Melissa George en HUNTED 1x05The Ambassadors (1533) is a painting by Hans Holbein the Younger in the National Gallery, London. As well as being a double portrait, the painting contains a still life of several meticulously rendered objects, the meaning of which is the cause of much debate. It is also a much-cited example of anamorphosis in painting.
Los embajadores —el cuadro se llama en realidad Jean de Dinteville y Georges de Selve— es una pintura de Hans Holbein el Joven, actualmente en la National Gallery de Londres. Es una de las obras maestras del pintor y de la pintura en general.
Triplemente importante por sus resonancias históricas, por su riqueza simbólica y por su excelencia plástica, incluye un raro objeto en primer plano que fue algo misterioso durante mucho tiempo.
Fue en el siglo XX cuando un historiador del arte, Jurgis Baltrusaitis, descubrió que esta forma que ocupa el primer plano de la pintura es lo que se llama frecuentemente hueso de sepia, siendo de hecho una anamorfosis de un cráneo humano: esta pintura es una vanidad.
UHQ @ http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Hans_Holbein_the_Younger_-_The_Ambassadors_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg
El cuadro
La pintura representa a Jean de Dinteville a la izquierda, embajador de Francia en Inglaterra en 1533, fecha de la realización del cuadro. A la derecha se encuentra su amigo, Georges de Selve, obispo de Lavaur, que ocasionalmente fue embajador ante el Emperador romano germánico, la república de Venecia y la Santa Sede. Ambos hombres, que observan al espectador de la obra, están acodados sobre un mueble con dos estantes sobre el que hay dispuestos varios objetos relacionados con el quadrivium, las cuatro ciencias matemáticas entre las siete artes liberales: la aritmética, la geometría, la música y la astronomía. En el estante superior puede verse una esfera celeste, objetos de medición del tiempo y un libro, dispuestos sobre una alfombra roja con complicados motivos geométricos. En el estante inferior hay un globo terráqueo, dos libros, un laúd y cuatro flautas en un estuche. El plano posterior está ocupado por una cortina de terciopelo verde con un pliegue en la esquina superior izquierda que apenas permite ver un crucifijo, que a menudo no se ve en las reproducciones debido a su posición en el margen. El suelo está pavimentado con círculos y cuadrados, destacándose una forma difícilmente interpretable, pero que salta a la vista en tanto que parece que se halle fuera del espacio de la pintura; se ha llamado a menudo el hueso de sepia.
Jean de Dinteville está ricamente vestido con un abrigo de piel, en la mano lleva una daga en su estuche, donde está grabada su edad (29 años), y en la cabeza una boina de donde está colgado un broche representando un cráneo. Del negro de su indumentaria destacan el rojo de sus mangas y una cadena dorada que pende de su pecho con una medalla decorada con un ángel, prueba de su pertenencia a la Orden de San Miguel. Georges de Selve está totalmente vestido de negro, envuelto en un abrigo de piel. En la mano derecha lleva un par de guantes y en la cabeza un tocado. De Selve se dedicó en lo esencial de su sacerdocio a trabajar por la reconciliación en el seno de la Iglesia. La pintura parece pues inmortalizar la toma de posesión de un embajador francés recientemente nombrado en la corte de Inglaterra y la visita que le hace por este motivo a su amigo. La primera mirada que se hace a la pintura, una obra prácticamente cuadrada, de más de dos metros de lado, induce dos reflexiones: los dos hombres retratados, sujetos del cuadro, no ocupan el centro; están desplazados a los lados, enmarcando como un joyero un conjunto de objetos que a primera vista parecen dispares; a sus pies se encuentra un objeto extraño que parece no formar parte de la pintura, y que en todo caso ocupa el primer plano, como si Holbein hubiera usado este retrato para realzar, de entrada, otra cosa que no son los personajes que dan su nombre a la obra, uno de los cuales, Dinteville, fue quien la encargó.
La pintura parece, pues, que abunda en símbolos, indicaciones ocultas, referencias; todo esto cosas normales en la pintura del Renacimiento, que intentamos identificar, traer a la luz.
- 2 El contexto político y religioso del año 1533
- 3 El pavimento
- 4 La estantería inferior
- 5 La estantería superior
- 6 El cráneo y el crucifijo
- 7 Citas
- 8 Véase también
Interpretation
Before the publication of Mary F. S. Hervey's Holbein's Ambassadors: The Picture and the Men in 1900, the identity of the two figures in the picture had long been a subject of intense debate. In 1890, Sidney Colvin was the first to propose the figure on the left as Jean de Dinteville, Seigneur of Polisy (1504–1555), French ambassador to the court of Henry VIII for most of 1533. Shortly afterwards, the cleaning of the picture revealed that his seat of Polisy is one of only four places marked on the globe.[6] Hervey identified the man on the right as Georges de Selve (1508/09–1541), Bishop of Lavaur, after tracing the painting's history back to a seventeenth-century manuscript. According to art historian John Rowlands, de Selve is not wearing episcopal robes because he was not consecrated until 1534.[7] De Selve is known from two of de Dinteville's letters to his brother François de Dinteville, Bishop of Auxerre, to have visited London in the spring of 1533. On 23 May, Jean de Dinteville wrote: "Monsieur de Lavaur did me the honour of coming to see me, which was no small pleasure to me. There is no need for the grand maître to hear anything of it". The grand maître in question was Anne de Montmorency, the Marshal of France, a reference that has led some analysts to conclude that de Selve's mission was a secret one; but there is no other evidence to corroborate the theory.[8] On June 4, the ambassador wrote to his brother again, saying: "Monsieur de Lavaur came to see me, but has gone away again".[9]
Hervey's identification of the sitters has remained the standard one, affirmed in extended studies of the painting by Foister, Roy, and Wyld (1997), Zwingenberger (1999), and North (2004), who concludes that "the general coherence of the evidence assembled by Hervey is very satisfying"; however, North also notes that, despite Hervey's research, "[R]ival speculation did not stop at once and is still not entirely dead".[10] Giles Hudson, for example, has argued that the man on the right is not de Selve, but Jean's brother François, Bishop of Auxerre, a noted patron of the arts with a known interest in mathematical instruments.[11] The identification finds support in the earliest manuscript in which the painting is mentioned, a 1589 inventory of the Chateau of Polisy, discovered by Riccardo Famiglietti. However, scholars have argued that this identification of 1589 was incorrect. John North, for example, remarks that "[T]his was a natural enough supposition to be made by a person with limited local knowledge, since the two brothers lived on the family estates together at the end of their lives, but it is almost certainly mistaken".[12] He points to a letter François de Dinteville wrote to Jean on 28 March 1533, in which he talks of an imminent meeting with the pope and makes no mention of visiting London. Unlike the man on the right of the picture, François was older than Jean de Dinteville. The inscription on the man on the right's book is "AETAT/IS SV Æ 25" (his age is 25); that on de Dinteville's dagger is "AET. SV Æ/ 29" (he is 29).[13]
North's book analyzes the painting and shows it to be representing Good Friday through various clues on the instruments.
Holbein’s THE AMBASSADORS: unlocking hidden mysteries
Have been captivated by John North’s extraordinary book on Hans Holbein’s painting The Ambassadors. If you’ve never seen the painting in the flesh, it’s in the National Gallery in London – well worth a peek, not least because it’s free. It is monumental and captivating – and one of (if not THE) Holbein’s masterpieces.
But I’d never even begun to scratch the surface of appreciating it before reading this book. North’s learning is kaleidoscopic – embracing everything:
- from medieval and Reformation theology (including a reasonable if brief introduction of Luther’s theology of the cross, as well as the debates between Rome, Erasmus and the Reformers), renaissance art theory, medieval and renaissance astronomy and astrology (I’d not realised that Luther was partial to a bit of astrology, and that Melanchthon was quite a devotee) and even theories of the occult
- to the complexities of early 16th century European politics (esp Anglo-French relations), the importance of Geoffrey Chaucer in the court of Henry VIII, Henry’s relations with Rome and the role of Cranmer etc etc.
So here’s the picture, painted in 1533. The guy on the left is Jean de Dinteville, French Ambassador to the court of Henry VIII. On the right is his childhood friend who came to stay with him while on some sort of official business in London, Georges de Selve, Bishop of Lavaur. The display on the two tables is designed to impress with their learning, wealth and influence – not bad going for 2 chaps only in their 20s. But the important thing to realise is that Holbein isn’t simply showing off his still-life skills. There are a number of hooks to lure us into the picture. For a start, it is not a perfect square – it is 207 cm x 209.5 cm. Accident? I think not.
A few things to pick out:
- THE FLOOR – is an intricate mosaic floor, based on the remarkable medieval floor of Westminster Abbey. Under the lower table, one can just make out the left hand prong of the 6-sided star of David.
- THE PLUMBLINE – legends grew up about the ancient Greek artist Apelles and his contest with rival Protogenes over who could paint the thinnest line. Apelles won. Well, The Ambassadors is divided almost perfectly by the plumbline at the centre of the upper table (why it’s only almost, we’ll come to). Erasmus had called Holbein an exceptional artist, but called Dürer the “Apelles of our time”. Holbein seems to be staking his own claim with this incredibly fine line… (see below)
- THE GLOBE – on the lower table – the exact
geometrical centre of the image is Rome. So is Holbein making a specific
point? After all Holbein painted this in turbulent days: it was 1533.
Just look at some of the things that happened in the royal court that
year – issues that would have profoundly affected the French
Ambassador’s job:
- 25 Jan 1533: Henry VIII married Anne Boleyn
- 23 May 1533: Cranmer declares Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon null and void
- 28 May 1533: Cranmer declares Henry’s marriage to Anne good and valid – Pope later declares Henry & Cranmer excommunicated
- 1 June 1533: Anne Boleyn crowned Queen
- 7 Sept 1533: Anne gives birth to Elizabeth (the future queen)
- THE MUSIC – on the lower table, you can see an 11-stringed lute and an open book of music. But notice the broken string: this is commonly regarded as evoking ecclesiastical disharmony during the Reformation. Would things be improved simply if the reformers returned to the fold? Is this more Catholic propaganda? Well, the fascinating thing is that the book is in fact a Lutheran hymnal and the hymns have actually been identified as Luther’s own compositions! (see below)
- THE DATE – this is where it gets really fascinating. Because of the cylinder sundial on the upper table (see below) it is possible to establish the specific date, and even the time of day: 11th April 1533 (notice where that comes in the chronology above) – this is interesting because we know that Bishop De Selve was definitely in London at the time. What is more, in 1533, 11th April was GOOD FRIDAY! And it was roughly 4 in the afternoon.
- THE SKULL – one of the most famous aspects of the painting is the extraordinary distorted skull at the bottom. This is clearly not part of the still-life – and seems to be making a profound symbolic point. The technique of painting such distortion is called anamorphosis, which is used by advertisers on rugby and cricket pitches all the time. You can see my attempt to rectify the image on the lines of what you see when you look from at a certain angle on the picture’s right. To see for yourself, print the picture out, and place your eye to the picture’s right, on the bishop’s side (just below his left hand) and then look at the skull. Of course, the skull is a classic Renaissance image with a common message – human mortality. It is provocative at the very least in a picture of 2 justly proud, educated and accomplished men as these. (see below)
But the curiosities do not stop there (and in fact, there are many more than i can include in this post, and many more that I don’t fully understand).
- THE POLYHEDRAL DIAL - next to the bishop’s right elbow is this strange scientific-looking instrument (surrounded by strange instruments) which has a number of different faces, and sticky-out things (called gnomons) like the cylindrical sundial above. Quite apart from what it all means (and I was slightly lost here), notice the angle of the gnomon facing us. If you draw a line tracing its angle back and forth, you come across something remarkable. It will intersect off-canvas to the right with the line where your eye should go in order to see the skull correctly. And if your eye is there, looking up this trajectory, your eye will ‘pass through’ a number of key objects. It will intersect perfectly with the horizon line on the astronomical globe on the upper shelf. (see below) That is no accident. But as your eye travels further, you intersect with the Ambassador’s left eye, and then, lo and behold… The crucifix – at Christ’s left eye, to be precise.
- THE CRUCIFIX – this is entirely appropriate for a Catholic painting of 2 Men on Good Friday. Notice it is partially hidden by the curtain. Allusions to the Temple curtain, perhaps…? As my friend Gavin McGrath rightly mentioned, this part of the picture is often cut off by over-zealous photo-editors. But there is also another reason – it doesn’t quite fit into the square. As noted above, the whole image is not a perfect square. If you were to draw one, flush against the right side, it would include everything in the painting, except the crucifix. North suggests in his book that this is because there are also astrological designs informing the structure: renaissance horoscopes were apparently often drawn in a perfect square, dissected by various lines and segments. He speculates that Holbein felt it inappropriate to include the crucifix in a horoscope square…
So what do we make of it all – well – there is much more to be said that can be said. But how about this? It is ambiguous about what was going on in the Reformation at least – yes Rome is central on the globe (as you would expect in a portrait of 2 important Catholic diplomats), but what is Luther’s music doing there? Things are not quite what they seem.
But the most startling thing about the picture is not the accumulation and arrangement of various scholarly, scientific and musical objects. It is the whacking great skull in the middle. That is designed to make us think, at the very least. So what happens if we trace the 2 sightlines mentioned above. Both are clearly intended by Holbein.
Well, it seems that there is a profound theological point being made – on Good Friday of all days… Holbein seems to be suggesting (amidst loads of other things), that there are 2 alternative ways of going about your life. [This is my speculation, not North's, so I could be completely up the spout here.] Or dare I say it, 2 ways to live…
1. Looking downwards: The Skull – the reality of our mortality – dust we are and to dust we shall return. “Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio” etc (as the Bard would famously put it 70 years later).
2. Looking upwards: The Cross – the offer of God’s redemption – the heart of the Christian message is what happens on Good Friday.
So there you have it.
For Follow Up
- Here is site dedicated to the painting, complete with images of the painting
- with hotspots to photo closeups of the individual objects
- and then hotspots linked descriptions and explanations of each objects.
ANAMORFOSIS Y SIMBOLOGÍA DEL PRODIGIOSO CUADRO DE HOLBEIN EL JOVEN (1533)
Uno de los primeros Podcast que publiqué hace ahora justo un año, fue el dedicado a Enrique VIII y sus seis esposas.
Durante las dos semanas que estuve editándolo y estudiándo la vida del
Rey inglés, me aparecieron diversos retratos y cuadros con la imagen del
monarca.En uno de estos retratos vamos a comenzar la historia de hoy... Fue pintado por el protagonista de este artículo: Hans Holbein el Joven y lo podéis ver aquí a la izquierda o incluso algo mejor, si pasáis por Madrid podéis contemplarlo en el museo Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza.
No os cansaré con su biografía, ya que podéis echarle un vistazo al espacio que la Wikipedia le dedica. Simplemente apuntar que nació en Augsburgo, Alemania, dentro de una familia de pintores (su padre también lo era) y que pasó a la Historia por el realismo de sus representaciones y retratos... Cuadros llenos de detalles que hicieron de Holbein un pintor muy solicitado en su época.
Y llegamos al cuadro que hoy quiero compartir con vosotros... Un cuadro que podría servir de inspiración para una novela de misterio y que fue pintado por Holbein en 1533: Se titulaba Jean de Dinteville y Georges de Selve, aunque ha pasado a la historia con el sobrenombre de Los Embajadores.
Se conserva en la National Gallery de Londres y hoy vamos a intentar analizarlo al detalle... Para ello he editado una serie de fotografías en las que iremos descubriendo significados y símbolos ocultos, perspectivas adelantadas a su tiempo, objetos curiosos... Veréis que está lleno de sorpresas...
Los embajadores | Hans Holbein el Joven (1533)
Este es el cuadro y para realizar el Post he editado varias fotografías señalando con números algunos lugares de interés que iremos vistando, y creo que lo primero que deberíamos hacer es conocer a los personajes retratados y sobre todo el momento histórico en el que nos encontramos.
Porque es una época crucial en la Historia... En Francia, Francisco I, archienemigo de nuestro emperador Carlos V, busca reforzar sus posiciones contra el imperio español. Para ello, mira hacia el norte, a Inglaterra, donde nos encontramos con Enrique VIII inmerso en sus problemas de faldas con su esposa española, la "Católica" Catalina de Aragón.
Nos encontramos aquí un triángulo de poder muy interesante: Francia, Inglaterra y España... una triada que se convertiría en cuarteto con la entrada en escena de la Iglesia, mediante su poder más visible: Clemente VII.
Los habituales de la Aldea Irreductible ya han comprobado en numerosas ocasiones mi pasión por este periodo histórico, estos comienzos de la era moderna en la que se fraguó buena parte del mundo en el que vivimos actualmente.
En este siglo XVI, España disfrutaba momentos dorados convertida en Imperio al mando de Carlos V, mientras en el resto de Europa se vivían conflictos de intereses resueltos a base de batallas o matrimonios.
En el caso de Inglaterra, la situación era aún más complicada... Cuando el francés Francisco I requería la ayuda de Enrique VIII en su cruzada contra nuestro Carlos V, el Tudor se halló ante un mar de dudas... Por un lado, su esposa, hija de los Reyes Católicos y por tanto tía del emperador español... Por otro lado, Ana Bolena, de la que se había enamorado perdidamente...
En este convulso momento histórico de alianzas de Estados, de intereses enfrentados y pactos entremezclados, se enmarca nuestro cuadro de hoy... Los embajadores.
Los personajes
Dos personajes, dos enviados para un pacto...
A la izquierda, Jean de Dintelle, embajador de Francia en Inglaterra. A la derecha, Georges de Selve, Obispo de Lavaur que también desempeñaba funciones diplomáticas ante el imperio romano germánico y la Santa Sede.
El año... 1533, un año marcado por el matrimonio de Enrique VIII con Ana Bolena, un ... uyyy momento peliagudo para Europa... el Tudor se distancia de España haciéndole un feo y rechazando a su esposa española, y los franceses ven en esto una ocasión para acercarse a Inglaterra.
El pintor... Hans Holbein el joven, inundó el cuadro de simbolismos, de significados ocultos, de objetos sorprendentes y de guiños que han quedado para la Historia, muchos de los cuales aún siguen desconcertando a los expertos.
Los Globos
En el cuadro encontramos numerosos objetos astronómicos que el pintor incluyó premeditadamente, incluyendo en ellos numerosos datos y significados.
El globo terraqueo está centrado en Europa y en él se distingue la linea de separación del Tratado de Tordesillas que dividió el nuevo mundo en 1494 entre España y Portugal, se puede seguir también la ruta que Magallanes realizó en su vuelta al mundo e incluso algunos trazos de la recién descubierta América.
El globo celeste. A pesar de que la reunión entre los embajadores tuvo lugar en Londres, es curioso que el cielo que señala no corresponde al cielo inglés... La pintura indica una latitud de unos 43º lo que indicaría el cielo visto desde lugares como España o como el Vaticano...
Instrumentos astronómicos
La estantería superior está repleta de instrumentos astronómicos, entre los que destacan, además del globo, los relojes solares y el torquetum... en ellos nos vamos a centrar ahora:
- Relojes solares: En especial el reloj poliédrico que señala mediante sombras una curiosa fecha que aproximadamente se puede intuir entre el 11 y el 14 de Abril de 1533... Sin embargo, está constatado que durante estos días, el pintor no se encontraba en Londres pintando el cuadro. Este hecho ha desconcertado durante bastante tiempo a historiadores y expertos que aún no se ponen de acuerdo... La tesis más seguida apunta a que puede tratarse del 11 de Abril, ya que en ese año se celebraba el Viernes Santo y podría unirse a la simbología de los libros y el crucifijo que también aparecen en la pintura.
- Torquetum: El cuadro de Holbein nos muestra la única ilustración histórica que existe de este singular instrumento.
Las primeras noticias que tenemos de este mecanismo que convertía coordenadas, nos llegan de la mano de Ptolomeo, pero durante siglos no se supo nada más de él, hasta la edad media donde se realizaron algunos ejemplares... lamentablemente, ninguno de ellos se ha conservado.
Junto con la máquina de Antiquitera, el torquetum es uno de los misterios más interesantes que se conservan de la antigua Grecia, a pesar de que no ha llegado ninguno hasta nuestros días.
Os dejo un enlace interesantísimo (en inglés) donde podéis descubrir la historia del Torquetum, sus curiosidades e incluso podéis construir uno vostros mismos.
Los libros
Tanto en la estantería superior como en la inferior, nos encontramos con un total de tres libros:
Libro de Aritmética (7) - Se trata de un ejemplar del libro "Eyn newe unnd wohlgründte underweysung aller Kauffmanss Rechnung in dreyen büchern" escrito en 1527 por Peter Apian y dedicado a las prácticas comerciales de la incipiente burguesía comerciante, una clase social que en aquellos años comenzaba a estar en alza.
Libro ÆTATIS SVÆ 25 (10) - El libro es un misterio aún, ya que sólo podemos verlo parcialmente... Además, el libro aparece cerrado y con un cierre metálico que deja abiertas muchas incógnitas... La inscripción en sus hojas podría equivaler a la edad de Georges de Selves, que en aquellos días tenía 25 años.
Libro de Cantos Religiosos (6) - En concreto el "Geistlich Gesangbuhli" de Johannnes Walther, sin embargo y cómo podéis ver en el gráfico más abajo, el libro aparece abierto por dos páginas que en el verdadero libro no son consecutivas.
La página de la izquierda corresponde al primer versículo del himno Veni sancte Spiritus de Lutero y la de la derecha la introducción a la Versión abreviada de los Diez Mandamientos también de Lutero... La simbología asociada a este libro y en concreto a estas dos páginas, elegidas a propósito por el pintor, podría indicar el contraste entre la Ley y la Religión, ambas encarnadas también en los dos personajes del cuadro.
Instrumentos musicales
Junto al libro de Cantos al que me he referido en el párrafo anterior, nos encontramos con una serie de instrumentos musicales donde la perspectiva está realmente lograda.
Tanto el Laud con su cuerda rota, como las flautas guardadas en un estuche donde falta una de ellas, abren las puertas a múltiples teorías intentando explicar su significado. Alguna de ellas apunta a la pérdida de armonía y vacío que comenzaba a sufir la Iglesia de aquellos años, y colocadas por el pintor en el ángulo inferior del cuadro, junto a los pies del Obispo Georges de Selves, representante del poder eclesiástico en esta obra.
La Calavera en Anamorfosis
Pero si algo destaca realmente en el cuadro de Hans Holbein es sin duda la calavera en la parte central de la escena... Una calavera extraña, deformada...
Muy unido al elemento de perspectiva que comentaba antes, esta calavera ha sido uno de los motivos principales para realizar este artículo.
Se encuadra dentro de la técnica de la Anamorfosis y es un prodigio de la técnica pictórica y la perspectiva ya en aquellos años de incipiente Renacimiento.
La Anamorfosis consiste en la representación de figuras o elementos distorsionados, los cuales sólo pueden ser contemplados correctamente desde una determinada perspectiva. (Aquí un ejemplo representativo)
El uso de calaveras como representación de la muerte del hombre, de la fugacidad de la vida humana o el rápido paso del tiempo, fue muy utilizado por los artistas del renacimiento. Surgió así, una representación pictórica conocida como Vanitas y que encierra todo este simbolismo en pinturas, esculturas y todo tipo de manifestaciones artísticas.
En el cuadro de Holbein, esta Vanitas ocupa la parte principal del cuadro, deformándolo todo y confundiendo al observador mediante la inclusión de esta fuerte perspectiva de anamorfosis.
Calavera en Anamorfosis | ¿Cómo verla correctamente?
Con una simple cuchara o algún objeto curvo que refleje la imagen podremos ver la calavera en sus dimensiones correctas. Una técnica pictórica realmente impresionante y más, si tenemos en cuenta la fecha en la que se realizó.
El cuadro de "Los embajadores" aún oculta numeros objetos y elementos simbólicos que darían para una buena trama en una novela histórica... Si alguien ha leido "La Tabla de Flandes", en estos momentos ya podría estar imaginando un buen argumento para este cuadro renacentista... mmmm... "Los embajadores", yo aquí dejo mi sugerencia para el caso de que algún buen escritor se atreva a recogerla y convertirla en una buena novela... :)
Música del Post | William Topley & Mark Knopfler
Más información:
He dejado numerosos enlaces en el texto del artículo para quien quiera ampliar la información sobre este cuadro de Hans Holbein. Pero sobre todo os recomiendo esta web en inglés, donde podéis encontrar más fotografías y sus correspondientes explicaciones a cada símbolo dibujado en el cuadro. En ella os encontraréis con el cuadro y dentro de la fotografía podéis pinchar para acceder a numerosa información.
The Argument:
It has long been known that the floor in the painting is based on the floor in the sanctuary of Westminster Abbey, but no convincing explanation for the inclusion of this detail has been presented.
- The original inscription included in the Westminster Abbey pavement provides a crucial bit of evidence. Around the central circle originally appeared the inscription: Spericus archetypum, globus hic monstrat macrocosmum.
- Even without the inscription, it is likely that Holbein and
his patrons would have understood the pattern as signifying the
macrocosm.
- The pattern can be related to macrocosm diagrams going back to at least the Early Middle Ages.
- This tradition continued into the Renaissance:
- Charles de Bovelles and Oronce Finé, French contemporaries of the patrons, included similar diagrams in their texts.
- A very similar floor can be found in the Sistine Chapel directly beneath the Creation of Adam. This relationship between the floor and the painting articulates the central position of "Man" in Renaissance cosmology.
- The pattern can also be related to the ceiling of the Stanza della Segnatura. The opposition of the different elements in the macrocosm can be related to the contrast in disciplines included in the Stanza.
- The pattern can also be found underlying the plan of Renaissance churches like Bramante's plan for the reconstruction of St. Peter's.
- The microcosm/macrocosm concept established for the Renaissance the central position of man in creation.
- Man has a unique position participating both in the terrestrial and super-terrrestrial worlds.
- Due to his central position in creation, human wisdom is an encyclopedic knowledge of all things. Through senses man apprehends the physical world and through intellect man participates in the realm of pure intelligence. Reason plays a necessary intermediate role between sense and intellect.
- This hierarchy of knowledge beginning with sense followed by reason and completed by intellectual vision provides a conceptual framework for understanding the painting.
Discursive reason plays a central role between sense and intellect.
- Reason enables the application of order and structure to
sensible experience. Comparably the painting's balanced structure
of the horizontals and verticals bring order to the painting.
- The two shelves of the table which form the dominant horizontals in the painting serve to contrast the terrestrial realm with the objects on the lower shelf including a terrestrial globe to the celestial realm with the astronomical instruments on the upper shelf including a celestial globe.
- The two men who form the dominant verticals in the painting link the terrestrial and celestial realms which recalls the unique position of man in Renaissance conceptions of creation.
- The men also offer a contrast between the active figure of Dinteville who holds his attribute of the dagger on which is inscribed his age to the contemplative figure of de Selve who rests his arm on a book on which is inscribed his age.
- The objects on the lower and upper shelves of the table can be related to the Quadrivium, the four mathematical sciences of the Seven Liberal Arts: arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. But this is not the traditional Quadrivium of the Medieval university, but the Quadrivium of the new learning based on direct experience and with practical applications.
- In using the Quadrivium to study the world, humans show their likeness to God. For in the creation of the world God ordered things in "measure, and number, and weight." Thus in the application of the Quadrivium to the study of the worlds, humans recreate God's creation in human thought. In The Ambassadors, the books and instruments are "the rational entities and artificial forms" of the human conceptual world created in the likeness of the world of "real entities and natural forms" that are the products of God's creation.
- The understanding of the essential limitation of human thought
helps to explain several details in the painting:
- The different faces of the polyhedral sundial on the upper shelf are not consistent.
- The lute on the lower shelf has a broken string.
- Most significantly the anamorphic
skull in the foreground assertively calls to our attention
human transience.
- The anamorphic representation makes explicit the limitation of human vision. We can either see the painting from the front or the skull from the sides but not both at the same time. Divine vision transcends the human limitations of time and place.
- The encounter with the skull demands a cancellation and transcendence of the normal point of view. The skull is thus encountered, to paraphrase Nicholas of Cusa, unlike any other thing in the painting-- ignorantly, or unintelligibly in a shadow or in darkness or unknowlingly.
- Holbein's decision to have the skull cover the center of the floor pattern seems intentional. In the syntax of the painting, human mortality obscures a direct vision of God, the absolute center of the world.
- Renaissance political theory asserts that the fundamental
purpose of government is to maintain good order, harmony, and
peace, the universal patterns that were believed to underly the
structure of the macrocosm. Human finiteness makes this an unattainable
goal.
- The broken lute string recalls the same motif in Alciati's Emblematum Liber. There the broken string is likened to the difficulty in achieving true harmony in political alliances.
- The Lutheran Hymnbook has the obvious reference to the religious discords of the period.
- The Ambassadors should be seen against the backdrop of the political and religious discords that were dividing Europe during this period.
- Nicholas of Cusa's central concept of the coincidence of opposites, that in God all oppositions are reconciled, is very useful in viewing The Ambassadors. The paintings balanced oppositions of active/contemplative and celestial/terrestrial are the results of the application of discursive reason to the world. In God all these oppositions are reconciled.
- Contemplating the skull brings us self-knowledge of our own limitations. Significantly Dinteville has a brooch with a representation of a skull on his cap.
- Visio intellectualis is unattainable through human
effort. It is a gift given through faith
in Jesus and Christ's Passion.
- This idea is suggested in the painting by several details:
- Most directly in the half-hidden crucifix in the upper-left corner of the painting. The choice of the half-hidden representation suggests the unique nature of Christ in his two natures. In George de Selve's own words Christ in His humanity is "visible, passible, [et] mortel," while in his divinity he is "invisible, impassible, immortel, et egal a Dieu son pere."
- Christ's Redemption of humankind through His Passion is also alluded to by the cylindrical sundial that is significantly set for April 11 which was Good Friday in 1533.
- The appearance of both a skull and a crucifix in The Ambassadors recalls images of St. Jerome in His Study. Jerome was a clear model for the Christian humanist in the tradition of Erasmus.
- Another allusion can be seen
in the Lutheran Hymnbook on the lower shelf. The two texts shown
in the painting are probably a reference to the Lutheran theme
of the contrast between the Law and the Gospel or Grace.
- This theme gained wide popularity in a visual form through the works of Lucas Cranach. The theme appears at least twice in other works by Holbein: Edinburgh panel and the Coverdale Bible frontispiece. It was also used in the frontispiece to Lefèvre d'Etaples' translation of the New Testament in 1530.
- The theme of Law and the Gospel can be connected to the central Lutheran doctrine of the Justification by Faith. Humans can only be justfied by the free gift of grace by God through Christ's passion and not by works.
- The theme of Justification by Faith has important parallels in the writings of Lefèvre d'Etaples, the moderate French reformer.
- The writings of George de Selve also discuss the question of Justification by Faith.
- Divine Wisdom, true peace, and Justification are only possible
through Christ. This a central theme in the writings of George
de Selve:
- In an oration apparently prepared for the Diet of Speyer in 1529, de Selve called for the opposing factions in the conflict between the Catholic Chruch and the Reformers to "vanquish themselves in the mirror of Jesus Christ" and come together in the mystical body of Christ.
- In a discourse addressed to the Emperor and the French King de Selve called for a spiritual peace where all are reunited in the body of Christ.
- In another text, he warned the courtier not to simply serve the master's appetites but to understand that true peace and security can only be gained by serving the true master, Jesus Christ.
- The unity of the world in belief in Jesus Christ is echoed in the excerpt from the hymn Veni sancte Spiritus included in the Lutheran Hymnbook.
- The Ambassadors can be likened to the Silenus of Alcibiades
in Erasmus' Adages:
- "What is most excellent in any way is always the least showy...."
- "...under these veils, great heaven what wonderful wisdom lies hidden."
- "If you crack the nut, you find inside that profound wisdom, truly divine, a touch of something which is clearly like Christ Himself."
- In his The Praise of Folly, Erasmus writes: "...what at first sight seems to be death, if you view it narrowly may prove to be life; and so the contrary."
- The painting asks us to see invisibly the invisible truth which is hidden behind the surface of appearances.
Me gustó HUNTED con Melissa George que recomendaron hace un par de páginas.
Son 8 partes, van 5. Está el morocho que hacía de Mr. Eko en LOST.
Cast: Melissa George Sam Hunter; Adam Rayner Aidan Marsh, Sam's colleague and love interest; Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje Deacon Crane; Morven Christie Zoe Morgan; Lex Shrapnel Ian Fowkes; Stephen Campbell Moore Stephen Turner; Oscar Kennedy Edward Turner; Tom Beard Bingham; Patrick Malahide Jack Turner; Stephen Dillane Rupert Keel; Scott Handy Black-faced Man; Uriel Emil Hasan Moussa; Dhafer L’Abidine Bernard Faroux; Indira Varma Natalie Thorpe
Fuente: http://www.crimetimepreview.com/2012/09 ... eview.html
Las partes esas en donde entrena en el primer episodio fueron filmadas en Escocia. Ver: http://www.reelscotland.com/photo-galle ... es-hunted/
Página oficial de HUNTED en la BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00vndpl
Muy copada la "tablet" del primer episodio en la sala de reuniones.
Ladies and gentlemen, Melissa George:
MÁS: http://ratocine.blogspot.com.ar/2012/06/portfolio-melissa-george.html
ENLACES/FUENTES:
http://aldea-irreductible.blogspot.com.ar/2009/07/anamorfosis-y-simbologia-del-prodigioso.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ambassadors_%28Holbein%29
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_embajadores
http://markmeynell.wordpress.com/2009/07/21/holbein%E2%80%99s-the-ambassadors-unlocking-hidden-mysteries/
http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/arth214/ambassadors_home.html
http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/hunted
http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/melissa-george
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