Art Museum Visit - Mona Davila

On my trip to the museum I chose to write about Santa Gertrudis (Saint Gertrude), an oil canvas painted in 1763 by Miguel Cabrera a Mexican artist. Saint Gertrude the Great was a German nun who was a great writer and is known for her Spiritual Exercises, where she interprets the Seven Sacraments.

Lines are used in this painting. There are wavy lines around Saint Gertrude’s heard to emphasis the lovingness in the Saints face. There is also a curved line that draws your eye from her face to the Sacred Heart. This line is in red rather than the yellow used around the Saints head. I believe the color change was used so that the eye would follow the line to the heart. The other lines are those that outline the book. There is also an implied line or a psychological line. The Saint is looking down at the book. The lines do have an expressive quality. The eyes are drawn from the face to the book.
There is a glow that shapes the back of the Saints head. On the right side of her there is a feather that curves around the Saints head that allows that gives the illusion of a bigger proportionate glow around the face. I believe the beautiful shaping around the background of the head gives the Saint a glow that indicates her being a holy figure.
There is not any negative or empty space in the painting. The figure of the Saint appears to be our size and does not dwarf us. The artist creates depth by layering her hand on top of the book and by doing this her hand reflects a shadow.
The light source in this painting is implied there is not a visual source of light. I would have to say that the lighting around the head of the Saint is artificial because it is a glow. The shadows created by the light seem to be true to life. The artist depicts the shadow of the hand on the book.
Black and white are the dominate colors used in this painting. The painting is that of a nun and black and white would be normal colors used, but the glow that is depicted intensifies the brightness of the Saint. The artist does use the complimentary color of red.
The texture on the surface of the objects appears to be smooth. There is balance in the painting. The light combined with the shape of objects seem to allow your eyes to follow a smooth flow. Immediately the eyes are drawn to the glow around the Saint Gertrude’s face. The second area of interest is the Sacred Heart. The artist creates interest by continuing the glow around the head to the heart. There does not appear to be rhythm by repetition in the painting.
This was an oil painting. It appeared to by shiny. I can’t imagine that it has changed much since it was first painted. It still appears to be bright in color. It is a beautiful painting. It captures the beauty and purity of Saint Gertrude.