A fruitful afternoon visiting
National Gallery today. Now that I have more time for hobbies, plus that I live 10 minutes' walking distance away from it, I plan to visit it more often. Today I focused on a few paintings and would like to share my thought on the painting called
An Allegory of Love here. (NB: For Chinese readers who find some of the vocabulary a bit challenging, please click the hyperlink of the words or phrases).
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An Allegory of Love |
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brief painting description |
An
Allegory of Love, an extremely
daring painting at that time (1527-39). It's probably
controversial to paint a naked body itself already, not to mention adding details of touching
nipples.
In the painting description, it says one couple looking deep into each other's eyes, however, from the painting, it seems that both couples do. The subtle difference is that the expression in the eyes of
carnal love couple seems more
playful and
seductive, while the
meditative love couple's seems more
sentimental and
spiritual.
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Close-up of Carnal Love |
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Close-up of more meditative love |
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Cupid | | | |
Cupid, originally meaning "desire", is now taken as the God of
erotic love and attraction. In the description it says "
identified by his
bow and
wings,
watches over two pairs of lovers". From his eyes and the
gesture of
avoiding looking at the lovers, it seems that he is a bit
shy, and possibly
bored and
annoyed, lol. He's probably thinking: you guys are having fun, what am I doing here? Regarding his appearance, I understand the
blonde curly hair is usually
associated with physical beauty, but I wonder why his legs are so
chubby, lol.
As for the animals on the tree in the background of the painting, the
lizard and the goat, their symbolic meaning varies according to different sources. Mostly lizard is associated with good luck and
clairvoyance, and the goat with
fertility, vitality and ceaseless energy. These symbols imply fortune, reproduction and the circle of life. The painting is probably expressing the the contrast of the two different types of love at the front stage, while at the back stage it is probably saying that both types are needed for the continuity of life, or the outcome-oriented view, which reminds me of Deng Xiao Ping's famous saying: black or white, as long as it catches mice. If you catch a mouse, then you are a good cat; If you contribute to the continuity of life, then your love is good love. Shall I say: carnal or meditative, as long as it's conducive?
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Learn English in context with Global Traveler |
- Allegory
- daring
- controversial
- nipples
- carnal
- playful
- seductive
- meditative
- sentimental
- spiritual
- Cupid
- erotic
- identified by
- gesture
- avoiding
- shy
- bored
- annoyed
- associated with
- chubby
- clairvoyance
- fertility
- vitality
- ceaseless
- conducive
- looking deep into each other's eyes: 深情凝望
Vocabulary illustrated with pictures
看图学词
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Bow and Arrow |
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Wings |
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Blonde curly hair |
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Mice |
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Goat |
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Lizard | | | | | | | | | |
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Very nicely done great interpretation
ReplyDeleteThanks Carmen for visiting me online. I really appreciate your kind words :)
DeleteIs this your blog? Such a great idea to document life and help others to learn English!! Looking forward to reading more posts from you!
ReplyDeleteTina
I have read the two articles on your blog and I really like the write you write and tell the story!
ReplyDeleteRico
Especially when you commented the paintings! Adding English learning to the end is an interesting idea :) Rico
ReplyDelete