Ora Pro Nobis 1903

William Bouguereau painted "Ora Pro Nobis" with oil paints in 1905. It is a work where the layers of paint are built up so carefully, so smoothly that brushstrokes vanish completely. The surface is all subtle gradation, like light itself made solid. Look closely at the Virgin's hands. They're raised in supplication, but the painting is so controlled, so tight that the hands become these almost abstract shapes, floating in the air. They’re soft, idealized forms and the more I look, the more I think about how Bouguereau has made something that seems so real, so tangible, and yet so totally removed from the physical world. The color palette, those soft peaches and blues, adds to this sense of otherworldly beauty. It's a devotional image, but the real devotion is to the act of painting itself. Artists like Odd Nerdrum who are obsessed with this type of realism and craft can be seen as having a lineage to artists like Bouguereau. It raises a lot of questions about what we value in art. Is it the skill, the idea, or something else entirely?