Painting of Ge “The Endoran sorceress evokes the shadow of Samuel”
He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts for seven years. All his student works show that the years have not passed for the artist for nothing. In addition to creating the Old Testament stories, he stood out as a portraitist.
Particularly good were his works related to mythological subjects. The gorgeous program work of Gay Achilles mourns Petrokla (1855), written according to Homer’s poem “Iliad”.
The second successful work of the beginning artist was “The Endorian Sorceress Causes Samuel’s Shade” (1856), in the writing of which Ge used many of Briullov’s compositional and coloristic techniques.
On the eve of the decisive battle with the Philistines, feeling himself abandoned by God, who did not answer Saul through the ways permitted by the Jewish law of those times – “Urim and Thummim,” dreams and prophecies, the king decided to turn to the sorceress. It was found with great difficulty, since Saul himself
This tragic moment is very expressively reflected in the picture of the young painter. The plot is very well chosen, and this was already manifested by Nicholas Ge, who
A short biblical account of the Endorian sorceress has long bore the minds of Jews and Christians, giving rise to numerous theological controversies and interpretations in the context of the theme of the existence of the soul after death. A separate subject of verbal battles raised the question of who actually appeared at the call of the witch: indeed the spirit of the prophet Samuel, any demon or all the magic was a mere quackery. The proponents of faith in the reality of witchcraft considered this parable as a biblical proof of their opinion.
Colorfully and figuratively transferred to canvas, the Old Testament story brought the artist a large gold medal and gave the opportunity to make a pensioner trip to Italy.
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