6 December 2015

A jolly little exhibition in the Ashmolean ...

 ... which has just over a month to go, proving to us that although Venice may have put coloratura before disegno, those Venetians certainly could draw. On show, Venetian drawings from the Ashmolean's own collections; from Christ Church (just think of all those Noblemen Commoners of the eighteenth century, Grand Touring so as  to develop their inner connoisseur and the pox, before returning laden with Tiepolo sketches); and from the Uffizi.

Some happy reunions: a Gabriel from Christ Church beside his Blessed Virgin Annunciate from the Uffizi; the modello for an Our Lady of the Rosary Altarpiece reunited with that of the medallions of the Fifteen Mysteries.

One criticism: the captions give very little information about the subject matter of the drawings, considering that both Classical Mythology and Catholic Devotion are closed books to so many of the poor souls around us.

No matter; the Baroque Rules OK. I realised that as a tiny boy when we had a holiday in the Tyrol, back in the happy days of Christendom well before the Council. For me, the Oratories at Birmingham and Brompton are the exemplaria of Noble Simplicity.

2 comments:

Fr PJM said...

"happy days of Christendom well before the Council..."

And then, in the mean time, de facto, if not universally de juro, "They have uncrowned him". But not totally. Qu'as primas is footnoted in the Catechism, the older Missal of 1962 retains the Feast.

Dare I ask what is the state of the feast of Christ the King in the new Ordinariate missal?

Stan Metheny said...

"One criticism: the captions give very little information about the subject matter of the drawings, considering that both Classical Mythology and Catholic Devotion are closed books to so many of the poor souls around us."

Alas, I find this to be the 'new normal' in captions for exhibitions. They omit - whether through ignorance or deliberate omission - the connections to Catholic culture, even when they are blindingly obvious and arranged by curators who really out to know better.