The last time I wrote about art in fiction was about Vermeer's Girl with A Flute as it was realistically represented in SyFy's Dominion. SyFy has again shown a Vermeer in episode 3 of their new series, Z Nation.
In Z Nation we follow a team (Garnett, Warren, Doc, Cassandra, 10K, Addy and Mack) who must get Murphy, the only known survivor of a zombie bite, from New York to California where the last functioning viral lab needs his blood to make a vaccine. With humankind's survival at stake, the groups sacrifices all to make this journey across a post-apocalyptic America.
In "Philly Fest" our team must rescue Addy from the psychotic cult leader, Tobias. He hopes to trade Addy for Cassandra, a former member of his "family" who is secretive about her involvement with them and for good reason. In a scene where Tobias gives Addy the run down on how the group has been surviving this apocalypse Vermeer's A Maid Asleep makes an appearance. Vermeer's "maid" echoes Tobias' brain dead wife. Tobias explains they feed off live people instead of dead so they don't catch the virus and turn into zombies.
SyFy has almost gotten it right. The size of the painting is about right but the image is cropped and the frame is also off but does match the other accessories in the room- art direction license. The original painting hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and can never be loaned or exhibited elsewhere due to the terms of the donor's bequest (1). So in this fictional land someone has deliberately gone to the Met and carried this painting with them the 94 or so miles to Philadelphia. Now that's what I call dedication to the preservation of art in the zombie apocalypse.
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| Tobias, the leader of this flesh eating group threatening Addy next to his brain dead wife. |
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| Tobias wife in front of Vermeer's A Maid Asleep. |
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| A Maid Asleep at the Met June 2014 |
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| Detail of A Maid Asleep |
Rembrandt's The Angel Prevents the Sacrifice of Isaac is also among other art pieces Tobias has collected. This one hangs at Alte Pinakothek in Munich, Germany. It was done by one of Rembrandt's students but he did rework it. There is a first version done by Rembrandt himself and is in the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russian (2).
Looking at the two paintings in the show they seem to be about the same size. However, the Rembrandt is twice the size of the Vermeer. So, no consideration for reality, just using paintings they liked.
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| The Angel Prevents the Sacrifice of Isaac |
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| The "Family" gathered for a meal. |
A few suggestion for alternatives to these paintings that are housed in Philadelphia are:
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| Portrait of Madame Cézanne by Paul Cézanne and |
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| Prometheus Bound by Peter Paul Rubens. |
More information about Z Nation and this episode can be found here:
More information about A Maid Asleep can be found here:
Next up: NBC's Gotham.
(1) Liedtke, Walter, with Michael C. Plomp and Axel Rüger, Vermeer and the Delft School, pp 369-371; New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2001 (catalogue of an exhibition of the same name New York, March 8-May 27, 2001 and at the National Gallery, London, June 20-September 16, 2001
(2) http://www.pinakothek.de/node/1112
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