For my piece of art, I chose to analysis the Manuscript Illumination with Adoration of the Magi which was drawn sometime between 1515 and 1525, in Ghent, Netherlands, by the Master of James IV of Scotland. Some say the artists name is Gerald Horenbout, but it is not positively determined. The medium of the drawing is Tempera, ink, and shell gold on a piece of parchment. It is 6 1/2 x 4 5/8 in. In the 16th century, religion was played a detrimental role is all actions that occurred. Kings and Queens were the leaders of their faith during this time, and their subjects were expected to follow in their footsteps.
At first glance, it seems like people are coming to visit a baby. I originally thought that the mother of the child was a queen and that it was her subjects paying tribute to their new prince or princess. That thought has now been debunked. When looking further, you can see that some of the men in the picture look to be kings and there are 3 of them. After realizing that, I made the religious connection to baby Jesus in Christianity. This makes sense considering the large role religion played in the lives of these people. There are also men kneeling in the bottom of the image and those men seem to be the Magi, kneeling before Herod. It is said that the technique, use of space, and color scheme are similar to those that can be attributed to the Master of James IV of Scotland. The colors used in this drawing are very repetitive, if you were to focus on just one of the colors, you would find that it is also used in many other areas of the drawing. The colors used are also very bright which helps to illuminate everything in the front of the drawing. Not only is the kneeling the center point of the drawing, but it is also the brightest. Even though everything in the front is emphasized, there is still special detail done in everything in the background. This shows that the artist spent lots of time and effort to be sure that this looked good.
I think that this drawing, as well as all of the others done in this time period, pay attribute to an authoritative figure. Whether is be the King or Queen of the time or a special religious figure, they all seem to resemble some figure. But this image in particular, exhibits the important of religion during the time period. The Catholic and Protestant religious were the most commonly found through Scotland and both of which put God above all other beings. This is exactly what is portrayed in the drawn image. Baby Jesus is being put above all others and being seen as the most important, and one to praise.
I really like how you made a visual analysis of the painting and then further developed that analysis to a more deeper level analysis of making the religious connection and identifying the importance of it to the context. However, you could have explained much further in the religious connection and identifying the 3 men as the wise men and the mom as St. Mary and like explaining it more in depth and explain how it reflects the context in a larger explanation.For the color and how you mentioned that it was used a lot in the artwork, you could identify the colors and explain its significance to the context and its symbolism. Something that you could have payed attention to is the light coming from the head of St. Mary and the halo-like ring around Jesus's head. Overall, some suggestions but I liked your blog.
ReplyDeleteAlso, don't forget to cite where you got the artwork and any additional information you found online. Sorry I forgot to mention this before.
DeleteI also did this artwork and talked about similar things as you did. I like how you included your original ideas of what this work of art could mean and then explored it more to find the true meaning. I like how you explored the colors used in this painting and its repetitiveness, however, I believe you could have explored it more and gone into more depth. Also, maybe mention the significance of the glowing light around Mary's head because I believe that is important to mention to understand how you came to the conclusion the painting is of the Magi and Jesus. Finally, Protestantism was not very common as Catholicism when this painting was draw. Protestentism made a presence a little later in history.
ReplyDeleteHello Emma Stull, I hope you had a fantastic break. First, I would like to state that you did a great job sketching the work of art and it is far better than I could ever do. I think you did a great job on making connections on to why this painting has these vibrant colors and religious aspects. However, I think you could have explained these two a bit more, especially the colors. Overall, I think you did a great job.
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The sketch was surprisingly good considering how difficult that drawing looks. I like how you explained the deception you first experienced at the first sight of this painting. I am going to keep it real with ya chief, I feel like you could've put a little more into this response. Like it was solid for what you did put, but I feel like you could've put in at least another two paragraphs. Good job overall but cover the topic more thoroughly next time i guess.
ReplyDeleteThe sketch was very good for how difficult the original picture would be to copy exactly. I think that you did a good job at explaining how your first idea of what the painting was actually wrong once you passed the surface level of the painting. You also did a good job at explaining how you connected this painting to a certain time period and assumed what context the painting was created in and why it was created. I think that you could have gone a little bit more in depth about the context though, there is probably a specific example that you could have used. Overall, I think you have a really strong analysis and thought process in this post.
ReplyDeleteI really love your blog, the sketch is amazing! You did very well analyzing the painting as well as giving the significance and meaning behind it. Good job mentioning the connection between color and religion. One thing to work on is being more descriptive with these types of blogs on analyzing, to find a deeper and deeper meaning each time you look at it. It was overall a very good blog and I can't wait to come back and read more!
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