Two Paintings Contrasted, Essay Example

My name is Osiris, and I am the painter of the musicians in the first picture on page three, below. That was done over a couple of days about 3100 BC, in your way of reckoning time. The newer painting I examined comes from what your historians came to call the Medieval period of European history, probably about AD 1400, about 4,500 years after I stopped painting forever.

At first, I didn’t like the new one. It seemed very strange. For one thing, I don’t recognize some of the instruments, so I’m not sure they are even are instruments, at least for music. The one fellow at the top left seems to have a horn for drinking, and another, on the right, seems to be sucking wine from a bag. Also, there is a way of placing people in the picture that would never be approved of in my day. We painted people all in front in a line, where you could see each one. And we didn’t just put people anywhere we wanted in the picture. They had to be placed properly, according to rank, or at least some kind of system that told you something about their place in society. In my picture, I have placed the child in the middle because she was actually out in front, as she was dancing and singing. (Being only musicians, the subjects were just slaves.)

Our pictures were usually on walls made of stone, so we had to use materials suitable for that kind of backing. We used a lot of whitewash, mud plaster, and limestone. But sometimes the colors would fade, depending on where the wall was, and there wasn’t anything we could do about it. In my picture I made the overall look light on purpose, to match the low status of the players. Another thing is that being on walls, our paintings were not usually moveable.

In the Medieval picture, I saw right away that it was in a frame that could be moved. So that is a big advantage. I also like the blue color used. In my day, our blue wasn’t as good and we didn’t have a lot of it. I’ve learned in studying this picture that my people didn’t get a really effective blue for another 500 years after I did my painting, and that they used it with care.

I’ve already mentioned that in the later painting that the people are placed strangely. I can see now that it adds a lot to a painting by adding a kind of depth. You call it perspective. That’s a good effect, but when I was active we just didn’t use the technique that way, although we knew of it. It just wasn’t our style. But we could be realistic enough when we needed to be.

The biggest difference that is immediately apparent is that all of the people in the new picture are seen in full-face, not profile like we used to make them. It was our style to always put the face in profile, even when showing full front of the body. And they are very close to the man or woman in the center. I’m guessing that it is the local Pharaoh because of the unique piece of headgear, and the narrow, padded couch on which he or she sits. One of the musicians, the only one with headgear, is actually in front of the Pharaoh, who waves at him. That breaks all the rules I’m familiar with. And look how the Pharaoh’s foot overlaps the leg of the musician. That’s a good effect, although most people in your time probably wouldn’t notice it.

I think the Medieval picture shows a society that has changed more than I can imagine since I was around. There is a good deal of familiarity with the Pharaoh. Look how the musicians are smiling in the royal presence. The two on the left even seem to be talking to each other. That’s something you would just never see in a painting from my era. It was all I could do to give my musicians any kind of individuality at all, and that only because no one of higher rank was in the picture. That allowed me to paint the fourth player as she turned back to the last one in line. I remember they were sharing a private joke, probably just like the two in the later painting.