Virgin in Red

Virgin Mary with five Saints and Patron family

On Display: Wilhelmhack Museum

Date/artist: unknown

I found this on the Wilhelmhack website; This piece is from the middle ages. We discussed how The Virgin Mary became one to worship and became a focus in Christian Art. In this painting everyone seems to have that distinguished facial features and expressions, except the three smaller figures kneeling. They have a bit different facial feature to me. The five standing along side the Virgin Mary have almost the same features as she and to me that shows a sign of power. The Virgin in particular stands out to me because of the color scheme. The red in the cloaks and the walls stand out. But the bright candy apple red behind the Virgin Mary is what draws you into her. She is also in white that is combined with the red to draw you in. She is the one being worshiped in this painting because everyone is looking towards her and Jesus Christ in a way. I did notice that the three kneeling are looking up to the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ; whereas the Virgin Mary and the five along side her all seem to be looking down in a way. That seems to me as a sense of power as well. Everyone seems to be much smaller in size also showing a sense of domination and power in the picture.