In order to keep things simple, I'll just call them Garlands A, B and C.
 |
| The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin | Fall 2009 |
 |
| click to enlarge | I Maestri del Colore: Mantegna | Alberto Martini |
 |
| click to enlarge |
 |
| The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin | Fall 2009 |
 |
| click to enlarge | I Maestri del Colore: Mantegna | Alberto Martini |
They look like this enlarged.
 |
| click to enlarge |
This is Garland B completed. I've added some extra vegetables at the lower right so that the weight of the garland is evenly balanced.
Now, if you've been keeping track, you know that I've run out of garlands to borrow from Andrea Mantegna! So it's time to invent my own Garland C, below.
Now, if you've been keeping track, you know that I've run out of garlands to borrow from Andrea Mantegna! So it's time to invent my own Garland C, below.
 |
| click to enlarge |
Of course you know that the Pompeians never knew corn, or as others call it, maize. But as I am my own client, I'm free to take some artistic license, and I've surely done so here!
The Pompeii Room as it appears today. In the photo above, I haven't added the garland's hooks and ribbon ties, and yet the garland defies the Law of Gravity!
 |
| click to enlarge |
Next week I'll be on a little expedition to gather further inspiration and reference for the Pompeii Room (but sadly, I won't be traveling to Pompeii). I hope you'll come along with me on the trip!
.
Hello Mark,
ReplyDeleteWe are finding great interest in researching Andrea Mantegna, all inspired through your posts, and his influence on Renaissance Art and other artists of the time. As no less a person than Leonardo da Vinci seems to have been entranced by his garlands, you certainly seem to have chosen the perfect role model for your project!
With the latest garlands in place, including your own design of which surely Mantegna himself would have been proud, your room is certainly approaching a fully furnished look. The corn on the cob motif looks particularly fine. A great use of artistic licence!
And, what of the floor to the Pompeii Room. Will that also be an homage to Mantegna in the form of a painted Persian carpet? There is no end of possibilities!
Hello, Jane and Lance,
DeleteI'm so glad that you have been prompted to delve into the work of Andrea Mantegna! While he was certainly honored in his own lifetime, artists of the later Renaissance now outshine him, but Mantegna really was the standard towards which so many later artists strived. His visual vocabulary reveals to me a man of wide intellect, great taste, devotion to organization and detail, appreciation of history, and at times, even humor.
There is currently a gray carpet on the floor, and — having some good Swiss blood in me — I will want to get a little more use out of it! But I do like the idea of the painted Persian carpet!
Things that I have yet to consider are lighting (I will eventually get rid of the track-lights), a more appropriate window covering, and a treatment for the kitchen doorway (looking at an electric range breaks the Pompeian spell!).
Dear Mark,
ReplyDeleteAre those nasturtium leaves next to the corn cob?
As with Jane and Lance, I too find myself researching Mantegna. HIs work has a richness that I think would have impressed the old Pompeiians. \
Where are going for your research?
Bye for now,
Kirk
Dear Kirk,
DeleteYou are a keen observer, besides being a gentleman and a scholar — yes, those are nasturtium leaves.
I'm glad you're enjoying Mantegna! One of his earliest frescoes depicted saints staggered in natural poses (as opposed to being in a formal row), and it was actually a daring artistic innovation.
I'm going to a major American museum, in a city that has a nickname that starts with "G."
Dear Mark - It is interesting that you mentioned the fact that the Romans never ate corn, I believe that it was an unknown food source in Europe generally at that time and that Columbus actually discovered it in Mexico. It is such a staple today that we tend to forget. The corn or maize adds your own unique touch and a nod to your own heritage.
ReplyDeleteIt is all coming along very nicely, and each week the extra touches are very interesting to see.
Dear Rosemary,
DeleteClose friends know that I think of my grandfather every time I eat corn on the cob. In his time, the corn of Switzerland was so inferior that it was fed only to cattle. When he came to the United States and was served corn on the cob, he waited to see if others would eat, lest he was being made fun of.
In Europe during the time of your Grandfather it was considered to be cattle food. H's father, a farmer, fed it to his cows, and refused to eat it if he was visiting us.
DeleteI can understand that. As it turned out, my grandfather quickly fell in love with corn on the cob, and throughout my childhood, every family dinner at my grandparents' always included it.
DeleteHello Mark, I really like your fruit and vegetable garlands. They to a degree suggest cornucopias, and I love the ears of corn. Also, there is more than a touch of Arcimboldo about them, although these don't resolve themselves into anything.
ReplyDelete--Jim
Hello, Jim,
DeleteI had not thought of Arcimboldo, but I've always enjoyed looking at his work, and I appreciate his singular vision. In fact I've always been intrigued by artists who have found a particular style of their own, one with which their name becomes synonymous.
At some point, I was considering a pair of cornucopia for the mural, but they will not be making an appearance.
Lovely work, Mark. The corn is just the right touch. This is obviously such a personal labor of love for you. Thanks again for taking us on your journey.
ReplyDeleteThank you Yvette; I'm glad you don't think it's too corny! You are quite right to suggest that this is a personal labor of love. I have considered the tale of the shoemaker's son who has no shoes, and have said to myself, "Where better to paint a mural than in the artist's own house?"
DeleteDear Mark, so like you to take the difficult road and paint three different garlands. How much easier it would have been to paint them all alike. You do not seem to think that taking the easy design scheme s called for in your tour de force masterpiece..
ReplyDeleteThinking of your floor, a painted faux marble would look fabulous, don't you think? I have painted many, they are easy and quick to do.
A few years ago a German football team came for dinner. We served a typical American meal. They thought that the T Bone Steaks were too large and they would not touch the corn on the cob. Happy Sunday, Gina
Dear Gina,
DeleteDo you know that it never even occured to me to make identical garlands! I have obviously been so immersed in Renaissance art that the thought never entered my mind.
Regarding the floor, there is a reason that it has carpeting, and that is because the original asbestos tiling is in the house, and I have been advised that removing it to lay tile or some other flooring would be an expense that I don't care to pay. So carpeting it is.
I love the story of the corn not being touched. My grandfather was wary of corn 100 years ago, and the story continues. I am also impressed that the team thought the T-Bones were too large. I've read that the ideal dinner portion is the size of a fist, so maybe they were correct . . .
I have been busy with work and saving your blog as the "danging carrot" for my reward! I have a passion for della robbia and your garlands are swoon worthy. I love that you are taking artistic license and making them what you want them to be. (side note-do you follow art+works {Steve Shriver} on Flickr? He just put up some incredibly detailed garland shots) Can't wait to see your museum trip! You can always paint a floor cloth to go over the carper. :).....decoration and adornment...it never ends!
ReplyDeleteDear Theresa,
DeleteI am a follower of Steve Shriver, though I do not see his Flickr site on his blog - I must be missing something. But I do have art+works on my sidebar.
I am seeing that a lot of people are encouraging me to go for that floor cloth! Now that you all have planted that seed, I'll be mulling it over . . .
These are beautiful, Mark; so luminous. And I love the corn too. Have you ever seen the "Corinthian" columns that use a corn motif at the U.S. Capitol?
ReplyDeleteHi, Steve,
DeleteYes, I have, and I love them. In fact I've thought it would be fun to do a blog posting just featuring all the different motifs that have been used in lieu of acanthus leaves. Here in St. Petersburg, there's a building that has capitals with jumping dolphins.