The Three Patiences by Jehan-Georges Vibert
Oil on panel
36 1/2 x 28 1/4 inches
The Three Patiences gives us a domestic scene featuring three main figures. The seated cardinal takes his time with his bout of solitaire while his housemaid stares off into space, holding a teacup and saucer, waiting for her employer to finish his game. The dog resting on the floor conveys the third expression of patience, waiting for its master to give it its next meal or an affectionate pat on the head. Jehan-Georges Vibert was part of a group of European artists, mainly from Italy and France, that, in the mid-nineteenth century, began creating genre scenes such as this, using humor and wit to make satirical observations about the Catholic Church. These paintings often depict bishops and cardinals engaging in perfectly mundane activities, such as cooking, reading, gossiping, playing games, and other simple acts. These paintings, in a way, demystify the princes of the church, some of the most powerful men in Europe, cloaked in sanctimonious finery. And yet, artists like Vibert created these works as a way to say, see? They’re just like us. They shouldn’t be taken so seriously.
These satirical, anti-clerical paintings were a product of their own time. The Italian Peninsula became completely unified under a single kingdom in 1870, finalized with the capture of Rome and the fall of the Papal States. The following year, the Second French Empire collapsed after their defeat in the Franco-Prussian war. A liberal republic was founded in its stead. The power of the church was waning, and artists recognized that the church was now something to be analyzed, critiqued, and sometimes mocked. However, beyond this social commentary, what is most evident in The Three Patiences is the incredible skill of the artist.
The use of light and color is incredible, yet the attention to detail may be the most impressive part of the work. Vibert rendered the textures of surfaces, the grain of the wood floor, the ripples of fabric, all of them depicted to a near hyperrealistic degree. However, his skill with color, perspective, and proportion is only equal to his abilities as a storyteller. Reading the title and giving a brief look at the painting itself lets the audience fully understand the dynamic of the central characters’ relationship. The viewer immediately feels a sense of empathy for the housekeeper, standing by until she can fulfill the requirements of her job. But as much as we would hate to admit it, we’ve all also been in the place of the cardinal as well, so engrossed in something that we fail to recognize what’s going on around us, that we may be in someone’s way. Over a century old, Vibert’s Three Patiences continues to attract gallery viewers to take a closer look. People are often amazed by the level of detail, dazzled by the colors, still vibrant after all these decades. But after seeing through all that, they get to the humor at the center, still as witty and relevant as it was when first created.