Someone on Facebook posted a link to an article (not sure if it was this one; there are several out there) about this newly unveiled portrait of the Danish royal family, produced – though this seems incredible – at the family’s request, apparently.
If somebody did a portrait of your family like this, would you pay them?
I made a crack on my friend’s comments about how this is actually considered cheerful in Denmark, home of Hamlet and Kierkegaard.
But in fact I think it’s more ominous.
As a certified amateur artistic wiseacre, my immediate interpretation of these spooky figures, backed up by classical ruins, was that the purpose would seem to be to portray the royal family as doomed, a crumbling remnant of an outmoded social order.
And I bet the royals understand that, but know that pointing it out would just open them up to accusations of trying to suppress artistic expression.
But even more, it struck me that the composition reminded me viscerally of another famous royal portrait. This one:
Is that Tsar Nicholas’ family, the last tsar of Russia?
What’s so bizarre about the Danish family portrait is the foreground boy who looks like a child from Omen or Ominous.
Not Ominous, but Insidious.
Yes. The last Tsar and his family.
Earlier this year I read a recent biography of Czar Nicolas II. The Last Czar by Edvard Radzinsky It gave me a better understanding of events leading up to the rise of Marxism and of the many characters of pre-WWI Russian history such as Rasputin.
His family suffered enough to wear serious expressions. Yet I think their picture is more a matter of the fashion of the day. You rarely see anyone smiling in early photos.
I’m not thinking of the expressions as much as the poses and use of space.
I was just discussing Philippians 4:8 with someone this morning at church. Whenever I see something this horrid it reminds me that the Enemy is always on the prowl even in little things like this.
I don’t remember who wrote it but I read that popular culture/art etc has become so bad that the hand of the enemy is evident behind it.