When going to a museum, there are certain artifacts that you may find interesting, some that you may not know even existed, and then there’s always that one piece that catches your eye, and makes you want to look and study the facts behind the creation of that certain piece. When it came time to examining the artwork of all paintings provided in this week’s presentation, one particular caught my eye, and stood out more than any other. That particular artist was Anthony Van Dyck, who created a number of portraits, but the one that stood out was his creation of the “Christ on the Cross”, and to describe it “The image of Christ as a solitary figure nailed to the Cross, envisaged with his head and eyes raised heavenward at the extreme moment of his suffering” (Jaffé, 1958). With this meaning, it was meant to represent an important religion of Jesus’ sacrifice, where his death was decided by crucifixion, and part of this symbolism was due to the nature of Christianity where Christians believed it could bring them human kindness in the form of redemption. Because of this, it becomes clear to my mind of the time period where Dyck was creating his portraits, because 1618 and 1627, Dyck was traveling from London to Italy and became influenced by Peter Paul Reubens who wanted Dyck to examine and relate his nature of work to a number of executions that were taking place in Italy. And ultimately, part of the reason why this piece of Dyck’s creation stands out above the rest is because in this particular setting, he wanted to resemble his youth of him and his father where his father never supported and wasn’t around with Dyck when he was growing up, which is why he wanted to present the use of loneliness in this “Christ on the Cross”, which explains why a number of his other works present more than one character in each of them. Theoretically, loneliness was part of the theme that Dyck wanted to incorporate in someone’s execution.
Anthony Van Dyck - "Christ on the Cross" 1627,Illutsrated by the Carmen Thyssen Collection,
https://www.museothyssen.org/en/collection/artists/dyck-anthony-van/christ-cross
Even though Dyck wanted to incorporate a different tone to the theme of the crucifixion in his design and creation, it only becomes a major influence for what the original work holds in value for the nature of Christianity. In the idea of the crucifixion, there were two major contributors to the idea, which were the Reubens and also Guido Remi. There works present the same tone and theme, but became the idea that was taught to become an inspirational form of how the European Baroque became to be in the creation of the Western Christendom. This is where the idea for the article became to the center piece to Dyck’s creation, because in Michael Jaffé’s article “Rubens' 'Christ on the Cross'”, it explains the nature and ideas that went into the making of the original painting of the Crucifix. One of the best examples that we mentioned was how the use of the Christ was meant to show the expression of dramatic and illusions of what life was like for the Reubens living in Italy and present it in the form of evaluation. An interesting form from the article presents a unique factor where “Christ is shown unadorned by the crown of mockery or the halo of divinity as the stricken hero, victorious and alone” (Jaffé, 1958). By realizing these ideas of events set by the Reubens, it shows the reader that this painting can be honored by the maturity that went into the Reubens mind of creation, for which can express the true nature of baroque imagination, and a certain ikon, in which now has become an inspiration for a number of artists, including Anthony Van Dyck. Even though his name was not the essential idea of Jaffé’s article, he was mentioned through the inspiration that went into the idea of the Crucifixion, also important to note because Dyck’s form provided a unique form of expression and maturity into other artists who were inspired by the Reubens success.
https://www.anthonyvandyck.org/self-portrait-with-a-sunflower/
Since Dyck’s creation became an inspiration to the original form of the Reuben’s crucifixion, it just goes to show the true nature that many artists can express about their way of life in the form of art. Because we learned that Dyck’s ideal form was to create a form of execution which he witnessed and valued his thoughts through his time in Italy, and symbolic nature of inspiration in Jaffé’s article which he described in the forms which the Reubens expressed that the nature of his Christ was presented to be a dramatic tone of loneliness and redemption, because Christianity was a ideal form of belief for Reubens and they wanted to express their value of opinion. As he mentions “Between the figure in the life study and in the painting, the differences of modelling and expression can be best observed by detail comparison” (Jaffé, 1958). Because of this, it became the inspiration for the next generations to come. Including myself in this process was part of my overall theme for why it is important to take these lessons and values given upon us and express our true nature of how it has impacted us in a way that makes these certain artifacts special than any other. Because when valuing this painting of Dyck’s version, it showed a form of emotion and relief in my eyes because knowing that the man was going to die, he was going to die knowing that stood for what he believed in and knew by standing for his belief that he was going to be in god’s hand wherever the next journey took him. Because of these alternative ideas and symbolic forms of ideas, it allowed me to express a form of encouragement and happiness to stand up and except the nature of forms that bring to us in the learning development and express my true nature and redemption for why I felt this painting was special to me to present.
"Van Dyck: The Man, the Artist and his Influence"
Created by National Portrait Galley & Published 26 January, 2015
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