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Tuesday, October 19, 2021

Eye rolling Jesus


It did not escape Marconi that the crucifixion motif was still a going thing in 19th C. art, so he
 produced this number.  I can't help but notice that Jesus looks like he's rolling his eyes.

 

10 comments:

  1. I'm guessing that the washed out look in these photos is due to that primitive flash you explained about before. But the clarity of all these pictures is remarkable.

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    1. Yes, Marconi's work was quite good technically for the time.

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  2. I'm pretty sure he is looking up to his heavenly father and not rolling his eyes.

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  3. Sorry to dissent!
    In Christian New Testament and in the iconography Jesus was flanked by 2 thieves, normally they are represented at a lower level (google "Jesus and the two thieves on the cross" and you will see...)
    So, if the model is representing a thief, then he is not eye rolling, he is looking up to Jesus.
    Are more Marconi photos with a crucifixion model?
    Maybe there is one with the model looking down, and then that is a Jesus.

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    1. Don't apologize for dissenting. I need someone to keep me honest. You can probably tell by now that I was a Sunday school dropout.

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  4. That would be quite uncomfortable. The model's lean body, abdomen drawn in, certainly adds to the drama and sense of suffering. At some point I'd love to do a crucifixion pose. Ideally with a lower arm position.

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    1. Even though long exposures were still common at the time this was made, I'm guessing that posing for a photo in this position would be much less tiring than for an artist. Frequent breaks, please!

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    2. Yup. A means to produce a reference pose that would be too tiring for the model. So long as the weight is mostly on the feet it could be done. But, as you say frequent breaks please. I've done long pose vitruvian man, arms slightly lower. This was as break every 20 minutes.

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    3. No way I could last 20 minutes, but then you do have experience at these things . . . and I'm not as young as I used to be.

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