Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0022716, Tue, 17 Apr 2012 23:01:30 -0300

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Pnin and Victor Lake's Studio
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JM: Nabokov-translator Jorio Dauster* has just sent me a new link (from the same Pomona blog address), related to Pnin and Lake's studio: "Rembrandt or Veronese?"


In Victor's art teacher Lake's studio there are only two framed pictures that adorn the pale gray walls: "a copy of Gertrude Kasebier's photographic masterpiece 'Mother and Child' (1897), with the wistful, angelic infant looking up and away (at what?); and a similarly toned reproduction of the head of Christ from Rembrandt's 'The Pilgrims of Emmaus,' with the same, though slightly less celestial, expression of eyes and mouth." (95)
The curious thing about the reference to "The Pilgrims of Emmaus" by Rembrandt is that the title of the painting is actually "The Pilgrims 'at' Emmaus." This may be a clumsy error or inaccurate knowledge on Nabokov's part, but I thought this kind of mistake highly unlikely of Nabokov. Meanwhile, there is another painting called "The Pilgrims of Emmaus" by Paolo Veronese. This work also contains Jesus with a "celestial expression of eyes and mouth." Rembradnt's painting seems more in line with "Mother and Child" mentioned right before, with its not-so-vibrant color scheme, but regardless of what Nabokov intended to refer to, the face of Jesus in both paintings is quite illuminating.



Rembrandt or Veronese? | Vladimir Nabokov
In Victor's art teacher Lake's studio there are only two framed pictures that adorn the pale gray walls: "a copy of Gertrude Kasebier's photographic masterpiece ...
blogs.pomona.edu/rust185-2012s/.../rembrandt-or-veronese/


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* - Inset from the Magazine Literatura, Feb.2012, p.17 on "Nabokov on the Dotted Line" ("Nabokov sobre a Linha Pontilhada" (Julia Garcia)

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