Reading Art: Blair Leighton's 'God Speed' | Literary & Visual Arts ...

By Wim Van Aalst Created: August 14, 2012 Last Updated: August 15, 2012

Edmund Blair Leighton?s ?God Speed,? oil on canvas. (Artrenewal.org)

Edmund Blair Leighton (1852?1922) lived in an era when academic art was losing its appeal: Its emphasis on formal perfection couldn?t prevent the bulk of its art from becoming generic and uninspired. At the same time, the Industrial Revolution was changing society dramatically and on a large scale, too.

What characterizes Leighton?s work is his love for expressing humankind?s strong and good side. A lot of his work has a medieval setting?not that of the dark Middle Ages?but that which shows glimpses of a vibrant medieval chivalry.

The silent (almost sacred) intimacy as well as the honesty of emotions that he infuses in his characters makes his work stand out from many of his academic peers whose works too often suffered from a one-dimensional emotional blandness.

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Although the traditional academies trained students to technical perfection, they did not?or did not know how to?teach students to grasp the deeper essence of life and of what it means to be a human.

In order to touch people on a deeper level, to inspire them and to bring out their best, the Renaissance inculcated the idea that one should cultivate oneself first and in as many aspects as possible: socially, intellectually, spiritually, artistically, and the like.

Unfortunately this ideal faded after Rubens, who was, with regard to how he lived his life, perhaps the last Renaissance artist.

This Blair Leighton work is called ?God Speed.? In the scene, a knight clad in armor and ready to depart to war is leaving his beloved. She ties a red sash around his arm, which he is meant to return. This medieval custom?a superstition if you will?assured both parties that they would be reunited, alive and well.

A griffin, symbol of strength and military courage, adorns the banister of the stairs that separate the couple. It seems to chase the knight?s horse to follow the rest of the horsemen.

The decision has been made. They have chosen not to run from their fate; they chose to face it and brave it as best they can. Desertion and living the rest of their lives as refugees was apparently (we hope) even less what they wanted.

A wealth of emotion fills the knight?s face as he looks up at his beloved. His eyes are a bit sad, his face undaunted. It seems as if the finality of the moment has just hit him: the reality of departure, the upcoming danger, the anguish of separation, the uncertainty of whether they will ever see each other again.

And on a less emotional level, he faces the possibility of losing not just her, but his very life.

Softly and elegantly, she responds by tying the sash of return around his arm, expressing her sole hope.

The terror of the separation imposed on them is tempered by the interaction between the two, turning it into an unforgettable, powerful moment. Aren?t these a pair of yin and yang in perfect balance?

Thinking of him, she very wisely provides him what he will need most?an unbending wish to return. The purity of her honest, simple gesture, unsullied by screaming and crying, is a memory sure to remain aglow in his heart, even in the darkest moments of war. The memory might just pull him through when other knights would break down.

His steadfast demeanor is all he can leave her with, but it is a seed that will keep her hopes alive in the days of loneliness and uncertainty.

This is the third in a series of articles called ?Reading Art,? in which the author explores masterful works of art throughout the ages to find what makes them extraordinary, from the obvious to the hidden.

Wim Van Aalst has a master?s degree in publicity and graphic design. He is a self-taught painter and teaches students in traditional oil painting techniques.

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Source: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/arts-entertainment/reading-art-blair-leightons-god-speed-279518.html

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