Wealth and Prestige

Wealth and Prestige

I chose to analyze a painting based on an argument from chapter five. John Berger has a main argument and many minor ones throughout the chapter. I believe the main argument of Berger in chapter five is that oil painting exalted wealth and power, and put them on display with real tangible objects. Ownership of property, animals, jewelry, and finely embroidered fabrics of clothing and draperies were all examples of what money can and did buy. I analyzed the painting titled The Summer Still Life with Antlers by Stephen Morath. The painting has many edible dishes which showcases indulgence and prestige that is only obtained by wealth.

Berger makes reference to many oil paintings not wasting space, but rather filling every inch with some sort of wealthy object, or symbolic objects. The European culture was quite different from other cultures because other cultures displayed deities, and arranged their paintings in a symbolic arrangement for the purpose of the deity or god and the ritual it may have accompanied. European oil paintings used merchandise as the main subject matter in their paintings. A painting of fruit dishes in our book Berger states, “It confirms the owner’s wealth and habitual style of living” (99). Even though many paintings showed the faces of unhappy people, the face most commonly portrayed was one of content and nobility. A painting of fruit demonstrates the pleasure the owner has in these foods of pleasure.

The fruit in Morath’s painting can be compared in a similar fashion to paintings of the pleasurable foods that are depicted in classic oil paintings. The bright color of green seen on the watermelons indicates perfect ripeness that makes them more desirable. Objects that are relatable and that confirm a habitual style of living are seen here. The pristine condition of the fish and the amount of detail tell the viewer that the fish are fresh. The whole picture is symbolic of the local food market.

The Summer Still Life with Antlers painting in classic European tradition is going to indicate the variety and amount of pleasurable food as a direct correlation to wealth. The absence of bruising in the food makes them more attractive. There is a skull with antlers that are placed in the center of the painting that could be symbolic of death. Berger discusses the medieval idea of the skull in the painting of The Ambassadors. Berger explains that the skull in the painting, “was a kind of memento mori: a play on the medieval idea of using a skull as a continual reminder of the presence of death” (91).

However, I agree with his further theory of skulls in a painting. Berger states “When metaphysical symbols are introduced (and later there were painters who, for instance, introduced realistic skulls as symbols of death), their symbolism is usually made unconvincing or unnatural by the unequivocal, static materialism of the painting-method” (91). Therefore, I believe the antlers which apparently warrant great appreciation as antlers are in the title of the piece, are the only unnatural part of this painting. There is nature surrounding the viewer everywhere with a table featuring unblemished squash, eggplant, watermelon, fish, tomatoes, and peppers with a random skull with antlers in the middle. I do not believe the antlers are symbolic of humanly death, but it could be symbolic of nature’s decomposition of animals to give life to the soil. The intricate detail in the presentation of this meal, in the form of a painting, is fit for a king.

Berger,John.  Ways of Seeing. London: Penguin Books, 1972. Print.