Detail of 'The Virgin with Six Saints' by Gregorio Lazzarini (1655-1730) and Giambattista Tiepolo (1692-1770)
Tiepolo’s small painting, 'The Virgin with Six Saints' displays many of the qualities which made him a sought after court artist from Würzburg in Southern Germany to Madrid. His paintings and frescoes radiate an energy and inventiveness which transformed familiar subjects with fresh insights. Here the subject, the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, appears before the viewer in an appealing intimate drama. Mary hovers a little above a group of earth-bound Saints, as an athletic angel holds her aloft on billowing clouds. Her elevated position and the spiralling movement of her draperies establish the Virgin’s heavenly credentials: heaven is her home. Yet her appearance amongst the Saints reminds us of her role as mediator and Mother of all. Tiepolo portrays her gazing down with arms outstretched towards the earth to underline the immediacy of her love for humanity. The Saints situated across the centre of the picture create a horizontal bridge between heaven and earth. From the left Saints Louis King of France, Peter Alacantra, and Teresa of Avila stand while Joseph lounges on a cloud. The lower part of the picture completes the detail reproduced here with the inclusion of two further Saints, Francis of Assisi and Filippo Neri. Banks of clouds effortlessly ascend from earth moving upwards until they dissolve against the dazzling radiance of the heavens. Although the cloud-like God does not offer himself as a goal to be reached for, neither is he remote and beyond our sight. Our God born of a woman envelops us in all our human contradictions.
Art Guide Resource
The 2014 Art Guide has been compiled by Claire Renkin, well-known art historian and lecturer at Yarra Theological Union and has been recorded by Dr. Rachael Kohn, author and public speaker, most well known for her ABC Radio National program, 'The Spirit of Things'. Music by Chris Zabriskie (chriszabriskie.com). Artworks © Bridgeman Images.
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