This could be my first ever critique of art that I have ever written and that is because it is only recently art has captured my interest as much as this work. This write up is made both in English and German as I want to practice my German.
'The Nativity' by Gari Melchers.
I am not an art expert and my critique is from a layman's point of view, but bear with me.I have tried reading some information about the art and the culture behind it and I have my two favourite blog posts about the same work and yes, I have shamelessly copied some of their thoughts.
Woebegone but Hopeful and other is by Lisa VO.
Julius Garibaldi Melchers (August 11, 1860 – November 30, 1932) was an American artist. He was one of the leading American proponents of naturalism. He won a 1932 Gold medal from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.[1] - Wikipedia
The Nativity is painted during the peak of realism movement - in a gritty and less idealised manner . For me, the most striking feature is Joseph. He looks like a slightly older man, someone in his late 30s and early forties. A thick blanket or jacket covers him, that seems to add weight on his shoulders - a representation of what the real Joseph would have felt. He is looking into the future, keeping the baby in the corner of his eye yet lost in thoughts that keep him anxiously awake. He was a new dad, but that joy is removed from him. Joseph seems more concerned like a dad who found out that there is no home to take the baby to, from the hospital. On his left, a tired and exhausted Mary, barefoot, having just given birth a few hours ago, (some paintings show) Mary sitting in a small pool of blood - I wonder what he could have been thinking.
Nearly two years ago, I witnessed my wife do the bravest thing ever. She was tired and exhausted after a long 3-day labour and in pain. The due date had passed over 10 days or more and fear and anxiety had slowly crept in our hearts. Faith in God's goodness was what we held on to. The hope that God who brought us and our baby so far would keep us and the baby safe. But it was not an easy task. The 3-day labour had worn us out and she was really tired. Giving birth was the hardest. While the delivery, the nurse who assisted her, kept pointing me out to watch the fetal heart monitor which kept sinking. I knew only one thing - to tell my wife that she was doing a good job and how beautiful the baby was, although he had just crowned. A friend of mine recently brought those thoughts back when he said that there were things he saw when his wife delivered that he could unsee. The blood that poured out, the fear of losing your wife that you love, the fear of the child you have only imagined holding and the burden of seeing someone you love being in pain while you stand helpless - Joseph went through more.
For Joseph, he had stepped in Faith to adopt Jesus as his son. He had no idea what and who Jesus is and had no idea what the future held for him as a father and Mary as a mother. He may be thinking on the journey they did the last few days, Mary getting minor contractions, rooms being filled in his relatives houses (as he was a native of Bethlehem) and probably the last few hours - the water breaking, Mary delivering, Jesus being born - the trouble of finding a shelter to deliver the baby, moreover the thought of all the visions he has had about the baby being called Immanuel - which means God with us? God did at times did not certainly feel to be with them - or they would not have had a cascading event of trouble.
Then, there is Mary, a pool exhausted girl, resting on Joseph, knowing and trusting that only a man like Joseph would understand her, grateful that he is in her life - She too is lost in thoughts, tired of course - but also away in her tiredness. Her clothes are wet, she has had a sip of water from the jug someone gave her, she wants to sit up and look at the baby but she is tired.
This painting is so unlike the well-known paintings of Nativity where Mary and Joseph are adorned with halos and there are angels and shepherds and animals all cheerfully greeting Jesus. Obviously, this has the realism elements into it, but it is more likely that this was the scene than the Christmas card version. The door is open, and as I read in one of the posts, it is not ajar but fully open, exposing the family - who are obviously tired to close it - the sense of privacy is taken away. Joseph is here in his land, there will be questions considering the fact that there was a full term baby born when Joseph and Mary had not been long married - a closer inspection shows that its already day and the wick in the lamp is out. The stick they used to help Mary walk is near the door indicating that the room was got just in time for the birth and they had to hurry to be here. It had been hard on both people. Confusion and fear and shame and anxiety and pain had troubled both Joseph and Mary. Then there is baby Jesus.
But this is where the picture changes too, Gari, does not draw Jesus like a normal baby nor does he draw Jesus like a God figure shown in Gentile da Fabriano's or Domenico di Ghirlandaio or Leonardo da Vinci's version - Gari gets it right in my opinion. There is a halo, a light that is much brighter than the outside light, yet there is the baby with human features - something that does not fit in with the picture. If we were to ignore the baby, its whole picture shows a world of chaos and pain. But this baby seems to mess the picture - something I believe that Gari has done on purpose. This baby is brighter that the day, and he shines light on the weary couple. The more i look at the picture with this light as reference I seem to observe the following. For Joseph this baby shines light near his legs as if to tell that the future is not so dark and there is light in the darkness. It seems like Jospeh is not anxious but in a state of moving from anxiety to boldness. For Mary the light is on her heart, giving her warmth and strength. As i keep looking in this light, it seems like Mary is smiling, as if she was being comforted by this light. The light from this baby illuminates the entire room and yet the baby is human and yet the baby is light giving. This baby does seem to give hope and something for these waery couple to look forward into the future. Mary's legs then dont seem to be so cold, Josephs face show that the burden is not too hard to carry. As for those like us who look into this house, this light seems to draw us to observe and wonder what this child is and so the open door seems more welcoming that it was before. This child does change everything.
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