{"id":2125,"date":"2024-12-03T14:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T19:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ben-shahn\/?page_id=2125"},"modified":"2026-09-03T12:22:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T16:22:14","slug":"sweet-was-the-song-b2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ben-shahn\/sweet-was-the-song-b2\/","title":{"rendered":"Sweet Was the Song b2"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sweet Was the Song<\/em> that Ben Sang: Ben Shahn\u2019s Interpretation of an Elizabethan Carol <\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Hannah Rosenberg<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Ben Shahn, Sweet Was the Song<\/i> Maquette cover. Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, Maine (photo: V\u00e9ronique Plesch).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Ben Shahn, Sweet was the Song Maquette slipcase. Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, Maine (photo: V\u00e9ronique Plesch).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Description<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ben Shahn\u2019s Sweet Was the Song<\/em> recreates the 16th-century English carol by the same name. The maquette, measuring 3 1\/16 by 4 13\/16 inches, arrived at the Colby College Museum of Art in a custom slipcase measuring 5 1\/16 by 3 1\/2 by 3\/4 inches. Spanning twenty-eight pages, the book features Shahn\u2019s calligraphy and pen-and-ink illustrations to accompany the carol, in which the Virgin Mary sings to the newborn Jesus. Consisting in a single quire in a single staple binding, the maquette embodies the provisional quality of such objects created for replication.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Ben Shahn. Sweet Was the Song<\/i>, p. 5. Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, Maine (photo: CCMA).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Imperfections in the materials reveal the maquette\u2019s draft-like nature. For example, on the fifth page, we see some of the darker areas in the musical notes on the page\u2019s verso.<\/p>\n

Sweet Was the Song<\/em> was first privately printed in 1955, then the Museum of Modern Art issued in 1956 a limited edition of 275 numbered and signed copies, and finally the Odyssey Press published a trade edition in 1965.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Source of the Carol<\/strong><\/p>\n

The text for Sweet Was the Song<\/em> originates from William Ballet\u2019s Lute Book<\/em>, a collection of Elizabethan songs with lute accompaniment compiled around 1600. However, the term \u201cbook\u201d is misleading, as Ballet\u2019s Lute Book<\/em> consists of two separate manuscripts that were not combined until the 18th century and that are today in the library of Trinity College, Dublin. The first manuscript (MS 408\/1), copied in 1590, contains the more popular Ballet songs, all composed for lute accompaniment, including the text and notation for Sweet Was the Song<\/em> (Spring 125). The second manuscript (MS 408\/2), compiled after 1610, focuses on pieces for lyra (Spring 126).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Ben Shahn, Sweet Was the Song<\/i>, p. 5. Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, Maine (photo: CCMA).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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William Ballet, Sweet Was the Song<\/i> from The Lute Book<\/i>, 1590, MS 408\/1. Trinity College Dublin, Department of Manuscripts & Archives Online Catalogue (photo: Library of Trinity College Dublin, Manuscripts & Archives Department).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Ballet employed mensural notation in Sweet Was the Song<\/em>, a system of notation commonly used in the 15th and 16th centuries. Distinguished by its diamond-shaped note heads on a staff, mensural notation was central to late medieval and early Renaissance music (DeFord 9\u201332). In Ballet\u2019s original setting of Sweet Was the Song<\/em>, the score is presented on a six-measure staff, a format uncommon today but reflective of the period\u2019s conventions in music notation. Shahn echoes this historical style in his maquette using sharp, stylized diamond note heads but adjusts the staff to five lines as in modern scores, instead of the six in Ballet\u2019s manuscript.<\/p>\n

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Keisuke Serizawa. Calendar for 1955<\/i>, 1955, detail. Color stencil print, 14 5\/8 in. x 11 1\/4 in. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Close-up of letter A on page of Sweet was the Song<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Close-up of the letter M from Calendar for 1955<\/i>. Keisuke Serizawa. May<\/i> from Calendar for 1955<\/i>, 1955, detail. Color stencil print, 14 5\/8 x 11 1\/4 inches (37.1 x 28.6 cm). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (photo: Philadelphia Museum of Art)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Calligraphy and Lettering<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Sweet Was the Song<\/em>, the text is written solely in capitals. Some letters stand independently, while for others ligatures are used to tie letters together. We see Shahn drawing from a source in his life, as demonstrated in the similarities between Shahn\u2019s lettering and Keisuke Serizawa\u2019s Calendar for 1955,<\/em> which the Shahns owned (Rago 52). Serizawa (1895\u20131984), who was a Japanese textile designer, printed wood engravings on textured rice paper that feature distinctive curved lettering. The fluidity of Serizawa\u2019s letters is evident most in the curve at the end of the stroke, resembling Shahn\u2019s letterforms, such as the S present throughout Sweet Was the Song<\/em>. Another example is the arm of certain letters. The arm of a letter is a stroke that does not connect to a stem on at least one side. Seriwaza puts an arm over the letter M in his calendar for May 1955. A similar calligraphic arm can be seen in Shahn\u2019s letter A throughout the maquette. Shahn first spent time in Japan in 1960 during a trip to Kyoto (Chevlowe 188), and his interest in the art of the region is well-documented in the auction catalog of the Shahn estate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Ben Shahn, Sweet was the Song<\/i>, pp. 12\u201313. Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, Maine (photo: V\u00e9ronique Plesch).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Caravaggio, The Lute Player<\/i>, 1596. Oil on canvas, 39 in. x 49.8 in.(100 cm \u00d7 126.5 cm).  Wildenstein Collection, Gloucestershire.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Horizontal Format and Design Choices<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The maquette has a distinctive small format and horizontal orientation that alludes to early modern scores as can be seen, for instance in Caravaggio\u2019s musical painting, as in his Lutenists<\/a> (1). Each of the openings in Shahn\u2019s maquette juxtapose illustration and text on facing pages (with a preference for images on the verso with 8 of them versus 5 on the recto). Shahn created a layout where text and image share space across the horizontal format. For example, the lyric \u201clul la lul la lul la by\u201d appears alongside an illustration of figures playing various instruments. The linework in these illustrations also has a loose quality typical of sketches.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Iconography and Symbolism<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Religious themes are present throughout Sweet Was the Song<\/em>, reflecting Shahn\u2019s engagement with religious art. Although Shahn distanced himself from formal religious practice in adulthood, his later works often engaged with spirituality. Bernarda Bryson Shahn notes that in his later years, Shahn revisited the religiosity of his childhood, finding inspiration in its symbols and narratives (Bryson Shahn 217\u201318). Although Sweet Was the Song<\/em> is based on a Christian theme, we see Shahn incorporating religious motifs to deepen the carol\u2019s visual and thematic resonance. For example, the illustration that accompanies the lyric \u201clul la lul la lul la by\u201d features figures playing pipes, trumpets, and harps (12\u201313). This imagery recalls Psalm 150, which extols the use of music to praise God. Bernarda describes Ben\u2019s love for the Psalms and Psalm 150 in particular (Bryson Shahn 217\u201318). By integrating these instruments into his design, Shahn links Old and New Testament and connects biblical traditions of worship through music. In so doing, he displays both his depth of knowledge on religion and his ecumenical approach to spirituality.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Ben Shahn, Sweet was the Song<\/i>, p. 10. Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, Maine (photo: CCMA).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Upper Rhenish Master, The Little Garden of Paradise<\/i>, 1410\u201320, detail. Mixed technique on oak, 10.4 x 13.1 in. (26.3 x 33.4 cm). St\u00e4del, Frankfurt (photo: Wikimedia Commons).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Domenico Ghirlandaio, Annunciation<\/i>, part of Frescos of the Life of the Virgin<\/i>, 1486-1490, fresco. Cappella Tornabuoni, Santa Maria Novella, Florence (photo: Wikimedia Commons).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi, Annunciation with St. Maxima and St. Ansanus<\/i>, 1333. Tempera and gold on panel. 305 cm x 265 cm. Uffizi Gallery, Florence (photo: Wikimedia Commons).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Page ten of the maquette features a drawing of a young boy playing a stringed, harp-like instrument. The image recalls a detail in the early-15th-century Little Garden of<\/em> Paradise <\/em>(2). In the foreground of the painting, we see a small child, widely interpreted as baby Jesus (St\u00e4del), who plays a stringed instrument. Despite being turned to the opposite side, Shahn\u2019s young boy (Jesus?) very closely mirrors the figure in the St\u00e4del\u2019s painting, in both garb and pose. To the left of the child Shahn adds a vase that holds a long stem with five lilies, a flower traditionally associated with the Virgin Mary to symbolize purity and virginity that also appears in Little Garden of Paradise. This stem of lilies appears in many well-known depictions of the Annunciation, in which the angel Gabriel tells the Virgin Mary she will bear a child by the Holy Spirit (3). For instance, Domenico Ghirlandaio\u2019s depiction in the Cappella Tornabuoni in Santa Maria Novella, Florence shows Gabriel kneeling in front of the Virgin Mary with a stem of lilies in his hand, while a vase with lilies appear in Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi\u2019s Annunciation with St. Maxima and St. Ansanus<\/em>. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Ben Shahn. Sweet was the Song<\/i>, pp. 10\u201311. Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, Maine (photo: V\u00e9ronique Plesch).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Close-up of the stacked letter S on page 11 of Sweet Was the Song<\/i>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Close-up of the 2\/2 cut-time signature on the cover of Sweet Was the Song<\/i>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Image, Score, and Text<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The relationship between text and image is a defining feature of Shahn\u2019s maquette. For instance, the verse facing the image of the young boy playing music, \u201cthat blessed Jesus \/ hath to name\u201d on page ten is paired with a stacked S in \u201cblessed\u201d that resembles a 2\/2 cut time signature. Ballet\u2019s score to \u201cSweet was the Song\u201d sets the carol to 2\/2 cut time, as demonstrated by the C with a vertical line through it at the beginning of the measure (the time signature) on the cover of the maquette. Cut time indicates two half notes per measure (also known as alla breve, or \u201con the breve\u201d in English, referring to the beat being counted on the breve), as opposed to common time which uses four quarter beats per measure. This reference reinforces the connection between the carol\u2019s musical origins and demonstrates Shahn\u2019s attention to detail.  <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The maquette for Sweet was the Song <\/em>tells us not just about Shahn\u2019s artistic and historical influences, but speaks to the evolution of Shahn\u2019s religiosity. The maquette provides insight into the artist\u2019s personal life and shifting perspectives. His decision to reinterpret an Elizabethan carol reflects his interest in historical traditions, and his growing focus on spirituality in the later years of his life. While much of Shahn\u2019s earlier work centered on social justice and political themes, this maquette shows his interest in more universal ideas about faith and human experience.<\/p>\n

The maquette also reflects Shahn\u2019s belief that art should be accessible to everyone, a principle that shaped much of his career. Shahn often sought to create works that connected with a broad audience rather than a select few. In the maquette, Shahn\u2019s use of religious imagery, such as the Virgin Mary and infant Jesus, draws from shared cultural traditions,.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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You can listen to a choir version of Sweet was the Song here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Notes<\/p>\n

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  1. Reference courtesy of Professor Plesch.<\/li>\n
  2. I owe this suggestion <\/em>to Professor Plesch.<\/li>\n
  3. Reference courtesy of Professor Plesch.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Sources Cited<\/strong><\/div>\n
    Bryson Shahn, Bernarda. \u201cBen Shahn and the Psalms.\u201d In Ben <\/em>Shahn<\/em>. Ed. John D. Morse. New York: Praeger, 1972. 217\u201318.<\/div>\n
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    Chevlowe, Susan. Common Man, Mythic Vision: The Paintings of Ben Shahn<\/em>. New York: Jewish Museum under the auspices of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America; Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1998.<\/div>\n
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    Collection of Bernarda and Ben Shahn<\/em>. Rago Arts and Auction, Lambertville, N.J.. 14 November 2010.<\/div>\n
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    DeFord, Ruth I. \u201cSources of Information.\u201d In Tactus, Mensuration and Rhythm in Renaissance Music<\/em>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015. 9\u201332<\/div>\n
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    Greenfeld, Howard. Ben Shahn: An Artist\u2019s Life<\/em>. New York: Random House, 1998.<\/div>\n
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    Shahn, Ben. Sweet Was the Song<\/em>. Privately printed, 1955. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1956. Odyssey Press, 1965.<\/div>\n
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    Spring, Matthew. The Lute in Britain: A History of the Instrument and Its Music<\/em>. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.<\/div>\n
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    St\u00e4del, \u201cUpper Rhenish Master ca. 1410\/20: The Little Garden of Paradise<\/em>.\u201d https:\/\/sammlung.staedelmuseum.de\/en\/work\/the-little-garden-of-paradise<\/a> [accessed 27 November 2024].<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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    \n <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Sweet Was the Song that Ben Sang: Ben Shahn\u2019s Interpretation of an Elizabethan Carol    Hannah Rosenberg         Description Ben Shahn\u2019s Sweet Was the Song recreates the 16th-century English carol by the same name. The maquette, measuring 3 1\/16 by 4 13\/16 inches, arrived at the Colby College Museum of Art in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2310,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ben-shahn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2125"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ben-shahn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ben-shahn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ben-shahn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2310"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ben-shahn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2125"}],"version-history":[{"count":41,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ben-shahn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2974,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ben-shahn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2125\/revisions\/2974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ben-shahn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}