Two Toms- and a Great Schism

An essay on a cultural divide expressed in two--Thomas portraits by Holbein- Brian Keeler

Two portraits in the Frick Museum in New York City are perpetually presented to us to enjoy for their remarkable virtuous painterly performance.  Underneath and between lie a great cultural, religious and ethical divide. This schism is nothing short of the Protestant reformaing and all that implies and included on world events. I am speaking of the two pendant pieces, oil portraits by Hans Holbein dating from 1527 and 1532- in England. Though they were created only several years apart without considering their visual relation or the enmity between the two men- nonetheless, they are shown to us as divided (by a fireplace) but united in context.  Perchance, they are almost the same size and fortuitously posed facing and perhaps glaring at each other.

Above- The 1527 oil on oak panel portait of Thomas Moore by Hans Holbein

I have visited the Frick numerous times over the years. With the museum presenting a truly remarkable collection of masterpieces from European artists there is no shortage of swooning to experience while there. This particular room that contains the two oils has always been a place to linger.  On the opposite wall there is the large panel by Bellini of Saint Francis in the Wilderness.  A previous curator of the Frick considered this the most beautiful painting in the world.  Quite an endorsement in itself, that would inspire at least a longer pause as we often move quickly from one painting to the next in museums.

Above - The 1532 oil portrait of Thomas Cromwell by Hans Holbein.

My interest in Moore was piqued by a wonderful BBC series about Thomas Cromewll, called Wolf Hall,which was itself inspired by the book of the same name by Hilary Mantel. But the cultural profile of Moore also has an aspect in cinema with the 1966 film, "A Man for All Seasons" starring Paul Scofield. Futhermore, Thomas Moore is the name of play attributed to Shakespeare. It deals with a xenophobic populace and anti-immigrant senttiments. Sound familiar?- we need look no further than today's headlines of goverment thugs killing and terrorzing Americans, most notably in Minnesota and Maine (at the moment).

The Frick Museum produced a book of essays where they invited writers of various backgrounds to contemplate and share their history of visiting the Frick.  This volume was purchased last spring at the reopening of the Frick after the expansion and re-curating of the collection - which included opening the upstairs galleries of the Frick mansion.  This book has a catchy title of "The Sleeve Should be Illegal."  The cover image shows a detail of the hands of Moore holding a scrap of paper and the rendering of the red velvet sleeves that inspired the title.  And indeed these crimson sleeves are rendered with preternatural ability as is the entire painting.  This act of writing about art has a memorable term of ekphrasis- as pointed out in the foreword by Adam Gopnik.  The term is worth noting and here is a quote from Gopnik at the start of his essay.

"Once upon a time, the ekphrasis was the standard, even the highest form of writing- an ekphrasis being the poetic evocation of a painting by a poet who had been sufficiently impressed by a picture to want to write about it,  Phrases and paragraphs poured out about pictures in antiquity, evocations and intimate descriptions of this painters landscape or that one's lover."

Through this we come to appreciate the curatorial acumen and serendipity of how these paintings were acquired and now presented to us.  The acquisition of the Moore portrait was surrounded by great controversy and debate on both sides of the Atlantic.  Apparently Frick wanted another portrait by Holbein as his first choice, a canvas of Christina of Denmark and settled on the painting of Moore to console himself.   The episode has similarities to how the large painting by Thomas Eakins of the Gross Clinic was saved from another being purchased by another wealthy Magnate- the Wallmarts in Arkansas.  In the case of the first choice by Frick, the painting was saved by an anonymous donor and kept in England.  So the Moore painting was a second choice and acquired in 1910. Ih the case of the Eakins it was saved by public donations and kept in Philadelphia. 

Above- A cartoon of the early 20th century by Bernard Partridge- lampooning Uncle Sam with a bag of money attempting to abscond with a Holbein portrait. The painting was saved from the acquisition by the wealthy Frick- due to public oppostion.

The positioning  of the two pendant portraits of Moore and Cromwell is fortuitous and emblematic of their hostility and rivalry.  A  large fireplace separates them with a painting by El Greco above the mantel in between. The painting of Saint Jerome by EL Greco was painted a few decades later than the Holbeins- but its mannerist and brushy expression is a marked counter force to the rigid and rigorous realism of the Holbeins.  The secular and courtly subjects of the Holbeins offer a contrast to the religious subject as well.  To underscore the animosity between Moore and Cromwell there are statues of bestial aggression underneath. The symmetry of positioning of a sculpture of a leopard attacking a bull and a lion attacking a horse, placed underneath each show the curators' concerns. It was pointed out in one of the essays of the Frick Catalog that the aggression of the beasts in the statues expresses the hostility of the sitters.

The paintings can captivate us with their sheer virtue, each articulation is brimming with veracity.  I would say each brushstroke delivers truth but (in Truth) we see no evidence of process and brushstrokes here.  There is a preliminary drawing of the same pose of the Moore portrait where we can see the process and feel the thinking and sensitivity of perception.  Take for example the stubble of the beard on Moore's portrait. It even contains some silvery glints of the grey hairs coming in.  The articulation of form is remarkable and we can actually feel the personalities.  The symbolism and detail of each reveal another level of significance. On the Cromwell  portrait, for instance, he is holding a piece of paper with the writing legible, an note from King Henry the VII.

The relevance of the portraits to current events is part of the reward of looking at art.  Not just an antiquarian's interest in history as a curiosity of a distant time- but seeing connections to today's occurrences brings more rewards. The great divide and schism between the reformation of Martin Luther and the Catholic Church is central to these portraits.  Cromwell represented the Monarch, King Henry the VIII ( also the subject of an amazing Holbein Portrait) and the break away from the Catholic Church.  More, represented the fidelity to the old guard and tradition of Rome and the Catholic religion.  Moore was also a humanist and friend of the Philosopher Erasmus. And of interest to me, was Moore's fascination with the Italian philosopher Pico Della Mirandola.

The overtones to today's politics come in by seeing how a tyrannical King the 16th century in England  repressed and executed dissenters. The intersection of politics, philosophy and religion are contained within these portraits.   When we see our current tyrant in chief in action attempting to extend his autocracy into art institutions, say the Smithsonian Museums, or the Kennedy Center in DC not to mention the Department of Justice or the Federal Reserve, we see modern examples of abuse of power.  Bending religion and ethical standards to fit the whims of a tyrant - as in annulments and beheadings by King Henry the VIII.  We don't have to look too far to see contemporary abuses.

From the two portraits in the Frick, at first glance we would not imagine the back story.  Speaking of retribution and revenge, that characterize our current regime we understand the extremes of the 15th century.  Both of these sitters were beheaded as a result of their politics.  I've been reading two biographies of these  15th century statesman- the Moore bio, by Peter Ackroyd and the Cromwell by Diarmaid MacCulloch bring out the ghastliness of beheadings and burnings at the stake that were part of the policies of both men.  They each sent scores of men and women to their deaths for their political and spiritual beliefs.

Thomas Moore is perhaps best remembered, not for his statesmanship or religious beliefs but for his singular and prescient novel, Utopia.  Utopia was published in 1516 and partly as result of his work in diplomacy of international relations.  HIs time in Bruges as a diplomat provided insight and time to write this novel.  Moore told Erasmus that he had dreamed of reigning as a king in a land called Utopia.  This ideal society creates a vision for political and social harmony on an unknown island.  The narrative outlines ideals of communal property and egalitarian coexistence that presages democratic if not communal societies- perhaps even akin to more recent experiments like the Shakers of  19th century upstate New York.

Utopia has been regarded as an exercise in cultural satire where the author pokes holes in the absurdities of contemporary politics.  Here is a quote from the Ackroyd biography that sums it up.

"Utopia is an ambivalent and ambiguous work in which various absurdities for example, are paraded in the most apparently innocent and unsatisfactory manner.  But it also harbors various contradictions which rendr the account of Hythlodaeus very suspect indeed.

The title, Utopia, means no place.  One of the characters in the book, Hythlodaeus' name means one who is cunning in the nonsense of idle gossip.  There is even a connection to Amerigo Vespucci, who was regarded as a charlaton and fabricator of myths about the Americas. The levity and farcical nature of Utopia, acts as a welcomed counter to the seriousness and tragic events of the actual lives of Moore and Cromwell.

In summation,  we can see how two portraits in a museum can evoke a wonderful contemplation of an entire epic in world history with the milieu of religion, humanism. politics. and art history included in the mix. A museum truly becomes a place for the muse and inspiration.