My desire for this blog is in 'keeping the arts alive' as I mentioned at the end of my last post. How much more appropriate than to talk about the movie The Monuments Men. I had seen the preview a while back and wanted to watch it after seeing some who were in the wonderful cast. George Clooney, John Goodman and Matt Damon, just to name a few. This movie is set in 1945 during WWII. The job of the Monuments Men was to get back the art masterpieces that the Nazi's literally stole from their original locations. It really is incomprehensible how much was stolen and burned never to be seen again. As they said in the movie, Hitler really did want it all. His goal being to open a museum, the Fuerhermuseum, ultimately to be filled with as many masterpieces as he could acquire including the Mona Lisa, the Statue of David and the amazing Ghent Altarpiece. The amount of art taken was literal truckloads to be stored in salt mines so as to protect from the bombings.
The character of George Clooney, Frank Stokes, said this beautiful quote, "Here is the truth as I see it. That's what we are fighting for culture for our way of life. You can wipe out an entire generation of people, you can burn their homes to the ground and somehow they will still come back. But if you destroy their achievements and their history, then it is like they never existed just like ash floating"
Here are a few of the pieces of notable mention in the movie.
Northern Renaissance art, the Catholic Church and one of the most desired pieces of art at the time. It was painted by Hubert and Jan van Eyck in 1432 with the dimensions of 11'6'' x 15'1'' and whose subject was Mary. The Ghent Altarpiece is a polyptych panel painting, which means it is composed of twelve separate panels eight of which are hinged like shutters. Quite a large item to steal!
A work by Leonardo da Vinci and acclaimed to be
'the best known, most visited, most written about, most sung about and most parodied piece of art in the world'
The Zelfportret met baret en rode mantel
otherwise known as the self portrait of Rembrandt c.1645 was another masterpiece stolen. It was located in the Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, a German museum in the town of Karlsruhe. The medium of this painting, oil on oak and oval shaped.
The Recovering of Rembrandt
Then we have the Bust of Charlemagne which was located in the town of Aachen, Germany. The Bust of Charlemagne is a reliquary, or shrine which contains sacred relics, of Charlemagne aka Charles the Great, c.1349. The Gothic goldwork bust was one of the most significant and best known examples of reliquary. It contains the actual skullcap of Charlemagne. It also represents the idealized image of Charles the Great, not an actual likeness.
Visiting Aachen cathedral and Charlemagne
This may be a little bit out of the way with these links, but Aachen is the home town of our beloved David Garrett! This town happened to be a part of the Monuments Men's territory. The people who may be interested in some of David's hometown history should find these interesting!
And finally, Michelangelo's Madonna and child.
Yes, the Nazi's stole this magnificent masterpiece. This sculpture was the only one of Michelangelo's to ever have left Italy during his lifetime. It ended up in a Cathedral in Bruges, Belgium Church of our Lady.
The Monuments Men were very concerned about the Madonna because the Nazi's had already destroyed Florence. This sculpture's medium was marble c.1501-1504, Italian Renaissance and, of course, depicts Mary with baby Jesus.
The Monuments Men were very concerned about the Madonna because the Nazi's had already destroyed Florence. This sculpture's medium was marble c.1501-1504, Italian Renaissance and, of course, depicts Mary with baby Jesus.
In closing, the English character played by Hugh Bonneville, Donald Jeffries, quotes this, "Great works of art can never belong to any one individual at least not in spirit, The Madonna, is as much mine as it was Napoleon's."
Thank goodness for The Real Monuments Men, if it was not for them I would be unable to write about these amazing artworks because they would have been lost, destroyed or left to some other unknown fate.
The Monuments Men certainly taught me about a history that I did not know and we were even able to learn about David's hometown! If you feel so obliged after reading my post, I hope that you will watch the movie. I did not give away any important details, I promise!!!
Thank God for artists and their brilliant minds so that we may enjoy their art to enhance and compliment our lives.
Here is to David and to keeping the arts alive!
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Karlsruhe Kunsthalle
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