Well, our Project will soon be coming to
fruition. Going to be exciting to
discover what we have all come up with after two years of experimentation and
research.
Recently, that is for the last five or six months, I
have really expanded my mono-printing processes.
In the beginning I had made quite small studies of healing dogs,
elements from the Porpora and wild plants, (healing and poisonous). Different
compositions of these have gradually been getting bigger all the while.
There have been technical difficulties along the way,
especially with the very large Perspex sheets;
however, I have managed, in the main, to resolve these problems by
finding a plan B most times – being inventive and flexible.
The challenge was pretty scary to begin with, and
maybe I did not achieve a mono-print
quite as wide as I had anticipated; nevertheless, I haven’t done too badly,
considering that some of them are roughly the size of my cabin door.
It has all been quite cathartic I feel, forcing
oneself to create ambitious work and to stretch one’s imagination to ever
increasing heights.
A Journey of Discovery.
On the 4th August I decided to make a
monotone A1 brush drawing of the Porpora painting – ‘Still-life with a Snake,
Frogs, Tortoise and Lizard’, as a means
of analising the work, bit by bit.
The rationale for this was to try and dig deeper into
the meaning of this work, and, maybe discover something about Paolo Porpora
himself along the way.
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Paolo Porpora. Still Life with a Snake, Frogs and a Tortoise
Oil on canvas, 52.3 x 95.2 cm
Collection: Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales
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I came to
realise that, far from being a still-life, as the title suggests, this painting
could be a ‘memento mori’. (the Latin
for ‘remember you must die’). At first I wondered how Porpora had achieved the
vivacity and movement of these reptiles in his painting – I did not think from
taxidermy. Then, by chance, I came
across a work, almost identical in composition and subject matter, to a
Porpora, that I could hardly believe that it was painted by another artist – a
Netherlander with the unlikely name of Otto Marseus van Shriek!
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| Otto Marseus van Schrieck. Still Life with Poppy, Insects, and Reptiles, ca 1670 Collection The Metropolitan Museum of Art "www.metmuseum.org" |
Initially there was not much information available on
Porpora, other than – born in Naples in 1617, known as Paolo dei Fiori
(flowers) a painter of still lifes and travelled to and fro between Rome and the Netherlands in the mid 17th
century.
I am convinced that these two artists – Paolo and Otto, must have been acquainted. Upon researching van Shrieck it seems that he had a walled piece of land on which he kept a collection of live reptiles. It is possible that Porpora was able to draw and study these reptiles – either that, or it gave him the idea of keeping some of his own in Rome.
I am convinced that these two artists – Paolo and Otto, must have been acquainted. Upon researching van Shrieck it seems that he had a walled piece of land on which he kept a collection of live reptiles. It is possible that Porpora was able to draw and study these reptiles – either that, or it gave him the idea of keeping some of his own in Rome.
The reason I think this painting is about death is
that the animals are deadly to each other, for example ‘ the snake is the enemy
of the toad,’ some lizards are venomous (this one certainly looks very
menacing!) – the toad is in the act of eating the butterfly, which is an emblem
of life. An omnivorous tortoise will take insects. The fungi appear to be Death
Caps and Yellow Staining Mushrooms, both deadly. Even the plants in the
painting are poisonous, or symbolic of death:
Chrysanthemums – I Crisantemi, are emblematic of death
in Italy.
On November the 2nd, ‘the
Day of the Dead’ (all Souls’ Day), people often visit the graves of relatives
and friends and leave chrysanthemums; and the huge leaves with small
yellow flowers, oddly, seem to be tomato plants (gelsemium sempervivens.
Gelsemium being a version of the word Gelsomino, the Italian word for
Jasmine. Tomatoes belong to the Nightshade family – poisonous alkaloids are
found in the nectar and leaves, namely Tomatine and Solanine.
On the Scriptorium website it is
stated: “by the 16th Century the use of poison had become a high art of
sorts. Several cities in Italy, including Venice and Rome, served as the
home for schools that were dedicated to teaching the ways of poison.”
Some
interesting information on Porpora, recently popped up out of the blue. There
were some articles in the Guardian and Telegraph, etc. concerning a Taiwanese
schoolboy on a visit to a Leonardo exhibition. This boy tripped and damaged a
Paolo Porpora painting in the Taipei Huashan 19 Creative Arts Centre, on the
25th August, 2015.
In the
midst of all this publicity for Porpora there was a useful ‘gem’ – that he
worked in Rome for the Chigi family, who, it seems, were a very rich and
influential family connected to the Popes of those times. There is a mass of
information on the history of the Chigi family, covering several generations.
This begs the question (to me) – could the Chigis have commissioned this
‘memento mori’ from Paolo Porpora?
Just
discovered more information on Otto van Shriek (1):
Born 1613
in Nijmegen – was a painter in the Dutch Golden Age. Best known for his
paintings of Forest, Flora and Fauna. Spent the years 1652 – 1657 in Rome and
Florence, worked at the court of the Grand Duke of Tuscany and travelled
throughout England and France.
There is
a biography of Otto van Shrieck written by Arnold Houbraken (2), in which it is
mentioned that he was called the Snuffelaer or Sniffer because he was always
sniffing strange Lizards and Snakes!
Another
article on van Shrieck revealed that, upon arrival in Rome, he had joined the
Bentvueghels (Dutch for Birds of a Feather), which was a society that allegedly
promoted the Arts of that time; they dressed in Robes at their meetings and
their members were all given nicknames, hence Snuffelaer. Van Shrieck also
joined the Accademia di San Luca (Accademy of St. Luke), of which Paolo Porpora
was a member (although I have no evidence that Porpora joined the
Bentvueghels).
The Bentvueghels, or many artists of that period were
influenced by Carravaggio, and like him, lived a rather wild, Bohemian kind of
lifestyle.
The Bentvueghels looked up to Bacchus (the God of
wine) as their idol, and there are some images of them in Taverns, living it
up.
On another website, called ‘Hunting for Snails’ I found some more information on Porpora (3):
In 1666 he appears among the members of the
Congregazione dei Virtuosi del Pantheon, (in Rome), until his death (in 1673),
when the institution will pay the fees for the Mass of the DEFUNCT artist.
This seems quite amazing – that such a prolific
artist, who once worked for one of the richest families in Rome, could die in
poverty. Although, it seems that many, seemingly successful, artists of that
era ended up in Paupers’ graves.
Ironically, it was reported in the recent articles
about the Taiwanese schoolboy damaging a Paolo Porpora, that the painting,
called ‘Flowers’ had a value of one Million pounds!
Phew! What a
Journey!!
(1) and (2) The
information on Otto Marseus van Shriek and also
about the Biography of van Schriek, written by Arnold Houbraken sourced from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/otto_Marseus_van_Schrieck
accessed October 2015
(3) Porpora and the Congregazione dei Virtuosi
accessed October 2015
Having researched Porpora and Harrison there do not seem to be any publications solely on them.
However, there is a lovely book published by National Museum Wales Books 2011, called ‘Discovered in Time’ Treasures from Early Wales. Edited by Mark Redknap.
There is a section on The Llys Awel Hoard. The figurines of the Healing Dogs, which are part of my inspiration for the project, are in this with some excellent illustrations.
Discovered in time : treasures from early Wales / edited by Mark Redknap
Cardiff : National Museum of Wales, 2011
BU Welsh Library GF558 .D57 2011 AVAILABLE
Descript 162 p. : ill. (some col.), map. ; 23 cm
Subject Wales -- History
Wales -- Antiquities
ISBN 9780720006049 (pbk.)
072000604X (pbk.)
Sensibly, the editor and contributors of this book have achieved the perfect balance between text and illustrations. The photographs are so ‘realistic!’ – almost 3D – well lit to bring out intrinsic fine detail in the form, anatomy and decoration of each object.
Valuable historic research also tells the details of where each artefact was found. Much of the history of Wales is here, through our forebears, who made, wore and used these objects.
Many of these artefacts have been discovered up here in North Wales, notably the two healing dog figurines, 1st to 4th century AD, found at Pen y Corddyn hillfort (near Abergele). And The Parc y Meirch (park of the horses) hoard, discovered at St. George, Conwy, consisting of horse harness fittings, called ‘jangle plates’ – the ponies that wore them must have looked and sounded so beautiful wearing them, 1150 – 1000 BC!
These are just the tip of the iceberg of the contents of this wonderful book!
Touchingly, this book is dedicated to Edward Lhuyd (1670-1709), a most amazing man – Celtic scholar, botanist, and much more besides! To me this is a link to my father, Joe Gianelli, who once showed me the growing place of the Lloydia (named after its discoverer, Edward Lhuyd) – also known as the Snowdon Lily; growing on Clogwyn Du’r Arddu. I was about 9 or 10 at the time.
12th June 2015
Experimented with monoprints of dogs, snakes, lichen, skeletons, etc.
Made some A1 (plus a strip), chalk drawings of dogs (from healing dog figurines).
Taken may photographs of lichen and wildflowers, etc.
Made a flower book.
Been to Cardiff Museum to see the Porpora painting – sketched and photographed it.
Bought a book with information and illustrations of the Llys Awel dog figurines.
Started making transcription monoprints of elements from the Porpora painting, e.g. reptiles and flowers.
Kept a jotter from the start of the project.
Researched the extreme usefulness of dogs, snakes and plants in medicine and medical research.
Been to the Natural History Museum to draw some snakes and a python skeleton.
Seen some live snakes at the Brambell building.
Read a book about the Physicians of Myddfai. (Welsh Herbal Medicine).
Ordered a book – Culpeper’s Herbal.
Amassed a bunch of articles, illustrations and writings for my journal.
Kept photographic records of work done in my studio to date.
Part of my project is finding out the medicinal properties of some of these plants, and I am making a little book, which contains pressed flowers, which grow around Pant y Buarth; their names, in English and Welsh, are written alongside of them.
Unfortunately, as far as we know, little of the knowledge about the remedies was written down, and now only snatches of it remain for the present generation. Glyn remembers being instructed by his father, on walks around the farm, to gather handfuls of this and that leaf, etc; then Jack would boil them up on the fire, filling the house with a herby smell of mint, etc. which when cool, the chopped up green matter would be mixed with lard into ointment, or bottled as a medicine.
11th June 2015
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Paolo Porpora. Still Life with a
Snake, Frogs and a Tortoise
Collection: Amgueddfa Cymru –
National Museum Wales.
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Lately I have been concentrating a lot on the healing aspects of my project, and thinking and knowing that folk who lived around our farm, Pant y Buarth, Brynrefail, Glyn’s father, John Robert Evans, and his grandmother, who lived nearby, at Ty’n Buarth, used plants as medicines for people and animals.
Part of my project is finding out the medicinal properties of some of these plants, and I am making a little book, which contains pressed flowers, which grow around Pant y Buarth; their names, in English and Welsh, are written alongside of them.
My father, Joe Gianelli, taught me, at a very young age, the names of the wild flowers and ferns, which grew around out home, the Snowdon Ranger, and they have remained in my memory for ever. Mostly the same plants grow here at Pant y Buarth.
Unfortunately, as far as we know, little of the knowledge about the remedies was written down, and now only snatches of it remain for the present generation. Glyn remembers being instructed by his father, on walks around the farm, to gather handfuls of this and that leaf, etc; then Jack would boil them up on the fire, filling the house with a herby smell of mint, etc. which when cool, the chopped up green matter would be mixed with lard into ointment, or bottled as a medicine.
3rd June 2015
A Visit
to Cardiff Museum and Gallery.
It was rather a whistlestop tour – not much time to spare,
so had to make the most of it. Blessed by a nice, sunny June day, which created
a feeling of confidence and well-being. Quickly found my chosen painting by
Paolo Porpora, ‘Still life with Snakes,
Tortoise and other Reptiles.’ The
painting was hung in a dark, rather claustrophobic corner, which made its
background seem almost black. Although this added to the mystery of the
picture, I have seen on websites, a much clearer background, containing some
free brush drawing of plants.
I was able to make some quick pencil sketches of various
elements of the painting – had taken with me a piece of A1 cartridge folded
into about eight sections. My sketching was rather nervy, as I felt a bit
excited and on edge, not least as I was taking a few photos as well, and was
unsure whether I should have asked permission;
also felt a bit guilty of ‘hogging’ the space before the painting from
members of the general public.
Not far from the Porpora was the fantastic portrait of the
North Walian artist, Richard Wilson, by
Anton Raphael Mengs. Wilson, who loved Snowdonia, and trained in Rome, is now
acknowledged as an artist of huge significance, even credited with influencing
Turner and Constable. Also, Thomas Jones, Pencerrig, was a student of Wilson’s,
who died at Colomendy, Mold at the early age of 68 yrs.
14th April 2015
About work done during the past
couple of weeks. Research, drawing and monoprinting.
I found an
image of a dog’s skull, made a monoprint of it, and came to realise that the
structure of dogs and snakes could make for interesting subject matter.
Particularly as I had used thin Perspex (acetate) for the monoprints, the ones
of skeletal type images, slightly reminded me of x-rays. From this revelation I
recalled some work of Julian Schnabel – after discovering some ancient x-rays
in France he was inspired to make paintings about them. These were exhibited at
the Gagosian Gallery, and I have been examining them online.
Also, whilst
visiting Dulwich Picture Gallery on the 13th January, my eye was
taken by some big bright blue leaves in the foreground of a large hunting scene
painted in 1665 by Adam Pynacker, a Dutch artist – think the shapes of the
leaves reminded me of Dog Lichen, which I have been drawing and printing.
Couldn’t help wondering why, when the rest of the painting was in conventional
colours, these were so incongruous? According to the info. The yellow pigment
in the leaves had faded away! Then,
looking at the rest of the painting, noticed a large cream coloured hound, also
in the foreground; this dog was extremely lean, so virtually all his bones and
muscles were visible – the posture of
the hound, which was crouching and straining (as dogs do), seemed to emphasise
his anatomical structure. These two most prominent features seemed to reduce
the rest of the painting to obscurity, to me at least.
Also, the
above mentioned painting relates to one of my two chosen paintings at Museum of
Wales, Cardiff, being also a hunting scene. ‘The Llanharran Hunt, by John F.
Harrison.
I love the shapes and temperament of these hunting hounds, noble beasts, and thinking about them has opened up yet another can of worms – as a lot of attention is being given to the hunting debate at this moment in time, no doubt due to the forthcoming election, have been watching (on Countryfile), and, reading a big article in the Guardian relating to these matters. Have kept the article/s for my journal.
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John F. Harrison. The Llanharan
Hunt
Date painted: c.1837
Oil on canvas, 101.6 x 127 cm
Collection: Amgueddfa Cymru –
National Museum Wales
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I love the shapes and temperament of these hunting hounds, noble beasts, and thinking about them has opened up yet another can of worms – as a lot of attention is being given to the hunting debate at this moment in time, no doubt due to the forthcoming election, have been watching (on Countryfile), and, reading a big article in the Guardian relating to these matters. Have kept the article/s for my journal.
Another
wonderful study is in the Dulwich - Head
of a Hound by Pietr Boel, 1660 – 65., thought to be preparatory
for ‘Boar Hunt at the Schloss in Mosigkau’.
Love the wonderful expression, so touching, on the hound’s face, each
muscle and whisker rendered – the fur painted impressionistically.
9th March, 2015
May have
mentioned before that I would like my work to meet art with science, and being
inspired by those little healing dog figurines has led along this path.
Today I went
to the Natural History Museum at the Brambell Building, Bangor University, and
was able to sketch a python skeleton, and two other snake specimens.
Since I have
started drawing and printmaking about dogs and snakes have become fascinated
with their structure – what lies beneath their skin? So far have
made prints of a dog’s skull, an amazingly emaciated hound from a painting by
Pynacker (with all its bone and muscle structure visible), and now a python’s
skeleton.
Drawing bone
structure really gives you something to get your teeth into!
Another
thing which excites me is the fact that scientists at Bangor University (and also at
Liverpool) are experimenting with snake venom in the field of medicine. Have
heard that venom could be used as a treatment for stroke and arthritis; also
the possibility that it could be useful as an anaesthetic, which would be free
of the side effects suffered from ‘conventional’ anaesthetic. I would like to
find out more about these matters.
February 2015
Have started to experiment with monoprint, using thin Perspex, water-based inks, rollers;
Also trying
out various thin papers such as:
Thin,
hand-made paper from Nepal, ordinary tissue paper, brass-rubbing paper and some
thin, quite tough ‘paper’ from a friend.
Have tried
two different methods of monoprinting:
1. Rolling thin layer of ink onto
Perspex, then adding or removing ink with brush, rags, kitchen paper. Then
printing onto thin paper.
2. Lightly placing sheet of paper onto
inked up Perspex, and drawing the image with a pointed implement, onto the back
of the print. Removing carefully.
Producing
some interesting results, in particular one grotesque dog – it looks really
evil – I want my dogs to be cur-like, not cute lap-dogs. Have always liked Martin Brothers grotesque
stoneware birds (tobacco jars, etc.)
Furthermore,
after removing the linear prints from the Perspex, the remaining white line
image is rather wonderful? Photographed some of these before cleaning ink off
Perspex. Some of them look rather mysterious and evil too! Might end up keeping some of them on small
pieces of Perspex (negative images), as part of the work body.
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White image
left on Perspex plate after taking linear print.
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Linear
images, on tissue, on plate – taken from sketchbook.
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A page from
my lichen sketchbook. (Nepal paper).
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Work in
progress – lichen plate inked up, ready to print.
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First
lichen print on thin paper, hanging up to dry.
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Paolo Porpora. Still Life with a
Snake, Frogs and a Tortoise
Oil on canvas, 52.3 x 95.2 cm
Collection: Amgueddfa Cymru –
National Museum Wales
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