Melancholy, amongst Chaos
Melancholia, c. 1627-1628. canvas, oil paint, 67.0 x 56.5 cm. Hendrick ter Brugghen.
When presented with emotion, some people either ignore or simply refuse to condone the deep dark places that stay idle in the back of their minds. Artists, rather, are a receptacle for emotion, which they release through their art. Hendrick Ter Brugghen portrays emotion, melancholy to be exact, in his piece Melancholy. The purpose behind this paper is to enlighten the reader on the psychological retrospect behind the subject matter of an artist’s work, based on who they are as an individual and how they find the creative in the chaos, alongside dealing with the criticism implied by the clichés of society. Specifically, this can be seen through Ter Brugghen’s struggles with societies norms on how a man displays his emotions, and what context was seemingly appropriate at the time to make an artist of the 16th century feel successful.
In the excerpt by Giles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, we are introduced to a theory in so many words regarding society and the implicated social norms on what is, in the case of artwork, good or bad. The foundation of art is emotion, and it is up to the artist to reconstruct the “pre-existing, pre-established clichés” set by the general population. Agreeing with the first statement made, “…Artist struggle less against chaos (that, in certain manner, all their wishes summon forth)”. This emphasizes that artists are more comfortable with chaos, than by following the means of what society projects onto them. Chaos gives the artist a chance for artistic expression, allowing them to become vulnerable. As stated above artists are a receptacle for emotion and so their own personal feelings and fears can often be seen within their art. True art that is created is not steamed by fresh air, but tainted by ideals and it is up to the artist to work backwards understanding what they want to explore and what position they want to take out of the clichés and into the chaos.
When initially observing Melancholy one’s eye is drawn to a wide range of neutral tones creating depth, elaborating on soft blues and de-saturated hues of red. As acknowledged by Bok, “…Characterized by keen psychological observations and a subtle hue of colour.” (Bok, 2) From afar the brushwork in the painting does not draw out too much attention, but up close it is very precise giving the painting a very soft, yet multidimensional feel. Ter Brugghen enhances a relatively simple colour palette through his brushstrokes. The depth in Melancholy is created by the only source of visible lighting in the painting coming from the candle that is lit in front of what appears to be a young woman. The candle instantly draws the viewer’s eyes to the center of the painting; her heavyhearted face sits in contemplation holding a human skull who’s eyes the young woman appears to be gazing into while the viewer sees barely more than back of the skull. Aside from these main elements there are also a few inanimate objects in the picture, one being an hourglass at the top right of the painting, hidden in the shadows. A compass and a worn through book can also be seen on the table in the foreground, but still distantly in the shadows. The composition of the painting is very balanced, the way the woman holds the skull and her own head at the same time, possibly drawing attention to how deep her thought is almost engaging into a private conversation. The context that one can gather from this piece is the contemplation of death, the skull being a well-known symbol of death. While the hourglass gives the allusion that the woman seems to be waiting on an appropriate time, or possibly that time is running out. The compass and book, notably intellectual symbols, could possibly represent that she is lost and looking for an answer either in life or in death. As the word melancholy suggests this woman is more than sad, she is in a rather pensive mood.
While the exact date is unknown on when Ter Burgghen’s Melancholy was produced, it is estimated sometime near the end of his life in the early 17th century nearing the end of the Renaissance. The Renaissance, taking shape in Italy, was a cultural movement of great enlightenment, which touched upon all areas of human life. Renaissance literally translates to re-birth. Many famous artists were seen during this period including Caravaggio, a man who greatly inspired Ter Burgghen. While much of his life is unknown, Ter Burgghen was known to have spent 10 years of his life living, and probably learning, in Italy. Bok explains the questions, that remain answerless by our lack of information on Ter Burgghen, “Most of these publications dwell on Ter Burgghen’s paintings and his exceptional artistic personality, but there are many more questions regarding his social position and the relationship between his work, his milieu and his personal views that await further research – research that is hampered by the gaps of our knowledge of the artist.” (Bok, 2) The Renaissance not only reshaped art but also politics, theology and philosophy and especially science. Modern, more secular, ideals quickly spread across the Western world and were documented throughout art and literature. More specifically, the artists of the 1600’s in the Netherland’s became more focussed on the physical world. This shift from spiritual to physical is represented through Ter Burgghen’s art verses his society. As most of Ter Burgghen’s life was undocumented this painting was left without a name and it was later identified as mourning Mary Magdalene carrying a religious, more specifically Christian, connotation. In Bok’s writings he brings attention to Slatkes who “has rightly pointed out that the hourglass and the pair of compasses serve here as attributes of Melancholy, indicating that the woman is entirely absorbed by her contemplation of scholarly problems.” (Bok, 3) Melancholy may therefore be seen as a representation of this shift from the spiritual to physical world through the woman’s “scholarly”, and therefore secular, problems.
While discussing chaos, it is evident that either someone can be swept up in the whirlwind or make it out fighting. Acknowledging the history of Ter Burgghen’s past, or lack there of known history, Melancholy has a whole new light that is shed on it. In Hendrick Ter Burgghen, by Benedict Nicolson he introduces a theory, “Whether he alludes to premonition of his own death; whether his ‘failure’ as an artist was so closely lined with failing health as not to be separable from it – we know to little to do more then romanticize in a nebulous fashion.” (Benedict, 89) Melancholy, was left completely up to interpretation by the young artist, leaving the viewers lost in a volcano of emotions. Taking the name from a religious one, to a more humorist aspect was the first step of truly understanding what the painting truly depicted. Humorist Bok describes as, “The theory of the humors provided a general principle by which to describe differences in personality.” (Bok, 1) Maybe Ter Burgghen used Melancholy as a self-depiction based on his own self-induced problems, acknowledging that perhaps he would never be accepted by societies norms and conditioning himself to think that he was ultimately a failure. In this way Melancholy may be a depiction of his own feelings of sadness, which he allows to take form in a woman. Possibly because these feelings would not be viewed as acceptable from a man, a pillar of strength based on pre-established society gender roles.
Living in the 21st century, we are aware of the human psyche and understand the complexities of the human condition. Chaos in this generation varies greatly from the chaos that transpired in the late 16th early 17th century. Melancholy as an art piece demonstrates Ter Burgghen’s great skill with a brush, but also allows the viewer to dissect his internal struggles as a young artist, who felt as if he never fit in. The chaos ultimately brought confusion to the young mind if Ter Burgghen, which allowed him to generate a strong depiction of what melancholia would look like if one were to paint it. That it is more than a state of great sadness but truly a psychological state of being evoking complicated emotions and deep thought.
