Apocryphal pictures

Navigating ancient texts and images can be a mystifying experience, encountering ‘hidden’ or secret stories in the Bible, known as the Apocrypha, are a provocative example. These tantalising, albeit esoteric stories actually occur throughout Western art, indicating their appeal to artists and audiences. Therefore it is worth taking a look at a few examples in brief detail to try and disambiguate their meaning.

The Apocrypha are writings, often classified as a group of fourteen books appendices in the Old Testament. In the Septuagint (Greek version of the Old Testament) and the Vulgate (Latin version of the Scriptures) they are not considered canonical, and are therefore unauthorised because their authorship is contested. They are omitted altogether from the Protestant Bible. Several of the Apocrypha discuss strong female protagonists and also erotic themes:

Book of Judith

Oliviero Gatti after Pordenone, Judith with the Head of Holofernes, (1606), engraving.
Oliviero Gatti after Pordenone, Judith with the Head of Holofernes, (1606), engraving.

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A view from the vegetables

Vegetable seeds and seedlings are some of the many items being panic purchased by nervous communities during the pandemic. This is partly because cultivating vegetables offers a source of food should supermarkets sell out, but perhaps more importantly, these living and thriving organisms also nourish the soul. Carl Wilhelm Kolbe (1759-1835) is a German Romantic printmaker who pondered and celebrated the wonders of vegetables. Just like the Romantics who examined nature to experience emotions and reveal divine purposes, now is again the time to lie beneath the cabbages and contemplate the leaves.

Carl Wilhelm Kolbe, The cow in the reeds, c.1800, etching.
Carl Wilhelm Kolbe, The cow in the reeds, c.1800, etching.

Kolbe’s ‘The cow in the reeds’ is one of the 28 etchings he created to depict giant vegetation growing in natural surroundings and which he called ‘Kräuterblätter’ (vegetable sheets). He took his inspiration from the woods of his home town of Dessau, 17th century Dutch landscapes and the poetry of Salomon Gessner. He created a new perspective by applying almost botanical accuracy to his renderings of vegetation, seen from a worm’s eye view, so that the viewer feels the magic of being amongst colossal plants. In ‘The cow in the reeds’ the animal is of secondary interest to the reeds arching overhead, meadow plants, and in the foreground giant, luscious rhubarb.

Between Old and New: Reflections of a Gallery Attendant at Old Quad

Guest post by Gallery Attendant, Ada Coxall, reflecting on her work at Old Quad where she bridges the gap between art and audiences.

There always seems to be something quite poetic about being alone in Old Quad at the beginning and close of the day, before the doors open and visitors filter in. Standing in the stillness of the early morning or late afternoon never ceases to strike a chord with me, as I reflect on the building’s past guises and the many who have walked its halls.

Taking in these moments before I begin my duties as Gallery Attendant helps to centre me, helps me to engage with this ‘new-old’ space – and the objects it holds. I have the history and the story of the place in my mind as I go through the motions, checking the lights are all on and everything is in order. One of my opening duties is to examine the works on display, looking for any damages or issues. Moving into the North Annex of Old Quad, I find that a brief once-over never applies to Tom Nicholson’s work, Towards a Glass Monument, as my attention is naturally grabbed by the beauty of the piece. I find that the artwork changes day by day, and it is hard to not stand and admire the many ways it reacts to the light. Nicholson brings my early morning thoughts on the history of the building alive in this piece, offering multiple angles through which to view its significance. The arched neo-gothic lancets, which frame the stained glass, hark back to the original Old Quad windows, thereby using the structure of the old to hold something new. My interactions with visitors as they come across this piece is always a highlight, as we share our thoughts and feelings about the work.

Tom Nicholson, Towards a glass monument 2017-19 (installation photograph).
Tom Nicholson, Towards a glass monument 2017-19 (installation photograph).  Stained glass lead and steel frame in 2 screens, each containing 20 lancets. Realised through Monash Art Projects, Melbourne; Geoffrey Wallace Stained Glass, Melbourne; and courtesy of Milani Gallery, Brisbane. Photograph: Christian Capurro. © Tom Nicholson

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The fashionable office

As more people work from home due to the current unsettling circumstances, our dress sense has also adjusted and the office mode for shirts and skirts has altered to more comfortable wear such as track pants and slippers. As we grapple with major changes to work and lifestyle, let us look back on some fashions from past centuries to reignite a bit of style and sparkle for the home office.

Published by G. Robinson, Two ladies in the newest dresses, engraving, 1775
Published by G. Robinson, Two ladies in the newest dresses, engraving, 1775

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Four activities with the Print Collection to keep you entertained during times of isolation

Are you isolated because of COVID-19? The Baillieu Library Print Collection is available online, and images that are out of copyright are freely available for you to study and enjoy. There are over 9,000 individual items to search in the database which date from the 15th century onwards. Here are four ideas to keep you creative during this time of quarantine:

Activity one: curate a print album or scrapbook

Before Instagram, creatives and collectors housed their images in albums. This practice allowed individuals to select and arrange works of art to their own personal desires and tastes. Some prints were inlaid into the album in window mounts and carefully drawn borders, while others were simply pasted down. Collectors sometimes wrote comments under the prints or left other mementos. The nine Sadeler albums comprising 1200 prints by a dynasty of Flemish printmakers and arranged in the 18th century, are the most expansive examples in the collection.

Norblin album: etchings by Jean Pierre Norblin (1774-89)
Norblin album: etchings by Jean Pierre Norblin (1774-89)

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