For this week’s discussion I chose option one to talk about how art produced in the Byzantine and Early Medieval periods has veered away from naturalism in ways and become a slight bit more stylized. In order to describe this process I chose two pieces from the text. The first piece I chose was the Virgin and Child with saints and angels on page 245 (as seen below). And the second piece I chose was of Christ washing the feet of his disciples Aachen gospels of Otto III from page 451 (second image below).
The first piece I chose, the Virgin and Child with saints and angels from page 245 seems more unrealistic when comparing the two pieces I chose because there is no sign of depth. In this piece the angels that are behind the Virgin, her baby, and the saints look the same size and everything as the people in the front, basically no dimension is shown. They should be smaller than the people in the front. Also he faces are not very naturalistic. The noses on some of the figures are large in proportion to their faces (seen in the angels behind the people). And most noticeably the child’s head is extremely small in proportion to the body.
In the image of Christ washing his disciples feet the buildings in the background are buildings that are pretty far from looking naturalistic. I see this in the sense that they look miss-proportioned and stylized through the artist’s manipulation. This piece also incorporates bright colors and a variety of colors which is not very naturalistic in the sense that colors are duller in the paintings meant to resemble natural aspects. Also to me, Christ and his disciples bodies are drawn elongated and somewhat out of proportion. For example, the disciple who is bent down to Christ’s left with his foot in the water bowl has arms that seem elongated and not of normal naturalistic size. Also the artist drew the figures fingers and hands to be clearly long. So I see this picture as more stylized versus naturalistic.
Out of these two images I see the second one of Christ washing his disciples feet as the most interesting. This painting has a lot to look at and can spike interest in the viewer. The second one of the Virgin and the child with saints and angels is not as interesting to me because they are simply sitting there and the only thought provoking piece is that of the angels in the background looking upward. This part of the piece could cause the viewer to speculate what they could be looking up toward, likely heaven.
I agree with you, Christ washing his disciples feet is most interesting. I thought this piece was very unique and cartoon-like. What i noticed most about this picture, were the eyes. The colors are really vibrant as you said, and far from naturalistic.
ReplyDeleteGood facts about these art pieces. when I read your blogs I see stuff that I didn't see before. I didn't see how Christ was washing their feet. I thought the water was being used for other stuff. I do agree the second image is more interesting. In my opinion it is more interesting because there is more color that stands out.
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