This is an oil painting done by Hans Von Aachen. I have tried to find information about him, but Wikipedia and the J. Paul Getty Museum website gave me the most information. I was not able to find any information on this piece either, but from what I read, von Aachen was a painter for Emperor Rudolf II of Prague. So most of his paintings reflected what Rudolph wanted. I stumbled upon Hans von Aachen when I was searching for other works by Caravaggio.
Rudolph II had a desire for sensuality and female models often facing away from the viewer.
In this image, it mainly has women in it, and the main character is a woman who is portraying justice. I am not sure of the actions between the man on the ground, the lion, the naked woman, and Justice. I know for a fact that the woman with the sword is Justice because of the weights she is holding. I am thinking that the man did something deserving of punishment, and thus justice was being served in the form of a lion. It seems as though justice is wanting to take things farther than just letting the lion attack. But the naked woman seems to be holding her back.
The perspective is correct, and the castle, I think it is, fades into darkness. It almost seems that there is a storm brewing, or the dusk looks very dark. The ladies in the background seem to be a lot closer than the rest of the background. When I look at the faces of the two women up close, the faces are the same. I wonder if this is one woman being represented by two different things. As if justice is one side of the weights and the other side is partiality. Maybe the two characters represent what Rudolph has as responsibilities as a king, having to deal with positive and negative in his rulings, and the different consequences.
There is that stage lighting on the two women in the foreground but also on the women in the background.The lion is bathed in darkness, making justice seem more harsh. There is a book on the ground to the left of the lion. I am not sure if it symbolizes anything.
One of the interesting things that I found out that this oil painting was done on copper.
If anyone can find anything else about the image that would be great.
You are right - this is a very difficult piece to find information about. I can, however, find 1,000 places to buy a reproduction of it. It is especially interesting that the women appear to have the same face. At this time, it was common to use the same woman, perhaps a friend, sibling or wife, as a model. It is an interesting interpretation that you have concerning partiality.
ReplyDeleteThe lion in this piece really spoke to me. It reminds me of the Beast from Disney's Beauty and the Beast, due to the fierce emotion in the eyes and texture of the fur.
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