Posted 5 years ago
Golgatha
(231 items)
This is A. Jerndorff (1846-1906)'s portrait painting of prime minister J.B.S. Estrup (1825-1913) from 1895. What I can't figure out is the mysterious shadow in the lower left side of the painting, on the panel and on the rug. What kind of thing will cast a shadow like that ? I asked the museum where the painting has its home. They answered that the shadow is open for interpretation ! Maybe you can solve the mystery ?
The shadow could be a valet cart - you know like the kind a good hotel would use for your luggage?
Very strange.....maybe there’s some political significance since he was prime minister....some ‘shadow’/issue during his administration?
looks like a shadow of a chair?
Hmmm. OK, if this was a photograph it'd be a definite 'who cares?' -- accidental shadows end up in photos all the time -- but this is a *painting*...?? It makes perfect sense that the artist would include the subject's shadow, but why would he have went to the effort to add the shadow of something that isn't even in the portrait, whatever it might be...???
So I'll be the official 'non art critic' to take the pessimistic (?) guess -- could it be some kind of scuff or smudge or other little accident that happened to the portrait somewhere very early in its life, which the artist never bothered to fix...?? [but, since it has 'always been there', nobody else realized wasn't intentional?]