August 2019 - A Long Look

A Long Look show art for welcome message

We’ve reached the end of Season 3! Thanks to all you returning listeners and welcome to our new audience members. If you’ve been enjoying the show, you can show your appreciation by subscribing and sharing! You can also help by leaving a comment or rating in Apple Podcasts or in your podcast app. That helps more people discover the show!

“A Long Look” will be back in October to give me time to plan and prep for Season 4.

Until then, there’s plenty happening at the Gallery. They’re staying open until 8 p.m. through August 18 when “The Life of Animals in Japanese Art” closes. Works by Oliver Lee Jackson are up til Sept. 15. And “By the Light of the Silvery Moon: A Century of Lunar Photographs” is up through January 5. Check www.nga.gov for details.

In the meantime, you can catch up on any episodes you missed. You can find them in the archives here and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn or your favorite podcast app.

And you can follow me on Instagram @alonglookslowart and check back here for updates. Thanks for listening!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (1.8MB)

Subscribe: Spotify | TuneIn | RSS

SHOW NOTES

“A Long Look” theme is “Ascension” by Ron Gelinas youtu.be/jGEdNSNkZoo

Image of the oil painting being described — Veronese (Venetian, 1528 – 1588), The Martyrdom and Last Communion of Saint Lucy, c. 1582, oil on canvas, Gift of The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation and Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund 1984.28.1

This dramatic scene was painted by Paolo Veronese during the Counter-Reformation. The Church, reeling from years of corruption and the rise of Protestantism, relied on works like these to promote the importance and validity of the sacraments. And martyrs were meant to serve as role models to Catholics. The idea was, “Hey, look what this person is willing to go through for their faith!”

I thought it would be fun to have an actual artist on the podcast! So today, I’m joined by Bruce Campbell, one of the Gallery’s longtime copyists. We discuss technique and what he discovered while copying this painting he describes as operatic.

Lucy was one tough lady. Despite being born into a noble Sicilian family in the third century, she became a Christian at a time when Christians were being persecuted mercilessly. She stood up to an abusive Roman governor and died speaking her truth to power.