Renaissance art

Renaissance art refers to decorative and drawing art from the renaissance era of European history. The distinct style has evolved in tandem with the advancements in music, technology, literature, and theory. The craft was one of the most prestigious of all ancient customs, and it served as the foundation for classical antiquity and narrative art. Narrative art depicts a plot as a result of events happening over time or as a snapshot of a continuing story. Notably, some of the earliest documentation of human art indicates that people used to use images to tell tales. However, it is usually difficult to comprehend the story illustrated in a picture if one has no prior knowledge or information of the story depicted in the image. The reason is due to their disagreement in a systematic way like words on a page. Notably, the pictures can unfold in different directions at once. Remarkably, static images are difficult to tell a story since a story is given over time. However, due to the development of literacy, pictures began to be organized along register lines and helped to define the direction of the story. The illiterate and people who are unable to read can find narrative art beneficial in narrating the stories. The new interest in graphic narrative corresponds with efforts made by religious orders to humanize Christ and stimulates the audience participation in the events of the distant past. The paper seeks to explore how such images are meant to function about the text they represent. Additionally, the paper seeks to show the readers who believe in “Books of the illiterate” theory that biblical pictorial narratives have a more complicated relationship to the stories they tell. The relationship is clearly illustrated in subsequent discussion.

The images in churches and private chapels are a straightforward representation of the stories in the bible, and as a consequence, they could be used to educate those who could not read. Images are primarily a visual transcription of texts that do not add or subtract anything from their sources. There exists a complex relationship between the images and the story they tell. In most case the church uses the pictures to connect modern Christians with the events of the past. The pictures help people to understand even without telling a story the happenings of the past. Notably, the paintings are biblical and they are helpful to Christians who have the inability to read to understand some contexts in the bible fully. However, not all cases that the pictures illustrate everything intended by the artist, sometimes the pictorials need to be accompanied by some texts illustrating further the happenings in the picture. Therefore, the inclusion of text in a drawing proves the point that not everything can be explained in terms of pictorial representation without using some texts. Notably, some drawings are complex to understand depending on the way the pictures are arranged. In most cases, the drawings are arranged in a chronological order depending on the unfolding of the story. Therefore, it becomes easy for a person to follow the happenings in the story illustrated by the picture.

One of the paintings listed illustrates the story of the birth of Jesus and the subsequent visits done by the Maji. Notably, so as to understand the story illustrated in the painting, one must have read the story surrounding the birth of Jesus or must have it narrated somewhere. Otherwise, it would be difficult to comprehend the events illustrated in the pictures. Each and every object illustrated in a drawing has a specific meaning as compared to cosmetic purposes. Having known the people involved in the birth of Jesus, it becomes easy for one to identify the individuals illustrates in the drawings. For example, the painting where a donkey is drawn with a lady and a child on top of it, and being led by a man, one can identify the lady as Mary and the child as baby Jesus and the man as Joseph. Notably, is a person has never read or heard about the trio, it could be difficult to identify the individuals. Therefore, the complex relationship between the images and the story they tell must be backed by prior understanding of the story behind the picture or additional texts.

Narrative art represents a way of speaking in which there exists an intimate relationship between the image and the text. Notably, graphic artists do not narrate stories the same way writers do. In fact, in a certain sense, they do not narrate at all. Therefore, painters and sculptures do the work of showing the story leaving the audience with the work if interpreting the story in their way. In Renaissance art, as in the example of the painting about the story of the birth of Jesus, there exists arrangement of figures in space. The arrangements of the space figures sometimes conflict with the general flow of the story. Notably, the episodes of the story that the painter illustrates are not placed in an obviously identifiable pattern within the space defined by the artist.

Narrative occurs in unfold in time and space. In most cases especially in narrative art, the artist chooses how to illustrate the story, how to shape time within the artwork and even how to represent the space. Therefore, depending on the style used by the artist about the information he/ she want to pass across through the paintings, the artist work can be understood differently. Therefore, depending on the type of narrative art used by the artist, the audience have limited control over the information portrayed in the pictures. The complexity of the images and the story they tell forces the audience to acquire specific skills that will enable him/ her to understand the concept or the story illustrated in the painting. Notably, the audience must decode the symbols used in the painting so as to get the true meaning of the story. Additionally, the reader must use inference and deduction so as to deepen his or her understanding of the picture. In the paintings illustrating the birth of Jesus, the animals surrounding the birthplace of Jesus alludes to the story depicted in the Bible that Jesus was born in a manger near a cow shed. The kneeling of the people illustrated in the painting alludes to the worship accorded to Jesus by the Maji and the shepherds.

In conclusion, so as to understand the true story represented in a picture, the reader must have some background information about the painting. The information helps the reader to connect the images shown in the painting even though they are not drawn chronologically. Pictorials are useful especially to the illiterate people who have the inability to comprehend a text, but they can interpret a story behind a painting. The church, especially the Roman Catholic Church has the highest tendency of illustrating biblical figures such as the life of Jesus and his disciples. The paintings clearly demonstrate the way Jesus lived and one is able to understand the story behind the paintings.

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