Boston - MFA: Edouard Manet’s Monk in Prayer
Edouard Manet’s Monk in Prayer (1865) depicts a kneeling monk with arms outstretched and eyes closed in solemn devotion, while a skull in the foreground serves as a poignant reminder of mortality. The painting reflects Manet’s deep admiration for seventeenth-century Spanish baroque masters like Francisco de Zurbarán, evident in its stark lighting, austere composition, and somber palette. However, the dynamic brushstrokes and expressive rendering of the monk’s face and robes are quintessentially Manet, blending reverence with the artist’s modernist touch. Originally sold by Manet to Marcel Bernstein in 1882, the painting eventually came to the MFA in 1935 via the Marie Sterner Gallery.
The Museum of Fine Arts was founded in 1870 and relocated to its current neoclassical building designed by architect Guy Lowell at 465 Huntington Avenue in 1909. The museum's vast collection spans over 500,000 works of art, with highlights including ancient Egyptian artifacts, 18th- and 19th-century American art, French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces, and a renowned collection of Asian art. Originally located in a Gothic Revival building in Copley Square, much of the museum’s early collection came from the Boston Athenaeum Art Gallery. Over the years, the museum expanded significantly, adding the Decorative Arts Wing in 1968, the Norman Jean Calderwood Garden Court and Terrace in 1997, and a modern Americas Wing in the mid-2000s designed by Foster and Partners.
Boston - MFA: Edouard Manet’s Monk in Prayer
Edouard Manet’s Monk in Prayer (1865) depicts a kneeling monk with arms outstretched and eyes closed in solemn devotion, while a skull in the foreground serves as a poignant reminder of mortality. The painting reflects Manet’s deep admiration for seventeenth-century Spanish baroque masters like Francisco de Zurbarán, evident in its stark lighting, austere composition, and somber palette. However, the dynamic brushstrokes and expressive rendering of the monk’s face and robes are quintessentially Manet, blending reverence with the artist’s modernist touch. Originally sold by Manet to Marcel Bernstein in 1882, the painting eventually came to the MFA in 1935 via the Marie Sterner Gallery.
The Museum of Fine Arts was founded in 1870 and relocated to its current neoclassical building designed by architect Guy Lowell at 465 Huntington Avenue in 1909. The museum's vast collection spans over 500,000 works of art, with highlights including ancient Egyptian artifacts, 18th- and 19th-century American art, French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces, and a renowned collection of Asian art. Originally located in a Gothic Revival building in Copley Square, much of the museum’s early collection came from the Boston Athenaeum Art Gallery. Over the years, the museum expanded significantly, adding the Decorative Arts Wing in 1968, the Norman Jean Calderwood Garden Court and Terrace in 1997, and a modern Americas Wing in the mid-2000s designed by Foster and Partners.