Coins in Art
Aspie_Rocco
Posts: 3,872 ✭✭✭✭✭
Probably my favorite artist ever was Caravaggio. I remember in art history class the teacher explained how Caravaggio was a "ruffian" or thug in real life. Prone to wild nights and fights in bars and such. But also a painter.
Anyhow his use of Shadows in painting is beautiful to me beyond words. Tennebrism is what it's called, the violent clash of light and dark in art like this.
In this piece Matthew is a tax collector hunched over COINS (far left) while being called out (pointed at) by Jesus Christ.
In the era this was painted the Catholic Church was the primary source commissioning art, as they had the most money. This is a cause for the time period to have many great works of art with Christian themes.
My favorite painting is the
Calling of St Matthew. The shadow and darkness is amazing. 
Comments
Nice...I love the emotions. Look at those faces. Denial, innocence, attention, dismissiveness. The stark shadows add real intensity.
Pretty cool.
Lance.
Art history major here. Thank you for injecting some coin-related art into this forum.
Caravaggio was one of my favorites as well. I did my study abroad in Italy, and we visited as many Caravaggios as possible. Seeing this painting in situ at the San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome blew my mind.
Gonna get me a $50 Octagonal someday. Some. Day.
Thank you for sharing that! Very impressive.
Steve Roach writes some excellent numismatic/art-history analysis for Coin World.
There was a nice article about coins in art work in Coin World a few months ago.
Beautiful painting. Collecting fine art, particularly Old Master and Impressionist paintings, does share a number of similarities with collecting coins, interestingly enough. Problems with fakes, undisclosed alterations, shill bidding, etc., are things that have been repeatedly discussed by Forum members and plague both hobbies.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
Impressive painting.... too bad we never see such talent/skill in paintings anymore.... Now the market seems filled with technicolor rubbish..... JMO... Cheers, RickO
Well here is my "Money Shot" I took of a young lady admiring the painting of a young lady at a van Gogh Museum situated in the center of a National Park in the Netherlands:
I'm lucky to live near the VMFA and get the chance to see many exhibits. Here's a pic of a coin vase that was showing on my last visit.
And here is one with included icon paintings that hang in a Russian Orthodox Church along the Volga River for which my photo of same was "in the money" having won a cash prize for 1st Place and Judge's Choice Awards at a State Fair: