Below are a few thoughts which go with a previous post from November 5th – Proserpine : Digging Deeper with Rossetti. It may help to cast an eye over that before reading this.
Over the past few days I have been thinking about another of my favourite works of art. The Virgin of the Rocks by Leonardo da Vinci. There are two versions. One hangs in the Louvre in Paris and the other in the National Gallery here in London. Back in 2011 they were displayed hanging opposite one another in the Leonardo exhibition at the National Gallery dedicated to work which the artist had produced in Milan for his patron Ludovico Sforza. It was the first time the two versions had ever been exhibited together. For the purposes of this blogpost however, I am focussing mainly on the version in London and the figure of the Angel Uriel who is shown on the right with the left arm around the Christ child.
A few years ago I was standing in front of Proserpine which was painted by Dante Gabriel Rossetti in 1874 and thinking about the talk I was due to give about her the following day. I was not working that day but had gone in to the gallery to do some preparation. There was something about the figure of Proserpine that was reminding me of someone or something but I could not work out who or what. I suddenly had an urge to visit the National Gallery and decided to walk along there that afternoon. I was not sure why. I just felt a pull to go there. It is not far from Tate Britain. Only a short bus ride or walk along the river.
On arrival, I headed for the room showing works by Italian Mannerist painters from around the 1540s. The long neck and hands of Proserpine and other works by Rossetti could be seen to be influenced by that style. I thought that I might find some clues there since the gestures in Parmigiano’s Madonna with the Long Neck in the Uffizi had come to mind. After looking at some works by Bronzino I decided that connection seemed too obvious somehow and I headed for where the Virgin of the Rocks is displayed.
The painting hangs in a room dedicated to work by and associated with Leonardo. It was commissioned for an altarpiece in the chapel of the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception which was attached to the church of San Francesco Maggiore in Milan. The chapel had been founded prior to 1335 by Beatrice D’Este who was the wife of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, the then Duke of Milan. The work was removed in 1576 when the chapel was demolished. It shows the adoration of the Christ Child by John the Baptist with Mary sitting with John by her right side. Her left hand is held over the Christ child who is sitting with Uriel. It relates to the story of the flight into Egypt when the Holy Family meet the infant John the Baptist being escorted to safety by the Angel. The figure of the angel is generally thought to be Uriel and that is who I always associate it with but the Louvre website states that it is Gabriel.
In 1795, the Scottish painter and dealer Gavin Hamilton bought the painting in Italy and brought it back to London. Eventually it passed to the Earls of Suffolk and was sold by the 18th Earl to the National Gallery in 1880.
Standing in front of the painting, I found myself focussing more and more on the figure of Uriel and thinking at the same time of Proserpine and the posture of the figure, the look to the left and the lowered gaze. Could Rossetti have been influenced in any way by this work, I thought? Had he ever had the opportunity to see it? It had been purchased by the National Gallery in 1880, two years before Rossetti died and several years after he painted Proserpine. The openings in the rocks in the background were reminiscent of the ‘inlet suddenly opened and admitting for a moment the light of the upper world…’ from Rossetti’s own description of Proserpine. In the Book of Enoch, Uriel watches over Tartarus which connects with Proserpine in the Underworld and in some esoteric traditions is associated with agriculture and grain which connects to Proserpine and her mother Ceres. Were these subtle connections being made by Rossetti?
Later that evening when I returned home, I picked up my copy of ‘The Poems of Dante Gabriel Rossetti’ which was edited by his brother and published in 1910. In the index I found ‘For Our Lady of the Rocks’ by Leonardo da Vinci. He had written a poem dedicated to the work and according to the Rossetti Archive, had written it standing in front of the painting when it was on show at the British Institute before it became part of the National Gallery collection. The poem forms part of his Sonnets for Pictures which Proserpine is also part of and his brother dates the poem to 1848.
It was encouraging to find that the artist had in fact seen the Virgin of the Rocks, although I much prefer that he refers to her as Our Lady. The sonnet seems to focus on the darker aspects of the work as if he is referring to the passage to the afterlife. Whether or not the figure of Uriel inspired that of Proserpine I can’t be sure but it is an example of how we relate to paintings and what it is that draws us to them which is one of the things I used to focus on in my talks. Did my admiration for the painting of Our Lady and especially the figure of Uriel influence in any way why I was so drawn to the painting of Proserpine? Or was it even to encourage me to look at the Leonardo painting more closely? Most likely in this case it was a bit of both. Rossetti does have a knack of making me look at things in a new way and uncover aspects of works that I may have overlooked. I mentioned the connection I had made in my talk about Proserpine the following day at Tate Britain. Afterwards one of the listeners came over and said ‘you know, when you started to speak about Leonardo I immediately thought of the figure of the angel you mentioned’….It was heartening to know that the idea resonated with another at least.
The panels of angels which also formed part of the chapel altarpiece are thought not to be by Leonardo himself and are displayed alongside Our Lady. They are thought to have been painted by associates of Leonardo. Of course, those of you who have read my previous posts will not be surprised to know that I especially love the one in green playing the vieille…
Rossetti did visit Paris. Maybe he saw the other version of Our Lady. It is the one which now is the subject of much debate and conspiracy theories. Why for example is Uriel pointing at John? It is not known for sure whether or not the version in the Louvre was created for the chapel. Some think it was created earlier in Florence and that Leonardo then based the later one which is now in the National Gallery on that. Or that the Confraternity would not pay him enough for the first version and so the artist sold it and created a second one. The debate goes on. Since starting to write this and looking at the painting again it has become more fascinating for me personally. In late 2019, there was an exhibition at the National Gallery which I sadly missed. It showed the infra red images that had been taken of the work. The images show the drawings beneath and the original placement of the figures. A copy of the publication which goes with the exhibition arrived in the post this morning and I look forward to reading it. When I put the book down to photograph Uriel, the camera caught the light streaming in from the window onto her like the ‘inlet suddenly opened and admitting for a moment the light of the upper world..’ Perhaps I should take that as affirmation that I am on the right track.
Today I’ve found myself focussing more on the central figure of Our Lady and so most likely will revisit this again. I’m grateful to Rossetti for referring to her as Our Lady and not the Virgin. Surely it is time that she became unshackled from that title and her true story allowed to emerge. Mary of the Rocks does not sound quite right somehow. The Goddess of the Rocks. Yes, I think that title suits her and that Rossetti would approve.
Lalachene 