The Chosen One - Courtney Wilcox

This is a painting of St. Joseph holding the Baby Jesus. The formal element of color is playing an important roll in assisting the viewer’s eyes to the focal point of the painting. The background has a bland color palette, which focuses the eyes to the foreground. The value between the skin tone of the Baby Jesus against the dark and earthy tone of St. Joseph’s cloak draws the viewer’s immediate attention to Baby Jesus. He is much paler and thus brighter in the image than St. Joseph or the background. His skin tone is depicted as so light, that it is almost a pure white in color, also indicating a symbol of Christ’s purity. Because of the artist’s use of value, this image is a perfect example of an oil painting of Jesus Christ, or the Chosen One, that specifically focuses our attention to him.

This is a painting of Jesus Christ being whipped with a swatch full of sticks tied together by two men at his persecution. There is also a crowd of people and soldiers behind him presumably watching the spectacle after Pontius Pilate sentenced him to be crucified. The artist of this painting made excellent use of the formal element of texture. The swatches that Jesus is being hit with have been painted so that each stick is visible, which creates the sense that they are sharp, jagged, and brittle. The artist achieved this by using small clean lines for the twigs. We also observe the shine on the soldier’s amour in the background to the right. This shine in conjunction with the use of various shades of grey creates a sense that this is a hard surface made of some type of metal whether it is iron or steel, we cannot be completely sure. This oil painting created in 1641-44 is another example of how Jesus, the Chosen One, was depicted in paintings during this time period.

This is a painting of Jesus Christ being brought in front of Pontius Pilate for trial of claiming to be the King of the Jews. The artist used the principal of design known as emphasis extremely well. The focal point of this painting is Jesus Christ. We can tell that he is supposed to be the focal point because of his skin tone in relation to others and the value of the painting between the dark background and the light foreground of Jesus. The artist chose to make the background of the room a solid dark color to draw us to the foreground. The figures in the background, e.g., the men holding Jesus and the servant washing the hands of Pontius Pilate do not have facial features that are extremely detailed, which leads us to look at the objects that do have more detail in the foreground. Jesus himself is a pale shade of tan and the lighting of the painting seems directly on him fading over to the left half of Pilate’s face. This particular oil painting of Jesus Christ is one of the best examples so far of the theme of this gallery; the emphasis is directly on Him, the Chosen One, with the use of lighting and was made in the 17th century.

This is an oil painting of Jesus Christ being lowered into his tomb after being taken down from the cross. Two men lower Christ’s body into the tomb while two women, possibly Mary and her sister Elizabeth look on in mourning. Two more followers of Christ are standing off in the middle ground on the right. This painting is an example of the theme of this gallery because the artist used specific formal elements and design principles to make Jesus stand out amongst the other people in the painting. This painting has a sense of unity, which is a specific principle of design. All of the figures seen in this oil painting belong together, not because they are people, a few of which are directly related to Jesus, but also because of the colors, hues, and values used within the painting. The colors used are dark and earthy to set the mood of this mournful painting. Jesus’ skin is the brightest shade of the skin tones in this painting, which focuses our view to him first, but unlike some other paintings in the gallery, the artist made Jesus’ skin appear dead and practically colorless since he had passed away. The slight shade difference between Jesus’ skin and Mary’s skin is subtle enough to let the viewer know these figures are related, but one has life and the other one does not. There are other identifiers of this theme such as Jesus’, the Chosen One’s, body shape and his lifeless stare, but when discussing design, the color differences stand out first.

This image is an oil panting of the Infant Jesus Christ depicted as the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd is a theme that is common throughout paintings and sculptures in the Christian faith. The Christian faith believes that the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd represents Jesus (the Shepherd) tending his followers making sure they were safe (the sheep). This was an idea borrowed from pagan tradition and their view of the afterlife. This painting is a perfect example of Jesus, the Chosen One, being portrayed as a symbol in oil painting form from the 17th century. I find it creative that although there aren’t any hard lines or deep outlines to any of the figures in the painting, we are still able to tell the figures and their details. The soft lines in the painting that are curved such as in Jesus’ clothes and the sheep’s wool make them appear soft and fluffy. The soft and round lines that create the clouds in the background aid this soft and fluffy appearance of the Infant and sheep. The tree like figure in the middle ground on the left hand side of the painting lacks any straight or rigid line; instead the artist has chosen to paint the tree in a bent manner with the trunk of the tree becoming visible when viewed up close.

This image in an oil painting of the Virgin Mary breast-feeding Baby Jesus Christ with Saints Elizabeth and the infant John the Baptist. Color plays an important role in this painting. St. Mary’s dress is a vibrant shade of red drawing our eyes directly to her first. This contrasts against her pale white skin. The red dress also contrasts against the Baby Jesus who is sitting in her lap. Since He is the focus of this art gallery, I included this painting because of the artist’s decision to have him stand out against that particular shade of red. There is also a saturation difference between the skin tones of The Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus versus St. Elizabeth and the Infant St. John the Baptist. Because of this saturation difference, not only are we drawn to St. Mary and Jesus’ skin tone first because it is brighter, it also denotes them as the purest people in this image. Although St. Elizabeth and St. John the Baptist received saint hood after death, the Virgin Mary was chosen to give birth to Baby Jesus, the Chosen One.

The image seen here is that of St. Joseph holding the infant Jesus Christ. Although I have another image of St. Joseph and the infant Christ already in this gallery, they are considerably different. This image has a feeling of warmth and love to it, aided by the color choices used by the artist as well as the lighting. The image can also attribute its warmth and love to the type of lines used and where they are used. A lot of the lines seen here are curved and soft. There are also lines used to denote the chubbiness to the infant Jesus and the age of St. Joseph by the wrinkles on his face. The color choices used are earth tones, something we typically denote as warm or grounding that comforts the viewer. The lighting coming from the top left of the painting shines light downward on St. Joseph and the Infant Jesus, the Chosen One, as if it were God beaming his love down to both of them.

This oil painting depicts Jesus Christ ascending into Heaven while a crowd of various onlookers seems happy and mystified. There is a clear sense of movement and fluidity in this painting. The shapes in this painting are dynamic. The way the cloth around Jesus is shaped as well as the lines and value differences in his drapery give the illusion that there is a movement of ascension. The feeling of ascension is aided by the onlookers’ hands being pointed upward to Jesus to notate that he is moving up into the sky. The other formal element that draws our attention to Jesus is contrast of color. The white of Jesus’, the Chosen One’s, drapery directly contrasts with the varying shades of blue from the background as well as the earth toned dark colors of clothes that the onlookers are wearing.

This oil painting depicts the Virgin Mary holding Baby Jesus at the naming and circumcision of Jesus Christ. This painting fits into the art gallery for a somewhat different reason than paintings prior. Although the focus of the painting is not directly Jesus himself, it is of his monogram ‘IHS’. This monogram was actually originally written in Greek and meant Iesous Christos. The Latin-speaking people adopted the monogram and name and later changed ‘Iesous’ to ‘Jhesus’ and the rest is history. The artist has used space to give the painting a three-dimensional feel. In the bottom foreground we see the gathering of followers watching as the Baby Jesus is circumcised. In the top foreground we see the cherubs pointing to the monogram ‘IHS’ denoting that Jesus Christ will be the Child’s name; this is the focus of the painting because of it’s height and colorful, bright appearance. As we view into the background there is an incredible amount of detail that fades out to a vanishing point directly behind the person preparing to circumcise Jesus, the Chosen One. This detail alludes to the figures being inside of a large religious building, possibly a Temple or Cathedral depending on where the painting was based. This use of a vanishing point was a common way of creating three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional canvas.

This last oil painting is a depiction of what appears to be two women, two young angels and a cherub mourning over the death of Jesus. This painting has a heavy balance to the bottom. The heavy weighting can be inferred because all of the figures with the most detail are positioned to the bottom of the painting where as the top half is basic and used to represent that background. As we look at the weighting and balance further, it is more weighted to the side Jesus is on because of the proportion of the figures on the left side. Jesus, the Chosen One, is depicted as the largest figure with long legs and large torso, denoting him as the priority in the painting. The women around are still large but are slightly smaller in size in comparison. The size of the women still makes the angels appear smaller and of course the cherub is the smallest figure in the painting not only because of his actual age, but also because of his low level of priority.