On the Virgin and child with saints and angels depth is not shown. There are hardly any indications of shadows, so the details of the faces on the humans look unrealistic. The two saints standing beside the virgin are not foreshortened or shadowed in a way that the viewer cannot tell if the saints are beside in front or behind the chair. The placement of the angels looks awkward and unrealistic, they are colored lighter than the individuals in the front, but no heavy shading indicates they are far away. Baby Jesus sitting delicately on the virgin’s lap is not portrayed as having any weight. The drapery of the virgin’s clothes offer no sense of weight as the baby is seated on her lap. What also seems stylized are the faces, all the faces don’t seem to follow a set of rules in order to make a face. For example, the virgin’s right eye is placed higher and larger than the left eye and the rest of the group’s eyes are abnormally shaped. The saint’s hair looks very simplistic; there is no real indication of texture in the hair. The skin color of the individuals all seem stylized as the saint on the left is shown in a more realistic skin color, while everyone else is colored in a ghostly white. There also seems to be no direction of light as all the lights and darks are mixed.
In the Page with Christ washing the feet of his disciples, Aachen gospels of Otto III the departure from naturalism is intensified. The stylization of the humans is apparent in the facial expressions and overall anatomy. The eyes seem dead like as there is no white on the eyeballs and show no sign of life in the pupils. The nose is simplified dramatically, only showing a little hint of shadow and some ink coloring. The lips have no fullness to them; they are portrayed small thin with no shadows. The feet and arms are abnormally large, especially the fingers and toes. The architecture in the background is shown with no real depth. The only sense of depth I can see is the use of a focal point of the building. The gold background Christ is in front of has horizontal lines giving an indication that they are stairs and the pillars beside the stairs are not shown in perspective, so it furthers the theme of stylization.
Both these works of art are far from naturalistic. They both don’t show any perspective, so there is no indication of three dimensional planes. The anatomy of the humans is stylized to a more comical form. My guess as to why these cultures descended from naturalism is the importance of the message than the art. Christianity dominated almost all aspects of life in the Byzantine and Early Medieval era. As the Catholic Church had a firm control on society they pressured many of the artists to emphasize the message and symbolism of the art.
I thought you brought up some interesting points about the lack of naturalism in Byzantine and early medieval art. I didn't catch the lack of shadows at first but taking a second look, it do notice that there is very little shadow used. I find it interesting that despite the great lengths used to capture features used in Greek and Roman art, that medieval art seems to ignore that altogether. Some of the awkward poses even remind me of the awkward profile poses found in Egyptian art.
ReplyDeleteI like that you pointed out that the baby Jesus seems to be weightless, I at first glance didn't notice this but now taking a second look I see the weightless quality of the baby. I think it's interesting that rather than putting emphasis on the form of the figure the artists were more interested in depicting more of a religiously based narrative.
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy how much the "Virgin and Child" piece does not follow a structure or certain elements of art, yet retains the effectiveness that it does. It is very unrealistic and flat, but our eyes still perceive and decipher the parts as human figures.
ReplyDeleteI did notice the comment about the shadows, the only thing I could think to respond to that was the fact that shadow existed under the face or head to bring it out from the neck. But I do agree with the assessment that realism in the work is non-existent. I also agree with the pressure of portraying the message and the fact that probably influenced the art.
ReplyDelete