Art and Death
In arts history, dating back to circa 1300 to about 1840, the beauty and
power of death has largely impacted the world of art to many people around the
world. Art is said to be the combination of human imagination and human skill
of making a 2D image or something 3D. It is often with the intention of creating
something beautiful, symbolic, religious, expressive, functional, and/or timeless.
We study art for many different reasons which include to be “visually
literate” in a complex world, to be a well-educated part of the “liberal arts”, to
understand world history, cultures of the world, and aesthetics, to try and
understand the creative impulse and further the human psyche, and lastly, to look
at beautiful things. Various forms of art are constantly depicted and looked at
through the human eye and explained through the artist and how the viewer
views it. Every eye may have a different view of the piece of art and have
multiple explanations of what the piece could entail. Art works are talked about
with color, texture, shape, what it is made out of, what it is made on, the meaning
behind it, how it was made or put together, what is the medium, what country it
is from, and what the format of it is.
When I had visited The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
City, New York, I was amazed at all of the compelling and forceful artwork in
the section of Art and Death. I didn’t realize just how persuasive art and death art
was. Three specific paintings has stood out to me out of all of the paintings that I
had seen. The paintings were, the “Tobit Burying the Dead”, by Andrea di Lione,
“The Lamentation” by Ludovico Caracci, and “Pieta”, b...
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in work in stone, wood, ivory, precious metals decorated with enamel and
gemstones, religious art. The French renaissance art is mainly seen through work
of the Mannerists, which is a creative movement that was greatly inveigled by
the new rules of perspectives that was put forth by Italian painters with the leaps
and bounds made in biology and anatomy studies (French Renaissance Art).
I believe the three artworks that I have chosen from The Metropolitan
Museum of Art best represents the theme of art and death. My personal favorite
is “The Lamentation” by Ludovico Caracci. I think it best represents art and
death in the way Christ is laying and positioned. The positioning of him is so
creative and creates the thought of struggling and hopelessness in my mind of
death. The piece of artwork is so beautiful in the way the Virgin is holding him.
...rlapping figures, relative positioning from the ground line and also the illusion of making parallel lines join somewhere far away in the distance.
What does the work consist of? Who authored it, and how? What is it based on, and how does it relate? What is it, and what will become of it? The answers to these questions, collectively, form an important response to a bigger question: What is art? What does it mean to describe a piece as “a work of art”?
People can have many different opinions depending on a topic, but what is truly difficult is getting a complete level of understanding from every opinion, or understanding the point of view of each opinion. Even accepting the points of view can be difficult for some people, who believe that their opinions are right. Luckily, people can learn about the other person’s frame of reference, and at the very least understand the topic or the person a little better. This particular topic is art, which is known for its multiple possible perceptions or its many different messages that it can send a person or group of people. In this way, people can learn more about the thought processes and feelings of others. Unfortunately, with differing opinions,
... some points I'm going to cross common experiences. Some of them are going to stick and become a little bit peculiarly mine . . . I don't worry about that. I worry about the paintings . . . the drive to make art ("Concepts in career: Frank Stella").
Death has been widely portrayed in Art throughout the centuries, the most depicted death scene possibly being the death of Christ. Every death scene is not created equal, despite the fact that the works of Art focus on death. The feelings, symbolism, and themes that are conveyed by the scene are diverse. To see how varied the effect can be from different death scenes we can look at The Sortie made by the Garrison of Gibraltar by John Trumbull in 1789 and The Death of General Wolfe by Benjamin West in 1770. It’s interesting to see how these artists depicts their own view on death in these specific works, since in fact West acted as a teacher to Trumbull yet their styles differ dramatically.1, 2 Although both works of art put death at the center of the scene and take place during a War; with the aid of the Artists’ unique styles and directions, completely different interpretations are invoked in the viewers.
When it came down to the pre renaissance era this was the point in time where it was very complex to find the idea of death. Most of pre renaissance artwork had to do with religion. I tried to stir away from religion but that main suggestion that I came across that had to deal with death was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. That’s when I discovered the painting The Crucifixion.
The painting shows Mary, Mary Magdalen and John embracing Jesus’s dead body while they are crying, and focuses on their emotional distress of losing someone dear. Mary is caught middle of letting out a great cry while embracing Jesus from the left. John is shown with curly brown hair while also letting out a cry, but he is behind Jesus and only his face is visible. Mary Magdalen is to the right holding onto one of Jesus arm that reaches over the edge that almost seems like it is coming out of the painting. The whole scene in the painting is very grim as Jesus, the central figure, is lying dead with scars of his mistreatment clear for everybody to see. His body is white and thin with veins of arms and body showing through the skin, and his face seems so tired and worn out. On his head, there is a crown of thorns, but without any blood or scars. The emotional distress in the faces of those around Jesus are stylized, but any viewer would recognize their
Though most works of art have some underlying, deeper meaning attached to them, our first impression of their significance comes through our initial visual interpretation. When we first view a painting or a statue or other piece of art, we notice first the visual details – its size, its medium, its color, and its condition, for example – before we begin to ponder its greater significance. Indeed, these visual clues are just as important as any other interpretation or meaning of a work, for they allow us to understand just what that deeper meaning is. The expression on a statue’s face tells us the emotion and message that the artist is trying to convey. Its color, too, can provide clues: darker or lighter colors can play a role in how we judge a piece of art. The type of lines used in a piece can send different messages. A sculpture, for example, may have been carved with hard, rough lines or it may have been carved with smoother, more flowing lines that portray a kind of gentleness.
In his Crucifixion, with the Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist Mourning (c.1460), a piece within the Northern Renaissance collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Rogier van der Weyden portrays a stark image of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The right panel of the diptych depicts the gruesome image of a crucified Christ. Weight pulls the emaciated body down into a Y-shape, contrasting the T-shape of the cross it is mounted on. The only movement comes from the loincloth wrapped around Christ’s waist that dances in the wind. Blood visibly trickles from the corpse’s wounds. Behind the body, a red cloth is draped down the grey wall. At the base of the cross sits a skull and bone. The left panel portrays the Virgin Mary swooning in despair as Saint John attempts to support her weight. Her hands are clasped in prayer as she gazes up at her lifeless son. Both figures are clothed in pale draping robes. The vibrant red of the cloth that hangs from the grey wall in the background contrasts the subdued colors of the
mysterious entity that is hard to explain. It's like a kind of flypaper to which properties
many other emotions that the artist is trying to display in his painting. Although we can try and
and has an emotional presence. To this day, the room where this painting is found
world and this value of form and thought can be seen throughout many of the works of art.
When I saw Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring about five years ago at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., I felt something about the painting that I had never felt before when looking at artwork. I felt as if this girl, this young woman in the painting was real, hiding in the museum behind this canvas. She was in the flesh. Her skin was still dewy from three hundred-something years ago, the light across her face still glowing. She was in the round, her eyes followed mine, she was real. She was about to speak, she was in a moment of thought, she was in reflection. This girl was not crimson red or titanium white, she was flesh. Vermeer caught her, a butterfly in his hand. She was not just recorded on canvas, she was created on canvas. She was caught in a moment of stillness. Vermeer creates moments in his paintings. When viewing them, we step into a private, intimate setting, a story. Always, everything is quiet and calm. I realize now it is no wonder I had such a strong reaction to Vermeer the first time I saw him: he is a stillness seeker.
Throughout the ages art has played a crucial role in life. Art is universal and because art is everywhere, we experience it on a daily basis. From the houses we live in (architecture) to the movies we see (theatre) to the books that we read (literature). Even in ancient culture art has played a crucial role. In prehistoric times cave dwellers drew on the wall of caves to record history. In biblical times paintings recorded the life and death of Christ. Throughout time art has recorded history. Most art is created for a specific reason or purpose, it has a way of expressing ideas and beliefs, and it can record the experiences of all people.