Religious Significance Of La Sagrada Familia

Imagine seeing the crucifiction of Christ. Seeing that happen would change everyone’s view of the world. Christ’s crucifiction affected many people, including His mother, Mary. Juan de Juanes, the artist, painted this scene realistically. This painting was made with oil paints on panel with long flowing strokes, which seemed to make it come to life. Juan de Juanes depicts many aspects in this painting such as historical significance, colors, and subject matter.

Gorgeously. Striking. Grace. The golden painting is taking up by the two most iconic symbols of Christianity: Jesus Christ and Virgin Mary. Christ gently placing a golden grown on the inclined head of the Virgin Mary, who is sitting on the right side of Jesus; her hands crossed over her chest symbolist of humble, reverent and loyalty. This position was purposely set by Fabriano. In Christianity art, position is significant in dividing between good manners and malefactors. For instance, in The Last Judgment by Giotto di Bondone in 1305, heaven was placed on right of Christ, and hell was on the left. This ideology was clearly stated in the bible “...before him shall be gathered all nations:

Vitruvius also stresses on order, arrangement, eurhythmy, symmetry, propriety and economy and how architecture depends on these demands. This is not the case in today’s society. With advances in physics and construction sciences which allow buildings to be of asymmetrical shape and attain an abstract form directly places it in conflict with his stated ‘Eurhythmy’. To Vitruvius, all facets of architecture were to be in a state of complete harmony, as his views were so constrained towards the perfection of the human body. He described the various proportions of limbs and other body parts to be so accurately symmetrical and coordinated to meticulous detail. This perfection of the human body inspired architectural designs. In contemporary society, mainstream architecture has little to no correlation with the human body. It has been kept completely separate. Architectural inspiration today, more or less stems from everything outside the human, and looks towards a futuristic simplicity and sleek aesthetic that demands a different approach to the art of a building altogether. This commercial mindset has been influential since the engineering breakthroughs of the second millennium.

The ominous figure in the centre of the foreground - Jesus Christ hanging lifeless on the cross, in Luca di Tommè’s ‘The Crucifixion’, primarily catches the eye. The symmetrical arrangement of lamenting figures around the cross, as well as the gilded background, highlight him as the focal point of this artwork.

The Alhambra is considered to be one of the most important buildings constructed in its time. The palace city gained its status as an international monument in the 1870s, and is now the most visited tourist attraction in Spain, surpassing both La Sagrada Familia and El Prado, with 2.4 million people visited Granada’s Moorish palace in 2014. However its popularity and beauty were hard fought as it survived wars, takeovers, destruction and disrepair. It is this history that gives the complex its significance beyond the superficial beauty that made it famous.

Artwork 1, The Coronation of the Virgin and Artwork 2, Christ Crucified were created by Velazquez. Both pieces explore aspects of religion and spirituality. Artwork 1 depicts the scene when Mary was crowned Queen of Heaven and Earth. Mary is the mother of the King and the most highly favoured daughter of God. She always obeyed God with her humbleness therefore Mary received the promised “Crown of glory that will never fade away,” (Peter 5:4) as she shared in all His sufferings. This can be seen as a reward for her holiness and perfection of virtues. In Artwork 2, the image focuses on the crucifixion of Jesus, reminding the viewer of the sacrifice he made for this sins of humanity.

The art work Christ with the Symbols of the Passion, created by Italian artist Lavinia Fontana in 1576. This piece of art, Christ with the Symbols of the Passion, oil on wood, is currently on display in the El Paso Museum of Art. Trained by her father, artist Porspero Fontana. Fontana became an established artist best known for her strong reputation in Bologna for her devotional paintings and for portraiture. This piece of work depicts angels supporting the body of Christ, a scene in which is not represented in biblical scriptures. Symbols of the Suffering and Passion of Christ are illustrated in this painting, these symbols surround Christ. The symbols are the cross, the column in which Christ is tied to, the whip and the crown of thorns .

In terms of subject matter, both works are visual depictions of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. In each painting, Christ is the central figure, surrounded by two groups of figures. On the left, a group of women that includes the Virgin Mary mourns over the dead body of Christ, while on the right is a group of soldiers and other lamenters. Both works feature a rocky landscape on which the figures are positioned. Encircling Christ are several angels whose gestures of lamentation echo those of the figures below. Highlighting the severity of each scene is the blood that pours from Jesus' wounds. The blood from his feet drips onto human bones that are embedded in the rocky terrain below. The skull serves as a "memento mori," or a reminder of death, an idea that has been repeated in several other depictions of Christ's crucifixion.

In the essay entitled “Structure, Construction, and Tectonics,” Eduard Sekler defined tectonics in architecture as an observable expression which cannot be explained in terms of structure and construction

For being over eight hundred years, the Christ in Majesty with Symbols of the Four Evangelists remained in remarkable condition. However, pieces of the original piece, which originated in the Catalan chapel in Spain, have faded. Portions, especially along the bottom, have disappeared over time. Even though historians moved it to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, it has not been fully restored. The artist identified each of the apostles in the Christ in Majesty with Symbols of the Four Evangelists, but the writing has grown fainter and this creates a difficulty for art historians. Another key factor in the overall story represented has faded--one of the lamps or incense holders beneath Christ.

Considering its age of over eight hundred years old, the Christ in Majesty with Symbols of the Four

Vittore Carpaccio’s symmetrical input truly served it’s purpose. Focusing on the center third of the painting, there’s a mere perfect symmetrical contrast of life and death top to bottom. Most impacting is the symmetrical division of the malnourished and tortured body of Jesus Christ, The left side of his body is in a lively sitting posture on the throne. While his right side is the embodiment of death, his punctured ribs and dangling arm. From the ground up, Carpaccio illustrates the contrast of life and death with minimal details in the painting. The supporting stones of the throne, directly below the arm rests, are divided by breakage, the left stone is cracked and falling apart, while the opposing stone appears to be intact. Vittore Carpaccio managed to capture the cycle of life with many elements one wouldn’t think of comparing life and death with. The top left portion of the throne is a half broken, followed by Jesus’s deadly posture to the falling apart ground stone of the throne, Death is captured in a very recognizable minimalistic form.

Peter’s Basilica are architecturally different, yet they both unite those people who put their faith in the Catholic Church and into the hands of God by using these structures as propaganda. St. Peter’s Basilica is an excellent representation of Baroque and Renaissance style art and architecture due to the time period that construction began for this magnificent building. Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia is unique even for other basilicas and cathedrals built in the Gothic style. He brings together new ways of architecture and construction that make La Sagrada Familia such an interesting and outstanding structure years before its completion. However, despite the differences in appearance between St. Peter’s Basilica and La Sagrada Familia, they both share similarities that tell the story of Catholicism and bring visitors from different backgrounds and religions to one meeting

It is a scene which is shown after Jesus was crucified, where his body has been removed from the cross and his friends and family mourn over his body. Many artists have focused this scene by just painting four people: the body of Christ, His mother, Saint Mary Magdalene and Joseph of Arimathea.

The entryways of the building come from four different sides and meet in the middle. The overall shape of the building creates different views and facades. The building was not created just on the looks of it; it is made up of a three dimensional, stimulating, tactile human thing.