Visual Analysis of Christ and The Adulteress by Rocco Marconi

Composition-wise, Marconi’s work is one that is very well organized and planned to evoke emotions from its viewers. There is not one boring aspect of the painting that makes it less visually appealing. Moreover, the way the figures are positioned makes good sense for a religiously motivated painting. Just like many Renaissance paintings, the positioning of the figures mean the most because it shows the value of each element in the painting. Christ was in the middle right of the painting, and He is looking towards His left. The position of the people around Him is an indication that He is God.

In terms of the colors that were used in the paintings, it can be noted that the colors are in general not very bright, with the exceptions of a few people’s clothing. However, one of the most striking aspects of the painting’s color is that Christ’s clothes are very bright red, while the woman is the brightest, fairest person in the painting. There are other red colors in the painting, but it is only Christ’s red clothing that is the brightest and the most vivid. This feels like a symbolism of Christ’s blood – the blood that He shed for the world to be forgiven from its sins. It short, the scene is like Christ offering Himself once again to save a woman. Also, the adulteress was the whitest character in the painting. White is often correlated with purity of heart and soul. It seems as if Marconi wanted to show in this painting that even an adulteress can be a pure person if she submits herself to go and ask for forgiveness. These visual cues are what makes Marconi’s message all the more interesting. Upon literal inspection, a person would say that maybe Christ is judging the woman. However, a deeper analysis of the painting shows that it could mean so many things. One of that is that Christ is a loving, forgiving God. The use of light and shadow on the other hand compliments that dark background of the scene. Given that the background of the scene looks very blue and dark, the scene is most likely taking place in the evening. Moreover, the yellowish hue of people’s skin illuminated by some form of lighting is most likely a source of light that is also yellow – meaning fire. Fire is such an emotive source of light because first, it cannot be placed above people, and second, it creates strong shadows in places that are not illuminated. This is why some of the figures have half of their faces dark and shadowed. Even the spectators from behind Christ and the other major figures seem to be shrouded by a light shadow. This feels like an indication that these people are the human manifestations of how people view the Catholic church and sinners. They are ready to judge anyone who goes against the teachings of the church, but would also judge the church if they do not persecute those who commit sins against God.

In terms of the figures present in the painting, many of the people portray specific roles and symbolisms. Jesus Christ is positioned in the middle right of the painting, facing a man who wears a red hat and red clothing of some sort. The man Christ is talking to seems to be convincing Christ that the woman should be punished, and this possibility is strengthened by the idea of the man behind the man in red, who looks at Christ with an angry face – a knife on his hand. The way the man holds the knife is indication of anger towards the adulteress. To the middle left of the painting is the adulteress – a fair woman wearing orange clothes and some rope around her wrist. Behind this woman is a man who wraps his arm around the woman’s waist. Because this man looks older than the woman, it can be said that this man is her father, or the man she was cheating with. Other figures behind the main characters play a supporting role with their reactions seemingly related to the judgment that Christ has given to the woman.

In terms of the poses of the figures in the artwork, it can be inferred that Christ is a decisive man. His gestures – His hands and His body towards the woman, and His face towards another person who seems to be convincing Him to punish the adulterer is symbolic of God’s grace. The facial expression in Christ also indicates that he is not convinced of the man’s ramblings about the adulteress. The adulteress on the other hand is in a submissive pose. More specifically, her head is lowered towards Christ, but she is looking at him directly. Her hands seem to be tied by some form of rope, which is something like a symbol that she has surrendered herself to God and his mercy. For the man however who approached Christ, his pose is very aggressive because his back is faced away from the audience, which shows lack of respect. He also seems to be leaning forward to Christ, which feels like an aggressive act to show that he does not like what Christ is doing. However, Christ’s face does not seem to have any emotion for the man. He know that He is the God in the situation, and that no man can make decisions for Him. The gestures of the figures in the painting are the most important aspect of Marconi’s work because they bring in more meaning to the painting above what is visually noticeable. More specifically, Christ’s right hand that is right in front of the adulterer’s face forms a gesture that can often by found in the Catholic church. This hand gesture feels like Christ is blessing the woman, or possibly forgiving her sins. It feels like Marconi is sending a message to the people of the Catholic church that everyone is welcomed to Christ’s arms because he can and he will forgive anybody for any sin. That is, as long as a sinner is willing to come to him and ask for forgiveness.

Visually, Marconi’s work is not one of the best Renaissance artworks for his time. “Christ and the Adulteress” is a good artwork, but given the thousands of other artworks and painters out there during the Renaissance, it is just far for Marconi’s work to be one of the best. Some of the figures seem to pop out more in the scene than the others. The brushwork is also not the neatest. The shapes and also not the best in terms of flow, with many rectangular and polygonal shapes happing in people’s clothing. Compared to other Renaissance paintings, Marconi’s work feels like an attempt at realism, but it was not achieved in the painting. Compare it to the paintings like that of Simon Schama or Rubens, Marconi’s work is unpolished. However, it can be that this is his personal style. After all, there are painters like Rembrandt that also do not make polished works because it is part of their artistic style.

Overall, “Christ and the Adulteress” was very likely a way to show people during the Renaissance period that the church was still with them. This is because of the powerful religious symbolisms in the paintings, which was the opposite of what was going on during the Renaissance. Around the late Renaissance period, people were starting to lose faith in the church as a result of the wars that had been going on with England and the country France. As a result, there were far less religious artworks being made. While there is no certainty that Marconi was a supporter of the Catholic faith, this painting seems to send the message that God can forgive people, even those who have committed a grave crime. See, adultery as a sin in the Catholic church is a major sin – one that people ridiculed and had women killed for. However, Christ’s forgiveness to the adulteress in the painting shows that God is a forgiving king. He was not one to judge even a woman who has committed a grave sin towards God, and it felt like an attempt to bring back people to the arms of the Catholic church. It was like the Catholic faith was not yet ready to die, and so it possibly recruited the likes of Marconi to paint for them and show people that the church is still alive. Moreover, the aesthetic appeal of the painting is similar to but not very related to Renaissance artworks. It is not that he was wrong; he was unique and he knew what he was doing would be meaningful for the people.