Painting 1500-1900: Banishment

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. 7^th 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.