“IESVS”

 

This is a roundel by an anonymous Italian stone carver.  It is permanently embedded into a Medieval display wall of the DIA, along with other roundels and pieces of carved stone from the Middle Ages.

What would you say was the age of this piece?  The 11th, 12th, or 13th century perhaps?

It is late 1800’s to early 1900’s !  I worked for hours on this drawing before checking the date and was very surprised to see the carving might be only a little more than 100 years old.  I don’t know if it was intentionally carved to appear centuries older, or the carver was an unwitting Medieval Master.

 

 

 

 

 

This Rock

 

Simon was called Peter (meaning “rock”) by Jesus.  Peter was a man of the earth – a fisherman, impulsive, not an intellectual – he put his whole self into his work.  By his own admission he was “a sinful man.”

Peter was like this sculpture: made of clay dug from the earth, then tried through fire to become “a rock.”

This not quite finished sketch is of a terra cotta (Italian: “baked earth”) bust by Alessandro Algardi.

 

 

 

Another Sketch

Here is a quick sketch of a terra cotta bust by Vincenzo Gemito of Italy in 1880.

The subject is Charlotte Meissonier, godchild of Gemito’s student, Edouard Detaille, who became semi-official artist to the French army.  Was Charlotte the daughter of self-taught Jean Louis Ernest Meissonier, another accomplished artist?  I was not able to find out.

Gemito was orphaned as a child but was adopted by a poor sculptor.  He went on to study under two other sculptors and at 16, first sold a work of his own.  He built a bronze foundry in Naples in 1883, but suffered a mental collapse 4 years later.  It wasn’t until 22 years later, in 1909, that he resumed sculpting.  Fortunately, he lived another 20 productive years.

Vincenzo Gemito – an inspiring story of overcoming adversity.

Another Saint

This is St. Agnes, a martyr at approximately age 13.  She was a beautiful Roman girl who refused numerous offers of marriage, having promised herself to Christ alone.  Not being swayed by many gifts, including offers from the governor and his son, she was beheaded in 304. Even the pagan Romans decried the disgrace of publicly executing one so young and attractive.  She is extolled in the Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran traditions.

To honor her, this lovely face was sculpted by Alfred Drury, in England, in 1894.

It is actually not a bronze, but made of plaster with a bronzed and burnished patina expertly applied.

Drawing done at the DIA, charcoal and pastel, in about 4 hours.

Mrs. Odysseus

The long-suffering Penelope, life-size in marble by American sculptor, Franklin Simmons, 1903. This drawing took 45 – 50 hours.

St. Catherine

This charcoal and pastel drawing is of a wood sculpture at the DIA from 15th century Germany.  The sculpture is finished on three sides and doubtless was installed against a wall or column of a church.  The 4th century Roman martyr Catherine was beheaded. She is shown holding a sword, the instrument of her death.  Martyrs are often depicted with the tools of their martyrdom – to remind us of their sacrifice, and to show the means of their deliverance from this worldly existence into the endless glories of eternal life with God.

St. Michael

A relief sculpture at the DIA, St. Michael is a 15th century anonymous carving in oak, probably an altar decoration.  This drawing was done in charcoal and pastel.  It took approximately 35 hours.

A Little Art History

This marble of a Roman woman from 100 AD is displayed at the DIA as an example of the Greek and Roman influence on European art in the 18th and early 19th centuries.  By that time, the Baroque and Rococo had worn thin.  A more idealistic and refined interpretation of the Classical era, vis-a-vis the Renaissance, was desired – giving rise to Neo-Classicalism in painting, sculpture, architecture and the decorative arts.

Cardinal John Henry Newman

Cardinal Newman was an Oxford scholar and Anglican priest until his conversion to the Catholic Church on October 9, 1845.   Pope Benedict XVI is expected to canonize him as a Saint this September during a visit to England.

This drawing was done in charcoal from a popular photograph of Cardinal Newman.

The Smoker

A quick sketch of “The Smoker,” a terra-cotta study by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux. This is charcoal with pastel pencil.

My nine-year-old son laughed when he first saw this, it reminded him of some kind of cartoon character.  Indeed, it has such character that it almost speaks in a gruff, half-growl. Carpeaux was a French sculptor of the mid 19th century.  He was only 48 when he died, but he produced a masterful body of work.  The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC has several of his best marbles, which we were fortunate to see recently.