Giambattista Tiepolo: Rinaldo Abandoning Armida

The talented artist Giambattista Tiepolo lived from 1696 to 1770.  His art focuses on transposing the world of ancient history and myth.  He was an Italian painter and printmaker from the republic of Venice.  He also worked in Germany and Spain as well as Italy.  His painting “Rinaldo Abandoning Armida” a time during the 11^th – 13^th centuries in the Crusades(Learning). 

This painting depicts Rinaldo during the Crusades who allowed himself to be carried off to an island by the sorceress Armida and stayed away from the fighting.  Two warriors were sent to bring him back.  They found him in Armida’s enchanted garden.  They held up a mirror so that he would see himself and recognize that he needed to return to the battle.  When he saw himself in the mirror, he was able to break away from Armida’s love spell to realize that his people needed him and that was what he was meant to do.  The mirror sends the message that when one examines oneself aside from their lover, one will come to the realization that they aren’t completely dependent on them as they had previously thought.  So he abandons his love and returns to fight.  Tiepolo divided the painting with the trunk of a tree showing the separation of the two lovers.  Armida is begging him not to leave; nevertheless Rinaldo departs to the ship waiting for him in the background.  In his depiction of Rinaldo’s struggle to overcome the charms of Armida and fulfill his mission to save the Holy Land, Tiepolo emphasized the conflict between love and duty.  

Leonardo Da Vinci: The Last Supper

Leonardo da Vinci painted “The Last Supper” on the back wall of the dinning hall at the Dominican convent of Santa Maria de Grazie in Italy.  Da Vinci painted the piece such that it looks as if you could stick your hand into the three- dimensional image.  He wanted to “extend the room” to make it look like Jesus and his apostles were sitting at the end of the dinning hall (Green).  What sets this particular depiction of the Last Supper apart from all the rest that other artists have created is that he has captured the exact moment that Jesus told his followers that one of them would betray him. 

In this painting, Leonardo has perfectly captured the confusion and astonishment in the expressions of his apostles.  With the exception of Judas, the apostles have looks of horror, anger, and shock across their faces.  Judas, the man who we learn had betrayed Jesus, appears guilty.  It is said that the small pouch he is clutching holds the money he received for betraying Jesus.  All of the followers love Jesus and are amazed that one of their own could do such a horrible thing.  Also, Judas was torn between the money and his love for Jesus and ultimately ended up choosing the money.  Judas wasn’t the only person in this piece subject to frustrating love.   Jesus was strongly affected by the love of his followers.  He knew that it was one of the men who claimed they would do anything for him that was going to break the bond between them and betray him.  Jesus still loved Judas, just as he loved the rest of the men.  However, it was frustrating to have Judas betray him.  The meaning of his life might also have puzzled Jesus.  His own father was sacrificing his only son to be the savior of all mankind.   Why had he been the one chosen to do so?  This famous piece of art shows one of the most diverse set of complications of love.   

Munch: Jealousy (1895)

            

Edvard Munch believed that “art should be about people who breathe, who feel emotions, who suffer love”.  He created many images of the innermost feelings and mental torment of the modern man.  Munch had a traumatic childhood.  This caused him to have anxiety and restlessness, leading to a nervous breakdown in 1908.  He recuperated and settled down afterwards.  He painted his work “Jealousy” in 1895.  His murals were installed at the Christiania University in 1916.  However, Nazis confiscated them in 1937 (Cordulack). 

Jealousy combines themes of passion and jealousy with the biblical symbol of temptation.  Munch portrays his friend Stanislaw Przybyszewski (the man in the back) as Adam being tempted by the seductress, Eve, picking the fateful apple.  We see her reaching for the forbidden fruit while her red robe slips away revealing her naked body.  The man shown in the front wishes that he could be in the position of the man in back with the beautiful temptress offering him the fruit.   We can tell by the expression on his face that he is sad and lonely.  He could possibly be reminiscing about a time when he and the woman were together.  He is wearing dark clothing that also suggests sadness, where the temptress is in red, a color suggesting promiscuity.   His frustration and jealousy are shown in the expression of his face.  

"On Monsieur's Departure" ~Elizabeth I (1533-1603)

I grieve and dare not show my discontent; I love, and yet am forced to seem to hate; I do, yet dare not say I ever meant; I seem stark mute, but inwardly do prate. I am, and not; I freeze and yet am burned,  Since from myself another self I turned.

My care is like my shadow in the sun— Follows me flying, flies when I pursue it, Stands, and lies by me, doth what I have done; His too familiar care doth make me rue it. No means I find to rid him from my breast, Till by the end of things it be supprest.

Some gentler passion slide into my mind, For I am soft, and made of melting snow; Or be more cruel, Love, and so be kind. Let me or float or sink, be high or low; Or let me live with some more sweet content, Or die, and so forget what love e'er meant. 

The reign of Queen Elizabeth I has often been referred to as The Golden Age of English history. Elizabeth was a very popular Queen. She is still one of the most loved monarchs, and one of the most admired rulers of all time. She became a legend in her own lifetime, famous for her remarkable abilities and achievements. However we know very little about her as a woman, not a leader. She had the mind of a political genius and cared for her country very carefully.  She even used marriage as bait to lure in enemies.  She made England one of the most powerful and productive countries in the world.  (Thomas)

Elizabeth talks about how she attempts to put up a front of strong unhappiness and love for Francois, Duke of Alencon (she is torn between the two).  He was a potential husband for her (Thomas).  She talks about how she had to choose between the respect of her subjects who were strongly opposed to the unity of the two, or save her pride.  Unhappiness is her constant companion.  She has never found a way to expel it and believes that only death will rid her of it forever.  She also mentions how she wishes the Duke were more repulsive so that she would be able to get over him faster.  She doesn’t think that she will ever get her chance with love and expresses that she wants to die.  Elizabeth shows a perfect example of frustrated love.  She is forced to choose between her love for the Duke, of her love for her country and duty.  

Rong Rong: The Wedding Gown

Rong Rong was born in 1968 in Zhangzhou. He studied painting at the Fujian Industrial Art Institute in 1986 and worked in a studio taking passport photos and wedding pictures. In 1993, he moved to the Beijing East Village. In 2007 Rong Rong, his wife, and another artist, Inri, opened Three Shadows Photography Art Centre It is a Beijing complex with exhibition space, a workshop with darkrooms, and an educational center with a library.  Rong Rong’s series of photographs, “The Wedding Gown” are held in the Getty Museum (Getty). 

The Wedding Gown series was created in an abandoned village forty miles from Beijing.  It was meant to be used as a metaphor for innocence and femininity (Getty).  The photographs show a dreamlike story of death, cleansing, and a potential rebirth.  Rong Rong himself is the lone nude figure in the photos.  He shows himself moving around the destitute village as if he can’t find anything.  The two people are lovers who seem to be searching for something.  We, the audience are meant to think of what that missing thing is.  In the last photograph we see Rong Rong burning the corpses of the women.  The frustration is that the two lovers are unsure of what they are searching for.  Also, there is criticism of weddings and all the rituals that surround them.  Rong Rong shows this through the savage-like nature of the lovers and their actions.  They want to be united, but something is standing in their way.