The eye of the beholder
Dec. 22nd, 2006 13:41![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
torquillYet another example of how I prefer my own interpretation of art, as opposed to the actual history and meaning, even if that meaning was what shaped the art in the first place. The context I come up with is almost always a magnitude more beautiful than what I find is the "actual" meaning.
I wrote a whole essay on "The Calling of Saint Matthew" by Caravaggio, with that same sentiment. I was deeply disappointed to find out that my initial impression of the painting, the story I imagined to be behind it, was not at all what the artist had intended... and I liked my version better.
Just now I ran across another example, one rather more subtle. I listen to streaming trance radio. In one song I heard, there was a sampled quote of a man with a tenor voice suitable for acting on Broadway, saying in an almost singsong tone, "I'm here to tear down everything around you. And you know what I'm going to replace it with? Something new."
The last words were almost seductive. I could just see this man in a patched coat, standing on the back of his tinker's wagon, hands outstretched to his audience as he tried to make them understand why he was about to create chaos in their lives. An idealistic Riddler, the creation of the Toymaker, someone who honestly felt that his vision was newer, and shinier, and better for everyone. Even if it meant bombing City Hall so that the new utopia could arise.
I suppose my interpretation wasn't too far off in substance, even if it was completely wrong in tone. The line is said by Jesus in The Last Temptation of Christ. A visionary, yes, someone who is trying to convince people that they'll have a better life if they follow his vision of the future... but not the half-mad, misunderstood genius that the clip brought to my mind.
I'll still treasure that mental image, just as I still insist that the character to the far left of "The Calling of Saint Matthew" has far more stories hidden in his slumped figure than Caravaggio ever let on. Sometimes the most beautiful face of art is found by the viewer alone.
I wrote a whole essay on "The Calling of Saint Matthew" by Caravaggio, with that same sentiment. I was deeply disappointed to find out that my initial impression of the painting, the story I imagined to be behind it, was not at all what the artist had intended... and I liked my version better.
Just now I ran across another example, one rather more subtle. I listen to streaming trance radio. In one song I heard, there was a sampled quote of a man with a tenor voice suitable for acting on Broadway, saying in an almost singsong tone, "I'm here to tear down everything around you. And you know what I'm going to replace it with? Something new."
The last words were almost seductive. I could just see this man in a patched coat, standing on the back of his tinker's wagon, hands outstretched to his audience as he tried to make them understand why he was about to create chaos in their lives. An idealistic Riddler, the creation of the Toymaker, someone who honestly felt that his vision was newer, and shinier, and better for everyone. Even if it meant bombing City Hall so that the new utopia could arise.
I suppose my interpretation wasn't too far off in substance, even if it was completely wrong in tone. The line is said by Jesus in The Last Temptation of Christ. A visionary, yes, someone who is trying to convince people that they'll have a better life if they follow his vision of the future... but not the half-mad, misunderstood genius that the clip brought to my mind.
I'll still treasure that mental image, just as I still insist that the character to the far left of "The Calling of Saint Matthew" has far more stories hidden in his slumped figure than Caravaggio ever let on. Sometimes the most beautiful face of art is found by the viewer alone.