Mid-Morning Art Thread [Kris]

The Apotheosis of Homer
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

When Jacques-Louis David went into self-exile rather than live under the restored monarchy, French Neoclassicism lost one of its most passionate supporters and artists. In Belgium, David’s career would fade. One of his students, Ingres would take up the banner and become late Neoclassicism’s champion. This work is a celebration of classical styles and ideals. An apotheosis is an elevation of an admired person to heroic or divine status. In this work, all Art pays homage to Homer, the blind minstrel of the Iliad and the Odyssey, the Bibles of ancient Greece. The work is a tableau of important figures arranged in a strictly symmetrical composition. Providing a backdrop for the group is an ionic Greek temple.

An artistic and literary who’s-who make up the crowd in the foreground. Homer sits in the exact center of the work, framed by the temple. The figures flanking him range from ancient personalities to Enlightenment figures. They flank the blind poet and descend from his level. Also, the farther they get from the center the less ancient they are. It’s like Ingres is saying that the masters of his day are as far from Homer’s greatness as they are in time. Included here are, on the left: Aeschylus, Raphael, Dante, Virgil, Shakespeare, Mozart, and Nicholas Poussin. The right side includes Plato, Socrates, Pericles, Michelangelo, Aesop, and Voltaire. Seated directly beneath Homer are the personifications of The Iliad on the left with the sword and dressed in blood-red, and in sea-blue, The Odyssey and her oar. Winged Victory crowns Homer.

To me, the way Homer is depicted reminds me of depictions of the Olympian Zeus. Just like the supreme god, Homer sits high above the others. His body is not frail, but not youthful either. It’s somewhere in between. To me, Homer looks receptive to all the praise and honor. His pose is straight-backed and confident. His left foot kicks out a bit to show that he’s relaxed and not nervous. He reigns over the arts, like Zeus, and the others bring him offerings and worship. His creations sit humbly at his feet and celestial beings bring him glory.

The composition of the group recalls sculptural arrangements on classical temples, specifically those in the pediments and on the frieze. The pediment is the triangular shape on the façade of the temple in the background. Traditionally, Greek sculptors would fill these spaces with carved figures depicting whatever. The frieze is the long, narrow space just below the pediment. With this work, Ingres put an almost undecorated temple in back and placed the decorative program in the foreground. By grouping the classical figures in the triangular “pediment”, Ingres shows his preference for the ancient arts. The modern artists are below in the “frieze”, smaller and incomplete, not as exalted, not as worthy—and they know it.

The viewer is also positioned below Homer looking up at him. Several of the figures look out at us and direct our gaze at Homer. We are expected to join the others in worship.

posted by Open Blogger at 09:30 AM

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