Protector of the Plague
Saint Sebastian was regarded as one of the most popular plague Saints in the fifteenth and sixteenth century. He was the chief defender of the plague because of his endurance and defense of his faith. Death was considered God’s punishment for sin, so devotees sought pictorial and spiritual methods using Sebastian’s imagery to appease God. Louise Marshall’s, The Body of a Plague Saint, focused on the invention of two pictorial devices that shifted the way St. Sebastian was seen as an object of prayer. Sheila Barker’s, Making of a Plague Saint, discussed how Sebastian’s imagery evolved from religious and secular themes over the course of the threat of plague. Different methods of iconography involving political, therapeutic,
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Marshall indicates Renaissance altarpieces of the Martyrdom of Sebastian were highly detailed and grandiose. These precisely painted altarpieces were regarded as a product of “Art for art’s sake” Accuracy was used as a persuasive mechanism to make the narrative seem more real and easier to relate to. Barker argues that it was a common belief that the more beautiful the image of offering was, then the more God would be satisfied and soften his wrath. Barker also reasons aesthetically pleasing images were also used as a visual medicine to maintain pleasant …show more content…
I can see this serving as a sign of hope to supplement their prayers. It shows holy figures suffering, just as the plague victims were, but sending a consoling message that they are no longer in pain in heaven.
The questions I have after reading the articles are: when artists painted Sebastian nude, did this induce impure thoughts on the viewers? Wasn’t the act of showing off how skill and beauty demonstrate having too much pride, which is considered one of the deadly sins? Why is Apollo associated with Saint Sebastian? Is there any proof of Sebastian imagery saving others from the plague? Did the believers ever lose devotion?
In class we learned that Sebastian is a key plague saint and is usually depicted pierced by arrows to resemble the buboes of the plague. However, now I have a clear understanding as to why he was chosen to become part of the iconography of the plague and how he served as a comforting model to
When first reading about the directions for this essay, I was curious on what you, Dr. Ehman, meant by the question: Was Saint Manuel a saint or a charlatan? The descriptors were obviously opposite of each other and I thought to myself.. is it possible for someone to be both? Like most, when I first began to read the story by Manuel de Unamuno, I immediately considered the priest, Don Manuel, to be a saint. In fact, from what I read I considered him to be the definition of a saint and wondered if later in the story a connection to God (other than his appointment as a priest) would be discussed. I even thought it was silly to ask this question because it was obvious that he was a saint and as we can see the title of saint was evident in his name. Regardless, I could not help but to think that somewhere in the story lied a twist. After Lazaro appeared I knew a secret about the great priest himself was sure to happen and after reading the story I realized that there indeed seemed to be a dilemma: Was Don Manuel a saint or a charlatan? With great thinking I believe he was both.
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.
Campbell examines thirteen Venetian engravings and paintings, as well as an example of early poetry, to illustrate the grafting effect of different imagery sources within a single picture, along with poetic imagery and form used with poesia. Many examples of art that Campbell examines focuses on the nature of the works, such as the juxtaposition of “pagan opposites” in Christian subject matter, the idea of the gaze, juxtaposing two pictorial ...
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
While the Flemish were proficient in oil painting, Italian Renaissance artists continued their predecessor’s use of tempera. Furthermore, the paintings were ultimately created for different purposes and separate viewers. Although both works are centered on the defining moment of the annunciation, The Merode Altarpiece incorporates this scene into a secular setting, therefore differing from Fra Angelico’s The Annunciation which was painted for a monastery. Finally, Flemish and Italian Renaissance paintings differ in levels of realism. Although the Flemish painters were skilled in portraying realism of physical forms, they lacked a full understanding of linear perspective. In contrast, the Italian Renaissance artists were well versed in linear perspective but lacked a complete grasp of the natural
Leonardo’s version of the Last Supper was painted El fresco depicting the scene passively without emotion. The work has the supper table horizontal across the lower third and Jesus and his twelve disciples dining behind it, before a backdrop of both man made structure and natural landscape. The artwork is un-cluttered and simple. The lighting is subtle and non-dramatic. Colour is conservative and dull this is partly due to the limited paint available and the technique and decay of fresco painting. The wor...
All of Camus' writings may be viewed as a quest for meaningful values in a world of spiritual aridity and emptiness. He begins with man's despair, estrangement, fear, suffering and hopelessness in a world where is neither God nor the promise that He will come- the fundamental absurdity of existence- but ultimately affirms the power of man to achieve spiritual regeneration and the measure of salvation possible in an absurd universe. This radical repudiation of despair and nihilism is closely bound up with his concept of an artist. Camus conceives of art as a way of embracing a consciousness of the absurdity of man's existential plight. But art becomes a means of negating that absurdity because the artist reconstructs the reality, endowing it with unity, endurance and perfection. By taking elements from reality that confirms the absurd existence, an artist attempts to correct the world by words and redistribution. Thus the artist never provides a radical transformation of reality but a fundamental reinterpretation of what already exists. He provides a new angle of vision of perceiving reality. That is why, for Camus, an artist is a recreator of myth. He teaches humanity that contemporary man must abandon the old myths that have become otiose, though once defined his existence. The artist liberates man to live in his world by redefining both man and the condition in which he exists. In this regard, it is important to point out that, for Camus, the traditional opposition between art and philosophy is arbitrary. It is because they together become most effective to create the redefinition: the philosophy awakens the consciousness and the art, propelled by such a radical discovery, ...
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
I chose “The Martyrdom of St. Matthew” as the painting that best illustrates the baroque period. The reasons surrounding my decision are clear in Caravaggio’s painting. Here Caravaggio uses the entire canvas to illustrate complexity, flow, and chiaroscuro. The painting depicts the source of lighting to be coming from the left side of the plane. The brightest light focuses directly on Matthew’s executioner who intends to strike Matthew with an old balcanic hand weapon. Caravaggio masterfully illustrates the use of lighting by casting believable shadows. As an example, the shadow of the handle on balcanic hand weapon reflects on the executioner’s left thigh and knee. Another shadow appears on the executioner’s right inner thigh. The lighting source to the left of the executioner, the executioner, St. Matthews, the boy, the 2 observer’s bottom, right, and the fainter lighting upper left of the canvas illustrates the technique of visual movement. The lighting is placed strategically, causing visual movement within the piece. For example, the illumination of the executioner’s forearm directs my attention to the angel who appears to be handing St. Matthew a palm leaf. As a result, my eyes then focuses on the body of St. Matthew, lying on the bottom of the altar, then my eyes shifts up toward the Angle’s arm. The lighting on the angel's arm contrasted with the darkness of the palm leaf forces the viewer to look at the hand to see what St. Matthew is reaching for. The boy fleeing the scene further draws in the viewer. The two adult observers at the bottom right of the painting are illuminated but not as bright as the two main characters. Next, my attention is drawn to the man lying on the bottom steps, left side of the canv...
... 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.
For my Apollo collection I chose this picture of Saint Sebastian from the New Orleans Museum of Art. Today I’m going to be talking about the four key point of this artwork that was created from artist Bugiardini, Giuliani. Then after when I'm giving my definition of this artwork.Then later on I will give you my information and facts about the meaning of the work from Bugiardini, Giuliani.
...ered to. In addition, Grunewald’s particular selection of saints Sebastian, Anthony, and John the Baptist also relate to the right artwork’s secondary purpose per their patronages. Christians associate St. Sebastian with the rejection of disease, St. Anthony with the curing of disease, and St. John the Baptist with the healing nature of water in the Christian sacrament of baptism (503, 510). Therefore, a patient with (or at least familiar with) Christian beliefs of the crucifixion can be uplifted by the promise of healing because he or she could identify with the saints depicted and in the image of Christ suffering (Hayum 509). In this way, the right artwork’s content both harmonizes with the church architecture and helps the hospital patients bear their sufferings as Jesus did, whereas the left artwork only accomplishes harmony and symmetry with the space around it.
Art is important to religion in many different ways. Perhaps none has analyzed how art and religion have influenced and affected each other through the ages. Pictures painted of past events that help to bring back the feeling and importance of the past have been forgotten by some. To the one’s that haven’t forgotten are able to see the event’s as the bible says they happened. Not only can you see the events, but it also allows the younger students of the church to understand the events. The use of images of God became widespread after the second century. This religious art has defiantly been around for centuries and plays an important role to the history of religion as well as the future.
Until this time, representations of Christ’s crucifixion displayed his divinity by illustrating him in no state of suffering. These representations are called Christus triumphans, and can be seen in Crucifix of Mastro Guglielmo, pictured to the right. The Röttgen Pietà and other works like it went against this trend, displaying Christ’s suffering through his facial expressions and his malnourished and injured body. This evoked emotions from its viewers in that his worshipers saw him suffer in ways they did, an idea taught by many middle age preachers (Ross). Another popular form of gothic art was the gargoyle. Gargoyles are essentially water spouts, created in the form of various animals and mythical creatures. Seen at Rheims Cathedral among many others, gargoyles had other purposes as well (Strickland, 48). The sculptures acted as guardians of sorts, warding off evil from the building which they resided (Alchin). Secondly, they served to frighten peasants, scaring them into churches and away from the demons outside, thus bringing about emotion from its viewers
This brings me to the baroque artwork itself. The ominous style was used as a powerful vehicle for propaganda of the church and thrown, they used it to