hoakley posted: "Eyes are an important means for the expression of emotions, and through their role in sight and looking, one of the central themes in much of visual art. This week I look first at eyes wide open as an expression of surprise and seeing, and tomorrow at eye" The Eclectic Light Company
Eyes are an important means for the expression of emotions, and through their role in sight and looking, one of the central themes in much of visual art. This week I look first at eyes wide open as an expression of surprise and seeing, and tomorrow at eyes in other roles, including a favourite illusion.
The canonical study of eyes in surprise is Rembrandt's masterpiece Belshazzar's Feast from about 1635-1638.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669), Belshazzar's Feast (c 1635-1638), oil on canvas, 167.6 x 209.2 cm, The National Gallery, London. Wikimedia Commons.
This is one of Rembrandt's most beautiful paintings, in which he has captured the exquisite detail of the jewels and decorations on Belshazzar, and its rich, golden light shines across the room. But just look at those eyes.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669), Belshazzar's Feast (detail) (c 1635-1638), oil on canvas, 167.6 x 209.2 cm, The National Gallery, London. Wikimedia Commons.
Belshazzar is stood, taken aback to the point where his eye appears to be popping out, as he watches the disembodied hand trace out the foreign letters on the wall behind him. By showing his eye in profile, Rembrandt exaggerates the expression, with so much white sclera exposed above and below the pupil that it appears ready to pop out of its socket.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669), Belshazzar's Feast (detail) (c 1635-1638), oil on canvas, 167.6 x 209.2 cm, The National Gallery, London. Wikimedia Commons.
A couple of his guests sat to his right show their astonishment, although not to the same extent as Belshazzar.
Léon-François Bénouville (1821-1859), Joan of Arc Hearing Voices (date not known), media and dimensions not known, Musée des Beaux-arts de Rouen, Rouen, France. Image by Wuyouyuan, via Wikimedia Commons.
Léon-François Bénouville's Joan of Arc Hearing Voices, probably painted between 1845 and his early death in 1859, shows her wide-eyed surprise on being called in a mystical experience. Although she's hearing voices, in visual art this can only be expressed in terms of seeing a vision with her eyes.
Annie Louisa Swynnerton (1844-1933), The Sense of Sight (1895), oil on canvas, 87.3 x 101 cm, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, England. Wikimedia Commons.
Painting The Sense of Sight requires careful attention to the eyes. Annie Louisa Swynnerton, whose depictions of eyes are exceptional, achieves perfection in her masterpiece from 1895.
Annie Louisa Swynnerton (1844-1933), Illusions (c 1900), further details not known. Wikimedia Commons.
Swynnerton's skill with eyes extends even to childhood portraits, such as Illusions from about 1900.
Henri Jules Jean Geoffroy (1853–1924), It's Hard to Share (date not known), oil on canvas, 60.3 x 49.6 cm, Museu Antônio Parreiras (MAP), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Wikimedia Commons.
Jean Geoffroy was another of that rare breed of artist who specialised in painting children. His undated painting of It's Hard to Share shows two young boys in the wild. The eyes of the boy in the centre express his suspicion and reluctance to share the paper cone of sweets he has just bought.
Eyes have also been central in the depiction of one major motif, Medusa the Gorgon.
Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio) (1571–1610), Medusa (c 1597), oil on canvas mounted on wood, 60 x 55 cm, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. Wikimedia Commons.
The most famous image of her head must be Caravaggio's Medusa from about 1597, which is actually his second version. Although her pupils are looking down, her eyes are wide open and her brows knitted in sheer horror.
Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640), The Head of Medusa (c 1617), oil on panel, 69 x 118 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria. Wikimedia Commons.
Shortly afterwards, in about 1617, the young and flourishing Peter Paul Rubens painted his remarkable Head of Medusa. This shows her head when Perseus had placed it on a bed of seaweed, after rescuing Andromeda. From within the exuberant mass of snakes her lifeless eyes stare out in the shock of death.
Carlos Schwabe (1866–1926), Medusa (1895), watercolour on paper, dimensions not known, Private collection. Wikimedia Commons.
Carlos Schwabe's watercolour Medusa from 1895 captures her face before decapitation, and gives her hauntingly feline eyes staring wide into her imminent destiny.
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