Metadata : Marco Basaiti: The Calling of the Sons of Zebedee. Interpretation
Monograph
- Persistent identifier:
- 0063745
- Title:
- Marco Basaiti: The Calling of the Sons of Zebedee. Interpretation
- Publisher:
- KHM-Museumsverband
- Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien
- Document type:
- Monograph
- Collection:
- Electronic Publications
- House Publications
- Publication year:
- 2024
- Copyright:
-
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
-
KHM-Museumsverband
- Abstract:
-
In Marco Basaiti’s The Calling of the Sons of Zebedee (signed and dated ‘1515. marcus. baxaitj. .f.’, poplar panel, 124.3 × 80.4 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Picture Gallery, inv. 116), the scene from the gospels is surrounded with a painted architectural frame featuring two male nudes done as grisailles in white and grey. Remarkably, in the left-hand figure the man’s head is back to front, which establishes a connection with Aristophanes’ myth as expounded in Plato’s Symposium (see Summary of Research Findings and the detailed argumentation in the essay accessible via the link above). This ancient literary myth, with which all Renaissance humanists were well acquainted, offers an explanation for the origin of love and in particular describes homosexuals as the noblest and most manly of their sex. This is precisely where the problem lies: at the time the painting was made – by contrast with antiquity – homosexual practices were forbidden because they were considered sinful, and homosexuals were prosecuted under the law.
It is at present not known who conceived the idea for Basaiti’s painting and developed its concept, thus deliberately forging a link between Plato’s myth – and by association the praise of homosexuality – and the biblical account of the calling of the disciples James and John. However, this link, which would only have been apparent to humanists, is clear evidence of the topic that was upmost in mind of whoever did conceive the composition: the acceptance of homosexual love.
- Language:
- English
- Link to the online collection:
- https://www.khm.at/en/artworks/summoning-the-sons-of-zebedee-113-1
- Persistent identifier:
- 0063745
- Title:
- Marco Basaiti: The Calling of the Sons of Zebedee. Interpretation
- Publisher:
- KHM-Museumsverband
- Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien
- Document type:
- Monograph
- Collection:
- Electronic Publications
- House Publications
- Publication year:
- 2024
- Copyright:
-
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
-
KHM-Museumsverband
- Abstract:
-
In Marco Basaiti’s The Calling of the Sons of Zebedee (signed and dated ‘1515. marcus. baxaitj. .f.’, poplar panel, 124.3 × 80.4 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Picture Gallery, inv. 116), the scene from the gospels is surrounded with a painted architectural frame featuring two male nudes done as grisailles in white and grey. Remarkably, in the left-hand figure the man’s head is back to front, which establishes a connection with Aristophanes’ myth as expounded in Plato’s Symposium (see Summary of Research Findings and the detailed argumentation in the essay accessible via the link above). This ancient literary myth, with which all Renaissance humanists were well acquainted, offers an explanation for the origin of love and in particular describes homosexuals as the noblest and most manly of their sex. This is precisely where the problem lies: at the time the painting was made – by contrast with antiquity – homosexual practices were forbidden because they were considered sinful, and homosexuals were prosecuted under the law.
It is at present not known who conceived the idea for Basaiti’s painting and developed its concept, thus deliberately forging a link between Plato’s myth – and by association the praise of homosexuality – and the biblical account of the calling of the disciples James and John. However, this link, which would only have been apparent to humanists, is clear evidence of the topic that was upmost in mind of whoever did conceive the composition: the acceptance of homosexual love.
- Language:
- English
- Link to the online collection:
- https://www.khm.at/en/artworks/summoning-the-sons-of-zebedee-113-1
