Painting Focus: "Pieta (After Delacroix)"; By Van Gogh, 1889

What is a Pieta? It's an artistic scene depicting the Virgin Mary sorrowfully receiving the body of her son, the crucified Jesus. It's a subject popular in Western civilization in the last two thousand years, even after the Catholic Church stopped bankrolling many major artists. One of the most famous Pietas in modern history is done by the enigmatic Vincent Van Gogh (1853 - 1890).

Van Gogh could rarely afford models, so he often copied existing artwork in order to paint. His Pieta is a copy of a lithograph he had done by Nanteuil. This lithograph was a copy of a Pieta done by acclaimed French Romantic artist Eugene Delacroix (1798 - 1863.) This is not a faithful copy but Delacroix's painting done in Van Gogh's vibrant, Impressionist style.

Differences

Although there are similarities in figure shapes, positioning and theme, there are many differences between the original Delacroix and Van Gogh's version. Delacroix renders a typical religious painting, where the central characters are unmistakably more than human. Jesus seems to hold himself up despite being dead while Mary's blue dress and red cloak flow dramatically. The way Mary's clothes flow suggests that a strong wind is blowing, but nothing else in the painting, such as Jesus' hair, moves.
Van Gogh's figures are much more human. Both Mary and Jesus have the same skin coloration. Van Gogh put his paint on the canvas in very heavy layers. Coupled with brighter colors and a lack of red, the figures seem slightly squiggly. This slightly distorted image may have been inspired by visual disturbances Van Gogh is thought to have experienced. Whether that cause was a seizure disorder or migraine aura is unknown.

Accidental Art

Van Gogh decided to try his hand at Delacroix's Pieta after his lithograph became damaged. It fell into a patch of bright oil paint that Van Gogh could not remove. This caused a huge bright round patch near Mary's head. This damaged copy was kept by the Van Gogh family and still exists.

This was painted in 1889, when the artist had less than one year to live. This year was also his most productive and included some of his most beloved works. After years of struggling to achieve his own painting style which was considered ugly at the time, Van Gogh had finally mastered it.

Additional Resources

Van Gogh. Rene Huyghe. Crown Publishers; 1967.

Dear Theo: The Autobiography of Vincent Van Gogh. Irving Stone & Jean Stone, editors. Plume; 1995.

Painting Focus: Head of an Angel (After Rembrandt)

When I have a terrible need of – shall I say the word – religion. Then I go out and paint the stars.” – Vincent Van Gogh in a letter to his brother Theo

The Angel (After Rembrandt) is also known as “Head of an Angel (After Rembrandt)” and Half Figure of an Angel (After Rembrandt). It’s an oil painting that looks more like watercolors than oils completed in September 1899, less than a year before Vincent Van Gogh would die of a gunshot wound.

Although not considered one of Van Gogh’s best works, it is one of his most notorious because the current location of the painting is unknown. Even the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, considered the most knowledgeable source of information on the enigmatic artist, has no idea where the painting is now or whether it has been accidentally destroyed or sitting in a private collection.

Painting Subject Matter

Rembrandt (1606 - 1669) painted many angels in his legendary career as well as other religious scenes. Van Gogh would copy numerous Rembrandts, especially those featuring angels. This particular painting is done mainly in shades of blue with a yellow halo. These shades and streaks of yellow can be seen in Van Gogh's famous painting The Starry Night. The angel's downcast face is in pale skin tones, making the face pop out from the rest of the painting.

The angel is pretty but is not looking at the viewer. One arm is outstretched to the viewer, but the palm is tightly closed. The angel seems at once to be revelatory and yet still retains his secrets, almost teasing the viewer with his closed eyes, seraphic smile and closed hand. The angel mirrors Van Gogh's own dilemma with Christianity.

Van Gogh and Christianity

Van Gogh was a minister in an impoverished mining community in Belgium when he was struck by the desire to create. His superiors removed him from the ministry because he looked and acted more like one of the miners than a minister. He was sent home in disgrace. It also during this time that Van Gogh doubted the same beliefs that he was preaching. Why would a loving God allow such suffering?

Van Gogh wrestled with Christianity the way that Jacob wrestled with the Angel - another Biblical scene Rembrandt painted but Van Gogh declined to copy. The angel in that painting has his eye half-opened and looks on Jacob with pity. Van Gogh's angel looks very much like this angel, but does not show pity.

Other posts in the Painting Focus series include:

• White House at Night (1890)
• Portrait of Dr. Gachet (1890)
• Autumn Landscape (1885)