Catherine
Louis-Charles
November
5, 2017
Professor
Bomboy
HUM
101
Painting 1500-1900
Banishment
Narrative paintings are paintings
that tell a story of an event or a tidbit of a story as it develops. History have proven that many stories were
told through pictures such as paintings, murals, and cave drawings. As painting evolved, style and techniques
have also evolved. One of the styles
that really brings a subject to life and creates movement for great story
telling is the baroque style of painting. There were many artists of the
baroque period which dated from the 1500 to the mid-1700. One of these artists
was Giovanni Francesco Barbieri. Barbieri is best known as Guercino. Guercino
is Italian for a squinter, he was called that because was affected with
strabismus. He was an Italian Baroque painter from the Emilia region of
Italy. One art work of Barbieri that claimed my attention is called “Abraham
casting out Hagar and Ishmael”. The art
work was commissioned by the Cento Community in 1657 as a gift for Lorenzo
Imperiali, the cardinal legate of Ferrara. Baroque art was embraced by the
catholic church because they wanted art to show faithful subject matters with
undeviating and passionate attachment. “Baroque
artists worked to increase the dramatic expressiveness of religious subject
matter in order to give viewers the sense that they were participating in the
action of the scene”. (Fiero 47)
Barbieri depiction of one of the
episodes of the old Testament was well executed. He captured so many emotions and feelings of
that one verse. Looking at the painting,
I noticed more soft lines then sharp ones. The
softer lines define the naturalness of the subjects’ skins, especially
Abraham’s raised hand. The lighter
painted background not only helps to enhance the subject matter, it also helps
to maintain the contrast of light and dark which shows the painting in an
almost three dementional effect. The shapes are mostly round and wavy. The positions of the figures in which the
artist uses to stage the subject matter keep viewers fascinated. The contrast
of colors, light and dark was well executed. The darkness enhances the folds on
the garments of the figures and creates shadows that contributes to the somber
mood of the painting. The lighter background
enhances the figures and bring the focus to the emotions emanating from the
subjects. The warm earth tone colors seem to soften the ripples of the garments
creating a more realistic and natural effect. The dark colors separate the
difference of the garments and the darkness on the pillar creates a sense of
depth.
Looking at the painting and knowing
the verse on which this painting was generated, I can’t help but feel sad and
sorry at the same time. “And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread,
and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and
the child, and sent her away”, (Genesis 21:14 KJB) Barbieri’s work explored the
human emotional side of the story through each subject’s point of view. The
image of the woman consoling the crying young boy evokes feelings of strong
sorrow and desolation. The woman’s eyes and facial expression appears powerless
and submissive. Her appearance is a bit dishevel, her hair and garment are
unruly. Her gaze seems intent yet heartbroken. Barbieri depicts the inferior standing of women during biblical time. Not that women had much freedom during the
artist’s own era either. What strikes me
the most is the well-groomed woman on the left of the painting. Her back is partly visible along with a view
of the right side of her face as she seems to be listening in on the conversation
between the other two subjects. Her face seems frigid. The male figure face is warned out. He seems haggard from worrying. The man’s attire, head dress and his
authoritative stance shows a sense of dominance in the situation or
relationship towards the other subjects. But it also seems the woman behind him is pulling the strings. Her stance seems to evoke great
assertiveness. The man’s raised hand appears to be an indication of rejection
or the establishment of a final edict. The
male subject face is creased at the forehead and the direct eye contact with
the female figure on the right seems to express regret and sorrow for the decision
that must be made.
There is a very interesting story
behind this painting. In the Old Testament
of the Holy Bible, the patriarch Abraham was married to Sarah who couldn’t have
children. In their old age, Sarah
decided to give him an heir by sending one of her maids, Hagar to sleep with
Abraham. Though Abraham refused and
wanted to wait on God’s promise to give him many children, Sarah insisted and
eventually, he sleeps with Hagar who then gave birth to a son he named
Ishmael. Abraham loved his son Ishmael. Later, when God blessed Sarah with her own
son, she didn’t want the older son Ishmael receiving the inheritance that was
rightly belongs to her son. Sarah command Abraham to send Hagar the slave woman and her
son Ishmael away. To Abraham’s distress
and unwillingness, he went ahead and sent Hagar and Ishmael away to the
desert. The artist executed the moment
very well.
As I looked at the painting, I felt like
I was present for the conversation in the painting. I couldn’t help thinking,
how it would feel like to be cast out by the father of your child? How horrible
to have to cast your beloved child far from you to keep the peace in your
family? How do you push your husband to sleep with another to save face and eventually
hurting a child and a devoted servant? The painting aroused those thoughts in
me which evoked feelings of sadness and some feminist rage. I want to cry
injustice and oppression simultaneously for both Sarah and Hagar. Mostly Hagar.
Both women had to do what it takes to survive the societal norm of their
times. Sarah’s decisions were based on the societal expectations and poor Hagar
just had no choice because of her position in life. All in all, the painting was
well done. Barbieri captured the essence
of the episode of the unfolding story from the book of Genesis with delicate yet bold strokes of his paint brush.
He set out to involve the imagination and succeeded.
Works Cited
“BibleGateway.” Genesis 21:14 KJV - - Bible Gateway, www.biblegateway.com/passage
Fiero, Gloria K. The Humanistic Tradition. 7th ed. Vol. 1. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2015.
Print.
Fiero, Gloria K. The Humanistic Tradition. 7th ed. Vol. 1. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2015.
Print.
“Il Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri): Abraham Casting Out Hagar and Ishmael.”
ArtBible.info, www.artbible.info/art/large/82.html.
