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Video: What a dramatic plot hides the symbolism of the painting "Broken Oaths" Calderon
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
English artist Philip Calderon painted his iconic painting Broken Oaths in 1856. The painting reflects the plot of a love triangle in Victorian times. The main character witnessed a personal drama that unfolds literally behind her back. Unable to endure what she saw, the girl closed her eyes and leaned against the wall. Who is she and who are these two behind her back? And, most importantly, what symbolism did Calderon hide in this curious picture?
About the artist
Philip Calderon is a Victorian romantic painter and printmaker from London. His mother was French and his father was Spanish, professor of literature and former priest. Calderon planned to become an engineer, but later he became interested in drawing technical figures, so he decided to devote his life to art.
Initially, Calderon worked in the Pre-Raphaelite style, demonstrating meticulous workmanship, deep palette and realistic forms. Then the artist became interested in the historical genre. In 1850, Calderon studied at an art school, then moved to Paris and studied with the historical painter François-Edouard Picot.
Calderon's first iconic painting is At the Waters of Babylon (1852). The next famous work, which will be discussed in more detail below, is "Broken Oaths" (1856). British artist Henry Stacy Marks was his friend and son-in-law, and Calderon exhibited his portrait at the Royal Academy in 1872. The artist was also curator of the Royal Academy in London. Many of his works depict women in luxurious silky robes against a backdrop of delicately painted landscapes. For example, his Morning (1884) depicts a red-haired girl looking at the sunrise against a backdrop of blue-pink mountains. But the work "Juliet" (1888) shows the main character of the famous play by Shakespeare. In the painting, she is sitting on the balcony looking at the stars. Since 1887, Calderon taught nude model anatomy at the Royal Academy School.
Broken Oaths
In this picture, the artist depicted a dramatic scene. On the other side of the fence, a man offers a young woman a rosebud, a symbol of new love, while his wife withers like an iris at her feet. The title of the canvas tells the viewer the plot: the girl suddenly discovered that her lover was flirting with another girl. Other details of the picture only prove the truth of the alleged plot. On the ring finger of her hand, the viewer sees a ring (which means that the heroine is connected with the young man not only by a verbal oath, but also by marriage).
The girl is dressed in a navy blue floral dress with a short olive coat over it. Hands are decorated with snow-white lace. The heroine has a black scarf with a fringe on her head (a reference to that mournful sorrow, which is full of her soul).
The symbolism of the picture
Calledron's painting is filled with rich symbolism. Ivy, based on Christian iconography, symbolized devotion. It is curious that in the picture ivy wraps around only the wall of the main character (she is devoted and faithful to her husband), but ivy does not grow behind the back of a man and a strange girl.
Withered flowers also symbolize feelings that have died out and love that no longer exists. It is interesting that in Christian symbolism the iris flower is an attribute of sorrow, pain and sorrow - and this is a direct correspondence to the feelings of the main character. The feeling of betrayal is heightened by the initials carved into the fence. Perhaps this place was once a favorite place for the main character and her man. An ornament thrown to the ground (a bracelet with amulets) also tells the viewer that the heroine is ready to leave the person who betrayed her and return the gifts to him. In general, the theme of love and betrayal was extremely popular in Victorian painting.
The painting is a smaller copy of the canvas, which was shown to the public at the Royal Academy exhibition in 1857. Under the painting was a quote from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "The Spanish Student": "More hearts are breaking in this world of ours."
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