Monday, May 8, 2023

13 works, PORTRAIT OF A LADY, The Story of Tamar, Daughter in Law of Judah, with Footnotes. #186

Doctor Lidia Kozenitzky
Tammar
Oil on canvas
64 × 88 cm
Private collection
I have no information about this artist!

In the Book of Genesis, Tamar was the daughter-in-law of Judah. She is first described as marrying Judah's eldest son, Er. Because of his wickedness, Er was killed by God. By way of a levirate union, Judah asked his second son, Onan, to provide offspring for Tamar so that the family line might continue. This could have substantial economic repercussions, with any son born deemed the heir of the deceased Er, and able to claim the firstborn's double share of inheritance. However, if Er was childless, Onan would inherit as the oldest surviving son.

I have no further description, at this time

Onan performed coitus interruptus, or the pull-out method. His action was deemed wicked by God and so, like his older brother, God killed him. At this point, Judah is portrayed as viewing Tamar to be cursed and therefore as being reluctant to give her his remaining and youngest son Shelah. Rather, he tells Tamar to wait for Shelah. However, even after Shelah has grown up, Judah still does not give Tamar to him in marriage.

James Jacques Joseph Tissot (French, 1836-1902)
Desolation of Tamar, c. 1896-1902
Gouache on board
3357 x 5038
Jewish Museum

An isha katlanit or qatlanit ( "woman fatal", lit. murderer) is a woman who has been widowed twice. According to Jewish law , she is, in principle, forbidden to remarry a third time because she is presumed responsible for the death of her previous spouses and could cause that of the next. Contemporary authorities, however, tend to rule in favor of remarriage in many cases.

After Shelah had grown up, Judah became a widower. After Judah mourned the death of his wife, he planned on going to Timnath to shear his sheep. Upon hearing this news, Tamar disguised herself as a prostitute and immediately went to Timnath which was en route to Judah's destination. 

Francesco Hayez
Tamar of Judah, c. 1847
Oil on canvas
De Agostini Picture Library

Francesco Hayez (10 February 1791 – 21 December 1882) was an Italian painter, the leading artist of Romanticism in mid-19th-century Milan, renowned for his grand historical paintings, political allegories and exceptionally fine portraits.

Hayez came from a relatively poor family from Venice. He was brought up by his mother's sister, who had married a well-off shipowner and collector of art. From childhood he showed a predisposition for drawing, so his uncle apprenticed him to an art restorer. Later he became a student of the painter Francesco Maggiotto with whom he continued his studies for three years. He was admitted to the painting course of the New Academy of Fine Arts in 1806. In 1809 he won a competition from the Academy of Venice for one year of study at the Accademia di San Luca in Rome. He remained in Rome until 1814, then moved to Naples where he was commissioned by Joachim Murat to paint a major work depicting Ulysses at the court of Alcinous. In the mid-1830s he attended the "Salotto Maffei" salon in Milan.

Francesco Hayez lived long and was prolific. His output spanned both historic paintings, and Neoclassic style grand themes, either from biblical or classical literature. He also painted scenes from theatrical presentations of his day.  More Francesco Hayez

Horace Vernet (1789 - 1863)
Judah and Tamar, c. 1840
Oil on canvas
129 x 97.5 cm
The Wallace Collection

Émile Jean-Horace Vernet (30 June 1789 – 17 January 1863), more commonly known as simply Horace Vernet, was a French painter of battles, portraits, and Orientalist subjects.

Grandson of Claude-Joseph Vernet and son of another eminent artist, Carle Vernet (1758-1836), he soon developed an extraordinary facility as a painter which he used to depict a wide range of subjects including scenes taken from literature, the Bible, contemporary Italy, North Africa and the Middle East.

He is best known, however, for his many paintings celebrating French military prowess, including a series of large battle pieces for Versailles. Louis-Philippe, who had first bought his work in 1817, favoured him with many commissions. Although he achieved notoriety when some of his paintings were rejected by the Paris Salon jury of 1822, allegedly because of their anti-Bourbon character, he received a number of honours from the restored Bourbon monarchy, including in 1828 the Directorship of the French Academy in Rome (which he retained until 1834).

His many foreign journeys included visits to Algeria (1833, 1837, 1839, 1845 and 1853), the Middle East (1839-40), Russia (1836 and 1842-3) and the Crimea (1854-5). More on Émile Jean-Horace Vernet

James Jacques Joseph Tissot (French, 1836-1902)
The Meeting of Tamar and Judah, c. between 1896 and 1902
Gouache on board
Jewish Museum

Jacques Joseph Tissot (15 October 1836 – 8 August 1902), Anglicized as James Tissot, was a French painter and illustrator. He was a successful painter of Paris society before moving to London in 1871. He became famous as a genre painter of fashionably dressed women shown in various scenes of everyday life. He also painted scenes and characters from the Bible. More on James Tissot

Tintoretto (Jacopo Comin)
The Meeting of Tamar and Judah
ca. 1555 - 1559
Oil on canvas. 150 x 155 cm
Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

Tintoretto; born Jacopo Comin, (October, 1518 – May 31, 1594) was an Italian painter and a notable exponent of the Renaissance school. For his phenomenal energy in painting he was termed Il Furioso. His work is characterized by its muscular figures, dramatic gestures, and bold use of perspective in the Mannerist style, while maintaining color and light typical of the Venetian School.
 
In his youth, Tintoretto was also known as Jacopo Robusti as his father had defended the gates of Padua in a way that others called robust, against the imperial troops during the War of the League of Cambrai (1509–1516). His real name "Comin" has only recently been discovered by Miguel Falomir, the curator of the Museo del Prado, Madrid, and was made public on the occasion of the retrospective of Tintoretto at the Prado in 2007. More on Tintoretto

Giuseppe Nuvolone, (Milan 1619–1703)
The Story of Tamar and Judah
Oil on canvas
149 x 179 cm
Private collection

This complex story, which is dominated by the fact that the Canaanite Tamar finds herself obliged to seduce her father-in-law and risk everything for reasons of genealogy, has parallels to other unconventional relationships in the Bible: the incest between Lot and his daughters after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorra, or the equally fateful passions of David and Bathsheba, or the singular union between Ruth the Moabite and Boaz. All these somehow problematic encounters ostensibly ensured the continuity of lineage across generations according to divine will. Such subjects were especially popular with a social class that faced dynastic worries. More on this painting

Giuseppe Nuvolone (1619–1703) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Milan, Brescia, and Cremona. Born in San Gimignano. He was the brother of the painter Carlo Francesco Nuvolone and son and pupil of Panfilo. He painted St Dominic resurrecting the dead for the church of San Domenico in Cremona. More on Giuseppe Nuvolone

Niccolò Bambini  (1651–1736)
Judah and Tamara on their way to Timno, c. 1700s
Oil on canvas
Pomurje Museum Murska Sobota

Niccolò Bambini (1651–1736) was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance and early-Baroque periods. He was born in Venice, and first studied under Giulio Mazzoni. He later moved to Rome, where he became a pupil of Carlo Maratti. He painted for the church of San Stefano soon after his return from Rome. More on Niccolò Bambini

Cornelis van Poelenburgh
Judah and Tamar in an italianate landscape
Oil on panel
30.5 by 28 cm.; 12 by 11 in.
Private collection

Cornelis van Poelenburgh or Cornelis van Poelenburch (1594 – 12 August 1667), was a Dutch landscape painter and draughtsman. He was the leading representative of the first generation of Dutch landscape painters who were active in Rome in the early 17th century. He was known for small-scale paintings depicting Italianate landscapes with small figures enacting biblical or mythological scenes or in contemporary attire.

He initially trained with Abraham Bloemaert, and his earliest signed paintings are from 1620. He traveled to Rome where he became a founding member of the Bentvueghels, the society of mainly Flemish and Dutch artists working in Rome. More on Cornelis van Poelenburgh

Upon arriving at a place near Timnath, where two roads met, Judah saw the woman but did not recognize her as Tamar because of the veil she wore over her face. Thinking she was a prostitute, he requested her services. Tamar's plan was to become pregnant by this ruse so that she might bear a child in Judah's line, since Judah had not given her to his son Shelah. So she played the part of a prostitute and struck a bargain with Judah for a goat, secured by his staff, seal, and cord. When Judah was able to have a goat sent to Timnath, in order to collect his staff and seal, the woman was nowhere to be found and no one knew of any prostitute in Timnath. 

Jacob Willemsz. de Wet the Elder
Juda and Tamar
Tamar was accused of prostitution on account of her pregnancy
Oil on panel
58,5 x 82,2 cm
Private collection+

Jacob Willemszoon de Wet or Jacob Willemsz. de Wet the Elder (c. 1610 – between 1675 and 1691) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, whose works were largely influenced by Rembrandt. De Wet was born and died in Haarlem. Little is known of his early life. Houbraken mentions him in passing as an art dealer of Haarlem in his biographical sketch of Philips Wouwerman, referring to him as Jan de Wet. 

De Wet left a notebook that mentions a total of 34 pupils, most famously Paulus Potter. Other notable pupils were Job Adriaensz Berckheyde, Adriaen Jansz Kraen, Johann Philip Lemke, Jan Vermeer van Haarlem I (not to be confused with Vermeer of Delft), Jacob de Wet II, and Kort Withold. He became a member of the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke in 1632. Judging from the number of pupils, and the difficulties his son Jacob II had with launching an independent career, it seems that De Wet had a large and successful practise in Haarlem. His son Jacob II was the only one of 5 children who also became a painter. More on Jacob Willemsz. de Wet the Elder

Unknown artist
Tamar holding Judah's seal, cord, and staff
I have no further description, at this time

Unknown artist
Tamar presenting Judah with his seal, cord, and staff, c. 17th century
Oil on canvas
120 x 144 cm
Private collection

Three months later, Tamar was accused of prostitution on account of her pregnancy. Upon hearing this news, Judah ordered that she be burned to death. Tamar sent the staff, seal, and cord to Judah with a message declaring that the owner of these items was the man who had made her pregnant. Upon recognizing these items as his security, Judah released Tamar from her sentence. Tamar, having thus secured her place in the family as well as Judah's posterity, gave birth to twins, Perez and Zerah. The midwife marks Zerah's hand with a scarlet cord when he emerges first from the womb, though Perez is born first. Perez is identified in the Book of Ruth as the ancestor of King David. The Genesis narrative also makes a note that Judah did not have further sexual relations with Tamar. More on Tamar




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