Hello, I'm Carlo, an educator in the Learning and National Programmes
Department here at the National Gallery, and in this series, we explore symbols we
can find in the paintings of our collection. Today, we're gonna be talking
about bows and arrows. They may appear in pictures representing the sport of
archery, but I must tell you that actually the reason for having bows and arrows
in the picture is rarely that straight forward. When we walk in the gallery,
the first representation of bows and arrows we can find is about love.
If you spot a little boy with wings, a quiver fully equipped with arrows, a bow,
that's Cupid. He can also be called Amor in Latin, Eros in Greek, it's all the same,
he is the God of love. He's got a very special power:
everyone struck with his arrows falls in love immediately. And he likes to be in
the company of his mother, Venus, the goddess of beauty. Cupid likes to share
the stage with other mythological figures as well. Here, Pierre Mignard
represented Cupid, fully equipped with his quiver and arrows, no bow, with Thetis,
the mother of Achilles. In the role of Thetis, we actually have the
Marquise de Seignelay. She was the young widow of the Navy Secretary of the Sun
King. This picture, at least partially, works like a big Tinder picture. She's
seeking a husband - not a romance, that's why there's no bow over there,
but someone that definitely brings love, we got Eros over here, but also riches.
You may probably appreciate the coral and pearls in this beautiful, precious cup.
Arrows can also represent sensual love, erotic pleasure, and Venus herself is
not immune to the power of Cupid. Accidentally stung but one of his arrows,
she falls in love with a young hunter, Adonis.
And Titian represented a very crucial moment here, the intimacy of the couple,
and you can see they definitely enjoy their divine affair, because in the
background, Cupid is sleeping, exhausted. But this moment is also crucial because
this is the last time they are together. Adonis has a big passion for hunting and
this time he is going to be killed by a wild boar. Next time they'll be reunited
together, he will be dead and she will be heartbroken. Love can be cruel! And
this leads us to the second representation of bows and arrows. They
may be a source of pain, and indicate punishment. A good example is Veronese
here. He's representing an unwanted lover, scornfully beaten up by Cupid. Here,
there are no magical shots for falling in love, only scratches for punishment, and there are so many
that Cupid has broken up the string of his bow. Arrows as a symbol of punishment are
are very common in Christianity as well. They identify specifically one saint.
Saint Sebastian he was a member of the Imperial Guard, he was persecuted for his faith.
He was tied up to a tree, or a post, and shot with arrows, as it was graphically
for instance represented by an Antonio and Piero del Pollaiuolo, here in
the Gallery. Another possible representation is in total solitude, and
that's what Gerrit van Honthorst liked. The saint is apparently
alone here, brightly lit up, and dead. But actually, he is not really dead, he's
definitely not alone. The supernatural light reveals that God is by his side, and
he will be saved for faith in God. This painting, altogether,
signifies that the love of God can win over cruelty. Wonderful! Now we are ready
to build up on the opposite meanings of love and punishment, to discover how
bows and arrows that can be used as an a very effective and powerful device for
storytelling. We have a wonderful example here: the reunion of Ulysses and Penelope,
painted by Pintoricchio. The story unfolds from the background. You have Ulysses
himself, who escaped the power of Circe, a goddess who turn his companions into
pigs. He also was able to resist the very tempting deadly song of the siren,
and after many more adventures, after ten years, Ulysses returned home,
just in time to realize that young suitors were trying to marry Penelope,
his wife. But she was a very smart lady, and she knew that nobody could use
Ulysses' bow and arrows. She tested the suitors with an archery contest.
Ulysses, disguised as a beggar, joined the contest, and clearly he knew how
to use his bow and arrow, and got rid of all the suitors using exactly the same bow.
Their love was finally vindicated, and un-fitting lovers were punished.
Another very good example of storytelling can be found in two
paintings by Titian. The first one is 'Diana and Actaeon'. Actaeon is a young hunter, fully
equipped with his bow, quiver, and accidentally one day he walks into
Diana's bath, and he sees the goddess naked. She's appalled, he's shocked, he drops
his bow, and he doesn't know yet, he had just been cursed. Diana in fact
transforms Actaeon into a stag. The second part of the story unfolds in
the second painting, where you can perfectly see that Actaeon is part human,
got human legs, and part stag already,
and his unwitting hounds are tearing their master in pieces. Diana herself,
she leads the punishment, full tilt, you can perceive the energy, but the same
time, if you look better, if you look closer, you may realise there's no arrow
there, not even a string for the bow. Has the painter forgotten to include these
details, or the painting is unfinished? Or maybe something else. If we look at this
painting literally from a different angle, from the right, we realise that the
landscape opens up, and the role of Diana is much much clearer. She's the cause of
the punishment, but she's not the one physically killing Actaeon herself. She's
fully equipped with his bow and quiver, just to symbolise that the hunter
himself is responsible for his own destruction.
So the painting, it looks like it's telling us, remember that in life you may
actually be struck by ill fortune, but like it or not you may also pay the
consequences, even if you don't deserve them.
Bows and arrows may look like insignificant details in more complex images, but
actually, they help us to decode the meanings in paintings. So come along and
see yourself our many intriguing stories of love and punishment you can discover
in our paintings. If you want to learn more about our paintings, you can click
here or here. There is a full list all the paintings we have discussed today in
the description below, and don't forget to subscribe, leave us a comment with
your thoughts, ideas and feedback, and thank you for watching, see you next time.