Too life-like: The Knight Errant (1870) by John Everett Millais

In 1870 the English painter John Everett Millais, the future 1st Baronet and President of the Royal Academy, presented a large painting ‘with the almost life size figures‘ at the Royal Academy. The painting The Knight Errant shows a medieval knight ‘freeing a woman who has been stripped and tied to a tree’.

The Knight Errant (1870) by John Everett Millais

The tree, a Silver Birch, was commonly identified with the female gender in the nineteenth century and was sometimes referred to as ‘Lady Birch’. Birch twigs were also traditionally used in flagellation. The woman’s clothes lie on the ground to the left and her molesters, assumed to be robbers by one critic, are seen fleeing the scene in the top right corner of the canvas. There is blood on the Knight’s sword and the torso of a dead man is visible behind him. (Rebecca Virag at Tate Collection)

But this painting with such a naive classical content stirred up feelings of dissatisfaction among the public and critics. The artist’s naturalistic approach was recognized as unacceptable. The critics thought the woman was ‘too life-like’, especially in comparison ‘with the continental practice of idealising the nude’. In June 1870, the Art Journal claimed that ‘the manner is almost too real for the treatment of the nude‘.

Sharp criticism made Millais ‘cut out the head and chest of the female figure from his canvas and re-work these parts to show the woman turning modestly away‘. Through X-ray examination of the picture, it is seen that woman’s ‘head and torso were originally turned towards the Knight, establishing eye contact’. The painter didn’t painted nude female figures anymore in his career.

It is remarkable that the original section with woman’s head may be seen on another Millais’ canvas called The Martyr of The Solway.

The Martyr of the Solway (c.1871) by John Everett Millais

Using these two pictures Martin Beek made the wonderful probable reconstruction of the initial painting.

Knight Errant 1870 by Millais and the Victorian Nude by Martin Beek | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Links
1. Tate Collection | The Knight Errant by Sir John Everett Millais, Bt
2. Tate Collection | Sir John Everett Millais, Bt
3. File:The Knight Errant 1870.jpg – Wikimedia Commons
4. File:John Everett Millais – The Martyr of the Solway.jpg – Wikimedia Commons
5. John Everett Millais – Wikimedia Commons
6. John Everett Millais – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
7. Knight Errant 1870 by Millais and the Victorian Nude. Millais and Manet. | Flickr – Photo Sharing!

Normality

What does it mean to be normal? Most people thought about it. (A sudden quote from J. Krishnamurti: For most of us, thought is a means to change. Through thought we hope to change, through ideas we hope to transform ourselves…)

Among the definitions that can be found in a short article in Wikipedia I like this one: “a normal” is someone who conforms to the predominant behavior in a society. Although conformity is common, the predominant behavior might change from society to society or even within the same society or tradition.

Fortunately, there exists an online experiment to determine what is normal via unscientific surveys. Spending a few minutes at ‘Is It Normal?’ everyone can discover is it normal to like cloudy days (91% visitors of the website believe that it is Normal) or to talk to your dog (72% Normal). The founders of the website consider normality in the context of how others might perceive your situation. It is unambiguous and honest. This implies, of course, that normality does not exist by itself, but only in the ‘minds of others’, and that your own point of view worths less than the public opinion. The website has a Safe(r) mode (see link in the top right corner of the page). When Safe(r) mode is on, the site attempts to hide as much ‘of stories and comments on it that many people out there might be offended by’ as possible.

The community cannot avoid questions concerning nudity.  90% vote that it is normal to like being nude. Some warn that not in front of people, others suggest naturist camps and resorts. Only 72% believe that it is not weird to sleep naked and 76% consider that it is normal if someone takes naked pictures of him- or herself and that confidence in your body is a good thing.

Les vacances (nue au soleil), originally uploaded by -{ KaLiNe’s Body }-.

I think, surveys like these can determine rather the level of normality of the society or community, than of an individual, and the results presented above are good indications.

Roger and Renate Rössing

In my previous post I’ve already mentioned the image donation from the German photography archives Deutsche Fotothek to Wikimedia Commons. The East German photography is less known than western, but the works of real masters are worth to be discovered.

Recently, I’ve found out for myself the photographic art of Roger and Renate Rössing. According to Wikipedia, Roger Rössing (1929-2006) was one of the most famous photographers in eastern Germany. Renate (1929-2005) met Roger Rössing at the photographic classes of School of Visual Arts in Leipzig they attended between 1948 and 1951. Together they have published about 90 picture books.

Renate und Roger Rössing mit einem Freund während einer Filmszene

In 1952 they took a series of photographs devoted to Nacktkultur which drew my attention by their old fashioned and conservative style. It was the time when naturism began expanding in East Germany. But only since the 1970s the nude bathing in lakes and the Baltic Sea became widespread.

Badende

One can discover the photographs taken by Roger and Renate Rössing here.