http://margotmifflin.com/2009/12/claus-celebre-santa-rising/ Sun, 16 May 2010 23:38:25 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 http://margotmifflin.com/2009/12/claus-celebre-santa-rising/comment-page-1/#comment-262 M. Dery Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:26:18 +0000 http://margotmifflin.com/?p=1004#comment-262 Thanks for the shout-out. One of the fascinating things about this odd little painting, as the museum placard noted, is its eerie, almost infernal vibe. The caption notes the almost ashcan realism (my words, but the plaque made that point, more or less) of the painting, in which Santa makes his way through Victorian smog, the sooty effluvia of a million coal fires. To my mind, it was unmistakably reminiscent of the creepy, dreamlike lighting of walpurgisnacht paintings---Goya's witches' sabbat, specifically. Fitting, given Santa's pagan DNA. Also, he's wearing green in this painting, which links him to the Green Man, from whom he lineally descends, according to Siefker in SANTA, LAST OF THE WILD MEN. Anyway, great post! Thanks for the shout-out. One of the fascinating things about this odd little painting, as the museum placard noted, is its eerie, almost infernal vibe. The caption notes the almost ashcan realism (my words, but the plaque made that point, more or less) of the painting, in which Santa makes his way through Victorian smog, the sooty effluvia of a million coal fires. To my mind, it was unmistakably reminiscent of the creepy, dreamlike lighting of walpurgisnacht paintings—Goya’s witches’ sabbat, specifically. Fitting, given Santa’s pagan DNA. Also, he’s wearing green in this painting, which links him to the Green Man, from whom he lineally descends, according to Siefker in SANTA, LAST OF THE WILD MEN. Anyway, great post!

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