My Tiffany's

In the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Holly Golightly spoke about having the mean reds.  These were days that were worse than just having the “blues”.  As she explained to Paul, “the blues are because you're getting fat or because it's been raining too long. You're just sad, that's all. The mean reds are horrible. Suddenly you're afraid and you don't know what you're afraid of...”

When Holly had the mean reds she went to Tiffany’s, because she said the quietness and proud look of the place calmed her down.  “Nothing very bad could ever happen to you there”, she said.  It was her safe place. 

Well, when in London one of my “Tiffany’s” has to be the National Gallery, and today, with a couple of hours to spare, I meandered down Charing Cross Road to Trafalgar Square and climbed the stone steps up to the Gallery.  I already knew what I wanted to see.  Amongst the hundreds of important paintings housed in the building are two so similar and so dissimilar, but which I adore and find so much comfort in.

The first is Mr and Mrs Andrews by Thomas Gainsborough (around 1750).  Now you just have to love Mr and Mrs Andrews.  Even if it’s to go up to one of the wardens in the gallery and say, “I’m looking for Mr and Mrs Andrews, where are they?”  In this painting the couple are newly married, but not yet with children.  In fact if you look closely you can see Gainsborough left Mrs Andrews’s lap unfinished, perhaps to paint in a child at a later time.  I wonder if that child ever came.  And they look so English, and so aristocratic.  Mr Andrews has just been shooting, and his dog looks up at him so faithfully.  They seem so solid, and so certain of their place, with their level gaze, and acres of land in the background.  I love the trees, the landscape and the clouds – all of which Gainsborough represented with such energy and presence, yet never seem to take over the main subject.

'Mr and Mrs Andrews' by Thomas Gainsborough

The second is The Baptism of Christ by Piero della Francesca (around 1450s).  Now, I know these can hardly be linked and of course in a way they can’t.  But look at the compositions.  Both balance towards the left-hand third by an imposing tree which in turn frames the main subjects.  But this work gives a different sense of calm and purpose.  The Italian hills in the background.  The dove above Christ which floats like one of the clouds.  The stream which ends at Christ’s feet.  This is all held in check by the geometry and perspective in the piece, of which Piero was a master.  Understanding and portraying such perspective and proportion was such a recent thing, and a key element in the works of the early Renaissance.

'The Baptism of Christ' by Piero della Francesca

I wonder if the National Gallery could start “Breakfasts” for when I wake up with the mean reds!