The Florida Option: Sunday January 31, 2010

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The Florida Option: Sunday January 31, 2010The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art

When I first visited The Ringling Museumof Art (http://www.ringling.org/) in Sarasota earlierthis month I quickly realized that one, or

even two, visits would be insufficient. So,I bought a membership. When the cardarrived I bee-lined down there, strolledthe grounds and gardens; and took adocent-guided tour of the art museum.

Grounds and Gardens

http://www.ringling.org/Grounds.aspx?id=98&ekmensel=c580fa7b_186_0_98_5

The grounds and gardens were unfortunately drab, even in thesunshine. I think this was because of the unseasonably cold weatherand freezing temperatures the entire area recently experienced.Nonetheless, I enjoyed the quiet along the paths, admired thesculptures, and the banyan trees.
http://www.ringling.org/http://www.ringling.org/Grounds.aspx?id=98&ekmensel=c580fa7b_186_0_98_5http://www.ringling.org/http://www.ringling.org/Grounds.aspx?id=98&ekmensel=c580fa7b_186_0_98_5


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The Museum of Arthttp://www.ringling.org/ArtMuseum.aspx

The Museum of Art, built by John Ringling to house his personalcollection of masterpieces, today features paintings and sculptures bythe great Old Masters including Rubens, van Dyck, Velzquez, Titian,

Tintoretto, Veronese, El Greco, Gainsborough and more.

Peter Paul Rubens and The BaroqueThe docent-guided tour covered Peter Paul Reubens and theBaroque. The introductory gallery featured: a portrait of Isabella (whowas a major patron of Rubens); a huge tapestry (Fides Catholica);and one huge painting (The Triumph of Divine Love). The immensityand details of the tapestry and the paintings in the first two galleries

were awesome to behold. Gaspar de CrayerFlemish, 1584-1669,active in Antwerp

Portrait of the InfantaIsabella Clara Eugenia,c. 1620

de Crayer was a studentof Rubens.

The following information
http://www.ringling.org/ArtMuseum.aspxhttp://www.ringling.org/ArtMuseum.aspx


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is excerpted from The Docent Collections Handbook 2007 Edition:

Fides Catholica (The Triumph of the Catholic Faith), c. 1662Tapestry

Bequest of John Ringling, 1936, SN 1024

The following information is excerpted from The Docent CollectionsHandbook 2007 Edition:

The allegorical figure of Faith is shown standing on her chariotholding a chalice aloft as she proceeds in triumph before the defeatedpersonifications of Science, Philosophy, and Nature. The first captive,a personification of Science, is a bearded man who holds anastrolabe in one hand and a book in the other. Beside him is an oldman with the well- known features of Socrates who represents


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Philosophy. Just behind this figure is a younger person crowned witha laurel wreath who represents the antique figure of Poetry.At the side of Philosophy walks Nature depicted as a woman withmultiple breasts. The rear figure is dark, bearded and wears an exoticheaddress. He most likely typifies Moorish or Islamic Philosophy,which was finally brought into line with the rest of those who follow

obediently behind the true Faith. Decorating the chariot with Faith is aglobe representing the extent of her rule. In front of this globe is anangel holding a large wooden cross representing the Crucifixion ofChrist. This image together with the two cherubs holding theinstruments of the passion of Christ: the crown of thorns, loinclothand the nails of the cross, refer to the sacrifice of Christs life. Thetriumphal procession of Faith is illuminated by an angel holding atorch and pointing the way.

The Triumph of Divine Love, c. 1625, Oil on canvas, MuseumPurchase, 1980, SN 977

The


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following information is excerpted from The Docent CollectionsHandbook 2007 Edition:

Rubens depicts the Love of God as the motherly figure of Charity(who also resembles the Virgin Mary) standing on a smallprocessional chariot drawn by two lions. Behind Charity a pelican

pierces its breast to feed its young, a sacrificial gesture symbolizingthat of Christs. A dense halo of flying putti (child-angels) fills the air.Three more putti are land-bound. One bends to burn intertwinedsnakes, traditional symbols of sin and evil; another raises a flamingheart and a bow; the third putto, astride one of the lions, brandishesthe arrow of sacred love. The theme of love, sacred and profane, isthus announced by the putti, with their bow and arrow (like Cupids),the torch (to ignite the feeling of love) and the flaming heart. All three

of these attributes recur throughout Rubens composition. Forexample, the spokes of the chariot wheel radiate alternating arrowsand shafts of flame. Below the bottom ledge is a flaming heartpierced by two crossed arrows.

Triumph of the EucharistGalleryIsabella became Governess of the Southern Netherlands when her

husband, Archduke Albrecht, died. She commissioned Rubens to doseveral paintings and tapestries. We learned that the huge paintingsin this gallery were actually blueprints forThe Triumph of theEucharisttapestries that celebrate the Catholic faith. The paintings inthis gallery, which are only part of the series, are:

The Gathering of the MannaThe Meeting of Abraham and MelchizedekThe Defenders of the EucharistThe Four Evangelists


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The Gathering of the Manna, c. 1625, Oil on canvasBequest of John Ringling, 1936, SN 211

The following information is excerpted from The Docent CollectionsHandbook 2007 Edition:The manna (or bread) which the Israelites gathered in the desert, like


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the bread and wine offered to Abraham by Melchizedek, prefiguresthe New Testament Eucharist. The subject, taken from the Book ofExodus (XVI, 13-36), represents a second miraculous feeding of theIsraelites during their journey through the Sinai desert. The whiteflakes (Manna) that mysteriously fell from Heaven are here shown asround wafers that resemble the Host of the Mass. As the leader of

the Exodus, Moses stands at the right of the composition in a brightred robe, a rod in one hand and the other raised as if to summon theprecious substance from Heaven. Two women, one leading a child,carry baskets on their heads and circle a young man who stoops inthe center to gather more manna.

The Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek, c. 1625

Oil on canvasBequest of John Ringling, 1936, SN 212


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The largest and artistically most important of the Ringling cartoons isThe Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek. The inspiration is an

episode from the Old Testament (Genesis XIV, 17-24), where thePatriarch Abraham returns victorious from the battle of Dan.Melchizedek, King of Salem (later Jerusalem) and High Priest, offersAbraham bread and wine and blesses him. In return the Patriarchoffers the High Priest gifts from the spoils of battle. The offering of thebread and wine is shown by Rubens as a prefiguration of theChristian Eucharist: Melchizedek, standing in the higher position,hands down the offering to Abraham, as if handing down of the

Eucharist from the altar in the Catholic Mass. The figures attendingthe High Priest also reflect the assistance of acolytes in thesacramental rite. The other Old Testament prefigurations to be foundin the Triumph of the Eucharist Series are The Gathering of theManna (between the doors on the left wall), Elijah and the Angel andThe Sacrifice of the Old Covenant (both now in the Louvre Museum,Paris).


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The Defenders of the Eucharist, c. 1625, Oil on canvas,Bequest of John Ringling, 1936, SN 214


In this companion piece to The Four Evangelists, Rubens hasincorporated figures from early church history into a dramaticspectacle. On the far right is Saint Jerome, dressed in cardinalsrobes. Jeromes taking of the sacrament of the Eucharist at his lastrites had become a favorite subject in painting among artists byRubens time. The book Jerome reads is his translation of theBible into Latin. In front of Jerome is Norbert, the German bishopSaint, in his white monastic habit and four-cornered hat. He carriesthe sacrament of the Eucharist bundled beneath his robes.


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In the center stands Saint Thomas Aquinas in his Dominican habit,holding a book of his writings and pointing heavenward. This gesturemirrors that of Saint Matthew in the adjacent cartoon of The FourEvangelists and thus reinforces the early Church fathers role asproclaimers and defenders of the Eucharist doctrines. Next to SaintThomas is Saint Clare, dressed in the Franciscan habit of the Poor

Clares and holding a great monstrance. The features of Saint Clareare those of Rubens patron, the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia,Governess of the Netherlands. To the left of Saint Clare is SaintGregory the Great, shown wearing papal robes and tiara andholding the papal staff. Gregory authored some of the mostimportant texts of the Church, including most of the Canon andprayers of the Mass. Next to him is the bishop-saint Ambrose.Also an influential shaper of Church doctrine, he is best known for

asserting the dogma of Divine Presence in the Eucharist. At far leftand recognizable by his black beard, crosier, and miter, is SaintAugustine. His writings on the Trinity explained various aspects of thesacrament of the Eucharist. The still life of books, pens, and lamp inthe foreground recollects and reiterates the scholarly implements withwhich the fathers of the early Church had defended the dogma of theEucharist.


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The Four Evangelists, c. 1625, Oil on canvas, Bequest of JohnRingling, 1936, SN 213


Like The Defenders of the Eucharist, the cartoon of The Four

Evangelists represents figures in motion. The institution of theEucharistic sacrament at the Last Supper was recorded by theEvangelists in the Gospels. In front is Saint Luke with his symbol, theox. This beast, alluding to sacrifice, is traditionally an attribute ofLuke, since his Gospel begins with the sacrifice of Zachariah. Next toLuke is Saint Mark, holding his Gospel under his arm. The lion that


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alludes to the Christ of the Resurrection, walks at his side. SaintMatthew and the angel are given central place. With one hand, theangel points to a Gospel passage, and with the other gesturesheavenward, reflecting the divine inspiration with which Matthewwrote his Gospel. Saint John, the youngest of the group,looks up at an eagle. The eagle, thought to be able to look directly

into the sun, alludes to Johns vision of the Apocalypse. The cup withthe snake refers to poison that John drank, proving his faith. Thecockleshell at the bottom of the painting is a traditional symbol ofthe Resurrection. Surrounding the shell is a cornucopia of fruit,suggesting the sustaining abundance to which the Gospels giveaccess, and a dolphin, another Christian symbol of the Resurrection.

The Rest of the Tour

The tour continued and covered Galleries 3, 4, 6, and 8: Late Gothicand Renaissance Art in Northern Europe (1350-1550); Northern Italy(1350-1550); The High Renaissance in Venice and Northern Italy(1500-1600); and Baroque Art in Italy (1600-1700), respectively.

But its that tapestry, and the huge Rubens paintings, to which Illreturn again and again whenever I tour the museum. Theres no waythis blog can begin to capture their immensity and power. But if it

serves as an introduction and piques your interest to visit when yourein the area, you will NOT be disappointed.

The Florida Option: Sunday January 31, 2010

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