Christ | part 3

 XVIII century: red is a secular compliment

 After the stormy baroque passions, the artists wanted peace and harmony. The scenes of big celebrations were replaced by an intimate atmosphere, and at this time the portrait genre was gaining popularity. Wide windows and large doors appear on the canvases, which means that it becomes much easier to see the color. Light shades and gentle pastel colors are now in fashion. But in England and Russia, red remains popular with the most advanced artists.

 Joshua Reynolds, the first president of the Royal Academy of Arts in London, was an incredibly sought-after portrait painter. He could accurately convey the main features of his models and at the same time flatter them accurately. It is not surprising that among his customers were the most prominent people of their time: members of the royal family, society ladies, politicians, artists and writers. Almost every portrait has an expressive spot of red.

 Joshua Reynolds "Self-portrait" (1749). A source

 But today many of his paintings seem dark and faded - were all his eminent clients really lining up behind them?

 Reynolds fell victim to his own paint experiments. To achieve a deep shade of red, he added raspberry carmine on top of the cinnabar, which faded over time. Therefore, the heroes of his portraits today look painfully pale, more like marble sculptures than living beings.

 Joshua Reynolds "Portrait of Jane Fleming, Countess of Harrington" (1779). A source

 It is impossible not to mention Karl Bryullov, whose fame spread far beyond the borders of Russia. And although he lived already in the 19th century, the trends of the previous century were reflected in his work.

 Like Reynolds, he balanced between austere academism and sensual romanticism, extolling his models and highlighting their delicate beauty. If he wanted to compliment someone, then he definitely used his favorite red. In all the portraits of his muse, Princess Yulia Samoilova is depicted against the background of a scarlet theatrical backstage: this rich society lady admired the painter with her independent behavior and extraordinary deeds.

 Karl Bryullov "Portrait of Countess Yu. P. Samoilova, retiring from the ball with her adopted daughter Amatsilia Pacini" (no later than 1842). A source

 Here Bryullov separated the countess from the rest of the crowd with flowing red velvet, as if emphasizing the special position that this woman occupied not only in society, but also in the life of the artist.

 19th century: red is the color of the people

 In the 19th century, red finally loses touch with the aristocratic past and becomes the color of the people. First appearing on the caps of the French rebels, it soon acquired ideological significance - revolutionary, extremist. The revolution will end, but the political meaning of red will continue throughout the century.

 Red is not only a revolution, but also attention to the common people. At the end of the 19th century, the post-impressionist Vincent Van Gogh moved from Paris to Arles to open an art commune with his idol Paul Gauguin. For Van Gogh, this was a period of great hopes and grandiose works. He carefully studied the life of the peasants and reflected on the power of nature.

 In the painting Red Vineyards in Arles, the sunset light of the sun heats up the earth so much that it turns crimson-red, reminiscent of flashes of flame. Daylight hours are drawing to a close, but the grape pickers have not finished their hard work yet. To convey the disturbing and gloomy nature of this motif, Van Gogh covers almost the entire canvas in red.

 Vincent Van Gogh "Red Vineyards at Arles" (1888). A source

 In Night Cafe at Place Lamartine in Arles, Van Gogh shows the modest ambience of a working-class drinking establishment. Tramps can even go there to take a nap for an hour or two - we see them on the right side of the picture. Compositionally, the plot is built on the contrast of red and green: "In this picture I tried to express violent human passions in red and green," the artist wrote to his brother.

 Vincent Van Gogh "Night Cafe on the Place Lamartine in Arles" (1888). A source

 In the artist's life, red also became a symbol of great passions. Van Gogh used red paint with a lot of lead. He had a habit of wetting his brushes in his mouth - it turns out that he constantly poisoned himself with heavy metal. There is a hypothesis that the real reason for his aggression and constant insomnia was not his explosive nature, but the toxin in the red paint, which aggravated the artist's condition.

 But not only the red used by Van Gogh was poisonous. Many shades of color were toxic until the appearance of factory counterparts. For example, cinnabar was produced by heating sulfur and mercury (this shade can be seen in frescoes in Pompeii). The realgar of sulphurous arsenic and lead red, which were used by the artists of the Renaissance and the New Age, were also harmful.