This particular article seeks to cover the rest of what I have seen in the current exhibit and also the beginning of the next gallery. It is to be noted that I did not take a picture of every single painting in each gallery, as that would simply be too time consuming. Instead, I admit that I selected the paintings that intrigued me the most. To this end, I'm going to take a look at these following paintings:
Here we have a solitary scholar or artist relaxing at the approximately low-mid section of the painting. He appears to be either admiring the background or attempting to create an artwork of the beautiful ruins. I enjoyed this painting because this painting gives off a very mystical feeling to it. This is accentuated by the odd, but satisfying pale yellow tint of the ruins. In addition, the painting makes extensive use of scale by appropriately depicting the man as a smaller figure. Much like the woods painting I discussed in the previous blog post, this painting was not meant to celebrate humans; it was emphasized to showcase the beauty of nature. Even though there were human ruins, these man made structures has become part of the landscape itself; they do no serve human purposes anymore, so it counts as nature. This aspect is further emphasized by the blue sky and abundant trees. Much like the previous trees painting again, the verdant blue sky casts a large precutting of the painting, giving emphasis to the aspect of nature. It is important, in retrospect to view this painting as something connected by the painter's mind. This kind of painting could not have been staged - the positioning of the columns and the overall topography don't match up. But because of this fact, this painting is a great example of the ability to transcribe an image in the mind into a physical creation.
Surprisingly, this painting was one of the first explicitly religious artworks that I've came across the entire museum so far. What I'd assume that this portrays was the moment after Jesus was crucified; his followers are carrying his lifeless body. Indeed, Jesus's nudeness with the looks of anguish on his follower's face describes the gravity of such a situation. In addition, the way the white drapery was hung around Jesus indicates a feeling of care; the drapery was very elegant - bedsheets aren't usually so perfectly or easily shaped. In addition, the factors that belie the post-crucification was the lack of any marks on Jesus's foot and hands. This may be done to preserve the aesthetic of a pure, innocent Jesus. Otherwise, there is a sharp contrast between Jesus's white and the man on the right's red color. Still, overall there exists a marked balance of colors in this painting. Another interesting aspect of this painting was the man with the turban on the left hand side of Jesus. What the intention of this is unknown, but perhaps it was used to signify that it took place in the Middle East (Israel). Still, the deep colors and expressions is what I think made this painting so notable when I saw this in the exhibit.
Ah, more El Greco. This is another El Greco painting which was surprisingly marooned from his first one. This particular painting depicts Virgin Mary's ascension into Heaven from what appears to be a sarcophagus. Her ascension in this painting demonstrates a marked difference in color scheme. People mostly associated heaven with blue and white, so in this case, Mary is being covered in blue tints in contrast to the colorful range of colors of his followers. This painting is known as the Ascension of the Virgin. Though such events were not depicted in the Bible, paintings like this invoke the imaginative narrative minds of painters. Compared to the relatively mundane topic of the ruins in the first painting above, this painting attempted to depict some supernatural event. As such, only the vague difference in color is able to distinguish this phenomenon. Regardless, I thought this was the Ascension of Christ until I recognized the feminine profile. If anything, that is the most misleading aspect of this painting. Still, I like the imaginative spirit and the homage it provides to the Virgin Mary.
Speaking of misleading, I got this painting wrong. What I meant was, I guessed incorrectly which one was John the Baptist and who was Jesus. In fact, at first my initial gut reaction was that this was a painting of two Jesus. However, upon looking at the description for this painting did I realize that one of these is John the Baptist. Unfortunately, both men wore the same iconic Jesus style of beard and have roughly the same height, it becomes incredibly difficult to tell who's who. This painting is perhaps most notable for this aspect, because it demonstrates the incredible power of the religious cultural hegemony. People tend to ascribe certain characteristics for Jesus and this modern schema carried over to confuse the people who view this painting. In fact, it may be the case that this style of hair and beard was very commonplace in the ancient world. Or, it could be a obvious nod to John the Baptist as a central and pivotal figure to early Christianity. Indeed, the emphasis on Jesus meant few people are aware of the contributions that John the Baptist has made for the faith. This painting may be an attempt to reconcile his importance by camouflaging himself with Jesus. Very much like most of the paintings above, this particular scene is framed by the vivd blue sky in the background, with trees behind it. Needless to say, this is a very well done and attractive painting.
As I continued to the gallery, I did notice a lot more religious themed paintings - in an obvious nod tot he increasingly religious artwork. During this period, the members of the clergy were often the ones with the funding to sponsor these artworks, so naturally the number of religious artworks increase exponentially. I wasn't until the Renaissance and increase global commerce do European artwork sees a shift from religious themes to secular ones. Regardless, all of these paintings have certain aesthetic merits that often must be taken out of its religious context.
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