs and a head!

Masaccio, Raising of the Son of Theophilus and St. Peter Enthroned
Italian, 1426-1427
Florence, Santa Maria del Carmine, Brancacci Chapel
Masaccio’s work, on the other hand, seems to come from a different world. His figures are sturdy and solid, existing in three dimensions rather than two. Their obvious volume is created by the play of light and shadow. The clothing in which they are dressed falls in heavy folds. The contemporarily dressed figures in his work appear to be portraits of actual people, including Florentine civic fathers and Carmelite friars, who staffed the church in which the chapel is located.
Detail - left side group
Raising of Theophilus
Detail - center group
Raising of Theophilus
Detail - Carmelite Friars
St. Peter Enthroned
Masaccio’s work at the Brancacci Chapel forms a bridge between the still-medieval aesthetic of the early 15th century and the work of the great masters of the High Renaissance. His realistic, solid figures challenged his fellow painters to imitate and go further. For the rest of the century Florentine artists and visitors from other cities strove to incorporate these characteristics into their own work. Finally, at the end of the century it had its full flowering in the work of Raphael and Michelangelo.

1. http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/042912.cfm

2. You can pay an almost virtual visit to the Brancacci Chapel at http://www.wga.hu/tours/brancacc/index.html

© M. Duffy, 2012

Friday, April 6, 2012

Meditation on the Passion – The Man of Sorrows

Michele Giambono, Man of Sorrows Adored By Saint Francis of Assisi
Italian, ca. 1430
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art


“See, my servant shall prosper,
he shall be raised high and greatly exalted.
Even as many were amazed at him—
so marred were his features,
beyond that of mortals
his appearance, beyond that of human beings—
So shall he startle many nations,
kings shall stand speechless;
For those who have not been told shall see,
those who have not heard shall ponder it.”
(Isaiah 52:13-15)
Excerpt from the First Reading for Good Friday Liturgy of the Passion of the Lord 



Among the many images that evoke the Passion the one that is probably the most shocking to our modern eyes is that of the Man of Sorrows. In fact, even among Catholics it is now little known, having been supplanted long ago by other images, such as the Sacred Heart, or more recently, by the Divine Mercy. I confess that I, myself, had never seen it prior to my second year in graduate school and, at first sight, I found it extremely shocking. Yet, it was once one of the best known and most wide spread of all visual meditations on the Passion.






The Man of Sorrows image has many variations and relationships to other images. Interpretation of these relationships is extraordinarily complex, far too complex to deal with in one article. Consequently, I will limit myself to merely describing the most common and simplest variation.

Imago pietatis Icon (similar to those which entered Italy in the 13th Century)
Byzantine (Mount Sinai, St. Catherine's Monastery), c. 1300 (Casing Italian, c. 1380)
Rome, Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme


The image of the Man of Sorrows appears to have developed first in Byzantine art, entering Western art by about 1300, probably via Rome and Venice. 1 From that point it spread throughout the West, so that there are examples readily available from nearly every country in Europe by 1500. And it is in the West that the tremendous development in the theme took place.

At its most basic the image of the Man of Sorrows is: a half-length image of the crucified Jesus, showing His wounds. He may be shown as crowned with thorns or with the crown removed. His arms may be folded over His torso or they may be extended at His sides. Sometimes He seems to be sitting upright on his own power, sometimes His body is supported by others. In every case His wounds are visible. His head is inclined to His right.  And, most importantly, in the original image He is shown as dead, with closed eyes.




Master of the Borgo Crucifix
Italian, c. 1255-1260
London, National Gallery



Man of Sorrows
Italian, 14th Century
Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum and Fondation Corboud



Pietro Lorenzetti, Man of Sorrows
Italian, c. 1340-1345
Altenburg, Lindenau-Museum Gemäldesammlung



Naddo Ceccarelli, Man of Sorrows
Italian, ca. 1347
Vienna, Liechtenstein Museum



Sano di Pietro, Man of Sorrows
Italian, c. 1440
Dresden, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister



Among the earliest variations on the image are those works that include the Cross or sometimes just a crossbeam behind the image of the Crucified.


Niccolo di Tommasso, Man of Sorrows with the Cross
Italian, c. 1370
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters Collection


Jacobello del Bonomo, Man of Sorrows with the Cross
Italian, c. 1385-1400
London, National Gallery


Lorenzo Monaco, Man of Sorrows
Italian, c. 1415-17
Private Collection


Bartolomeo Caporali, Man of Sorrows with the Cross and Whips
Italian, c. 1475-1500
Oxford, Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology


Man of Sorrows with the Cross
From an Illustrated Vita Christi
English (Norfolk), c. 1480-1490
Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum
MS 101, fol. 95v



Cristoforo Mayorana, Man of Sorrows with the Cross
From a Book of Hours
Italian (Naples), 1483
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M 1052, fol. 102r


Follower of Perugino, Man of Sorrows with the Cross
Italian, c. 1500
Berlin, Gemäldegalerie der Staatliche Museum zu Berlin


But the most frequent image during the 14th and 15th centuries was that of the half-length figure or a bust, sometimes seen as dead, with closed eyes, but sometimes rather disturbingly awake and making eye contact with the viewer, even showing us his wounded hands and side.  These were, above all, devotional images and they appeared in every kind of medium imaginable, including illumination, wall and panel painting, sculpture, goldsmith’s work, lapidary.  In addition, the image can now be demonstrated to have spread throughout Europe.

Initially, the image of Jesus was naked above the waist, as time went on draperies were added, evoking the mocking by the Roman soldiers at the time the Crown of Thorns was pressed on His head.

Master of the Bible of Jean de Sy, Life Size Wound and Man of Sorrows
From a Book of Hours
French (Paris), c. 1370-1380
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M 90, fol. 130r
This rather startling image combines what was believed to be a life size representation of the spear wound in Christ's side with the image of the Man of Sorrows.


Giovanni Bellini, Man of Sorrows
Italian, c. 1460-1469
Milan, Museo Poldi Pezzoli

Master of Mary of Burgundy, Man of Sorrows
Flemish, c. 1480
Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett der Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Simon Marmion, Man of Sorrows
French, 1480
Strasbourg, Musédes Beaux-Arts

Anonymous Lombard Artist, Man of Sorrows
Italian, c. 1490-1500
Milan, Museo Nazionale della Scienza e Tochnologia Leonardo da Vinci

Giovanni Santi, Man of Sorrows
Italian, c. 1490
Private Collection
Israhel van Meckenem the Younger, Man of Sorrows
German, c. 1490
Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett der Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Hans Memling, Man of Sorrows
Flemish, After 1490
Esztergom, Christian Museum

Albrecht Bouts, Man of Sorrows
Dutch, c. 1500
Lyon, Musée des Beaux-Arts

Colijn de Coter, Man of Sorrows
Flemish, c. 1500
Private Collection

Jan Mostaert, Man of Sorrows
Dutch, c. 1500
Moscow, Pushkin Museum, Collection Dmitry Ivanovich Shchukin


Cristoforo Solari, Man of Sorrows
Italian, ca. 1500
Dayton (OH), Art Institute



Man of Sorrows
German, c. 1500
Paris, Musée du Louvre





Workshop of Giovanni Bellini, Man of Sorrows
Italian, c. 1510-1515
Besancon, Musée des Beaux-Arts

Simon Bening, Man of Sorrows
From the Da Costa Hours
Flemish (Bruges), c. 1510-1520
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M 399, fol. 42r


Workshop of Aelbert Bouts, Man of Sorrows
Dutch, c. 1525
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Lucas Cranach the Younger, Man of Sorrows
German, c. 1540
Bremen, Museum im Roselius-Haus

Bernardo de Mora, Man of Sorrows
Spanish, 1659
Granada, Capilla Real

However presented, The Man of Sorrows image causes us to ponder the sufferings of Jesus and evokes in us a sense of pity. Indeed, in Latin it is known as the “Imago Pietatis”, in French, it is the “Christ du pitié”, in German the “Schmerzensmann”. This fits into what we know of some emotional forms of medieval piety and it enjoyed a long life from its introduction till around 1600, when its basic form faded. However, it had a strong influence on other images, which have continued, even into the modern world. It affected, among others: the Ecce Homo, Deposition, Lamentation and Burial images, and other images that are no longer so much with us, such as the Dead Christ supported by saints and angels and images of the Holy Face. 

In a more subtle way, the identification of the Dead Jesus with Isaiah’s Suffering Servant through the image of the Man of Sorrows has influenced the wider culture, beyond Catholicism. One example is found in the music of Georg Friedrich Handel’s “Messiah”.  Below is a recording by the great English mezzo-soprano, Sarah Connolly.



© M. Duffy, 2012 and 2018


Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
___________________________________

1. Passion in Venice: Crivelli to Tintoretto and Veronese, The Man of Sorrows in Venetian Art, edited by Catherine Puglisi and William Barcham, New York and London, Museum of Biblical Art in association with D. Giles Limited, p. 10. This book is the exhibition catalog for the exhibition “Passion in Venice: Crivelli to Tintoretto and Veronese” at the Museum of Biblical Art, New York from February 11 to June 12, 2011. In addition to the catalog entries for the works in the exhibition, the book includes informative essays on the Man of Sorrows image, primarily in Venice and the Veneto (the area of mainland Italy traditionally controlled by Venice). This is, however, merely a minute slice of the enormous diversity and geographic spread of the image.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Holy Thursday


Jesus Washes the Feet of His Disciples
from Gospel Book of Otto III
German (Reichenau), ca. 1000
Munich, Bayerisches Staatsbibliothek
MS CLM 4453






Although, in this Holy Week, I am writing about visual references to the Passion of Christ, I would not want to forget that, integral to the final days of His life are the events of the first night of Passover, which we commemorate tonight.


On that last night before He died, Jesus gave two incalculable gifts to the future:  His model of service and His Body and Blood. 








He modeled the kind of service that He wishes us to give to each other and to the world by washing the feet of His disciples.








And He gave His Body and Blood for all times in the first Eucharist.

Domenico Ghirlandaio, The Last Supper
Italian, ca. 1486
Florence, Convento di San Marco
See also my other essays on these subjects: Holy Thursday With Giotto -- Washing Feet
 and Corpus Christi -- Last Supper vs. Institution of the Eucharist

In the liturgy for Holy Thursday, the Church commemorates all three subjects and ends at Gethsemene.

Meditation on the Passion – The Ecce Homo

Maarten van Heemskerck, Ecce Homo
Central panel of a triptych
Dutch, c. 1559-1560
Haarlem, Frans Halsmuseum

"Once more Pilate went out and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you,
so that you may know that I find no guilt in him.”
So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak.
And he said to them, “Behold, the man!"
(John 1:4-5)
 Excerpt from the Passion of Jesus Christ According to John


In the Latin Vulgate the final sentence in the excerpt from John, above, reads “Et dicit eis, “Ecce homo!” It is from these final words that another type of image, which meditates on the Passion of Christ, takes its name. This is the image known as “Ecce Homo”, which occurs in at least two variations.



The first, and most obvious, is an image that describes the Gospel event. Jesus and Pilate appear together, frequently on a balcony or terrace, in front of a group or crowd of people. Jesus wears the crown of thorns and a red cloak (not usually a purple one). Sometimes He is shown with a reed that appears to have been thrust into his manacled hands, so that one cannot say that He is actually holding it. He often appears highly bloodied from the scourging.



The second type of Ecce Homo image is more intimate.  It brings the viewer into the position of someone standing in front of Christ.  We become Pilate or a soldier or a member of the crowd.  This image should be distinguished from the Man of Sorrows image, to which it has some resemblance and with which it is frequently confused, even bey artists.  


Although some Ecce Homo images are devotional, most are narrative.  The Jesus depicted in them is still very much alive.  Images of the Man of Sorrows are always devotional and the Jesus depicted in them is, with very few early exceptions, is always dead.



Examples of each type abound, especially in Northern Europe.   



The Narrative Image


Rambures Master, Ecce Homo
From a Book of Hours
French, c. 1455-1465
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M 194, fol. 143r




Guillaume Hugueniot, Ecce Homo
From the  Hours of Pierre de Bosredont
Flemish, c. 1460-1475
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS G 55, fol. 35r




Jean Colombe and Workshop, Ecce Homo
From a Book of Hours
French (Bourges), c. 1475-1485
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M 330, fol. 39r





Hieronymous Bosch, Ecce Homo
Dutch, c. 1490
Frankfurt-am-Main, Städel Museum




Master of the Dark Eyes, Ecce Homo
From a Book of Hours
Dutch, c.1490
The Hague, Koninklijk Bibliotheek
MS KB 76 G 9, fol.62v




Benedetto di Silvestro, Ecce Homo
From a Vita Christi
Italian, c. 1500-1550
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M 508, fol. 28r




Ecce Homo
From a Book of Hours
Dutch (Utrecht), c. 1500-1510
New York, Pierpont Morgan Libary
MS M 166, fol. 34v



Ecce Homo
From the Ottheinrich-Bibel
German (Regensburg), 16th Century
Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
MS BSB Cgm 8010 (5), fol. 139r





Attributed to the Workshop of Giovanni della Robbia, Ecce Homo
Italian, c. 1500-1516
San Vivaldo, Sacro Monte di San Vivaldo








Hans Holbein the Elder, Ecce Homo
German, 1502
Munich, Bayerisches Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek






Master of James IV of Scotland, Ecce Homo
From the Spinola Hours
Flemish (Bruges), c. 1510-1520
Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum
MS Ludwig IX 18, fol. 136r






Jan Joest von Kalkar, Ecce Homo
Dutch, 1508
Kalkar, Catholic Parish of Saint Nicholas





Adriaen van Overbeke, Ecce Homo
Flemish, c. 1510-1529
Private Collection




Master of the Bruges Passion Scenes, Ecce Homo
Flemish, c. 1510
London, National Gallery




Hans Schäufelein, Ecce Homo
German, 1517
Munich, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek




Quentin Massys, Ecce Homo
Flemish, c. 1518-1520
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado




Simon Bening, Ecce Homo
From the Prayer Book of Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg
Flemish (Bruges), c. 1525-30
Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum
MS Ludwig IX 19, fol. 164v




Titian, Ecce Homo
Italian, 1543
Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum




Ecce Homo Window
German, c. 1550
London, Victoria and Albert Museum





Tintoretto, Ecce Homo
Italian, c. 1566-1567
Venice, Scuola Grande di San Rocco
This rather unusual image of the scene suggests that Jesus was so exhausted from the scourging he had received that he was unable to stand. Alternatively, one might say that Pilate is hoping to gain the sympathy of the crowd by presenting Jesus in this way. It seems open to interpretation.




Attributed to Hans Rottenhammer the Elder, Ecce Homo
German, 1599
Munich, Cathedral of Our Lady




Morazzone Workshop, Ecce Homo
Italian, c. 1609-1613
Varallo, Sacro Monte, Ecce Homo Chapel
This image is an unusual combination of painting and sculpture that attempts to bring the scene to life for the viewer.





After Jacques Callot, Ecce Homo
French, First Half of 17th Century
Munich, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek



Rembrandt van Rijn, Ecce Homo
Dutch, c. 1634
London, National Gallery



Mattia Preti, Ecce Homo
Italian, Second Half of the 17th Century
Chantilly, Musée Condé




Adriaen van der Werff, Ecce Homo
Dutch, 1698
Munich, Bayerisches Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek




Giambattista Tiepolo, Ecce Homo
Italian, 1760
Paris, Musée du Louvre




James Tissot, Ecce Homo
French, c. 1886-1894
New York, Brooklyn Museum




Antonio Ciseri, Ecce Homo
Italian, 1891
Florence, Palazzo Pitti, Galleria dell'Arte Moderna




By the end of the nineteenth century this type of image had become highly archaeological in tone.





The Devotional Image

Another, devotional type of image is more intimate. It shows a usually half-length Christ surrounded by mocking faces placed closer in the visual plane to us. Pilate may or may not be there. Following its introduction in the later medieval period, influenced no doubt by the growing popularity of the Man of Sorrows image, it gradually became the dominant image of the Ecce Homo subject in western European art.





Jean Pichore, Ecce Homo
From The Poncher Hours
French (Paris), c. 1500
Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum
MS 109, fol. 194r






Andrea Mantegna, Ecce Homo
Italian, c. 1500
Paris, Musée Jacquemart-Andre





Bernardino Luini, Ecce Homo
Italian, c. 1515-1516
Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz Museum and Foundation Corboud




Attributed to Jan Mostaert, Ecce Rex Vester
Flemish, c. 1525
Brighton (UK), Brighton and Hove Museums
This image is unusual in several ways, being similar to an image of the Man of Sorrows with instruments of the Passion, but with the unusual label presented as if attached to the front of Christ's robe. This label reads "Ecce Rex Vester" ("Behold Your King") which echoes both the words used by Pilate in both the Gospels of Saint Mark (Mark 15:9 and 13) and Saint John (John 19:14, a few passages following the words "Ecce homo") when presenting Jesus to the crowd and the sign which all four Gospels suggest was placed at the top of Jesus' cross.





Correggio, Ecce Homo
Italian, c. 1525-1530
London, National Gallery




Quentin Massys, Ecce Homo
Flemish, 1526
Venice, Palazzo Ducale



Hans Hoffmann, Ecce Homo
German, c. 1580
Private Collection




Giovanni Antonio Galli, Il Spadarino, Ecce Homo
Italian, c. 1600-1625
Private Collection




Caravaggio, Ecce Homo
Italian, c. 1605
Genoa, Galleria di Palazzo Bianco




Il Cigoli, Ecce Homo
Italian, 1607
Florence, Palazzo Pitti




Anthony van Dyck, Ecce Homo
Flemish, c. 1625-1626
Birmingham (UK), Barber Institute of Fine Arts




Gioachino Assereto, Ecce Homo
Italian, c. 1640-1647
Private Collection




Juan Martin Cabezalero, Ecce Homo
Spanish, c. 1660-1672
Private Collection




Attributed to Johann Ulrich Mayr, Ecce Homo
German, c. 1670-1680
Augsburg, Lutheran Church of the Holy Cross




Ecce Homo
German, c. 1700
Regensburg, Church of Saint Blaise




Anton Raphael Mengs, Ecce Homo
German, c. 1777-1779
Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes



Eugene Delacroix, Ecce Homo
French, c. 1850
Private Collection


This second group of images places us in the position of the crowd howling "Crucify Him!" and invites us to consider the causes and effects of the Passion, which are our own sins and weaknesses.

© M. Duffy, 2012. Additional and updated images added 2023 and 2024.


Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.