What are the similarities and differences between lace makers in the paintings of the same name by Tropinin and Vermeer

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-10 02:10

The lacemaker (needlewoman) is a popular motive among painters of everyday scenes. This is due to the fact that in the 17th and 19th centuries lace weaving was a fashionable and profitable business, and lace itself was worth its weight in gold and was quite equated with an art that required imagination, perseverance and dexterity from the performer. Today, you can count more than 40 canvases depicting a woman spinning lace. What is the special charm, as well as the similarities and differences between "The Lacemaker" by Vermeer and Tropinin?

"Lacemaker" Vasily Andreevich Tropinin

The story of the writing of the first picture is interesting: Vasily Tropinin, until the age of 47, was the court artist of Count Markov, who in no way wanted to part with his personal master. There was a rumor that once in the English club, Mr. Dmitriev, having won a large sum of money from Count Irakli Markov, publicly offered him to exchange the debt for a free one for Tropinin. And so, as an Easter gift, Tropinin finally gets his freedom. Immediately after that, he left for St. Petersburg and applied to the Imperial Academy of Arts with a request to award him the title of artist. In the autumn of the same 1823 he received the title of academician for the presented works, including the "Lacemaker", which received the most admiring comments.

Vasily Andreevich managed to portray a beautiful Russian peasant woman doing her favorite lace business. What betrays her love for this occupation? Firstly, even though the heroine of the picture cast a glance at an outside observer, she does not lose the bobbin from her hands and it seems as if in the next second she will continue her work again. At the same time, the observer did not interfere with her, because she gave him a gentle and sweet smile and a clear look. Secondly, her posture and bowed head indicate diligence and hard work in the lace business. In addition, the girl has completely prepared her workplace: there are bobbins, and threads, and a special table for lace-making, and scissors.

The color palette is not bright. These are greenish, beige pastel shades. The girl is dressed in a modest blue-gray dress with sleeves-lanterns, exposing her arms to the elbows. A neat white muslin shawl flaunts around her neck. The hair is gathered in a modest bun, so that the extra strands of hair are tied behind the ears, so as not to interfere with the painstaking work. Her fingers are delicate, delicate, created just for such a creative activity, fingering the lace devices.

The Lacemaker by Jan Vermeer

Significantly, The Lacemaker is the smallest work by a Dutch artist (24.5 cm x 21 cm). Jan Vermeer is a lover of everyday scenes, in the center of which is a woman doing what she loves (whether it be writing a letter, playing an instrument, weighing a scale or making lace). Jan Vermeer's heroine can be both a noblewoman and usually a housekeeper. Regardless of their status, they shine with masterfully crafted light and they are equally beautiful.

Indeed, Jan Vermeer is a true wizard of light and shadow, and in the painting "The Lacemaker" there are brilliantly arranged black and white accents: the girl's face is deliberately highlighted to demonstrate her diligence and hard work (this makes her akin to Tropinin's heroine). Also highlighted are her thin, delicate hands, fingering bobbins. The girl's face is lowered and completely imbued with the lace process. The hairstyle of Vermeer's heroine is more refined than that of Tropinin: it is a bun with a pigtail and twisted strands on the sides. At the same time, the collected hair does not interfere with her work. The heroine is dressed in a luxurious, famous Vermeer yellow jacket with a white collar (very often found in the attire of the heroines of other Vermeer's paintings). There is an assumption that this is a wardrobe item of Vermeer's wife, Katharina Bolnes, which the artist used on his canvases. There is a blue canvas on the table - also a very common motif in Vermeer's paintings. The fact is that Jan Vermeer was one of the first Dutchmen to use blue (the most expensive ultramarine at that time) pigment in his works so actively. Thus, Vermeer's favorite palette is yellow and blue.

Jan Vermeer is famous for his love for technical innovations: when creating "The Lacemaker", the artist used a camera obscura. This is evidenced by many optical effects, for example: blurred foreground.

What are the similarities in the paintings of the same name by the artists?

1. Both heroines are equally diligent in their occupation of lace weaving (this is indicated, first of all, by their hands). 2. Lace-making tools are the same in both paintings (bobbins, special table, threads). The handicraft table, over which both heroines were bent over, was a complex structure: the triangular tabletop was fixed on legs with holes, thanks to which it could be raised or lowered for comfortable use. Both heroines have delicate and thin fingers, engaged in what they love. Both artists painted these works during a period marked by the popularity of female everyday scenes. Tropinin wrote several more works dedicated to the images of urban workers and their painstaking work ("Spinner", "For firmware", "Gold embroidery"). Quiet everyday scenes are also characteristic of Vermeer's paintings, most often he depicted women at work and at leisure. Symbolism. The motif of needlework in painting personifies virtue, modesty, and diligence.

What distinguishes the lacemaker Tropinin and Vermeer?

1. The first is the look. The heroine Tropinin has a clear gaze directed directly at the viewer, somewhat magical and attractive. And the heroine of Vermeer devoted her gaze exclusively to her lace occupation. Heroine status. For Tropinin, this is a peasant woman. And the artist is proud of this: he demonstrates his idea that a peasant girl can be luxurious, beautiful, and catch admiring glances. Vermeer's probably a noblewoman. More often than not, the Dutch painter liked to portray middle-class women and their maids at work. The dress comes from the status of the girls: Tropinin's heroine is more modestly dressed, and her hairstyle is also simple. Vermeer's heroine is dressed gracefully and charmingly. The hairstyle is more interesting and intricate. 4. A significant difference in size: for Tropinin, the size of the picture is 74, 7 × 59, 3 cm, for Vermeer - 24, 5 × 21 cm. 5. Vermeer's color palette is more contrasting (yellow-blue-red). Tropinin uses more pastel shades, the transitions between them are smoother.