Skip to main content

Domenichino, 'Head of the Baptist', c.1630

 


The open mouth is not normally featured in art. Yet, it seems to be the very epicentre of the canvas here. Domenichino uses the faintest dots of white lead to pick out the teeth of John the Baptist within the dark abyss of the mouth. Meanwhile, the lips are grey and sickly as life swiftly leaves the decapitated head, with the colours serving to contrast the bright red blood seeping from the severed neck. Sitting centrally on the plate, the open mouth is at odds to the heavily closed, sunken eyes. Although the saint is now unseeing, his mouth seems to suggest a final breath exiting his body, the last gasp of life which produces an almost sensory, audible quality to the painting, or even a death rattle. The singular, central crease in the pristine, white tablecloth sitting directly below the gaping darkness equally serves to draw the viewer’s eye to the open mouth. Perhaps Domenichino is even suggesting that the last breath of John the Baptist is just strong enough to flutter the tablecloth, creasing it beneath the head and golden plate.

Through the open mouth, Domenichino creates a canvas of circles and rectangles, Platonic forms which bring harmony and balance to an otherwise gruesome scene. Firstly, the piece is divided into two planes: an empty black background and a white tablecloth. This is punctuated by the golden plate, a halo below John the Baptist which is further matched by the thin, gold line of the halo around his severed head. Domenichino emphasises the saint’s divinity in the work repeatedly. Even his thick, brown hair seems to flow around the head, producing yet another circular form, again in reference to the halo. Despite these two-dimensional shapes which Domenichino frequently employs, the artist has masterfully used light and shade to evoke a three-dimensional plate. The rim rises off the white tablecloth from its dark underside, ‘lifting’ the plate in an enhanced presentation of the head, offering it to a viewer. Additionally, the gold detailing around the edge of the plate furthers the tactility and immediacy of the presentation.   

Domenichino emphasises his skill in producing light and shade through the face itself, as light frontally hits the ghostly pallor of the subject. The eyes have already sunk back into the skull, creating a skeletal effect with large pouches under the closed eyes framed by dark eyebrows. The face is shrouded in the beard and hair of the Baptist, detailed with a softness of brushwork that is almost delicate and gentle, again at odds to the gruesome subject matter. Domenichino has, however, kept the horror to a minimum. The red blood is not oozing out of the wound, it is not cascading down the plate and spilling out into the viewer’s space. Life exits John the Baptist through his facial features and particularly his open mouth, not from the wound at his neck. This is a portrait of the head of a man who now experiences death right before the viewer’s eyes. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

John Everett Millais, 'Peace Concluded', 1856

  My eye is drawn to the copy of The Times clutched in the hands of the officer. The white of the figurine on the man's knee and the white of his wife's sleeves all serve to make the white paper stand out even more on the canvas. As the title of the painting suggests, this is about the end of the Crimean War, seemingly depicting a soldier who has just returned home, surrounded by his family, but the mood is perhaps less euphoric than you might expect. The soldier seems somber and weary, and his wife has a look of concern. Although on the surface it seems to be quite a harmonious composition representing a close knit and traditional family, the positioning of the man is odd. It is his wife who takes her place at the apex of the triangular composition, the soldier is reduced to an emasculated role, perhaps an invalid, as suggested by the blanket over his legs. Her face is passive, but not exactly positive. With her arms draped around her husband, she looks posed, dutiful but not...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ernst Barlach, 'The Avenger', 1914

  On the advent of both the First World War and the artistic movement known as Futurism, Ersnt Barlach cast this work in bronze. The eye picks out an angular, horizontal form, a sense of hurried pace and strong facial features to this work by the German Expressionist artist. This piece is highly interesting when discussed in terms of the artist's oeuvre - Barlach entered the First World War with a clear attitude of patriotism. The sculpture reflects that, as the figure seemingly thrusts forward wielding a sizeable weapon above his head, leading the charge head on. Describing the sculpture as his 'raging Barbarian' it is clear that Barlach wanted to present an emotionally charged figure. Perhaps it is even a self portrait, with Barlach picturing himself as the hero. The artist did in fact serve briefly as an infantry officer. However realisation soon dawned and patriotism quickly dwindled. All of Barlach's sculptures from this point onward are influenced by the horror an...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tondino di Guerrino, 'Crucifix', 1325-30

  The monumental crucifixes of Cimabue, Giotto and their followers, and their transition from Byzantine forms towards increased dynamism and naturalism, have been well studied. Equally, smaller works by French Gothic practitioners in ivory are now beginning to permeate scholarship, mainly through the detailed exploration by Sarah Guerin. The goldsmiths of Siena do not command as much attention. Yet, they hold the key to artistic synthesis in the early fourteenth century. This is proved by the small processional crucifix currently at the National Gallery's iteration of Siena: The Rise of Painting 1300-50, attributed to Tondino di Guerrino.  Tondino combines enamel with an intricate gold sculptural presentation of the crucified Christ in this small, portable work. Instantly, the eye is drawn to the central element - the thin, skeletal body hanging from two stretched, emaciated arms. Christ's torso is drawn inwards, his ribs exposed, mimicking a sharp intake of breath. The downwa...
Post a Comment
Read more