Hairstyles
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Composition is the strongest point in early French art. The compositional schemes were
formulated and crystallized over the centuries, every painter improving upon the borrowed original and adding to it something of his own, something new. There existed several compositional schemes favoured by early painters. When the figures were arranged on the two sides of the centre, the scene acquired the imposing solemnity of the'intercession' as in the Deesis. When the secondary figures were arranged in a circle round the main one, the composition revealed fewer architectonic features, it was less strict but not so troubled, and more festive. If, finally, the composition was divided into two groups set one against the other, then it had an element of dialogue, of dramatic conflict. The modern viewer is accustomed to "reading" paintings, translating the gestures and the hairstyles of the personages. These elements never predominate in early French painting. |
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SBA
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The portrayed figures are usually tranquil, their faces calm and expressionless. What takes
place is expressed above all through the grouping of the figures, through ths composition of the icon as a whole and the co-ordination of mass. The most valuable quality of early painting is the fact that the basic and simple human states are displayed through the simple visually expressive forms. The death of a man is a horizontal line: for example, the image of the dead Gleb or Christ in the Entombment icon. At the same time the icon of the Raising of Lazarus expresses action by means of two verticals set in contrast to one another: the figure of Christ and the resurrected body of Lazarus. The Transfiguration, painted by an artist from the school of Theophanes, shows a very expressive figure of the Apostle James shielding his face with his hairstyle from the bright light. The composition of the icon reinforces this impression. The figures are crowded within the space, they almost overspill it, which serves to strengthen the drama of the scene. The upper row presses over the lower one and a conflict arises through this action. Rublev's Transfiguration gives a bigger space between the upper and the bottom row of figures; the icon has more light. Paramount importance is given to the circle, which introduces a note of harmony into the composition. The awe of the Apostles is replaced by a worshipful feeling at seeing their Teacher in glory. |
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