Oil On Wood Painting example essay topic

The exhibit that I viewed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art was one about European Art between the years 1100-1500. This was a series of paintings, sculptures, architecture, and tapestry of the Medieval and Early Renaissance as well as objects from the Middle East. This exhibit was an important part of the history of the Philadelphia Museum of Art because for the first time, Italian, Spanish, and Northern European paintings from the John G. Johnson collection were shown. It gave me a good idea of what the paintings were like in these four centuries and reflected ideas of both the east and the west.

As I walked into the first gallery, I saw a wood sculpture that stood in the center of the room. This carving depicted "the crucified Christ, flanked by the Virgin Mary and St. John the Evangelist with Angels holding instruments of the Passion". It was painted oak and very appealing to the eye. It stood approximately 15 feet in the air.

The origin of this sculpture is unknown, but it was found in a Belgium church. This kind of sculpture usually stood at the entrance or at the center of the alter in the church facing the congregation. This image of the suffering Christ relates to the Christian ideas of suffering and Christ's salvation of all mankind. As I walked deeper into the gallery, I found myself walking through what looked like a church with pillars of stone, stained glass windows, and marble arched doorways. In the middle of the gallery was a "Romanesque Cloister".

This looked like a courtyard with a fountain in the center and surrounded by stone archways and pillars. The cloister stood in the heart of a medieval abbey or monetary. The example that I saw was based on the elements of the cloister "located at Abbey of Saint-Gen is-des-Fontaine's in the Roussillon, a mountainous region in Southwestern France that was fought over by Christians and Muslims for centuries". The cloister was the center of the abbey; which connected the living quarters to the church. I also observed many paintings in this gallery. One painting that caught my eye was titled, "The Mocking of Christ" by Hieronymus Bosch.

It was an early 16th century, oil on wood painting. Christ was seen in the upper right next to Pilate and was surrounded by figured who looked more like friends than enemies that would crucify him. These so called friends of Christ were holding weapons and wearing bizarre headgear. In the painting, Jesus had a saddened look on his face while the others looked jollier. Another painting that I observed was a painting by Defend ate Ferrari which showed the enthroned Virgin Mary breastfeeding the baby Jesus with Saint John the Evangelist, Catherine of Alexandra, Anthony Abbot, and a saint reading a book.

I was attracted to this painting because I would never have thought to have seen a picture of Mary feeding Jesus in that way. This painting was originally an oil and gold on wood and was transferred to canvas. There were so many interesting paintings that caught my eye in this gallery. Most of them were of the crucifixion, and others were of saints and martyrs. There were also a lot of relics and crosses that were displayed around the gallery. In conclusion, I enjoyed my experience at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

I am very interested in religious artwork and this exhibit showed me more than I would normally see in a church in the United States. As an artist I appreciated what it takes to make paintings like that. As a Catholic I was glad to see how tasteful the gallery really was and how the paintings and sculptures represented my religion. It was very inspiring for me to have this opportunity to view such fine artwork.