March 21, 1998
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Let it not be said that dramatist William S. Gilbert, who poked
good-natured fun at almost everything else, couldn't target himself
and partner Sir Arthur Sullivan. When we take yet another look
at the "Modern Major General" lyrics, we hear:
I can tell undoubted
Raphaels from Gerard Dows and Zoffanies,
I know the croaking chorus from the Frogs of Aristophanes!
Then I can hum a fugue of which I've heard the music's din afore,
And whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore.
We know what he's referring to when he mentions Pinafore. But
who were Gerard Dow and Zoffanies. I'm glad I asked. I'll tell
you. (That was about as subtle as a song cue.)
Gerard, or Gerhard Dow (variously spelled D-O-U-W) was a Dutch
painter, born in Leyden on April 7, 1613. By the time he was fifteen,
Dow had been apprenticed in painting on glass and engraving. He
spent the next three years studying with the painter Rembrandt.
His own early works were very much in the style of the Flemish
master, but he soon developed his own style, probably a 17th century
version of an Andrew Wyeth, for his paintings were described as
displaying, "all the details...down to the most trivial."
Not being able to obtain brushes fine enough for his purpose,
he manufactured his own. It's said he spent five days painting
a single human hand. Models soon became scarce - no one could
sit still long enough. No one could touch him when it came to
painting scenes lit by candles or lanterns, such as in The
Evening School . Dow's paintings brought high prices and the
president of the Hague paid him a thousand florins a year for
the right of first refusal. Dow died in 1680.
Johann Zoffany was born in Frankfort-on-Main in 1753, to the architect
of the prince of Thurn and Taxis. Running away from home at the
age of thirteen, Johann made his way to Rome, where he studied
painting for the next dozen years before making his way to England
in 1758. He struggled for a few years before royal commissions
from George III and Empress Maria Theresa put him on the map.
Speaking of the map, Zoffany was all over it. After spending time
in Austria and once again in Italy, he traveled to India, where
he painted for three years before returning to England, dying
there in 1810. Dow and Zoffany certainly give the lie to the stereotype
of the starving artist dying in poverty.
OUTRO
For Classical ninety-one five, this is David Minor.
© 1998 David Minor / Eagles Byte