Brera Offbeat: The Other Side of the Old Masters
A Top 10 Look at 10 of Milan's Brera Museum's Oddest Paintings
Back before "lurid" became fashionable, the Old Masters, under the guise of mythology, Bible History, or the iconography of the Church, often produced obsessive, startling and graphic works --- many of which were first unveiled to the public inside the local churches.
1. Bramantino/ Crucifixion: A ghostly vision with even an airborn demon paying his respects. Note the skull at the foot of the mourners, the drenching blue-gray coloring, the almost modern-looking cityscape seemingly carrying us out into the future.
2. Tanzio da Varallo/ The Martyrdom of the Franciscans at Nagasaki: As scary as it sounds. Referring to an elusive mass-martyrdom circa 1600, the chaos in foreground leading to the straight, diminishing lines of crosses in the background give the work a ghastly sense of predestination.
3. Battistello (Caracciolo)/ Christ and the Samaritan Woman at the Well: Not only do the two of them appear to be meeting in the middle of the night (which has swallowed the well), the woman's rather ferocious furrowed brow turns the table on the beseeching Christ --- "salvation" a bitter pill to swallow.
4. Ercole de Roberti/ Portuense Altarpiece: Massive Madonna-and-Saints with magnificent details to justify the grandeur. Note the heightened clarity of the fringe of the carpet (!) as if pointing us underneath the throne towards a vast, nebulous landscape that seems untouched by the "light of God."
5. Cosmè Tura/ Christ Crucified: A miniature --- blotched, unfocused --- the Christ pitched forward, diagonally, as if set to fly off the cross with the fury of a vampire bat.
6. Morazzone/ St. Francis in Ecstasy: An "ecstasy" that nevertheless has scared him to death. He's quaking!
7. Sebastiano Ricci/ Martyrdom of Saint Erasmus: Often attributed to Magnasco, the master of torture chambers, a gruesome disembowelling has begun and nobody is spared!
8. Giuseppe Maria Crespi/ Self-Portrait: The artist, whose paintings are often morbid yet ironic, has pictured himself as an aging, insidious imp. The black hat gives him an unholy --- and dishevelled --- halo.
9. Marco d'Oggiono/ Elevation of the Magdalene:Â Frolicing naked in the clouds under bushels of curls, Mary Magdalene seems more like Mae West heeding the Lord's command to come up and see Him sometime.
10. Andrea Previtali/ Transfiguration: A cotton-candy Christ perched on a hilltop as if ready to oust Julie Andrews from The Sound of Music.
