Jeanne d'Arc and Iconic Realism

        

                    

                                                                                     Jeanne d'Arc's Death at the Stake,                                    

                                       by Hermann Stilke (1803–1860)                            

For All Saints Day, I present to you my patron saint, Jeanne D'Arc. I've chosen this painting to illustrate iconic realism. Images merge within this painting of Jeanne d’Arc to provide an interpretation that represents the presence of hope that humanity, with all its industry, will recognize the value in the temporal nature of innocence. Interpretation of this work of art may include a variety of perspectives to complement the number of viewers of the specific art. At this moment of perception, then, the artist and the viewer become collaborators. 

     Once this cognitive collaboration between artist and viewer occurs, the cultural interpretation begins to transform into a collection of new perspectives, based on the historicity of the viewers. New perceptions of a creative work shape newly actualized interpretations of the original work of art, which eventually become accepted interpretations by a community. Once the community recognizes these interpretations, the iconic becomes a reality.

     Through the establishment of an iconic figure within the mind-set of the community, an artist can then place this icon in a new reality that the community does not accept as the normal setting for this iconic figure. This placement allows the artist to make a statement that brings awareness to the community’s consciousness of an aspect within its culture that may need some attention. Jeanne d'Arc illustrated iconic realism in that she was a woman dressed in armor as a medieval man would be, leading French armies for God. In this role, she was able to win freedom for France even though it cost her life. Thus, warring for freedom led to her own spiritual freedom.  

Walt Disney and Iconic Realism

When the Walt Disney studios created the classic film, Fantasia, I wonder if they knew that future generations would be able to view their artistry via the technology of today. This scene directly follows "Night on Bald Mountain" where satanic forces pervade this same space. In the "Ave Maria" segment, the Disney artists have drawn realistic scenes of a pre-dawn woodland. The fervor of the night transforms into a peaceful daylight, conveyed through Franz Schubert's "Ave Maria" and a silent parade of 'saintly' images carrying torches. The placement of these individuals passing through this fertile woodland illustrates that humanity finds enlightened strength in an inner peace.

 Click here to view video of Disney's 'Ave Maria' from "Fantasia"

(Photo from Disney film, Fantasia, Google Images)

Click here to view Disney's "Fantasia" Final Chapter, Part 2 (Night on Bald Mountain) 

Brandon Balengee, Bio-Artist, and Iconic Realism (Click onto this title to see and hear Brandon Balengee discuss his research/art.)

Here, Brandon Ballengee, artist and scientist, collaborates with communities around the world to bring awareness of environmental change. His source is the iconic feature of ancient civilizations, the pond. Ballengee's research follows the phenomena of mutation in the amphibian populations worldwide. Then, he uses his skill as an artist to create awareness of this biological variance, focusing his audience's attention on environmental transformation.

How does this relate to Iconic Realism? 

 1: Iconic natural pond

 2: Scientific research of pond creatures within the pond

 3: This brings audiences to awareness of the importance of clean water sources

An added feature here is taking the scientific research and turning it into an art form, again, to bring awareness of the need for environmental stewardship.  

Click the link below to see and hear Brandon at work: 

The Basilica du Sacre-Coeur de Montmartre and Iconic Realism

 

The Basilica of Sacre-Coeur de Montmartre 

 MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP via Getty Images

When the power outage occurred after the opening night of the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France, something close to miraculous happened. The debauchery that took place during the opening ceremonies was offensive, rude, and had nothing to do with Parisian art. It was a direct insult to Christians worldwide and to our Lord, Jesus Christ. 

However, God is in charge, and when those lights went out, and a large portion of the Parisian landscape stood in darkness, one structure remained bright, welcoming, and a true testament of our Lord's power of Love and redemption. That structure was the Basilica du Sacre-Coeur de Montmartre. 

This image illustrates the semiotic theory of iconic realism in that it shows the world that even in the midst of darkness, both literal and figurative, an iconic piece of architecture can brilliantly demonstrate the constant presence of our Lord. 

Sydney Owenson's (Lady Morgan's) "The Musical Fly and William Blake's "The Fly"

                

 
Photos above:

 Left: Sydney Owenson (Lady Morgan) with harp, compliments of NY Public Library

Right: the-fly-shapiro.webp from Google Images

Below is an excerpt from a paper presented at the Association for Franco-Irish Studies, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, Ireland: 

In Sydney Owenson's poetic collection, Lay of an Irish Harp,  her chapter titled, “The Musical Fly,” renders a quote in French: “De pouvoir sans nous ennuyer Eterniser une bagatelle,” which translated into English generally states, “We cannot perpetuate a trifle annoyance.” Her poetic rendition continues with the tale of a fly’s encounter with the silent strings of a harp and an allusion to William Blake’s “The Fly” (See Blake's poem below.)

In the third stanza, she writes: 

Not seem’d unconscious of the charm
That lurk’d in every silent string
For oft the little vagrant swept

               O’er every chord his lucid wing. 

A fly not only is an insect that displays independence, but the word, fly, is both transitive and intransitive, with multiple meanings, all of which are related to transcendence. This fly, then, could be representative of independence. While Blake’s fly has an inevitable brush with death, “For I dance/And drink and sing, /Till some blind hand/Shall brush my wing,” Owenson’s fly, with a touch of its lucid wing, flirts with the silent strings of the Irish harp, a symbol of Ireland, and manages to create a resonance with the origins of the harp’s music. 

Both writers use a melodic format with metaphoric representations of the human aspiration for independence and the complexity that occurs when this spirit interacts with annoying governmental and societal dictates. Both poets elucidate for their audiences the dire consequences associated with submission to an overt power. 

Whereas Blake’s fly dances until it receives its fatal blow, Owenson’s fly dances to silent strings. Hers lives in a paradox that illustrates her desire to convince those in the British government, who could create the true music to allow their constituents to experience a reality based on tolerance, but choose instead to manage their constituents like that of the insect-vagrant, whose truth consists of momentary felicity. 

Owenson’s careful choice of lexicon in her poetic representation of independence reveals the antagonism that echoes throughout Irish history, like the strings of her harp, often resonating in a cultural vacuum of silence. 

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The Fly 

by William Blake

Little fly,

Thy summer’s play

My thoughtless hand

Has brushed away.

Am not I

A fly like thee?

Or art not thou

A man like me?

For I dance

And drink and sing,

Till some blind hand

Shall brush my wing.

If thought is life

And strength and breath,

And the want

Of thought is death,

Then am I

A happy fly,

If I live,

Or if I die.