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in this lecture we're going to talk
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about a new medium um that is used
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during the Renaissance and that is the
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medium of oil paint um remember medium
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we've referenced that in the definition
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of art um we said that the medium is
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what the work is made out of and this
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medium of oil paint's been used uh and
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known about since the 8th Century but
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not really put into widespread use until
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these Flemish painters of the 15th
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century so um oftentimes we think of all
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these great firsts in the Renaissance
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and we think of Italy but the north is
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the first to use oil paint and the thing
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about oil paint that is so important is
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that it allowed these Flemish painters
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to to achieve a a level of naturalism
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that previously had not um they have not
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been able to achieve in order to show
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you that I want to compare the oil
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painting that you see here on the left
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hand side to the medium of Fresco that
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you see here on the right right hand
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side so take a second and see the level
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of detail that is achieved in something
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like oil paint compared to that Fresco
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and I'm going to tell you a few of the
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great qualities of this medium the first
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thing to know about oil paint um is that
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it has a very slow drying time and so
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because of that you can blend colors um
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and you can get a lot of detail a lot of
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crisp and sharp line because it takes so
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long um for oil paint to dry that often
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times you can fix mistakes and you can
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paint over um so it allows you to get a
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great level of of naturalism and and
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detail as well the next thing to know
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about oil paint is that it has a great
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amount of Versatility so you can get
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this sort of deep rich saturated color
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like you see here um and then in
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subsequent paintings I'll show you how
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you can apply what's called a glaze
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which is a translucent layer so you get
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a real sheer effect like a veil almost
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with almost no color but just sort of a
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see effect through what's called glazing
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so our second um is versatility our
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first is that slow drying time the next
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thing to know you can certainly see this
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when comparing it to the Fresco on the
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right is it has very rich color and it's
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very luminous it gives you a real sense
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of of clarity let's talk about the
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Fresco that we see here on the right
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hand side uh a fresco is a painting on
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plaster and I'm going to give you two
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different forms of Fresco there is a
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true Fresco and a true fres
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means that the paint is applied to wet
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plaster so the paint really adheres to
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the wall so we're talking plaster here
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so the is usually sort of the interior
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of a church would be painted this way um
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or that Lauren Ed's the effect of good
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and bad government um so you uh apply
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the plaster and while the plaster is
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still wet you apply the paint um the
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advantage of a fresco is that um the
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paint adheres to the plaster as it dries
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and so it tends to be very durable um
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but the disadvantage is that you don't
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get a lot of of uh time because of it's
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drying very quickly that plaster is
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constantly drying so you have to work
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very quickly um you don't get really
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bright and luminous colors of that paint
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sort of drying into the wall so that's a
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true Fresco uh the painting on wet
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plaster you also call it a bond Fresco
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buo n um another form of Fresco is a
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fresco Seco also called a dry Fresco and
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that is where the plaster is already on
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the wall it's already dry and the paint
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is just adhered or applied to the not
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adhered but it's applied to the top of
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that dry plaster um so you don't have to
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work as fast and that's an advantage but
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the disadvantage is it doesn't dry into
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the wall so it doesn't tend to be quite
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um as as stable so I certainly want you
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to see you know the advantages of um
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both of these and particularly of oil
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paint with its great range and
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versatility slow drying time and sort of
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luminous Jewel like effect that you get
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there let's before we leave this
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painting on the left talk about the
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story that we have here our artist is
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Roger vanderen and the story is the
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deposition or subject matter is the
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deposition our years is about
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1436 um you can certainly see as I said
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those qualities of oil paint but I want
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to talk first about the story and also
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about the cast of characters um that we
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see here and also about his this artist
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particular style the subject matter is
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the deposition and that as you can see
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is when Christ is sort of deposited off
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of the cross um we say lamentation
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that's when the body comes down and we
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lament over the body um but this is
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called a deposition when he's taken down
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from the cross um this is the sort of
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the large cast there's a large cast and
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a small cast usually at the base of the
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Cross but we get the big one here I'm
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not interested in you memorizing this
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but I will tell you this is Mary
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cleophus she was a half sister of the
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Virgin Mary St John the Evangelist Mary
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salom who is another half sister of the
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Virgin here's the Virgin Mary and her
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characteristic
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blue um this is of course Jesus this is
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Nicodemus in the back in the red a
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servant Joseph of AR uh
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aritha um another servant here he holds
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this jar this anointing jar is an
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iconographic symbol it is a symbol of
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Mary Magdalene and so usually when you
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see Mary Magdalene who we have here you
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see that jar not too far away uh let's
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talk about more iconography and that's
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here with the skull and the bones that
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is a momento Mor a momento Mor is a
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reminder of death this iconographic
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symbol is specific to um a crucifixion
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scene kind of like the lily of Purity is
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specific to a nativity scene or an
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enunciation scene um this reminder of
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death is one that you usually see around
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the base of the cross it is a reminder
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to you that death is inevitable that
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death will come and to sort of Follow
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The Way of the cross the skull has a
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sort of a twofer here because it also um
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reminds us of the the of golgatha um and
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that is the it's called the place of the
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skull um and so we see that Christ is
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crucified in golgatha and this is a
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reminder of that as well so it kind of
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has a um a twofer let's talk about Roger
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vanderen he's our artist here he is and
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this probably isn't shocking uh known
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for his theatricality
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um his paintings often times look like
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someone just sort of pulled the curtain
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and you're looking at a play that is
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happening in front of you they have a
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sort of stage like quality um especially
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when you consider you know sort of this
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awkward very awkward pose of Mary
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Magdalene um and then also the body here
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you know these sort of arcs that sort of
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cap the scene on either side um it sort
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of helps to keep your eye in the very
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center kind of helps to keep your eye
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sort of moving in this fashion um
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another thing to see that um should be
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discussed is the fact that um we've got
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that gold sort of effect that gold leaf
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in the background we haven't seen that
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in a few years um instead of really
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seeing that as a throwback to the
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Medieval Era um it's really part of
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Roger Vander wien's
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theatricality um it really pushes the
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scene into the foreground almost
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uncomfortably close um into our space
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and it intensifies our involvement in
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this religious drama so you take that
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oil paint which gives you you all kinds
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of great realism and then you push these
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figures forward with that gold uh also
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doesn't allow our eye to sort of recess
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back into a great landscape and it
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really intensifies the sort of moment um
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that's there your study questions have
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another image of this um uh another very
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similar Vander wiid crucifixion um that
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I challenge you to sort of look at and
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try to see really how these artists have
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a particular style and um it it gets
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recycled and can see that uh in your
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study questions so I you have you a look
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at that as well all right
