I came across a post on one of the social media sites asking whether some of the paintings shown had been created by artificial intelligence. I had seen some of them before, so I knew they were historical paintings, but I wasn’t sure about the others. They certainly looked very different and strange, but at the same time they looked immaculate. But I couldn’t be sure, because it turned out that none of them, except one, were the work of artificial intelligence.
Looking through the comments, I came across a few informative ones about similar types of paintings, and I wanted to investigate them immediately. I would like to mention them in this article.
Almost everyone likes to examine these works, which are worthy of being exhibited in museums. Nowadays, such works are not performed very often, and even if they are, they may be limited to their fame on social media. Maybe it was like that in the past, who knows, but we have to say that those that have survived and are carefully preserved and exhibited are also wonderful works.
Personally, I like to analyse styles that are pleasing to the eye and not too extreme (meaningful and not strange at first glance, especially Contemporary Art). I can’t say that I do it every day, but when I come across it, I look at it to the fullest or find it enjoyable to examine the stories behind it.
Moreover, if the paintings I am talking about are wisely drawn, they gain even more superiority in my eyes. Hidden letters and symbols, colours with double meanings, the presence of objects that carry the meaning of the time into the present… Therefore, sometimes it is not enough to examine them by their appearance; to delve deeper and understand them by reading them also adds semantic integrity to these visual arts and increases their real value. In other words, sometimes we find a work as valuable as we recognise it.
As a work of the kind I mentioned, I like Caravaggio’s “Amor Vincit Omnia”. If you know and love this kind of painting, you will think that this one is even simple in appearance. If you want to see it in more detail and on a larger scale, you can access it from its original source by clicking on the link.
Baroque art tends to show dramatic effects between the events or people portrayed, dynamism in the painting, getting lost in the details (which is the richness I want to point out) and often religious or mythological themes. It is therefore a genre that contains more romantic, rational and moving works, as opposed to the serenity and clarity that we can observe in the works of the Renaissance.
Amor appears here as Cupid, the god of love. We know from cartoons that when the heart-shaped arrows from his bow hit two people, they fall in love. What is depicted here is different.
It looks as if he has been knocking over various symbolic objects with the cloth that got tangled around his feet when he got down from the table. Judging by the mischievous expression on his face, I am sure he knows what he is doing.
Look at the objects scattered about, some instruments, papers with manuscripts or perhaps a musical composition, pieces of rough armour, a simple-looking crown, a flower that I suspect has begun to wither, tools that can help with geometrical measurements… All of these are included in this work as a representation of the endeavours that were common at the time and that took place in people’s lives, like the arrows he holds in his hand, which are part of his own endeavours.
Let us state what is meant and then move on. Amor, in other words love, affection, pleasure and aspire, is emphasised as the emotion that stands above and guides them all. It is stated that desire is the basis of all human endeavour. The materials of the real world are immortalised with the help of mythology, and it is a reference to the happiness and pleasure we receive in return for work done with love.
If this work has piqued your curiosity, it has also been painted by other painters, and unlike the dark background (used for dramatic effect) here (tenebrism and chiaroscuro), the objects in question are clearly visible, as are the more exuberant colours. The 1640 work by Jan van den Hoecke and Paul de Vos is accessible from here.
Can it be considered a fully surrealist work, even though it is created with a balance between the concrete and the abstract? If you’re not sure, let’s move on to one that does it justice. You know, the kind of painting where you can never be sure if it was drawn with the help of artificial intelligence.
But let’s take a quick look at what surrealism is and refresh our knowledge. This genre is mainly known for the exploration of the subconscious world, the interpretation of dreams, random connections and the use of elements that can be called “surreal”. In short, we can say that it is a crazy representation of fantasies and dreams. Although most of the elements are abstract, there is an attempt to create an aesthetic appearance by distorting the qualities of concrete objects.
In fact, there are five main characteristic features of surrealism, let me add them here:
the juxtaposition of two different and unrelated objects to construct a new meaning (Juxtaposition),
unexpected scaling of objects (Scale),
continuous and excessive repetition of an object (Repetition),
unlike Juxtaposition, two materials are intertwined and drawn by interweaving them (Metamorphism),
impossible-looking drawings that defy reality and give the genre its name (Impossible Action).
The painter was a Dutchman called Jheronimus van Arken. There is very little information about his life, and some information has to be accepted by rationalising it with assumptions. He is thought to have been born in the 1450s, as there is a self-portrait of him from 1510. He wanted to change his name to Hieronymus Bosch because of his home town of Den Bosch (Bosch means forest/woodland).
The reason for choosing the name Hieronymus must be linked to the monk known as St Jerome (Latin: Hieronymus), who worked extensively on the Bible, is considered a pioneer of translators and is the symbol of the International Translation Day on 30 September.
We will now begin to roughly analyse the work of this mad and brilliant man. His work is called “The Garden of Earthly Delights”. This work is a triptych, which means that it is painted on three panels and can be examined in a convertible way. The painter wanted to paint a different picture on each of the three parts. The themes are taken from the Bible. You can see the painting in the image below. For other works by the painter in this museum, you can use this link.
Before going into its contents, I must say that the painting is extremely large. I believe that if we add the three pieces together we get a scale of 220cm × 389cm (86 — 153 inches), but I have seen different scales on different sites, so if you trust your computer you may want to zoom in and examine the much larger version available here.
In fact, the naming is more closely associated with the large panel in the centre. Because in the left panel we see Adam and Eve. This is the first scene, the narrative of the creation that deals with the concept of sin. The central panel contains a long and crowded narrative, reflecting a false paradise in which lust is the predominant sin. The right panel prepares for the end and presents a slice of hell. We see humanity being punished and embracing the bad end. It is emphasised that the paradise promised with sin can turn into hell.
The part of the work that seems strange and fantastic must, of course, arise from the fact that heaven is different from the concrete world. It is a world that is not like the one we know, a world where we get what we want and everything around us is far from ordinary. The marvellous thing is that he was able to think about this and portray it at that time. Also, if you put that kind of approach into a religious narrative, it might not have a positive meaning at first glance and might not have been well received at the time.
Although some have speculated that it was intended as an altarpiece, the nudity (not sexuality) of the drawings would not have allowed this. A more plausible speculation is that it was commissioned by a wealthy and influential patron. A year after the painter’s death, it was exhibited in a prestigious building of the time.
What impresses me the most and makes me jealous is that the panels are actually read like a book. It really is a wonderful technique. It is impossible not to admire it. Let’s analyse it again with this understanding. God introduces Eve to Adam and tells him about love and desire. Thus begins their “marriage”. We see the beginning of humanity, of creation.
The central panel is about love and fertility, which is also God’s commandment. Adam and Eve teach others to do the same, but the love that should be in human beings becomes sinful with the expression of inner impulses and turns into the pleasure of lust. We see the passing days of humanity.
Having defied God’s will, they will be punished in due course. Together with the part about suffering the consequences of their sin, we see the end of mankind, hell.
Now we have a surprise, which is one of the most beautiful features of the triptych. I have already mentioned that the work has a retractable structure, and on the front side there is a painting formed by two small panels on the outside.
Closed panel of The Garden of Earthly Delights (1490–1500) by Hieronymus Bosch, Museo del Prado, Madrid
This also tells us to examine the cover of the book first. Here, before the interior, we see that the third day of the creation of the world is depicted. You will notice that the colours are pale and greyish. It was painted using a technique called “grisaille”. This is a technique in which the painter uses a limited palette of only neutral tones and shades of a single colour, such as grey.
The reason for this is that we are looking at a time before the Light is brought to Earth on the third day of the narrative. The light has not yet reached the sphere, the earth. The figure at the top left is God himself, standing in the sky. The completely dark background indicates the plane outside the earth. At the top are the Latin inscriptions of the Commandments. I would like to meet this genius who would create a wonderful contrast by placing scenes in vivid colours on the inside after the monochrome narrative on the outside.
Thus, we have touched upon both works. Caravaggio, who depicts the superiority of love in life through the use of symbolism, and Bosch, who depicts the life of people in the false paradise of love with scenes dedicated to the source (the Bible), have done excellent work with a unique style. The fact that Caravaggio was one of the pioneers of the Baroque style (he also painted biblical scenes) and that Bosch, who lived a century before him, created a surrealist work (surrealism was formalised in the last century), makes the situation even more charismatic, attractive and magnificent.
Speaking specifically about Surrealism, I think that its random structure, detachment from reality and absurdity may have made the works performed unattractive, illogical and unacceptable, and may have pushed it into a genre that is not preferred.
I think that the branches of art form a parallel and complementary structure (intentionally or not). For this reason, I think it is appropriate (even if it is a somewhat romantic point of view) to attribute the development and spread of science fiction as a term in the 20th century to this parallel and complementary structure. And the modern fantasy genre, which emerged in the late 19th century, to this parallel and complementary structure.
On the other hand, if we look at artificial intelligence, the fact that it takes a very short time to portray all this does nothing but live up to its name. In the face of artists who have left their mark on history, created terms and styles, dedicated their lives to their endeavours, challenged their epochs and ensured that both they and their works are still talked about centuries later, the latest boon of technology is artificial intelligence, which is fast, solution-oriented but utterly soulless and will never be able to surpass humans in this respect.
However, its involvement and the fact that it plays a major role in our daily lives can sometimes be so functional that it overrides the human values and aspirations that give us spirit.
I wonder what would have happened if artificial intelligence had existed in the time of Caravaggio and Bosch. Would the great artists of the past have been saddened by the loss of their selves, or would they have known how to use it differently from everyone else? I think the answer is the latter. After all, isn’t artificial intelligence just paper on which we scribble, or canvases on which we try to shape our lines and colours into the shape we want?
So it is not so much the clash of art and technology, but the love of the human being who can own and spend time with both. We should be the ones who stand above artificial intelligence and smile, not feed it to our sinful desires to delay our possible end or embrace the wonders of the next era.
In addition to the links I have provided throughout the article, here are the sources I used for my research:
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