The Red Boat at Argenteuil

Currently at the Frist in Nashville Tennessee, The Red Boat at Argenteuil is a supreme example of Monet's landscape painting style. In the mix of other Impressionism paintings at the Birth of Impressionism exhibition at the Frist Center, there isn't much of a difference in this painting from the others. The Red Boat at Argenteuil stuck out at me because this is a painting I have seen since I was younger. When I was smaller I had a print of this Monet masterpiece hanging in my room. As a young child, bright, contrasting colors seem to catch one's easily rather easily. The Red Boat at Argenteuil was painted with contrasting reds, greens and blues-- colors easily recognized by name for a small child.
Many of Monet's paintings show the spectrum of seasons changing. The Red Boat is clearly identified as a summer's day- the water is still and clear, the trees are green and the sky is nearly cloudless. The sails of all the boats have been taking down and the movement in this painting in very still showing again how nature is a calm force. To make his painting as appealing landscapes, Monet eliminated grey tones from his palette. Contrasting to the ideals of the Impressionism movement-- which attempted to capture the most natural form of the subjects-- Monet bended the rules a bit to preserve the beauty of natural in an almost exaggerated form. 

Monet in the midst of his career moved to Argenteuil to work on his career in nature. For The Red Boat at Argenteuil and many of his other works based at the sea, Monet used a boat- studio to be in the water as he painted. Although Monet tried to remove greys from his color palette to highlight the strongest colors in nature, there is some grey still in the sky and water and even some of the boats. The Red Boat, and subject of the painting, is a rust colored red, perhaps to mimic the natural reaction of water on metals (represented by the grey). 
Although I looked at this painting nearly every day as a child, I only saw the red boat with the green tree. It's funny how a painting can grow with you and you can learn more about it each time you look at it-- even something as simple as a Boating Landscape by Monet. I see now the reflection and stillness and respect for the water, instead of only a boat waiting to go out to sea. 

Rotting Jesus: Rottgen Pieta

The wooden statue of Mary holding dead Jesus is purposely disproportionate and contrasts sharply with other European statuaries of the time. Although the statue is painted wood, the colors used for Mary and Jesus Christ are dull greys and browns. To symbolize Mary's grief and Jesus's low place in society at the time of his death, Mary and Jesus's clothing is not elaborate of ornamented. The wounds on Jesus's hands, feet and chest are all dramatically gashing blood and his head hangs backward at an awkward angle making his neck look deformed--elaborating the ghastliness of his death.

The purpose of all of the gore and grief carved into this statue was not only to depict the gloom of Jesus's death, the statue is also a symbol for the "widespread troubles" (Gardner's Art Through the Ages) facing the Holy Roman Empire during the 14th century. The Christians at the time who were facing hardships-- war, plague, famine and social strife-- could now have a noble figure to share their grief with-- Jesus and the Virgin themselves. To display the theme of sorrow, the artist (unknown) exaggerated Jesus's body shape (a frail, bloody body with a dangling, enlarged head) sitting on Mary's lap, just how a mother would hold a wounded child. 

 Rottgen Pieta was ahead of it's time in the statue's bold emotionalism in Mary and Jesus's face. If we focus on Mary's face, there is a mix of emotions in her gaze. The artist humanizes Mary by giving her strong emotions. Mary's face looks appalled and anguished because of her son's death, and there is also a sense of shock, and awe that anyone would kill her son- the Son of God. The artist had exaggerated Mary's sorrow in attempts to make it seem she was asking the viewer, 'what is happening to you that can be more distraught that this?'

Laon Cathedral

The Laon Cathedral is the first example of architecture from the Early Gothic period. Branching from some Romanesque features like rib vaults resting on pointed arches and alternating support system. The original Gothic style architectural interior is the triforium, or the first level of the nave surrounding the arcade. The Laon Cathedral is 78 feet high, which at the time seemed large but was a mere midget to its Reims counterpart built in 1225 and 144 ft tall.

Cathedral architects always wanted to break up the boring walls of cathedrals and they did so by adding stained glass windows and more stories to each cathedral over time. Four of the six towers still remain at the Laon Cathedral. The two bell towers are decorated with bulls to commemorate the hard work animals put forth for the construction of this cathedral. Laon Cathedral has a flat roofed apse, flying buttresses and rib vaults similar to the Romanesque and other Gothic Cathedrals.

The Dark Lord Tympanum

In Art History class this week we had the wonderful opportunity to make tympanums honoring whoever we'd like, instead of taking notes. Anna Claire and I chose to make a Harry Potter tympanum, but instead of honoring Harry Potter, we put Voldemort in the middle.
Voldemort is enclosed in a mandoria constructed from a snake. In the Harry Potter series, Voldemort and descendent of Salazar Syltherin, a founder of the Syltherin House at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and represented as a snake. The archivolts of the tympanum has 7 registers. Each register contains a Horcrux, or an item that contains a piece of Voldemort's soul. From left to right the items are  Helga Hufflepuff's Cup, Tom Riddle's Diary, Salazar Syltherin's Locket, Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem Nagini (Voldemort's snake), Gaunt ring and a lightening bolt to represent Harry Potter. On either side of the Horcrux's towards the bottom boarder of the arch is an interlacing snake pattern, similar to those in celtic art (snakes are very important to Voldemort because he is an heir of Slytherin and was in the house of Slytherin when he attended Hogwarts).
To  Voldemorts left are the "damned" souls. Directly to his left is Harry Potter, whom he could not defeat with the killing. Next to Harry Potter is Dumbledore, who is the only wizard whom Voldemort truly feared. On Dumbledore's left is "Mad Eye" Moody, the most renowned  auror of his time. An auror is like a detective in the Wizarding world of Harry Potter. Next to Moody is Arthur Weasley, a Wizard who appreciated Muggles (something frowned upon). All "damned" souls were members of the Order of the Phoenix.
On the right of Voldemort are the "blessed" souls. Directly to Voldemort's right is Lucius Malfoy, a devout Death Eater (follower of Voldemort) who allowed Voldemort to use the Malfoy Mansion as a meeting ground. Immediately next to him is Severus Snape, Voldemort's most trusted Death Eater, but who has vowed to protect Harry because of his love for Harry's mother, Lily. Next to Snape is Bellatrix Lestrange, a member of the Black family (a prominent family in the Death Eater world) and sister-in-law to Lucius. Lying next to Bellatrix is Fenrir Greyback, a Death Eater turned werewolf, who is notorious for killing children. We represented Fenrir in the form of a Etruscan Sarcophagus; he is lying down and the upper half of his body has more attention than the bottom half.
Immediately next to Voldemort's head on either side is the Dark Mark or the sign of the Death Eater. To summon the Death Eaters, a Death Eater will release this symbol into the sky. They also use this symbol when on of the members has killed a victim. Voldemort's wand, in his left hand, is casting the Dark Mark over the "damned souls" because 2 of the 4 are dead (Dumbledore and Moody).
Below the damned souls are four figures representing the Death Eaters.  From left to right is a Death Eater in cloak, a skull, a victim, a Death Eater mask, and a Dementor (a creature that feeds off human happiness) whom are most loyal to the Death Eaters because they can provide the most happiness for them to feed off of.
Below the "damned" souls are 4 figures important to the "damned" souls, or most notably The Order of the Phoenix. From left to right is a Hungarian Horntail, a house elf (Dobby) who saved many members from the clutches of the Death Eaters. Next to Dobby, is Hedwig (Harry Potter's owl) flying over Hogwarts grounds, and next to Hedwig is Hagrid, keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwarts.
Of course, it has hard to find one worshipped character (although, arguably it could be Harry himself) in the Harry Potter series. Voldemort had a fascination with symbols and objects (that he later turned into Horcrux's) that made his portrayal for a tympanum quite simple. Mr. Lovell, if you have made it through all of these descriptions of Harry Potter characters, you should now attempt to read the first book in the series!!!!