Sister Wendy's Odyssey: DVD Review

I am a Sister Wendy Beckett fan and enjoy watching her art critique specials on DVD. In this article I list which art works she critiques in her "Sister Wendy's Odyssey" and share comments about my own personal favorites.

I'm a great fan of Sister Wendy Beckett, the British Carmelite nun that left her private life of seclusion to share her love of art through television art specials and art books.  I have all of her art documentary DVDs, even her least well-known "Sister Wendy at the Norton Simon Museum."  As I was re-watching one of her DVDs recently it occurred to me that the homeschooler or art student might find it helpful to know exactly which art works she reviews/describes in these productions so they could decide whether they wanted to rent or borrow that art DVD from the library. (This detailed information is not available through Amazon product pages or even included with the DVD slipcases.) 

"Sister Wendy's Odyssey" was Sister Wendy Beckett's first television series produced for the BBC as television filler, to be later released to the American viewing public through PBS.  In "Sister Wendy's Odyssey" the Catholic nun visits six museums in cities in Great Britain:   Liverpool, Cambridge, Oxford, Salisbury, and Edinburgh.  Each segment lasts 10-12 minutes and she reviews 3 to 4 famous art works during each segment.  A homeschooler of young children may want to restrict which segments they view, as several paintings are of nudes or show partial nudity.  To help the homeschooler make informed decisions I have made notations in those cases.

Liverpool
Landscape with the Ashes of Phocion by Poussin
St. John the Baptist visited by Salome by Guercino
Peter Getting Out of the Nick's Pool by Hockney (male nudity)
Self-Portrait with Patricia Preece by Spencer (female nudity)

Here my personal favorite was definitely the Guercino.  He paints such a funny representation of the Biblical story of John the Baptist and Salome!  It really does look like it is Salome who was beheaded!  (Both the Hockney and Spencer are very explicit, so parents should be cautioned about showing these to young children.)

Cambridge
Venus and Cupid by Vecchio (male and female nudity)
Tarquin and Lucretia by Titian (female nudity)
L'Enlevement (the Abduction) by Cezanne (male and female nudity)

If I had to pick a favorite from among these three I would have to say that I pick the Vecchio, simply because it is the least objectionable of the three in regards to subject matter.  The Titian deals with a famous rape during ancient Roman history and the Cezanne is very dark and gloomy, showing a naked male figure carrying off an unconscious naked female figure.  A painting of a naked mother and son (Venus and Cupid) having a serious discussion seems very tame and innocent in comparison!  I believe this was also Sister Wendy's favorite of the three.

Oxford
The Meeting of Joachim and Anna by Fra Lippi
The Forest Fire by Cosimo
Ascanius Shooting the Stag of Sylvia by Claude

I actually liked all three of these paintings, but have to pick the Fra Lippi as my favorite, simply for how Sister Wendy showed the direct correlation between the painting's subject matter and the author's own personal life.  I found it very sweet and touching.

Salisbury
Philip, 4th Earl of Pembroke and His Family by Van Dyck
Portrait of the Artist's Mother by Lievens (earlier thought to be by Rembrandt)
Democritus by Ribera
Leda and the Swan by Da Sesto (female nudity)

In regards to my personal favorite I'll have to say that there was a tie here between the Lievens and the Ribera; both showed a person enjoying reading a large, old style book.  As a bookseller I am always delighted to see paintings of people happily reading!  Sister Wendy seemed to indicate that the Ribera was her favorite, from the personal lesson it taught her.

Birmingham
Countess Golovine by Vigee-Lebrun
Reclining Nymph by Beccafuni (partial female nudity)
Hercules and Deianeira by Gossaert (female and partial male nudity)

I have to pick the Vigee-Lebrun as my favorite of the three because of the bright colors and how well the artist expresses this lady's engaging personality.  The Beccafuni, though, is actually very funny, as you can definitely see what Sister Wendy points out, that it really looks like the artist took a powerful male body, modified it slightly, and then simply painted on a very pretty, feminine head to make it the painting of a woman.

Edinburgh
Fabula by El Greco (no nudity but explicit subject matter)
Three Legends of St. Nicholas by David (partial male nudity)
Margaret Lindsay by Allan Ramsay

Though I enjoyed Sister Wendy's explanation of David's work and learned quite a bit more about the legend of St. Nicholas in the process, I'll have to say that the Ramsay was definitely my favorite.  The portrait of his second wife is absolutely beautiful, both in how he painted her, as well as how he detailed the beautiful flowers she is arranging.  I was actually able to visit Edinburgh for about half a day many years ago...  I really wish, now, that I could have somehow squeezed in that extra handful of hours to visit this wonderful museum!  Since this was where Sister Wendy Beckett grew up, I suppose it is only fitting that she ended her Odyssey here.

Blessings!

Source
Sister Wendy Beckett.  Sister Wendy's Odyssey (DVD)