Painting: Tobit Accusing Anna of Stealing the Kid

The subject of the painting was taken from the Apocryphal Book of Tobit. Tobit was a wealthy and strict adherent to Mosaic Law. He lost all of his money and was blinded by an accident. The wife went to work sewing and washing to support the family. She brought home a kid goat and Tobit accused her of stealing it. She chastised him for his self-righteousness and frees him from his limited thinking. Later their fortunes are restored by the efforts of their son and his eyes fixed from blindness from fish entrails.

The painting helps us think about how even from the lowest depths man’s lot can change. It is difficult for us to judge others with any real sense of accuracy. To do so requires the ability to weigh and balance all of the possible reasons and justifications. Unfortunately, many of us make the fatal mistake of using self-righteousness to make ourselves look better than and more moral than others. In this case, freeing himself from his narrow thinking also freed him to improve his life. 

The painting is from Rembrandt and was completed in Leiden in 1625. He had a knack for putting religious themes and emotion within his paintings. These emotions related around concepts such as joy and anguish. As he got older his paintings improved expressing such feelings with ever increasing finite detail. He turned from a timid painter to a bold painter with lifelike scenes.

Rembrandt made a mistake in this painting and covered up an object. He painted over a spinning wheel to express the anguish and supplication better with Tobit’s hands. The wheel would have shown the rest of the story and difficulties his wife was having to make ends meet but would have confused the area. One can still see a part of the spinning wheel and spokes. Tobit’s is naturally darker in this area. 

Rembrandt, known as Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, was born in 1606 during the Dutch Golden Age. He is seen as one of the world’s greatest painters. Even though he achieved success early in his life and his paintings were popular throughout Europe during his lifetime he had significant financial hardship in his later years. He liked to buy lots of unique works and had an extensive collection. Perhaps more than he could afford. Eventually he needed to liquidate his work through bankruptcy. 

One unique feature of Rembrandt was his stereo blindness. An analysis of a number of paintings helped to determine that his two eyes did not function together well. He did not perceive the same level of depth as others. This flattening made it easier for him to draw pictures on a two dimensional canvas. This became a modern method of teaching art students to close one eye while painting to create the same effect. 

The Reading of Tobit

The Painting The Son of Man by Rene Magritte

The Son of Man -1964

The Son of Man (1964) was painted by Rene Magritte as a method of depicting the real and hidden about human nature. The picture shows an apple covering a man’s face with his eyes sticking out over the apple watching the world. The left arm of the man bends backwards from the elbow creating an unnatural body position. The sea in the back and the half height wall all help to draw attention to the absurd. The picture being absurd only because we cannot understand what the purpose is of something so blatantly in front of us and designed to block our complete understanding.

The picture draws us to try and see the face so that we can recognize who it is even though it has been confirmed to by the author to be a self-portrait.  The apple being an apparent distortion of that recognition that creates a level of frustration and conflict for the viewer. There is almost a desire to knock the apple away to see who it is that is peering out over the top. This frustration draws us to look for other clues in the painting leading us to the half wall, the sea, and the clouds. None of these appear to provide any apparent meaning. Yet they do create a context for the work once its meaning has been discovered.

Some have argued that the apple is a sign of human nature and that it is difficult for people to truly understand and recognize that nature. The apple being from the original sin of man spawning from the Garden of Eden while the blue ocean coming from heavenly divinity. In the picture it is possible that the sight and nature of man is obscured from divinity.  This could be one of the reasons why it is labeled “Son of Man”.

 According to Rene Magritte in a 1965 radio discussion he states, “At least it (the apple) hides the face partly. Well, so you have the apparent face, the apple, hiding the visible but hidden, the face of the person. It’s something that happens constantly. Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see. There is an interest in that which is hidden and which the visible does not show us. This interest can take the form of a quite intense feeling, a sort of conflict, one might say, between the visible that is hidden and the visible that is present.”

According to this concept there is always something new behind what is apparently in front of our face. What we see is not always all there is in life or all that we need to know. That we keep seeking what is hidden from use in order to understand its nature and the nature of ourselves. Those things that block our sight create the frustration of not being able to see and remove those objects that hinder our understanding. Is this the nature of man? Is this the nature of original sin? Certainly one could make the argument that the nature of man and his apparent ability to sin obscures our view of the world and divinity.

Whatever conclusion scholars and lay people come to it is apparent that the painting helps us feel something that draws our interest. This is the very point of Rene Magritte and other surrealist painters. Such painters view their paintings and writings as a philosophical movement with the actual artistic works being artifacts of that effort. Originally based in Paris France the war scattered the artists which spread their work into varying industries. In modern times we can see their works in movies, music, and other popular cultural expressions.

What is Behind the Painting of "The Bull" 1647?

The Bull 1647

When is a painting just colors on canvas? Painting is a representation of life and the figures, creatures, and landscapes represent important aspects of societal living. "The Bull" is a painting that is central to farm life and animal husbandry. Yet "The Bull" is much more than a beautiful piece of artwork as it also represents something spiritual and thriving.  Without the domesticated bull it is doubtful society could produce enough food to expand and grow.

Paul Potter had a very short career in painting but during this lifetime he produced many great artistic works. He was born in the fishing village Enkhuizen and studied art from the warmth of his home. He lived with his father in Amsterdam for a while, went to the Delft for a couple of years and then to the Hague where he painted the famous work "The Bull" in 1647. After this time his career was plagued by crippling sickness and disease leaving a number of fine art works behind as a legacy.

"The Bull" was considered one of his best works and represented the noble nature of the lord of the fields and pastures.  The painting was huge measuring 8 feet 6 inches in height, by 9 feet 10 inches in width. At this time the masterpiece is still one of the most celebrated in Holland and draws thousands of visitors to the Hague Museum every year. It is seen as one of the early examples of Romanticism. Even though the painting has some apparent scale flaws it is seen as a detailed wonder with the smug indifference of the bull apparent.

The bull has a central place in the significance of human life. To the ancient Celtics the bull represented fertility, to the Druids it represented power, and to most others it conjures images of power, wealth, and luxury. In the Jewish tradition the bull is seen as harmony and provision which is represented in the symbol of the Hebrew aleph. Throughout history the bull has been a creature of mysticism and spirit that could make the most ferocious predators run out of fear.

To American farmers the bull (Bos taurus) is central to the herd of cows. Selecting the right bull allows for beneficial genetics in animal husbandry and a healthier overall flock. Bulls are often unpredictable and full of energy and require a nose ring to control effectively. They are often castrated to limit their temperament and size. Weighing 1,000-2000 lbs they can be aggressive with only 1 in 20 people attacked by a bull surviving. The bull has been known to have a central place in the economy since 2150 BC in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Cave paintings have been noted as far back as 17,000 years ago showing its companionship with the development of society.

Of course who hasn't heard the term "bull market"? Even in today's stock markets the animal maintains its charm. A bull market can be a group of bonds, currencies or commodities. The bull market is one of optimism where psychologically investors believe the value of their holdings will continue to rise. Interestingly, one can even trade in bulls. With $80 billion in U.S. cattle market value each year there is no "bull" in this masculine creature. The painting of the bull represents its importance in the 1600's and maintains its relevance today. It is projected that this castrated animal will continue to breed important contributions in the future. No pun intended.