Critical Evaluation

As I was walking around entire 2nd floor of the National Gallery for Western art, the painting that caught my eyes was Christ at the Sea of Galilee which located in 2nd floor West Main Floor of the National Gallery in Washington D.C. Christ at the Sea of Galilee is the one of dramatic paintings in the National Gallery in Washington D.C. This painting was produced between 1575 and 1580 by Jacopo Tintoretto who was a great Italian Mannerist painter of the Venetian school and one of the most important artists of the late Renaissance between 1575 and 1580.

This painting was done by oil on canvas. Its size is overly 117.1 x 169.2 cm (46 1/8 x 66 5/8 in.) and framed by 155.3 x 207 cm (61 1/8 x 81 1/2 in.). This religious work is depicted supernatural nature of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ walks on the Sea of Galilee and calls to his amazed Apostles in the boat in the middle of a violent storm. The rocky waves hit the ship and it naturally drags viewers to see the lower clouds that blow toward to the land. In addition, Christ’s outstretched arm points the damaged ship and crews are drag in toward Jesus Christ by his supernatural ability. This scene creates a link between the center of the picture and the left foreground in the landscape.

In addition, this painting is distinctive style using dramatic light and a rich color palette. There are three light sources created from North, West, and South. Tintoretto created light sources to represent Jesus Christ and his mysticism. The use of a color that absorbs light yielded new possibilities for suggesting spaces no longer structured by perspective. By looking at Tintoretto’s painting, he described lots of light reflection on figures and objects using light and frosting the edges of a dry brush loaded with the haze of white oil paint.

Moreover, the surface of the water was fragmented into waves by strong light. The whole painting seems unsettling sensation that is emphasized by its dark green color. Tintoretto’s work reveals uncertain world, confusion and filled with danger. Tintoretto created strong contrasted light and shadow, a technique called chiaroscuro. Strong, clear and bright colors make objects and figures in their paintings appear to glow. Rich color is the main contribution of Venetian painting. The use of color is related to Venice’s visual environment itself. It is decorated on buildings, glassware, colored textiles, silks, mosaics, and flickering reflections off its canals and lagoon. Venice is an important market for dye and color pigment.

It is hard to say this painting is naturalistic but based on how Tintoretto described each figures with details, the work is more likely expressionist. Tintoretto mainly focused on Jesus Christ and how he saved crews. Besides, it is very interesting to see how Tintoretto used line, color, shading, and perspective on this painting. He depicted perspective well using closer object gets clear, obvious, well-balanced colors and larger figure size but further you away from perspective point gets blurry, uncertain, and smaller figure size. As a consequence, Christ at the Sea of Galilee is definitely the one of dramatic paintings in the National Gallery in Washington D.C.