The Two Crowns - Frank Dicksee
The line between material and spiritual
Frank Dicksee, a painter from the Victorian and Edwardian periods, may be best known for the fantasy painting “La Belle Dame sans Merci,” but his painting, “The Two Crowns,” painted in 1900, is fantastic.
The first thing I always notice is the absolute busyness of the image, and the overshadowing of everything, save the glint of the gold armor. Normally this level of busyness pushes me away, but when I give it a chance, I find out why it’s there.
The rich handfuls of roses spilling from hands left and right are distracting, until they draw the eyes to the eyes of the prince. No matter how richly he is garbed, or how beautiful his horse, these are not the things that have captured his mind and soul.
Hiding in the shadows, yet somehow front and center, is the towering wooden crucifix. Richness and victory clashes with simplicity and apparent failure, which is actually the truest, most deeply penetrating victory that will ever be won. The viewer senses that the prince feels out of place, that the armor and the scene is wearing him, rather than the other way around. The busyness of worldly glory contrasts with the shadowy, quiet corner where the crucifix, perfectly, brilliantly haloed by the sunburst on the pennant behind, captures the prince’s glance.
This crucifix always reminds me of one of the opening scenes from El Cid with Charleton Heston, where El Cid, aka Rodrigo Diaz, picks his way through the ruins of a town burnt by the Muslims, finding a large crucifix among the wreckage. Later, Rodrigo would endure his own share of apparent worldly victory, alternating with deep suffering alongside Christ.
(If you haven’t read the book El Cid: God’s Own Champion by James Fitzhenry, I highly recommend it! This is one of my favorite books ever. I wish they’d get back to canonizing him.)
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