A Roman Triumph» 1630, Peter Paul Rubens
UNIT 2
Mysterious Virgin
READING
Exercise 1. Read and translate the text. Pay attention to the pronunciation of the following:
Bethlehem [ blhms] Вифлеем
Confraternity[ knfrtnti] Братство
Louvre [luvr()] Лувр
Leonardo da Vinci [lnd d vnti] Леонардо да Винчи
reflectography [riflktrfi] рефлектография
sfumato [sfmt] сфумато, «затушёванный»
Herod [hrd] Ирод
Learn about the symbolism and secret history represented in Leonardo's «Virgin of the Rocks». This mysterious painting by Leonardo da Vinci shows the Virgin, Christ, Saint John, and an angel in a dark landscape, with a backdrop of mountains, caves and water.
Legendary tales of a childhood meeting between Jesus and his cousin Saint John the Baptist first became popular in the 14th century. It was claimed that when King Herod ordered the Massacre of the Innocents, the Holy Family fled to Egypt and on their way met Saint John, who also escaped the massacre.
The Virgin of the Rocks demonstrates Leonardo's revolutionary technique of using shadows, rather than outlines, to model his figures. The Virgin and Child are usually shown in bright daylight, their faces set against the sky. Leonardo has chosen the dark background of rocks in order to model the faces in light, which is what makes the image so striking and so unusual. What lies behind this Renaissance masterpiece?
Metaphors
Leonardo did not imagine that this was what the Holy Land looked like. His dark landscape with its strange rock formations was not intended to resemble a particular place, but to remind us of a set of ideas about Mary and Jesus. The whole landscape resonates with references to biblical and literary metaphors.
Rocks and caves were particularly associated with Mary and Joseph because they suggested sanctuary, and because of certain metaphors used to describe the Holy Family. The Virgin Mary was considered to be «a rock cleft not by human hand». Christ, as the Son of God, was the «mountain hewn out of the mountain not by human hand».
Flowers in paintings of the Virgin Mary also have a special significance. The clump of flowers at the bottom left of the painting are Star of Bethlehems, or heartsease – a symbol of purity and atonement. Palm leaves, seen behind the infant John's head, are an emblem of the Virgin Mary and a symbol of victory.
Renaissance men and women were accustomed to recognising these metaphors. Part of Leonardo's genius was his skill in creating something that was true to nature, which also brought to mind the stock metaphors of his day.
The commission
The Virgin of the Rocks was commissioned in 1483 by the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception as part of a large altarpiece for their church, San Francesco in Milan. It wasn't delivered until 1508, and even then it wasn't finished – the angel's hand resting on Christ's back is only sketched in.
The delay in this case was due to an argument over money. Leonardo was promised a set fee, plus a bonus when the painting was finished.
However, the bonus he was offered was so paltry that he angrily sold the work to a private client. (That version is now in the Louvre, Paris.) The confraternity finally managed to patch things up with the artist, and he began work on a second version of the painting, which is now in the National Gallery.
These two angels, which also belong to the Gallery, were made by associates of Leonardo. They were hung on either side of the painting.
Light and shade
What made Leonardo's paintings so revolutionary was his use of light and shadow, rather than lines, to define three-dimensional objects.
He once wrote that light and shade should blend «without lines or borders in the manner of smoke», giving rise to the term sfumato, meaning «seen as if through smoke». The soft shadows around corners of the eyes and mouths make Leonardo's faces seem more alive because they leave a little to our imagination.
Leonardo's technique for preparing a painting was to start with a detailed drawing, such as his famous cartoon. The next part of the process would be to transfer the drawing to canvas and to start by painting in the shadows. The highlighted parts of the picture would be added last.
The delicacy of the play between light and shadow in his pictures makes the light seem to dance across the surface of the painting. It is an effect that is most striking in front of the actual work.
The hidden drawing
When curators and conservators examined the Virgin of the Rocks, they hoped to find an underdrawing. What they did not expect to find was a completely different picture, hidden under the paint.
Conservators at the gallery collaborated with a team from Florence. They used a technique called infrared reflectography to look through the layers of paint and reveal details of the preliminary drawings underneath. The first part of the painting they focused on was the Virgin's head, but what sprang out were the face and hand of another figure. Leonardo had evidently started on one picture, and then abandoned it for the existing one. The hidden drawing is of a kneeling woman (presumably the Virgin Mary) with her face in near profile and one hand across her breast.
From http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/
Exercise 2. Mark the statements as true or false. Explain your opinion.
1. «The Virgin of the Rocks» depicts the Holy Family on their way to Egypt when they met Saint John.
2. The image of the Virgin and Child is unusual due to innovative technique of using shadows.
3. The landscape demonstrates Leonardo's idea of what the Holy Land looked like.
4. Renaissance men and women couldn't understand Leonardo's metaphors.
5. «The Virgin of the Rocks» was designed by the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception as part of a large altarpiece for their church, San Francesco in Rome.
6. What made Leonardo's paintings so revolutionary was his use of lines, rather than light and shadow, to define three-dimensional objects.
7. The curators knew that there was a completely different picture, hidden under the paint.
VOCABULARY
Exercise 3. Match the underlined words and phrases with their definitions.
| a backdrop | a | an excellent painting, book, piece of music etc. | |
| a massacre | b | a request for someone such as an artist or writer to produce a piece of work for someone in exchange for payment | |
| a shadow | c | reparation made for an injury or smth wrong | |
| a masterpiece | d | everything that you can see behind the main thing you are looking at | |
| significance | e | to draw a picture quickly and with few details | |
| a commission | f | the importance that something has because it affects other things | |
| to sketch | g | to describe something in a way that makes people notice it and think about it | |
| an associate | h | someone whose job is to look after the objects in a museum | |
| a curator | i | softening of sharp outlines in painting by subtle and gradual blending of one tone into another | |
| to highlight | j | someone you work with, especially in business | |
| sfumato | k | a dark shape made on a surface when someone or something is between that surface and a light | |
| atonement | l | the action of killing of a lot of people |
Exercise 4. Arrange the following in the pairs of synonyms, translate the them into Russian.
| to resemble | a | goodness, beauty | |
| to be accustomed to | b | a hiding place, refuge | |
| purity | c | to be the image of | |
| a sanctuary | d | to pass | |
| three-dimensional | e | to be familiar with | |
| to blend | f | to work together with; to cooperate | |
| to transfer | g | to uncover; let it be known | |
| to collaborate | h | not flat; able to be measured in height, depth and width | |
| to reveal | i | to provoke; to awaken | |
| to resonate | j | to mix; to combine |
Exercise 5.Complete the sentences with the words and phrases in the box.
| 1. commissioned 2. delay 3. underdrawing 4. to model the faces 5. references 6. to describe 7. associates 8. without lines or borders 9. a detailed drawing |
1. Leonardo has chosen the dark background of rocks in order __________ in light.
2. The whole landscape resonates with __________ to biblical and literary metaphors.
3. Rocks and caves were used __________ the Holy Family.
4. The Virgin of the Rocks was __________ in 1483.
5. The __________ in this case was due to an argument over money.
6. These two angels were made by __________of Leonardo.
7. He once wrote that light and shade should blend «__________in the manner of smoke».
8. Leonardo's technique for preparing a painting was to start with __________.
9. Conservators at the gallery used a technique called infrared reflectography to look through the layers of paint and reveal details of the __________.
Exercise 6. Translate the sentences from Russian into English.
1. «Мадонна в гроте» демонстрирует революционную технику использования светотени вместо контурной линии для моделирования фигур.
2. Пейзаж полон библейских и литературных метафор.
3. Люди эпохи Возрождения умели понимать метафоры.
4. «Мадонна в гроте» была заказана братством Непорочного Зачатия как aлтарный образ для церкви Святого Франциска в Милане.
5. Леонардо начинал с детального рисунка, который затем переносил на холст.
6. Музейные хранители не ожидали, что обнаружат совершенно иной рисунок под слоем краски.
Exercise 7. In pairs answer the questions.
1. What does the «Virgin of the Rocks» show?
2. Why is Leonardo's technique revolutionary?
3. What lies behind this Renaissance masterpiece?
4. What was his dark landscape with its rock formations intended to remind?
5. What is a symbol of purity in the painting?
6. What is an emblem of the Virgin Mary and a symbol of victory?
7. When was the painting commissioned?
8. Why wasn't it delivered until 1508?
9. What did Leonardo write about his use of light and shadow?
10. What was his technique for preparing a painting?
11. Why did curators and conservators examine the «Virgin of the Rocks»?
12. Who did conservators at the gallery collaborate with?
Exercise 8. Retell the article, use words and phrases from exercises 3-5 in your summary.
SPEAKING
Exercise 9. Using the Internet resource http://www.nationalgallery.org.ukfind the information about the paintings in the section Picture of the Month and prepare a 3-minute talk on one of the following topics:
A Roman Triumph» 1630, Peter Paul Rubens
«The Triumph of Pan» 1636, Nicolas Poussin
«A Pagan Sacrifice» 1526, Garofalo
«The Adoration of the Kings» 1470-5, Sandro Botticelli
LISTENING
The Growing Appeal of Art
Exercise 10. Why are more of us visiting art galleries? A new exhibition at Tate Liverpool, featuring paintings by Monet and Turner, is expected to be the biggest since it opened in 1988.
Listen to the news report and mark the following statements as T (True),F(False) orNG(Not Given).
1. Only classic oil paintings will be represented at that exhibition in Tate Liverpool.
2. Works by artists from the UK, the US and France will be exhibited.
3. Some of the paintings have never been seen in the UK before.
4. The number of people visiting art galleries continues to rise.
5. Ticket price doesn’t influence the amount of people who visit museums.
6. New projects of Tate Liverpool are targeting first and foremost foreign art lovers.
From http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-18590115
Exercise 11. Listen to the news report again and answer the following questions:
1. What artists will be represented at that exhibition in Tate Liverpool?
2. What is so unusual about the upcoming exhibition?
3. What do the following figures mean: 47,9%, 2011, 1960, 1999, 12£?
4. What are the two reasons why museums and art galleries in the UK are so popular with public?
5. What was the first blockbuster exhibition in the UK?
6. How do museums and galleries catch up with modern trends in service?
Vocabulary to learn
| 1. a backdrop | художественное оформление, задний фон | 12. purity | чистота, правильность, непорочность |
| 2. a massacre | избиение, погром | 13. а sanctuary | храм, святилище |
| 3. a shadow | тень | 14. three-dimensional | трехмерный, реалистический |
| 4. a masterpiece | шедевр | 15. to blend | смешивать |
| 5. significance | значение, значимость | 16. to transfer | перемещать |
| 6. a commission | заказ, полномочие, поручение | 17. to collaborate | сотрудничать, взаимодействовать |
| 7. to sketch | делать набросок, писать этюд | 18. to reveal | открывать, обнаруживать |
| 8. an associate | товарищ, коллега | 19. to resonate | перекликаться |
| 9. a curator | куратор, хранитель | 20. an underdrawing | предварительный рисунок |
| 10. to highlight | выдвигать на передний план, освещать | 21. a reference | упоминание, отношение |
| 11. to resemble | напоминать | 22. sfumato | смягчение очертаний предметов |
| 12. to be accustomed to | привыкнуть, освоиться | 24. atonement | искупление |