Representations of Jesus Christ Throughout History- Dan Patten

In The Gospel, an Angel appeared to the three shepherds and told them that The Savior was born and that He could be found wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger. Bernardo Strozzi has captured this scene with beautiful colors and shading. The viewer's attention is immediately brought to Christ in the manger. Using softer brush strokes, color and shading with highlights of white and lighter flesh tones, Strozzi created a great sense of depth, bringing the figures to life.

In The Gospel of Luke, Jesus at age 12, strayed from his parents, and after three days of looking for him, he was found, teaching the elders within the Temple. Lodovicco Mazzolino has depicted Christ as the central image with his use of emphasis and balance. With the artist’s use of color, Christ in all white, and the brown chair He is sitting in, the viewer is drawn up to him, sitting above those surrounding him. This technique created a sense of hierarchy.

Verrocchio and Leonardo da Vinci both created this beautiful panel of the depiction of Christ’s baptism, as told within the Gospel. In this painting, John The Baptist is to Christ’s left and is baptizing Christ while two angels are seen kneeling in prayer. Also depicted in the Bible, a dove descends from heaven on a beautiful ray of yellow light that shines down on Christ. The artist’s use of shadows on the flesh of these figures helps to capture the solemn emotion on Christ’s face.

Eugene Delacroix has captured this beautiful depiction of Christ on The Sea of Galilee. As Christ lay asleep on the boat, his disciples panic around him while the sea rises up, threatening them. The sea foam texture, created with beautiful colors, and the wavy lines that create the fullness of the sails, gives so much movement to the waves and the storm they are in. According to the Gospel; Christ is awakened by their screams of terror and rises up to calm the sea.

In The Raising of Lazarus, Duccio di Buoninsegna recreates The Miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead after being buried for four days. This is one of the greatest miracles ever performed by Jesus. The artist’s use of lighter and darker shades of the figures within this painting gives the crowd a sense of depth, while he seems to have used the height of each person as higher to the left and shorter to the right, leading the eye down to Lazarus and the tomb. This gives the viewer a sense of going down into the tomb.

In this depiction of the last Supper, by Maerten de Vos, de Vos captures the exact moment when Christ tell his twelve Apostles that one of them will betray Him. The artist used balance in grouping the Apostles together in threes, with the exception of Judas, whom he painted directly in front of Christ. Your attention is brought to Judas and then down to the brightly colored blue pouch he is holding, undoubtedly filled with the 30 pieces of silver he was paid to betray Christ.

In this painting of The Prayer in The Garden, depicting Christ’s Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, Baltasar de Echave Orio has captured the pain and sorrow that Christ was feeling but also the terror for what He was about to go through. Christ is depicted as sweating blood in this painting and the color used and the way the eyes are created gives the viewer a deep sense of sorrow. The artist used space to create the distance between Christ and the Angel sent to comfort Him, and this distance seems to go on forever, as if even this distance was impossible to overcome.

In The Betrayal of Christ, Van Dyck captured the calmness of Christ in his face amongst the turmoil that unfolded around him. Judas has betrayed Him with a kiss and as the lighted lantern beautifully lights up the scene, and highlights the subjects within it, they seem to fight amongst each other until a guard’s ear is cut off. Christ then calms his disciples telling them that this is the path His Father has chosen for Him and not to live by the sword or your shall die from it. With contrast in color creating texture of skin tones and clothing, each figure comes to life.

Sebastian Lopez de Arteaga has created a beautiful depiction of Christ being crucified. In the Gospel all events in Christ’s life lead to this and then to His resurrection, of which the Catholic and Christian Faith is built upon. With the use of soft skin tones along with definition, the artist gave Christ a masculine body, yet there is a softness that seems to fade into the outline of His body. This outline fades into the background and gives the perception of space behind Him as far as the eye can see.

Christ and St. Mary Magdalen at The Tomb, painted by Rembrandt, is a beautiful depiction of the story of Christ risen. Mary Magdalen had gone to the tomb the day after Christ’s crucifixion, only to find the tomb had been opened. As she cried, a man appeared to her and she did not recognize Him, once He called to Her by name She immediately recognized Him and called Him, Rabbi. Rembrandts use of light in this work is beautiful as it highlights Christ’s shoulders above Mary and then Mary’s face.