Jesus Christ before me
They came. My soldiers, they have brought him. He was bleeding, he was hurt. I remained in my throne, watching the whole scene –quite pleased, I must say-. Like him, they have brought to me many men. The dynamic was easy: They tell me his crimes, I judge, and then condemn. In the little time I had been ruling here, I got easily adapted to the luxurious and wealthy way of living of The Law. I was the law, and what I said, it was done. I was not the Ceasar, but when it came to Judea, the last word was mine.
My soldiers had brought me back this man, whom I had sent to Herod. When he had reached my throne, I saw his eyes. Those eyes showed pain, I could tell, and yet they were not begging for mercy. I took a deep breath, and stood up. To the crowd, I said: “People! You have brought me this man, and you say he is a criminal. I interrogated him before, and I found not a crime that deserves death. I shall punish him before your eyes, and he may go.”
“Crucify him!” shouted the crowd. That, I could not do. This man, I knew well, who was completely innocent, I could not crucify. He used to be quite popular; to free him, I had to make them choose him. “Bring Barabbas”, I whispered to my guards. They left, while I looked at the man in front of me. Meanwhile, the crowd kept shouting for his crucifixion.
“Why do they hate you this much?” I asked him. And in response, he only said “They don’t. They only want me dead”. “Then, why?” I asked again. “Because this is how it has to be”.
They brought Barabbas, who was captured after stealing and murdering. And I said to the crowd: “You may choose! Who shall I set free, Barabbas the murderer or Jesus of Nazareth?” To my surprise, they chose Barabbas. “Do you really prefer this murderer, to the man who only proclaimed himself as King of Jews?” They did. And I tried to persuade them once, twice, and even a third time. They only kept shouting louder and louder, asking me to crucify this man.
In the end, I could do nothing. I looked to the man, and he did nothing. He didn’t beg. He didn’t cry. He didn’t even talk. If he would do nothing, then I should not either. “Crucify him, then! I am innocent of this man's blood!” And my guards took him away.
He looked at me, Jesus looked at me. And in those eyes there was something wrong. In the eyes of the man who was being taken away, there was… gratitude; and maybe tears. He was grateful.
Jesus of Nazareth: He was no man. When he left, I felt wrong. I felt uneasy, then depressed, and finally empty. My head began to get filled with ideas of suicide. I did not commit it; but little I knew that in that same moment, a man far away was killing himself for something very alike.
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Christ before Pilate

(Tintoretto)


CLASSIFICATION:

Name of the work: Christ before Pilate.

Name of the author: Jacopo Tintoretto.

Period: High Renaissance.

Place where the work is at: In The Scuola di San Rocco, Venice, Italy.

Technique: Oil on canvas.


ANALYSIS:

The colors are tertiary principally, but there is red used in the robes and blue in the sky, so it has primary colors too. The Paleta is warm, because most of the colors come from red and yellow, which are warm colors. The application is flat. The composition is balanced, it has specific sections. The type of line is linear. The perspective is by planes, the first one being the main scene, in the front, where the act is happening; the second one being the crowd, and the buildings; and the third the sky at the very bottom. The lighting is gradual; it is decreasing little by little. The theme is religious, although it’s historical too, because it is showing a scene that happened. The principles are emphasis and asymmetrical proportion.

What is so especial and unique about this work of art?

One of the things that make this artwork especial is the way it is represented. Jesus stands in the middle, in white robes, and taller than anyone. (Kren and Marx) It shows divinity on Jesus Christ, the way he appears. And yet, he has a calm, sad look on his face, by looking on what’s going on.

What was the prevailing atmosphere of the period? What was the cause of it?

It was painted in the High Renaissance. It was here when the climax of the art occurred. The Church was still very powerful and influent. Although now not all the art was focused on Religion, still a great part of it was focused on it.

What were the predominant political, religious and artistic ideologies?

The predominant political ideology was the monarchy, although the bourgeoisies had practically the power. The one with the money was the one with the power; still, there were still kings who were born with the power. The religious ideology was, of course, the Christianity. The Catholic Church ruled, and those who were not catholic, where protestants, or another variety of the Christianity. And, as for the artistic ideologies, I would say it was the humanism. The human as the center of the universe; they even humanized the religion. Everything was centralized on the human being.

What scientific and technological advances made an impact in the period? In which way?

Science was at its full. In this period, there were a lot of discovering and inventions. The people started to try to find a logical explanation to everything. The people were very curious, and were experimenting with a lot of different things, creating new ones. The printing press was invented, thus the knowledge was approached to the people. The world was extended because of the discovering of America.

Is this work of art reflecting the atmosphere of the period? I which way?

Of course it is. The theme of the painting is Jesus Christ, and the atmosphere of the time was very religious. The religion was no longer everything in the world, but it was most of it, still. It totally reflects the atmosphere of the period.

Is this work of art reflecting the predominant ideologies of the period? I which way?

It does represent some of the predominant ideologies. As I said, Christianity was the center of the religion, and the religion the center of the ideologies. Although the ideologies were trying to separate themselves from the Church, it was not totally done, merely partially. So, as part of the religion, it does represent the predominant ideology.

Is the impact of the technological and scientific advances reflected on this work of art? In which way?

I don’t think it does. I don’t see where could the painting represent the technological and scientific advances. It is situated in the year 33, so it shows what used to be then.

What are the aspects of the period that you identify yourself with? Why?

I am a very religious person. Thus, I like this kind of themes. Maybe in that period, at least to me, they had a wrong ideology about the religion, and about Christianity; yet, they were praying to the same God I do, and they adored the same Messiah I do. I identify myself inside this context by the love and devotion to religion.

Geographic location of the origin of the work:

(Venice)


In my opinion, this is a great painting. I really like the way everything is represented. I quite like this Biblical part, where Jesus is taken before Pilate. He didn’t want to crucifix Jesus, because there was no proof that he committed any crime; but the whole crowd was asking for its crucifixion. Pilate, because of the circunstances, offers the crowd a choice: They could choose to free Jesus, and crucifix Barabbas, a murderer, or to free Barabbas and crucifix Jesus. The crowd chooses to crucifix Jesus Christ. Seeing this, Pilate washes his hands with water, and says his famous quote: “I am innocent of this man’s blood”. Actually, is this specific part what we can see in the painting; we can see Pilate washing his hands, as Jesus looks with sadness the whole scene.

Anyway, I like how the painting shows the divinity of Jesus, in his white robes and his aura, in the very center of the painting. It really gets your attention from the beginning, and shows its divinity quite well.

Finally, to conclude the whole part of the painting, I wanted to post this scene from the play Jesus Christ superstar. It is the same scene that we can appreciate in the painting. Enjoy:




Bibliography:

Bruno, “Art in the picture”. Consulted on October 6, 2009: Link.

Segregation in World cities, “Venice quick facts”. Consulted in October 6, 2009: Link.

Emil Kren and Daniel Marx, “Christ before Pilate”. Consulted on October 6, 2009: Link.

Wikipedia, “Scuola di San Rocco”. Consulted on October 6, 2009: Link.

Artlex, “Art dictionary”. Consulted on October 6, 2009: Link.

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Lonely blue

Now I know, forever is not that long.

You have left, and I don’t see you coming ever again. Not again, as you used to. Not in that suit which looked so good in you; not with that tired smile you showed me every night; and definitely not with those eyes which used to glimmer when seeing me. It seems like I’ll never see them glimmer again.

You remain in home. You are still sat in your usual chair. Your usual side of the bed is still occupied by you. Your newspapers are still being read by you, as usual. And you keep smiling back each time I say I love you. In this empty house, you remain in home still.

It’s hard to realize there will be no more lullabies. And it hurts not to hear your whistling on the mornings. Where is all the joy you used to bring? Where is all the laughter I used to spread? Gone.

Why does the Sun keep rising over and over without you? Why is time passing by each second you are missing? How can kids laugh if you are not here anymore? Life, in its cruelty, stops for no one. Not even for you. And now I have the certainty it will not stop for me either.

I may tell you, then, that you leaving me I could handle. I could always picture you wherever outside, living your life. I could always picture you walking out the door, and go living elsewhere without me. Me outside your life I could handle. What I will never be able to handle is you, asleep, to remain inside a cold box, and be taken underground. That I will never, ever handle.

And today, these sour tears have dissolved the promise that now you will never fulfill. Not once have I felt as vulnerable as I feel today. And I have to stand this damned curse, which makes me -each time I’m asked about my state- unable to articulate any word, and do nothing but cry.

And as I remember you promised me to stand by me forever, I can’t help tears to run down my face, and the smile I fake to fade away once more. But while I suffer this pain, and you no longer do; there is no goodbye I can tell you, but only this farewell: See you soon.

Requiescat in pace… daddy.

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The sad clown
The sad clown!


I just could not decide between two artworks I really liked. And since both were the same concept, I chose the one that would help me better with this project.
As you may realize by now, I chose a classic between classics: The sad clown. There have been so many sad clowns in the painting history (practically each one made by an amateur), that this topic is hardly new. Yet, probably the reason of it is that this topic is as old as our society. It’s evident that the feeling it expresses is universal enough to attract such a quantity of artists. And being honest, who has never felt as the sad clown?

While documenting myself about this painting, I found a web site which asked a very interesting question. Is well known that many amateur painters get into the clowns theme, yet rarely a recognized painter does something alike. The question was: Why? What is it about clowns that would attract the attention of the amateur painter but not the gallery-represented painter?
Well, I believe that the reason of it is the simplicity of the theme. Is something so much reproduced, and so much thought, that the recognized painters would not be satisfied with. The pro painters usually try to innovate, to do something different, something new… Something that the sad clown is not. So probably these important painters do express the feeling in their own way, but not in the so reproduced sad clown.

I particularly liked this painting between all the sad clowns I found. Sadly, its artist is unknown.
In the painting you can see a middle-aged clown. I really, really like the look on his face. The feeling in his eyes and the curves in his mouth really transmit you the sadness. And the eyebrows play an important part in the aesthetic object, because it’s what gives so much power to the clown’s eyes. Also, I think the colors chosen are perfect. That blue really gets you in the mood, thus the sadness in the eyes feels even greater. The roll of the colors in painting is always of extreme importance, and of course this is not the exception. Here the artist used dark colors to transmit a sad feeling (greatly, in my opinion).
I love the look on his face, really. It tells me that something really bad happened, and I just want to know what. Why you, who put a smile in our faces, can’t put one in yours? Is it that someone failed you? Is it that you failed yourself? Are you just nostalgic? Are those about to pour the tears of a suffered man? So much suffer I see in your eyes! And I wonder how many times have the clowns cried inside, and we have never noticed. We, always worried about ourselves, never care about what feels someone who apparently is always fine, who always laughs. Thus, as Juan de Dios Peza said once in a poem, “Never in the joy of laughter trust, because in beings where pain devours, the soul moans while the face laughs”.

Bonus:
Here I let you with the other artwork I did not choose, and which is so great I just could not leave outside my blog. With you, the great, great Luciano Pavarotti, singing the well known aria of I Pagliacci: Vesti la giubba.

Ridi, Pagliaccio, sul tuo amore infranto! Ridi del duol che t'avelena il cor!
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