Mid-Morning Art Thread [Kris]

“In Ictu Oculi”
Juan de Valdes Leal

This is one of a pair of paintings created for the chapel of a hospital for the poor in Spain. Using heavy allegory, they warn the viewer about the shallow vanities of life. Together, the paintings carry themes about the futility of the pursuits of life: glory, wealth, power, knowledge, etc. None of these will help you attain salvation.

In this work, the Grim Reaper, carrying a coffin and scythe, stands over a pile of stuff symbolizing faith, knowledge, and strength. The pile is arranged in a pyramid-shape. At its base are the common pursuits: strength, represented by armor and weapons; and knowledge, symbolized with books. Some of the books are of art and architecture. Above these are items of religious and secular power: the papal tiara, robes and sceptre on the left, and a crown on the right. They lie on what I think looks like an altar. These are the highest pursuits of worldly Man. In Valdes Leal’s time, these institutions held the most power and influence and were held in very high esteem by society (put on an altar, if you will). The altar is cracked, however. The esteem for these institutions is flawed. They, too, are temporary. They can’t save you.

At the apex of the pyramid is a single candlestick. Many times, candles symbolize life. Having the candle sit at the top of everything seems to imply that of all of life’s pursuits, life itself is the most important. Nothing else has value without it. Then Death enters.

The Reaper stands over everything and to the side like he just emerged out of the dark background. Death always looms in the shadows and emerges suddenly. His right hand reaches over and snuffs out the candle. Over the candle, written in Latin, is: “In the blink of an eye.” Life ends in a split second and everything with it. Nothing is guaranteed. Death comes for everyone, and it dominates all things.

I like how Valdes Leal countered the vertical thrust of the pyramid with lines and forms that point towards the skeleton, such as the sword and walking stick(?), and the corner of the open architecture book at the bottom. These lines do not interfere with the pyramid’s strong form, but they do form a nice, sweeping line that leads my eye towards the upper right. It’s a subtle redirection of sight. The two directions fight with each other, and I can’t help if there is some symbolic significance to that too.

In theory, the scale and colors of the objects in the pyramid should dominate the painting, but they don’t. Death’s thin lines and drab tans should make him fade into the background, but he doesn’t. This is another job the diagonal lines have. By constantly pushing my eye toward the upper right corner, Death cannot be missed.

I think it’s interesting how the color scheme changes from lower left to upper right. The corner with the books is whites, tans, and small areas of red. It’s pretty bright compared to the rest of the piece. As your eye moves across the canvas, the whites begin to turn grey. The tans turn gold, and we get a lot more vivid red. Is Valdez Leal using the transition of color to symbolize how, in life, the pure pursuit of knowledge and art gives way to the carnality of greed and power? Maybe? Anyway, it all ends with death, though.

posted by Open Blogger at 09:30 AM

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