Prophecies, Histories, Legends and Law in drawings by Old Masters & Two Landscapes Revisited
Until June 9 and Until May 27 respectively

The theme of Christ Church Picture Gallery’s two exhibitions this spring came about partly as a result of a chance remark, Curator Jacqueline Thalmann told me. Someone had said to her no one knows about iconography any more, few these days really know the biblical stories behind the works of art they see. So the idea was born to take 35 master drawings and prints from Christ Church’s famous collection telling stories and showing figures from the Hebrew Bible, from Adam and Eve to David and Goliath, for an exhibition in the drawings gallery until June 9. The stories that the artworks in Prophecies, Histories, Legends and Law tell lie at the heart of three world religions and are the link between Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Arranged according to Old Testament chronology, it starts with the story of Adam and Eve. Two small woodcuts by Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) immediately catch the eye. The superb technician gives us two elements of the story: first, a wonderfully sinuous confection of intertwined limbs and tree trunks showing the naked pair in the Garden of Eden being tempted by the serpent to eat the forbidden fruit, and the second, them being banished in no uncertain terms from the earthly paradise by an angel brandishing a flaming sword. Further along, an intense miniature print by German artist Hans Sebald Beham (1500-50), thought to have trained with Dürer, shows the first couple’s sexual awakening. Very few works show tenderness between Adam and Eve, Thalmann comments, and here they are shown in a relationship ‘before the fall’ as the snake is biting into the apple. Next, the story of their sons Cain and Abel is nicely worked as a red chalk drawing by an unknown artist. It’s a rather domestic scene and unusual in showing the family together — a much more typical picture would show Cain murdering Abel.

Then after illustrations of the great flood, Noah and the ark, sibyls and prophets, and Lot and his daughters, we reach the story of Jacob and Rachel and one of the most outstanding works on paper from the Christ Church collection — in fact, says Thalmann “one of the rarest and most exquisite old master drawings in the world, let alone from Christ Church”. The Meeting of Jacob and Rachel by the Flemish artist Hugo van der Goes (1437-82) sensitively portrays the love story, from the loving couple centre stage, the almost sculptural folds of their costumes high lit, to Rachel’s sister Leah standing beside them, and the father Laban with his sheep to the left of the picture watching the trio from relative darkness. “Hugo van der Goes is one of the greats, an underrated artist because there are so very few paintings of his about,” says Thalmann. The story is one of the better known from the Old Testament, symbolising the origins of the 12 tribes of Israel, and although this is a large refined composition, no existing painting corresponds to it. Other highlights include the Joseph story in a work of Baroque dynamism by Camillo Procaccini, and seven scenes from the life of Moses including two versions of the passage through the Red Sea by Angelo Bronzino.

The second exhibition, Two Landscapes Revisited runs until May 27. Both paintings are from Italy, from the Bolognese School of painting that flourished between the late 16th and early 17th centuries, both show figures in a landscape with water, and though one is in much better condition than the other, both offer us the chance to see two landscapes not normally on display. The idea is that we compare the two, drawing our own conclusions. One is an everyday scene, Landscape with Fishermen and Washerwomen by Domenichino (Domenico Zampieri, 1581–1641, born Bologna) and the other a biblical scene. Landscape with the Daughters of Raguel at the Well, shows the Moses as shepherd story — seven shepherdess sisters leading their father’s flock to the well where Moses had stopped to rest. Raguel, also known also as Jethro, I find out, was to become his father-in-law.

Enjoy! Or should I say look and learn?