Interesting Anachronisms in Art History Painting — arthistoryblogger.blogspot.com

An anachronism is something that is out of place in a certain time.  An example would be King Louis XIV of  France with a cell phone or Julius Caesar watching a movie, those things didn't exist in their lifetimes and so would be anachronistic. Less obvious examples may be seeing people in a historic movie wearing clothing or hairstyles that are off by just a few years.There are many interesting examples of this throughout art history, let's look at a few. Mérode Altarpiece, Robert Campin, 1425-28, The Cloisters, NYThe first example of an anachronism in painting would be the setting for the Mérode Altarpiece by 15th century Flemish painter Robert Campin who lived in the city of Tournai.  This is a beautiful painting which is exquisitely created, but not all the pieces in this composition match each other.  The central panel shows the Annunciation or the Biblical story of the Angel Gabriel coming to let the Virgin Mary know she was pregnant with the son of God.  The right hand panel shows her future husband Joseph as he works in his carpentry shop. The left hand panel shows the two patrons who commissioned and paid for this painting, meant to appear as if they too could join the scene.The birth of Jesus would have been in the year 0 (or very early in the first century A.D.) and also would have taken place in Nazareth, a town in Galilee.  However all the figures are in a Flemish setting contemporary to when Campin lived.  In particular the view of the town from Joseph's window shows very Flemish architecture.Was this done because the patrons requested it? Was it simply a matter of the artist being unaware that 1,400 years prior furniture, architecture and clothing would have been very different? Or was it done on purpose so that those who worshipped in front of this altar would more easily see themselves in it?  There are many theories but no definite answer.Immaculate Conception and Birth of the Virgin Mary, Domenico Ghirlandaio, 1485-90Tornabuoni Chapel, Santa Maria Novella, FlorenceA similar type of anachronism is taking place in the fresco cycle of the Life of the Virgin Mary done by Domenico Ghirlandaio in Florence, also in the 15th century.  This would take place even before the life of Christ as this was the birth of his mother. Yet the clothing and hair styles as well as the art were contemporary to Florence at this time.  This is also an extremely beautiful and well painted work, it is very large in scale.  Several members of the Tornabuoni family can be seem here, but the exact reason for the anachronisms shown aren't known.Judgment of Paris, Lucas Cranach the Elder, c-1528, Metropolitan Museum of ArtLucas Cranach the Elder painted many versions of the Judgment of Paris, this was a story from the Ancient Greek Iliad, set in around 700 B.C.  However the setting is not in Greece and the architecture, jewelry and clothing styles are from the early 16th century.The Calling of Saint Matthew,Caravaggio  (1599-1600)Contarelli Chapel, Church of San Luigi dei Francesi, RomeIt's thought that the reason Caravaggio set this scene of Christ calling Saint Matthew to be an apostle in a 17th century Roman tavern was to help the parishioners better connect with this Gospel.  Caravaggio had more accurately portrayed other figures and clothing connected to the time of the life of Christ so it seems to be an intentional anachronism rather than a misunderstanding of history.Ecce Homo, Antonio Ciseri, 1871, Galleria Arte Moderna, Palazzo Pitti, FlorenceThe last example of an anachronism in art we'll look at is in the interesting painting by Ciseri, Ecce Homo.  This work shows the story of Christ before Pilate but shows it from an entirely different angle.  The original viewing angle and attention to detail make this painting one of my favorites in the Galleria Arte Moderna in Florence.Again the anachronism is quite subtle, but the Roman triumphal column in the center of the painting is modeled after the Column of Trajan in Rome which was created in 113 A.D.  Visually it adds depth to the painting and for anyone who has seen either of the triumphal columns in Rome (The Column of Trajan and the Column of Marcus Aurelius) the influence of the Romans would be clear.  But the earliest of them wouldn't exist for another 80 years after the Passion of Christ.  Also there weren't any Roman triumphal columns in or around Jerusalem; such columns were in Rome, Alexandria in Egypt and Constantinople (modern Istanbul).There are many likely reasons for anachronisms in art.  If you know of other examples list them in the comments below.

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