Domburg is a seaside resort on the North Sea , on the northwest coast of Walcheren in the Dutch province of Zeeland . It is a part of the municipality of Veere , and lies about 11 km northwest of the city of Middelburg , the provincial capital.
106-430: In 2010, the town of Domburg had 1,490 inhabitants, up from 1,251 in 2001. The built-up area of the town was 0.78 km, and contained 881 residences. The area of Domburg has been inhabited since at least 4,000 BCE. In 1647 after heavy storms on the beach of Domburg a sanctuary was discovered with around 40 stones with Latin inscriptions and carvings of several gods, among them of Neptune (sea) and Mercury (trade), but
212-493: A blue or light green palette. After he returned to London, he painted several more nocturnes over the next ten years, many of the River Thames and of Cremorne Gardens , a pleasure park famous for its frequent fireworks displays, which presented a novel challenge to paint. In his maritime nocturnes, Whistler used highly thinned paint as a ground with lightly flicked color to suggest ships, lights, and shore line. Some of
318-475: A connecting steamship service with England. A considerable British influence in these years was responsible for Domburg establishing the second golf-course in the Netherlands, although it never expanded over a friendly nine holes. Like in so many seaside resorts at the end of the 19th century a flock of European royalty landed at Domburg for a few years when the resort was fashionable only to move along again
424-500: A different interpretation of Neptune's theology. Developing his understanding of the theonym as rooted in the Indo-European *nebh , he writes that the god would be an ancient deity of the cloudy, rainy sky in company with (and in opposition to) Zeus / Jupiter , the god of clear skies. Similar to Caelus , he would be the father of all earthly things through the fertilising power of rain. The hieros gamos of Neptune and Earth
530-566: A few months he lived in Baltimore with a wealthy friend, Tom Winans, who even furnished Whistler with a studio and some spending cash. The young artist made some valuable contacts in the art community and also sold some early paintings to Winans. Whistler turned down his mother's suggestions for other more practical careers and informed her that with money from Winans, he was setting out to further his art training in Paris. Whistler never returned to
636-411: A few years later. The Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Pommern regularly arrived in the town by private-charter train on Stoomtram Walcheren. Instrumental however in the mythology of the place and the mentioned fashion was the very successful doctor Johann Georg Mezger who achieved international fame for his scientific approach of physiotherapy and for being the founding father of Swedish massage . Domburg
742-415: A journey that has puzzled scholars, although Whistler stated that he did it for political reasons. Chile was at war with Spain and perhaps Whistler thought it a heroic struggle of a small nation against a larger one, but no evidence supports that theory. What the journey did produce was Whistler's first three nocturnal paintings (which he originally termed "moonlights"): night scenes of the harbor painted with
848-420: A letter from his mother, so Whistler turned to his mother and suggested that he do her portrait. He had her stand at first, in his typically slow and experimental way, but that proved too tiring so the seated pose was adopted. It took dozens of sittings to complete. The austere portrait in his normally constrained palette is another Whistler exercise in tonal harmony and composition. The deceptively simple design
954-525: A lily in her left hand and stands upon a wolf skin rug (interpreted by some to represent masculinity and lust) with the wolf's head staring menacingly at the viewer. The portrait was refused for exhibition at the conservative Royal Academy, but was shown in a private gallery under the title The Woman in White . In 1863, it was shown at the Salon des Refusés in Paris, an event sponsored by Emperor Napoleon III for
1060-560: A literal portrayal of the natural world. Two years later, Whistler painted another portrait of Hiffernan in white, this time displaying his newfound interest in Asian motifs, which he entitled The Little White Girl . His Lady of the Land Lijsen and The Golden Screen , both completed in 1864, again portray his mistress, in even more emphatic Asian dress and surroundings. During this period Whistler became close to Gustave Courbet ,
1166-814: A modest house at 243 Worthen Street in Lowell, Massachusetts. The house is now the Whistler House Museum of Art , a museum dedicated to him. He claimed St. Petersburg, Russia as his birthplace during the Ruskin trial: "I shall be born when and where I want, and I do not choose to be born in Lowell." Whistler was a moody child, prone to fits of temper and insolence, and he often drifted into periods of laziness after bouts of illness. His parents discovered that drawing often settled him down and helped focus his attention. The family moved from Lowell to Stonington, Connecticut in 1837, where his father worked for
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#17327810536471272-552: A rock and creating a spring (Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale, Cabinet des Medailles . Another Etruscan artifact ( Nethunus , from the Luynes collection) depicts the god causing a horse to spring from the earth with a blow of his trident. A late-fourth-century bronze mirror in the Vatican Museums (Museo Gregoriano Etrusco: C.S.E. Vaticano 1.5a) depicts Neptune with Amymone (daughter of Danaus ), whom he saves from assault by
1378-520: A satyr and teaches the art of creating springs. On a bronze mirror from Tuscania dated to 350 BC, also in the Vatican Museums (Museo Gregoriano Etrusco E. S. 1. 76), Nethuns is talking to Usil and Thesan. He holds a double-ended trident, suggesting that he might be able wield lightning bolts. James Abbott McNeill Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler RBA ( / ˈ w ɪ s l ər / ; July 10, 1834 – July 17, 1903)
1484-427: A seaside resort offering a bathing cure and facilities. A small Badpaviljoen was built shortly after on top of the dunes, which was replaced by a larger one in 1888 which offered space for gentleman playing billiards and ladies drinking tea, a concert room, a seaview veranda and more of such amenities that beach life requires. Most important for its development was however the arrival of a railway station at Flushing and
1590-456: A specific meaning almost immediately to almost every viewer. These few works have successfully made the transition from the elite realm of the museum visitor to the enormous venue of popular culture. Other important portraits by Whistler include those of Thomas Carlyle (historian, 1873), Maud Franklin (his mistress, 1876), Cicely Alexander (daughter of a London banker, 1873), Lady Meux (socialite, 1882), and Théodore Duret (critic, 1884). In
1696-482: A splendid power of composition and design, which evince a just appreciation of nature very rare amongst artists." The work is unsentimental and effectively contrasts the mother in black and the daughter in white, with other colors kept restrained in the manner advised by his teacher Gleyre . It was displayed at the Royal Academy the following year, and in many exhibits to come. In a second painting executed in
1802-467: A surface phenomenon). He wrote elsewhere that Venilia would be the "hope that comes", an aspect (or power) of Jupiter understood as anima mundi . Servius, in his commentary on the Aeneid , wrote about Salacia and Venilia in V 724: " ( Venus ) dicitur et Salacia, quae proprie meretricum dea appellata est a veteribus "; "(Venus) is also called Salacia, who was particularly named goddess of prostitutes by
1908-458: A testing ground for Leiden 's De Stijl movement. (For references to literature see Dutch language page) The statistical area "Domburg", which also can include the surrounding countryside, has a population of around 1650. Neptune (mythology) Neptune ( Latin : Neptūnus [nɛpˈtuːnʊs] ) is the god of freshwater and the sea in the Roman religion . He is the counterpart of
2014-621: A watercolour set with instruction. Whistler already was imagining an art career. He began to collect books on art and he studied other artists' techniques. When his portrait was painted by Sir William Boxall in 1848, the young Whistler exclaimed that the portrait was "very much like me and a very fine picture. Mr. Boxall is a beautiful colourist... It is a beautiful creamy surface, and looks so rich." In his blossoming enthusiasm for art, at fifteen, he informed his father by letter of his future direction, "I hope, dear father, you will not object to my choice." His father, however, died from cholera at
2120-458: Is a gas ." As he himself put it later: "If silicon were a gas, I would have been a general one day". However, a separate anecdote suggests misconduct in drawing class as the reason for Whistler's departure. After West Point, Whistler worked as draftsman mapping the entire U.S. coast for military and maritime purposes. He found the work boring and he was frequently late or absent. He spent much of his free time playing billiards and idling about,
2226-582: Is in fact a balancing act of differing shapes, particularly the rectangles of curtain, picture on the wall, and floor which stabilize the curve of her face, dress, and chair. Whistler commented that the painting's narrative was of little importance, yet the painting was also paying homage to his pious mother. After the initial shock of her moving in with her son, she aided him considerably by stabilizing his behavior somewhat, tending to his domestic needs, and providing an aura of conservative respectability that helped win over patrons. The public reacted negatively to
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#17327810536472332-485: Is marked by a subtle delicacy, while his public persona was combative. He found a parallel between painting and music, and entitled many of his paintings "arrangements", "harmonies", and "nocturnes" , emphasizing the primacy of tonal harmony. His most famous painting, Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1 (1871), commonly known as Whistler's Mother , is a revered and often parodied portrait of motherhood. Whistler influenced
2438-628: Is moist"). Georges Dumézil said that words deriving from the root *nep- are not attested in Indo-European languages other than Vedic Sanskrit and Avestan . He proposed an etymology which joins Neptunus with the Indian and Iranian theonyms Apam Napat and Apam Napá and the Old Irish theonym Nechtan , all meaning "descendant of the waters". Using a comparative approach, the Indo-Iranian, Avestan and Irish figures have common features with
2544-483: Is perhaps best known for its hosting of a group of artists of which Piet Mondriaan or Mondrian is the best known. His Pier and Ocean paintings was inspired by the same location where James Abbott McNeill Whistler painted the Domburg sea with its characteristic piers which do not cater for the happy crowd but are meant to break waves that may damage the dunes and thus the existence of the place. This lead Domburg to be
2650-533: Is really so charming and does so poetically say all that I want to say and no more than I wish! At that point, Whistler painted another self-portrait and entitled it Arrangement in Gray: Portrait of the Painter (c. 1872), and he also began to re-title many of his earlier works using terms associated with music, such as a " nocturne ", " symphony ", " harmony ", " study " or " arrangement ", to emphasize
2756-603: Is reflected in Virgil's Aeneid V 14 ( pater Neptunus ). Neptune's power would be reflected by Salacia , one of his paredrae , who also denotes the overcast sky. His other paredra , Venilia , is associated with the wind as well as the sea. The theonym Venilia may be rooted in *venilis , a postulated adjective deriving from the IE root *ven(h) ("to love or desire") in the Sanskrit vánati, vanóti ("he loves"), German Wonne , and
2862-441: Is standing in the centre, holding Aplu 's bow in his right hand. Thesan is on the right, with her right hand on Uśil's shoulder; both are listening intently to Nethuns' words. The identification of Uśil with Aplu (and his association with Nethuns) is emphasised by an anguiped demon holding two dolphins on an exergue . The scene highlights the identities and association of Nethuns and Aplu (here identified as Uśil) as main deities of
2968-620: The American South and its roots, and he presented himself as an impoverished Southern aristocrat , although it remains unclear to what extent he truly sympathized with the Southern cause during the American Civil War . He adopted his mother's maiden name after she died, using it as an additional middle name. His father was a railroad engineer, and Anna was his second wife. James lived the first three years of his life in
3074-679: The Circus Flaminius , the Roman racetrack in the southern part of the Campus Martius , and dates back to at least 206 BC. The temple was restored out by Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus c. 40 BC , an event depicted on a coin struck by the consul. Within the temple was a sculpture of a marine group by Scopas Minor. The Basilica Neptuni was later built on the Campus Martius, and was dedicated by Agrippa in honor of
3180-688: The Flamen Quirinalis and the Vestal Virgins made sacrifices on the underground altar of Consus. The proximity of the two Consualia to the Opiconsivia (the latter were four days later, the winter festival on December 19) indicates the relationship between the two deities pertaining to agriculture. According to Dumézil, the horse has a much-different symbolic value in the theologies of Poseidon and Consus. Tertullian ( De Spectaculis V 7) wrote that according to Roman tradition, Consus
3286-599: The Greek god Poseidon . In the Greek-inspired tradition , he is a brother of Jupiter and Pluto , with whom he presides over the realms of heaven , the earthly world (including the underworld ), and the seas. Salacia is his wife. Depictions of Neptune in Roman mosaics , especially those in North Africa , were influenced by Hellenistic conventions. He was likely associated with freshwater springs before
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3392-475: The Imperial Academy of Arts at age eleven. The young artist followed the traditional curriculum of drawing from plaster casts and occasional live models, revelled in the atmosphere of art talk with older peers, and pleased his parents with a first-class mark in anatomy. In 1844, he met the noted artist Sir William Allan , who came to Russia with a commission to paint a history of the life of Peter
3498-579: The Musée d'Orsay in Paris. During the Great Depression in the United States, the picture was billed as a "million dollar" painting and was a big hit at the 1933–34 Chicago World's Fair . It was accepted as a universal icon of motherhood by the worldwide public, which was not particularly aware of or concerned with Whistler's aesthetic theories. In recognition of its status and popularity,
3604-460: The Rutulians ). According to another source, Venilia would be the partner of Janus , with whom she mothered the nymph Canens (loved by Picus ). These mythical data underline the reproductive function envisaged in the figures of Neptune's paredrae , particularly that of Venilia, in childbirth and motherhood. A legendary king Venulus was remembered at Tibur and Lavinium . Before Poseidon
3710-737: The Stonington Railroad . Three of the couple's children died in infancy during this period. Their fortunes improved considerably in 1839 when his father became chief engineer for the Boston & Albany Railroad , and the family built a mansion in Springfield, Massachusetts , where the Wood Museum of History now stands. They lived in Springfield until they left the United States for Russia in late 1842. In 1842, his father
3816-541: The ager latiniensis . The Etruscans were also fond of horse races. The Etruscan name of Neptune is Nethuns . It had been believed that Neptune derived from Etruscan , but this view has been disputed. Nethuns was apparently important to the Etruscans . His name is found in two places on the Liver of Piacenza : on the outer rim of section seven, and on the gallbladder of section 28. This last location aligns with Pliny
3922-439: The 1870s, Whistler painted full-length portraits of his benefactor Frederick Leyland and his wife Frances. Leyland subsequently commissioned the artist to decorate his dining room (see Peacock Room below). Whistler had been disappointed over the irregular acceptance of his works for the Royal Academy exhibitions and the poor hanging and placement of his paintings. In response, Whistler staged his first solo show in 1874. The show
4028-541: The Elder's belief that the gallbladder was sacred to Neptune. The name Nethuns occurs eight times in columns VII, IX, and XI of the Liber Linteus . On a mirror from Tuscania (E. S. 1. 76), Nethuns is represented talking to Uśil (the sun) and Thesan (the goddess of dawn). Nethuns is seated on the left, holding a double-ended trident in his right hand and with his left arm raised as if giving instructions. Uśil
4134-706: The Etruscan Penates were Fortuna , Ceres , Genius Iovialis and Pales . The etymology of the Latin Neptunus is unclear and disputed. The ancient grammarian Varro derived the name from nuptus ("covering", opertio ), alluding to nuptiae ("the marriage of Heaven and Earth"). Among modern scholars, Paul Kretschmer proposed a derivation from the Indo-European *neptu- ("moist substance"). Raymond Bloch similarly theorised that it might be an adjectival form ( -no ) of *nuptu- ("he who
4240-489: The Falisci (and others) to war in the Aeneid . Nepi and Falerii have been known since antiquity for the quality of their meadow springwater. Nepet might be considered a hydronymic toponym of pre-Indo-European origin from a noun meaning "damp wide valley, plain", a cognate of the proto-Greek νάπη ("wooded vale, chasm"). In lectures delivered during the 1990s, German scholar Hubert Petersmann proposed an etymology from
4346-623: The Great . Whistler's mother noted in her diary, "the great artist remarked to me 'Your little boy has uncommon genius, but do not urge him beyond his inclination.'" In 1847–1848, his family spent some time in London with relatives, while his father stayed in Russia. Whistler's brother-in-law Francis Haden , a physician who was also an artist, spurred his interest in art and photography. Haden took Whistler to visit collectors and to lectures, and gave him
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4452-679: The Impressionists in 1874, Whistler turned down the invitation, as did Manet , and some scholars attributed this in part to Fantin-Latour's influence on both men. The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 fragmented the French art community. Many artists took refuge in England, joining Whistler, including Camille Pissarro and Claude Monet , while Manet and Degas stayed in France. Like Whistler, Monet and Pissarro both focused their efforts on views of
4558-608: The Indo-European root *nebh- ("damp, wet") with the suffix -tu (for an abstract verbal noun) and the adjectival suffix -no (domain of activity). The root *nebh- gives the Sanskrit nābhah , Hittite nepis , Latin nubs , nebula , German Nebel , and the Slavic nebo . The concept would be close to that expressed in the name of the Greek god Όυράνος ( Uranus ), derived from the root *h 2 wórso- ("to water or irrigate") and *h 2 worsó- ("the irrigator"). Petersmann proposes
4664-617: The Latin Venus , venia . Neptune's dual nature is found in Catullus 31. 3: " uterque Neptunus ". According to Petersmann, the ancient Indo-Europeans also venerated a god of wetness as the generator of life; this is indicated by the Hittite theonyms nepišaš (D)IŠKURaš or nepišaš (D)Tarhunnaš ("lord of sky wet"), the sovereign of Earth and humanity. Although this function was transferred to Zeus/Jupiter (the sovereigns of weather),
4770-472: The Latin Faliscans: the father of Messapus and Halesus, their heroic founders. William Warde Fowler considered Salacia the personification of the virile potency which generated a Latin people, parallel with Mars, Saturn, Janus and Jupiter. Etruscan representations of Neptune are rare but significant. The oldest may be a fourth-century BC carved carnelian scarab from Vulci of Nethuns kicking
4876-460: The Moose . Whistler did his part in promoting the picture and popularizing the image. He frequently exhibited it and authorized the early reproductions that made their way into thousands of homes. The painting narrowly escaped being burned in a fire aboard a train during shipping. It was ultimately purchased by the French government, the first Whistler work in a public collection, and is now housed in
4982-456: The Piano in 1859 in London, which he adopted as his home, while also regularly visiting friends in France. At the Piano is a portrait composed of his niece and her mother in their London music room, an effort which clearly displayed his talent and promise. A critic wrote, "[despite] a recklessly bold manner and sketchiness of the wildest and roughest kind, [it has] a genuine feeling for colour and
5088-562: The Roman festival of Neptune, was held at the height of summer (typically on July 23). The date of the festival and the construction of tree-branch shelters suggest that Neptune was a god of water sources in times of drought and heat. The most ancient Roman calendar set the feriae of Neptunus on July 23, between the Lucaria festival of the grove and the Furrinalia festival of July 25. All three festivals were connected to water during
5194-405: The Roman legends about Neptune. Dumézil proposed to derive the nouns from the Indo-European root népōts- ("descendant, sister's son"). His former student, Indo-Europeanist Jaan Puhvel , theorises that the name might have meant "child ( neve , nephew) of the water" as part of an Indo-European fire-in-water myth . A different etymology, grounded in the legendary history of Latium and Etruria,
5300-549: The Romans may have reused the theology of a previous freshwater god in their worship of Neptune. Servius explicitly names Neptune as the god of rivers, springs, and waters; he may parallel the Irish god Nechtan , master of rivers and wells. This is in contrast to Poseidon, who was primarily a god of the sea. Neptune has been associated with a number of other Roman deities. By the first century BC, he had supplanted Portunus as
5406-550: The Thames paintings also show compositional and thematic similarities with the Japanese prints of Hiroshige . In 1872, Whistler credited his patron Frederick Leyland , an amateur musician devoted to Chopin , for his musically inspired titles. I say I can't thank you too much for the name 'Nocturne' as a title for my moonlights! You have no idea what an irritation it proves to the critics and consequent pleasure to me—besides it
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#17327810536475512-533: The United States issued a postage stamp in 1934 featuring an adaptation of the painting. In 2015, New Yorker critic Peter Schjeldahl wrote that it "remains the most important American work residing outside the United States." Martha Tedeschi writes: Whistler's Mother , Wood 's American Gothic , Leonardo da Vinci 's Mona Lisa and Edvard Munch 's The Scream have all achieved something that most paintings—regardless of their art historical importance, beauty, or monetary value—have not: they communicate
5618-568: The United States. Whistler arrived in Paris in 1855, rented a studio in the Latin Quarter , and quickly adopted the life of a bohemian artist. Soon he had a French girlfriend, a dressmaker named Héloise. He studied traditional art methods for a short time at the Ecole Impériale and at the atelier of Charles Gleyre . The latter was a great advocate of the work of Ingres , and impressed Whistler with two principles that he used for
5724-546: The age of 49, and the Whistler family moved back to his mother's home town of Pomfret, Connecticut . The family lived frugally and managed to get by on a limited income. His art plans remained vague and his future uncertain. His cousin reported that Whistler at that time was "slight, with a pensive, delicate face, shaded by soft brown curls... he had a somewhat foreign appearance and manner, which, aided by natural abilities, made him very charming, even at that age." Whistler
5830-495: The ancient". Elsewhere, he wrote that Salacia and Venilia are the same entity. Among modern scholars, Dumézil and his followers Bloch and Schilling centre their interpretation of Neptune on the direct, concrete, limited value and functions of water. Salacia would represent the forceful, violent aspect of gushing and overflowing water and Venilia the tranquil, gentle aspect of still (or slowly-flowing) water. According to Dumézil, Neptune's two paredrae (Salacia and Venilia) represent
5936-511: The area, but only a few have survived. The lordship of Domburg used to belong to the dukes of Burgundy when they were counts of both Holland and Zeeland. For financial reasons they sold Domburg to a lesser branch of their family from which it eventually ended up in the hands of private individuals and passing through the hands of more than one family until lordship rights were completely abolished in 1848. Mostly they were rich merchants from Zeeland cities who returned from India after having served as
6042-488: The art world and the broader culture of his time with his aesthetic theories and his friendships with other leading artists and writers. James Abbott Whistler was born in Lowell, Massachusetts on July 10, 1834, the first child of Anna McNeill Whistler and George Washington Whistler , and the elder brother of Confederate surgeon William McNeill Whistler . In later years, Whistler played up his mother's connection to
6148-490: The brutality of life and nature and to portray it faithfully, avoiding the old themes of mythology and allegory. Théophile Gautier , one of the first to explore translation qualities among art and music, may have inspired Whistler to view art in musical terms. Reflecting his adopted circle's banner of the Realism art movement , Whistler painted his first exhibited work, La Mère Gérard in 1858. He followed it by painting At
6254-559: The city, and it is likely that Whistler was exposed to the evolution of Impressionism founded by these artists and that they had seen his nocturnes. Whistler was drifting away from Courbet's "damned realism" and their friendship had wilted, as had his liaison with Joanna Hiffernan. By 1871, Whistler returned to portraits and soon produced his most famous painting, the nearly monochromatic full-length figure entitled Arrangement in Grey and Black No.1 , but usually referred to as Whistler's Mother . A model failed to appear one day, according to
6360-401: The desire for reproduction. Ludwig Preller cited a significant aspect of Venilia; she was recorded in the indigitamenta as a deity of longing or desire. According to Preller, this would explain a theonym similar to that of Venus. Other data seem to agree; Salacia would parallel Thetis as the mother of Achilles, and Venilia would be the mother of Turnus and Iuturna by Daunus (king of
6466-440: The director of trade in for example Bengalen. For a long time Domburg consisted of two jurisdictions : Domburg-Binnen (the town and coast) and Domburg-Buiten (the country side). In 1816 they were united into a single municipality, into which the village of Oostkapelle was merged in 1966. At the end of the last century all the smaller towns of Walcheren were joined to form the municipality of Veere. Starting 1834 Domburg became
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#17327810536476572-889: The early leader of the French realist school, but when Hiffernan modeled in the nude for Courbet, Whistler became enraged and his relationship with Hiffernan began to fall apart. In January 1864, Whistler's very religious and very proper mother arrived in London, upsetting her son's bohemian existence and temporarily exacerbating family tensions. As he wrote to Henri Fantin-Latour , "General upheaval!! I had to empty my house and purify it from cellar to eaves." He also immediately moved Hiffernan to another location. From 1866, Whistler made his home in Chelsea, London , an area popular with artists, firstly in Cheyne Walk , then an ill-fated move to Tite Street , and finally Upper Church Street. In 1866, Whistler decided to visit Valparaíso, Chile ,
6678-400: The emerging Impressionist school, found Whistler's new works surprising and confounding. Fantin-Latour admitted, "I don't understand anything there; it's bizarre how one changes. I don't recognize him anymore." Their relationship was nearly at an end by then, but they continued to share opinions in occasional correspondence. When Edgar Degas invited Whistler to exhibit with the first show by
6784-514: The event of greatest consequence that year was his friendship with Henri Fantin-Latour , whom he met at the Louvre. Through him, Whistler was introduced to the circle of Gustave Courbet , which included Carolus-Duran (later the teacher of John Singer Sargent ), Alphonse Legros , and Édouard Manet . Also in this group was Charles Baudelaire , whose ideas and theories of "modern" art influenced Whistler. Baudelaire challenged artists to scrutinize
6890-401: The exact present day location of Domburg however originates from a circular earthen citadel that was discovered according to expectations by archaeologists in 1991 and which was dated to around 875 AD a period shortly after recorded raids by Danes. In the following centuries there would be considerable activity by monks, not in the least because of salt works and the reclamation of land by which
6996-436: The exhibition of works rejected from the Salon . Whistler's painting was widely noticed, although upstaged by Manet's more shocking painting Le déjeuner sur l'herbe . Countering criticism by traditionalists, Whistler's supporters insisted that the painting was "an apparition with a spiritual content" and that it epitomized his theory that art should be concerned essentially with the arrangement of colors in harmony, not with
7102-481: The fact that Poseidon is nowhere worshipped at underground shrines or altars. Martianus Capella places Neptune and Consus together in region X of Heaven, possibly following an old interpretatio graeca of Consus or reflecting an Etruscan idea of a chthonic Neptune apparent in the recommendation of the De Haruspicum Responso for propitiating Neptune for the cracking sounds heard underground in
7208-585: The finish. After a year in London, he produced a set of etchings in 1860 called Thames Set, as counterpoint to his 1858 French set, as well as some early impressionistic work including The Thames in Ice . At this stage, he was beginning to establish his technique of tonal harmony based on a limited, predetermined palette. In 1861, after returning to Paris for a time, Whistler painted his first famous work, Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl . The portrait of his mistress and business manager Joanna Hiffernan
7314-458: The god of naval victories; Sextus Pompeius called himself the "son of Neptune". For a time, Neptune was paired in his dominion of the sea with Salacia , the goddess of saltwater . Neptune was considered the legendary progenitor god of the Falisci (who called themselves Neptunia proles ), joining Mars , Janus , Saturn , and Jupiter as the deific father of a Latin tribe. Neptunalia ,
7420-459: The island of Walcheren was formed. Near Domburg the mediaeval castle of Westhove, now a family hostel, used to be a stronghold of the abbot of the Abbey of Middelburg . The town of Domburg, actually more a village, surprisingly received a city charter at the early date of 1223. Probably because the counts of Holland had to seek refuge on the island in some neighbourly quarrel. Until the 19th century
7526-446: The majority of a local female deity: Nehalennia who appears to have protected both trade and shipping. According to the inscriptions the stones were erected by tradesmen and captains to fulfil their vows after a safe journey, mentioning explicitly on one stone a merchant of pottery doing business with Britain. From a later period (starting 650 AD) many coins have been found on the beach including Anglo-Saxon sceattas . The settlement on
7632-468: The motion of the sea. Venilia brought waves to the shore, and Salacia caused their retreat out to sea. They were examined by the Christian philosopher St. Augustine , who devoted a chapter of De Civitate Dei to ridiculing inconsistencies in the theological definition of the entities; since Salacia personified the deep sea, Augustine wondered how she could also be the retreating waves (since waves are
7738-470: The naval victory of Actium . This basilica supplanted the older temple, which had replaced an ancient altar. Neptune is one of only four Roman gods to whom it was considered appropriate to sacrifice a bull. The other three were Apollo , Mars , and Jupiter , although Vulcan has also been depicted with the offering of a red bull and a red-bull calf. If an incorrect offering was presented, either inadvertently or due to necessity, additional propitiation
7844-455: The old function survived in literature: the Aeneid V 13-14 reads, " Heu, quianam tanti cinxerunt aethera nimbi?/ quidve, pater Neptune, paras? " ("What, why have so many clouds enringed the sky? What are you preparing, father Neptune?") The indispensability of water and its connection to reproduction are universally known. Müller and Deeke interpreted Neptune's theology as a divine ancestor of
7950-542: The other famous expatriate American John Singer Sargent . Whistler's spare technique and his disinclination to flatter his sitters, as well as his notoriety, may account for this. He also worked very slowly and demanded extraordinarily long sittings. William Merritt Chase complained of his sitting for a portrait by Whistler, "He proved to be a veritable tyrant, painting every day into the twilight, while my limbs ached with weariness and my head swam dizzily. 'Don't move! Don't move!' he would scream whenever I started to rest." By
8056-497: The overpowering and tranquil aspects of water, natural and domesticated: Salacia the gushing, overbearing waters, and Venilia the still (or quietly-flowing) waters. Preller, Fowler, Petersmann and Takács attribute to the theology of Neptune broader significance as a god of universal worldly fertility, particularly relevant to agriculture and human reproduction. They interpret Salacia as personifying lust, and Venilia as related to venia : ingratiating attraction, connected with love and
8162-402: The painting, mostly because of its anti-Victorian simplicity during a time in England when sentimentality and flamboyant decoration were in vogue. Critics thought the painting a failed "experiment" rather than a work of art. The Royal Academy rejected it, but then grudgingly accepted it after lobbying by Sir William Boxall —but they hung it in an unfavorable location at their exhibition. From
8268-457: The period of summer heat ( canicula ) and drought, when freshwater sources were lowest. It has been speculated that the three festivals fall in a logical order. The Lucaria was devoted to clearing overgrown bushes and uprooting and burning excess vegetation. Neptunalia followed, devoted to conservation and the draining of superficial waters. These culminated in the Furrinalia , sacred to Furrina (the goddess of springs and wells). Neptunalia
8374-551: The rest of his career: that line is more important than color and that black is the fundamental color of tonal harmony. Twenty years later, the Impressionists would largely overthrow this philosophy, banning black and brown as "forbidden colors" and emphasizing color over form. Whistler preferred self-study and enjoying the café life. While letters from home reported his mother's efforts at economy, Whistler spent freely, sold little or nothing in his first year in Paris, and
8480-454: The same room, Whistler demonstrated his natural inclination toward innovation and novelty by fashioning a genre scene with unusual composition and foreshortening. It later was re-titled Harmony in Green and Rose: The Music Room . This painting also demonstrated Whistler's ongoing work pattern, especially with portraits: a quick start, major adjustments, a period of neglect, then a final flurry to
8586-407: The sea; his festival, Neptunalia , took place on July 23, during the peak of summer when water was scarcest. Like Poseidon, he was also worshipped by the Romans as a god of horses, Neptunus equestris, who was also a patron of horse-racing. The theology of Neptune is limited by his close identification with the Greek god Poseidon , one of many members of the Greek pantheon whose theology
8692-451: The start, Whistler's Mother sparked varying reactions, including parody, ridicule, and reverence, which have continued to today. Some saw it as "the dignified feeling of old ladyhood", "a grave sentiment of mourning", or a "perfect symbol of motherhood"; others employed it as a fitting vehicle for mockery. It has been satirized in endless variations in greeting cards and magazines, and by cartoon characters such as Donald Duck and Bullwinkle
8798-477: The summer of 1858. Whistler recovered and traveled with fellow artist Ernest Delannoy through France and the Rhineland. He later produced a group of etchings known as "The French Set", with the help of French master printer Auguste Delâtre [ fr ] . During that year, he painted his first self-portrait, Portrait of Whistler with Hat , a dark and thickly rendered work reminiscent of Rembrandt . But
8904-407: The third. The reason for Neptune's displacement to region X is unclear. It is consistent with the collocation in the third quadrant of the deities related to the human world. Arnobius provides information about the theology of Neptune. Neptune and Apollo were considered Etruscan Penates , and the deities were credited with giving Ilium its walls. In another tradition based on the same source,
9010-432: The time he gained widespread acceptance in the 1890s, Whistler was past his prime as a portrait painter. Whistler's approach to portraiture in his late maturity was described by one of his sitters, Arthur J. Eddy, who posed for the artist in 1894: He worked with great rapidity and long hours, but he used his colours thin and covered the canvas with innumerable coats of paint. The colours increased in depth and intensity as
9116-557: The tonal qualities and the composition and to de-emphasize the narrative content. Whistler's nocturnes were among his most innovative works. Furthermore, his submission of several nocturnes to art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel after the Franco-Prussian War gave Whistler the opportunity to explain his evolving "theory in art" to artists, buyers, and critics in France. His good friend Fantin-Latour , growing more reactionary in his opinions, especially in his negativity concerning
9222-402: The town did not change much in its agricultural and (some) fishing character, although tourism started in the 17th century with cityfolk from Middelburg who would enjoy a Sunday trip to the area in summer because of its coast and woodlands and merry inns. Wealth from both West- and East Indian trade also enabled many merchants from Middelburg and Flushing to build manorhouses with lavish gardens in
9328-406: The unearthing of the altar, indicate the deity's antiquity and chthonic nature. From Augustine ( De Civitate Dei IV 8, about the role of Tutilina in assuring the safety of stored grain), Dumézil interprets its name as deriving from condere (to hide or store) as a verbal noun similar to Sancus and Janus : the god of stored grains. A direct identification of Consus with Poseidon is hindered by
9434-471: The work progressed. At first the entire figure was painted in greyish-brown tones, with very little flesh colour, the whole blending perfectly with the greyish-brown of the prepared canvas; then the entire background would be intensified a little; then the figure made a little stronger; then the background, and so on from day to day and week to week, and often from month to month. ... And so the portrait would really grow, really develop as an entirety, very much as
9540-429: The worldly realm and the life cycle. Thesan and Uśil-Aplu, who has been identified with Śuri (Soranus Pater, the underworld sun god) clarify the transience of earthly life. Neptune is a god of fertility, including human fertility. According to Stephen Weinstock, Jupiter is present in each of the first three regions with different aspects related to each region; Neptune should have been in the second region, and Pluto in
9646-501: Was admitted to the highly selective institution in July 1851 on the strength of his family name, despite his extreme nearsightedness and poor health history. However, during his three years there, his grades were barely satisfactory, and he was a sorry sight at drill and dress, known as "Curly" for his hair length which exceeded regulations. Whistler bucked authority, spouted sarcastic comments, and racked up demerits . Colonel Robert E Lee
9752-535: Was always broke, and although a charmer, had little acquaintance with women. After it was discovered that he was drawing sea serpents, mermaids, and whales on the margins of the maps, he was transferred to the etching division of the United States Coast Survey . He lasted there only two months, but he learned the etching technique which later proved valuable to his career. At this point, Whistler firmly decided that art would be his future. For
9858-584: Was an American painter in oils and watercolor , and printmaker , active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral allusion in painting and was a leading proponent of the credo " art for art's sake ". His signature for his paintings took the shape of a stylized butterfly with an added long stinger for a tail. The symbol combined both aspects of his personality: his art
9964-477: Was created as a simple study in white; however, others saw it differently. The critic Jules-Antoine Castagnary thought the painting an allegory of a new bride's lost innocence. Others linked it to Wilkie Collins 's The Woman in White , a popular novel of the time, or various other literary sources. In England, some considered it a painting in the Pre-Raphaelite manner. In the painting, Hiffernan holds
10070-529: Was in steady debt. To relieve the situation, he took to painting and selling copies from works at the Louvre and finally moved to cheaper quarters. As luck would have it, the arrival in Paris of George Lucas, another rich friend, helped stabilize Whistler's finances for a while. In spite of a financial respite, the winter of 1857 was a difficult one for Whistler. His poor health, made worse by excessive smoking and drinking, laid him low. Conditions improved during
10176-651: Was in the valley of the Circus Maximus at the foot of the Palatine (the site of horse races). On the summer Consualia (August 21) it was customary to bring horses and mules, crowned with flowers, in procession and then hold equine races in the Circus. The festival also traditionally reenacted the abduction of the Sabine (and Latin) women, reflecting the sexual license characteristic of such festivals. On that day,
10282-428: Was known as the god of the sea, he was connected to the horse and may have originally been depicted in equine form. This connection reflects the violent and brutal nature of Poseidon the earth-shaker, the linkage of horses and springs, and the animal's psychopompous character. Neptune, in contrast, has no such direct connection with horses. The Roman deity Consus was associated with the horse, and his underground altar
10388-515: Was later tied to a Roman deity . The lectisternium of 399 BC indicated that the Greek figures of Poseidon, Artemis , and Heracles had been introduced and worshipped in Rome as Neptune, Diana, and Hercules. It has been speculated that Neptune has been conflated with a Proto-Indo-European freshwater deity; since the Indo-Europeans lived inland and had little direct knowledge of the sea,
10494-418: Was notable and noticed, however, for Whistler's design and decoration of the hall, which harmonized well with the paintings, in keeping with his art theories. A reviewer wrote, "The visitor is struck, on entering the gallery, with a curious sense of harmony and fitness pervading it, and is more interested, perhaps, in the general effect than in any one work." Whistler was not so successful a portrait painter as
10600-491: Was proposed by the 19th-century scholars Ludwig Preller , Karl Otfried Müller and Wilhelm Deeke . The name of the Etruscan deity Nethuns or Nethunus ( NÈDVNVZ ) would be an adjectival form of the toponym Nepe(t) or Nepete (present-day Nepi ), near Falerii . The district was traditionally connected to the cult of Neptune, and Messapus and Halesus (the eponymous hero of Falerii) were believed to be his sons. Messapus led
10706-661: Was recruited by Nicholas I of Russia to design a railroad in Russia. The Emperor learned of George Whistler's ingenuity in engineering the Canton Viaduct for the Boston & Albany Railroad, and he offered him a position engineering the Saint Petersburg-Moscow Railway . The rest of the family moved to St. Petersburg to join him in the winter of 1842/43. After moving to St. Petersburg, the young Whistler took private art lessons, then enrolled in
10812-620: Was required to avoid divine retribution. This type of offering implied a stricter connection between the deity and the world. Paredrae are entities who accompany a god, representing the fundamental aspects (or powers) of that god. With Hellenic influence, these paredrae came to be considered separate deities and consorts of their associated god. Earlier folk belief might have also identified paredrae as consorts of their god. Salacia and Venilia have been discussed by ancient and modern scholars. Varro connects Salacia to salum (sea), and Venilia to ventus (wind). Festus attributed to Salacia
10918-493: Was sent to Christ Church Hall School with his mother's hopes that he would become a minister. Whistler was seldom without his sketchbook and was popular with his classmates for his caricatures . However, it became clear that a career in religion did not suit him, so he applied to the United States Military Academy at West Point, where his father had taught drawing and other relatives had attended. He
11024-590: Was spent under branch huts in a woods between the Tiber and the Via Salaria , with participants drinking spring water and wine to escape the heat. It was a time of merrymaking, when men and women could mix without the usual Roman societal constraints. There is an added context of agricultural fertility in the festival, since Neptune received the sacrifice of a bull. Neptune had only one temple in Rome . It stood near
11130-503: Was the West Point Superintendent and, after considerable indulgence toward Whistler, he had no choice but to dismiss the young cadet. Whistler's major accomplishment at West Point was learning drawing and map making from American artist Robert W. Weir . His departure from West Point seems to have been precipitated by a failure in a chemistry exam where he was asked to describe silicon and began by saying, "Silicon
11236-515: Was the god who advised Romulus on the abduction of the Sabines. Perhaps influenced by Poseidon Ίππιος, Consus (whose festival included horse races) was reinterpreted as Neptunus equestris ; for his underground altar, he was identified with Poseidon Ένοσίχθων. The etymology of Poseidon , derived from Posis (lord or husband) and De (grain or earth) may have contributed to the identification of Consus with Neptune. His arcane cult, which required
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