Baltasar de Echave Ibía, The Hermits

Baltasar de Echave Ibía, The Hermits, Saint Paul and Saint Anthony, c. 1620, oil on copper, 51.5 x 37.5 cm (Museo Nacional de Arte [MUNAL], Mexico City)
Speakers: Dr. Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank and Dr. Steven Zucker

[@kylesillon1836]

Thank you for continuing to make these great high-quality videos

[@MissChubbington]

Thanks to your wonderful videos, I am able to see this fascinating painting. Keep up the great work!!

[@demiansanchez9046]

WOW great video! it helped me a lot to understand more of this artist

[@smaakjeks]

A satyr is, unless I'm much mistaken, a half-man half-goat. A half-man half-horse is a centaur.

[@smarthistory-art-history]

Good catch!

[@random22026]

1:44 Look closely: that figure is NEITHER. Apparently, someone finds half-man/half-horse figures to be 'monstrous'. (1:42)

[@smaakjeks]

@@random22026 It's a satyr. Notice that the "knees" are bending backwards, like on the hind legs of non-human mammals like goats or indeed horses. It's actually the ankle and not the knee, but anyway. Satyrs are traditionally depicted as bipedal, whereas centaurs are depicted as having 4 horse legs and a set of human arms as well. Like someone smashed a human from the pelvis up onto a horse's shoulders. Also, according to the story this depicts, Saint Anthony hangs out with a satyr at some point (and a centaur, incidentally).

[@random22026]

@@smaakjeks We agree to disagree, then. There is so much that does not compute in this image--time stamp 1:44 is a good one, for all the pentimenti going on here. They got one thing right, however: a 4:03. Location, location...and collection.

[@smaakjeks]

@@random22026 Well, I've given reason and evidence as to why I have my conviction. It also is shared by the actual art historians talking about the piece (they just got the definition of satyr mixed up with that of a centaur in the video, which is understandable).

[@Sasha0927]

The title made me think of my plans for tonight. 😂😭 I appreciated the clarification on what "hermit" means in this context. In fact, I appreciated so much about this one that I watched it... more times than I should admit, lol. It was fascinating! My love of Paul biased me some, but there was detail after detail that I couldn't have anticipated at face value. I love a good continuous narrative and there were so many references to enjoy. My guy the satyr... It's interesting that Dr. Kilroy-Ewbank noted we don't know if he's nice or nasty. He gives directions and offers provisions, but we're still not sure? What's a guy gotta do?! Is it because of his monstrous form we still doubt? Poor guy, lol. One thing I love about Paul, despite his strongly feisty devotion to the Lord, was how tender-hearted he was toward God's people. He often wished for companionship and would've rejoiced at Saint Anthony's arrival. I'm glad they were able to spend some time together before his passing. Maybe someone will discover me by myself, hang out for a bit, and bury me by lion. A girl can dream.

[@zgosck3016]

As an art history major, I'm more than a little surprised that I haven't heard of oil painting on copper until just now. I guess that really shows the importance of "recreational education."

[@carolyn2724]

could you do a video(s) regarding common symbolism in art? For example a small dog, fruit, flowers, images of Greek deity, all have meaning. It would be helpful for analyzing art :)

[@TheCl3dson]

great video

[@David32Finkbeiner]

love this video

[@sk8guy945]

I am an Echave if anyone can shed some light or history about my family, would be greatly appreciated

[@ivanbonet4]

"Well, in the era before there were motion pictures or videos, painting was something that you spent time with..." It has always been the same. Interested people will devote time to it and uninterested people won't.