The Mill and the Cross and Bruegel's Road to Calvary

The extremely unique movie, The Mill and the Cross, by the filmmaker Lech Majewski  features Rutger Hauer as the Flemish Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder.  If you are interested in the Northern Renaissance I would recommend seeing this movie.

This movie is visually stunning and takes the viewer inside the painting The Road to Calvary which was painted by Bruegel in 1564.  The painting, seen below, shows Christ carrying the cross on the way to his crucifixion in the center of the painting.  Instead of a quiet, solemn scene with just a few key biblical figures and a focus on Jesus, it has an almost festive atmosphere with about a hundred people.  Jesus carrying the Cross is nearly hidden in the center of the chaos and the Crucifixion appears to be set during the 16th century.  Let's first look at the painting and then I will discuss more about this movie.

The history of the region is important to keep in mind as you view both the painting and the movie.

The Road to Calvary, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1564

Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

In the 15th century Flanders consisted of Belgium, the Netherlands, part of France and was ruled from Burgundy.  In the late 15th century Flanders was absorbed into the Hapsburg Empire, then King Charles V of Spain inherited it in the early 16th century.  After the Reformation of the Church the Flemish Netherlands became Protestant while Spain was staunchly Catholic.  This led to the 80 years war between Spain and the Netherlands with Flanders being ruled over by Spain.  Eventually the Netherlands won its independence in 1648.

In 1564 when Bruegel painted this work the Protestant Reformation had happened recently and Spanish soldiers were now occupying Flanders.  They are shown in red and on horseback in the painting.  It was not uncommon to set Biblical themes within the time of the painter, this had been done from Roger Campin to Raphael to Caravaggio.  This was in part due to a lack of knowledge of the architecture and dress of life in the time of Jesus and done unintentionally.  There were also many times when it was done intentionally, so that the churchgoers who were praying in front of the painting could better relate Christ to their own lives.

In the case of The Road to Calvary this can be seen as the latter, almost a warning to those who are fighting with each other in the name of religion.  Mixed in with scenes of the Passion of Christ are scenes of everyday life, life continues from dancing to fighting to selling wares to mourning the life of Jesus.  Above everything sits an imaginary steep and rocky hill topped by a windmill.  A windmill had four arms like the cross and was often a symbol for the cross, the windmill also seems a symbol for the ever present eye of God watching down on everyone.  This seems more like a festival such as in Bruegel’s many other works such as his Peasant Wedding, the artist was well known for his scenes of peasant life.

The Peasant Wedding, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1568

Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

An important thing to keep in mind as well is the role of art in the church at this time, it was not meant to be decorative but to teach parishioners who may be illiterate.  Even for those who could read, paintings were a source for meditation and reflection. 

I saw the movie in that same sense.  Rather than an entertaining story it provided a similar role for the 21st century viewer that religious painting would have provided a 16th century viewer.  Majewski's film contained very little dialogue, no real plot and characters who were not fleshed out.  But the film is so visually stunning, so absorbing and engages the viewer in such a way as to transport you back to that time. It is obvious that a lot of work went into making this and creating every little detail that was shown.

While there isn't much dialogue, the movie is rich in sound: children playing, bells tolling, crows, crowds and the ever turning and grinding mill which more than ever is the symbol for God in this movie.  It is a composite between real and imaginary scenery, full of symbols.  I left thinking I would need to watch it again to fully understand it.  Charlotte Rampling played the mourning Madonna and had the most eloquent dialogue in the film.

Bruegel's wife seemed to symbolize a young Madonna, one of my friends who I saw it with noticed that a town magistrate seemed to symbolize Ponchos Pilate.

There are violent and brutal scenes, a man is killed and Christ is shown being crucified.  However that ties into the theme of the movie acting as a catalyst for reflection the way the painting would have.

Part of the description reads: "Majewski invites the viewer to live inside the aesthetic universe of the painting as we watch it being created." 

That statement for me sums the movie up best and has had me thinking about the painting and reflecting on life since I left.

The Last Supper as painted by Ghirlandaio, Leonardo and Tintoretto

The theme of Christ's Last Supper was a very popular image in Italian Renaissance painting.  Perhaps the most well known version is Leonardo da Vinci's fresco in Sta. Maria delle Grazie in Milan, but this scene has been well represented in art history.  The Last Supper (known in Italian as l'ultima cena or il cenacolo) was the last meal Christ shared with his twelve apostles before his Crucifixion.  


It was at this meal that Christ said "This is my body which is given for you" when he broke the bread to eat and "this is my blood" when he drank the wine.  These acts formed the basis for the Eucharist.  This is an important part of Christianity which is why it was depicted again and again in art.  Let's compare and contrast three different versions of The Last Supper as painted by Ghirlandaio, Leonardo and Tintoretto.

 The Last Supper, Domenico Ghirlandaio, San Marco, Florence, 1480's

You may remember from an earlier post that Michelangelo trained in the fresco workshop of Domenico Ghirlandaio.  The above Last Supper was painted as a fresco in San Marco in Florence, Ghirlandaio painted an almost identical version at the church of Ognissanti (All Saints) in Florence a few years prior.  This is a beautiful fresco and a good example of a standard type for this painting in quattrocento (15th century) Italian Renaissance painting.

The Last Supper was also the event where Christ announced that one of his twelve apostles would betray him, he didn't say who but any contemporary viewer would have known that was Judas.  Judas is always shown in these early Last Supper paintings as set apart from the rest of the group, here he is the only one present without a holy halo, sometimes his halo is shown as black.

This depiction was used so that the group of apostles would all be visible to the viewers and  that worshippers would easily be able to recognize the scene.  Symbols were commonly used in art and just as saints all had attributes in art, so did Judas.  His attribute early on was to be shown in a disgraced way.

Ghirlandaio (pronounced gear-land-eye-oh) has painted this scene using perspective and created depth in the painting with the tiles on the floor, incorporating painted architectural elements such as windows and arches, and by including a background of landscape with sky, clouds and birds.

He paints with his signature delicate and decorative style using bright light, soft colors, realistic faces and convincing figures.  At the time this and the other at Ognissanti were painted, they were considered some of the most beautiful Last Supper frescoes that had been painted.

The Last Supper, Leonardo da Vinci, Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan, 1495-98 

However within ten to fifteen years later Leonardo da Vinci painted his fresco in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie and this Last Supper was to become the definitive representation of this story.  This was also a fresco, but Leonardo used a new technique that didn't work well and began to disintegrate within his own lifetime.  As this wasn't done with standard fresco technique his colors are different and he was able to paint with more detail, however much of the original detail has worn away.

Leonardo used a startling and bold new type of composition, done in a much more realistic style than that of his predecessors.  Here he doesn't just show the event of the Last Supper but a specific moment, that in which Christ has just announced that one of his apostles will betray him.  All at once they begin to ask "Is it I my Lord?  Will it be I?" 

Jesus is the central point of perspective in this rendition, all the lines used in the architecture to create depth can be traced back to him.  Jesus is completely still and calm and all movement and shapes radiate outward from him.  In this painting Judas sits with everyone and has just knocked over the salt.  Leonardo also uses symbolic representation in this painting, I have mentioned in previous posts that three was a divine number and four was the number of man.  Here he separates the apostles into four groups of three, symbolically calling attention to the fact that Christ was the one who joined mankind with divinity through his Crucifixion.

I have always found this to be a powerful piece and have only seen representations of it.  When I have seen Leonardo's paintings in person I have felt like they eclipse everything else in the room and seem to glow with a heavenly light all their own.  The Last Supper in Milan is something that I very much look forward to seeing in person someday as I get the same sense of that from just seeing pictures in books or slides in lectures.

With Leonardo's new depiction the Last Supper was transformed in painting into a stronger and more realistic scene.

  

 The Last Supper, Tintoretto, San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice, 1592-94

For our last painting to compare and contrast let's jump ahead 100 years later to the Late Venetian Renaissance.  The damp, humid climate in Venice didn't work as well for fresco painting where pigments where mixed directly into wet plaster.  At this time artists used oil on canvas and due to this different medium were able to get different results from Florentine frescoes.

Tintoretto was known for his dynamic style, broad and painterly brushwork and bold highlights painted on a dark ground.  Rather than using the early perfectly proportioned and symmetrical compositions of the High Renaissance, he used energetic and dramatic compositions.

We can see that here in this later Last Supper that uses a diagonal dinner table to create depth and drama in the painting.  Angels and servants join the others in this painting, however Tintoretto does go back to the earlier depiction of having Judas sit on the opposite side of the table and the only apostle without a halo.  His Christ is shown breaking the bread, and as in Leonardo's work Christ seems to be a calm center from which all action emanates.

The Last Supper was painted literally hundreds of times throughout art history, these three artists and styles were important and had a large influence on many of the depictions that followed. 

Titian's Entombment of Christ

Titian (Tiziano Vecellio) was undisputedly one of the great masters of the Venetian Italian Renaissance in the 16th century.  He studied under two other great masters: Bellini and Giorgione, and built on the skills he learned to become the most influential painter to come out of the Venetian school.  Titian became the official painter of the Venetian Republic in 1516.

 The Entombment of Christ, Titian, The Louvre, 1523-26

One of Titian's most significant contributions to painting was his style of brushwork.  Titian broke from the tradition of meticulously painting every minute detail from life, instead using expressive bold strokes and dots of color to create illusions, which captured reality.  His technique revolutionized painting in the 16th century.  Another thing he was known for were his sophisticated mathematical compositions within his works, breaking from earlier more symmetrical paintings.

The Entombment of Christ was a work which embodied the new harmony of the Renaissance.  In this composition the figures are placed with a mathematical precision forming two isosceles triangles within the painting.  The curving shapes of several others then enhance these triangular shapes. This emphasizes the harmonious proportions that were used in ancient Greek art and revived in the Renaissance.  His use of mathematics within the work draws the eye of the viewer into the action taking place. 

 Death of Meleager, Roman sarcophagus lid, marble, The Louvre, c-180 AD

photo- © user Mbzt / public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Entombment of Christ is a relatively early work in Titian's sixty-eight year career as an artist.  Frederick Hartt in his History of Italian Renaissance Art wrote of this work:

            "The pose of Christ is borrowed from that of the dead Meleager carried from

            the boar hunt in a well-known group of Roman sarcophagus reliefs."*

I am not certain if the example of the Roman sarcophagus from the Louvre (shown above) is the specific work that influenced Titian.  Even if it was not, it does help illustrate the idea of placing figures within a composition using mathematical arrangement which was common in antiquity.

Pesaro Madonna, Titian, Sta. Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, 1519-26

Another early example of this type of composition can be seen in the Pesaro Madonna, shown above.  This work also breaks from the perfect symmetry of the High Renaissance to give us a new type of interesting arrangement of form.  Again the various sets of figures are arranged in a triangular form.


As I stated in my blog post on Chartres Cathedral, the triangle was the number of divinity.  This can be seen in the Trinity and in Christian art and architecture is repeated many times over: the trefoil in Gothic architecture, tripartite naves, figures grouped into three, etc.


The Pesaro Madonna (so named as it was commissioned for the Pesaro family) rearragnes the standard frontal Madonna and Child portrait so as better to create depth, move the viewers eye through the painting and pull the viewer into this divine space.  In this Titian uses his trademark brushwork and coloring.

These are just two examples of painting from Titian who created hundreds throughout his long painting career.  He was nearly 90 when he died and continued to use the triangle in his compositions up until his final painting of the Pieta which he began for his own tomb.




*Hartt, Frederick. History of Italian Renaissance Art. 4th edition, New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc. Publishers, 1994. p. 591.