Subjects by Ingres and Courbet
19th-Century Painters Experimented with Perspective and Proportion
Sep 7, 2008
Question: What is Thetis in Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres’ painting “Jupiter and Thetis” doing?
Answer: Caressing Jupiter’s beard.
In Archaic Greek legend, Thetis, a sea nymph, was worshipped as the creator of the universe. No written records exist for her except for one fragment from an ancient hymn by a lyric poet from Sparta named Alcman. In more recent legend, Thetis was desired by Jupiter until he heard the prophecy that she would bear a son who would destroy his father. Then Jupiter passed her off onto a mortal man. Thetis bore a son, Achilles, for whom she seeks protection and immortality, even appealing to Jupiter himself.
Ingres, a French neo-classical master who studied at the Royal Academy of Arts in Toulouse, was fascinated with the art of the Renaissance. Indeed, Raphael was his idol. It is rumored that he loved painting nudes but was put off by the proportions of anatomy. In the painting “Jupiter and Thetis” (1811), Thetis appears as elastic as a snake as she coils herself around Jupiter. Though Ingres may not adhere to the proper principles of anatomy, this painting “works” in its appeal. As solid as a tank, Jupiter, king of the gods, occupies his throne, one arm draped over a cloud, staring ahead as Thetis fondles his beard.
This beautiful painting of monumental design can be viewed at the Musee Granet, Aix-en-Provence in France.
Question: What are the Young Ladies of the Village in the painting by artist Gustave Courbet doing?
Answer: Giving alms to a young girl cowherd.
Nineteenth-century French artist Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) prided himself on his insistence on realism and was thus constantly at odds with the art establishment. He rejected the artistic conventions of his day, challenged the traditions of the art academies, and created artworks that featured everyday people in ordinary circumstances. He scandalized the public. But he enjoyed this drama and defended his work as a new radicalism. By rebelling against the norms, he paved the way for Impressionism and, beyond that, modern art.
His painting “Young Ladies of the Village” (1852) has the reputation of a seemingly ugly painting of three girls giving alms to a young peasant girl in rural France. The work is actually a depiction of his sisters' encounter with a child in a valley near Ornans, the town in which Courbet was born and one of his favorite places. The painting was at first criticized for the unattractiveness of the subjects and its apparent poor understanding of perspective, and knowing Courbet, both qualities were probably applied with purpose.
The painting can be viewed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Sources:
Bailey, Colin J. The Art Quiz Book: 2000+ Questions on Painters and Paintings. Station Press: Scotland, 1995.
“Grove Dictionary of Art.” Oxford University Press, 2008.
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