Just spent an hour transfixed by the first of three Andrew Graham-Dixon doumentaries under the title The Art Of Spain. He covered the ground from Philip II and El Greco to Philip IV and Valazquez. Absolutely gripped by the scale of the canvases: those flashes of light on the faces and how all the work - until Valazquez - spoke of religious fervour and the turmoil of the Inquisition. Despite that bloody episode I can quite see how one could "get religion" while visiting the great churches, monasteries and palaces that were also featured. The programme finished with a discussion of Valazquez's Las Meninas, a painting in which the reflection of his royal patron is seen in a mirror as the painter, the court dwarf, Philip's daughter and a royal hound stare back at the subject. The picture shows what Philip sees during the sitting but is actually a work about transience, the passing even of dynasties, and the smiling painter seems almost to be cocking a snook: "This picture means that I'll be here after you've gone." Some say it is the greatest painting in art history - a pretty weighty claim. I don't know, but it is very good.
Thursday, 7 February 2008
The Art Of Spain
Just spent an hour transfixed by the first of three Andrew Graham-Dixon doumentaries under the title The Art Of Spain. He covered the ground from Philip II and El Greco to Philip IV and Valazquez. Absolutely gripped by the scale of the canvases: those flashes of light on the faces and how all the work - until Valazquez - spoke of religious fervour and the turmoil of the Inquisition. Despite that bloody episode I can quite see how one could "get religion" while visiting the great churches, monasteries and palaces that were also featured. The programme finished with a discussion of Valazquez's Las Meninas, a painting in which the reflection of his royal patron is seen in a mirror as the painter, the court dwarf, Philip's daughter and a royal hound stare back at the subject. The picture shows what Philip sees during the sitting but is actually a work about transience, the passing even of dynasties, and the smiling painter seems almost to be cocking a snook: "This picture means that I'll be here after you've gone." Some say it is the greatest painting in art history - a pretty weighty claim. I don't know, but it is very good.
