François Boucher 'Hercules and Omphale' 1730-39 Oil on canvas Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow This entire painting blushes with lust: from Hercules’ knuckles that clutch Omphale’s breast and waist to the tumbles of linens that enclose the couple’s intimate embrace. Even the marble wall in the background is washed with pink: a fleshy color that, along with the deep red of the cushion they sit upon, is evocative of the physical, the carnal. The lover’s plump naked bodies glow with the heat and energy of fertility. As they pull one another close they hungrily bite lips and savor the sensation like fine wine, with their eyes closed. We, as viewers, savor this sensation with our eyes wide open, and as we make our way around the painting our experience is pleasantly aroused with each feature. The drapes twist and fold themselves into sexually suggestive shapes as seen in the top right hand corner. The little putti in the bottom right hand corner flirtatiously glance at one another and the orientation of their bodies mimics that of the couple above them; the putto on the left’s splayed legs and bent posture mirrors Omphale’s, and the putto on the right stands as erect as Hercules. Each one holds the mythological symbol of their corresponding figure, the distaff of Omphale and the lion hide of Hercules; the presence of which provides the only indication of the mythological context of this erotic scene. Another feature that adds fervor to the painting is the animalistic, gestural rendering of Hercules’ face, body, and hair, clearly influenced by the Italian style figures of Castiglione. (Fig. 1) [1] He must have studied the technique of anatomical rendering from the great masters during his brief stay in Italy.[2] This is an early example of Boucher’s work, before he refined his unique French style of idealized figure and dainty smooth skin that sacrificed emotional expressiveness for aesthetic perfection. We see that later style in his painting of ‘La toilette pastorale’ (Fig. 2) being represented by two beautiful women lazily lounging in a pastoral landscape, draped in fine colored linens and surrounded by putti and a small dog. There seems to be no deeper meaning here other than the beauty and colors of plump bodies in fantastical scenery. Boucher was known for often straying too far from reality in order to paint the most aesthetically pleasing scenes.[3] Later in his career, the critic Denis Diderot famously claimed “Cet homme a tout—excepté la vérité” (That man is capable of everything—except the truth).[4] Figure 2: 'La toilette pastorale' by François Boucher, 1745, oil on canvas, Wallace Collection, London ‘Hercules and Omphale’ is therefore unique in Boucher’s oeuvre of large mythology paintings, for its strength and centrality of tangible emotional expressivity. I would even go as far as to argue that the subject of this painting is the sensation of human mutual desire, and Boucher uses allegorical intimacy to present it in a lightly moralizing way. Using mythological context to present a serious and lascivious theme was necessary in the early 18th century, as Donald Posner describes in ‘Boucher’s Beauties’. Although Posner argues that Boucher did this in order to give himself more freedom to focus “exclusively on the formal, decorative potential of his subject matter”. [5] This may be true in reference to the majority of Boucher’s mythological paintings, for this is how Boucher’s style evolved. However, I would remove ‘Hercules and Omphale’ from that grouping, as the objective of this early mythological painting is more than simply decorative. Figure 3: 'Hercules and Omphale' by Peter Paul Rubens, 1602, oil on canvas, Musée Louvre, Paris Figure 4: 'Hercules and Omphale' by François Boucher, 1724, oil on canvas, Musée Louvre, Paris I see it as being enlightening, with the intention to change the meaning of this story. Previous depictions (Fig. 3) warned men against letting women dominate them lest they become emasculated, for the idea that “love makes fools of the strongest men” was what artists used to interpret this myth.[6] Those who depicted emasculated and shameful Hercules’ usually drew from accounts of the myth that exaggerated the dynamic of the relationship. However, Boucher’s account comes out of the “enlightened” reading of his teacher Lemoyne (Fig. 4). Though Boucher chose to liberate the meaning even more than Lemoyne to suit a different kind of objective. [7] I believe he wanted to enlighten his viewers either by communicating the notion that regardless of power dynamic, mutual desire and affection can be present in all loving relationships, or similarly, that love has not made a fool out of Hercules, for his ‘strength’ only adds to the intensity and passion of their experience as humans. Figure 5: 'Marquise de Gueydan as Flora' by Nicolas de Largillière, 1730, oil on canvas, Musée Granee, Aix-en-Provence It is important to make note of the choice in using a mythological story about two humans. Though Hercules was part god I would say that one of his identifying character traits was his humanity. As the Ancient Encyclopedia puts it, Hercules was a “kind of super-powered everyman… who served as a symbol of the human condition”.[8] Using Hercules, Boucher remarks upon the significance of passion in the human experience while still, as Posner stresses, maintaining gallantry and keeping the picture from become “daringly erotic”.[9] The humanity of these subjects is emphasized through intense emotional evocation, which is then elevated to the height of the great gods. Because it was fashionable for people at this time to respect and admire the Roman gods as a mark of high class, moralistic communication to society through mythological art was very successful. We even see wealthy families commissioning portraits of themselves in the guise of the Roman gods such as Largillière’s portrait of the ‘Marquise of Gueydan as Flora’ (Fig. 5) in 1730 because they wanted to appear classicized as a god. Consequently, if they were to see a painting of the gods, or in this case god-like figures, beautifully immersed in some sort of activity, the effect would naturally be moralizing to them. In conclusion, ‘Hercules and Omphale’ enlightens the public perception of love and relationships in the 18th century. Deliberately influencing his audience through his painting is unique to the early years of his career. Though I believe that he was a very intelligent, romantic man who knew what he wanted to paint, knew what he valued, and shared it very effectively with his viewers and patrons regardless of enlightening content or not. My reading of this painting suggests that Boucher possessed the ability to observe the beauty in the world as not only having significance for design, but also the potential for deeper learning and understanding. [1] Perrin Stein, “François Boucher (1703–1770).” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org (October 2003)
[2] Alistair Laing, The drawings of Francois Boucher. New York: American Federation of Arts in association with Scala Publishers, 2003. [3] Donald Posner, “Boucher’s Beauties,” in The Loves of the Gods:: mythological painting from Watteau to David (New York, New York: Rizzoli, 1992). page 66 [4] Perrin Stein, “François Boucher (1703–1770).” [5] Donald Posner, "Boucher's Beauties," in The Loves of the Gods. page 61 [6] Donald Posner, "Boucher's Beauties," in The Loves of the Gods. page 63 [7] Donald Posner, “Boucher’s Beauties,” in The Loves of the Gods. page 63 [8] Joshua J. Mark, “The Life of Hercules in Myth & Legend,” Ancient History Encyclopedia, last modified July 23, 2014, http://www.ancient.eu /article/733/. [9] Donald Posner, "Boucher's Beauties," in The loves of the gods. page 64
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
May 2017
Categories |