The guy who is dying or already dead (by virtue of the obvious hole in his chest leaking blood) doesn’t look so bad for a dying or dead guy. He’s just chillin’ (and somehow getting the blood to flow under his arm and not further ruin his coat) but the women’s faces and gestures show them to be very distressed. Okay, I know this is not a very respectful comment on the dead and dying, so I apologize for that. Oh, and did you notice that the other guy is already leaving.
Allison, reading/looking at your blog is one of the highlights of my day. Every single day. Thank you so much! -Dana
Dana, I love your commentary on this image. I found it to be equally amusing because it doesn’t seem right. But, that is folk art and the beauty of it! It isn’t perfect, which to me makes it entertaining and intriguing. Notice the other guy’s right arm? Where is the bottom half? What I don’t know is if this an illustration of a well-known folk story. It very well may be, considering that it is on a plate in the Museum of Sicilian Carts, the painting of which has a whole cantastorie (singing storyteller) aspect to this art… We are definitely missing something… The narration to the story! So, this is where you come in! What story would you tell? I know you’ve got one!
What I finally made of the other guy, standing, I figured out by looking at his feet. They are turned in a direction that looks like he’s leaving. And I wondered about his forearm and where it went, but he’s just holding it in front of him if you see him as having already turned to leave. It’s possible that the guy standing is the doctor and he sees the guy on the ground is hopeless so he’s just leaving since there’s nothing left for him to do. Lots of story possibilities here! Why did the man on the ground get shot in the first place? Let’s just throw jealousy in the mix see how the story gets more complicated (as most human stories are!). Okay, that does it – I’m writing a story about this painting! I’ll add it to my NaNoWriMo words for today. 🙂 I’ll send it to you via email!
The guy who is dying or already dead (by virtue of the obvious hole in his chest leaking blood) doesn’t look so bad for a dying or dead guy. He’s just chillin’ (and somehow getting the blood to flow under his arm and not further ruin his coat) but the women’s faces and gestures show them to be very distressed. Okay, I know this is not a very respectful comment on the dead and dying, so I apologize for that. Oh, and did you notice that the other guy is already leaving.
Allison, reading/looking at your blog is one of the highlights of my day. Every single day. Thank you so much! -Dana
Dana, I love your commentary on this image. I found it to be equally amusing because it doesn’t seem right. But, that is folk art and the beauty of it! It isn’t perfect, which to me makes it entertaining and intriguing. Notice the other guy’s right arm? Where is the bottom half? What I don’t know is if this an illustration of a well-known folk story. It very well may be, considering that it is on a plate in the Museum of Sicilian Carts, the painting of which has a whole cantastorie (singing storyteller) aspect to this art… We are definitely missing something… The narration to the story! So, this is where you come in! What story would you tell? I know you’ve got one!
What I finally made of the other guy, standing, I figured out by looking at his feet. They are turned in a direction that looks like he’s leaving. And I wondered about his forearm and where it went, but he’s just holding it in front of him if you see him as having already turned to leave. It’s possible that the guy standing is the doctor and he sees the guy on the ground is hopeless so he’s just leaving since there’s nothing left for him to do. Lots of story possibilities here! Why did the man on the ground get shot in the first place? Let’s just throw jealousy in the mix see how the story gets more complicated (as most human stories are!). Okay, that does it – I’m writing a story about this painting! I’ll add it to my NaNoWriMo words for today. 🙂 I’ll send it to you via email!
Awesome! I very much look forward to reading it! Have fun with it! 🙂