Читать книгу Art History For Dummies - Jesse Bryant Wilder - Страница 44

How do you know when an artist is telling a story? To decide whether a painting is a visual narrative, you should ask yourself three questions:

 Does the artwork suggest the passage of time (as opposed to being static, like a still life)?

 Does it seem to have a beginning and an end?

 Does it hint at something that happens outside of the picture frame?

If the answer to any of these questions is “yes,” then the artist is probably telling a story.

How do you read these stories? To read a narrative painting, you don’t necessarily start at the left and move toward the right the way you read a book — although sometimes you do, as in the Bayeux Tapestry (see Chapter 10). Instead, you begin at the focal point (the place where the artist leads your eye). The focal point may be the beginning of the story — but it can also be the climax.

The key to reading a visual narrative is to look for relationships in the painting among people and between people and their surroundings. Is someone in love, broken-hearted, jealous, or vengeful? Is she at home in her world or alienated? Also ask yourself what happened to the person in the painting just before the moment depicted, what’s happening at that moment, and what will happen next. Look for clues, like pointing figures, facial expressions, and meaningful gestures, as in Caravaggio’s Calling of Saint Matthew (see Chapter 14). Who or what is the person in the artwork looking at? Let his or her eyes lead your eyes.