DOMESTIKA COURSE – A SPECIAL INVITATION – A SMALL MIRACLE
A follow-up to the completion of my latest Domestika course calligraphy work. Last night something extraordinary happened…
Background – A little art history
The Wilton Diptych
The Wilton Diptych, painted in the late 1390s for King Richard II of England by an anonymous artist, is a small portable devotional piece now residing in the National Gallery in London.
Many years ago, when he was director of the National Gallery, Neil MacGregor made a series of short television documentaries about famous paintings in the gallery and how they were made, called “Making Masterpieces,” and this treasure featured in one of the episodes. He described how in the early days of the history of Western art, artists would use egg tempera for colour, and would depict light with gold leaf. A famous example is a double panel also in the National Gallery, painted by Jacopo di Cione in Florence in 1370 showing two representations of the birth of Christ.
The first is of the adoration of the shepherds, and the second is the adoration of the magi – two identical scenes but depicting two separate events. The artist had no way of depicting the difference between night and day with the materials available to him. It was impossible to see that the first image was a night-time scene, and the second one a day-time scene.
The Arnolfini Marriage
It was only later, with the introduction of oil paints, that actual light could be depicted with pigments, and a very early (if not the earliest) example of this was the superb work “The Arnolfini Marriage” by Jan van Eyck in 1434, also in the National Gallery.
I know this was a bit of a digression, but I find these facts totally fascinating, and it is most interesting to see how materials have developed the depiction of reality throughout the history of art. We are so privileged in our present day to have access to so many materials which are now much easier to use, and we shouldn’t take this for granted!
Back to the Wilton Diptych
Anyway, to return to the Wilton Diptych, this was designed to be carried when travelling, so that the King could set it up to aid his devotional prayer time while on the move. It is an exquisite piece, richly illuminated with gold leaf, and full of symbolism. However, Neil MacGregor pointed out that being displayed in a glass case in daylight was not how this piece was designed to be viewed. He filmed it in the darkened gallery, illuminated by candlelight, as it would originally have been seen by the king, and the whole thing sprang to life with a beauty that had hitherto been completely hidden, with the gold leaf highlighting the important symbolic elements of the pictures. This made a huge impression on me, and all these years later, I have never forgotten it.
The small miracle of my calligraphy piece
I am in no way putting myself on the same level as the artists described above, but last night the Wilton Diptych sprang to mind when something extraordinary happened. Earlier in the day I had hung my latest calligraphy piece, the final challenge of the English Calligraphy Domestika course.
When I went to bed, I turned on the light, which is a “warm” LED bulb covered by a dark red lampshade, and proceeded to get undressed. I glanced up and saw that my framed piece had been totally transformed by the artificial light.
I had absolutely no idea that this would happen, and it certainly was not my intention when I made it. All the gilding had sprung to life and looked like fire. I am blown away by this small miracle.
