Rembrandt's Philosopher

[tbieter]

What is your reaction to this painting, if any?
http://www.csus.edu/indiv/e/eppersonm/p ... randt.html

[Pluto]

Its colours remind me of Turner's. The yellow gold. It's very quiet and I can believe that the guy by the window is deep in thought or at least in some kind of reflection. The staircase spiralling up, the way it has been portrayed makes me think of the structure of thought or the mind. The stairs as metaphor but also as a representation of the architecture of meditation. Another guy is present, making fire, working iron, etc, what is the meaning of him being there? If you squint at the picture and disregard the figurative element you can see a head surrounded by darkness, it is some kind of future robot head. This is life before electric light.

[marjoramblues]

What is your reaction to this painting, if any?
http://www.csus.edu/indiv/e/eppersonm/p ... randt.html

First glance reaction:
Dull, oppressive heat and inner thinking going nowhere. Stifling.
Only light is coming from outside, in the real world. Open, airy. Room to expand.

What was/is yours, tbieter?

@Pluto - I don't know a lot about art or Turner; however the impression I have gained is that Turner's 'gold' is more light and expansive...
Interesting to read your (and others') reactions. Or should that be 'interpretations'...

[tbieter]

What is your reaction to this painting, if any?
http://www.csus.edu/indiv/e/eppersonm/p ... randt.html

First glance reaction:
Dull, oppressive heat and inner thinking going nowhere. Stifling.
Only light is coming from outside, in the real world. Open, airy. Room to expand.

What was/is yours, tbieter?

@Pluto - I don't know a lot about art or Turner; however the impression I have gained is that Turner's 'gold' is more light and expansive...
Interesting to read your (and others') reactions. Or should that be 'interpretations'...

I have just discovered the Google Art Project. http://www.google.com/culturalinstitute ... rt-project What a great resource to supplement my current reading, which is, Move Closer, my third book by John Armstrong. http://www.amazon.com/Move-Closer-Intim ... 439&sr=1-4

What was/is yours, tbieter?

The painting depicts the common pose of a philosopher in thought: a quiet simple place, seated, hands folded in lap, looking away.

I was reminded of a past experience. A friend, who was a retired professor of English, invited me to meet one of his friends who was returning to Duluth after many years (where he had grown up). He was a Benedictine monk and professor of political philosophy at St. John's University (where my son was then a student and had had a class from the monk/professor)

The plan was to attend Mass at the College of St. Scholastica and then enjoy a catered brunch.

When Mass ended, the brunch was not ready. We had to wait. I was starved. Finally, it was announced that it was ready. Those in attendance rushed toward the serving line - except for the monk/professor. He remained seated, his hands folded in his lap, thinking about something. When all had gotten their food he rose and calmly went to the serving line to get his plate.

http://www.saintjohnsabbey.org/
http://www.csbsju.edu/About/Saint-Johns-University.htm

I also recall reading about an incident involving the philosopher, George Santayana. The reporter, also a professor, knew who Santayana was. When he arrived at the pier (he was taking the same ship as Santayana was), he saw Santayana and other passengers, all seated and waiting for the call to board. Santayana was seated and was lost in thought, so the professor did not join him. The professor reported that when the call to board came, the passengers rushed to board - except for Santayana, who remained seated until the others had boarded. Then he slowly walked to the boarding area.

I think that the painting and these two incidents suggest that the philosopher in thought is calm and necessarily has an inclination to avoid joining a crowd.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Santayana

[bus2bondi]

hello tbieter

[marjoramblues]

Thanks tbieter - most interesting, will take time to read more...later...

hello bus2bondi !

One thing re the painting - the Title. I'm sure I read that this might have been something else...how important this is in our first impressions...

Edit to add:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosopher_in_Meditation
While the traditional title Philosopher in Meditation has to a large extent been responsible for the painting's popularity, it is iconographically untenable. The painting shows none of the conspicuous attributes of scholarship or philosophy—books, globe, scientific instruments, etc.—and the presence of at least one other figure involved in domestic tasks does not fit in with the solitude associated with study and meditation.Though a large book and a quill seem to be among the few objects on the table in front of the main figure, they are summarily depicted and impossible to identify more precisely: a Bible alone would not suffice to make the figure depicted a scholar or "philosopher." Staircases—whether spiral or not—were not an attribute of philosophy in the early 17th century...
...Although the title in the Louvre's publications remains Philosophe en méditation, catalogues of Rembrandt's painted oeuvre, starting with Bredius (1935) identify the subject more soberly as a "Scholar in an Interior with a Winding Stair''.

[marjoramblues]

clicking on the tbieter's first link led to this:
The Three Philosophers

The Three Philosophers is an oil painting on canvas attributed to the Italian High Renaissance artist Giorgione. It shows three philosophers — one young, one middle-aged, and one old...
... The three figures portrayed are allegorical: an old bearded man, an Arab, and a sitting young man, enclosed within a natural landscape. In the background is a village with some mountains, the latter marked by a blue area whose meaning is unknown. The young man is observing a cave on the left of the scene, and apparently measuring it with some instruments...
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Philosophers

and about Giorgione: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgione
...The Three Philosophers is equally enigmatic and its attribution to Giorgione is still disputed. The three figures stand near a dark empty cave. Sometimes interpreted as symbols of Plato's cave or the Three Magi, they seem lost in a typical Giorgionesque dreamy mood, reinforced by a hazy light characteristic of his other landscapes, such as the Pastoral Concert, now in the Louvre. The latter "reveals the Venetians' love of textures", because the painter "renders almost palpable the appearance of flesh, fabric, wood, stone, and foliage". The painting is devoid of harsh contours and its treatment of landscape has been frequently compared to pastoral poetry, hence the title...

Three philosophers in a dreamy haze, eh?

[marjoramblues]

tbieter:

What a great resource to supplement my current reading, which is, Move Closer, my third book by John Armstrong. http://www.amazon.com/Move-Closer-Intim ... 439&sr=1-4

Yes indeed.
So many books...thanks for leading me to further temptation...
and another of Armstrong's...
'Love, Life, Goethe: Lessons of the imagination from the Great German Poet'.
Have you read it?

tbieter, this kind of association...well, it kindles me.
One of the reasons I keep coming back to the PN forum.

[tbieter]

tbieter:

What a great resource to supplement my current reading, which is, Move Closer, my third book by John Armstrong. http://www.amazon.com/Move-Closer-Intim ... 439&sr=1-4

Yes indeed.
So many books...thanks for leading me to further temptation...
and another of Armstrong's...
'Love, Life, Goethe: Lessons of the imagination from the Great German Poet'.
Have you read it?

tbieter, this kind of association...well, it kindles me.
One of the reasons I keep coming back to the PN forum.

Not yet, but I plan on reading all of his books.