Genre Painting Archive

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Portrayed woman was a concubine in the harem of one of the kings of the Ottoman dynasty and most probably the king lived between 1860 to 1926 as that’s the lifespan of the French artist, Charles Amable Lenoir, who has depicted this painting. The Ottoman kingdom lasted until 1922, so it is most probable that the woman in the portrait is an actual concubine from the Ottoman harem. The word, Odalisque, originate from Turkish and meant a chambermaid. An Odalisque didn’t necessarily served the king but served the concubines of the king. But, if she has some sort of skill or beauty enough to represent her to the king or make her one of his concubines she could have a ‘promotion’. She could even be […]

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Painters often times try to capture the everyday event or a particular custom of the society. Here is one of such painting in which the Dutch painter has captured a moment in which a woman, a matchmaker, is approached by a man with money to get what he desires. The old man on the left seems to be the person who has bought the rich man to the lady matchmaker. There are two ways to interpret this painting. But first, lets understand the symbolism. Symbolism The painting has only one element of symbolism, the lute. The lute in matchmaker’s hands indicates love, sex or woman genitals based on the context, theme or subject. Use of Lute in paintings during the Dutch Golden Age was prominent. And it […]

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Pieta, as a subject, relays the message of a sorrowful yet pride mother who has lost her son for the sake of humanity and other benevolent causes. The subject mainly became known after the sculpture Pieta by Michelangelo. His Pieta presented Mother Mary carrying lean, weak and dead Jesus in her lap and mourning over his death. Though, the artist intended to represent the delicate scene where Mother Mary is mourning but at the same time can’t regret her son’s death due to the great cause for which he did the ultimate sacrifice. Pieta represents a mother’s dilemma who can’t decide if she should cry for her son’s death or take pride out of it. And this difficult situation, where a mother is forced to […]

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