Professional Documents
Culture Documents
INTRODUCTION
stories. Both stories the Medusa’s ankle and Christ in the house of Martha and Mary are
excellent examples of painting coming to life. I intend to find out why choosing a painting for
theme of literary work can be fascinating. Furthermore, I examine the differences between the
places of the paintings in these short stories. What is most striking is that in Medusa’s ankle art
is shown as something consumed, in contrast to Christ in the house of Martha and Mary where
It has precedents that literature explores the fertile ground of visual representation.
Postmodern Julian Barnes was also inspired by a painting in History of the World in 10½
Chapters. In Chapter 5 the Shipwreck story tells us about the events that happened to survived
crew members in Gericault’s painting the Raft of the Medusa, then gives an analysis of the
painting. This story has a tragic, thought-provoking narrative and clearly the author lamented
over the state of mind of these rescued men. They were on a raft for 13 days before they have
been found. Somehow lack of information that a painting can represent, has awaken an author
imagination and then become a material for literary work. The French publisher house Flohic
authors who wrote semi fictional texts about the work or life of a celebrated artist. Thus, the
work of Degas, Cézanne, Peter de Hooch can appear in a different light and become
acknowledged by a wider audiences ( Fishwick 52 ). I do not understand how A.S. Byatt was
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not involved in this project, (not writing in French must have to do something with it). Her
study of painted art and fascination about the creative process resonate the original goals of
Musées secrets. She has a penchant for pictorial intertextuality thus, certain visual works are
placed iconically at the head of the stories. She is one of the master of ekphrasis, which is a
literary description or commentary on a work of art. She makes the reader to think how colours,
artistic vision on shapes and indeed the artistic process are echoing with the characters’ inner
thoughts.
The short story appears along with three other stories in Byatt’s The Matisse Stories,
published in 1993. The title shed light on the main motif of this book that is Henri Matisse’s
life and artistic productions. As Sarah Fishwick in her analyze cited; Byatt firstly uses Matisse’s
artistic vision to create fictional location and landscape and then to represent the working
process of artists (54). Fishwick highlighted that in Medusa’s ankle through the medium of art
in the commercial space ( the salon of Lucien) because it can provide a theme for its décor
(Fishwick 54) . The owner uniformized his salon interior to the painting because he thought it
“gives the salon a bit of class”. Functionality and aesthetics play a big role in choosing the
painting as the starting point of the salon’s style. Pink, Blue colour scheme and cream is
everywhere from the uniform of the hairdressers to the tea cups and plates. The main message
of Fishwick’s analyze is that Byatt draws attention to the way paintings with artistic value are
routinely consumed, become simple cultural commodity ( 55) . Le Nu Rose painting in a salon
catches the desire of Lucien to be more flair and sophisticated, it is the marker of luxury and
elevated social status ( Fishwick 55 ). For further understanding of painting embedment in this
story, let us examine how the protagonist, Susannah encounters with the Rosy Nude.
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She had walked in one day because she had seen the Rosy Nude through the plate glass.
That was odd, she thought, to have that lavish and complex creature stretched
voluptuously above the coat rack, where one might have expected the stare, silver and
The first sentence describes how welcoming the glimpse of the Matissan painting made
Susannah. She felt at home because she was a scholar, a refined consumer of art. No place
where Matisse is displayed can be bad, she thought. The visual impact of the painting as
Campbell stated is achieving calmness, joy, power and trust. They are associated with the
release of energy that can free the character from being trapped in her own thoughts ( 170) .
Susannah is obsessed by her alleged ugliness and her repulsiveness due to her aging body.
She thinks the academic success came late for her, because she must be on television and this
frightens her. Therefore, she turns to Lucien to cut her a decent haircut. Susannah in the end
regrets that she had trusted Lucien and made herself believe that time can freeze, art can be
eternal. Because the cruel, inevitable change came. The salon has been redecorated, black-
and-white photographs of young girls replaced the Rosy Nude. Campbell states that the
Matissian painting has liberating qualities ( 177 ). Susannah deprived from the nude’s “huge
haunches and a monumental knee”, the female body image empowerment, she needed to
start a rampage of the interior to express her feelings. According to Campbell art has the
power of breaking cycles of repetition, releases us from enclosure and from apathy. It gives
us renewed perception of the uniqueness of the ordinary (177). With this thread of thinking I
would like to elaborate into the second short story Christ in the house of Martha and Mary.
THE PAINTER HIMSELF AND THE CREATING PROCESS IN CHRIST IN THE HOUSE OF MARTHA AND
MARY
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It is undeniable that this short story fits perfectly into the succession of stories in
Elementals: Stories of Fire and Ice which was published in 1998. These stories have for theme
binary opposites, like fire and ice, servant and served. There are several creative artist
characters in Elementals. The male painter in A Lamia in the Cévennes , ice sculptor in Cold,
female director of television commercials in Jael. The last story seems to be a tale about
painting but it is also a philosophical question about one’s place in life. In the last tale, our
focus would be on the “young artist”. I cannot state that the painter is Velázquez because he is
not actually named, but we indeed identify him through the environment of the story. The
original painting with the same title as the short story dates about 1618, and it is to be found in
the National Gallery, London. What Byatt has seen in Velazquez’s painting is according to
Wallhead the foregrounding of figures which are normally marginalized through class or
gender (313). As an author Byatt tends to favorize underrepresented characters and social
realism in her narratives. While, Vélazquez in his genre of bodegón which is still life painting
depicting every days objects also turns to unilluminated subjects for his art. This short story is
the mixture of these Ars poticas. For the young cook, Dolores, the painter is an interpreter of
Christ wisdom about active/passive lifestyles. Returning to the Campbellian thought that art
liberates us, renews perception of the uniqueness of ordinary. That is exactly what has
His interest in the materials of her art did indeed fire her own interest in them. She
excelled herself, trying new combinations for him, offering new juices, frothing new
In her mind the conversations with the painter freed her, she developed a positive attitude
towards her work and her unique talents. She grows to learn that doing one’s work well is a
merit of a lifetime. On a physical level, it is described that because the artist was interested in
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her cooking she became also more attentive to it. The artist mindset was deeply “interested in
the world and its multiplicity of forms and forces “. He was fascinated by the form of a garlic,
the force of Dolores’s frown, the beauty in eggs and fish. Through his glaze which was a slit,
CONCLUSION
Both texts incorporate female protagonists who are either a character from a painting or relate
emotionally to it. It is interesting how an acknowledged scholar and a talented cook share
some similarities in Byatt’s stories. Susannah and Dolores are victims of self-insecurity and
searching their place in this world. They are dissatisfied with their own body image and as
female workforce they are questioning the meaning of their existence. Dolores has been loved
and appreciated by the wise words of the young artist. Modelling for the famous picture was
for her a healing process, in which she sensed her own importance and usefulness. I found it
extremely interesting what is the destination of painted art according to Byatt is? Is it to be
conversation? The final wisdom is given from the young artist parable in Christ in the house
of Martha and Mary: no matter what is the opinion of the costumer about our work, or
Work Cited
Byatt, A.S. Elementals: Stories of Fire and Ice. London: Chatto & Windus, 1998.
Byatt, A.S. The Matisse Stories. London: Chatto & Windus, 1993.
Campbell, Jane. A.S. Byatt and the Heliotropic Imagination. Waterloo: Wilfrid
Laurier UP, 2012.
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Wallhead, Celia M. Velázquez as icon in A.S. Byatt’s “Christ in the house of Martha
and Mary”. Estudios Ingleses de la Universidad Complutense, 2001, pp 307-321,
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.873.8960&rep=rep1&type=
pdf