Simon Schama's Power of Art

1. Caravaggio (David with the Head of Goliath)

The host looked at what made Caravaggio paint this work and the message Caravaggio intended to show in his work. The episode reveals to viewers that Caravaggio was charged with murder and became a criminal, with Schama suggesting that this led to the darker themes found in his work.^[1] He details that the artwork's intended message was as a plea for forgiveness from the Pope to remove the death by decapitation sentencing that Caravaggio had received following the murder of Ranuccio Tomassoni in 1606.^[2]

2. Bernini (Ecstasy of St Theresa)

The work was constructed in Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome over a five-year period between 1647 and 1652,^[3] depicting Teresa of Àvila. The narrator describes that he sought to portray the Saint's overpowering joy or ecstasy in her servitude to God. The influence behind such a work came as a result of Bernini's passion and devout belief in Christianity. This religious belief saw him place the work at the back of the chapel and construct a hidden window above where rays of sunlight dawned on the marble sculpture so as to give it a heavenly, religious touch.^[4]

3. Rembrandt (The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilius)

Schama outlines that the painting was commissioned by the Amsterdam City Council for the new Town Hall (Cavalli-Björkman, Görel, and Margaretha Rossholm-Lagerlöf 135–136). It was originally appointed to Govert Flinck who died before the project was undertaken. The project was then divided up, with Rembrandt being commissioned to paint a scene from the rebellion of the Batavians (former inhabitants of Holland) against the Romans. The host notes, the work was painted after the death of his wife and three of his children, describing that the etched, darker brushwork was influenced by this. This style was also common in the Baroque period and Rembrandt's style as a whole.

4. David (Death of Marat)

The episode analyses how the artwork was as a tribute to his late friend and French Revolution leader, Jean-Paul Marat, who had been murdered by Charlotte Corday. The stylistic features of the work incorporated the history of the Roman and Greek empires. This was to symbolise to the people of the French Revolution that a future similar to these empires lay in front of them. While also forewarning what a misuse of freedom could lead to (death of their leader).^[1]

5. Turner (The Slave Ship)

Schama outlines the inspiration behind such a painting. Turner was compelled to paint the work after reading The History and Abolition of the Slave Trade by Thomas Clarkson, he learned of the Zong massacre in 1781, when more than 130 slaves were ordered to be thrown overboard in order to collect insurance payments.^[5] The episode examines the development of Turner from a landscape painter to a symbolic expressionist painter, connecting the original landscape and transforming it into a more abstract piece that links together the natural environment. Specifically, it is noted how he transformed the natural environment using water colours, so that, “The storm is partially lulled, and the torn and streaming rain clouds are moving in scarlet lines to lose themselves in the hollow of the night.”^[6]

6. Van Gogh (Wheatfield with Crows)

This work was one of Vincent van Gogh's final works and was completed in July 1890, before he died on 29 July 1890. The episode details the effect Van Gogh's lack of wealth had on his work, where this combined with his undiagnosed epilepsy, saw him end up in a mental asylum. It was here that Van Gogh was inspired to, “Sadness, extreme loneliness,”^[7] while also wanting to show what he considered, “Healthy and fortifying about the countryside.”^[7] Schama examines the subject matter of the work, where, “The menacing sky, the crows and the dead-end path are said to refer to the end of his life approaching.”^[8]

7. Picasso (Guernica)

Schama outlines how the artwork was crafted in response to the bombing of a defenceless city,^[9] Guernica, by Nazi planes during the Spanish Civil War. The work is one of Picasso's cubist works, where its subject matter revolved around, “The most notorious bombing of the century.”^[10] The artwork spans 7.77m wide and 3.49 high. The episode outlines that the message intended from the artwork was to exemplify the horrors and damages of war and act as an anti-war symbol. And that the size of the artwork aids to engulf the majority of the viewer's field of vision and exemplify this message.

8. Rothko (Black on Maroon)

This early Rothko work was completed in order to fulfil a commission for the Four Seasons in New York. Rothko withheld the work from installation at the restaurant,^[11] as he did not want his work as a background to the wealthy.^[12] Schama outlines this and the inspirations surrounding Rothko and this work, specifically outlining his upbringing as a Russian emigrant. Rothko initially gained inspiration as an abstract expressionist. Heavily influenced by philosophy and mythology, these two influences culminated in Rothko using colour to form a different medium, liberating colour from the objects, so that objects no longer have colour, but the painting as a whole, does.^[1]

Idea for the show

Schama was asked to create the series after talks with BBC executives.”^[14] (5:16-7:01) The premise or the intended aim of the series was to pull viewers into the surroundings and context of the artist when they were painting their artwork. The aim of the series is described by Schama numerous times in a self-interview regarding the series. First, “Getting you (the viewer) out of the art gallery, out of the harsh world of the acoustic, where a guy tells you how long to stand in front of a painting and when to move on. And plunk you back down into Rome in the 17th century, or Amsterdam or the Spanish Civil War.”^[14] (4:10) Further he states that he aimed to make viewers feel the very situations of the painting, “To make the hair stand on the back of your neck, at this moment of panic or crisis, or drama, drama of the creative moment,”^[14] (4:30) explaining, “If it’s going to be done, especially if I’m going to do it, the viewer has to suspend disbelief, that’s what we do in writing history.”^[14] (5:53) Schama finally surmises the inspiration for creating the show. “What we’re trying to do in this series is to make you all that excited about paintings you may know and may want to look at again, sculptures you may know and want to look at again…We want to make this art as real to you as they were when the paint was still wet or before the marble was polished.”^[14] (19:38)

In the self-interview, Schama explains the reason for the structure of the show (why only one artwork was examined). “We (Schama and the team creating the show) knew for this sense of art as a drama to work… we would concentrate on one moment of trouble in the artist’s career, but also one particular work of art. And then we’d loop back from that work of art to explain how the artist got to that moment of trouble. And that freed us completely from having to do a program which covered every single greatest hit.”^[14] (10:55)