Satan Leaving the Court of Chaos

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Satan Leaving the Court of Chaos
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Table of Contents

• Genre (slide 3)
• Style (slide 4)
• Henry Fuseli (slides 5 and 6)
• Artist (slide 7)
• Subject Matter (slides 8-10)
• Iconography (slides 11-18)
• Political Context (slide 19)
• Cultural Context (slides 20-24)
• Social Context (slide 25-27)
• Ownership (slide 28)
• Closing (slide 27)
• Bibliography (slide 30)

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Genre

• It is classified as a historical painting because
  its based on a literary scene from John Miltons
  Paradise Lost (1667).
• Romantic painting because of its stylistic and
  ideological content.

4
Style

• Satan Leaving the Court Chaos is a Romantic style
  painting a style classified by the deep
  saturated tones of colors.
• There is a strong contrast between light and
  dark, as can be seen between the characters in
  the painting and the dark background.
• There is an emphasis on brushwork and the
  subjects are drawn from literature and are
  focused on intense emotion and passion.
• intensity, masculinity, defiance of rules, and
  individual genius- all are ideals that apply to
  the solitary, heroic form of Satan.
• Strong sense of the sublime throughout the
  painting.

5
Henry Fuseli (1741- 1825)

• The Pre-Romantic ideas and techniques that appear
  in Satan Leaving the Court of Chaos appear in the
  work of contemporary artists, especially Henri
  Fuseli.
• life-long fascination with Milton
• 40 works illustrating Miltons poetry
• Opened a Milton Gallery in 1799

http//www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/09/euwc/ho_1980.4
11.htm
The Night-hag Visiting Lapland Witches, 1796
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Fuseli Continued

• Romantic style
• Use of folk tradition
• Subdued color tones
• light contrast
• theatrical pose
• Use of the sublime
• Terror
• nightmarish depiction
• obscurity
• Theatrical pose
• Intemperance of body is an association with
  Fuseli
• increased portrayal of extreme passion, rape of
  consciousness

http//www.artstor.org/artstor/mainFrame.jsp
The Nightmare, 1791
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Artist

• The artist who painted Satan Leaving the Court of
  Chaos is regrettably unknown, but most likely a
  follower of Henry Fuselis style
• The common conception is that it was made circa
  1800

Henry Tresham

• Possible Artists
• Thomas Freeman
• a follower of Henry Fuseli
• exhibited a work titled Satan at the Court of
  Chaos Miltons Paradise Lost in 1784 at the
  Royal Academy but this work, along with any other
  works by Freeman, have been lost
• Henry Tresham
• also a follower of Fuseli
• Painter of historical scenes
• exhibited paintings illustrating Milton
• Very similar style

http//www.manchestergalleries.org/the-collections

The Earl of Warwick's Vow Previous to the Battle
of Towton, 1797
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Subject Matter

• The painting is set in John Milton's Paradise
  Lost, Book Two, as Satan is fleeing from the
  Court of Chaos.
• The painting uses one frame to capture the
  arrival of Satan in this chaotic court, his
  discussion with Chaos, and his flight on toward
  Earth. It contains several elements quoted
  directly from this work.

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Subject Matter Continued

• The background is dark, foggy, and riddled with
  multiple perspectives, illustrating the attitude
  of the landscape described by Milton "Quenched
  in a boggy Syrtis, neither sea/ Nor good dry
  land nigh foundered, on he fares,/ Treading the
  crude consistence, half on foot,/ Half flying..."
  
• There are enough bodies to account for all of the
  characters that Milton mentions, Satan, Chaos,
  Night, Orcus, Ades, Demogorgon, Rumor, Chance,
  Tumult, Confusion, and Discord. Chaos, Satan, and
  Night are easiest to spot, but others have been
  attributed titles based on various
  characteristics and symbolism.

10
Subject Matter Continued

• Even Satan's flight and Chaos's "go forward"
  gesture are described by Milton, as Chaos urges
  Satan on his quest "'Go, and speed/ Havoc,
  spoil, and ruin are my gain.'/ He ceased, and
  Satan stayed not to reply.

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Iconography

• Satan
• reminiscent of Michelangelos portrayal of the
  human body
• characteristic of Fuselis work
• outstretched arm and extended finger is similar
  to the Sistine Chapel painting of Adam and God
  reaching out to one another
• abstraction /omission of the face- implies
  obscurity, complexity of emotion

http//battellemedia.com/images/sistine20chapel.j
pg
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Iconography of Satan

• Springs upward like a pyramid of fire/Into the
  wild expanse, and through the shock/ Of fighting
  elements, on all sides round/ Environed wins his
  way (II 951-1016)
• Sheer power and energy emphasized by clothing
• Satans War Helmet and spear are Martial symbols
  that not only humanize him but also emphasize his
  pure strength and power.
• The artist's choice to hide his face implies that
  Satan is experiencing an emotion so complex that
  it cannot be portrayed
• A moment of humanity

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Iconography Continued
behold the Throne Of Chaos, and his dark
Pavilion spread Wide on the wasteful Deep with
him Enthrond Sat Sable-vested Night, eldest of
things, The consort of the Reign and by them
stood Orcus and Ades, and the dreaded name Of
Demogorgon Rumor next and Chance, And Tumult and
Confusion all imbroild, And Discord with a
thousand various mouths. Milton, Paradise Lost
14
Iconography continued

• The snake
• references Hell and the Fall of Man - Eve tempted
  by Satan as a snake in Eden
• general reference to evil and cunning
• Clouds and Darkness
• imagery of the depths of Hell, void, lost,
  unwelcoming, negative
• However- there are positive Biblical references
  to darkness and clouds- possibly on purpose by
  Milton?
• He God made darkness his secret place his
  pavilion round about him were dark waters and
  thick clouds of the skies. (Psalm 1811)
• Then said Solomon, The LORD hath said that he
  would dwell in the thick darkness. (2 Chronicles
  61)

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Iconography continued

• Chaos
• Displayed as the central figure of the group
• Leader
• Old, as if he is an ancient ruler
• Outstretched hand symbolizes his role in sending
  Satan forth
• Night
• Obvious reference to darkness with the cloak
• Extremely old, withered
• Similarities to Satan
• claw-like hands and feet
• Emphasis on hands
• Hidden face

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Iconography continued

• Other Characters (identified according to the
  research of T. Riggs, identity of characters is
  debatable)
• Discord
• Described as having a thousand various mouths
  in Milton
• Snake-like hair can be symbolic of these thousand
  mouths, each snake with a separate mouth
• Confusion
• Identified by as the pale figure with the
  elongated face
• Reference to the confused look on his face
• The pale color of this figure could indicate the
  blank state that the feeling of confusion leaves
  in a person
• Note according to C. Douglass
• Confusion is identified as the blindfolded figure
  
• blindfold symbolizes the undirected, confused
  state of the figure
• grasping the hair of the figure next to him-
  indicates the need to grasp onto something
  concrete, as someone does when they are confused

Discord
Confusion
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Iconography continued

• Tumult
• Identified as the blindfolded figure holding a
  sword
• Associated with battle in Greek mythology-
  significance of the sword
• Note according to C. Douglass
• identified as the snake-haired figure who is,
  according to Milton, all embroiled with
  Confusion
• Chance
• Identified as a feminine character
• Associated with goddess Fortuna
• The turning of the head could symbolize her need
  to look away from what she symbolizes but cannot
  control- chance
• Note the female qualities that are attributed to
  the above could also be given to Discord, who, in
  Greek mythology, was the goddess, Discordia
• Rumor
• Characteristics of the wind
• Wind-blown hair and drapes
• Swollen face

Tumult
Chance
Rumor
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Iconography Continued

• Demogorgon
• Dark figure in the far right
• Always portrayed as part monster, sometimes with
  no human qualities
• Possible that the snake is an extension of
  himself as a tail
• Symbolic that his back is turned
• He is identified as a mysterious and terrifying
  deity of the underworld
• Orcus
• Helmeted figure, a god of the Underworld
• Punisher of broken oaths
• Ades
• Also known as Hades God of the Underworld
• The fact that he is older and bearded gives the
  figure kingly features

Orcus
Demorgorgon
Ades
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Political Context

• French Revolution (1789-1804) estimated date of
  painting (1800-1830).
• French Revolution and American Revolution could
  have been inspirations.
• Satan could also represent a new voice and hope
  for the old demons analogy to the new hope given
  by the National Assembly to the lower classes.
• The Catholic Church lost prestige and power in
  French government. The Church did not agree with
  the revolution and so some people began to
  dissociate themselves from it. (Satan, Death, and
  Sin mockery of The Holy Trinity.)

20
Cultural Context

• The artists attempt to instill extreme passion,
  spirituality, and qualities of the sublime in the
  work reflect common stylistic and ideological
  trends of its time.

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Cultural Context Continued

• This unknown artist inherits and conveys an
  understanding of Paradise Lost held by many
  contemporary thinkers.
• These terms, in general, consisted of the
  Humanization and Romanticization of Satan as a
  tragic, epic hero, and appeared in the work of
  intellectuals such as William Blake and Edmund
  Burke, who are both shown below.

William Blake
Edmund Burke
http//www.abm-enterprises.net/artgall1/william-bl
ake-portrait.jpg
http//www.let.rug.nl/usa/images/2003/burke.jpg
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Cultural Reflections William Blake and Edmund
Burke

• The most significant function of this obscurity
  is its contribution to the painting is its
  qualities of the sublime.
• As Edmund Burke explains, whatever is in any
  sort terrible, is a source of the sublime. Burke
  Further notes that, to make anything very
  terrible, obscurity seems in general to be
  necessary.
• William Blake says that Milton was of the
  Devils party without knowing it.
• And he wrote in fetters when he wrote of Angels
  God, and at liberty when of Devils
  Hell.(The marriage of heaven and hell, 74-75)

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Cultural Reflections Continued

• The painting demonstrates other Romantic ideals
• Romantics asserted that freedom is the right and
  property of one and all, and that in the style
  of Romanticism an intense desire for freedom can
  be depicted.
• The path to freedom was through imagination
  rather than reason and functioned through feeling
  rather than thinking. This emphasizes the
  feeling and emotion behind the painting.
• Romantics portray a world of fantasy, including
  the ghoulish, the infernal, the terrible, the
  nightmarish, the grotesque, the sadistic, and all
  other imagery that comes from the chamber of
  horrors when reason is asleep.

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Cultural Context Continued

• Blakes illustration of Book IV - Satan as an
  innocent, angelic figure. striking physical
  similarities to Adam and Eve.
• The serpent around his body identifies him as
  Satan, but portrayed as a burden.
• Downcast glance- sense of regret and despair he
  feels in Book IV.

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Social Context
John Milton

• Assuming it was done before or during the French
  Revolution
• Links with Romanticism
• Exemplifies the rights of the individual
• Illustrates religious rebellion
• Milton may have been viewed as a radical during
  this time
• Satans revolt against God parallels the Third
  Estates revolt against the Old Regime
• Satan becomes the hero

http//www.accd.edu/SAC/ENGLIsh/bailey/milton.htm
1608-1674
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Social Context Continued

• Assuming the painting is painted after the French
  Revolution
• The painting shows a new unity in the French
  people
• This is a direct allusion to the French
  Revolution the masses joining together under
  Napoleon to fight for their freedom.
• Satan is the unconventional hero, who is
  representing the crowd of characters left in the
  Court of Chaos.

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Social Context Continued

• To show Satans power over the people, he is
  depicted as the ideal symbol of strength and
  power through his taut, muscular frame.
• He is visually equivalent in size to all the
  other characters combined.
• This emphasizes his control and strength over
  those around him.

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Ownership

• Purchased in the 1970s by Spencer A. Samuels and
  Company, Ltd., New York from a widow of an
  European amateur collector.
• Then Purchased on December 3, 1975 by the Ackland
  Art Museum.

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Closing

• Satan Leaving the Court of Chaos is one artists
  visual interpretation of a scene from Miltons
  Paradise Lost.
• But it takes into account the Romantic era of
  painting.
• Also the painting embraces the politcal, social
  and cultural frameworks that were intertwined
  with the time.

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Bibliography

• Blake, William. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.
  Oxford University Press, 1975.
• Burke Edmund. A Philosophical Inquiry into the
  Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and the
  Beautiful. Oxford University Press, 1998.
• Kleiner, Fred, and Christin Mamiya. Art Through
  the Ages. Belmont, CA Thomson and Wadsworth,
  2005.
• Milton, John. Paradise Lost. London, England
  Penguin Classics, 2000.
• http//www.manchestergalleries.org/the-collections
  
• http//www.artstor.org/artstor/mainFrame.jsp