GRACE AND 14th CENTURY FRESCO
Grace and 14th Century Fresco, Nature, Culture, oil, 30" x 40", 3-2007.
I suggested that Grace stand in front of the fresco and become one of those grieving women. They make a sorrowful undulating wave of shapes leading to the cross. I was correct in trusting that Grace would find the right expression and gesture, she is an artist and a committed Christian.
This painting shows two different ways of representation. It took me a while to enter into the Giottoesque shorthand way of depicting reality on a flat surface as in the fresco. It is different than looking at nature and inventing a way to show form, local color, and the affects of light. In the fresco eyes and mouths become just lines and emotion and meaning are shown by the overall gesture of the figures. And there is a different short hand for drapery, for hands, and for hair.
youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTkchIH3rZo