Pliny the Younger and His Mother at Misenum, 79 A.D

Angelica Kauffman
Angelica Kauffman, Pliny the Younger and His Mother at Misenum, 79 A.D., 1785

By RUOLING "LINDA" XU

At the year of 79 A.D., an ancient port in Italy, Misenum, was buried by the nearby volcano- Vesuvius. The volcano ashes destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum. This scene is pictured in the background of Angelica Kauffman's painting. On the right side is the three-primary colored family group: Pliny the Elder, Pliny the Younger and his mother. Pliny the Younger is the son of Lucius Caecilius Cilo and Plinia Marcella, Pliny the Elder's sister. After Pliny the Younger's father died, he was raised by his mother. His uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped educate and raise him. After Pliny the Elder died in the Vesuvius eruption, he passed his estate to his nephew, who was later recognized as Pliny the Younger.

Vesuvius was erupting and the sea was churning. It seems to be the end of the world. Pliny the Younger's mother was afraid of the disaster and tried to use her veil to protect herself. She placed her hand on her son to make sure he was still there. Pliny the Younger, the boy in blue, looked pretty pissed. He was studying as he claimed in his letters to Cornelius Tacitus, while Pliny the Elder went to rescue other people in danger. Pliny the Elder asked if his nephew wanted to come, but "[Pliny the Younger] replied that [he] preferred to go on with [his] studies, and as it happened [Pliny the Elder] had himself given [Pliny the Younger] some writing to do." Pliny the Elder later died as a hero saving many people.

Perhaps Kauffman wanted to punish Pliny the Younger so she painted his figure with two left foot and a wrong perspective. There is also another version: Kauffman was lazy and made her less talented husband paint some parts of the painting, and the two left foot of Pliny the Younger was his "masterpiece."

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Sappho Inspired by Love

Angelica Kauffman
Angelica Kauffman, Sappho Inspired by Love, 1775
By ELLIE SCHNEIDER

Angelica Kauffman was one of few women artists during the Neoclassical Era. Originally from Switzerland, she travelled throughout Italy and Austria as she grew up. Her knack for art came from her father, Joseph Johann Kauffman. It was his work as a portrait painter, which influenced her the most. In fact, Angelica often helped Joseph with his paintings for churches and portraits. She was deemed a child prodigy and “in Rome she was accepted into the Accademia di S Luca at the age of 23 and in London she was a founder-member of the Royal Academy” (Turner). It was through this exposure to the art world that she met Benjamin West in Florence, Italy in 1762. West, another influential man in her life, is one reason she moved to London in 1766. Despite the importance of men in her life, she was a strong independent woman and constantly pushed boundaries. While she made most of her money by painting portraits, she loved history paintings. Though many frowned upon women who created history paintings because there was prejudice against women studying anatomy, Kauffman “substituted statuary for the living male model” (Turner). One of her most famous History paintings is Cornelia Presenting Her Children as Her Treasures (Art Through the Ages). Kauffman’s painting “of a virtuous Roman mother who presented her children to a visitor as her jewels exemplifies the Enlightenment fasciation with classical antiquity and with classical art” (Art Through the Ages).

Kauffman had two main lovers in her lifetime. The first, an adventurer named Brandt, died in 1781. The second, Antonio Zucchi, was an artist who specialized in interior decoration. Zucchi’s work influenced her own, as she started created interior decoration pieces. Zucchi also took over Joseph’s role of taking care of his daughter’s finances. They travelled around Italy while Kauffmann completed some of her most famous works (Turner).

Sappho pictures Sappho, the famous poet, with cupid. There is a spotlight focusing on Sappho and Cupid. The painting is darker and heavier on the left where there is a tree and where Sappho is writing a poem. Kauffman uses vibrant colors, green and red shawls covering Sappho and Cupid, to bring life to her painting. The poem pictured on the tablet is one her most famous, Ode to Aphrodite. The lines on the tablet read, “So come again and deliver me from intolerable pain.” Fuseli said, “Her heroines are herself.” So, is this painting hinting towards her similarities with Sappho? Sappho’s poetry is known as lesbian erotica. The poem on the tablet is an ode to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. With Cupid at her side, the painting hints to Sappho’s love of Aphrodite. Cupid even appears to be consulting the poet as she writes.

While there is no knowledge of Kauffman engaging in love affairs with other women, this painting does promote women. Kauffman, a feminist before her times, exemplified what it was like to be a female artist in a man’s world. Though she was told she should not create history paintings because she was a woman, she still did. She was one of the most famous painters from the Neoclassical Era, man or woman, proving that social norms were not going to limit her artistic abilities.

Turner, Jane. The Dictionary of Art. New York: Grove Dictionaries Inc., 1996.


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Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi, Pointing to her Children as her Treasures

1785
Angelica Kauffman, Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi, Pointing to her Children as her Treasures, 1785

Cornelia loves her children. She wants for them to become heroes like their father, Punic War veteran Scipio Africanus. So indicates the history associated with this painting, as Cornelia devoted her life to raising her sons to become successful politicians. The artist Angelica Kauffman captures Cornelia at a point of philosophical triumph. While the woman on the right clutches her jewels in surprise her friend's indifference to them, Cornelia indicates her children, Gaius and Tiberius, as her worldly treasures, choosing love over materialism. She even wears simpler clothing than the other colorfully-garbed woman, constituting more symbolism.

The painting has a heartening warmth of subject and color and delicately understated emotions, making it graceful and immediately appealing to the eye. Kauffman, a popular portaitist, also worked to paint royal and noble families, so she had practice implementing many of the details displayed above, like family resemblances and stately, impressive poses (Cornelia as Mary, anyone?). Neoclassical nuances include the plain background, deliberate pyramid shape in composition, the clearly Roman subject matter, and fable-like moral.

Kauffman, one of the rare successful female artists of her time, painted this scene in Britain, between the American and French revolutions and during the Industrial Revolution. New industry in cities put farms out of work, leading to an influx of citizens into urban areas. Crime increased with a higher concentration of people, and families became less tightly joined as their members, including women, went to work long hours at different jobs to sustain themselves. This led not only to less emphasis on marriage but thereby less on childbirth and care, which women could not do while working 14-hour factory shifts.  With the country in the throes of moral turmoil, Kauffman painted a portrait illustrating family values and their own simple nobility.

Another interesting aspect of the painting is the implications of putting peoples' needs over most material gain. Perhaps, in a way, this ties back to the tenets of the utilitarian movement arising in Britain at the time. Utilitarian writers influenced government with the philosophy of making decisions to benefit the greatest number of people, maximizing utility and happiness. Kauffman tells viewers to value other people and their needs above their own, as others' successes will bring make them happy as well. Furthermore, Cornelia historically raised her sons to be successful populist politicians, especially famous for their land distribution policies. Utilitarians also called for preventive measures such as a police force to encourage people to remember their morals. Her painting is similarly a preventive measure against the declining moral character of the British citizenry and a gentle reminder to love and value family above all else.

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