Stuff Jos van der Woude cares about (Entries tagged as photography)

Ancient art photo gallery

nospam@example.com (Jos van der Woude) — Sun, 03 Jan 2016 11:35:00 +0000

For more than a decade now, I shoot photos of ancient art in museums around the world. A particular favorite of mine is ancient Egyptian art. At the start of 2016 I have about 1400 photos of Egyptian art. In 2002, I started out with a simple Sony digital point-and-shoot camera, but more recently I use a professional Canon digital single reflex camera. You can take a look at the gear section (link opens in a new window) of this blog, if you are interested in the photography part.This ancient art gallery (link opens in a new window) contains a selection of these photos in chronological order of date taken. For the time being this gallery contains ancient Egyptian and ancient Greek art photos. In a few cases, when photography is not allowed in a particular museum, I have resorted to using scans. This is very unfortunate. I have tried to correctly identify all works of art in the captions using various sources. Firstly, in recent years I always take an additional photo of the label and enter this text in the caption. If a label is not available, or if I forget to shoot the label, I use art books, Wikipedia and Google. Sometimes it takes a considerable amount of time to identify a particular work of art. This form of treasure hunting is part of the fun! If things work correctly you will be able to land on the right photo page using an appropriate Google search for the work of art you are interested in. If I have it, that is. The plan is to extend this gallery with other ancient art (Byzantine and Roman) over time.

Jacob-Cornelisz van Oostsanen exhibition in Amsterdam and Alkmaar

nospam@example.com (Jos van der Woude) — Wed, 07 May 2014 09:50:44 +0000

October 2013 I visited the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples, Italy. After having seen many great Italian masterpieces my eye caught something different. "This is not Italian, this looks more Northern European" I mumbled to myself.

Lo and behold, it was a painting by a Dutch master called Jacob-Cornelisz van Oostsanen. To my shame I have to admit, I had not heard of him before. I did like the painting though, and looked at it in detail. I also took a photograph and then went on to see many more Italian masterpieces ... To my great surprise a couple of months later I saw the very same painting in a large article about a new exhibition opening in both Amsterdam and Alkmaar. Here was the chance to see this painting again, apparently cleaned and accompanied by a great many other works by Van Oostsanen from all over the world. What an unique opportunity! So I went to the Amsterdam Museum to see "my painting" again. It is called "The Nativity with the Boelen family as donors". The colors were much brighter than I remembered them. This is the effect of the painting having been cleaned. This time I studied the painting in even more detail and thoroughly enjoyed doing so. In this painting Bethlehem is situated in a very Dutch looking coastal landscape. Cool!

A weekend later I went to Alkmaar to see the rest of the exhibition. The painting I liked best is on view at the Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar and it is called "Noli me Tangere" (Latin: Do Not Touch Me). The colors are spectacular and the detail is unbelievable. Apart from the main scene there are many more smaller scenes in the painting. The smallest is Jesus sitting down at a table with others in one of the buildings in the city in the background. It is too small to see on this photograph! The painting just does not look like it was made in 1507. So who was Jacob-Cornelisz van Oostsanen? Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen (1475-1533) is the earliest artist in Amsterdam that we know by name he was a celebrated artist in the early sixteenth century. His studio on the Kalverstraat, then already a fashionable street, developed into a highly productive workshop, taking commissions from patrons in Holland and beyond. He provided portraits and religious pictures, as well as combinations of the two, whether in print or oils. Van Oostsanen is one of the great masters from the Northern Netherlands who laid the foundation for the flourishing success of Dutch art that followed. His works show how art developed during his lifetime from the late medieval style to the early Renaissance. His taste for unexpected details and the exceptional quality of the thirty or more surviving paintings, as well as his two hundred woodcuts, are spectacular to view.

Key to understanding why Jacob-Cornelisz van Oostsanen is relatively unknown in the Netherlands today, is the fact that he lived and worked in a Roman-Catholic Amsterdam just decades before the Protestant Reformation. Protestant reformers were sharply opposed to what they considered the idolatry of the Host. In 1566 during the "Beeldenstorm" (Iconoclastic Fury) a lot of Dutch Catholic art was destroyed by militant Calvinists. On May 26, 1578 a bloodless revolution turned Amsterdam from a Catholic city into a Protestant one. The Catholic town council was expelled, and from then on Catholics were no longer allowed to worship in public. Civic authorities also dissolved the convents and monasteries, and their properties — along with all Catholic churches — were confiscated. Moveable goods, like paintings, were mosty sold to foreign buyers and thus saved from destruction.

Please do not forget to take a look at the ceiling paintings in the St Lawrence's church, next to the museum in Alkmaar. They are recently restored and awesome! It is Jacob-Cornelisz van Oostsanen's interpretation of The Last Judgement. Shown here is a tiny detail of this vast work of art. The photograph was taken with my new Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens with an EF 1.4x III extender fitted.

The exhibition is on show until June 29, 2014 at three separate locations: The Amsterdam Museum Amsterdam, the Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar and the St Lawrence’s church in Alkmaar.

My new EOS 5D mark III camera

nospam@example.com (Jos van der Woude) — Thu, 19 Dec 2013 13:00:00 +0000

As of December 19th 2013 I am the proud owner of a brand new Canon EOS 5D mark III digital camera. I have taken it on a trip to the Western part of the USA over the Xmas holidays and I am ready to share my first impressions:

The photo to the left was shot in Death Valley shot during a recent trip to the USA.

I love the larger view of this full-frame digital camera and I am still getting used to the apparent shrinking of focus distance of all my lenses
This camera really takes better quality pictures in situations with challenging light conditions
The switch from my old 7D to this new 5D mark iii is effortless, because the controls and menu system are mostly identical
It uses the same model battery and same memory card (CF) as my old 7D
So now I am already eying the super telelens L offerings from Canon ... sigh

Two famous inhabitants of the San Marco convent in Florence Italy

nospam@example.com (Jos van der Woude) — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 09:18:10 +0000

Last week we were in Italy again (-: . The weather was great, the food as delicious as always and we spent many hours visiting museums, churches and other interesting sites. There is a whole list of things to talk about: The Uffizi in Florence, the national museum of medieval art San Matteo in Pisa, the little mountain town of Barga with its wonderful church, the Devil’s Bridge near Lucca, the Duomo in Lucca, the list goes on. Of all things worthy to share one subject stands out: the convent of San Marco in Florence. Why, you ask? The amazing frescoes by Fra Angelico for one thing and its link to Girolamo Savonarola, reformer and heretic who eventually was tortured and hanged for his alleged crimes in the main square of Florence.

San Marco
The San Marco church and convent is now a museum. I have visited Florence five or six times and yet this was my first visit to the San Marco museum. The reason for this has partly to do with its location, it is slightly out of the way in the northern part of the inner city and in addition to this it probably is a typical place to visit after you have seen all the main attractions. Nevertheless it is a real gem for its art and place in history. The convent we see today is basically unaltered since it was build in 1437 on a site of an earlier church. The new complex was occupied by the Dominican order and sponsored by Lorenzo di Medici, who had a personal cell here to retreat into.

Fra Angelico
Fra Angelico lived in this convent from 1436–1445 and during this time he painted many frescoes on the walls of the convent. What is special about these frescoes is their intended audience and effect. Mostly frescoes and paintings were meant to educate the general public about the Holy Scriptures. The frescoes Fra Angelico painted in this convent were meant to be seen only by the friars living there. These friars were literate and were very well aware of the stories in the bible. Fra Angelico painted these meditational frescoes with the specific purpose of evoking spiritual energy, thus assisting the friars in solitary payer and contemplation. In today's terms we would say that these frescoes show and evoke real human emotion. Please take a close look at the face of the Dominican friar in the picture to the right (Click image for a larger version in a separate window). And it is just that what is so special in a work of art from 1445, heralding the coming of a new age: The Renaissance. Put in yet another way: Fra Angelico realized the advancements made by Masaccio in the Brancacci Chapel and carried them further. Today, most works of art can only be seen out of their original context in a distant museum. The fact that these frescoes are still in their original places in the convent for which they were made makes them doubly special. There are not many places on Earth were you can see so much great art in its original unaltered context.

Girolamo Savonarola
Another famous inhabitant of this convent was Girolamo Savonarola. In fact he occupied Fra Angelico's cell from 1482 till his public hanging in the main square of Florence in 1498. I had read about this preacher, reformer, hertic before, but I had never really understood his significance till now. From an early age (as we know from letters to his father) he was appalled by the hypocracy of the clergy. Today we would call him a Puritan. He found his calling as a preacher when he impressed the public with his message that the Church had to change its corrupt ways. People were outright scared when he correctly predicted that a "Powerful Sword of the Lord from the North" (King Charles VIII of France) would invade Italy and threaten Florence. The good citizens of Florence quickly austed their rulers, the di Medici's, and after that Savonarola convinced the French to bypass Florence all together and go after the real culprit instead: the Pope in Rome. For a short while Savonarola ran the city of Florence as a democratic theocracy. Depending on who's writing the account this was a paradise on earth, a haven of democracy in a corrupt world or sheer maddness reaching a climax in the carnival of 1497 where Savonarola organized troops of boys and girls to tour the city, house to house, and begged the people to give up their gauds and vanities, from cosmetics to pagan books and paintings, the worldly things that turned their hearts away from true Christian living. And soon in the great square of Florence rose a great pyramid, fifteen stories high, carnival masks, rich dresses women's ornaments, wigs, mirrors, powder puffs, rouge-pots, lip-sticks, cards and dice, perfume and cosmetics, books of poems and on magic, musical instruments, trinkets of all kinds and worldly paintings in which Greek nymphs displayed their unclothed shapes. When Savonarola attacked Pope Alexander VI directly, accusing him of debauchery, he took on an enemy too powerful to mess with. You might recognize the name of Pope Alexander VI and if you are wondering why it is because you know him from the TV series The Borgias. Yes, it is the very same Pope. The Pope excommunicated Savonarola (this did not bother him much) and threatened the Florentines with an interdict. This interdict meant in effect a trade embargo for the city of Florence. So Savonarola all of a sudden became a lot less popular with the good citizens of Florence. They forced him to shut up. But Savonarola was no the man to be shut up for long, he persisted in his ways preaching puritanism and calling for church reforms. Savonarola hinted at performing miracles to prove his divine mission, but when a rival Franciscan preacher proposed to test that mission by walking through fire, he lost control of the public discourse. Without consulting him, his confidant fra Domenico da Pescia offered himself as his surrogate and Savonarola felt he could not afford to refuse. A crowd filled the central square, eager to see if God would intervene and if so, on which side. The nervous contestants and their delegations delayed the start of the contest for hours. A sudden rain drenched the spectators and government officials cancelled the proceedings. The crowd disbanded angrily; the burden of proof had been on Savonarola and he was blamed for the fiasco. A mob assaulted the convent of San Marco. Savonarola and two friends were arrested and imprisoned. Under torture Savonarola confessed to having invented his prophecies and visions, then retracted, then confessed again. On the morning of May 23, 1498, the three friars were led out into the main square where, before a tribunal of high clerics and government officials, they were condemned as heretics and schismatics, and sentenced to die forthwith. Stripped of their Dominican garments in ritual degradation, they mounted the scaffold in their thin white shirts. Each on a separate gallows, they were hanged, while a fire was ignited below them to consume their bodies. There is a painting in the San Marco museum depicting this very scene, although not very realistically, because we know from written accounts the square was crowded with people both cheering and crying. Click on the picture to the right to open a larger version in a separate window.

Opinions
The Britannica online encyclopedia considers Savonarola a forerunner of Luther and mentions that in Worms, Germany Savonarola has a statue besides the statue of Martin Luther himself. The Catholic online encyclopedia mentions that the Pope had been very lenient and finally had to act against Savonarola to prevent a schism in the Roman Catholic Church. The statue in Worms is totally unwarranted in their view. Finally Machiavelli wrote in the Prince:"If Moses, Cyrus, Theseus, and Romulus had been unarmed they could not have enforced their constitutions for long — as happened in our time to Fra Girolamo Savonarola, who was ruined with his new order of things immediately the multitude believed in him no longer, and he had no means of keeping steadfast those who believed or of making the unbelievers to believe."

In 1982 Pope John Paul II beatified Fra Angelico and 1984 declared him patron of Catholic artists. It seems unlikely that Savonarola, Fra angelico's "cellmate" in the convent of San Marco, will be bestowed the same honor any time soon ...

Museo Diocesano Cortona Italy

nospam@example.com (Jos van der Woude) — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 19:45:00 +0000

This summer we revisited Tuscany, revisited Cortona and revisited the little Museo Diocesano. Actually it was only on the third or fourth visit to Cortona, last year, we discovered this little gem. On the outside it is completely unremarkable. It sits right opposite of the Cathedral in Cortona, so it is easy to locate. It is just very unremarkable, on the outside ...

On the inside it is just great. It is home to many world renowned paintings by Luca Signorelli and Fra Angelico. Two great artists of the early Italian Renaissance. Last year when we were here it was very busy and photography was strictly forbidden. This year we were almost the only ones there and it seemed they turned a blind eye to people taking photos. This allowed me to take some great shots of these superb paintings.

In one of his first true masterpieces, The Cortona Annunciation, Fra Angelico has the Virgin and the Angel say some words, like in modern cartoons. On the left, confronting Mary with a half-genuflection is the Angel, his forefinger raised in expostulation as his lips recite the sentence: "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee". On the right the Virgin, her hands crossed on her breast, leans forward from her gold-brocaded seat, reciting the words of St. Luke, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word". Also note Adam and Eve, in the upper left corner, being chased out of Paradise by an angel. This painting originally stood in the church of San Domenico in Cortona. In the 19th century it was moved to the Church of Gesù in Cortona and now it resides in the Museo Diocesano, still in Cortona. See the wikipedia entry for more information on Fra Angelico (opens in a new window). Click on the thumb image below to enjoy this painting in its full glory. Please be patient, it is huge.

Pure Passion in the Willibrod Church Utrecht

nospam@example.com (Jos van der Woude) — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 10:34:09 +0000

Saturday March 24th I attended the concert "Pure Passion" of the vocal group Cantatrix in the St. Willibrod Church in Utrecht. To hear Cantatrix sing is always a pleasure; this time it was even more special because of the location. I have lived in Utrecht for many years, but the Willibrod Church was new to me.

The St. Willibrord Church in Utrecht is one of the best preserved examples of the Utrecht School of the Gothic Revival. The church is almost invisible in the surrounding buildings, but who enters is immediately struck by the overwhelming impression of this mystical ornate church, built by architect Tepe and the St. Bernulphusgilde.

During the concert I shot a series of publicity photographs. This was quite challenging due to the low light conditions in the church.

Lightroom 4 is out

nospam@example.com (Jos van der Woude) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 22:20:19 +0000

I use Lightroom to keep track of my 56.000 odd photos. It does an excellent job at that. Today Adobe released version 4.0 of their flagship photo management software. This is exciting news. Why? Check out the new Map module for starters!

Years of painstakingly adding GPS coordinates to my photos finally visually pays off. I love this mapping feature.

In case you are wondering about some of the dots. My GPS tracker works just fine when I am sitting in a plane heading for the USA.

Walking with Kees 49th edition

nospam@example.com (Jos van der Woude) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 16:21:16 +0000

A friend of mine Kees has a really nice tradition going. Every year on - or near - his birthday he organizes a walk for family and friends. This walk always follows the same route through the dunes and along the beach near his home town of Beverwijk, The Netherlands.

I have participated twice now and really enjoyed it. How many birthday parties have you attended in which you basically sat around a table in a living room?

For the second time I was the photographer for the occasion. All of the pictures are here.

Tripods are fun after all

nospam@example.com (Jos van der Woude) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:50:13 +0000

Okay, so I am a big fan of handheld photography, using high ISOs if necessary to shoot in dark environments.
Time to test my Canon EOS 7D camera on a tripod to see what that can do. Using a tripod I shot the hallway in our apartment building with a 13 second exposure. The result is shown here and is a good reminder of when a tripod is really useful to make a nice picture.

The sculpture is made by Rien Goené in 1990 and is called Action.

Baby Jesus of the Hands by Pinturicchio

nospam@example.com (Jos van der Woude) — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 14:00:00 +0000

This painting, which was thought lost for hundreds of years, tells the fascinating story of a scandalous Renaissance occurrence. The protagonists are Pope Alessandro Borgia and his lover Giulia Farnese, which is the reason why this work was initially condemned to be destroyed, and then – saved only by the strength of its irresistible beauty – was simply destined to oblivion. The work re-emerges only now from this condition, thanks to an impressive series of concomitances which seem to wish to demonstrate how powerful the unpredictable influence of fate is – in determining both the human course of events and the history of art. See Baby Jesus of the Hands. I managed to take a nice photograph of the painting. Clicking on the thumb image opens a new window showing the painting in its full glory.

Masaccio: Expulsion from the Garden of Eden

nospam@example.com (Jos van der Woude) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 08:30:00 +0000

The Expulsion from the Garden of Eden is a fresco by the Italian Early Renaissance artist Masaccio. The fresco is a single scene from the cycle Life of Peter painted around 1425 by Masaccio, Masolino and others on the walls of the Brancacci Chapel in the church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence. It depicts the expulsion from the garden of Adam and Eve. Three centuries after the fresco was painted, Cosimo III de'Medici, in line with contemporary ideas of decorum, ordered that fig leaves be added to conceal the genitals of the figures. These were eventually removed in the 1980s when the painting was fully restored and cleaned.

Ceiling Mosaics in the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia

nospam@example.com (Jos van der Woude) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 13:30:00 +0000

The Mausoleum of Galla Placidia is a Roman building built in 425-430 AD in Ravenna, Italy. It was listed with seven other structures in Ravenna in the World Heritage List in 1996. The UNESCO experts describe it as "the earliest and best preserved of all mosaic monuments, and at the same time one of the most artistically perfect". The interior of the mausoleum is covered with rich Byzantine mosaics, and light enters through alabaster window panels. The inside contains two famous mosaic lunettes, and the rest of the interior is filled with mosaics of Christian and Apocalyptic symbols. The central bay's upper walls are decorated with four pairs of apostles, including St. Peter and St. Paul, acclaiming a giant gold cross in the center of the dome against a blue sky of yellow stars. The mausoleum is reputed to have inspired American songwriter Cole Porter to compose "Night and Day" while on a 1920s visit.