Activity #2 REWRITE: Write About It

REWRITE
In 1445, Italian painter Domenico Veneziano created Saint John in the Desert. This tempura on panel painting shares some similarities as well as differences in visual elements with Titian Venetian’s Saint John the Evangelist on Patmos which was created using oil on canvas. Visual elements are line, shape, mass, light, value, color, texture and space and are used to create art (Getlein, 81). Both artists employ color, line, light, and space as visual elements in their work.

Veneziano and Titian use forms of perspective to convey space. Linear perspective is applied when forms appear to diminish in size as they recede or when parallel lines appear to converge in the distance until they disappear (109). In Veneziano’s use of linear perspective one can see a path to the right leading to the horizon and naturally disappearing. A vanishing point is created and the art’s model appears to be larger than some of the mountains in the scene. Titian however, more employs atmospheric perspective—the observation in which distant objects appear paler, bluer, and less distinct than nearby objects due to the scattering of light by moisture and dust in the atmosphere (113). The main character in Titian’s painting is clothed in the vibrant color of red while the extra figures in the background appear more bluish. Veneziano uses the primary color red to command attention to the painting’s only character. Primary colors---red, yellow, and blue---are labeled as such because they cannot be made by mixing any other colors (95). Similarly, Titian uses values of red to clothe his main character who also demands attention due his to the use of light and line.

Implied light, artificial and permanent, is used to model mass and shape and is created by artists using light and shadow (92). The vibrant red of the lowered cloak and the golden halo of John’s head are examples of the Veneziano’s use of implied light. However, he is not as effective in depicting mass and shape using implied light as Titian. Titian uses chiaroscuro, the technique of using value (shades of light and dark) to record light and shadow (92). The mass and shape of his John’s thigh under his robe is made visible using this technique and his John appears more realistic and three-dimensional. Continuing, Titian’s use of implied line, dotted lines we mentally create, can be seen if one visualizes an imaginary diagonal line that begins with the eagle and rises through to Saint John’s outstretched hands and the distant characters (86). Veneziano also uses diagonal lines in the mountains’ jagged peaks to promote direction and engage our attention to Saint John at the center of the painting. The combined use of these elements assist in creating a visual experience.


ORIGINAL
Similarities are present between Titian Venetian’s Saint John the Evangelist on Patmos (c. 1547) and Domenico Veneziano’s Saint John in the Desert (c. 1445) with the most obvious relating to content; the use of the Biblical characters John as the artwork’s theme. (It is important to note the Johns in both works are different Biblical characters). The two artworks employ the use of line- a path traced by a moving point, to convey direction and motion (Getlein, 82) and exemplar descriptions are Veneziano’s desert path heading backward into an spacious unknown length of land and Titian’s John’s upward gaze and hands, urging the viewer to look up as well. Light is present in the works as well and combined with the various hues, values and colors (red is used by both artists), engages the visual senses of the reader as well as directs attention to the important themes in the work.

Apparent differences between these two works include the use of texture and naturalistic approach. Naturalistic refers to the approach by artists to create work that portrays the visible world and closely resembles the form it depicts (Getlein, 29). This can be seen by how the bodies in Titian’s work accurately reflect human bone and muscle and how the garments worn freely flow and fit their wearers. Contrastly, Veneziano’s mountainous background appears archaic and somewhat unnatural. Along with shifts in value, shades of light and dark (Getlein, 92), Veneziano uses contrasts of shape and texture, or our perception of the feel of an object (Getlein, 103), to express the ruggedness of the wilderness’s mountainous terrain and the softness of the garment the saint lowers.