The feeling of having a canvas handy and starting to paint comes over as soon as one is graced by the lush green gardens of the Cummer Museum. The beautiful surroundings are nothing short of a fantastical world magically created in the mind of an artist exuding arts and inspiring a stroke. The unlimited avenues of exploration just a few steps away as one looks at the building and the discovery in the form art saved in it.
With a focused mind and the Parable of the Marriage Feast in mind I step into its direction thinking as I plan to step into the mind of master painter Pieter Aertsen and his illustration of the verses 1-14 in Matthew 22 from the Bible. Just the thought of Jesus’ speech and its depiction through the artists brush is commendable. The Dutch artist used a 48 ½ x 66 ½ inch canvas to stroke this oil painting. Pieter was trained in Amsterdam. He is particularly popular for his religious paintings. The Parables of the Marriage Feast is an important piece of religious artwork as it survived the Beeldenstorm of 1566 a time when most of the religious scripture and artwork was lost to nominally Calvinist Protestant crowds who destroyed Catholic art and many forms of church fittings as part of Protestant Reformation. Looking at the painting and a basic history lesson into the time comes to life in Pieter’s piece depicting the prose of Jesus and his parable for the kingdom of heavens. Jesus describes how a king invited his subjects to celebrate the marriage of his son. When no one came to the marriage feast, the king commanded his servants to go out and collect people both “good and bad” to attend the event. As the king observed his guests, he noticed one who did not wear the appropriate attire for the celebration. Because of this infraction, the king had the man bound and cast into darkness. The parable of the marriage feast ends with the words “many are called, but few are chosen.”
“Many are called, but few are chosen”, the depth of that parable is astounding as so simply and yet so beautifully a matter of great importance is looked upon and that of ignorance. One may be called but is one prepared for the calling, certainly one who is not ready shall suffer consequences. A simple example can be of a farmer as his entire focus is to yield crops but he gets a call for battle, with no experience with weapons “the odds are not in his favor”. This instance simply reflecting ignorance on both parties, one at the General for calling a farmer to do a warrior’s job thinking quantity will overcome quality and one at the farmer’s end for accepting the offer, thinking he can start sparring a sword and survive the battle.
Other than offering wisdom of the soul the painting made somewhere in the 1500s depicts the architecture almost 1600 years older since its creation. The level of detail the artist uses to depict the narrative is genius in the fact that the utensils, clothing, colors, attire and a macro picture of the events of history are drawn so beautifully in just one piece. Stepping into the artist’s mind and decoding his thoughts behind every intricate detail has truly been a highlight in my visit to the Cummer’s Museum and inspecting this great masterpiece.
Other than the observations a more in depth research into the creation of the Parable of the Marriage Feast links this event to society’s corruption amongst other things, the blind pursuit of power and darkness even when the light shines in plain sight and when a messiah in this case Jesus is revealed to them, they mock him and make fun of his teachings in public, preaching and enforcing their own ignorance upon others eternally casting themselves and the ignorant into the depths of darkness as the fear of losing the power wielded to them through malpractices and corruption is at stake, as the light and the divine message teaches the path of righteousness and this shakes their very foundations of power and money hence they revolt.
In the second instance where “everyone”, “the good and the bad” both are invited, the message is for everyone. Approaching this from another angle since the message is for everyone and the wedding garment is a pre-requisite for a wedding yet a person not doing the same is either there to mock the wedding or insult the hosts. So in this light anyone not taking the given protocols or abiding by the very basic requirements is simply rebelling against the event and their hosts and hence he is removed from the divine banquet.
Purely from a painting’s angle and taking a detailed look gives an insight into the level of detail in terms of the depth of field, the use of dark shadows and the blurring of the distant mountains showcasing a scenery of a place in history and using the depth to keep focus on the actual banquet. The artist has used oil to depict a photorealistic representation for his piece using high levels of detail in the casting of shadows and the well-lit areas. A lot of shades of red are used which could be linked to the historical period of Caesar and how the attire of that era was dominant with the color red. Essentially with red the artist has established the Roman period of time, not letting the mind wander keeping focus at the subject at hand. Other than the people just one animal is showcased in the picture maybe eating from the basket (It is unclear), it could be a guest brought one of their pets to the banquet.
Work Cited
GotQuestions.org. 'What Is The Meaning Of The Parable Of The Wedding Feast?'. N.p., 2014. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.
Intern, Curatorial, and Curatorial Intern. '#43 Pieter Aertsen: The Parable Of The Marriage Feast | The Cummer Museum Of Art & Gardens'. Blog.cummer.org. N.p., 2014. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.
