Saint Christopher Carrying The Christ Child

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Hieronymous Bosch’s painted Saint Christopher Carrying the Christ Child through a Sinful World between 1450-1516. During this time period the protestant reformation was highly concentrated in the Netherlands (were Bosch was from). There was a great discontent with the Catholic Church, because many believed the clergy to be morally corrupt. Bosch seamed to use imagery dealing with the torments of hell representing the “hell” that the community was going though due to the corruption of the church.

At first glance, the painting is very dark and shadowy convening the message of a sinful world. The chiaroscuro represents that we do not live in a perfect world, there is always evil lingering in the shadows. The main light source in the painting …show more content…

Most of the figures within the painting are very unrealistic but very unique and detailed. All of the figures in the painting, person or animal, are expressed with different characteristics almost like Bosch is giving a personality to each figure. The animals are supposed to be a representation of demons. The demons are depicted with different colors and different pose. Most of the demons are holding a variety of weapons: shields, spears, bows and arrows, etc. When we follow the direction at which the animals in the water are pointing their weapons at our eyes meet with some solders hiding in a cave that looks like a man. It does not appear that human figures, aside from the three important ones, are the focus of the painting. Most of the humans, who are generally very small, appear inside caves and boats. The caves on either side of the painting seem to be a representation of good and bad. On the left side there appear to be nuns that look a lot like witches which is a representation of the corrupting of the church that was going on during this time period. The cave on the right is shaped like a humble man, his eye sight …show more content…

St. Christopher was a man who was big and strong, he was in search to serve the most powerful person on the planet. He served a king but later realized that the devil was more powerful than the king, he looked for the devil but learned that Christ was more powerful than the Devil, so he searched for Christ. On his journey he meet a hermit who thought him all about Christ. The hermit said that to find Christ he would need to spend his life praying and fasting but Christopher objected. The hermit gave him a second option, he could find another way to please Christ. Christopher decided to work at a nearby river to help people cross. The river was very dangerous and many had drowned. One day a little boy appeared asking for help to cross the river. As they were crossing the river the boy kept getting heavier and the current of the water was growing stronger; Christopher started to struggle. When they finally reached the land Christopher asked the boy for an explanation as to why he got heavier. The boy explained that he is The Christ and when St. Christopher was carrying him, he was also carrying the weight of the world. The painting even shows Christopher’s posture and expression of exhaustion; his line of sight leads toward the land and it almost looks like he is relieved of finally reaching the other side. St. Christopher was said to be a very large man, sometimes he is referred

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