Angels of Music Revisited

by Aberjhani

Title

Angels of Music Revisited

Artist

Aberjhani

Medium

Painting - Mixed Media Digital Painting

Description

This is a mixed media digital painting reinterpretation of the sixteenth century Italian artist Morazzone’s (Pier Francesco Mazzuchelli, 1573 - 1626) “Angel Musicians.” The original 16th century image minus any text was created using black chalk and brown wash, with white gouache used for additional effect. I chose a palette of bronze, gold, and Earth tones contrasting with shades of blue and indigo to suggest a realistic conflict between human suffering and healing spiritual grace.

The background for this edition is meant to duplicate the appearance of classic parchment or an illuminated manuscript. It is also distinguished from the first version by the integration of short quotes (some of them haikus) from my book THE RIVER OF WINGED DREAMS. Most of the quotes are easily read but a couple are partially inverted to emphasize the script’s dual function as text commentary and visual enrichment. That lets it work as a poster and as fine art.

Morazonne’s version was made part of the Getty Museum’s Open Content Project in 2013, classifying it as public domain material appropriate for editing. I wanted to pay tribute to Morazonne’s original vision while hopefully strengthening the sense of visual depth and felt interconnectedness in such a way that it could stand as a true creative response to the COVID-19 2020 pandemic. This seemed fitting enough given the hard hit Morazonne’s homeland of Italy took before the virus jumped the ocean to the U.S.

Below are the quotes from different poems in THE RIVER OF WINGED DREAMS used in the above artwork:

1) Chords of miraculous notions enrich your blessed voice
with strength to sing dreams into deeds well done.

2) Even when muddy
your wings sparkle bright wonders
that heal broken worlds.

3) Your tears are muscles,
hinged on wings lunar and solar.
Your touch: life and death.

4) Consider heaven
as a world-weary stranger
asleep in your heart.

5) Death wins nothing here,
gnawing wings that amputate––
then spread, lift up, fly.

6) As you bury flesh––
honor spirit, savor hope,
cherish memory.

Aberjhani
© Harlem Renaissance Centennial

Uploaded

April 5th, 2020

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