Red Sky in the Renassiance: the Reverse of Geometry

JF Ptak Science Books LLC  Post 913

What if our eyes worked in the “opposite” way?  What if we somehow broadcast the lines of reality from our eyes¹ rather than receive photonic emissions from the physical world, that we didn’t specify the wavelength and frequency of light, and that somehow electromagnetic rumblings in the “visual range” didn’t apply to our sense of sight?

This would certainly make for an interesting  existence if somehow the elements around us weren’t necessarily so.  Perhaps this is sort of replacement reality is just what has been going on in the entire history of humans, altering the landscape to make it more suitable for our existence, a long history of painting the physical landscape with something more “suitable”, an individualized creation. 

This all came up wondering about this fantastic sky, produced 475 years before non-representational art and 455 years before Gauguin started applying big blankets of red² :  it seems to me in a distant impression that it is a representation of vision that is more a projector than a camera..  The end result of this emission and wayward thought is the fabulous red sky in the painting Nativity by Master Francke³ (ca. 1424-1436) is a fantastic red sky with lustrous stars.

The painting is otherwise filled with the common reliables of Renaissance iconography concerning the nativity:  the place of “birth” (a stable or barn-like building, also sometimes appearing as a classical ruin or cave), a flock of sheep, a stand of trees, and the watch sensate gazes of the near by beasts.  Mary is ecstatic in the same ways that Joseph is usually not—to me, he usually seems pretty detached from the whole deal, lost in another space.  The baby Christ is again just a little man (and not a baby) laying there on the barren ground.  [I’ve wondered about Joseph’s detachment:  perhaps the whole scene is nothing but mysterious, a complexity far removed from his reach and understanding, a notion of an act that is so phenomenal that there is no retrievable reaction for it, and so he looks away.  Later on in the history of Mary and Joseph, and deep into the 19^th century when the Immaculate Conception—that is, the sexless conception of Mary the mother of Christ which she would later accomplish for her own baby—the issue of Joseph’s own virginity comes up, mounting the confusion no doubt in Joseph’s already-full head.]

But back to the sky:  certainly skies and backgrounds of pure gold and blue painted by the masters in Sienna and Florence abound during this time, but red is quite unusual.  The sky is accented by the terrific red of the wings of the angels and more softly so in the hair of the (long-fingered) Madonna. 

There is also the issue of the hole in the sky, revealing the large-handed Creator with glimpses of the alternate, higher, existence visible in the background, a taste of the alpha (or omega?) part of the long arch of Earth-borne humanity.

Notes

1.The discussion of optics and vision is one of the most spectacular conversations ever held in the history of science and philosophy (along with "time", "motion" and "the void".  I think that Leonardo would've come closest in relatively-modern times to understanding vision if he had the real capacity of dissecting the eye (which in spite of many approaches to experiment) would always go flat, leaving him with an unsatisfying mess.

In Aristotle's Physics (Book II, Part II) we find the following fascinating thought:

"Similar evidence is supplied by the more physical of the branches of mathematics, such as optics, harmonics, and astronomy. These are in a way the reverse of geometry. While geometry investigates physical lines but not qua physical, optics investigates mathematical lines, but qua physical not qua mathematical"

A classical position of the emission theory of optics is stated by Hero in his Definitions:

"Optics does not deal with physical questions and does not study whether given rays flowing out from the eyes go forth to the boundaries of objects or whether images that are detached go forth from corporeal objects [and] enter the eye along a rectilinear path or whether the intervening air is stretched or contracted by the ray-like pneuma from the eye. It is only concerned whether, at each reception (of an image) the right direction of movement or tension is maintained as well as the requirement that the convergence to a point occurs at an angle when objects are seen that are larger or smaller than the eye."

(My thanks to Dr. Kim Veltman for these quotes from her Continuity and Discovery in Optics and Astronomy, Studies on Leonardo da Vinci http://www.sumscorp.com/books/contin/title.html)

2. I had Gauguin's 1888 "After the Sermon/Jacob Wrestling the Angel" in mind for an example of this.

3. Master Francke active (c. 1424 – 36 ), Nativity, in the Kunsthalle, Hamburg; oil on oak, 39x35 inches. Hamburg, Kunsthalle. “German painter who worked in Hamburg, where in 1424 he painted a huge altarpiece for the company of merchants who traded with England, the so-called ‘Englandfahrer Altar’, originally placed in their chapel in the Johanniskirche (remnants in Hamburg, Kunsthalle). When closed, the double-winged altarpiece displayed four scenes from the life of S. Thomas Becket, the patron saint of the company, above four scenes from the life of the Virgin (e.g. Nativity;). Opened, the altarpiece showed scenes from the Passion of Christ. Francke was a leader of the northern German version of International Gothic. He had close links with French book illumination (he may have worked in Paris for some time) and the paintings of the Rhineland, especially those of Conrad van Soest , though it is not known where he received his training.”

Other Nativity scenes as follows:

• The Nativity, German, c 1170. Getty Museum.
• Annunciation, Birth of Jesus, and Adoration of the Shepherds, Nicola Pisano, 1260. Web Gallery of Art.
• The Nativity, Margaritone d'Arezzo, 1260's. National Gallery, London.
• The Nativity with Six Dominican Monks, Italian, 1275. National Gallery of Art.
• The Nativity, Master of Gerona, 1275. Getty Museum.
• The Birth of Jesus, Pietro Cavallini, 1291. Web Gallery of Art.
• The Nativity of the Virgin, Pietro Cavallini, 1291. Web Gallery of Art.
• Nativity, Wissington, Suffolk, 13th century. Medieval Wall Painting in the English Parish Church.
• The Nativity with the Prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel, Duccio di Buoninsegna, 13th Century. National Gallery of Art.
• Nativity, Giotto di Bondone, 1304-06. Scenes from the Life of Christ. CGFA.
• Nativity, Giovanni da Rimini, 1305. Web Gallery of Art.
• The Birth of Christ, Duccio di Buoninsegna, 1308-11. National Gallery of Art.
• Nativity, Taddeo Gaddi, 1328-30. Web Gallery of Art.
• Birth of Jesus, Bernardo Daddi, 1335-40. Web Gallery of Art.
• The Nativity with the Annunciation to the Shepherds, Master of the Dominican Effigies, c. 1340. National Gallery of Art.
• The Nativity of the Virgin, Pietro Lorenzetti, 1342. Olga's Gallery.
• Nativity, Master of Hohenfurth, c. 1350. Web Gallery of Art.
• The Nativity, Guisto de'Menabuoi, 1367. National Gallery, London.
• The Nativity, Jacopo di Cione, 1370-71. National Gallery, London.
• The Nativity (Grabow Altarpiece), Master Bertram, 1383. Web Gallery of Art.

• Nativity, Unknown Austrian (Master of Salzburg), 1400. Web Gallery of Art.
• Nativity, Flemish, c. 1400. Web Gallery of Art.
• The Nativity, Andrea di Bartolo, c 1400. National Gallery of Art.
• The Nativity, Master of Salzburg, c. 1400. Web Gallery of Art.
• Nativity, Konrad of Soest, 1403. Web Gallery of Art.
• The Nativity, Lorenzo Monaco, 1409. Metropolitan Museum of Art.
• The Nativity, Spitz Master, 1415-25. Getty Museum.
• The Nativity, Limbourg Brothers, before 1416. Christus Rex.
• The Nativity, Robert Campin, 1420. Web Gallery of Art.
• Nativity, Gentile da Fabriano, 1423. Getty Museum.
• Birth of Jesus (St. Thomas Altarpiece), Master Francke, 1424. Web Gallery of Art.
• Nativity, Master of Flemalle, 1425. Web Gallery of Art.
• Plate of Nativity, Masaccio, 1427-28. Web Gallery of Art.
• The Birth of Christ, Hans Multscher, 1437. Web Gallery of Art.
• Nativity, Fra Angelico, c 1440. Christus Rex.
• Birth of Christ, Paolo Uccello, 1443-45.
• The Nativity, Filippino Lippi, c 1445. National Gallery of Art.
• Nativity, Dieric Bouts the Elder, c. 1445. Web Gallery of Art.
• The Nativity, Petrus Christus, 1445-46. Web Gallery of Art.
• Miracle of the New-Born Child, Donatello, 1447. Web Gallery of Art.
• Nativity, Tuse, c 1450. Frescoes in Danish Churches. (scroll down for image)
• Nativity, Fra Angelico, c. 1450. Olga's Gallery.
• The Birth of Christ, Benozzo Gozzoli, 1450. Web Gallery of Art.
• Annunciation and Nativity, Petrus Christus, 1452. Web Gallery of Art.
• The Adoration with St. Joseph, St. Jerome, Mary Magdalene and St. Ilarion, Fra Filippo Lippi, 1453. Olga's Gallery.
• Nativity/Virgin Crowned, Corby Glen, Lincolnshire, 15th century. Medieval Wall Painting in the English Parish Church.
• The Nativity, Master of the Castello Nativity, c. 1457. National Gallery, London.
• The Nativity, Domenico Gagini, c 1460. National Gallery of Art.
• The Nativity, Luca della Robbia, c 1460. National Gallery of Art.
• The Nativity, Giovanni Bellini, 1460-64. Web Gallery of Art.
• Nativity, Giovanni di Paolo, 1460's. Web Gallery of Art.
• The Nativity, Spanish Gothic, 1460's. Web Gallery of Art.
• The Nativity, Willem Vrelant, 1460's. The Getty Museum.
• Annunciation and Nativity, Francesco del Cossa, 1470. Web Gallery of Art.
• Nativity, Piero della Francesca, 1470. Web Gallery of Art
• Birth of Jesus, Antonio Rossellino, 1470's. Web Gallery of Art
• Nativity, Hans Memling, 1470-72. Web Gallery of Art.
• The Nativity, Piero della Francesca, 1470-75. National Gallery, London.
• The Nativity, with God the Father Surrounded by Angels and Cherubim, Francesco di Giorgio Martini, c 1472. National Gallery of Art.
• Nativity, Master of Avila, 1474-76. Web Gallery of Art.
• Nativity (Conversano Polyptych), Bartolomeo Vivarini, 1475. Web Gallery of Art.
• Nativity, Francesco di Giorgio Martini, 1475. Web Gallery of Art.
• Nativity, Flemish, 1475-1500. Web Gallery of Art.
• Nativity, Hans Memling, 1475-1500. Web Gallery of Art.
• The Nativity of Cardinal Jean Rolin, Jean Hey, 1480. Olga's Gallery.
• Nativity, Martin Schongauer, c. 1480. Web Gallery of Art.
• Nativity with St.s Lawrence and Andrew, Romano Antoniazzo, 1480-85. Web Gallery of Art.
• The Nativity, Jean Bourdichon, c. 1480-85. The Getty Museum.
• The Nativity, at Night, Geertgen tot Sint Jans, 1484-90. Web Gallery of Art.
• The Nativity with Saints, Pietro Orioli, 1485-95. National Gallery, London.
• The Nativity, Gerard David, c 1490. Web Gallery of Art. 
• Nativity, Francesco di Giorgio Martini, 1490-95. Web Gallery of Art.
• Christus Geburt, Jan Wellensz de Cock, um 1490 - 1527.
• The Nativity, Mair vonLandshut, 1499. National Gallery of Art.
• The Nativity with the Infant Saint John, Piero di Cosimo, c 1500. National Gallery of Art.
• Nativity, Girolamo di Benvenuto, c 1500. Getty Museum.
• Nativity, Lorenzo Costa, c. 1500. Web Gallery of Art.
• Nativity, Fra Bartolomeo, c. 1500. Web Gallery of Art.
• Nativity, Flemish, 1500-05. Web Gallery of Art.
• The Birth of Christ, Mariotto Albertinelli, 1503. Web Gallery of Art.
• Nativity, Albrecht Dürer, 1504. CGFA.
• The Nativity, Ludovico Mazzolino, 1504-10. National Gallery, London.
• The Birth of Christ, Hans Leonhard Schaufelein, 1505-06. Web Gallery of Art.
• The Nativity, Master M.S., 1506. Web Gallery of Art.
• The Nativity, Juan deFlandes, c. 1508-19. National Gallery of Art.
• The Nativity, Master of the Dresden Prayer Book, 1510-20. The Getty Museum.
• The Nativity, Albrecht Dürer, 1511. National Gallery of Art.
• Nativity, Gaudenzio Ferrari, 1514-21. Web Gallery of Art.
• The Birth of Christ, Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1515-20. Olga's Gallery.

·         Nativity, Gerard Horenbout, 1517. CGFA.

·         The Birth of Christ, Raphael, 1518-19. Christus Rex.

·         Nativity, Hans Baldung, 1520. Web Gallery of Art.

·         Nativity with Saints, Ortolano, 1520's. Web Gallery of Art.

·         The Nativity, at Night, after Hugo van der Goes, c. 1520-30. National Gallery, London.

·         Nativity, Lorenzo Lotto, 1523. Web Gallery of Art.

·         The Nativity, Simon Bening, 1525-30. The Getty Museum.

·         Nativity, Bernardino Fasolo, 1526. Web Gallery of Art.

·         The Census at Bethlehem, Pierre Bruegel the Elder, 1527-28. Royal Fine Arts Museum, Belgium.

• The Nativity, Juan de Flandes, c 1508/1519. National Gallery of Art.
• The Nativity, Lorenzo Lotto, 1523. National Gallery of Art.
• The Nativity with Saints, Girolamo Romanino, 1524-25. National Gallery, London.
• Nativity (Holy Night), Correggio, 1528-30. Web Gallery of Art.
• The Nativity, Perino del Vaga, 1534. National Gallery of Art.