Painting the Pope
There's a new portrait of Benedict XVI now (below, left), commissioned for the Institut Papst Benedikt XVI in Regensburg, for which I am not lighting any candles. Personally, I think that in an age when taking photographs has become possible for anyone, even a two-year-old who can handle a cellphone, the art of portraiture has become almost superfluous. It was most useful in the past before photography was invented, but afterwards, portraiture has become more a platform for the artist to express himself rather than to portray the subject (not to mention an ego trip for those subjects who commission the portrait themselves). However, it's still painted portraits that they hang in portrait galleries and on institution walls, whereas photographs are mostly relegated to photo galleries, so...
Above, left: Portrait by Michael Triegel, 2010; right, by Igor Babailov. commissioned for the Pope's visit to the USA in 2008.
German artist portrays Benedict
as wrinkled, skeptical figure
By Catherine Hickley
Dec 12, 2010
“Ah, so you’re my Raphael,” is how Pope Benedict XVI greeted the German artist Michael Triegel when they met at the Vatican this year.
Triegel, 41, had been commissioned by the Bishop of Regensburg to paint the pope’s portrait for the foyer of the Institut Papst Benedikt XVI in Regensburg, which studies, collates and prepares for publication the Pope’s written works.
The Pontiff didn’t sit for him exclusively: Triegel attended a general audience that allowed him to sketch 83- year-old Benedict. The realistic yet sympathetic result is on show for the first time in an exhibition of Triegel’s work at Leipzig’s Museum der bildenden Kuenste. The show, “Verwandlung der Goetter” (Metamorphosis of the Gods), displays 70 paintings from 1994 to 2010, and runs through Feb. 6, 2011.
The portrait shows Benedict seated in a high-backed red chair with carved wooden arms, his face turned slightly to the left, against a plain black background. The wrinkles, red veins and shadows under his eyes reveal fatigue and age. His posture is hunched and elderly, more vulnerable than regal.
His thin lips are a millimeter apart, exposing a chink of teeth that suggests a hint of wiliness. Looking up from a paper held in his left hand, his eyes observe the viewer with curiosity, intelligence and some mistrust.
Like Raphael’s 1511 portrait of Pope Julius II, in the National Gallery, London, the trappings of office are absent. Benedict wears a simple white skullcap that almost merges with his hair, a plain white cassock and a heavy gold cross.
It’s a good, if old-fashioned, portrait -- far from the sinister hysteria of Francis Bacon’s screaming popes.
The personality of the subject is the focus [In which case, Triegel chooses to focus Benedict XVI's least obvious personality traits for this portrait, though it is an expression occasionally caught in routine photopgrahy of the Pope.], making Benedict’s ironic Raphael comparison appropriate,
Triegel, who calls Raphael his “patron saint,” is an old-fashioned kind of painter. His work is characterized by exquisite craftsmanship, biblical and mythological themes and a strong resemblance to Italian Renaissance masterpieces. What’s more, he paints altarpieces, sometimes works on commission, and counts the Catholic Church as an important client.
Judging from his reviews, Triegel said, “you can’t be more provocative.” He has come in for some scathing attacks from German critics for traditionalism and lack of originality.
Born in Erfurt, Triegel lives and works in Leipzig and is considered a member of the “Neue Leipziger Schule” group of artists, along with Neo Rauch and Tilo Baumgaertel. Like them, he has a studio in the former cotton-spinning factory, the Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei.
Triegel isn’t christened and has no affiliation to any church -- not unusual for someone who grew up in communist East Germany. Draconian travel restrictions meant that he didn’t visit Italy until 1990. Still, the influence of painters like Raphael, Da Vinci and Bellini on his work is unmissable.
His “Last Supper” immediately conjures up Leonardo’s, with its white-clothed table stretching across the canvas and a triple-paned window behind. Yet Jesus is the only person there, and his face is a blank. A mysterious empty black screen looms behind him, and a string of fruit is suspended from above. Five empty water glasses are scattered along the table -- the only food is a single cherry and an egg.
Triegel says he “would like to have a faith” and his art reflects “a yearning for something beyond the rational.” It seems the quest is still on: There’s a disconcerting emptiness to his work. Figures are often nothing more than empty swathes of cloth, wooden puppets or marble statues straining to escape their bonds of stone and string.
His visual language is familiar, yet there’s always something in Triegel’s paintings that’s new and thought- provoking. In his “Annunciation,” Mary isn’t reading as the angel arrives. She’s lying flat on her back, naked and exposed, on crisp white cloths stretched across a trestle table. It’s as though she’s about to undergo a primitive medical procedure, or even be served up for dinner. [YUK!]
Previous portraits of Benedict XVI with photos available online:
From left: Giuseppe Sartini's 2005 portrait commissioned as the basis for the mosaic of Benedict XVI now displayed in the papal gallery of mosaic portraits along the upper walls of the Basilica of St Paul outside the Walls; Sartini's full-length portrait of the Pope, also done in 2005; Natalia Tsarkova, 2007; and Michael Oakes (UK), 2007. I believe the Pope 'sat' specially only for Sartini.
When will a portrait painter capture his joy????
Some snapshots of the Pope taken in recent days cropped to match his famous boyhood photo:
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 13/12/2010 15:53]