Rogier Van Der Weyden Analysis

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Color and composition create vastly different moods in the altarpiece Deposition, 1525-1528, by Pontormo, and Rogier van der Weyden’s Deposition, c. 1435. Pontormo’s figures almost push against the frame and completely fill the space, making the painting appear to protrude and come towards the viewer. The bright and colorful figures dominate the space, with only slivers of contrasting muted, dark and hazy background visible at the top and bottom of the painting in the form of a single cloud in a dark sky and then the similarly hued ground at the bottom. The figures appear to float in the space. The pinks, oranges, blues and flesh tones combined with the scale of the figures make the scene come forward toward the viewer, and create an energy …show more content…
It was shocking to read that he is wearing a “skintight bright pink shirt” (p. 664). As I reexamined the painting I realized (in the photograph, at least, perhaps this is much more clear in the actual painting) that the only indication that he is wearing a shirt is the sleeve ending on his forearm. Other compositional elements lend a surreal quality to the painting. The figure at the right appears to be suspended above ground and two of the female figures towards the top have distinctly muscular, masculine arms. Van der Weyden’s composition is more traditionally symmetrical. The golden but still neutral background has a luminosity that contrasts with the pale flesh tones the saturated colors of the clothing. Jesus’ face grounds the vertical axis and the eye is drawn up towards the figure at the very top. While there are more figures on the left the horizontal axis is balanced by the legs of Christ on the left. The saturated reds and blues in the robes of Saint John the Evangelist and Mary respectively firmly anchor the weight of the composition and draw the eye to the bottom left. The movement goes from the face of Christ to that of Mary and then John, it seems as one has to mechanically move the eye to the right to the more
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