To: Art Aficionados (apologies: some of the text has a white background: I don't know why) All of the 2,300 paintings in the National Gallery collection in London can be viewed online on their website. The Gallery recently revealed which have been the twenty most viewed paintings during lockdown, and the list is set out below, with notes on the top five. By a long way most popular is The Arnolfini Portrait, with more than double the viewings of the painting in second place, The Ambassadors. The Director of the Gallery, Dr Gabriele Finaldi, has speculated that since both are indoor scenes, with people dressed up, they may have had a particular appeal during lockdown. I have to say I’m surprised that The Arnolfini Portrait is first and so far ahead: it is quite well-known, but I didn’t realise it is so popular. The next three – Sunflowers, The Fighting Temeraire and the Virgin of The Rock - are perennial favourites, so their high position is not a surprise. The difference between paintings in viewing numbers decreases as one goes down the list: those from sixth to tenth are in the mid to low 30,000s. The Twenty Most-Viewed Paintings Online During Lockdown – at the National Gallery, London 1. The Arnolfini Portrait, 1434 - Jan van Eyck 132,031 views 2. The Ambassadors, 1533 - Hans Holbein the Younger 64,037 views 3. Sunflowers, 1888 - Vincent van Gogh 54,988 views 4. The Fighting Temeraire, 1839 - Joseph Mallord William Turner 44,584 views 5. The Virgin of the Rocks, about 1491/2-9 and 1506-8 - Leonardo da Vinci 39,703 views 6. Rain, Steam, and Speed, 1844 - Joseph Mallord William Turner 7. The Rokeby Venus, 1647-51- Diego Velázquez 8. Surprised!, 1891 - Henri Rosseau 9. Bacchus and Ariadne, 1520-3 – Titian 10. The Hay Wain, 1821 - John Constable 11. Venus and Mars, about 1485 - Sandro Botticelli 12. The Water-Lily Pond, 1899 - Claude Monet 13. Bathers at Asnières, 1884 - Georges Seurat 14. The Supper at Emmaus, 1601 - Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio 15. Marriage A-la-Mode: 1, The Marriage Settlement, about 1743 - William Hogarth 16. A Young Woman standing at a Virginal, about 1670-72 - Johannes Vermeer 17. An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump, 1768 - Joseph Wright ‘of Derby’ 18. Niccolò Mauruzi da Tolentino at the Battle of San Romano, probably about 1438-40 - Paolo Uccello 19. A Wheatfield, with Cypresses, 1889 - Vincent van Gogh 20. The Sultan Mehmet II, 1480 - Gentile Bellini 1. The Arnolfini Portrait (1434) by Jan van Eyck 132,031 views Picture: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/jan-van-eyck-the-arnolfini-portrait Meaning: The content and meaning of the painting may well have been known to contemporaries, but from our time we are left to deduce from the painting. Context: The painting is from the Netherlands in the early 1400s, by Jan van Eyck, one of the early Dutch painters. It was highly original for its time: an indoor scene, everyday life, realistic, with a symmetrical structure – unlike most paintings of the time which had religious, mythical or aristocratic content. Description: It is an indoor portrait of a man and woman, a couple, probably of the merchant class which was rising at the time. It may be related to the marriage contract. They are dressed in fine clothes, indicating wealth, but are not displaying jewellery which would denote aristocracy. The bright and bold colours give a realistic impression. At the back there is a mirror which shows the scene from another perspective: you can see the couple from the other side, and two other people in red and blue, one of whom may be the painter. Social gestures: The gestures of the couple are probably symbolic. The man is looking directly at the viewer, denoting his role as head of the house; while the woman is looking at him, probably denoting her acknowledgement of his role. They are holding hands, but unusually the man is reaching out his left hand: this can be symbolic of people marrying from different classes (a ‘morganatic’ marriage). The woman is standing nearer the bed, probably denoting her role in the home. Structure: The painting as a whole is highly symmetrical, centred on the mirror at the back, with a balance of objects on either side of the centre: man-woman; window-bed; and the mirror and chandelier are in the centre. People: It is thought to depict the Italian merchant Giovani de Nicolao Arnolfini and his wife, who lived in the Flemish city of Bruges. Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnolfini_Portrait 2. The Ambassadors (1533) by Hans Holbein the Younger 64,307 views Picture: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/hans-holbein-the-younger-the-ambassadors Content and Meaning: As with the Arnolfini Portrait, the content and meaning may have been clear to contemporaries but we moderns can only speculate. Context: Hans Holbein was a German painter who spend most of his time in England as the official painter at the court of Henry VIII. This painting was created in 1533, the year of the birth of Elizabeth I. Holbein made portraits of Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII and several of his wives which are well-known to this day. Description: Two men, dressed smartly, stand facing the viewer. Between them is a set of objects on shelves; and before them is a strange diagonal shape. Identity: It is thought the two men are, on the left, Jean de Dinteville, a landowner, and Georges de Selve, the Bishop of Lauvaur. In real life, they were close friends. Symbolism: The painting is full of symbols, so much so that many different meanings can be derived from them. A common interpretation is as follows: (a) it depicts things of the world as being transitory and temporary, and in conflict, tension and mismatch. - the two men represent secular wealth and religious institutions respectively. There was tension between these two spheres at this time during the Reformation.
- the upper shelf contains various scientific instruments but they are tuned for the southern hemisphere
- the lower shelf contains artistic and musical instruments. There is a lute with a broken string, next to a hymn book, depicting discord.
- at the bottom of the picture is a strange, unclear shape. This is actually a skull in distorted form, but to view it properly, one has to look at it from the lower right hand-side of the painting. It is speculated that the painting may originally have hung by a stair, so that the viewer could see the skull shape as they walked up. This artistic trick is called ‘anamorphosis’. It was common in paintings of the time to have a feature symbolising death, such as a skull – the symbol was called a ‘memento mori’ (‘remember to die’), reminding people that we are all mortal.
(b) however, in the top-left-hand corner, there is a cross, symbolising hope of life and resurrection. So, overall, there is hope, despite the tensions and transitoriness. The above is a very simple analysis of the symbols, of which there are many and in much detail. Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ambassadors_(Holbein) articles on meaning of the painting: http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/famous-paintings/the-ambassadors-holbein.htm https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-decoding-symbolism-hans-holbeins-ambassadors 3. Sunflowers (1888) by Vincent van Gogh 54,988 views Picture: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/vincent-van-gogh-sunflowers Content and meaning: After the detailed symbolism of the Arnolfini portrait and The Ambassadors, it is something of a relief to come to this simple representative picture by Van Gogh. Context: Van Gogh painted twelve pictures of sunflowers, in two series:
the first series: seven in Paris, with flowers strewn
the second series: five in Arles, south France, of which this is the fourth. All comprised flowers in a vase. Description: A vase of sunflowers, with a wall background. Of all the sunflower paintings, this is the most vivid in colour, with strong gold and yellows glowing out of the painting. This probably explains its popularity. Why was it painted ?: It’s not clear why Van Gogh chose to paint many sunflower paintings but he did say that his housemate Gauguin liked sunflowers and paint technology development of the time was offering a newly wide range of yellow pigments Overall, Van Gogh generally like the colour yellow very much and used it in many paintings, probably partly inspired by Japanese paintings which employed yellow a great deal. Popularity: This is one of the most popular paintings in the National Gallery. The gallery shop contains lots of merchandise with the picture, such as notebooks, diaries, posters. Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunflowers_(Van_Gogh_series) Another popular painting from the Sunflower series: this is the third from Arles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunflowers_(Van_Gogh_series)#/media/File:Vincent_Willem_van_Gogh_128.jpg 4. The Fighting Temeraire (1839) by Joseph Mallord William Turner 44,584 views Picture: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/joseph-mallord-william-turner-the-fighting-temeraire Description: A large wooden battleship is being led along the Thames by a steamer tug, against a sunset sky. Background: The wooden ship, The Fighting Temeraire, had fought at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, a decisive battle in the Napoleonic Wars. It is now 1838 and the ship has reached the end of its working life: it is being taken up the Thames to Rotherhithe, where it will be broken up for scrap. Meaning: There are probably two main meanings in the painting: (1) depicting the end of the road for a grand ship which had done very good service: not just any ship, but a ship which had fought well for its country. This is its last journey. The setting sun symbolises the end of the Temeraire’s time. The bold fiery colour in the sky perhaps expresses the strong, feisty, determined character of the ship. (2) depicting the end of the era of wooden ships and the advent of steam ships. Not only are both in the picture, but a steam ship, one of the new generation, is actually leading the wooden ship to the scrap yard. Context: In the early 1800s, the time of wooden ships was coming to an end; and the new steam ships were coming to the fore. Painter: Turner, one of the great British painters, was most famous for impressionistic images of movement and weather; but sometimes did more representative pictures. The Fighting Temeraire is mainly representative, but also quite impressionistic. Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fighting_Temeraire 5. The Virgin of the Rocks (about 1491/2-0 and 1506-8) by Leonardo da Vinci 39, 703 views Picture: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/leonardo-da-vinci-the-virgin-of-the-rocks Content: Four figures sit amid a rocky setting: Mary with her infant son Jesus, John the Baptist and the angel Uriel. It depict a story that, when the Holy Family (Joseph, Mary and Jesus) were fleeing to Egypt for safety, they were met by the young John the Baptist and the angel Uriel. The rocky setting would fit with travelling through an area of Sinai; and also, Da Vinci was fascinated by rocks and geology which he saw as one of the wonders of the world. Painter: The painter is Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), inventor, scientist and artist. He completed only a small number of paintings, but they were made to a high and innovative technical standards and were very influential. Da Vinci is regarded as one of the greatest painters of all time. Context: It was made for the chapel of the Confraternity of the mmaculate Conception, in the church of San Francesco Maggiore in Milan. The original contract survices, so we know what was commissioned: an elaborate set of pictures - centrepiece of Mary and Jesus as a child, with two prophets; on either side a picture of four angelic musicians; and above a scene with God and Mary. However, it appears that Da Vincie produce the picture we see here (the Virgin of the Rocks) which is rather different; and it is not clear if the other pictures were ever made. Da Vinci may well not have fulfilled the contract: he tended to have lots of projects on the go and not to have completed many of them. History: In the late 1700s it was purchased and taken to England. Two versions: There are actually two versions of this painting, largely the same in form and content. The other is in The Louvre (dates to mid-1480s) and is mainly red and green in colour, whereas the one in the National Gallery is copper and steely light blue/grey. There are minor differences between the two. It is not known why Da Vinci created two versions of the painting, but since there seems to be no major artistic difference between them, most art historians believe the reason is probably quite mundane: for example, Da Vinci may have painted the first then sold it, and then painted a second one to fulfil a commission. Art historians believe Da Vinci was the main painter of the earlier Louvre version but others in his workshop assisted with the later London version – in Renaissance times, it was common for a master’s assistants to do part of a painting.
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_of_the_Rocks Weblinks:
Paintings most viewed in lockdown - National Gallery webpage: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/about-us/press-and-media/press-releases/the-national-gallery-s-top-20-most-viewed-paintings-online Some of the most popular paintings in the National Gallery in general https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/must-sees
National Gallery website:
you can view any of the 2,300 paintings here https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/search-the-collection
you can also do virtual tours of rooms in the National Gallery: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/visiting/virtual-tours
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