3 ms·

Reminds me of the lack of old paintings where the moon is out in the day. There are still some (not very observant) people wondering around who think the moon o

Reminds me of the lack of old paintings where the moon is out in the day. There are still some (not very observant) people wondering around who think the moon only comes out at night. A friend and I spent a while arguing with someone who swore that the clearly visible moon must be a funny round cloud as it was daytime. edit - I would love for someone to point me out a sunlit painting with the moon visible that predates the 20th century, I haven't yet found one, though my search has not been exhaustive.

dalke 12y ago
Crucifixion paintings can have both sun and moon in them, as in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucifixion_darkness#mediaviewer/File:Meister_des_Rabula-Evangeliums_002.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucifixion_darkness#mediaviewe... , but as it's supposed to symbolize darkness during the daytime, it strengthens your point, not weakens is. What about (and this took quite a bit of searching) Van Gogh's "Cypresses" (http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/49.30 http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/49.30 1889)? "Road with Cypresses" (http://www.wikiart.org/en/vincent-van-gogh/road-with-cypresses-1890 http://www.wikiart.org/en/vincent-van-gogh/road-with-cypress... 1890) has both the sun and the moon in the sky.
- lotsofmangos 12y ago
  For some reason I hadn't thought about checking Van-Gogh, I was looking mostly through much older stuff. Thanks for that. :)
  - dalke 12y ago
    I like your observation, btw. It is interesting that the only counter-examples I could find were either done by a post-Impressionist in an asylum, or as an explicit invocation of the supernatural. I would prefer to have found an example made by a realist. Alas, internet search technology doesn't yet handle "pre-20th century paintings showing a daylight moon."
mtdewcmu 12y ago
That seems relevant. I have a feeling that it's not that people hadn't noticed the pattern followed by the moon (people knew a lot about the sky back then, apparently, probably because people looked at it more and more carefully since there were no wristwatches, weather reports, or televisions). I have a feeling that the reason has more to do with the moon being a symbol of night. I know very little about art history, but I've made the observation that symbols and artistic precedent are extremely important, probably much more than naturalism.

dalke 12y ago

Crucifixion paintings can have both sun and moon in them, as in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucifixion_darkness#mediaviewer/File:Meister_des_Rabula-Evangeliums_002.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucifixion_darkness#mediaviewe... , but as it's supposed to symbolize darkness during the daytime, it strengthens your point, not weakens is. What about (and this took quite a bit of searching) Van Gogh's "Cypresses" (http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/49.30 http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/49.30 1889)? "Road with Cypresses" (http://www.wikiart.org/en/vincent-van-gogh/road-with-cypresses-1890 http://www.wikiart.org/en/vincent-van-gogh/road-with-cypress... 1890) has both the sun and the moon in the sky.

lotsofmangos 12y ago
For some reason I hadn't thought about checking Van-Gogh, I was looking mostly through much older stuff. Thanks for that. :)
- dalke 12y ago
  I like your observation, btw. It is interesting that the only counter-examples I could find were either done by a post-Impressionist in an asylum, or as an explicit invocation of the supernatural. I would prefer to have found an example made by a realist. Alas, internet search technology doesn't yet handle "pre-20th century paintings showing a daylight moon."

mtdewcmu 12y ago

That seems relevant. I have a feeling that it's not that people hadn't noticed the pattern followed by the moon (people knew a lot about the sky back then, apparently, probably because people looked at it more and more carefully since there were no wristwatches, weather reports, or televisions). I have a feeling that the reason has more to do with the moon being a symbol of night. I know very little about art history, but I've made the observation that symbols and artistic precedent are extremely important, probably much more than naturalism.