While the most haunting (haunted?) painting is the portrait of Dorian Gray, it lives only in the words of Oscar Wilde and not on canvas. However, there are a few on canvas that will raise the hair on the back of your neck. Let’s take a look.
Caravaggio, whose first name was also Michelangelo, gives us two to look at. Medusa (1597) shows the terrified face of the gorgon whose gaze turned one to stone. Perseus caught her gaze in the mirror of his polished shield so was able to avoid her direct stare and behead her without turning to stone himself. Clever old Greek. Caravaggio’s version hints at his own self-portrait.
In 1607, Caravaggio goes there – yes, his head of Goliath is a self-portrait (see painting at top of the page). The severed head as self-portrait became a consistent theme for the artist after he had to flee Rome for having committed murder. He had fled to Rome after killing someone in Milan. Then having a death sentence on his head after his misadventure in Rome, he scurried farther south to Naples. Many of the paintings he did after he fled Rome were done as a way to expiate his sins. It is thought that the youthful David represents the artist’s wish to cleanse his soul and renew his life. Sadly that did not happen.
Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, one of Spain’s greatest painters, lived through many good times and a whole lot of bad ones. When his country was invaded by Napoleon, who put a relative on the throne of Spain, Goya painted an execution of Spanish citizens by French troops, Third of May (1808). That patriotic fervor, however, did not keep him from painting pictures for the new regime. When the Spanish monarchy was finally restored under Ferdinand VII, the king said to Goya, “You should be hanged, but since you are a great painter, we forgive you.” Whew!
Goya lived for a number of years in a house known as The House of the Deaf Man (La Quinta del Sordo), and yes, he was deaf, though not the one the house was named for. In that house, Goya painted a number of gruesome pieces known as the Black Paintings. They were comments on human behavior. One of the ones in the dining room was Saturn Devouring His Son, based on the myth that Saturn, having become afraid of the rising power of the younger gods, his children, decided to devour them. We see Saturn’s psychopathic fury in the bulging eyes and gaping black hole of a mouth that the painter gives him.
The Scream by Edvard Munch (1892) is the artist’s visual for a panic attack he suffered when crossing a bridge in Kristiania near Oslo, Norway. The red of the sunset seemed to him to be a howl or scream by nature. Munch is known for psychologically stirring paintings, like The Child and Death, which shows a young girl with her hands to her head as she stands beside the bed in which her mother is dying. Interestingly, when the Nazis were in Norway during WWII, they visited
Munch’s studio to see if his art should be declared decadent and then destroyed. Munch was terrified. The Nazi inspectors came. They looked around in wonder. They left and never returned.
Holbein shows off his skills in this painting, and it is thought that was one of the motivations for his anamorphic representation of a skull. (Yes, that is the thing you see a sliver of in the foreground of the painting). The fine young men in the painting are men of the world, as represented by the items that surround them, a globe, books, a mandolin, and their own fine robes. However, life is temporary, and all good things come to an end, hence the skull. The trick to this skull is that it was painted to be fully visible when seen from the side. Thus, it is thought that the painting was meant to hang on a stairway, where one might get a sideview as one ascended or descended the stairs.
Okay, this isn’t a painting, but since we started with a piece of literature, why not end with a sculpture? This mustang, a rightful image of the west, is a 9,000 pound fiberglass sculpture that has taken on the demonic local name “Blucifer.” Not only is this electric blue animal of frightening proportions (oddly its long front legs might make it impossible for this creature to walk should they ever straighten out), but also because it committed patricide. Yes, part of it fell off and severed an artery in the leg of the sculptor! He died from the wound.
So there you have it, a few spooky things from the art world to kick off your Halloween. Now let’s move on to wines, ghostly vineyards and wineries.
Tales from the Vines: Haunted Wineries, Vineyards and Spooky Wines.
Before the agricultural areas around Los Angeles became citrus groves, they held California’s fledgling wine industry. Prohibition, plant diseases, and property development killed off the area’s early winemaking efforts. However, Byron Blatty is bringing winemaking back to the area with his selection of red wine blends. The most intriguing is Ghost Cat, inspired by a puma that roams the hills near the famous Hollywood sign. In keeping with its quality and the rare sightings of the big cat it is named for, this wine goes for $44.99 a bottle. The wine has aromas of candied black fruit and goes divinely well with cheeseburgers and jalapeno-accented dishes.
Wines that conjure up the spirit(s) of the season have names like Hocus Pocus, Slight of Hand, Phantom Chardonnay, Sinister Hand, and other such spooky names wine.com. Most of these are red wines and some like The Dip, named for a demon dog of Catalan fame, even come in a black bottle with red print. Red, the darker the better, is the preferred color, and if you think about vampire activity, then you can guess why that might be. Reds also go well with the heavier foods served in the chill autumn weather, especially heavily ladened burgers and peppery Mexican dishes.
When it comes to haunted vineyards and wineries, just the look of some of the main buildings at a winery can call up memories of Dark Shadows and Barnabas Collins. While the Beringer Winery has this wonderful old chateau, The Rhine House, which was modeled after buildings in France’s Bordeaux region, it seems to be so full of mysterious sightings, noises, and other odd things that the staff keeps record of them, and when and where they happen. Kenwood Winery, also in California seems haunted by a little girl, perhaps the daughter of the original owners. She seems to run and play in the vineyards. Buena Vista Winery in the Sonoma Valley lost its original owner to an alligator in Nicaragua. Though his body was never recovered, his spirit seems to haunt the winery.
Don’t think that haunted vineyards and wineries are only in California. In places where one does not immediately think of wine and wineries, like in the Rocky Mountains, Wild Women Winery in Denver (home of “Blucifer”) hosts a Haunted Denver Wine Tasting. Guests are given a guided lecture through some of the city’s most famous haunted places while relaxing and enjoying a wine tasting. So there is plenty that you can do to spice up your Halloween either by buying one of these wines or finding a ghost tour at some local winery or wine bar. Be careful out there!
Paintings referred to are in public domain. Other photos are linked to websites where they appear.
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 and etsy.com/shop/VernelleArt Studio
Of Art and Wine affiliates with Bluehost.com and CellarsWineClub.com and may earn from qualifying purchases.
©marjorie vernelle 2022
Coming Soon: Ballpoint Pen Magic, Plus Châteauneuf du Pape.
Xavier Spatafora is a master at pen and ink drawing. Not only that, he makes the surfaces that he draws on from old posters that he gathers from in and around Avignon, France. The combination of the refined drawing and the rough mixture of old posters some of the print of which shows through in the drawing makes for a great combination of the classical and the modern.