The Story Behind the
Painting:
"Priestess
of Delphi" by Hon. John Collier
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When Greece played host to the
Summer Olympic Games in 2004, much of the world's attention became
focused on that ancient nation and its rich history, mythology,
legends and architecture. These characteristics are embodied
in a famous site dating back to the 13th century BC, known as
the Oracle at Delphi, or the Delphic Oracle, in the town of Delphi
located in central Greece at Mount Parnassus.
"The oracle of Delphi functioned
in a specific place, the adyton, or "no entry" area
of the temple's core, and through a specific person, the Pythia,
who was chosen to speak, as a possessed medium, for Apollo, the
god of prophecy." 1
The temple was constructed over
an area of rock in which there were fissures and cracks leading
from a deep cavern; the fissures allowed vapors of gases contained
in an underground stream to seep up through the rock. The Pythia
- an initiated female priestess who had undergone extensive training
and conditioning that included fasting - would sit in the adyton,
breathe the vapors to induce a trancelike state, and prophesize
to those who waited to hear her words outside. The prophecies
were obscure and cryptic - in fact, one synonym for the word
"cryptic" is "Delphic" - and open to very
wide interpretation. The gases were "sweet and perfume-y"
according to Plutarch - a known statesman and historian, and
one of the two Priests of Delphi - and they did not affect the
uninitiated in the same way that they would the priestess. Plutarch
also noted that the gases were beginning to lessen and dissipate
even during his time (in the first century BC.) The Oracle fell
out of use in the 4th century AD with the onset of Roman Christianity,
and until very recent times the existence of the gases and even
the underground spring was in doubt; modern science has revealed
that the legend could have indeed been fact.
In the painting, "Priestess of Delphi" by The Honorable
John Collier, a priestess - the Pythia - is depicted in a trance
state, seated over a fissure in the rock through which vapors
rise from the underground stream. In her left hand is a sprig
of laurel - in Greek mythology, Apollo's sacred tree - and in
the other hand a bowl meant to hold some of the water from the
stream containing the gases.
British artist and writer John
Maler Collier (1850-1934) was born in London and painted in the
Classicist and Pre-Raphaelite styles. He studied under Sir Edward
Poynter in Paris and was influenced by the work of Sir Lawrence
Alma-Tadema and Sir John Everett Millais. During his lifetime
he was named an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) - granting
him the title "Honorable" - and was one of the 24 founding
members of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters established
in 1891.
For more information about the
Oracle at Delphi, the priestesses, or Hon. John Collier, check
out "Specific Resources," below.
By Kathleen McGloin, Illusions
Gallery
__________________________________________________________
Specific Resources
- Footnote:
1 "Questioning the Delphic
Oracle," Scientific American magazine, August 2003; By John
R. Hale, Jelle Zeilinga de Boer, Jeffrey P. Chanton and Henry
A. Spiller. www.sciam.com
- Articles:
"Questioning the Delphic
Oracle," article, www.sciam.com
"The Oracle at Delphi,"
article, www.pbs.com
"John Collier, " www.wikipedia.com |
