As I was walking past different kinds of paintings in the museum, one painting in particular stood out to me the most. The painting, called “Head of Christ,” looked just like another picture of Jesus, but the closer I got to the painting, the more I saw the details within the frames. The work of art I chose to visit for this post is the “Head of Christ” painting located in the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Correggio painted this painting around the year 1530.
The Painting
“Head of Christ” is hung up inside a dark brown, 11 inches by nine inches frame. From a distance, the painting looks like it is blurred out by the way it was painted. As you move closer to the painting, you get to see the true work from the artist. The painting is of Jesus Christ wearing some type of band around his head made up of sticks intertwining with each other, and you can see just a small amount of his clothing, with a white background. It is said that the reason why this painting was painted the way it was, was because of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion. It is also said that the reason behind Jesus Christ’s facial expression is because of the discomfort he was in and Saint Veronica had come to comfort him. Saint Veronica had come to help him and wiped his face on her veil. Because Saint Veronica had done that, the white background represents Saint Veronica’s veil.
Looking at this painting, you are able to see the structure that the artist put into it. From the defined cheekbones, to the line of the nose to the hollow of the neck, this painting is filled with detail. To make the painting stand out more, the artist added shadows to attract the viewer to look at the parts of light in this painting.
The Artist
The artist of the “Head of Christ” was Correggio. Correggio, also known as Antonio Allegri, was born in 1489 in Correggio, Italy. He was named after the name of his town. Correggio was known by his way of manipulating light and creating luminous atmospheric effects in his religious paintings. Most of his most successful paintings were done during the Italian Renaissance. At around the age of 29, he painted inside the dome cathedrals and these creations served as a model for future dome creations. Correggio died in 1534.
Aura
I have seen many different kinds of pictures of Jesus Christ, but this one gave me a different feeling compared to the other ones I have seen. This painting gave me chills every time I looked at it. After I visited the museum, I looked up the picture online, and the reaction I got from looking at it online was not the same as looking at it in person. The experience and feeling I got when looking at it in person made me feel as if I was there to experience how the artist painted it, and it felt very significant. Looking at it from a screen made it feel like just like any ordinary picture I have seen on the internet.
“Head of Christ” is hung up inside a dark brown, 11 inches by nine inches frame. From a distance, the painting looks like it is blurred out by the way it was painted. As you move closer to the painting, you get to see the true work from the artist. The painting is of Jesus Christ wearing some type of band around his head made up of sticks intertwining with each other, and you can see just a small amount of his clothing, with a white background. It is said that the reason why this painting was painted the way it was, was because of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion. It is also said that the reason behind Jesus Christ’s facial expression is because of the discomfort he was in and Saint Veronica had come to comfort him. Saint Veronica had come to help him and wiped his face on her veil. Because Saint Veronica had done that, the white background represents Saint Veronica’s veil.
Looking at this painting, you are able to see the structure that the artist put into it. From the defined cheekbones, to the line of the nose to the hollow of the neck, this painting is filled with detail. To make the painting stand out more, the artist added shadows to attract the viewer to look at the parts of light in this painting.
The Artist
The artist of the “Head of Christ” was Correggio. Correggio, also known as Antonio Allegri, was born in 1489 in Correggio, Italy. He was named after the name of his town. Correggio was known by his way of manipulating light and creating luminous atmospheric effects in his religious paintings. Most of his most successful paintings were done during the Italian Renaissance. At around the age of 29, he painted inside the dome cathedrals and these creations served as a model for future dome creations. Correggio died in 1534.
Aura
I have seen many different kinds of pictures of Jesus Christ, but this one gave me a different feeling compared to the other ones I have seen. This painting gave me chills every time I looked at it. After I visited the museum, I looked up the picture online, and the reaction I got from looking at it online was not the same as looking at it in person. The experience and feeling I got when looking at it in person made me feel as if I was there to experience how the artist painted it, and it felt very significant. Looking at it from a screen made it feel like just like any ordinary picture I have seen on the internet.
Kristen Santos is a freshman at California State University of Northridge and she loves spending time with her family.