My prior Art posts can be found HERE.
How do we move away from being a civilization that produces art that causes comments like, “my five year old could make this,” back to being one that creates beauty and inspires deep questions? We must reject modernity and embrace tradition. To embrace tradition, we must first learn about it..
Let’s study art history together.
Release From Deception
Some works of art are, simply put, mind-blowing. This is one of them. This sculpture, titled Release from Deception (Il Disinganno), produced in 1752–1759 for the Cappella Sansevero by sculptor Francesco Queirolo was carved entirely by hand out of one block of marble. The fisherman, the angel, and the unfathomably intricate net… all of one piece. No glue. No supports. No mistakes possible in its creation without having to start over. The work is so incredible that some have speculated the artist had other-worldly help.
The video below shows the details up close (with some Italian opera to set the mood.)
More on the incredible work of religious art (via mymodernmet.com)
The Release from Deception
The Release from Deception depicts a scene that is both biblical and allegorical. It features two subjects: an angel and a fisherman. The angel stands on a globe as he untangles the man from a fishing net and floats above exquisite drapery.
Biblical Meaning
According to the Museo Capella Sansevero (“Sansevero Chapel Museum”) the net symbolizes sin. As the angel sets the man free, he rids him of his wrongdoings and introduces him to the Bible, which rests at his feet. In order to emphasize the idea of liberation, Queirolo adorned the open pages of the book with a Latin passage that reads: “I will break thy chain, the chain of the darkness and long night of which thou art a slave so that thou might not be condemned with this world.”
Secular Symbolism
In addition to religious undertones, the sculpture incorporates secular symbols. For example, the flame on the angel’s head represents human intellect, while the globe signifies worldly passions. These elements coincide with Raimondo’s dedication to his father, which explores the idea of “human fragility, which cannot know great virtues without vice.”
According to the museum, the sculpture also appears to denote aspects of freemasonry, a fraternal organization. The Bible, for example, serves a dual purpose, as an open book is one of the three “great lights” of Masonry. Similarly, the concept of light and dark—explored by the aforementioned biblical passage—”appears to be a clear reference to Masonic initiation, where those being initiated would enter wearing a ritual blindfold to open their eyes to the new light of the Truth.”
The Marble Net
While its symbolism is compelling, it is The Release from Deception‘s sculptural details—namely, its exquisitely carved net—that has captivated viewers for centuries. Though at first glance, this structure appears to be composed of intertwined rope, a closer inspection reveals that the open-mesh material is made entirely from a single block of marble.
It reportedly took Queirolo seven years to fabricate this marble net, which he crafted without a workshop, apprentice, or other form of external assistance. The Sansevero Chapel Museum notes that this is because even the most specialized sculptors “refused to touch the delicate net in case it broke into pieces in their hands.”
Though laborious, Queirolo’s determination undoubtedly paid off. Thanks to its marble netting, The Release from Deception has garnered the artist praise over the last 250 years. Giangiuseppe Origlia, an acclaimed Italian historian, called the piece “the last and most trying test to which sculpture in marble can aspire” in 1754, while 20th-century novelist Matilde Serao poetically described it as “a singular closure of life, a singular term for all sublimities, all passions, all loves.” She concludes: “Release from deception—and nothing more.”
You might wonder what the writing on the piece says. I can help with that! The writing is comprised of references to the Latin Bible. The writing is supposed to represent the message delivered by the angel to the fisherman.
VINCULA TUA DISRUMPAM (Nahum, i. 13)
VINCULA TENEBRARUM ET LONGÆ NOCTIS (QUIBUS ES) COMPEDITUS Sapientiæ, xvii. 2)
UT NON CUM HOC MUNDO DAMNEBIS (St. Paul, 1 Corinthians, xi. 32)
For a short but excellent review of the sculpture, I recommend the following:
