The Vesperbild

Yes, I am aware that I am posting this late, but whatever, I sort of wanted to post about this anyway, not that I felt like doing the work but I do really like this piece. The reaction in class to the Vesperbild was a negative one, and I found myself to virtually be the only who liked it. I liked this piece because it is very dark looking. The colors, the scene presented to the onlooker, Jesus' face as well as his mother's; it's all very dark, and I am no stranger to dark artwork.

Since I am no stranger to dark art, there is a sense of familiarity about this artwork, I see dark pieces of art almost daily when looking for new music on the internet. But I digress, the message in this piece isn't even a bad one, well... not meant to be bad, although it does portray a bad scene. The bad scene is not shown to demonstrate that Christ was a weak man, no, that would be a negative message, the bad scene is shown so that the onlooker can understand the pain Christ went through for our sins to be forgiven--he underwent crucifixion for us. Whether or not he truly is the Son of God, I cannot be certain, but obviously Jesus really believed in what he did, and for that, he should be thanked since he thought he was doing the world a favor. But going back to the piece at hand, there was one thing that kind of bugs me: the fact that Christ's hair does not adhere to the rules of gravity like it should. For some reason, the artist of the Vesperbild made his hair conform to his neck, not dangling in the air like it should. Perhaps the artist wanted the piece to look a certain way, or maybe he or she wasn't thinking when he/she made it.

Overall I find this to be a very cool, and very different piece which conveys Jesus Christ's and the Mother Mary's feelings to the viewer, and in my opinion, shows that we should be more thankful for what the Lamb has given to us than the ordinary positive-looking piece of art that depicts a triumphant Jesus emanating with holy light and possessing an aura of purity.