Mountain Meditation Inspired by Italy

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Announcer: This is a Getty podcast.

Lilit Sadoyan: Today we’re exploring the magnificence of mountains in Jean-Joseph-Xavier Bidauld’s View of the Bridge and Part of the Town of Cava, Kingdom of Naples.

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Welcome to Our Museum Mindfulness Meditation podcast, or OMMM. Part art history and part meditation, we use works of art from the Getty collection as inspiration for mindfulness and deep reflection.

Hello—I’m Lilit Sadoyan. I’m a long-time meditation practitioner and museum educator at Getty. Thanks for joining me as we bring mindfulness out of the gallery and into our daily lives.

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Today we’re discovering how to feel still and majestic in our exploration of Jean-Joseph-Xavier Bidauld’s painting, View of the Bridge and Part of the Town of Cava, Kingdom of Naples, made around 1785-1790.

This episode begins with a breathing exercise to help relax your body and mind. We’ll then give a bit of history and context for the painting. And we’ll close with a mountain meditation.

This series is also available as an audio podcast. If you’d like to step away from a screen for a few minutes, listen on your favorite podcast app.

Now, if you’re ready, let’s jump in. [gong chimes]

[Calm, meditation music begins]

Go ahead and find a comfortable meditation posture, whatever that means for you today–maybe you’re sitting, lying down, something that allows you to feel relaxed yet alert.

Let’s start by taking a few deep breaths together.

In through the nose. [inhales] Out through the mouth. [exhales]

Take a deep breath in. [inhales]

And a deep breath out. [exhales]

One more. Inhale.

Exhale.

And just let your breathing resume its natural rhythm as we explore today’s work of art. [bells chime]

Silvery morning light bathes a lush mountainside in Naples. The rocky, jagged, and steep features of the highest peak in the distance contrasts the softer, verdant slopes of the foothill in the middleground. In the foreground, an arched-stone bridge—an aqueduct—crosses over a river. A handful of small homes are scattered and nestled in the valley behind it, while a few larger structures emerge to the right. Soft smoke rises above the buildings, indicating that this town is inhabited. A pale blue sky fills the upper third of the painting. Subtle rays of sunlight shine down into the scene at upper right.

French artist Jean-Joseph-Xavier Bidauld painted the fertile terrain predominantly with soft greens and blues, and hints of yellow for the highlights on leaves. He breathes extraordinary freshness into the landscape. The cool tonalities of the mountains in the distance are actually created by covering darker underpaint with a thin, light layer of semi-opaque paint, known as scumble. It dulls the color effect to a blue or cooler tone that creates the illusion of depth. So the mountains appear to recede into the atmosphere of the background.

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Bidauld painted this landscape between 1785 and 1790, while he was on a five-year sojourn in what is now Italy. He visited the Roman states, Tuscany, and the kingdom of Naples, where he made this painting. There, he immersed himself in nature and made direct studies—meaning he painted what he saw.

Bidauld’s reputation was built upon these kinds of small-scale, highly detailed works painted en plein air, or outdoors. The small size—approximately 8x10 inches—would have given him the flexibility to work outside. Although he most likely started this painting outdoors, he probably finished it in his studio.

This work complicates what it means to make a “finished work of art.” On the one hand, it’s an etude, or a study, but instead of appearing sketchy, it’s painted with a high degree of finish associated with tableaux, or paintings. A colleague said of Bidauld’s distinctive manner of working, “Each day he painted or drew on the spot, always in a different place, learning to make studies by making finished paintings, and to make finished paintings by making studies.”

Bidauld painted the same scene again and again. Sometimes he would shift his position to paint a different angle, or explore nuances in hue at different times of day. These mountain landscapes drew him back. He seems to have used painting to try and understand something ineffable about the landscape.

Mountains combine awe-inspiring beauty with the overcoming of physical and mental challenges. Standing before, or on top, of a mountain, we are reminded of something larger than ourselves. Their sheer size evokes feelings of wonder. Their massiveness also shifts our perspective. To climb a mountain is to exceed one’s own perceived limits.

Practicing a mountain meditation invites us to find our inner strength and stillness, and it helps us feel more calm and connected. This meditation is inspired by Jon Kabat-Zinn’s classic mountain meditation. Let’s find out what it’s like to be like the mountain in this painting.

[Meditative music resumes]

A mountain meditation is normally done in a seated position, but you can do this meditation standing, too. Whatever feels right for you today.

And if you feel comfortable, allow your eyes to close. And if you’d rather keep your eyes open, that’s okay too. Just lower your gaze and lower your eyelids, minimizing visual distraction. Using this time to go inward.

Adopt a posture that feels both relaxed and alert.

And let’s begin by taking a few deep breaths together, to ground in the here and now.

In through the nose. [inhales]

Out through the mouth. [exhales]

Deep inhale.

Deep exhale.

One more deep breath in.

And a deep breath out. [exhales]

Now let your breathing resume its natural rhythm. No need to extend the inhale or exhale. Just let your body do what it does very naturally.

[Silence]

Maybe even extending a silent thank you to your body for keeping you going.

[Silence]

 And bring your awareness to how the breath moves through the body. How it enters the body through your nostrils. What’s the temperature like right around your nostrils? Is it warm or cool on the in-breath and out-breath?

What’s the texture like today?

[Silence]

And see if you can follow that breath through your nasal passage all the way down into your chest.

Notice the rise and fall of your chest.

And if your mind wanders here, know that that’s completely natural. The objective is never to clear or empty the mind in meditation. Rather, it’s to become aware of those thoughts as they arise in the present moment.

Noticing those thoughts, letting them drift away. And kindly bringing your awareness back to your breath.

Use your breath as your anchor to the present moment.

[Meditative music resumes]

Let’s explore what it feels like to be still in our bodies.

We can learn a lot from mountains. They stand tall and strong. They remain calm and peaceful. Mountains are majestic. See if you can embody the mountain.

Notice your posture. See if your body and the image of a mountain in your mind’s eye can become one. Imagine your peak and your steep faces. Like a mountain, embody this sense of dignity. A sense of being complete. A sense of wholeness.

Breathe.

[Silence]

In a seated or standing position, feel into the surface upon which you’re resting. Lift the crown of your head like the peak of a mountain skyward.

Your arms are like the sloping mountainsides. Your palms like valleys. Your seat, solid beneath you.

Unmoving.

Feel into the stillness and presence of the mountain.

[Silence]

And even from the outside, notice how a mountain teems with life: waterfalls, wildlife, changing weather. And yet it remains still.

You are unwavering in your inner stillness. Sit peacefully like the mountain. Be the mountain. Take a deep, full breath of fresh air. Notice how you feel right now.

And if your eyes are closed, I invite you to gently open them. Come back to your environment.

And as we return to the world, let’s carry this sense of strength, stability, and stillness with us. And I would like for us to see if we can, like a mountain, meet each moment with steadiness, even in the midst of movement and change. We can pause, even briefly, and feel our ground beneath us. Take these opportunities as reminders to be in the present moment, and notice how they make you feel.

Let’s return to our breath and close our practice by taking a full deep breath together.

Inhale.

Sigh it out .

Thank you so much for joining me.

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