Pokraka: 1 Art Encounter Project: The Vatican Museums Jordan Pokraka Professor Purcell ART 100 6/25/2021 Pokraka: 2 Art Encounter Project: The Vatican Museums The following paper presents a brief elucidation of a few selected art pieces that are opted during a virtual tour of the Vatican Museums. The Vatican Museums are located in Vatican City and is known for their public art and sculptures. Though the museums feature a humungous collection of art pertaining to the papacy and Catholic Church, its itinerary is solely allocated to the Collection of Contemporary Art (The Vatican Museums, 2021). The following content highlights three art pieces from the very contemporary collection. Crocifissione by Gerardo Dottori The art piece is known as “Crocifissione” or Crucifixion, created by Gerardo Dottori in 1927. It is a painting that is made on canvas with oil paints and entails a dimension of 170x 133 centimeters. Crocifissione can be deemed as an instance of the twentieth-century art movement that is ubiquitously known as the Futurist movement. The underlying aesthetics of Pokraka: 3 the painting are more inclined toward technological facades and therefore, a mere glance is sufficient to pinpoint its source of inspiration. The painting depicts precise indicators of Divisions as it utilized strokes of vibrant hues and tinges and used colours that are unlike to be used in the creation of religious and sacred paintings. In this context, Crocifissione elaborates on an urban approach and turned an ancient incident of Jesus’s death into a contemporary portrayal. Gerardo used a modernistic yet balanced palette to demonstrate a holy and revised version of Jesus’s death at the same time. In due course, he utilized the background and foreground along with the dispositions and light. Moreover, Gerardo painted perfectly defined figures of weeping ladies and crucified Jesus only by using basic three-dimensional shapes and harmonizing shades of light and shadow. On the other hand, the very principle of drawing is evident from the clouds in the background; the crimson colour of clouds infused a certain feel of tragedy into the scenery while the very existence of clouds can be interpreted as something holy. It is asserted that the modernistic Futuristic movement was originated in 1926 and through this mode and approach Gerardo Dottori created vivid yet sacred masterpieces that are still festooning renowned museums and the Vatican Museums (Cranfield, 2007). Pietà: Vincent Van Gogh Pokraka: 4 The selected art piece is a painting made by Vincent van Gogh in 1890; it is called Pieta and created by using oil paints on canvas and features a dimension of 41.5 x 34 centimetre (Contemporary Collection of Art, 2021). The mentioned painting is famous for various reason; firstly, it is considered as a rare art piece that depicts the religious insight of Van Gogh. Secondly, the artwork was created by Gogh only a few months prior to his demise. It is also reflected that the painting is the product of sheer inspiration obtained from a lithograph entailing the identical subject and created by Eugene Delacroix (Contemporary Collection of Art, 2021). Though Van Gogh utilized the principles of ancient Christian iconography, a closer look affirms an unmistakable resemblance between Jesus and Van Gogh and therefore, some art critics classify the piece as a self-portrait as well. Pokraka: 5 The overall composition of the painting reminds the colour palette and thematic inclinations that are found in the painting called “The Starry Night.” The prominent and darker shades of blue and black create a sense of tragedy and gloominess that further accompanied and accelerated by the tinge of lighter tones and undertones. The painting comprehensively demonstrates the plight of the Virgin Mary she confronted by embracing her deceased son, Jesus. Mano del Crocifisso by Renato Guttuso The selected artwork is called Mano del Crocifisso or Hand of the Crucified, created by Renato Guttuso in 1965. Guttuso used board and paper with oil paints and the painting features the dimension of 48 x 62 centimetre (Contemporary Collection of Art, 2021). Mano del Crocifisso was a fraction of a trend of that era according to which artists found them inclined toward copying and remaking the eminent and significant art pieces rendered from masters of the past. In this frame of reference, Guttuso opted to remake a detailed version of Matthais Grunewald’s reputed Crucifixion that he specifically created during 1512-1516 to adore the Altar of Isenheim (Contemporary Collection of Art, 2021). Though the original or should say, zoomed out version of Crucifixion was a bit crammed and apparently, the hand of Jesus was not that obvious. The foreground, Pokraka: 6 background, dull light effect, and inclusion of multiple characters buffered the details to an extensive extent. However, Guttuso filled the gap by presenting an uninterrupted and precisely zoomed-in detailed version of Jesus’s crucified hand. Evidently, such reworking can be deemed as a unique initiative and should be appreciated for an elevated level of utter imaginative artwork. In order to highlight the misery and pain of Jesus, Guttuso pivoted the nail, a bleeding wound that is further enhanced by vibrant confetti colours among which tinges of violet, blue and maroon are prevalent. On the other hand, along with several other aspects, it is an appreciable phenomenon that without using proper characters and expanded and well-defined background, Guttuso created an immensely dramatic and intense portrayal of Jesus’s crucifixion that is not a cup of everyone’s tea. Furthermore, throughout the depiction of the crucified hand of Jesus, Guttuso underlined the impact of expressionism by utilizing bold strokes of brushes (Contemporary Collection of Art, 2021). During the virtual tour of the Vatican Museums’ Contemporary Collection of Art, it becomes evident that the advent of modern and futuristic art approach impacted the religious faction as well. The analyzed masterpieces asserted the inclusion of contemporary style in enhancing religious chronology and incidents among which the crucifixion of Jesus is the most prevalent one. The virtual tour of the museum corroborated that it is a practical idea to maintain segregated wings and sections for contemporary artworks as it proffers visitors a chance to experience a more focused scrutinization. Moreover, the particularly allocated sections make it convenient for visitors to compare conventional art approaches with the modernistic one. Pokraka: 7 Work Cited "Collection of Contemporary Art." Collection of Contemporary Art. 2021. Web. 26 June 2021. Cranfiled, Nicholas. "Seeing Salvation and the Future." The Church Times - News, Comment, Features, Book Reviews and More. 2007. Web. 26 June 2021. "Vatican Museums – Official Website." Vatican Museums – Official Website. 2021. Web. 26 June 2021.
