Claudius Civilis



This is a reproduction of one of my sketchbook drawings from Rembrandt's Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis. I got to see the painting in June of 2016 when it was on loan to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, while the National Museum of Sweden was being renovated. I expect that the painting is back in Stockholm now, as the museum is scheduled to reopen soon.

I have been looking at and thinking about the work of Rembrandt and his students, noting a difference in the boldness of the execution. Rembrandt worked vigorously and freely, his students more cautiously. But, like his students, Rembrandt was precise in his shaping and placement of forms.

Precision seems to have been demanded by Dutch art patrons of the day. From the exquisite still life paintings of the Dutch ‘little masters’, to the figure paintings of Ter Borch and the church interiors of Sanraedam, it seems that the best images had to function like a watch, or a scientific instrument. Forms needed to be described accurately, and in small detail. But, more than that, in the work from that period that excites me most, the forms needed to be arranged in designs that convey movement and liveliness.

Later in his life Rembrandt left his paintings in a rougher state of finish, and his work fell out of favor. I am among the enthusiasts of his work today who are grateful for his willingness to press on with his artistic mission, despite waning popularity.

The Claudius Civilis was something of a disaster for Rembrandt. It was a huge painting commissioned for the new town hall, but the work was rejected. He cut the canvas down to its present dimensions, to see if he could sell it to someone else, but was not able to do so.

When I was younger, back in high school and college, the Claudius Civilis was probably my favorite Rembrandt painting. I would study it in book reproductions, and think about how great it would be to see in person. The dramatic lighting, and rough appearance of the figures were probably what captured my attention.

But by the time I got to see it in person, I didn't respond to it as strongly. The drawing and overall design seem a bit off, lacking in the precision that I usually find in his work. I expect that the elements we can see today felt more at home in their original format, a huge canvas with theatrical space and architecture around the figures.

Rembrandt's sketch of the painting's original composition, along with interesting background information, can be seen on Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Conspiracy_of_Claudius_Civilis

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why Am I Doing This?

Image
Why Am I Doing This? I have decided to write a blog about art and travel. Things that I like to think about, and talk about, tend to fall under these categories, so it seems to make sense. Why am I doing this? One reason has to do with something that contemporary artist Vincent Desiderio has said about art making in general, that it is a process of self-enlightenment for the artist. Bo Bartlett, another major contemporary artist, with whom I had the good fortune to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, spoke of an idea that I think is similar: making art is a way to wake up. But art serves the viewer, as well as the artist. I hope that this blog, like my artwork, may be interesting and useful to other people. I am working to link this to my Facebook account, which will, I hope, help more people see it. This calm little interface on Blogger that I am now using is more to my taste than is the dense web of information that a Facebook page has to offer. So if I
Read more

Birthday

Image
This is a detail of a painting I am working on. That rectangular shape is the start of a birthay cake. My mother made a cake for me when I was three or four, at the end of the 1960's, or five months into the 1970's. There is a photo of me sitting at the table in the apartment my parents were renting on Montgomery Ave. in Ardmore, with my mother standing nearby and another young person, who I cannot now identify, looking off to the left. The photo is square, the original Instagram, but black and white, not murky 70's color.   In this painting I started painting the cake and the white table cloth in green because I felt like it. I wanted to have my feeling supersede any intrinsic requirements the subject may have presented, for the sake of my ongoing connection to my work. Sometimes when this allowance is made surprising connections are made, or depths are revealed that feel true to the subject. And sometimes the self-satisfying decision can just express my feeling, whic
Read more

William Brymner, Girl with a Dog, Lower Saint Lawrence

Image
This is a sketch from William Brymner’s painting Girl with a Dog, Lower Saint Lawrence, from 1905, and a reproduction of the painting.  The piece caught my attention during a visit to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in 2017. The subject matter was unusual. A girl sits on the sand, or dirt, wearing what I guess was everyday dress in 1905, and holds a stick in front of her dog. Is she restraining the dog from greeting the viewer? Or is she protecting the dog from us? In the painting she has an expression I would describe as angry or frustrated. I find that my sketch adds more sadness. In the original work she faces the viewer more directly. In the painting she is connected to the land by similarity in value and color, and is held down by a horizontal land form in the middle ground. In my sketch I lightened the light on her hat, separating it from its surrounding values and perhaps connecting it more closely to the sky. I like the comma in the title, separating the protago
Read more