Palmer Museum Visit

   
Almost immediately when I walked into one the first rooms of the Palmer Museum, this painting caught my attention. At first I liked the painting so much that I didn’t even write down its name. It was the first painting I'd seen, and I had never been to an art museum before in my life. I naturally assumed I would like many of the paintings at least as much as this one if not more. But as I walked through the rest of the first and the second floor, I was not as taken with the other paintings. Each one of them was brilliant but did not hold my attention like this one did. The reason being that, with no explanation of the painting and little to go on, there were endless possibilities of what it could mean. It was clearly a religious figure standing over a severed head, but what did it mean and who was San Gennaro? Was he a corrupt pope, or was his friend beheaded in front of him? The thoughts running through my head were endless so I wanted to know more.

This work of art is San Gennaro by Louis Finson (1580-1617). I now know it is a painting of San Gennaro, otherwise known as St. Janaurius. San Gennaro was the Bishop of Naples from the late third to early fourth century. His feast day is a large celebration every year in Naples, along with the liquefying of his blood which supposedly happens three times a year and is thought to be a sign of him watching over the city. He is loved and revered by the people of Naples even to this day.

The picture depicts the martyred saint with a gruesome look upon his face, standing over a severed head. This could be interpreted as at least a few different things because not to mention that San Gennaro himself was beheaded but many other Catholics at the time were being persecuted for their beliefs, including some of his own personal friends. The story behind the painting is interesting because it is a very bizarre scene with absolutely no explanation. If you don’t know the reason behind it, then it could have many different meanings. The painting itself is interesting if nothing else because of the contrast of colors. A completely black background with the bright colors of San Gennaro's robes and the color of the head lying on the table are complete opposites of the background. It almost gives off the illusion of a three dimensional picture. Like the picture itself is jumping out from the backdrop. However, a picture of a work of art on a computer screen cannot really show all that it has to offer, so I highly suggest to anyone that gets a chance to go see it to make a trip to Penn States Palmer museum.