Work Art (Article Critique Sample)

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WORK ART
Introduction
For my term paper, I preferred to visit the National Gallery of Art that is based in Washington. In the gallery, I got interested in one of the medieval arts called the Annunciation. This is an oil painting by Jan van Eyck between the year c. 1425-1430, who came from Netherlands. The picture shows the Annunciation of Mary by angel Gabriel that, "she will bear a son and name Jesus" (Luke 1: 31). In the picture, the lady is wearing a blue robe, and she is raising her hands as if she is praying or communicating with God. The picture has inscriptions written in Dutch; Hand and Wolff gives the meaning the inscriptions as "Hail, full of grace" (7). The picture contains words written upside down. These words were said by Mary to the angel, and they state, "Behold the handmaid of the lord" (Hand &Wolff 7). In the picture this words are written upside down and the reason for writing them in the format is for God to see them since He lives in heaven above.
Jan van Eyck is estimated to have been borne before c. 1395. He was one of the best painters in Northern Europe during the 15th century. He was remarkable in oil painting and also a biographer. He was named the "father of oil painting" due to his expertise in painting. His famous works include Madonna in the church, Annunciation, The virgin of Chancellor Rolin and others.
The picture contains seven rays of light that are coming from the window and moves to the left. These rays are descending on Mary representing the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Display at the Art Gallery
The picture was initially at canvas. The museum attendant told me that, it was initially on a panel and it was later brought to canvas. From the collections of the National Gallery, I read that "through Christ's human incarnation the old era of the law is transformed into a new era of Grace" (/collection/gallery/gg39/gg39-49.0.html).The art was set on the wall in the art gallery. It is a large painting on the wall, and some descriptions about it are given next to it.
In the picture, there is a temple. Mary and angel Gabriel are inside the temple. Mary appears to be very young she has a Bible. It seems that she had been reading the bible before the angel appeared to him. Schiller asserts that "Mary was believed to have be studying in the temple of Jerusalem with other girls" (34) and that is why the artist drew the picture in a temple. Some authorities argue that, "Mary was reading the book of Isaiah" (Hand & Wolff 81).
The temple has a timber roof that is poorly maintained and some plunks are out of place. Eyck's paintings were symbolic, according to Schiller, the artist used Romanesque architecture so that he could identify the Jewish setting (49).
According to Hand and Wolff, the painting was commissioned by Philip the Good, and his wife Isabella features are given to Mary in the picture (91). From the picture it is hard to tell whether Mary is sitting, standing or kneeling down since the robe has covered her.
The picture is large and has taken a large space on the museum's wall. Others writers has also considered the figure over- large, for example, Harbison, Craig and Eyck who argue that, figure is sixty feet high (170).
The floor of the picture contained tiles with drawings, one at the front while the other is at the back. The painting at the front had a young boy throwing a stone to a huge person. The small boy might be representing David and the large man Goliath. The next drawing on the tile was of a person pulling down a temple; it represented Samson pulling down the temple while at Philistine. On the right, of the tiles was a picture of a lady cutting the hair of a man; this depicts Delilah who cut Samson's hair.
The temple's walls have glass windows, one of the widows at the back is stained, and a picture of a man is drawn standing at the window. On both sides of the window, there are faded paintings on the wall. The painting on the left is of a girl holding a child; this symbolizes Moses and t...