Religion essay plan

Growth of religion through the Neo-Gothic revival

Religion was shown in Neoclassical work though the traditional scene shown by Ingres, but there was a new approach to religion in the romantic period through the spiritual side of religion.

Birth of pre-Raphaelites, a secret society of artists who reinvented religious painting, main artists being William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Grew in popularity after they gained public support by John Ruskin

Highly Classical, a part of the Neo-classical movement.

Mob of Romans as the very feminine looking saint is being arrested

Chaotic scene

Some of the bodies look disformed- the legs of one of the two lictors

It is very linear, stiff and controlled, strong element of draughtsmanship

Classical religious scene

Frieze like composition with a shallow space, lack of depth. Academic and tradition style. Extreme Neo-classical

Main figure is Saint Symphorien who is slightly off centre, but he is made the focus through the contrast of the white of his robes and his femininity with the brutish chaotic crowd.

Classical and traditional religious painting of a saint

Saint Symphorien is shown as very feminine, the model was a woman

Symphorien is shown in an innocent and sympathetic way. He throws his arms in the air and wears white, one of the lictors looks at Symphorien in a very sympathetic way.

His mother Augusta looks down at the scene and points to the heavens

The scene is when Saint Symphorien is being arrested after he refuses to obey and follow the higher powers in Rome

There is a woman holding her child close to her as though she fears the scene, this is reflected by Augusta allowing for Symphorien to be sacrificed for the greater good, something bigger than them. 

It was commissioned by the Bourbon Monarchy in 1824 (before the 1830 July revolution), however finally finished by 1834. The Church of Orton chose the subject matter in 1824, before the revolution in 1830, Ingres was in fact pro revolution however he was labelled as a legitimist 

Highly criticised with the piece having connections to the Bourbon monarchy and King Charles X, criticised to the point where Ingres swears he will never paint again

“No life. No light and no reflections”

Commissioned to promote religion and heritage

It was argued that Saint Symphorien represents Charles X, highly controversial after the 1830 revolution because it showed Ingres as a supporter of the monarchy which was very dangerous at the time. Symphorien is shown as being innocent and shown in a sympathetic light, so for it to be said that he was Charles X suggests the view that Charles X was innocent and a great hero.

The mob of roman citizens would therefor represent the mobs of the French citizens, they are shown as barbaric and disformed. They are shown as strong brutish men who through their weight around where as Symphorien is shown as feminine and pure.

The scene itself can be seen as a parallel to the 1830 revolution

Shows idealised forms of Satan pouring pain/boils from a jar in his left hand onto Job who is lying on the ground on a heap of dung.

Blake was an engraver

Blake was interested in the human psyche

He rejected the enlightenment and neoclassicism, instead was a romantic, he was influenced by the medieval

Job’s wife kneels at his feet in a form of pure despair and sorrow

Theatrical has a stage-set like quality to it

Landscape and seascape in background

Not a literal interpretation, non-realistic colour

Illustrative approach, ink and tempera paint 

Commissioned by John Linnon, it is 1 of a 21 series which was inspired ad influenced by the book of Job

Shows Blake’s unorthodox Christian view, believing in multiple spiritual elements not just God

Classical composition, frieze like where it is very flat

Story from the book of Job- addresses the existence of evil and suffering in the world which is supposedly overlooked by an all knowing and all loving God. God and Satan discuss limits of human faith and endurance which leads God to allow Satan to put Job who was one of the most faithful followers, through extreme tests which included the deaths of his family and deaths of his flock however his faith remains strong and is not affected so is rewarded by God with health, wealth and his family being resurrected.

Taken from Blake’s poem ‘Jerusalem’ -boils represents sin- “Every boil upon my body is a separate and deadly sin”

Satan has flames and bat like wings

Evokes the sublime, power of the devil

Blake suffered a lot in his life, he felt a personal connection with Job

(Blake was rejected by the academy and Sir Joshua Reynolds multiple times and he lived in poverty)

Meditation of human suffering

Inspired by Michelangelo- very muscular and idealised bodies

Apocalyptic like scene, reflects the millennial anxiety 

Shows the realistic style of the pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood of which Millais was a founder

Shallow space

Rule of thirds and structured composition

Multifigure with well known

Domestic, realistic lifestyle, almost secular image

Shows blemishes which heightens the realism and accuracy

Natural and realistic light, absolute realism with a photographic quality

Scene inside the workshop of a carpenter

Shows a scene with a young Christ amongst other religious figures such as the Virgin Mary, Joseph, John the Baptist, Saint Anne

Sheep in the back are separated from the sacred family, sheep are commonly known as being a symbol or representative for the common people

Typological Symbolism: carpenter’s hand tools being the same as though used for crucifixions, bowl of water for baptisms, dove= holy spirit, sheep= the everyman, work bench= communion table, willow tree basket= thorn crown

The painting was accompanied with the passage from Zechariah (13:6) “And one shall say unto him, what are these wounds in thine hands? The he shall answer, those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends”

Inspired by a sermon Millais heard in oxford, this is the same place as the oxford movement which links to Tractarianism  

The scene itself shows Christ helping in Joseph’s workshop, Jesus cut his hand on an exposed nail which parallels with the stigmata. Saint Anne is removing the nail, Joseph is examining Jesus’s wound, Mary is offering comfort, John the Baptists is bringing a bowl of water to clean the cut, and Joseph’s assistant looks onto the scene

Carpentry implements refer to the Holy Trinity

Flock of sheep in the back represents the flock of followers Christ will have later on

Influenced by Nazarian’s 

Secular depiction of a religious scene, shows an observed view of a Victorian lifestyle or scene with religious identities being placed into the scene

Pre-Raphaelite ideas and approach- extreme research and observation: Millais visited a carpenter’s workshop on Oxford street, the head of Joseph was observed as Millais’ father and then Joseph’s arms are modelled of actual carpenters, dead sheep heads were used to paint the sheep in the background, so much detail though the grains within the wood or their hair having clarity through painstaking precision

Figures are very linear and sharp, completely in focus

They wear contemporary dress and architecture, modern interpretation of a religious/traditional scene/subject matter

 The extent of the details challenged the ‘divine truth of the bible’

Dickens: described Christ like “a hideous, wry necked, blubbering, red-headed boy, in a bed gown”

Sun burn on Josephs arms, uncut toenails, Mary’s swollen hands, evidence of physical labour, unidealized bodies, wood shavings, 

The Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood was labelled as a part of Tractarianism