June, 2020 - Of Art and Wine

Natural America: Audubon and Bodmer, plus Organic Wines.

An American Flamingo from John James Audubon’s Birds of America

That is one impressive bird, and the artist, John James Audubon (born Jean-Jacques Rabin) made it more so by printing it on 30″ x 40″ paper. Even so, the artist had to make a rather strange curve in the neck just above the head so as to get the whole bird into the picture. However, if there is one thing Audubon was true to, it was the accurate representation, life-size, of the birds he drew.

Audubon (1785-1851) portrayed here in a portrait by George Healy in the Museum of Science, Boston, mos.org, went through a number of iterations before being able to pursue his great love of painting birds. Born in Haiti of a French father, he spent his youth in France, coming to the U.S. in 1803. He tried business with some success, married and had two sons, and was relatively prosperous until 1819, when an economic downturn caused him to go bankrupt.

What was a financial disaster for him worked to allow him to pursue his real love – painting birds. In 1819-1820, he deployed his artistic talents doing portraits of prominent citizens in Louisville. With money earned from that skill and the support of his wife, Lucy, he was able to travel down the Mississippi to New Orleans and its Bayou, where with the help of a young assistant, John Mason, who drew the background settings, Audubon captured in watercolor the birds throughout the area.

Great Blue Heron and the Roseate Spoonbill by John James Audubon in Birds of America.

Audubon, while being very precise and scientific in his physical representations of the birds, drew criticism for the often dramatic poses and backgrounds that the birds appear in. The ornithological drawings of the time were normally on a plain background. However, Audubon liked to set the birds in their habitat and have them in poses doing activities which he had observed in real life. Above we get to see the blue heron showing its wings as it searches for a fish in the waters. The roseate duckbill is doing much the same thing, but this time with a more fully developed landscape background. The artistry of his work overall won over his severest American critics, but only after he left America for a stay in England in 1826. There his appearance as a rough hewn American frontiersman (see portrait above) attracted attention and a publisher for the four volume work, Birds of America, consisting of 435 paintings!

That frontiersman approach also worked for him once he returned to America, as that seemed to those from the eastern part of the U.S. to add extra authenticity to his outstanding volumes of drawings. The sets of books were sold by subscription (early print-on-demand publishing?) and some 175-200 sets were sold. His work became a family enterprise, with Lucy writing down his observations, his son, Victor, overseeing the printing, and his son, John, doing some of the drawing. Audubon went west again in 1843 to draw animals for his book Quadrupeds of America. His notes on nature and focus on the majestic landscapes of Yellowstone were forerunners of artists to come shortly after, like Albert Bierstadt and Frederic Church. And of course, in later years, the National Audubon Society was founded in his memory, allowing us to have various nature centers throughout the country in which we can peacefully enjoy the environment and its creatures.

Karl Bodmer: A Naturalist of Another Sort

While Audubon’s seminal works on birds and beasts serve as both artistic and scientific records that have been passed down in history to us, another artist came to the U.S., employed by a German prince who wished to explore the “wilds” of America. The prince was Maximillian of Wied-Neuwied, and the artist was Karl Bodmer (1809-1893). Their trip to America from 1832-1834 in which they traveled into the west using flatboats on the upper Missouri River, resulted in the publication of Travels in the Interiors of North America (1843-44). This work became wonderful documentation of the life and the look of the land and the traditional Native American cultures from that time period.

The Confluence of the Fox and Wabash Rivers by Karl Bodmer.

If we thought that Audubon could be dramatic, Bodmer certainly does not hold back in capturing the wild tangle of trees and dense forestation along the river banks. In a picture that could be foreboding, the few cattle that drink from the river seem to indicate that domestication of this wilderness is happening. Along with that, Bodmer lightens the sky, moving from a pale, soft orange to a light blue, which opens the scene somewhat.

Bodmer is particularly appreciated for his detailed work and accurate representations of the native people that were encountered on this two-year journey. Prince Maximillian in particular wanted to see the native people who were as yet not touched by the western migration of people from the eastern U.S. Bodmer’s skill at capturing the likeness of his subjects is why the prince hired him to come along. Bodmer always asked the native people to wear the clothing that they wished to be represented in and in this way captured many unique forms of dress which now serve as historical cultural records much prized by the Native American population and by the rest of us as well.

Mandan Chief Mato Tope in his war paint and in his ceremonial regalia as seen by Karl Bodmer.

One of the most outstanding characters that Bodmer encountered was the chief of the Mandans, Mato Tope, or Four Bears, known to be the fiercest warrior of his era on the plains of America. Supposedly he would show up for a portrait every day in a different outfit, each designed to show off his brave accomplishments and his glory as a chief. These works by Bodmer are now in the Joslyn Museum in Omaha, Nebraska (see video here on Mato Tope, The Rock Star of the Plains youtube.com).

This dramatic piece by Bodmer shows totems or idols constructed by the Mandan. There is a ghostly quality to this piece almost as if Bodmer sensed the coming destruction of these cultures. Mato-Tope, the great warrior who was undefeated on the battlefield. was felled by smallpox just three years after Bodmer’s portraits of him. That disease went on to devastate the native people of the plains. Bodmer’s work is as close to a living testament as we have.

Modern Times, Modern Themes.

Image created by Cheryl Medow, “The Art of Birds, Revealed Through An Altered Reality” by Becky Harlan nationalgeographic.com See cherylmedow.com for more photos.

The photograph above takes romanticized images of birds in a new direction. While Audubon broke free from the dull poses and stark white backgrounds of the drawings and paintings of birds in his day, Medow applies photography and her skills in composition to capture the birds in action and create a special environment for them. The roseate spoonbills in the photo above are from St. Augustine, Florida. The background, however, is from Hanalei Bay off Kauai in Hawaii. The magic of the juxtaposition of the birds and a completely different environment creates an altered reality that stops viewers in their tracks. The artist was once asked to explain what she does. When she started to reply, someone else in the group told her not to speak just yet because he wanted time to only to enjoy the pictures.

Medow does say of her work that she follows in the tradition of the Hudson Valley School of painting in which the artists went out to sketch scenes en plein air but created their paintings in the studio as composites made up of various parts of the scenery they had sketched. In that way no one can really point to a specific location that matches any of their paintings. Here the birds are put in natural settings that are not their usual ones to create a type of magical reality that maximizes the beauty of both the birds and the settings.

The Cardinal and the Arapahoe, watercolor paintings by Wes Karchut

The artist who did the two paintings above, Wes Karchut, specialized for a while in western painting and as such grew accustomed to representing Native American subjects. The fierce look in the eyes of this Arapahoe man caught Karchut’s attention. He gives the man’s face the contours and colors of a southwestern landscape, while also capturing some of the color and originality of the man’s clothing. The painting of the cardinal is in the fine tradition of Audubon, who so loved to capture the natural gestures of the birds. Here Karchut says he was moved by the proud stance of this bird and that in fact influenced his brush strokes, especially around the crest atop the bird’s head. For more on Karchut’s art see weskarchutart.com and for an article on the artist go to vernellestudio.com

Regardless of the time period, the North American continent has never lacked in diversity and beauty. Thankfully there have been artists who could use their skills and imagination to capture it and draw our attention to what we might not have otherwise fully noticed.

Paintings are either in public domain or live linked to artist websites.

Marjorie Vernelle is an artist, writer, college professor, and traveler. For more see the Pages at ofartandwine.comor her author page at amazon.com and her art at Vernelle Art Boutique vernellestudio.com.

Organic Wines, Natural Wines and Biodynamic Viticulture

Some excellent organic wines from “15 Best Organic Wine Brands 2020” delish.com Photo credit to Alyssa Gray.

In the last years with the rising awareness of environmentally sound sustainable agriculture, the subject of organic wines, natural wines, and those produced by biodynamic viniculture techniques has come to the fore. The first thing to handle is how to define what these terms mean. Organic wines are generally described as wines made from organically grown grapes (careful attention given to non-chemical interventions in the growing process) which are often also processed without the addition of sulfites. However, one can also purchase wines with sulfites but made from organically grown grapes. Normally these do not carry the name Organic Wine. The lack of sulfites is the key to the organic label, which is a regulated term. That means certain codified specifications must be met for the wine to call itself organic.

Then we have Natural Wines like those pictured here which are sugar-free. These are wines made of grapes grown with little intervention. The wine is made often using ancient aging techniques, and the color and taste can be quite different from what we normally expect.

The way this type of wine is processed can involve techniques that go back to ancient times. The taste of the wine can be rather on the bitter side like sour beer, and the colors range from pink to orange. These wines appeal to those who want to live a healthier lifestyle as they do not use yeast for fermentation, have few if any sulfites, and are normally made from organically grown grapes. However, since there is such creative variety in how these wines are produced there is no regulation the codifies what is to be considered a Natural Wine.

Lastly we have the term biodynamic which does not really reflect a type of wine, but rather the agricultural process. The focus is on the terroir or the soil and the design process in making the wines. Some of the growing techniques are a bit “mystical” involving wizardry, and the wine might even be aged in antique clay amphora as was done in Roman times. Biodynamically grown grapes may be used in natural wines but can also be found in industrial wines. Delish.com gives a good survey of organic wines in an article linked above under the photos of bottles of organic wine. For a short video with more on these terms, Eric Texier, a winemaker, talks about these categories. youtube.com

When it comes to foods to match with the organic wines, one can use the normal range of options, with Sauvignon Blanc for fish and seafood dishes, grilled meats with organic Temperanillo or Malbec, and organic rose with anything using mild cheeses. Natural Merchants has quite a list of good things to pair on their website naturalmerchants.com. One of the things to note is that some of the best organic wines come from Australia and Chile. Once again click the link under the first photo for Delish.com.

These days going off to Chile or Australia is a lot more difficult but that need not limit your access to organic wines or others produced there. This is where a good wine club like those offered at Cellars Wine Clubs comes in handy. Not only is there an International Wine Club, but there is also one for Natural and Organic Wines.

The testimonial above is only one of many. Cellars has a variety of wine clubs that address every level of wine expertise and every budget. Free shipping, a “no bad bottle” return policy and the Give Back program that allows 15% of the purchase to be donated to one of a number of vetted charities, make Cellars an excellent choice. Click on the Cellars page on this blog (right hand column).

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©marjorie vernelle 2020

Coming soon: The Paintings of Joaquin Sorolla and the Wines of Valencia.

Las tres velas (The Three Sails) by Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida.

Celebrated as the Spanish Master of Light in a special exhibition in 2019 at the National Gallery in London, the work of Joaquin Sorolla presents another look at Impressionism from the eyes of someone from the sparkling Mediterranean coast of Valencia, Spain.

Japanese Influences on Western Art and Sake, a Rice Wine.

Japanese Prints in Monet’s home in Giverny

“If you insist on forcing me into an affiliation…then compare me with the old Japanese masters. Their exquisite taste has always delighted me, and I like the suggestive quality of their aesthetic, which evokes a presence by a shadow and the whole by a part.” Claude Monet parkwestgallery.com

Well, there you have it. Monet was an adherent to what the French called “Japonisme,” an interest that began influencing artists in the late 19th century after Japan was opened for trade with the Occident. Monet’s home in Giverny is literally, among other things, a gallery of fine Japanese prints done by some of the most notable of the Japanese printmakers. On the one visit that I have made so far to Giverny, I noted buses of only Japanese tourists. They had come, yes, to admire the wonderful gardens, also inspired by the Japanese aesthetic, but as well to see masterworks done by their famous artists, those old Japanese masters Monet refers to.

Here in this painting from 1876, we have Camille in Costume, a painting Monet did of his wife dressed in a kimono with an assortment of fans all around. Given the smile on Camille’s face and the lovely tilt of her head, posing in this gorgeous gown must have been quite a treat. Monet’s composition makes good use of the flowing cloth of the kimono by fanning it out in a swirl around her feet. The movement of the kimono mimics the curve of the fan she holds in her hand and the whole structure of fan, model, and kimono make a huge S-curve design, a compositional element favored in earlier times by painters like El Greco.

Water Lily Pond – Green Harmonies by Claude Monet, 1899

It has often been said that Monet’s other great gift to the world was his vast garden at Giverny. Actually they are a collection of gardens that range from fruit trees that are split so that their branches run horizontally along wires, to flowers of all kinds, and of course, the famous lily ponds. In the painting above, we see his Japanese bridge that spans a section of a lily pond. In this painting we see not only the bridge, but the beginning of Monet’s quest to decentralize landscape painting by removing certain boundaries that are normally expected. For more on this idea and how it manifests in Monet’s late painting, see this article in the right hand column of this page, “Monet’s Lily Pond and the Last of the Summer Wine.”

Of course Monet was not the only artist of that time period to be influenced by the arrival of these beautiful and quite different works of art from Japan. Cezanne, Degas, Toulouse Lautrec, and even Gauguin, who stopped using lithography and began using woodcut printing techniques, were all influenced. One of the topics that attracted attention was that of bathing women. Edgar Degas (1834-1917) took the theme of the bathing woman for his pastel “The Tub,” in which the angle of the woman’s body, the details of the intimate objects used for her bath, and the way the shelf is flatten as it might be in a Japanese print as opposed to western ideas of perspective and foreshortening, all show the influence of those Japanese prints.

The Tub by Edgar Degas, 1886. D’Orsay Museum, Paris, France. To see this painting side-by-side with a Japanese bathing woman go to “West Meets East: How Japan Inspired a Western Art Movement at
parkwestgallery.com

One of the artists most taken by the arrival of Japanese prints and the artistic aesthetic related to them was Vincent Van Gogh. He did his versions of the famous prints, sometimes even copying the Japanese writing that accompanied the print, though the piece below showing the frame would indicate that Van Gogh was not a great calligrapher. Below we can compare his Flowering Plum Tree (1887) with Hiroshige’s Plum Blossoms. Van Gogh gives the colors a punch with deep reds, pinks, and a solid orange for the frame. The small figures in the background are in yellows and blue, and trees have yellow and white blossoms that move into pink, orange and a deep red. Hiroshige, on the other hand keeps the colors subtle, using calming grays, blues, and a soft pinkish-red. Van Gogh does keep some of the flatness that one sees in Hiroshigi’s print.

Flowering Plum Blossoms by Vincent Van Gogh, 1887 The Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Holland.

Plum Blossoms by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797 – 1858)

However, Van Gogh was to integrate the Japanese idea of a delicate focus on simple items, like a stem of flowers or a branch of blossoms. In particular we see this in Van Gogh’s Almond Blossoms (1890), which he painted in honor of the birth of his brother Theo’s first child. There are no experiments with color combinations nor any attempts at calligraphy. Here there is just nature’s delicacy, along with Van Gogh’s incredible ability to focus on detail in order to make these blossoms the perfect heralds of the birth of a new life.

Almond Blossoms by Vincent Van Gogh (1890) The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Holland.

The influence of Japan continued to be felt into the 20th century with artists like Piet Mondrian using the concept of the single stem of flowers as the basis of many of his own floral paintings. Certain Japanese concepts like wabi-sabi, the finding of unexpected beauty or beauty in imperfection, appeal to the western mind as does Monet’s estimation of how presence is evoked by a shadow or the whole by a part. One contemporary artist who thoroughly appreciates and who can also aptly express those ideas is Jess Preble. Perhaps it comes from her time working as a sushi chef in San Francisco. Perhaps it is her deep appreciation and understanding of how Junichiro Tanizaki explains the subtle in Japanese culture in his wonderful work, In Praise of Shadows. Whether it is one or both of these, she creates pieces that respond to elements of that aesthetic and which provide a counterpoint to much of her other work.

The Other Teacup by Jess Preble. Jess Preble Fine Art at jesspreble.com and in June, 2020 at Kreuser Gallery exhibition, My Name is Nobody abigailkreusergallery.com

Here the name of the piece evokes that idea of the shadow of a presence. The viewer knows without seeing it that there is another, a mate to this cup. That brings the question: What is the quality of this matching cup? Does it match in appearance or is it the polar opposite? Is it the sun to this moon? Just as the moon has its light and dark sides, this cup has mystery. The rough hewn surface, the imperfect symmetry (asymmetry?), and the way it is set off center in the picture indicate its unique character. It is a creation of wabi-sabi, a beautiful imperfection, which appeals in its singularity to the person who holds it. This is a cup for the famed 16th century Japanese tea master, Sen no Rikyu, whose explanation of the beauty of raku pottery is wonderfully presented in the film Rikyu by Hiroshi Teshigahara (1989 imbd.com ) in which the zen master’s thoughts on a teacup express this idea of unique beauty. Preble’s sensitivity to the textured surface of the cup extends to the textured treatment of the background elements, which also move from light to dark. This cup is a creation that might be set aside by some but surely seen by a discerning eye captured by its silent possibilities.

No other way to end this journey into another aesthetic than to return to Monet. In this case it is a koi pond in Seki, Japan that reflects the beauty of his gardens in France. It is the Nemichi Shrine, a Shinto shrine with a pond that looks like a living Monet painting. (For video see youtube.com)

“Monet’s Pond” in Seki City, Japan. Photo from amusingplanet.com

Paintings used in this article are in public domain or used with permission of the artist.

Marjorie Vernelle is an artist, writer, college professor, and traveler. For more see the Pages at ofartandwine.com or her author page at amazon.com and her art at Vernelle Art Boutique vernellestudio.com.

Sake, a Rice Wine or a Misnomer?

Sake with cups. Photo by LovePik. free download.

Of course it is the perfect compliment to a nice Japanese meal, and though subtle, it can pack quite a punch (sake is 16% alcohol on average). But how can that be, you ask, it’s made from rice, isn’t it? Well, here is the main thing wine from grapes and wine from rice have in common: sugar. From grapes the sugar comes from the juice; from rice is comes from converting the starch to sugar. And, of course, they are both then fermented to create the alcohol content. So in that loosest of senses, they are both wines.

However, some say that is as far as this comparison should go. The Sake Times has an article in which it insists: “Let’s Stop Calling Sake “Rice Wine.” It points out that sake is actually just a Japanese word for alcohol, en.sake-times.com. I don’t know how much headway they are going to make with that. However, it is pointed out that “rice wine” is the term used to describe a number of Asian alcoholic drinks made from fermented rice and does nothing to engage the differences in the process of making the various national versions (Chinese, Korean and Japanese) of these rice alcohols or their differences in taste.

Audrey Hepburn has some sake to the seeming amazement of her young son.

We will leave the rice wine or not rice wine wars behind and move on to other important things in sake culture. As in all things Japanese, there is a protocol for how and when to do things. Now I am sure that any of our local Japanese restaurants would be happy to serve us sake with our sushi, and the more of each the better. However, tea or water is normally the drink that accompanies a feast of sushi, itself a special treat rather than a daily meal habit. The sake, made from rice, can blunt the taste of the fish which comes also with rice. Better to have warm sake at the end of the meal when it can settle calmly alone on the taste buds and descend with a mild tingle to create the appropriate after glow of a fine meal.

SAKE GOES INTERNATIONAL

Yes, folks, that’s a pizza, and it is one of four unusual food pairings that Eater.com suggests for a good sake experience. Here they suggest junmai daijingo sake for it is dry with hints of fruit. They also suggest a sparkling sake as the bubbles help cleanse the palate.

Of course, seafood is always a good bet with sake. Oysters, scallops, shrimp are all easy choices. However, cheeses work well as do some chicken and some tomato based pasta dishes (just think of the pizza above). By the way Eater.com goes into some other unusual combinations like barbeque, Thai food, and chocolate(!) with suggestions for which type of sake to choose for each.

Another aspect of sake that yes, has a comparison to grape wine, is that it is a wonderful addition to your cooking. It can be used to enhance flavor just like grape wines can; however, it can also cut the “fishy” taste of some fish dishes as well as add healthy antioxidants to you diet. Cooking sake is a special blend of sake made expressly for cooking and it is normally rather inexpensive.

Common Cooking Sakes Photo credit to Japanese Pantry justonecookbook.com

Lastly sake is a traditional New Year’s gift. One form is toso, sake infused with medicinal herbs to help one fight off winter’s illnesses like the common cold or to help with upset stomachs. One thing nice to do is to follow the custom of opening a bottle to toast the new year and perhaps write a haiku. Here is one from Yosa Buson (1716 – 1783):

The old calendar

fills me with gratitude

like a song.

So remember that sake is a noble drink with a long tradition. The more you learn about it, the more you’ll be tempted to try it. For myself, that sparkling sake sounds really good. I shall give it a try.

Of Art and Wine affiliates with Bluehost.com and CellarsWineClub.com and may earn from qualifying purchases.

Coming Soon: Natural America: Audubon and Bodmer, plus Organic Wines.

An American Flamingo by Jean Jacques Audubon and White Castles on the Missouri by Karl Bodmer

Sometimes capturing the essence of a place is done in amazing ways by those who come from other places. The work of Jean Jacques Audubon and that of Karl Bodmer provide unique visions of what these men from other lands found in America. Nature’s influence is also being felt in the wine making industry as organic wines are becoming the rage.

Uccello, The Battle of San Romano, and Brunello, Another Tuscan Red.

One panel of a triptych on the Battle of San Romano by Paulo Uccello, 1438-1440. National Gallery, London.

War broke out in 1432 between two rival Italian city-states. Yes, it was Florence versus Siena, once again. It seems they were fighting over trade routes through Pisa. Now when I tell you that these paintings (yes, there are three panels) commemorating the battle were commissioned by Leonardo Bartolini-Salimbeni of Florence, you will guess which side won the battle. Florence, right! The other battle that was going on in Florence at that time was the rendering of perspective. Yes, we take it for granted that we somewhere in junior high art class learn to use our rulers to do one-point perspective. However, in the early 15th century, this was a big issue. Even a book was published in 1435 called De Pictura by Leon Battista Alberti, in which Alberti explained mathematically how to do perspective. The artist who did the paintings of The Battle of San Romano, Paolo di Dono, known better to us as Paolo Uccello (1397-1475), supposedly stayed up nights, losing sleep over trying to perfect this concept in his painting.

When we look at the painting above, we see an image that relates to the confusion of events that can happen on a battlefield. The man in the red headdress is Niccolo da Tolentino, a type of general known as a condottiere, who was basically the leader of a private mercenary army. He is bravely leading a charge so sure of winning that he is not wearing a helmet (note that his young blond page is not wearing one either). Admittedly, some art historians say since the painting was commissioned a few years after the battle, the red hat was just a way of celebrating Tolentino’s victory. The action seems to all happen across the front of the panel with very little depth, as though it were set on a stage. The immediate background is rather flat and full of soldiers and shrubs, which bear oranges and roses, a lovely decorative touch. In the far distance, the upper part of the panel, we see soldiers riding away and others who are archers with their large white crossbows. It is said that this part of the battle happened in the morning hence the lightness of the upper panel; however, there is no indication of the shadows that these men and horses would have cast. Instead the action, while furious, is rendered in a somewhat flat way. But this is the Renaissance, so why does this painting not look like what you see in Michelangelo or Leonardo’s work? Well, that is where the other battle was going on in this painting.

Uccello, called so because he loved painting birds (uccelli), was one of the last of the late Gothic painters who was transitioning to the Renaissance. Thus we can see in this painting the struggles that kept him up at night. The late Gothic was a period in which the decorative was very important. The flat stylized appearance of the objects was not as important as the beauty of the decorative appeal of the objects, which were sometimes covered in precious metals or in paints made from crushed stone like lapis lazuli. The coming of perspective required a more realistic approach as opposed to just being a decorative hanging. In the painting above, these two elements, decoration versus perspective reality, fight it out just like the combatants in the image of this famous battle. As the warriors parade across the front of the panel, their fallen comrades and their lances lie on the ground pointing into the painting to suggest a vanishing point just beyond the battlefield.

The Middle Panel of the Battle of San Romano by Paolo Uccello, 1438-1440. Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

In this the middle panel of the three, we see once again the action taking place across the front of the panel. There are no horses in this panel with golden decorations on their livery though we do see a few gleaming oranges. However, just behind the scene of the unseating of the opposition’s condottiere, Bernardino della Carda, what appear to be soldiers in gray armor were originally in armor covered in silver to approximate the gleam of the real thing. The way the horses prance, rear, and kick or lie fallen on the battlefield tell the story of a fierce battle but in an almost purely decorative way, like the flat rendering found in a tapestry. The main emphasis here is on the decorative aspect as would have been seen in Gothic miniatures.

The third panel of the Battle of San Romano by Paolo Uccello, 1438-1440. Louvre Museum in Paris.

Here we have the other Sienese general for hire, Michelotto da Cotignola, also wearing a more ceremonial headdress, known as a mazzocchio, as he leads his men into a charge. Once again we see the horses wearing golden ornaments and the original armor in silver, now tarnished or missing, would have made this painting bright and dazzling. However, Uccello’s struggle with perspective continues here as we have the action across the front of the panel with a rather dark solid background, almost like a curtain on a stage. None of this means that it or the other two are not beautiful paintings, but they just do not show the depth of field that was beginning to become the hallmark of Florentine painting as it explored and developed the idea of perspective.

Photo of original drawing of a mazzocchio, showing all the angles necessary to create its rounded form by Paolo Uccello, 15th century, probably at the time of the paintings of the Battle of San Romano.

Working with dimension in this way was Uccello’s obsession. To produce this drawing, he mathematically calculated the angles of the different parts of this headdress. While he captured the fury of the battle and even got the mazzocchio to look correct, he remained well within the traditions of the painting of the previous era, with lots of decorative elements, gold, silver, precious colors, and a design that befits an earlier period.

Uccello did a number of things in his life as an artist, some of them in Venice where he did mosaics (now lost) for San Marco Basilica, and in Florence, the beautiful paintings in the courtyard of Santa Maria della Novella, but mastering perspective was his focus always. Here is his self-portrait on a panel bearing the faces of other great Italian painters (1450)in which he positioned himself between Giotto and Donatello.

We see a face rendered as it would have been done in the early Renaissance in the time of Massacio (1400-1428) when the realistic was returning to European art. Yet it does not have the look that we associate with Leonardo, Raphael, or Michelangelo. Uccello was a painter in a transitional period, along with Fra Angelico, whose work is highly decorative and also reminiscent of those illuminated manuscripts. However, Uccello continued with his quest for perspective, leaving us with one of his last paintings, The Hunt in the Night Forest (c. 1470)

The Hunt or The Hunt in the Night Forest by Uccello, c. 1470.

Here we see some of the familiar aspects of Uccello’s painting with lots of action at the front of the panel. The trees are done in decorative format, each perfectly shaped with little variation to create a lush canopy over the darkened land into which the animals run. However, at this point we clearly get the idea of depth in that forest. It is not just another area as backdrop in the upper end of the panel, like the fields in Panel 1 of The Battle of San Romano, nor is it just a dark backdrop as in Panel 3 of The Battle of San Romano. Here every line we can draw from any of the creatures, man or beast, that appear in this painting will go to one point somewhere deep in that forest. Ultimately if all this crowd of characters runs from the light in the front of the panel toward where the animals are, they will all disappear from view in the forest of the night where they meet the vanishing point.

However, we must not think of The Battle of San Romano paintings as lessened in importance because of their transitional nature. In fact, Lorenzo de Medici (yes, Lorenzo, the Magnificent, himself) actually used force to take the three paintings from the Bartolini-Salimbeni to bring them to the Medici Palazzo. So the paintings themselves seem to have been fought over. On a completely speculative note, I wonder if the Bartolini (of Florence) had those paintings commissioned to prove just how fiercely proud (and loyal) they were as Florentines, even though the Salimbeni part of their name comes from a well known important family in Siena. Everything was political in Florence, so art history’s mysteries abound.

Painting by Uccello and the drawing of the mazzocchio are in public domain.

Marjorie Vernelle is an artist, writer, college professor, and traveler. For more see the Pages at ofartandwine.com or her author page at amazon.com and her art at Vernelle Art Boutique vernellestudio.com.

Brunello, Another Tuscan Red.

A glass of Brunello and the Sangiovese Grosso grapes from finedininglovers.com

We know of the rivalry in the Middle Ages between Florence and Siena. In fact in Of Art and Wine’s discussion of Chianti (see “The Hand as a Work of Art, and Chianti, a Tuscan Red.”), the story of the gallo nero or black rooster label was told, in which Florence was able to claim most of the land between Florence and Siena because its rider covered more territory than the Sienese rider. However, Siena has not suffered unduly. Yes, the area known as Chianti went to Florence and produces the various types of Chianti well known throughout the world. However, the greatest wine of Tuscany grows at altitudes of up to 600 meters (around 1900 feet) near the town of Montalcino. It is called Brunello or “little dark one” and comes often with the place name, Brunello di Montalcino.

Now, what is it that makes Brunello so special? Well, a number of things. It has a DOCG appellation, meaning that how it is made and what it is made from are strictly controlled. The grapes are a type of Sangiovese, a clone known as Sangiovese Grosso, and the wine is made 100% from these grapes. The grapes cannot be grown at an altitude higher than 600 meters as the soil in the area, a mixture of clay and dark rock which contains lots of minerals, is considered a major element in the taste of the wine. That taste is described as fruity, ripe and tart like sour cherries combined with savory herbs and iron. The wine must be aged for four years, with at least two in oak barrels, and stored for at least four months before being allowed onto the market. Two versions of the aging process exist. One uses French oak barrels which produce a concentrated, rich, toasty flavor, while the second version uses traditional large old oak barrels that produce a less fruity more earthy flavor.

The word most commonly used to describe Brunello is “elegant.” Of course it has a price to match, with $50 being a good starting price. However, all hope is not lost. The wine-making rules of the region require that 30% of those Sangiovese Grosso grapes be declassified and allowed to mature for less time, producing a Rosso di Montalcino. It has no barrel-aging requirement and only has to be one year old before being released to the market. It has more body than Chianti and less tannin, and here is the good part. You can get this one for about $20.

And now for the food!

Blueberry tartelette, with vanilla custard. Photo credit, Copy Share.

Yes, Brunello goes very well with solid desserts like the blueberry and vanilla custard tartelette above. According to Roberta Schira in her article, “Brunello di Montalcino’s Pairings: Do’s and Dont’s,” there are a range of items from wild game, to hard cheeses, to rich desserts like the one above that all go well with Brunello di Montalcino. She warns, though, against grilled meats, pizza, fish, and piquant foods, and she explains why for each. So I shall turn you over to her so that you can soak up her wisdom finedininglovers.com

As our Tuscan adventure into the past lives of Florence and Siena draws to a close, there is a way to enjoy international travel through wine. Join a wine club like Cellars Wine Club. Cellars has an International Wine Club along with free shipping, and a “no bad bottle” return policy. Click here to go directly to the International Wine Club cellarswineclub.com or go to Of Art and Wine Pages on the right and click to see all of the different wine clubs offered.

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Coming Soon: Japanese Influences on Western Art and Sake, a Rice Wine.

The Other Teacup by Jess Preble, currently showing other works in “My Name is Nobody” June 2020, at Kreuser Gallery, Colorado Springs, CO.

Japanese wood block prints had a remarkable influence on the painting of the French Impressionists like Claude Monet and Post-Impressionists like Vincent Van Gogh. That influence continues into our era, inspiring painters to look with new eyes at a Japanese aesthetic that praises shadows and finds beauty in imperfection. The Japanese also produce a very fine drink, a wine made of rice. Yes, saké.