Mercury Passing Before the Sun

Mercury Passing Before the Sun (Italian: Mercurio transita davanti al sole or Mercurio (che) passa davanti al sole) is the title of a series of paintings by Italian Futurist painter Giacomo Balla, depicting the November 17, 1914 transit of Mercury across the face of the Sun.

Mercury Passing Before the Sun
Italian: Mercurio transita davanti al sole
ArtistGiacomo Balla
Year1914 (1914)
Typeoil painting
MediumTempera on paper lined with canvas
SubjectTransit of the planet Mercury across the face of the Sun, November 17, 1914
Dimensions120 cm × 100 cm (47 in × 39 in)[1]
LocationPeggy Guggenheim Collection (on long-term loan), Venice

Balla, an amateur astronomer, observed the transit through a telescope likely outfitted with a smoked glass filter.[1] His composition, according to daughter Elica Balla,[2] depicts two intersecting views of the event, through the telescope and with the naked eye.[3] Green and white triangles in the painting represent glare and other optical effects observed by Balla.[4] In several versions of the painting, overlapping spirals, suggestive of the telescope body,[5] emanate from the golden-orange orb of the magnified and filtered Sun; these encounter the brilliant white star in the upper left—the Sun as seen with the naked eye.[3]

The painting represents Balla's subjective experience of the event.[3] It exemplifies his transition to a more abstract style, as well as his interest in themes of cosmogony;[1] he uses the opacity of gouache to suggest a dense fusion of cosmic forces.[3] During this period, Balla had begun to experiment with the use of geometric and curving forms and transparent planes to convey movement.[4] Mercury Passing Before the Sun translates the temporal progression of Mercury's transition into a spatial progression, using methods devised by the Cubists.[5]

Versions

Balla created at least a dozen versions and studies of the painting; the 120 cm × 100 cm (47 in × 39 in) version in tempera, now in the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, is considered by that gallery to be the "definitive outcome" of these studies.[4] Other versions include:[1]

See also

References
  1. Palmieri, Jessica (June 5, 2012). "(Possibly) The most important painting of a planetary transit ever". Italian Futurism. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  2. Echaurren, Pablo (October 29, 2012). "Lo scandalo di casa Balla". Huffington Post (in Italian). Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  3. Poggi, Christine. "Giacomo Balla: Studio per "Mercurio che passa davanti al sole visto dal cannocchiale"". Sotheby's. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  4. "Mercury Passing Before the Sun (Mercurio transita davanti al sole), 1914". Peggy Guggenheim Collection. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  5. "Mercurio passa davanti al sole visto nel cannocchiale". Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  6. "Mercurio che passa davanti al sole (Mercury Passing before the Sun)". Philadelphia Museum of Art. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  7. "Mercury Passing in Front of the Sun". Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
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