The Marriage of Figaro

Last night I watched 'The Marriage of Figaro' on DVD. More lingua Italia, thank heavens for sub-titles! The whole art of Opera has been made much more accessible and comprehendable through DVD sub-titles. Nowadays super-text is also projected overhead at theatrical productions. At 140 minutes another marathon viewing session.

Mozart's opera Le Nozze di Figaro (K 492 ) concerns itself with sexuality in relation to social standing. There's some strong social comment going on here, as well as some heavenly harmonies and melodies. The production I watched was from 1993, with the Welsh singer Bryn Terfel in the role of Figaro and John Elliot Gardiner conducting the English baroque soloists . Imagine my surprise when near the denouement or unraveling of 2 hours of intrigue, deception, true love tested and attempted seduction, Figaro sings the following lines-

Fair Venus has gone in,
Her lover Mars will follow in,
Like a modern Vulcan,
I will catch them in my net.

It looks as if the Greek myth of Venus and Mars entangled by Vulcan's net was still in common stock in the eighteenth century, though credit where credit's due, it would have been the dramatist and librettist Beaumarchais who was familiar with the Greek myth, not Mozart. Beaumarchais wrote his scandalous play in 1784, the Mozart adaptation followed swiftly, its premiere was on May 1, 1786 . It was a great triumph for the composer, an instant hit and a box-office sell-out in Vienna. Cherubino's aria and maybe more from The Marriage of Figaro can be found on my Modern Dance and Ballet Videos page.

The Leopard

In Luchino Visconti's 1963 film 'The Leopard' Il Gattopardo, the star of the film is the Sicilian landscape, the whole film being a pageant of Sicilian culture. Burt Lancaster acts the lead as a Prince Salina, a Sicilian aristocrat. The highlight of the 178 minute film is a 45 minute ballroom sequence in which the world-weary Prince dances with the bride-to-be. Visually stunning in its photography, Visconti makes a political statement about the era in which the film is set, namely the Italian unification of 1870. 

Invisible Sun

'Life is a pure flame and we live by an invisible sun within us'.

Long, long before the singer Sting's hit song 'Invisible Sun' in 1981, the image of an invisible sun occurs in Renaissance alchemical literature. The above quote can be found in the fifth and final chapter of Sir Thomas Browne's 1658 Discourse Urn-Burial. It became better-known when Penguin books printed it on the cover of a paperback edition of Sir Thomas Browne's Urn-Burial in 2006. The startlingly original image occurs in the fifth and final chapter of the apotheosis of the Discourse -

'But man is a Noble Animal, splendid in ashes, and pompous in the grave, solemnizing Nativities and Deaths with equal lustre, nor omitting Ceremonies of bravery, in the infamy of his nature. Life is a pure flame, and we live by an invisible Sun within us'.

Perhaps Sting once read of an 'invisible sun'  which subsequently influenced the imagery of his lyrics? Never underestimate the power of cryptomnesia, a convenient forgetfulness amongst many artists and poets!

 It was the Belgian alchemist Gerhard Dorn (circa 1530-84) who using Paracelsian 'astral imagery' for his own purposes, was the first to claim that within man there is an 'invisible sun', that is, a life-giving force, equivalent to the imago Dei, or image of God within man.


The image of an 'invisible sun' can be found in Dorn's Speculativa philosophia, which was reprinted in the door-stop sized tomes of the alchemical anthology known as the Theatrum Chemicum  (vol.1 1604) an edition of which was once in Sir Thomas Browne's library, and from where in all probability he 'borrowed' imagery of an invisible sun. [1]

C.G. Jung in his Mysterium Coniunctionis (1955-56) cites Dorn, who is in fact the most frequently quoted alchemical author by C.G. Jung. In his Speculativa Philosophia Dorn declares-

The sun is invisible in men, but visible in the world, yet both are of one and the same sun.

Carl Jung in his own magnum opus on alchemy Mysterium Coniunctionis (1955-56) cites Dorn's image, commenting-

In Dorn's view there is in man an 'invisible sun', which he identifies with the Archeus. This sun is identical with the 'sun in the earth'. The invisible sun enkindles an elemental fire which consumes man's substance and reduces his body to the prima materia. [2]

In any event the source of what is essentially an 'imago dei', (image of God) continues to attract interest, along with Browne's esoteric associations in general, the physician-philosopher paradoxically to modern sensibilities being equally deeply-immersed in Hermeticism, alchemy and astrology, as well as promoting the 'new science' and the Baconian investigation into nature's properties.


Notes

[1] 1711 Sales Auction Catalogue page 25 no. 124
[2]   C.G. Jung Mysterium Coniunctionis Paragraph 49

Magnolia

This hopefully is what will be blossoming in my garden in a few days! Magnolia is only just in bud now. Checking the date this photo was taken to compare how early/late Spring is this year is revealing. This photo was taken 24th March 2006. I thought it feels like Spring is very late this year.

In the Garden

Rembrandt (1606-1669) found frequent artistic inspiration from the Bible. There's an enormous number of canvases, sketches and engravings by him which can be viewed at the Bible and Art web-site . This Rembrandt for Easter Sunday is appropriately of the Resurrection. Jesus just looks so cool in his gardening togs. Look at the way Rembrandt, the master of dramatic light or chiaroscuro has dramatically lit the whole scene up as the light from a golden sunrise begins to flood onto  Christ. Happy Easter!