Between Two Lamentations Essay

The plaint of Christ is iodin of the nigh normal subjects in the realm of Christian Art. It became extremely popular from the el thus f maneuverh century to the early 18th century, encompassing vast delicate productionistic grounding breaker points from the tortuous guile period under the Medieval era of art, to the Baroque period of the conversion. Numerous whole kit and caboodle have been created, centering on this one slam that is of great import, not only to the Christian community but to the art world itself. One of the al most(prenominal) popular circumstances in Christian history, the coronachs showcases messiah Christ, brought d own after just having died on the cross.His mother bloody shame is shown frequently with Jesus in her arms weeping and mourning the death of her son. border them ar several other mourners, comprising of Christs friends and family. As it is excessively a popular episode in the life of Christ, it is withal include in many movies of the Life of Christ, a form of Christian art that serves as a narrative or an early form of orde blood-red art that tells the story of Jesus Christ from his conception to his resurrection and ascension into Heaven. This guide to many different workmans coming up with different versions of the scene.The numerous renditions of the homogeneous scene, scattered from the 11th century to the 8th century, is a good stylus o gauge the development of art at a frigid period of time. One of the first few examples is a paint in the church of St. Panteleimon, a small Byzantine church in Macedonia. The paint was made by an anonymous artist, known only as Meister von Nerezi or Master of Nerezi. The piece, Lamentation over the stillborn Christ in the perform of St. Pantaleimon, was done in 1164 which was the Middle Byzantine period.During the time, Christian art revolve around a strict set of rules which restricted many artistic ideas, and as the setting was that of the period of cha nges to the Byzantine carriage, the art for the Master of Nerezis Lamentation piece was something relatable to Maniera Byzantina (Lasareff 279). Lamentation over the Dead Christ in the Church of St. Pantaleimon (1164) Obvious within his work is the ability to evoke feelings of empathy and even sympathy from its beholders, perfectly capturing the essence of mourning and overall sadness of the scene. This despite the images adherence to the strict formal rules of Byzantine art.It also features a more definitive sense of emotion as strange to other works of the era which tended to keep a more drab depiction of things. Also of note is the Master of Nerezis composition of the piece, having bloody shame hold Jesus tightly, arms wrapped around the dead body, tour a disciple bends over to hold his dead gains hand to his face. The resulting placement of subjects evokes a spatial setting that proves nonrepresentational and well thought-out. Giottos Lamentation on the other hand, is a paint showcased at the Arena chapel service in Padua, and is one of the most popular Lamentation pieces created.It too depicts the mourning of Jesus Christ, portraying him laid on the ground right after dying from his crucifixion, surrounded by friends and family, with bloody shame at his side, mourning and expressing great sadness in their faces. Giotto di Bondone, or just Giotto, as he is more widely known, was a famous artist in the late Middle ages who specialized in painting and architecture. His works attributed to his being considered one of the first artists whose works led to the eventual wear of the Italian Renaissance, the period which signaled the end of the Medieval ages and gave rise to Early late Europe.The Lamentation is one of the best examples of his work, which was famous for the fuller, more three-dimensional style of painting that would only become more prominent in the Renaissance period, which wasnt to become popular until around century after Giotto. (Web museum 2010) The Lamentation (1305 1306) Dating back to around 1305 1306, Giottos work on theLamentation feature Christ being held by Mary, Jesus Christs mother, at the head, and possibly Mary Magdalene at the feet as the woman is shown with red hair and Mary Magdalene is known to have washed Jesus feet.In terms of the paintings composition, Giotto focused on the sad scene of mourning in the lower left area, having Jesus and Mary frame in by the six other people who are seemingly place appropriately to bing the viewers attention to the Mother and Son. Surrounding them are disciples of the fallen savior, as well as hallowed saints all of them in mourning, effectively conveying the overall mood of sadness about the image. outright behind the gathered crowd is a scraggly rock muckle its sharp, downward line leading to the images focal point of Jesus and Mary. preceding(prenominal) them are angels, flying around with sad,mourning, grieving faces, their figures notably foreshort ened to denote a deeper, more three-dimensional feel to the piece. Looking back at the fresco done by the Master of Nerezi, the Italo-Byzantine style of art is still most obviously definitive in his work basically twain-dimensional whilst trust elements of the Byzantine art style with those of the inhering world, the Lamentation over the Dead Christ in the Church of St. Pantaleimon features a flat-looking image which is iconic in its nature.Done during the Comnene Dynasty of rule which lasted from 1025-1204, the Master of Nerezis Lamentation was timely as due to the Comnenans being staunch supporters of the arts, the general art direction went towards the depiction of emotions, with themes such as the Lamentation and the Virgin and Child being among the most popular of the day. Whereas Giottos work was done as a blow up of a series depicting the Life of Christ, which was part of the Arena chapel whose interiors were decked with frescoes by Giotti. It was finished in 1306, durin g that time when the Byzantine style of art was still somewhat prevalent among artists.Considering the relative gap between the creation of the two Lamentation pieces, it isnt surprising to find that there is a huge difference between the two art styles used where one used a more traditional Byzantine style of lethargy while the other utilized a more realistic and natural mode which was at the time, a style of the artists own but considering that at the time of Giottis work, the style used by the Master of Nerezi was still what was of standard, then it denotes a significant leap introductory in the art medium.Both pieces being of the same topic which is the demise of Jesus Christ, the overall theme of sadness and mourning over a death is reflected effectively by means of expressing emotion on the faces of the characters as depicted by their frowns and sad eyes and faces. Their positionings are also apocalyptical of the plight they are going through in the image. Also leafy v egetable is the disciple leaning in to meet his masters hand,hence the posture of bending over, creating a line that leads to the point within the image wherein Mary keeps her face close to the dead Christ.In the case of the Lamentation over the Dead Christ in the Church of St. Pantaleimon, despite being tied to the art style of the Byzantine times then which often featured religious pieces in symmetrical compositions, the image remains asymmetrical as is common in Lamentation pieces. Perhaps the major difference in terms of the subject matter for both images is that there are more characters in Giottos piece.Aside from Jesus friends family, and disciples who mourn by his side, in Giottos version, angels decked in bright colors are flying around above them, sobbing and weeping as well. In general, both paintings clearly get the message across to the beholders, and almost always evokes feelings of sadness and intellectual from its onlookers as well. In summary, the analysis of the two paintings which are different renditions of two different artists on the same theme, gives a peek of what the development of art styles was at the time.From the Lamentation over the Dead Christ in the Church of St. Pantaleimon by the Master of Nerezi in 1164s Byzantine style of art, to the groundbreaking realism and classicism as well as the incorporation of three-dimensional elements in Giottos Lamentation, it shows that art, like many other aspects of human nicety and society, also develops at a rate that coincides with the development of humanity as a whole. Works CitedHistory of Painting History World 22 May 2010. http//www. historyworld. net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories. asp Lasareff, Victor. Early Italo-Byzantine Painting in Sicily. The Burlington cartridge holder for Connoiseurs Vol. 63 No. 369 (1933) Giotto di Bondone Webmuseum 22 May 2010 http//www. ibiblio. org/wm/paint/auth/giotto/ Arena Chapel Britannica Encyclop? dia Online 22 May 2010 http//www. britannica. com/E Bchecked/topic/33443/Arena-Chapel