In the United States September 9th
was Grandparents Day. The event passed without fanfare; I wasn’t aware of it
until today. Mrs. Chatterbox and I aren’t grandparents yet but we haven’t given
up hope. In the meantime, I’d like to share an interesting painting with you.
A few years ago Mrs. C. and I were in
Paris.While walking through the endless galleries of the Louvre, Mrs. C. felt
the call of nature and headed off to find the ladies’ room. I waited for her in
a nearby gallery where I noticed this painting by Ghirlandaio (Gear-land-eye-o).
Like so many of the paintings in the Louvre, I’d seen this one reproduced in
art books. Quite frankly, I never thought much of it, but I was stuck waiting
for my wife to return and decided to take a closer look.
Ghirlandaio is not a household name; his
claim to fame comes mostly from being one of Michelangelo’s teachers. This
modest painting from 1490, An Old Man and his Grandson, was painted on wood with tempera. Tempera, popular
before the invention of oil paint, was made from ground pigment mixed with egg
yolk. It’s difficult to work with but the paint sticks very well to a surface,
as anyone who has ever tried to scrape a dried egg from a plate can tell you.
Like so many paintings from the Renaissance, the title of this work is based
solely on the subject matter, and the figures certainly appear to be
grandfather and grandson.
As I waited for Mrs. C, my attention
turned to the grandfather’s misshapen nose. What the hell is going on with
it? Is that a carbuncle? Leprosy? Rinophyma? Why would anyone
allow themselves to be painted this way? But the grandson clearly doesn’t see
the monstrous affliction. His eyes see only kindness and virtue, the man behind
the deformity. He places his doll-like hand on his grandfather’s chest in a
gesture of unadulterated love. I hope that one day a grandchild of mine will
look at me this way.
Today I treasure my moment standing before
this manifestation of pure love. And I have my wife’s weak bladder to thank for
it.
