The Antique Pottery Painting Analysis

For centuries, paintings have been a crucial medium for sharing stories and displaying narrative scenes or tales from various sources, including stories from pagan antiquity or the Christian bible. Paintings also have the ability to tell narrative tales that do not stem from any past resource directly, however they can still be read as narratives because of the ways in which an artist has depicted figures and setting in combination with composition. In Jean-Léon Gérôme’s 19th century painting, The Antique Pottery Painter: Sculpturæ vitam insufflat pictura, (Fig. 1) narrative is demonstrated and implied through the details in the work’s rendering, use of perspective, and composition. Altogether, the artist perfects these techniques in order

The work is of small to moderate size, about 50.1 x 68.8 cm , which asks for intimate interaction with the painting than if the work were larger. The details from the work, in combination with how close a viewer must get to see the details, enriches their understanding of the scene – from the minuscule details in the paintings and tiny sculptures of the background, to the detail of each individual tile of the mosaic floor. For instance, the attention to detail the artist has placed on the setting alone, including the shop floor, the opening to the outside world in the top right, and the collection of sculptures in the background altogether create a painting of richness, allowing the eye to explore all the objects and from that wonder more about the narrative of the story as associations develop. What associations are made is less important than the fact that associations can be made because of how the image is

The positioning of the figures and items in this work allow for it to be “read” left to right, similarly to an actual narrative piece of writing. One might begin with the left of the picture plane, and focus on the wall of paintings and sculptures, providing a background for the main figure of the woman sculptor. The focus then shifts to the figure herself (Fig. 2), who is seated and angled towards the viewer, which is not a natural position for painting small, intricate figures. This position does however make her body appear open and welcoming; an entry point for the viewer. The theatrical-like pose also shows the viewer exactly what she is doing. As one’s eye continues to the right, more of the narrative in unveiled in regards to the boxes of masks, the shield on the floor, and the numerous sculptures on her table. From this, a viewer can draw such conclusions that the figure is diligent and meticulous in her work, or highly interest in the arts. Lastly, the eye passes over to witness the exchange between the figures on the far right, guided by the angled horizontal line created by the tile on the floor. The narrative ends as the viewer’s eye reaches the end of the canvas, finishing the narrative similarly to how a sentence might end when you reach the last line of