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Branwen 824 posts |
Edited Oct 22, 2009, 00:53
Oct 18, 2009, 21:38
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I've been enjoying the megalithic poetry thread, a bit at a time as it runs to nearly 900 entries. It got me thinking, and I wondered if anyone else has any favourite megalithic art to share? This is one of my favourites. "The Weird Wife O' Langstane Lea" by James Giles. Oil on Canvas (1830) http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/nq/resources/RSAscottishart/imagedetails/fs/gilesj6p4lrgweb.asp The Weird Wife is an unusual subject as it contains references to the supernatural and pre-history. This did not fit in with the picturesque or classical landscapes that were popular at the time. The image describes a stone circle at Castle Fraser in Aberdeenshire and the distinctive silhouette of the hill of Bennachie on the horizon. This view is, in fact, impossible but has been created by the artist. But who is the weird wife? She is possibly a witch, possibly just a lonely old woman. She may relate to a local myth. Much of the painting's mystery comes from the fact that our eye follows a circuit round the image, but we can never find a spot to focus our attention on. A tiny glimpse of the woman's face may tell us more about what is going on and who she is, but then there would be less of a mystery for us to consider. The mood of the painting is sinister and intriguing. The artist conceals information from us using darkened tones in the landscape off to the left. Why is this person visiting such a remote spot on a cold, gloomy evening? What is the hare doing and why does it appear to watch the figure? What is the source of the light illumiating the hare and stones, is it a fire? Giles has created a mood of such mystery that we leave this picture with more questions than answers. You can go to google, hit the images link, then tytpe in the title. When you find a large clear version of the one you like you click the picture then click "view full sized image" and you get a page you can link to which shows the art. |
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tjj 3606 posts |
Edited Oct 21, 2009, 21:37
Oct 18, 2009, 22:00
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I live a bus-ride from Avebury so I am choosing Storm over Silbury by David Inshaw. http://www.redraggallery.co.uk/showInventoryHQ.asp?iId=4954&title=Storm Over Silbury Hill&artist=David Inshaw |
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tiompan 5758 posts |
Oct 18, 2009, 22:03
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Branwen wrote: I've been enjoying the megalithic poetry thread, a bit at a time as it runs to nearly 900 entries. It got me thinking, and I wondered if anyone else has any favourite megalithic art to share? This is one of my favourites. "The Weird Wife O' Langstane Lea" by James Giles. Oil on Canvas (1830) http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/nq/resources/RSAscottishart/imagedetails/fs/gilesj6p4lrgweb.asp The Weird Wife is an unusual subject as it contains references to the supernatural and pre-history. This did not fit in with the picturesque or classical landscapes that were popular at the time. The image describes a stone circle at Castle Fraser in Aberdeenshire and the distinctive silhouette of the hill of Bennachie on the horizon. This view is, in fact, impossible but has been created by the artist. But who is the weird wife? She is possibly a witch, possibly just a lonely old woman. She may relate to a local myth. Much of the painting's mystery comes from the fact that our eye follows a circuit round the image, but we can never find a spot to focus our attention on. A tiny glimpse of the woman's face may tell us more about what is going on and who she is, but then there would be less of a mystery for us to consider. The mood of the painting is sinister and intriguing. The artist conceals information from us using darkened tones in the landscape off to the left. Why is this person visiting such a remote spot on a cold, gloomy evening? What is the hare doing and why does it appear to watch the figure? What is the source of the light illumiating the hare and stones, is it a fire? Giles has created a mood of such mystery that we leave this picture with more questions than answers. You can go to google, hit the images link, then tytpe in the title. When you find a large clear version of the one you like you click the picture then click "view full sized image" and you get a page you can link to which shows the art. Not far from the Castle Fraser stone circle is the langstane o' Craigearn which had associations with witches , I think that is where is where she is heading . |
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Branwen 824 posts |
Edited Oct 22, 2009, 00:52
Oct 18, 2009, 22:29
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http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/nq/resources/RSAscottishart/imagedetails/fs/gilesj6p4lrgweb.asp Witches are supposed to be able to turn into hares... maybe its her mate seeing her off then.... |
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dodge one 1242 posts |
Edited Oct 19, 2009, 17:04
Oct 18, 2009, 22:40
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Hi Branwen.....Posted this one earlier in ta other thread..... Just to interject a little whimsy into this thread.... From 1850 Fairies of the meadow, by Nils Blommer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:%C3%84ngs%C3%A4lvor_-_Nils_Blomm%C3%A9r_1850.jpg |
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Rupert Soskin 234 posts |
Edited Oct 19, 2009, 17:04
Oct 19, 2009, 10:55
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My favourite is Dolmen in the snow by Caspar David Friedrich. http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/Caspar-David-Friedrich/Dolmen-In-The-Snow.html |
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Rupert Soskin 234 posts |
Edited Oct 19, 2009, 17:04
Oct 19, 2009, 11:02
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and these two of Jane's are beautiful http://www.janetomlinson.com/image_display?url=images/paintings/flyinghorse.jpg http://www.janetomlinson.com/image_display?url=images/paintings/allthekingsmen.jpg |
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Branwen 824 posts |
Edited Oct 22, 2009, 00:52
Oct 19, 2009, 13:03
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Hope those faeries dont get turned into stones for dancing on the sabbath Dodge... I must just like dark and gloomy art Rupert, my other favourite I like is Ferdinand du Puigaudea's The Standing Stone: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Puigaudeau,_Ferdinand_du_-_The_Standing_Stone.jpeg |
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dodge one 1242 posts |
Oct 19, 2009, 16:08
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Branwen wrote: Hope those faeries dont get turned into stones for dancing on the sabbath Dodge... I must just like dark and gloomy art Rupert, my other favourite I like is Ferdinand du Puigaudea's The Standing Stone: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Puigaudeau,_Ferdinand_du_-_The_Standing_Stone.jpeg I hope they don't either.....but since i wasn't aware of that by-law in the Faerie kingdom, lets just hope it's Friday than ! They certainly must be celebrating something from the pagan/megalithic era, i'd think. Maybe the solstice? I don't mind the "Gloomy" art either. It all harkens back to an era that would be difficult to imagine without such depictions. I do wonder though...With the INQUISTION period extending nearly up to the period of these paintings, How risky {or frowned upon at the time} it must have been to depict such things at all! Thank goodness some examples still survive. |
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Branwen 824 posts |
Oct 19, 2009, 16:34
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I was thinking of the Merry Maidens thread where you first posted this picture Dodge, weren't those stones said to be a bunch of maidens and a piper who were turned into stones when they kept on dancing into the sabbath? The older stories don't mention the sabbath at all. In them a person is wandering by a fairy mound or circle, and hears lovely music, but cannot see anything till they cross the threshold between this world and theirs. If you take no precautions, you can become trapped there, and the music is said to be so lovely, you dance and dance, and cant ever stop. They are said to be cruel to those that stumble in that way, or kind to those they lure in because they are gifted or beautiful. The fairies are said to love music so much, for instance, that they will deliberately lure musicians into their hills in this way, and like the dancers, the musicians can never stop playing. A day of this will pass in Fairie, and a year and a day will pass in the land of Mortals. IF you aren't rescued, you will die dancing or playing music, or if you are very talented, will be granted immortal life so you can continue there forever, trapped in the mound, or within the stones, except on the fairy high holidays when they roam the mortal lands. Times like halloween when the veil is thin.... you get to accompany them on the wild hunt on those days. That picture reminded me of all that, Dodge... LOL |
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