사이 톰블리(Cy Twombly 1928-2011)의 레판토(Lepanto) 연작

Abstract

In 2001 Cy Twombly (1928-2011) awarded at the Venice Biennale as an artist of “Leone d’Oro for Lifetime Achievement” presented twelve-panel “Battle of Lepanto” in a greater format of size 210.8–217.2 cm x 287.7-340.4 cm. He was an American artist well known for many classical myths and allegories in his works. He invented his own abstractive world through his peculiar descriptive method of freely scribbling, calligraphic-style graffiti, awkward alphabets and fine-drawn lines by pencil. Particularly his profound learning and keen interest in the mythology and history of ancient Greece and Roman empire were clearly reflected in his works after he moved to Italy in 1957. In 1977(78) he worked on the monumental historical ensemble “Fifty Days at Iliam”, a ten-part cycle inspired by Homer’s Iliad. Since then he continued to draw an historical events and myths. Twombly’s painting on the Battle of Lepanto could be understood in this context. The Battle of Lepanto took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of southern European Catholic marine states lead by the Republic of Venice, defeated the main fleet of the Ottoman Empire in five hours of fighting on the northern edge of the Gulf of Corinth, off western Greece. The Christian coalition had been promoted by Pope Pius V to rescue the Venetian colony of Famagusta, on the island of Cyprus,which was being sieged by Turks in early 1571. The members of the Holy League were Spain (including 3 kingdoms),the Republic of Venice, the Papacy, the Republic of Genoa, the Duchy of Savoy and the Knights Hospitaller. The forces of the Ottoman Empire consisted of sailors generally drawn from the maritime nations of the Empire, namely Berbers, Greeks, Syrians, and Egyptians. An advantage for the Christians was their numerical superiority in manpower, guns and cannons aboard their ships. The battle was stark characterized by confrontation between the Catholicism and the Islamism. Some western historians have held it to be the most decisive naval battle anywhere on the globe since the Battle of Actium of 31 BC. The victory of the Holy League was historically important because it heralded the end of Turkish supremacy in the Mediterranean. Although the Ottoman Empire shortly restored its hegemony in the Mediterranean, the victory secured the Christian states freedom to move in the Western Mediterranean. The significance of Lepanto Battle has inspired artists in various fields. The Spanish writer, Miguel de Cevantes, who fought in the battle and lost his left arm, wrote down his experiences in the novel “Don Quixote”. There are many pictorial representations of the battle, including one in the Doge’s Palace by Andrea Vincentino, Tintoretto’s “Victory of Lepanto”, a painting by Paolo Veronese in Venice and Titian’s “Allegory of the Battle of Lepanto” in Madrid. The battle scenes appeared often in the ornaments of the Catholic churches to celebrate the victory against the Islamism. Cy Twombly would have worked on the Battle of Lepanto presenting to the Venice Biennale in order to connect today’s Venice with the historical victory of the old Republic of Venice. But in the Twombly’s serial paintings of Lepanto Battle there are shown no scenes differing the friend and the enemy soldiers, the victors and the losers, no fighting scenes for life and death, no religious emotions, as usually seen in the depicting paintings of war. This unexpectedness drives the author to look into his work. So the author handled in this paper what Twombly tried to express through his serial works of Lepanto Battle, and further searched for a limitations of understanding what to be seen in the abstract paintings. We could not expect a descriptive explanation of story-telling in the historical and abstractive paintings like Twombly’s works on Lepanto Battle. Through the figurative elements and characteristics found in his works we could imagine a general scene of battle which has passionate beginning of war, fierce offense and defense struggle during war and bloody ending after war. We would find that Twombly’s works be marked by ambiguous feelings and unclear explanations, although we try to understand them by connecting their titles. We can’t help understanding the hidden meaning through our eyes of mind inspired by our imaginative power. Therefore, his works would be open to various critics and multi-dimensional interpretations according to the appreciator’s subjective disposition. To interpret or analyze in various ways what to be seen in Twombly’s works would make richer and finer our world of imagination. His works for the 49. Venice Biennale gave Europeans and Venetians momentum to remember the glorious victory. It was a emotional suggestion to make a grand opening for the festival.