The painting The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio was one of my favorite paintings I saw during this class. The painting depicts Saint Thomas and two apostles standing in front of Jesus Christ who has a gaping wound in his torso. Saint Thomas refused to believe in Christ unless he was able to see his wound from being nailed to the cross for himself and stick his finger in it. In the painting, Jesus is holding Thomas’ hand and pushing his finger into the wound. I feel like the detail in the faces of this painting tell so much of how everyone is feeling in this situation. The three men have the look of amazement and curiosity while Jesus has this slight look of discomfort and pain. The way Thomas’ finger is lifting part of the wound …show more content…
Like many paintings of its time it is based on a Biblical scene. In this scene, Saint Thomas refuses to believe Christ rose from the grave but then gets confronted by Christ who shows him the wounds. Christ famously tells Thomas “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed". Something I appreciate about what Caravaggio did with this painting, was add humanity to Christ himself. Unlike other artists of this time who painted their biblical scenes in very holy and spiritual manners. Caravaggio depicts Christ with vulnerability, which allows the viewer to connect with this holy and all mighty figure in a more intimate way. This use of realism helps was a good choice and it adds a lot to the emotional value of the painting and allows the viewer to almost feel the pain for themselves. Caravaggio didn’t use many colors in the piece which was a good choice. Thomas and the apostles heavily clothed in warm colors like red and orange while Jesus is wearing white and has a lot of his torso exposed. This makes a good contrast between the wardrobe of Jesus against that of the apostles and the dark
With the number of people losing faith in Catholicism during the Protestant Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church needed to find a way to reaffirm the catholic faith in people, and because many of the people during this time were illiterate, the church needed a universal method of communication. Art, being a media that only need to be seen in order to be understood, was used to portray very direct, passionate and realistic, mostly religious scenes that could be understood by anyone regardless of literacy of social status. In order to accomplish this, Gentileschi does not paint idealized figures, like that of the earlier renaissance paintings, instead the subjects are simple, more full figured and dressed in simple garments which appealed to even the most common people. Painted with chiaroscuro adds grandeur to the piece and this coupled with foreshortening creates a sense of movement and energy which rounded out the illusion that makes the viewer feel as if they are in the very same room witness to the act.
The main theme can simply be seen easily is religion. At first glance you can see why the title is so fitting. The Angel is seen pointing up while hold a tombstone, as if leading Jesus up. Jesus is shown above him pointing in the same direction almost as if talking about heaven. You can tell who Jesus is not only by his placement but by the cloth, light halo, and possible makes on his head from the thorn crown. The dramatic size as well gives it a religious feel. Cecco again shows he uncanny ability to resemble Caravaggio to build connection. Caravaggio’s work surround religion had the ability to provide “ direct communication..[and] establish” a bond “between the spectator and the sacred scene[s]” (Chorpenning 145).“When standing up close I felt that looking up I was another person there looking to where he is pointing. The dramatic scene is something to behold in person that is so interesting. The contrast of the angel and Jesus who are lighter than anyone else from the dark background make them stand out. The light sources that help bring in contrast is like a ray of light or even a spotlight light. The way the light falls helps reinforce the importance of Jesus and
Looking across the entire triptych certain visual elements can be seen. Lighting is carefully used to highlight many important details in the painting; the dramatic facial expressions of many of the people in this scene are clearly lighted and defined to illustrate the emotions felt by the witnesses. In the left panel of The Raising of the Cross, among the mourners appear to be St. John, another man that seems to be consoling St. John, Elizabeth (the mother of John the Baptist), St. Mary (the mother of Jesus) and Mary Magdalene (hoocher.com). One of the mourners is actually looking directly at the viewer with a very distraught expression on her face. The mourner that I suspect is St. John in the back appears to be almost nauseous and his face is surrounded by darkness and is subordinate and his face is being emphasized. Also, the rocky background is subordin...
This essay will closely study and describe Rosso Fiorentino’s The Descent from the Cross. The painting depicts the process of Jesus Christ being taken off of the cross.
A common topic of artwork throughout history has been the crucifixion of Christ. Since it is such a common topic, it makes it very easy to see how artwork changed and developed from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. The painting on the left, The Crucifixion by Pietro Lorenzetti, shows the usual characteristics of a painting from the Middle Ages. The facial expressions are not varied or very in depth, Jesus and the other saints have the typical halo that is used very often, and the colors are mostly all bright, making nothing in particular stand out. The second painting, on the right, is by Caravaggio and is titled The Flagellation of Christ. There is an obvious shift from one painting to the next. Caravaggio’s piece is much more realistic.
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
The Painting Martha and Mary Magdalene is one of the many masterpieces in the DIA’s collection in Detroit. Although there is much more to understanding a work of art then just looking at it. In order to understand a piece, you have to understand the Artist, the time period, and the symbols in that painting that may have very different meaning today.
One of the very first well-known portrayals of this narrative was by Giotto di Bondone. From around 1304, it is an Early Renaissance painting. Jesus is lying down, cradled by the Virgin Mary, and Mary Magdalene is cares...
For example, Masaccio used the medium fresco. It dries quickly and requires the artist to work fast with color broadly applied. This medium enables Masaccio to create generalized forms over the precise details of oil and tempura painting. However, Campin used the oil medium. This gave him the ability to create jewel-like illusions of reality. Campin and others of this era were motivated to paint the external world and all the different facets that create it. On the other hand, Masaccio wanted to create a painting that is more realistic and wanted the people to be able to relate to the art. Also, both artists use light and shadow to highlight and emphasize different parts of the paintings. For instance, Campin lit the room with sunlight and put a focus on Mary’s dress. This lighting causes the dress to turn into a shape of a star. This can symbolize the presence of the star of Bethlehem. Many other religious symbols are found in the painting. The eyes are not drawn to a particular object. This is not the case in Masaccio’s painting. He does not particularly shine light on one object. Even though the eyes are drawn to Jesus, we get a sense of balance between all the objects. This portrays faith and it’s mysteries as well as the perfection symbolism that comes with God. Masaccio creates a three dimensional like form even though it is on a two-dimensional surface. The painting shows
... the way that the artwork is resembled in the religious background of the gospel but reconstructed in to a celebrating impression. Throughout the fresco painting it depicts the myth of the Christ’s three fold temptations relating back to the article that “distinction between fresco and panel painting is sharp, and that painters are seen as competitors amongst themselves discriminating also, between the difference in genuine attempts in being better then the other.” Baxandall, “Conditions of Trade,” 26. in relation, the painting concerns the painter’s conscious response to picture trade, and the non-isolation in pictorial interests.
In the two different depictions of the scene Betrayal of Christ, Duccio and Giotto show their different styles on how they compose their paintings. The first decision into the composure of the painting would be the comparison of the size of surface they chose to paint on. Duccio in comparison to Giotto chooses to work on a wooden panel no wider than a foot, and Giotto went with a plaster surface with a width of ten feet. This detail alone lets the viewer know that Giotto’s artwork is embedded in detail and visual consumption. The size difference is the factor between who see’s it and what they see; the fine details and symbolism of the narrative will be better understood if the viewer can see every detail.
The artists of the Baroque had a remarkably different style than artists of the Renaissance due to their different approach to form, space, and composition. This extreme differentiation in style resulted in a very different treatment of narrative. Perhaps this drastic stylistic difference between the Renaissance and Baroque in their treatment of form, space, and composition and how these characteristics effect the narrative of a painting cannot be seen more than in comparing Perugino’s Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to St. Peter from the Early Renaissance to Caravaggio’s Conversion of St. Paul from the Baroque.Perugino was one of the greatest masters of the Early Renaissance whose style ischaracterized by the Renaissance ideals of purity, simplicity, and exceptional symmetry of composition. His approach to form in Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to St.Peter was very linear. He outlined all the figures with a black line giving them a sense of stability, permanence, and power in their environment, but restricting the figures’ sense of movement. In fact, the figures seem to not move at all, but rather are merely locked at a specific moment in time by their rigid outline. Perugino’s approach to the figures’themselves is extremely humanistic and classical. He shines light on the figures in a clear, even way, keeping with the rational and uncluttered meaning of the work. His figures are all locked in a contrapposto pose engaging in intellectual conversation with their neighbor, giving a strong sense of classical rationality. The figures are repeated over and over such as this to convey a rational response and to show the viewer clarity. Perugino’s approach to space was also very rational and simple. He organizes space along three simple planes: foreground, middle ground, and background. Christ and Saint Peter occupy the center foreground and solemn choruses of saints and citizens occupy the rest of the foreground. The middle distance is filled with miscellaneous figures, which complement the front group, emphasizing its density and order, by their scattered arrangement. Buildings from the Renaissance and triumphal arches from Roman antiquity occupy the background, reinforcing the overall classical message to the
This deeply emotional painting shows the Virgin Mary cradling Jesus Christ, surrounded by three other people: Mary Magdalene, John the Evangelist, and the third Mary (the mother of the apostle James the Lesser). Jesus Christ is resting upon the linen that would later be used for his burial. The background of the painting shows the bases of the crosses used to crucify Jesus Christ, however these a shrouded in the darkness of the red and black sky, suggesting the turmoil felt during and after the crucifixion. In the bottom, left corner of the painting, several warped nails are depicted after being removed from the body of Christ. The nails represent one of the “instruments of the passion” because they are an important part of the crucifixion and represent Jesus Christ’s
Looking at the painting “The Incredibility of Saint Thomas”, the power seems to lie in the skepticism exhibited by Apostle Thomas. The painter seems interested in Thomas’ doubt at the time he is pushed to the limits to believe about Jesus’ resurrection (Miller, Vandome, & McBrewster, 2010).
Capitalism was still prevalent which allowed for patrons to build even larger art collections. This allowed for Caravaggio to be even more selective with his subject matter and style. In the Caravaggio, Calling of St. Matthew, Contarelli Chapel, San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome, Oil on Canvas, c. 1599-1600 the painting was not lit uniformly but in patches. The paintings details were struck by bright and intense light alternating with areas of dark shadows. The figures were disheveled and plain. There were figures counting money that ignored the presence of Jesus in the room. A far cry from the idolization of Christ in most High Renaissance paintings. Caravaggio proved to be master of oil paints similar to Jan van Eyck minute