The Flight into Egypt is an oil painting on canvas depicting the journey of Joseph and Mary to Egypt. A natural piece of work was done by one of the Italian artists known as Jacopo Bassano in the 16th century. Bassano took the opportunity to portray the true image of the whole journey of the family in a piece of art. The painting clearly shows a vivid description of what may happen on the fateful day. Therefore, the artist uses the imaginary panoramic view to paint the landscape of the area (Feigenbaum, 2020). Bassano perfectly articulates the theories and concepts of art to prove to the world his expertise in the drawing. In simple terms, Bassano uses his skills to construct reality out of imagination. Therefore, this essay aims to explore the nature of the piece of art and how it relates to the Berger’s theory.
The Theory and Concepts of Berger
Every artist always has a special meaning for different pieces of art they create. These masterpieces of paintings vary in terms of symbols, state, and meaning. The main role for artists is to create a painting as the perfect mirror to show the issues affecting society. John Berger’s essay “Ways of Seeing” is regarded as one of the most influential works in his lifetime (Berger, 2012). Through this piece of art, the renowned scholar provides some of the essential theories and concepts critical in painting. He uses sufficient language to define the works and creates some of the most vital insights regarding this painting. He provides a clear relationship existing between the subject of oil painting and the social status (Van der Merwe et al., 2019). Therefore, he takes the opportunity to show the power of using paints to create unique images.
The Flight into Egypt in the Lens of Berger’s Concepts and Theories
The introduction of the John Berger’s most adorable book Ways of Seeing has offered an invitation on how to perceive Bassano’s pieces of art differently. The renowned artist who died at the age of 90 has had a profound influence on most pieces of art (Berger, 2008). His style of blending the art theories and attention to small gestures proved that he was a perfect writer. Through his witty visual techniques, he succeeded to raise a number of questions about images ranging from the European oil to modern advertising (Conlin, 2020). Through his excellent approaches, he managed to show continuity between the Post-Reconnaissance European paintings to the present posters and magazines. Consequently, this section aims to construct the painting of the Flight into Egypt in the lens of this Berger ideas.
The Concept of Reality
One of the influential theories and concepts is the painting’s ability to depict a reality. Berger believes that every artist should not take their works for granted but, instead, maintain the maximum clarity to the ultimate status of the real objects (Van der Merwe et al., 2019). The provision of such clarity creates the opportunity to promote the validity of the works the artists produce. Berger believes that every piece of art should blend the right elements such as colors, font, and hue to ensure that clarity is effectively achieved. He believes that by using the right technique, the artist will achieve the results.
Bassano perfectly relates the above theory in his work Flight into Egypt. The artist painted the picture of Joseph leading the donkey, bearing Mary, who is holding the infant Jesus (Caramanna, 2018). The renowned painter applied brown and blue colors as dominating to indicate the land and water. The artist further used the blue cloak and white headgear to make Marry stand out in the painting. The establishment of the contrasting colors is mainly aimed at upholding the contrasting background to depict the reality and clarity of every element in the piece of art (Berger, 2012). In most cases, these colors are clear indicators that Mary and her husband Joseph were moving in the wee hours of the morning to avoid the wrath of the King in Egypt. In fact, Bassano uses every aspect of his skills to skillfully accurate every part of the art and create the expected reality in the painting.
The Concept of Legitimation
Legitimation is the process of providing meaning to the objects. The primary function of the technique is to design the work of art and make these paints subjectively plausible. In most cases, legitimation is inspiring and works to add value to any paints. The act endorses the provision of cognitive validity and meaning in the art that has been created. In other words, it helps explain the perception and dignity in the picture. In the Flight into Egypt, the artist effectively promoted legitimation using both Joseph and Mary and Joseph’s image Van der Merwe et al., 2019). Berger accepts that Bassano managed to provide the painting based on the history of the most renowned family. He strived to create meaning to the piece of art by applying the right artistic elements which can explain the movement into Egypt.
Through the legitimation theory, Berger accepts that Bassano used a number of visual ideas and paintings to help in raising a number of questions regarding the Flight into Egypt. In fact, through the visual art Berger does not only depict that Bassano managed to create a meaning to the painting but also created a unique identity to the work. Perhaps, the concepts which Bassano used were one of the perfect in portraying the essential elements of the piece of the art. In the other words, the technique managed to create validity and meaning on the entire journey of the Mary and her husband into Egypt. That means, his clear goal was to implement the visual elements and achieve a meaning on the painting.
Conclusion
Based on the Flight into Egypt piece of art, it is clear that Bassano perfectly mixed all the required elements of art to arouse the curiosity and admiration of the audience. He showed the reality and legitimation by creating every part of the paint in the right position. Bassano articulates his skills to paint the natural landscape such as rivers, mountains, and the valleys which the travelers had travelled during the renaissance period. His entire painting approach provided an opportunity to show how passionate about the journey of Mary and Joseph into Egypt. While viewing these pieces of art through Berger’s Lens, it is clear that Jacopo was a perfect artist who used his skills to depict one of the most interesting paintings. Through his work, he has managed to create a legacy in his life as well as excellent painting that can further be used as a source of reference.
References
Berger, J. (2008). Ways of seeing. Penguin.
Berger, J. (2012). Ways of seeing [Film]. YouTube. Web.
Caramanna, C. (2018). Jacopo Bassano and the prints from Raphael’s masterpieces. In making copies in European art 1400-1600 (pp. 375-386). Brill. Web.
Conlin, J. (2020, August). Lost in Transmission? John Berger and the Origins of Ways of Seeing (1972). In History Workshop Journal. Web.
Feigenbaum, G. (2020). In the breach of decorum: painting between altar and gallery.Art Bulletin of National museum Stockholm, 24(2017-2018), 155-176. Web.
Van der Merwe, L., Tempelhoff, J. W. N., & Joubert, D. (2019). Exploring the meanings that stakeholders of the Brandfort community ascribe to their experiences of a Dalcroze-inspired workshop.International Journal of Community Music, 12(2), 249-267. Web.