MOUNT SINAÏ PAINTED BY JEAN-LEON GERÔME

JEAN-LEON GERÔME  (1824-1904) 

Mount Sinaï or Jabal Musa (2,285 m - 7,496ft) 

Egypt

 In Moïse au Mont Sinaï (Moses in Mount Sinaï), oil on canvas, 1895-1900, Private collection 

The mountain 

Mount Sinaï (2,285 m - 7,496ft) or Jabal Mūsā or Gabal Mūsā (in arab  : "Moses' Mountain" or "Mount Moses"), also known as Mount Horeb or Jebel Musa (a similarly named mountain in Morocco), is a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt that is a possible location of the biblical Mount Sinaï. 

The latter is mentioned many times in the Book of Exodus (and other books of the Bible) and in the Quran. According to Jewish, Christian, and Islamic tradition, the biblical Mount Sinai was the place where Moses received the Ten Commandments (depicted in the Jean-Léon Gérôme painting above).

Mount Sinai is a moderately high mountain near the city of Saint Katherine in the Sinai region. It is next to Mount Katherine (2,629m - 8,625 ft), the highest peak in Egypt. 

Mount Sinai's rocks were formed in the late stage of the Arabian-Nubian Shield's (ANS) evolution. Mount Sinai displays a ring complex that consists of alkaline granites intruded into diverse rock types, including volcanics. The granites range in composition from syenogranite to alkali feldspar granite. The volcanic rocks are alkaline to peralkaline and they are represented by subaerial flows and eruptions and subvolcanic porphyry. Generally, the nature of the exposed rocks in Mount Sinai indicates that they originated from differing depths.

There are two principal routes to the summit. The longer and shallower route, Siket El Bashait, takes about 2.5 hours on foot, though camels can be used. The steeper, more direct route (Siket Sayidna Musa) is up the 3,750 "steps of penitence" in the ravine behind the monastery.

The summit of the mountain has a mosque that is still used by Muslims. It also has a Greek Orthodox chapel, constructed in 1934 on the ruins of a 16th-century church, that is not open to the public. The chapel encloses the rock which is considered to be the source for the biblical Tablets of Stone. At the summit also is "Moses' cave", where Moses was said to have waited to receive the Ten Commandments.

The painter 

Jean-Léon Gérôme  was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as academicism. The range of his oeuvre included historical painting, Greek mythology, Orientalism, portraits, and other subjects, bringing the academic painting tradition to an artistic climax. He is considered one of the most important painters from this academic period. He was also a teacher with a long list of students.
In 1856, he visited Egypt for the first time. Gérômes recurrent itinerary followed the classic grand tour of most occidental visitors to the Orient; up the nile to Cairo, across to Fayoum, then further up the Nile to Abu Simbel, then back to Cairo, across the Sinai Peninsula through Sinai and up the Wadi el-Araba to the Holy land, Jerusalem and finally Damascus. This would herald the start of many orientalist paintings depicting Arab religion, genre scenes and North African landscapes. In an autobiographical essay of 1878, Gérôme described how important oil sketches made on the spot were for him: "even when worn out after long marched under the bright sun, as soon as our camping spot was reached I got down to work with concentration. But Oh! How many things were left behind of which I carried only the memory away! And I prefer three touches of colour on a piece of canvas to the most vivid memory, but one had to continue on with some regret.
He did not only gather themes, artefacts and costumes for his oriental scenes, but also made oil studies from nature for their backgrounds. Several of these quick sketches are filled with details that exceed his wished for three touches of colour.
Gérôme's reputation was greatly enhanced at the Salon of 1857 by a collection of works of a more popular kind : The Duel ; After the Masked Ball (Musée Condé, Chantilly);  Egyptian Recruits crossing the Desert;  Memnon and Sesostris and Camels Watering.

MOUNT SINAÏ PAINTED BY JEAN-LÉON GERÔME

 

JEAN-LÉON GERÔME (1824-1904)
Mount Sinaï / Jabal Musa (2,285 m - 7,496ft)
Egypt

In La fuite en Egypte , oil and tempera on panel, 1897, Musée Georges Garret, Vesoul (France)

About the painting
Jean Leon Gérome painted Mount Sinai on several occasions and often for its historical religious content as on the canvas above or in his Moses at Mount Sinai. Each time the painter added details of miraculous appearances! Here, it is an white angel who guides in a halo of light Mary and Joseph on the way of the Flight into Egypt. The description of Mount Sinai (on the bacjground) and its surroundings, seen from above (from the point of view of the Angel) adds an additional element to the strangeness of this painting.


The painter
Jean-Léon Gérôme was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as academicism. The range of his oeuvre included historical painting, Greek mythology, Orientalism, portraits, and other subjects, bringing the academic painting tradition to an artistic climax. He is considered one of the most important painters from this academic period. He was also a teacher with a long list of students.
In 1856, he visited Egypt for the first time. Gérômes recurrent itinerary followed the classic grand tour of most occidental visitors to the Orient; up the nile to Cairo, across to Fayoum, then further up the Nile to Abu Simbel, then back to Cairo, across the Sinai Peninsula through Sinai and up the Wadi el-Araba to the Holy land, Jerusalem and finally Damascus. This would herald the start of many orientalist paintings depicting Arab religion, genre scenes and North African landscapes. In an autobiographical essay of 1878, Gérôme described how important oil sketches made on the spot were for him: "even when worn out after long marched under the bright sun, as soon as our camping spot was reached I got down to work with concentration. But Oh! How many things were left behind of which I carried only the memory away! And I prefer three touches of colour on a piece of canvas to the most vivid memory, but one had to continue on with some regret.
He did not only gather themes, artefacts and costumes for his oriental scenes, but also made oil studies from nature for their backgrounds. Several of these quick sketches are filled with details that exceed his wished for three touches of colour.
Gérôme's reputation was greatly enhanced at the Salon of 1857 by a collection of works of a more popular kind : The Duel ; After the Masked Ball (Musée Condé, Chantilly); Egyptian Recruits crossing the Desert; Memnon and Sesostris and Camels Watering.

The mountain
Mount Sinaï (2,285 m - 7,496 ft) or Jabal Mūsā or Gabal Mūsā (in arab : "Moses' Mountain" or "Mount Moses"), also known as Mount Horeb or Jebel Musa (a similarly named mountain in Morocco), is a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt that is a possible location of the biblical Mount Sinai. The latter is mentioned many times in the Book of Exodus (and other books of the Bible) and the Quran. According to Jewish, Christian, and Islamic tradition, the biblical Mount Sinai was the place where Moses received the Ten Commandments.
Mount Sinai is a moderately high mountain near the city of Saint Katherine in the Sinai region.
It is next to Mount Katherine (2,629 m - 8,625 ft), the highest peak in Egypt.
Mount Sinai's rocks were formed in the late stage of the Arabian-Nubian Shield's (ANS) evolution. Mount Sinai displays a ring complex that consists of alkaline granites intruded into diverse rock types, including volcanics. The granites range in composition from syenogranite to alkali feldspar granite. The volcanic rocks are alkaline to peralkaline and they are represented by subaerial flows and eruptions and subvolcanic porphyry. Generally, the nature of the exposed rocks in Mount Sinai indicates that they originated from differing depths.
There are two principal routes to the summit. The longer and shallower route, Siket El Bashait, takes about 2.5 hours on foot, though camels can be used. The steeper, more direct route (Siket Sayidna Musa) is up the 3,750 "steps of penitence" in the ravine behind the monastery.
The summit of the mountain has a mosque that is still used by Muslims. It also has a Greek Orthodox chapel, constructed in 1934 on the ruins of a 16th-century church, that is not open to the public. The chapel encloses the rock which is considered to be the source for the biblical Tablets of Stone. At the summit also is "Moses' cave", where Moses was said to have waited to receive the Ten Commandments.

__________________________________________

2020 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau

LA FALAISE DE POURVILLE PEINTE PAR HENRI ROUSSEAU

HENRI ROUSSEAU  (1844-1910)
La Falaise, vers 1895
Huile sur toile, 21 x 35 cm
Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris

A propos de ce tableau (notice du musée)
Cette représentation de falaise de la côte normande est un motif rare chez Rousseau qui ne s'éloigne guère des environs de Paris. Le peintre a probablement travaillé à partir d'une reproduction de peinture, peut être Falaises à Pourville de Claude Monet ou Falaise avec bateaux et Mer Orageuse, dite aussi La Vague, de Gustave Courbet. Il a pu également s’inspirer d’une des innombrables représentations des falaises normandes peintes par des artistes plus obscurs. Rousseau a probablement fait la synthèse de plusieurs sources et recomposé totalement son tableau selon l’idée qu’il se faisait de ce paysage. Quoi qu'il en soit il schématise et simplifie à l'extrême la structure de la roche tout comme la représentation de la mer. Il rajoute des pêcheurs et de grands voiliers. Là encore, l’intérêt réside dans la manière dont Rousseau s'empare du motif. Il s’inspire du graphisme de l’imagerie populaire. C’est pour lui le moyen de suivre la recommandation que lui avait fait autrefois le peintre français Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904) de conserver sa naïveté.

Le peintre
Henri Rousseau, aussi appelé « Le Douanier Rousseau », est un peintre français, considéré comme un représentant majeur de l'art naïf. Issu d'une famille modeste, il étudie le droit avant de partir à Paris et travailler à l'octroi où il occupe un poste de commis de deuxième classe, dans le cadre duquel il contrôle les entrées de boissons alcoolisées à Paris. Cette position lui vaudra son surnom de « Douanier ». Il apprend lui-même la peinture et produit un grand nombre de toiles. Elles représentent souvent des paysages de jungle. Lui n'a pourtant jamais quitté la France, son inspiration provient surtout de livres illustrés, de jardins botaniques, et de rencontres avec des soldats ayant participé à l'intervention française au Mexique. Ses toiles montrent une technique élaborée, mais leur aspect enfantin lui vaut beaucoup de moqueries. Habitué du Salon des indépendants, il commence à recevoir des critiques positives à partir de 1891 et rencontre quelques autres artistes à la fin de sa vie, comme Marie Laurencin, Robert Delaunay, Paul Signac, Guillaume Apollinaire, Jean-Léon Gérôme, Alexandre Cabanel, Edgar Degas, William Bouguereau, Paul Gauguin, Alfred Jarry, Toulouse-Lautrec et Pablo Picasso. Son travail est aujourd'hui considéré comme crucial pour l'art naïf et il a influencé de nombreux artistes, notamment des surréalistes. Paul Éluard a dit de lui : « Ce qu’il voyait n’était qu’amour et nous fera toujours des yeux émerveillés. »

 _________________________________________________________

2024 - 13e année de publication -  Gravir les montagnes en peinture
Un blog de Francis Rousseau