Art History ClickBait | You Will NEVER Believe It!

Surely, you've seen Hans Holbein's portrait "The Ambassadors." To the uninitiated, it's a portrait with an anamorphic skull. But what is the intention behind this skull? It's a memento mori, it's to remind us of our imminent deaths, but beyond that, why is it placed like that? Art literacy is not as advanced as we wish it would be, and often, with catchy paintings such as The Ambassadors, art and it's potential power is not explored. Rather, it remains catchy, it remains, click-bait. As always I will be live later today at 2pm EST or 11am PST. Come talk about art, click-bait, and more.

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#theambassadors #videoessay #arthistory

[ronoc]

Everytime I see this painting in a video I keep thinking it's a bad photoshop job and I'm still waiting on someone to mess up and admit it as such.

[tohawk]

Fully agree. A big part of your thesis would apply under the concept of functional illiteracy. Most people know how to read, but not to interpret and comprehend what they read. Which furthermore applies to our relationship with images and art

[n.s.mcmahon]

I don't think the piece is the issue, but more the modern market culture. The history of the painting and the themes presented in it are interesting (to me at least), it's when an artwork is cheaply overanalyzed for the sake of Alex-Jonseian sensationalism that the problem occurs. I don't think that's the work's fault, but more a symptom of the "click-based economy".

[ej]

If I remember my art history, this painting was originally placed in a tight stair case so the skull needed to painted in this fashion. - so the viewer could see the skull as they ascended the stairs.

[Dennis-deji]

I just watched your videos on Stanczynk, Ivan the terrible and Saturn devouring his child. Your videos to me feel like having a conversation with someone who was a lot of passion for what he does, something that you might not find not have a great apreciation for but he passes down to you his love. In the end you understand why he loves his topic and opens up a part of you uknown and unexplored, one that wouldn't manifest if not for that person. As if a part of your intellect is now captive to that person, for once because it is too weak to survive on its own but thrives in his company.
Your content is part of the greatest reason I love youtube, thank you for an amazing and entairning night full of meaing

[bobdob]

I disagree. Clickbait is leading with a headline or image that is engaging but does not pertain to or properly represent the content. Death and beheading specifically under Henry VIII's rule was a constant possibility. This is especially true with the topic of church and state reform which is more the theme of the work than the individuals. It was only called the Ambassadors later.

I agree there are lots of technically proficient artists to look at. and the skull was something that made me consider this work more closely. I wanted to know how Holbein kept his head with such a major distraction. This was a private commission and we do not know its original specifications. It is not abstract enough to be subliminal and could jeopardize the entire job. The meaning of a art also changes with time, culture and perspective.

Visual hooks are not clickbait unless they are superfluous to the subject. The way we present work and focus on elements can be clickbait or an opportunity to enhance visual literacy. It is necessary to make you look to engage viewers on a deeper level. It can only be considered clickbait if it does not deliver on that promise.

Martin Luther's reformation was still blooming and Henry VIII left the church three years before so that he could marry Anne Boleyn. It is speculated she might have commissioned the work which makes the skull even more prescient than it already is.

Many people have died and still are as a direct result of the circumstances surrounding this work. The skull is a dark smear that causes you to look more deeply and at an angle to find the truth. When you do that there are many clues within that indicate the work is discussing a much larger issue. If that is clickbait I want a whole lot more.

[airtale.p]

This is a bit like the literature-girl/boy phenomenon, when someone is a chuunibyo, trying to act as their ideal self as someone who reads a lot of books and is mysterious, and only picks up books to uphold this image, but then ends up in encounters and actually starts to have interest in books. Basically people who snobs would call posers finding intellect/passion/art trough their posing. You shouldn't worry about this cheapening art, art is powerful. You should be more worried about tax-dodgers and scam artists who sell single colored canvases and generic narratives.

[moonstoned]

People will always look for and find art, it just might not be the same art you seek. They are as literate in your art history as you are in theirs.

[juliantotriwijaya]

From what I heard the painting was meant to be placed at the bottom of the stair, that way every time the owner go down in the morning it looks right/correct and he is reminded of it. Or so I heard.

[cliffgaither]

CANVAS ::
I have completely respected your videos. I think I understand your click-bait analogy ... ?

For many generations, throughout opera history ( over 400yrs. ), some singers have been criticized for over-ornamentation because it takes the soul out of music ; it doesn't move the audience to think. It is true and ornamentation can become meaningless ... but the vocal-virtuosity, is breathe-taking !

This painting reminded me of opera voices with great skill, especially after your critique ... but man ! the painting is a superb example of artistic-virtuosity, minus the skull.

Thank you for bringing it to us !

[numbersix]

Fully agree.
It's a non-issue for me, since I don't see art as entertainment or superficial per se.
Painters, composers, architects sometimes add odd things to their works as a personal statement or joke - these should be regarded in their own light.
Before photography, painters and sculptors gave human figures lifelike or startling appearances or hidden features, or included biographical references, all superficialities demanded by their customers. On the other hand, moving pictures and self-powered automata, which today we might devalue as entertainment, were prefigured centuries ago, and the experience they engendered then may now be lost to us now.
As waves of new technology continue to overwrite our ability to appreciate both art and reality, please keep up your good work!

[yeah]

Strongly agree. However i think maybe the way you placed some things such as "gimmick" made it sound like it is one of the biggest villains of art (this could be personal, but in any way it is somewhat relevant to discuss). The thing with this is when it is taken when more seriously than it should be, beauty becomes values, gimmicks becomes high culture, etc... but those things on themselves are not bad to do or appreciate....

[KelleyGreenEcstasy]

This is just clickbait for the highly anticipated clickbait livestream

(love all your work)

[jorgemartinez]

Though I agree with your point about the potential harm to art literacy, I find problematic the proposition that if a person wants to make a piece of art for the sake of being playful or entertaining with some technique, that they "should refrain from doing it".

[thepowerisyetunknown]

I'd never seen the painting and I legit thought it was edited in

[Wailwulf]

For the Ambassadors, the optical illusion annoys me, for me it is the skull that attracts my attention. That the skull is warped by the optical illusion just annoys me further.

[GoatOfTheWoods]

I love this painting, with or without the skull. I've always found the skull to be a weird nuisance, nothing more.

[magicalelvishman]

The skewied skull reminds us that significance, even that of our most calcified signifiers, stretches and distorts beneath the Loony Toons' steamroller of time, and, like the stretching of a shadow on a sundial or indeed the saltwater taffy-esque tensile strain of this very interpretation itself, it really makes you turn your head and think about where you stand.

[Whoopwhoopwhoop]

Nah, this painting has plenty going on. This isn't boring at all.

[jamesdean]

love the ken burns filter on your self clips