This represents the viewer, and is a way Caravaggio draws one into the portrait, where they can learn about the story he wished to portray: the supper at Emmaus.
Furthermore, a painting’s background helps draw the viewer in. In Cima da Conegliano’s portrait The Incredulity of St. Thomas, arches are used in the painting. When I visited the National Gallery. I found the painting was placed at the end of a corridor lined with similar arches. As one approached, one was naturally compelled to study the portrait, for the eye was drawn to it by it’s integration into the gallery.
The techniques employed by artists to display religious ideas are just as important. Colour and religious iconography are utilised to displayed religious concepts.
Colour is effective because it is easily distinguishable and there is a universal colour scheme. There are eight main colours, making it an easy system to learn: white signifies purity, innocence and holiness; black suggests death and mourning; grey indicates humility; blue implies importance; green represents life; gold suggests value; red indicates love, anger and passion and purple symbolizes power. Some colours are also used with religious figures, such as blue for the Virgin Mary.
Art also promotes religious standing through appearance, in three key areas: colour (see above), clothing and height.
Garments are used to indicate someone’s religious status. Colour is used, and the style of garment is also important. A key examples is angels. In all religious artwork, angels’ feet do not appear: they are always covered by their clothing. Religious clothing also indicates status e.g. miters on bishops, or an alb on a priest.
Height is also used: those who are standing are human, while those sitting are holy. Humans are further subdivided by nimbi and aureoles. Aureoles (luminous clouds) symbolize the glory of God. Examples of aureoles are seen in Michelangelo’s mural, The Last Judgement. Nimbi (or halos) indicate sainthood. Artists then give saints a symbol to help viewers identify them. For example, St. David is always portrayed with a bishop with a dove on his shoulder.
Also common throughout portraits are religious icons, which are effective because they are universal, so anyone who knows the symbols can understand any portrait.
Examples of these shared factors include triangles representing the Trinity: an icon common throughout Christianity, and therefore would be known by most people; circles are accepted in most religions to indicate eternity in some form and light is often regarded to signify the presence of God.
On the other hand, I appreciate why for some people, art may not be optimal for expressing religious ideas. First, although a universal icon and colour scheme may be useful for some people, it is difficult to interpret without prior knowledge of the scheme.
I also accept that for some, art is simply boring, and they would much rather learn about religion through another medium.
Despite this, I still think art is an excellent method of expressing religious ideas, because it is an easy-to-view medium and uses a universal icon set that is easy to understand. Regardless of whether one agrees, I still believe one must accept art can teach us all, directly or indirectly, more about religious ideas, as it has taught me throughout this coursework.