Category: Art Flashes
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Francisco de Goya: a portrait of illness
Trang Ngoc Diem VuRochester, Minnesota, United States Francisco de Goya’s Self-Portrait with Dr. Arrieta is a Romantic painting illustrating one of Goya’s most severe bouts of illness. The inscription beneath the scene reads, “Goya, thankful to his friend Arrieta: for the skill and care with which he saved his life during his short and dangerous…
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Dr. Pozzi at home: Gynecologist, soldier, socialite
Sally MetzlerChicago, Illinois Blessed with professional success and movie-star looks, Dr. Pozzi stands before us appearing regal in his red velvet dressing gown. He was so admired for his sartorial élan that colleagues nicknamed him “The Siren.” The artist of this masterful portrait, legendary American expatriate John Singer Sargent, presents Pozzi devoid of any professional…
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Saint Cajetan (St. Gaetano Thiene)
Sally MetzlerChicago, Illinois, United States The cupola and two towers of the Theatiner Church in Munich rise high against the backdrop of the Alps in memory of Saint Cajetan. He is the patron saint of Argentina and of the unemployed, beatified in 1629 and canonized in 1671. His feast day is celebrated on August 7.…
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Shepherd with a goiter
Sally MetzlerChicago, Illinois, United States This beautiful scene of the Nativity by Moretto da Brescia (c. 1498-1554) in the Santa Giulia Museum of his native town is painted in muted autumnal colors of gold, browns, and greens. On the right the ox and the ass peer out from the stable. A flock of sheep grazing…
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Saint kills parents, erects hospital, and shares bed with a leper
Sally MetzlerChicago, Illinois, United States The Italian Renaissance artist Franciabigio has illustrated a horrendous crime of passion (fig. 1). He depicted the moment when Saint Julian, consumed with false jealously, killed his parents—by mistake! A disguised devil had told Julian that his wife was in bed with a lover, but in fact the couple were…
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Saint Sebastian nursed by Saint Irene
Sally MetzlerChicago, Illinois, United States She wears neither latex gloves nor mask, yet Saint Irene performs surgery of the most epic kind, shown here pulling a deadly arrow from the thigh of Saint Sebastian. He was a Roman soldier who incurred the wrath of Emperor Diocletian for protecting Christian martyrs. She, the surgeon-nurse, was a…
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Doctors as angels and devils
Sally MetzlerChicago, Illinois, United States The Physician as god, angel, man, and devilFour colored engravings, 1609Johann Galle after Egbert van PanderenCollection of the Wellcome Institute, London These four colored engravings from 1609 by Johann Gelle after the design of Egbert van Panderen tell the waxing and waning reputation of the physician from the eye of…
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Distorting anatomy
Sally MetzlerChicago, Illinois, USA In this Mannerist painting of the deposition of Christ commissioned by the Capponi family for their burial chapel in Florence, high drama, distorted anatomy, and cool colors characterize this path-breaking composition. A grave attendant precariously squats on his tippy toes while impossibly bearing the weight of the dead, limp body of…