The Culture Enthusiast

Ecce Homo by Antonio Ciseri

Art 9:02 AM

Ecce Hommo by Antonio Ciseri

A little bit of history

Date: 1871

Located in the Gallery of Modern Art, Florence.

The title of the painting "Ecce Hommo" is Latin for "Behold the Man": Pontius Pilate's words as he shows Jesus after His flagellation and the coronation of thorns to the crowd. Pilates is trying to convince the people that Jesus has suffered enough and needn't be crucified.

This painting was commissioned by the government of Italy in 1870 and Ciseri finished it a few days before his own death.1

A little bit of technique

The use of light and shadow is amazing. Pilate's clothes are transparent and there's great contrast between the hot sun of the background and the cooling marble of the foreground.

Many famous artists, like Caravaggio and Titian, portrayed this scene. What's unique about Ciseri's portrayal is that Jesus and Pilate are not facing the viewer. They have their backs to us and it is as if we are in the backstage of the scene. We are a character, maybe a servant or a centurion who was just passing by, heard all the screaming and stopped to see what's happening.

Because we can't see their faces, body posture is incredibly important. Pilate bends his body and puts his foot towards the crowd to get closer to them, arms pointing to the "man of pains" as if saying: "Isn't this enough?".

Christ's body posture is completely different. He looks down, motionless, patiently suffering.

A little bit of enthusiasm

What calls my attention, other than the extreme beauty of the painting, are the two "supporting" characters: the faceless crowd standing in the balconies at the top of the painting and Pontius Pilate's wife in the right corner of the painting.2

We can't see the faces in the crowd, but some figures at the roof tops have their arms raised. In their euphoria wouldn't they be screaming "Crucify Him!"?

Pilate's wife, on the other hand, is holding another woman for support. She can't even bear to look at what's happening. Before this all began she told her husband not to harm Jesus because she had dreamed about Him.

Maybe these two characters, Pilate's wife and (part of) the crowd, weren't Jesus' followers. Not everybody knew and believed He is the Son of God. I've always wondered how non-believers would react being witnesses to the Passion.

The painting shows these different, opposite reactions of people that weren't Jesus' disciples. The crowd's reaction was excitement in face of cruelty. At best they were just going with the flow, with what the majority wanted. Pilate's wife' reaction was sadness and compassion.

What do you think about this painting? Do you like its different perspective?

Image via Wikipedia

1 Treccani, the Italian Encyclopedia
2 Restored Traditions

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The Fall

Movies 9:11 AM

An epic tale of love and revenge

Why do we watch movies? I mean, isn't it amazing that we pay to go in a dark room filled with strangers to watch representations of made up stories? A while ago we were talking about the importance of literature and, if you think about it, people have been telling stories since the beginning of time. Why? Is it escapism, a past-time, or something more?

Last week I was looking for a movie to watch. I wanted something good, I was sick of watching lame movies that I couldn't talk about here. So I looked for a recommendation in IMDB’s users' "best movies" lists. The Fall appeared in many of those lists. I hadn't heard of this movie before, but the trailer sold it to me.

As you can gather from the trailer, a man and a little girl are both in a hospital. She has a big imagination and he is depressed – a dangerous combination. He starts telling her this incredible story and she is hooked. But he’ll only continue telling her the story if she steals morphine for him.

The Fall makes you feel like a child again and few movies can do that - even among kids' movies. Suddenly you're on the edge of your seat because you want to know what's going to happen next. And there will come a point where you have no idea what's going to happen next. That's exactly what kids (and I) want: a story to care about.

Plus, the movie answers those questions above. In two different ways, actually. First off, we like stories (whether they're movies, books or the ones we tell ourselves using our imagination), because they are better than reality. And by better, I mean more attractive, more exciting and more stimulating.

Just by the trailer you get a sense of how beautiful the movie is. Every shot is as perfect as a painting. I cannot even imagine what it must have been like seeing The Fall in the movies and not from my small notebook screen. Everything from the costumes, to the soundtrack, to the locations, to the names, to the characters' back stories is... grandiose.

Alexandria and Roy would rather be on an exciting quest in a desert island than in a hospital ward with people coughing, crying and dying all around you.

However, it's not like they are involved in the story just to escape their lives. The Bandit's story isn't all fiction. Roy’s story works like a dream, it's almost as if he's daydreaming. In the same way that happens in dreams, every character in his story is a part of his own self. And of Alexandria’s self too, because she sneaks into the story.

They come up with the story using elements of their real lives, nothing is made up from nowhere. Every character is represented by a person they now. Aspects of their experiences are part of the fictional story (the licking of the ice, for example).

This is where the line between reality and fiction gets blurry. Their being absorbed in the story is not totally escapism. Through their stories they are figuring out their own lives and feelings. In the story, they re-enact previous (real) experiences, invent the ones they wished happened in real life, and ultimately define their future. Remember I said that the story is better than reality? It's also because Roy has total control of the story whereas he only has some control over his reality.

It’s even funny how incoherent the story can get, because it changes all the time to adapt their particular psychological needs of the moment. In a very funny dialogue, the Masked Bandit swears to destroy Governor Odious and "every Spanish thing". Alexandria asks: "Wasn't he Spanish?". Roy, momentarily confused, answers: "Noooo. He was French". And the story goes on as if nothing had happened. There's no mistakes in the story. He calls the shots. Depending on what he needs, the story changes and this is why it goes from revenge, to love, to sadness.

The ending is truly brilliant and I won’t even say anything so you can have a big surprise when you watch it. See how the movie is compelling towards storytelling? It’s even making me writing a review without spoilers

Have you seen The Fall? What did you like the most about it?

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New blog up and running

Uncategorized 8:55 AM

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Guest post at The Catholic Young Woman

guest blogging 3:19 PM

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What I've learned from Jane Austen's juvenilia

Books 9:29 AM

Today's post is part of the series Writer's Corner

I just finished reading a collection of Jane Austen's juvenilia and unfinished novels. I couldn't help feeling the difference between her great novels, such as Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility and the writings from her youth.

I know it's not fair to judge her early material. I mean, 12-year-old Jane puts 26-year-old Paula to shame. My point is: I actually learned a thing or two about writing from these "not so great" novels. When comparing her juvenilia and unfinished novels with her more mature work, I learned that's important to:

1) Take your time

There's no use rushing towards things. Jane, despite being happy about the short length of your stories I had to go back and read them again constantly because I didn't really remember who you were talking about.

2) Properly develop your characters

While we're at it, we need to take the time to develop our characters, who they are, what motivates them. Quickly brushing through them will give the impression they are not real people.

3) Keep it classy

Far from me from accusing Lady Austen of being coarse, but some of her jokes were not as subtle as we are used to. If you're going to try humor, be careful.

4) Think outside of your comfort zone

One of the greatest stories I read in the book, Lady Susan, is not your usual Jane Austen story. It is written entirely in the form of letters and the main character is a selfish, vicious woman. That's probably why the novel is not so famous, but it is incredible nonetheless.So, it's Ok to try new things because they might turn out great too.

5) Persist (things get better)

I believe this is the best thing I learned from Austen juvenilia and you can learn that from many authors. The first things Austen wrote were far from being great. But she persisted and after some time and a lot of effort, she arrived at the level of Sense and Sensibility. As Ira Glass taught us, good writing takes time and lots of practice. Keep working hard and your writing will improve little by little.

I've learned so much by reading Austen's juvenilia and unfinished novels that I was encouraged to read my own archives and see if I can learn from my own (recent) juvenilia as well.

Have you read Austen's unfinished works? Do you like reading author's juvenilia or do you prefer their most famous works?

For more Writer's Corner posts and tips on writing, click here.

Image via The Creative Penn

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