Alte Pinakothek
So much in this first of the trilogy of major Munich Galleries that our plans to do two or even all three in one day were quickly shelved. Be prepared for a long visit if you want to do this gallery justice. The entrance price includes a free audio guide which allows you to learn about some paintings in passive but in-depth detail. But you should still be prepared to 'dialogue with the paintings' as the audio voice instructs. I'm no art historian but there was a real education to be had here as the art gathering rulers of Bavaria had collected a good representation of national art trends and historical periods. Here are just a couple of works that particularly struck me.
This is Danae by Jan Gossaert, from 1527. 'Danae receives the golden rain of Zeus, which led to the conception of Perseus. In contrast to the more sensual treatment of the theme in the Italian Renaissance, where Danae is shown naked, Gossaert remains committed to the medieval tradition which construed the theme moralistically as an allegory of chastity' (from our gallery guidebook). What caught my attention was the strange blending of the sensual and the spiritual. The painting could be an allegory of both - chastity yet exposure to and penetration by this shower of light. In fact the painting has distinct comparisons with the Incarnation too - a secluded virgin conceiving through a shower of divine light and grace. Although not fully naked Danae is certainly shown as open to the possibility of sensuality and seduction with her exposed breast and open legs. Yet she is looking up, heavenwards, and seems clear-eyed and inspired rather than in a swoon (cf Saint Teresa of Avila in Bernini's statue of her Transverberation). An uncomfortable mix for the prudish and apparently the painting fell out of favour in subsequent centuries. I liked it though, precisely for those paradoxical qualities.
Secondly, El Greco's Disrobing of Christ, from about 1590. An unusual theme for a painting even in those days when so much art was religious. But it displays El Greco's identifiably mannered style, with lightening bright, elongated figures, faces so typically gaunt and bodies so long that for a while critics wondered whether his eyesight was defective, causing distorted perception. Christ in his vermilion red robe is indubitably the focus, about to be stripped and clad only in his loincloth for the Via Crucis, the route to his own crucifixion. Mary and other female figures in the bottom left of the picture are not looking directly at Jesus. But strange to learn, major concerns were raised about this picture because it contained the visual 'possibility' that they might turn around to see him indecently naked. Hmmm. His own mother who is shown cradling her dead son in so many Pietas? Doesn't this seem to indicate viewer discomfort which goes beyond the prudish? Or some unspoken anxiety about the sexuality of Christ which might be uncomfortably pinpointed by the possibility of his nakedness, especially if seen through the eyes of women. Like an action doll with no genitals, he needs to be kept clothed and in context, at least visually - erotic/ mystical writing of the medieval period is a different matter altogether, and interestingly much of it written by women.
This is Danae by Jan Gossaert, from 1527. 'Danae receives the golden rain of Zeus, which led to the conception of Perseus. In contrast to the more sensual treatment of the theme in the Italian Renaissance, where Danae is shown naked, Gossaert remains committed to the medieval tradition which construed the theme moralistically as an allegory of chastity' (from our gallery guidebook). What caught my attention was the strange blending of the sensual and the spiritual. The painting could be an allegory of both - chastity yet exposure to and penetration by this shower of light. In fact the painting has distinct comparisons with the Incarnation too - a secluded virgin conceiving through a shower of divine light and grace. Although not fully naked Danae is certainly shown as open to the possibility of sensuality and seduction with her exposed breast and open legs. Yet she is looking up, heavenwards, and seems clear-eyed and inspired rather than in a swoon (cf Saint Teresa of Avila in Bernini's statue of her Transverberation). An uncomfortable mix for the prudish and apparently the painting fell out of favour in subsequent centuries. I liked it though, precisely for those paradoxical qualities.
Secondly, El Greco's Disrobing of Christ, from about 1590. An unusual theme for a painting even in those days when so much art was religious. But it displays El Greco's identifiably mannered style, with lightening bright, elongated figures, faces so typically gaunt and bodies so long that for a while critics wondered whether his eyesight was defective, causing distorted perception. Christ in his vermilion red robe is indubitably the focus, about to be stripped and clad only in his loincloth for the Via Crucis, the route to his own crucifixion. Mary and other female figures in the bottom left of the picture are not looking directly at Jesus. But strange to learn, major concerns were raised about this picture because it contained the visual 'possibility' that they might turn around to see him indecently naked. Hmmm. His own mother who is shown cradling her dead son in so many Pietas? Doesn't this seem to indicate viewer discomfort which goes beyond the prudish? Or some unspoken anxiety about the sexuality of Christ which might be uncomfortably pinpointed by the possibility of his nakedness, especially if seen through the eyes of women. Like an action doll with no genitals, he needs to be kept clothed and in context, at least visually - erotic/ mystical writing of the medieval period is a different matter altogether, and interestingly much of it written by women.
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