The National Gallery is located in Trafalgar’s Square in the city of Westminster. The gallery contains over 2,300 pieces of art of various types. The first section of the gallery heavily focuses on the theme of Christ and the Crucifixion. It was not really until the next section of the gallery that we moved off from the religious imagery and symbolism. Both of the pieces that spoke to me came from Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
The first piece was Orpheus by Roelandt Savery. This painting shows Orpheus surrounded by different animals in a wooded area in the foreground with a waterfall and trees in the background. This was one of the exhibits that I could pretty much immediately recognize by just glancing at it. The attention to detail in the piece shows not only shows the artist’s talent but also shows the myth of Orpheus well. There was one problem with this painting, and it was that Orpheus is shown with a Violin, but in the myth, he has a lute. This is important because the lute is a very magical ethereal instrument and changing it to a violin makes him more human.
The second piece was Pan pursuing Syrinx by Hendrick van Balen and a follower of Jan Brueghel sometime after 1615. This painting depicts the faun god Pan chasing Syrinx the nymph through Arcadia. This piece is also from Metamorphoses similar to Orpheus. The artist does a very good job in making Pan a predatory figure as fauns in mythology are known for being rapists. The palette used shows a clear distinction of color to show the brightness and purity of Syrinx against the evil and darkness of Pan. The myth says that while running away, Syrinx was turned into reeds and then put then in his flute. Even after her “death” Pan still was able to take advantage of her.
Theatre in London U of A 