The Bevans family have started a new blog - called BevansInc., it brings together a number of talented family members. Gary Bevans is the one who painted the reproduction of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Church of the English Martyrs in Goring-by-Sea
2 comments:
Gary Bevans's reproduction of Michelangelo's frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is, I am told, an extraordinary feat.
He must be a brilliant man.
How I wish his work predated that of the infamous 1984 - 1994 restoration of the Sistine Chapel.
What follows is not my personal criticism of this restoration, and Fr. Tim is of course free to decide not to publish my comment.
I merely cite the opinions of others who have written and spoken in the public domain, who have been published in print and on the internet.
This restoration is considered by some to have been a calamitous intervention.
No one should ignore Arguimbeau's scholarly and devastating critique.
It is said that chemists, who knew plenty about cleaning, but very little about art history, decided to remove all dirt, varnish, over painting, etc., back to the original buon fresco.
They were working, it is said, on the assumption that Michelangelo never painted a secco over his original work.
But this is to attempt to re-write art history.
Some (very learned) art historians remain convinced that Michelangelo did paint a secco in order to achieve his desired effect.
(In fact, it has long been the accepted wisdom that he did, and no one has been able to prove he didn't.)
The consequence was the loss of the famous chiaroscuro, the effect of light and cast shadow which gave the frescoes their sombre and three dimensional quality.
It must be remembered that Michelangelo was primarily a sculptor, with an eye for light and shade.
Did he really intend to paint frescoes so bright and colourful that they could vie for attention with a modern colour television screen ?
It doesn't seem likely, does it ?
My worst fears were confirmed when I saw the photographs of the
unveiled restoration published in 1994, in a book titled "The Sistine Chapel : A Glorious Restoration".
The late Prof. James Beck, art historian and author, famously attacked the cleaning in 1991 of the Ilaria (the marble tomb sculpture in Lucca Cathedral) which lost its distinctive patina overnight.
He was already a critic of the modern craze for cleaning works of art.
It is worth reading his book "Art Restoration : Culture, Business, Scandal) (1991)
My hope is that some day, Michelangelo's chiaroscuro might be restored.
In the meantime, Gary Bevans could, if he wants to, achieve this effect on his own magnificent reproduction.
It would then show how the unrestored sistine Chapel ceiling appeared.
It would be a model for how the Sistine Chapel frescoes should look .
The Bevans family might become more famous than the Gilbert Scott dynasty !
Many thanks, Dr Wright, for that fascinating critique of the restoration.
Post a Comment