The art history course Venice and the Renaissance allowed me to gain perspectives on the study of visual culture and techniques of formal analysis within the context of art history. Furthermore, this course provided fundamental social, historical, and political contexts for the creation of art from the 14th to 16th centuries in Venice, Italy. Below is an excerpt of a formal analysis I completed for this course:
The Entombment, painted by Moretto da Brescia in 1554, is an oil painting currently exhibited at the MET Museum in New York City. This painting originally served as an altarpiece for the oratory of a confraternity. At 94.5 by 74.5 inches, this work depicts a moment after Christ’s death. Contrast, specifically of symmetry and asymmetry, light, color, detail, and gaze allows the artist to create a painting that presents the narrative of Christ’s death with specific emphasis on the body of Christ.
The artist employs symmetry and linear structure to draw the viewer’s eye to the body of Christ and, secondarily, to the three crosses that stand on the hill in the top right corner of the painting. Specifically, a diagonal line from Christ’s feet to the raised crosses visually presents the cause of Christ’s death. Perspective is used to visually imply distance along this diagonal line. A winding path leads up the hill to the crosses, gradually getting smaller as it ascends. Through this technique, the artist depicts Christ as having been recently removed from the crosses at which he died. Additionally, the positioning of the five figures creates a symmetrical ‘x’ through the painting, at the center of which is Christ– thus creating the focal point of the image. Despite the prominence of these linear structures, the artist is able to maintain a background that reflects the asymmetry of the natural world. In the top right corner, he depicts a rock outcropping and a tree which towers above the hill on the top left portion of the canvas. Through the contrast of this symmetry and asymmetry, the artist places emphasis on the main figures of his painting while portraying the event as highly natural and unstaged.
The contrast of light is also used by the artist to emphasize the figures of the painting. The landscape of the background is heavily shadowed, while the foreground is partially illuminated. In the top right corner, hints of a sunrise emerge through the clouds. This creates contrast against the darker portions of the painting and demonstrates that even after Christ’s death, the sun will rise– a symbol of hope. Although the six figures are facing away from this light source, they are shrouded in a soft light that accentuates their expressions and forms. This suggests another source of light, perhaps of divine origin (although this cannot be determined from the image itself). Furthermore, the light on Christ’s body highlights the wound on his foot and the cross-like shape that his muscular form takes. These choices allow the artist to allude to the cause of Christ’s death without needing to depict the actual crucifixion. Through these specific uses of light, the artist is able to further portray the central narrative- Christ’s death.
The gazes of the figures in this work greatly contribute to the way that the painting is experienced by the viewer. Three of the four attending figures have their line of sight directed on Christ’s down-turned head, emphasizing the focal point of the image. In contrast, the bottom right figure and the figure cradling Christ’s body both have their gazes directed outwards, serving as ‘points of access’ to the image. By making this choice, the artist presents the painting not as a closed event, but as an open and accessible one. Through the gaze of these two figures, the viewer is invited to participate- perhaps to mourn Christ’s death or to meditate on mortality.
Two elements of the painting that stand out quite considerably are presented at the bottom of this work. To the left, the artist’s signature can be seen. This signature, painted as a small sheet of paper, is directly in the line of Christ’s gaze. Because of this, the viewer’s attention is drawn to it, in some ways taking away from the main event of the painting. To the right, there is what seems to be a stone engraved with the following inscription: “Christ for our sake became obedient unto death” (in English translation). By including these words, the artist presents contrast between two forms of communication: through art and through words. The painting presents a rendering of a specific moment of time, creating a visceral representation of Christ’s death for the viewer to experience. The words present context, a broader idea that transcends any one moment and represents a religious ideal.
In this work, painter Moretto de Brescia employs contrast to depict a single moment after Christ’s death. Specifically, this contrast can be seen within his use of symmetry, light, color, gaze, and writing. By using these techniques, the artist is able to simultaneously highlight the broader narrative of Christ’s death and the details of Christ’s physical form. Furthermore, he creates a work that invites the viewer to contemplate not only the death of Christ, but mortality itself.
The Entombment, Moretto da Brescia, 1554
