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Twelfth Century

Print
1913-1915 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Although he spent most of his adult life living in Paris, the painter and graphic artist Konstanty Brandel often visited his native Poland and continued to consider himself a Polish artist. His work may be described as Symbolist and has much in common with that of figures such as Odilon Redon and Gustave Doré, although Hieronymus Bosch, Giovanni Battista Piranesi and Francisco de Goya have also been cited as possible influences.

Brandel’s imagery often includes architecture or disturbing landscapes. Both are frequently inhabited by men, women and animals engaged in strange or ritualistic behaviour and sometimes endowed with supernatural powers such as the ability to float or fly. These fantasies often have an obsessive quality about them. Here scenes from the bible and Christian iconography are bound together with figures of kings and bishops to fill every inch of the picture space.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleTwelfth Century (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Etching
Brief description
Konstanty Brandel: 'XIIieme Siècle [XIIth century], etching, 1913-1915.
Physical description
Manic, agorophobic scene of figures from Christian mythology and the bible in a wildly Piranesian architectural fantasy setting. Including dragons, Christ Pantocrator, Church elders, demons, kings and queens etc.
Dimensions
  • Plate height: 26.8cm
  • Plate width: 30.3cm
  • Sheet height: 31.6cm
  • Sheet width: 44.8cm
Style
Production typeLimited edition
Marks and inscriptions
K.Brandel (Signature, very tiny, in pencil, just below plate on right)
Credit line
Given by the artist’s uncle, Witold Leitgeber
Subject depicted
Summary
Although he spent most of his adult life living in Paris, the painter and graphic artist Konstanty Brandel often visited his native Poland and continued to consider himself a Polish artist. His work may be described as Symbolist and has much in common with that of figures such as Odilon Redon and Gustave Doré, although Hieronymus Bosch, Giovanni Battista Piranesi and Francisco de Goya have also been cited as possible influences.

Brandel’s imagery often includes architecture or disturbing landscapes. Both are frequently inhabited by men, women and animals engaged in strange or ritualistic behaviour and sometimes endowed with supernatural powers such as the ability to float or fly. These fantasies often have an obsessive quality about them. Here scenes from the bible and Christian iconography are bound together with figures of kings and bishops to fill every inch of the picture space.
Associated objects
Bibliographic reference
Konstanty Brandel Muzeum Narodow w Warszawie, Galeria Szfuki Wspolczesnej. Warsaw Listopad- grudzien 1977. Prints cat no. 98
Collection
Accession number
E.1444-1993

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Record createdAugust 24, 2006
Record URL
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