Selfaanbieding: Rembrandt en die gebroke-kosmiese tradisie

[摘要] English: This research ensued from a prior thesis - Artist's portrait and self-portrait: the art historical traces of artistic self-presentation (M.A. University of he Free State, 1992) - and was supplemented by a growing interest in Rembrandt van Rijn's self-presentations and the possible role of the troubled cosmic tradition therein. The four paintings by Rembrandt that were chosen as core illustrations for the research - The elevation of the Cross (ca.1636), Self-portrait with Saskia (ca.1635), Self-portrait as St Paul (1663) and Bathsheba (1654) - are exceptional examples of self-presentation and depict profound human brokenness (or troubledness) to which the artist relates very personally. In The elevation of the Cross Rembrandt sets himself within the central event in the history of salvation, in intimate proximity of the crucified Christ. In Chapters 3 and 5 the central visual examples focus on intimate relationships with women in the painter's life, set within Biblical context. In Chapter 4 the visual centre is a self-portrait as the apostle Paul, one of the key figures in the New Testament. The Scriptural passages on which the paintings are based indicate that God is not 'dead and that healing remains a reality, particularly in the troubled world in which we live.The introductory chapter explores the field of study. The second chapter deals with the manner in which radical brokenness embodies the troubled human spirit by means of chiasmic mobility - from Rembrandt's Crucifixion Scenes (1631-39) to Jane Alexander's The sacrifices of God are a troubled spirit (2002-2004). The dynamics of the troubled cosmic tradition are highlighted with reference to various perchronic relationships, transmission by conversion and maturation, the possibilities of typiconic enrichment through different traditions and the extension through dialogue between different traditions.In Self-portrait with Saskia the focus will be on human imperfection: the inappropriateness of the theme of the Prodigal Son as marriage portrait, of Saskia's position in the painting, of the laughing face of the artist and of the back view of the two figures. The apostrophic turning of both figures towards the viewer may stimulate a radical chiasmic shift both in the painting and in the mind of the observer. The implied/external artist, as well as the implied/external viewer, play constituent roles to realise the suggested inversion. Rembrandt's approach to the inversion of radical affliction is typiconically contrasted with Francis Bacon's escapism through mystic motivations.When Rembrandt depicts himself as the apostle Paul he may allude to Paul's dim/dark mirror, which implies brokenness. This chapter explores the problems that arise and persist when, during the Romantic Period, Rembrandt is characterised as a gifted, suffering hero based on the view of artistic calling in the nineteenth century. In keeping with the Letters of St Paul, human vulnerability is rather chiasmically embodied in Rembrandt's Coram Dei approach together with the suggestion of family ties and a continual shift between sin and grace in self-representation.The painting of Bathsheba (1654) seems to fall outside the theme of self-presentation. However, I wish to demonstrate that even in the case of imaginary human absence the external painter may be present implicitly, in which case biographical information could be meaningful in the interpretation of the painting. The human focus of a troubled cosmic hypothesis is particularly actualised by a naer't leven consciousness and a person-to-person relationship, which is sustained mainly by the dynamic of a God-man relationshipSelf-depiction may expose the subjectivity of the artist. Post-modern debates present the possibility of returning chiasmically to themes and approaches that have apparently lost their applicability today. Interpretation by means of a troubled cosmic reference could be used to apply such approaches in a new way, with different aims, to offer a regenerated vision of art historiography and of being an artist.

[发布机构] University of the Free State