In art, as in life, we often feel unpredictability and changeability, as if in a dance with an inscrutable fate. However, behind these vagaries of fate there is often something more - art creates its own portrait of Fortune. Symbols, images, stories associated with luck and chance play an important role in the world of art, enriching it with layers of meaning and provoking reflection on the nature of human destiny. Let's dive into this exciting world where artists embody the philosophy of Fortune through artistic works.
Fortune in the Artist's Hand: Symbols of Fate in Art
“With every stroke of my brush, I strive to capture the dance of fate, in which every thread on the canvas is not just a line, but a living part of endless magic.” - Arturo Vincenti
No matter how much a person would like to, he is not given the opportunity to look into the future to find out his fate. However, artists, when creating pictorial narratives, often laid down prophetic signs, suggesting to the viewer the further development of the plot. Our attention is to the details: what symbols in painting speak of fate, fate?
She alone is thought of, she alone is praised, she alone is accused
Ancient civilizations placed responsibility for human destinies on the gods. Roman Fortune, the heir to the ancient Greek Tyche, turned from the goddess of fertility and abundance into a capricious giver of happiness, chance, luck, a manager of earthly goods, who, at her whim, endowed them not only with people, but even with entire states. Fickle in her preferences, likes and desires, ready to fly away at the first opportunity, this lady was often depicted winged, on a ball or wheel, sometimes with a blindfold. She could be given the reins of power, as indicated by the cornucopia and the rudder of the ship. And the merciless rotation of the wheel of Fortune is a prototype of the merciless cycle of life, before which everyone is equal. This is how the indifferent goddess decided the questions: who gets the horn, who gets the rudder, and who gets the oars.
Medieval theologians could in no way take into account that blind and disordered forces influence the course of events. However, Fortune has firmly entered into European culture and has remained immune to time and dogma. The capricious pagan goddess had to be placed at the service of Divine Providence.
The classical allegory was uniquely transformed in the artistic language of Pieter Bruegel the Elder. In the painting “Carrying the Cross”, the author strangely placed the procession to Calvary between two symbols of Fortune - a mill with rotating wings and a wooden pillar topped with a wheel, in which one can guess the gallows.
Thus, the hill rising in the foreground acts as a proclamation of Golgotha, and the wheel raised above it acts as a prototype of the cross. The crucifixion on the wheel of Fortune recalls the impermanence of the world, the vicissitudes and futility of earthly existence.
The spindle is dancing - somehow strangely funny...
The ancient Greeks decided to share responsibility for the inevitability of Fate among Moira. The Trinity (the ancient Roman equivalent was parks) was loved and often used by artists of the High Renaissance. Let us recall the names and job responsibilities of these daughters of the Night:
- Clotho spins the thread of human life (the same as Nona's parka);
- Lachesis winds the tow on a spindle, distributing fate (the same as Decima's parka);
- Atropos cuts the thread of life (the same as Morta's parka).
And even the gods obey them, only slightly adjusting events - Zeus takes out golden scales and “weighs” the lot. But only Moira can weave the fates of the heroes.
These uncontrollable entities were depicted as both old women and, more often, as beautiful ladies. While working on the orders of the royals, they were even given suggestions for further actions. For example, in Rubens’s painting “The Fate of Marie de’ Medici,” the parka was stripped of its scissors, thereby promising the relative immortality of the royal person.
Yarn, spinning wheel, weaving in many cultures on a subconscious level are associated with creating a painting of the world and determining the destinies of all things. The first of the famous needlewomen, Ariadne, saved her beloved Theseus with her guiding thread. And in the fine arts there are countless of them: after all, the rotation of a spinning wheel is akin to the wheel of Fortune. Girls and women put all their aspirations into this monotonous, but vital work for the family. It is no wonder that the energy of desires was embedded in every fiber and in some way programmed the further course of events.
The plot, which depicts women wielding a spinning wheel, became an integral part of the work of the famous Italian artist of the 18th century, Giacomo Ceruti. For Ceruti, the spinning wheel in the hands of women not only represented an exquisite detail in his works, but also became a kind of attribute of fate, capturing the mysterious dance of time and chance.
In the hands of Italian ladies, the spinning wheel turned into a magical instrument that weaved the threads of fate. Ceruti masterfully conveyed in his canvases the finest details of the spinning process, as if allowing the viewer to look through the covering veil of time and look into the very essence of life.
Behind every swing of the spinning wheel there was a mystery of the future, and the artist, like a wizard, invited the viewer to take part in this mystical ritual. In his works, the fabric of time was revived, and fate became something that can be felt and understood through art.
Ceruti gave viewers the opportunity to think about how the threads of fate are intertwined in our lives, and how each moment can be incredibly important. His works became not only a reflection of his mastery, but also a guide to the world of mysterious metaphors, in which every thread on the canvas is not just an element of composition, but a key to understanding the endless possibilities of human destiny.
In the myths of different peoples, spinning is a ritual action, and a spinning wheel is an object associated with the “other world.” According to the beliefs of the Eastern Slavs, if left overnight (or on a holiday) with an unfinished tow (spinning wheel), evil spirits will bring bad fate to the woman and her family - they had to protect their own spinning wheel with all their might. People composed myths and legends based on centuries-old observations, and a spinning wheel in the hands of a hard-working woman was not just a tool of labor, but also something mystical.
There was also some fortune-telling: at Russian weddings they spun “threads of long life,” tying the newlyweds together “happily ever after.”
Dance of Life: Evolution of Images of Fortune in Artistic Creativity
“Life is an artistic act in which we ourselves are the creators of our own destiny, painting paintings on the pages of time.” - Sarah Miller
Images of mediums, fortune tellers, and witches capable of looking into the future were very popular in the works of the Pre-Raphaelites and their followers. One of the popular images is the Lady of Shalott, the heroine of Tennyson’s poem “The Witch of Shalott.” This is the story of a girl named Elaine, who is cursed to remain in a tower on the island of Shalott and weave cloth forever. The girl creates a tapestry, depicting on it what she managed to see in the magic mirror. One day she saw Sir Lancelot and left the room to look at him. At that very second the curse was fulfilled: the tapestry unraveled and the mirror cracked.
Waterhouse depicted the Lady of Shalott in a boat. Nearby lies a tapestry that was once the focus of her life. The candles and crucifix make the boat look like a funeral boat. At that time, candles symbolized life, and in the painting two of them are extinguished - Elaine has very little time left to live.
The Pre-Raphaelites generally loved to depict mystical attributes: balls, glasses.
John Waterhouse, "Destiny"
In John Waterhouse's painting "Destiny", a girl raises a glass to the health of heroes leaving for war and looks intently in the direction of the ships that have already set sail. The canvas was painted in 1900 specifically for an exhibition in support of British troops (in 1899 the Anglo-Boer War began in South Africa).
Some artists encoded predictions in their subjects in their own way. For example, a black cat hiding behind Frida Kahlo is a sign of impending misfortunes.
The author's allegory of Fate is also contained in the so-called “Portrait of a Child with an Opening Ceremony” by Henri Rousseau. The painting depicts a strange baby in a white dress with a hypnotic gaze. The child holds on a string a “revived” polychinelle in a bright jester’s costume, while the doll’s face resembles the author himself. In this story, the artist presented his vision of the dependence of the individual on the higher forces that control him, embodied in the image of a child. Flowers are collected in the child’s hem - symbols of immortality, “the flowers of the poet.” Fate in the painting is not blind fortune, it holds the chosen one tightly, and without it he cannot move his arm or leg. Perhaps that is why Rousseau gave the open portrait his own portrait features.
“No matter what Voltaire or Descartes interprets, the World for me is a deck of cards...”
From luxury and wealth to poverty, or the opposite turn of fate, is the usual fate of a card player. Winning is a whim of fortune, and the soldiers need it so much. It’s not for nothing that they are called “soldiers of fortune.” This theme is often present in scenes of the crucifixion of Christ.
In art, where each painting reveals many secrets and symbols, images of cards, players and dice become great allegories of life. A look at the trappings of gambling seems like an open invitation to a topic that many try to avoid - the topic of death. In this dance with luck and risk, cards become a metaphor for fate, and each move becomes an incredibly symbolic step in the exciting game called life.
These images convey the tension between fatal uncertainty and the courage of those who dare to play with it. As a player, a person is faced with the fact that death itself is just part of a big game, where every card, thrown dice and won round is an epic in which he himself is the main character.
And so, we see a symbolism in which fear and courage are closely intertwined, and the path to victory in the game of fate is accompanied by both hard blows and moments of sweet victory. In this endless arena, where there is always only one winner, art reveals to us the wisdom and irony of life, inviting us to rise and fall with exciting tension in the rhythm of playing with the unknown.
The Art of Prediction: The Secrets of Card Divination Revealed
“As an artist, I understand that fate is more than just chance. It is a fabric in which each moment creates its own unique pattern.” - Leonardo Continuo
Fortune telling on cards is a very dubious, but quite popular way to look into the future. It is unknown who was the first to consider mythical meanings in the variety of card layouts, but by the middle of the 18th century this fun took on a new turn. France was captured by the fashion for fortune telling, and its apogee came during the period of revolutionary upheavals, when people were at a loss, worried about their uncertain future.
In 1770, a certain young and enterprising Parisian hairdresser, hiding behind the name Alietta, managed to successfully use playing cards for fortune telling, giving certain meanings to many combinations.
The painting by Mikhail Vrubel, painted in Spain, may have been inspired by the opera “Carmen,” which the artist loved very much and considered “an era in music.” The depicted young Spanish gypsy looks calmly in front of her: the cards have already spoken. The Ace of Spades leaves no doubt about the fateful conclusion about the future fate and the revealed terrible secret of the future of the person who trusted it.
Gypsies have long traded not only in fortune telling on cards, but also in palmistry. So a handsome, romantically inclined young man in a typical fashionable suit of that time with a mysterious smile extended his brush to the gypsy. His palm is like a white canvas of life that has not yet been lived and trodden, there are still no sharp lines on it, no lines at all, no wrinkles and unsolved imprints, imprints of fate. There's more to come.
Each of us has our own path
Not only the heroes of the existentialists, but also mythical characters suffered from the problem of choice. For example, the mighty and fearless Hercules stood for a long time at the crossroads between Virtue and Vice. But what awaits the hero? Judging by his gloomy thoughtfulness - nothing good, either go left or go right... It is not surprising that a bumpy, straight or winding road leading into endless expanses is one of the most popular allegories of fate in painting. The road of life.
As a result, observing the various manifestations of Fortune and its symbols in art deepens our understanding of human destiny. Artists, like the architects of their worlds, embody in works of art not only technical skill, but also the philosophy of time, chance and fate.
From spinning wheels in the hands of 18th-century ladies to cards and dice used in games of chance, each symbol becomes part of a rich heritage of visual interpretation of fate. In this kaleidoscope of artistic revelations, we see that life, like art, is an unpredictable, but at the same time, surprisingly colorful and interesting game.
Fortune and its symbols invite us to reflect on the uniqueness of each moment and how we ourselves participate in the dance of fate. Art becomes a mirror, reflecting not only technology and creative genius, but also a vast world of questions about our place in this great game of fate.
In our unique catalog of art you will discover breathtaking paintings dedicated to the theme of fate, Fortune and its symbols. The works of art presented in our collection immerse you in the world of mystical images that reflect the philosophy of time and chance. Whatever your taste—whether it be a graceful painting of a lady holding a spinning wheel or a stirring composition of cards and dice—our catalog offers a variety of art that reveals the depths of human destiny. Here everyone will find a work that touches the chords of interest and inspires new discoveries in the world of art.