Religious/ Spiritual

Kelson Barr's Art Page

Religious/ Spiritual

Religious / Spiritual Function of Art

As I said on the homepage I chose the Religious and Spiritual function of art. I went to a Catholic school for basically my entire life until I came here to UW-L for college. Even with all of my religion background, I cannot claim to be a Saint myself. I have my flaws just like everyone else and don't go to church every Sunday, but I really do enjoy artwork that has a religious or spiritual subject. Take Leonardo Da Vinci's famous painting of The Last Supper. This is a painting depicting Jesus's last meal with his twelve apostles. I couldn't tell you how many times I learned about this story in high school. Before every meal my family eats together we always pray right before we eat, and everytime I think back to this painting.

The painting depicts Jesus at the center of the table while his twelve apostles around him are looking at him and at each other. The story goes according to the Book of John, that Jesus and the Apostles are sitting around the table listening to Jesus tell them that one of them will betray him. This painting shows the commmotion that this created among the Apostles. Jesus is the only person that is calm in the painting which is odd becuase shortly after The Last Supper he was arrested and Crucified.

Here is another painting that I classify in the religious category of art. This is the painting my group did this year for the Formal Analysis Project. It is called "The Fall of the Rebel Angels" and was painted by Pieter Bruegel. The painting is from a story in the Book of Revelation, where St. Michael along with some other angels are driving out the rebel angels from heaven down into hell. The painting is a very different take on the story mainly because of all the different types of demons. I like how Bruegel painted the demons so that they are more like sub-human beings rather than give them a human form. The painting is a symbol for the fall of the angels more so than the actual battle between the good and evil. When I think about this painting it is sort of a symbol of moral conflict as well, like where you have and angel sitting on your right shoulder and a demon on your left.

Here is another painting of a bible story. This is from the Old Testament with Abraham and his son Isaac. Abraham had been following God's insrtuctions for most of his life and one day was asked by God to sacrifice his son Isaac. This was a test of faith by God, and as you can see in this painting Abraham was ready to kill his son without hesitation because of his trust in God. Thankfully an angel stop Abraham right before cutting his throat and Abraham sacrificed a ram instead. This painting is interesting to me becasue of the idea of trust. I hold trust as a very high value and when I trust someone I will do anything for them and expect the same in return. Becuase of this I don't put my trust into a lot of people. The painting itself is very cool too. The spatial allusion behind Isaacs head is very good. I also like the close up of the people from the angel, to Abraham, Isaac, and then the ram. This order tells you the story basically.

Overall, relegion has been a part of me my entire life and I really enjoy these artists piantings depicting their view of these different bible stories.

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