Anti-Clerical Art

[porphyry]

There is a today little known genre of late 19th century painting that probably deserve to have an article written about them (not that I keep up with Art History Journals). To judge from the artists’ names it was mostly popular in France, but there are also Spaniards and Germans (and thanks to Benicek we know one them ended up in an recent English auction).

The genre consists of pictures of Clergy (especially Cardinals and even the Pope in one instance) seen in vaguely ridiculous and compromising positions, such as Chased up a Tree when trying to picnic in a bull’s field or playing cards in bright red regalia . Many of them turn on the incredible waste of wealth, such as a fat cardinal dieting in the midst of a banquet among the poverty of 19th century Europe, or another feeding to swans a plate of cakes whose cost could probably have provided bread a whole shift of sweat-shop child. At least one suggests an uncomfortable homosexual desire on the part of a Cardinal for a novice.

Most of the examples are original paintings so they would have been reasonably expensive to acquire themselves, suggesting the social status of the audience for this genre. However, the collection also includes 2 postcards, suggesting that it appreciation was also more widespread.

The example below is today owned by the owner of the ARC website who of course lauds it as a perfect example of realism; in his extensive writings about it he seems oblivious to its ironic intent.




Here are 20 more:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Anebo10/VibertEtc

Comments

[poldy.livejournal.com]

I agree. An almost textbook case of parody.

[petrusplancius.livejournal.com]

These are amusing, and definitely hostile as you say; but there are many other paintings in which cardinals seem to have been portrayed simply because they were colourful figures and there is no hostile edge at all; perhaps cardinal painters fell into two schools, the dour protestant and the Catholic (or at least neutral). I had a friend at school who used to say that he was considering going into the (Anglican) church because it is the only career in which you get to live in a palace if you get to the top.

[benicek.livejournal.com]

Maybe 'anti-clericalism' is too harsh a label for these, though I'm sure some smug protestants would have bought them. I think the clergy have always provided ready material for erotica and comedy, and certainly continue to do so.

[malkhos.livejournal.com]

I suppose there is Protestant anti-clericalism (as when in Trollope a member of parliment sponsors legislation permitting any priest of the Church of England to strip-search nuns for Jesuitical symbols), but I beleive that many elements of society in Catholic countries are even more virulently anti-clerical, precsiely becuase tehy are dependent on priests. I unfortunately don't knwo nineteenth Fench literature well enough to give many examples, but, for instance, a paris newspaper in the 1890s bosoted circulation with a series of Hoax stories to the effect that the rock of Gibraltar was a hollow shell inside which the General of the Jesuit Order was marahlling an army for world conquest,s tarting with Spaina nd France.

[benicek.livejournal.com]

Anti-clericalism was certainly a large factor in Italian nationalism and in French socialism, and both were involved in violent conflicts with their conservative catholic overlords during the 19th century. So, as you point out, clerical parody in art was probably more of a political statement in those countries than in England, which was at that time becoming more tolerant of Catholicism and even embracing it.

[malkhos.livejournal.com]

Really? Why would that be so? I mean, for what political reasons would that have happened?

[benicek.livejournal.com]

Would what have happened? Continental anti-clericalism or English tolerance?

[malkhos.livejournal.com]

Oh, sorry. The continental anti-clericalism I am much more aware of; I meant the English tolerance. It rather surprised me to read about the English embracing of Catholicism.

[benicek.livejournal.com]

There were several processes at work here. Firstly the fear of rebellion in Ireland. This was a major factor in pushing through the Catholic Relief Act of 1829 which first allowed Catholics into parliament. Secondly there was growing political enfranchisement of an increasingly wealthy middle class in England and many of these were not members of the Church of England; they had defected to the nonconformist protestant sects. There was also a significant growing population of Irish Catholic immigrants. Under these social conditions a liberal approach was the only way to avoid conflict. The voters wanted a religiously neutral state, albeit under the aegis of a protestant monarchy and state church. This is the situation we still have today. Northern Ireland was never able to pull it off however.

Then there was the arts and crafts movement and the late Victorian fascination with all things medieval, which led naturally to a revival of interest in medieval religious art and ritual, leading to a style of Anglicanism which was dubbed 'anglo-catholicism' so closely did it resemble the formerly reviled papist faith.

[malkhos.livejournal.com]

Very interesting. Your background on history is impressive.

[benicek.livejournal.com]

Oh er I'm not sure how accurate I am though. It's all second or third hand. Better run it by Petrusplancius to be on the safe side.

[malkhos.livejournal.com]

Oh, I trust you all right. It all makes sense in a general way--I must get over my assessment of English feeling towards Catholics which was summed up in the episode of Black Adder in which Lady White Adder said that "Cold weather is God's way of telling us to burn more Catholics!" (God, that was funny, but it's rather disturbing to me that I've been quoting the show a lot--you'll soon think all my knowledge of history comes from there).

[benicek.livejournal.com]

They do still burn an effigy of the Pope on bonfire night in Lewes, but that's just a bit of fun.

Sectarian tension in England is these days more likely to focus on our Muslim population. There is still an undercurrent of protestant-catholic violence in parts of Scotland and the on-going but slowly resolving Northern Ireland situation.

[malkhos.livejournal.com]

Do you remember the episode of "The Black Adder" where Black Adder says he is happy to become the Archbishop of Canterbury because he gets to wear the nice purple clothes? :)

[petrusplancius.livejournal.com]

Being Archbishop of Canterbury would be too much like hard work; I'd like to be the Bishop of Bath and Wells, he lives in a palace surrounded by a moat, with wonderful views of the cathedral from the gardens at the back.

http://www.ecastles.co.uk/wells.html


Part of the garden:

[benicek.livejournal.com]

Yes, that would be nice. In fact I'd very much enjoy being a vicar in any wealthy village with nice medieval architecture and no social problems. My atheism has blocked off that career pathway to me unfortunately. I do quite envy and admire the chaplain at work. He's a clever and diplomatic bloke, gets paid to talk to the patients about something other than their bowels, can't get in trouble for drugs errors and never has to do any paperwork. I'd love his job.

[malkhos.livejournal.com]

One of the Senators who led the resistance to the Christianization of the Empire at the time ofthe Altar of Victory Controversy (I believe it was Praetextatus, but I'd ahve to look it up to be sure)said he'd convert to Christianity, if they made him Pope. That always seemed a very sensbile position to me, but I have to agree that the more retiring life to be had Bath and Wells is far more attractive.

[petrusplancius.livejournal.com]

Being an atheist is no great problem in the C of E; and besides, it's considered to be in bad taste to talk about God (at least if you choose the right parish).

[benicek.livejournal.com]

Ah well it's tempting but I'm not a good enough liar :)

[malkhos.livejournal.com]

That's a hoot. I always thought one of the benefits of becoming a nun would be that the Catholic Church would pay all my bills.

[benicek.livejournal.com]

A gay friend of mine used to say he'd like to be Pope because "I'd never want for frocks!"

[malkhos.livejournal.com]

Well, they tried that in the US and it didn't work out too well. All the gay men and the pedophiles thought the way to not be gay or a pedophile was to become a priest and it turned out disastrously; not the gay ones so much as the pedophiles, actually (the main factor in my not going to church anymore, much less supporting them financially--and they had the audacity to send me a letter stating that they knew I wasn't attending and not contributing money and warned me my soul was in mortal peril! the fuckers; that makes me so mad--the hypocrisy! I must write them back and tell them before they point out the mote in my eye, they need to remove the beams from their own).

[benicek.livejournal.com]

Not contributing money? Haha. It is heartwarming to see that some quarters of the Catholic church learned absolutely nothing from the reformation.

[malkhos.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes. When you register with a parish, you are automatically sent contribution envelopes by the diocese. If these aren't coming back, I guess they assume you're not contributing (which isn't altogether true; you could always see people putting cash into the collection).

I'll be damned--literally, I guess--if I'm going to financially support an institution who seems mostly to be using this money to settle massive civil lawsuits brought on by their own inaction--not just once or twice, but years and years and years of just looking away from an extremely serious problem they all knew existed.

So I might end up in hell with you and Malkhos after all, or at least spend much more time in purgatory because I'm not buying my way out and up! :) That is pitiful, isn't it?