One artist captures you with his subtle strokes while the other captivates with the sheer drama that happens in the canvas. Vermeer and El Greco-artists with completely different styles yet united by the magic they bring about in the emotions of their figures. In the two paintings of Vermeer, ‘Study of a Young Woman’ and ‘Young Woman with a Water Pitcher’, there is a certain sense of stillness and serenity as opposed to the paintings of El Greco which is rather dramatic. Perhaps it is the setting and theme of the paintings, but the two works of El Greco, ‘Opening of the Fifth Seal (or the Vision of Saint John)’ and ‘Christ Healing the Blind’, are ‘action packed’ with many complex movements in every inch of the canvas, giving out a sense of excitement. Tranquility and startling are two adjectives that can be used to describe these paintings of Vermeer and El Greco. While Vermeer’s works are classical and mellow, El Greco’s works are emotional and quite bold. However, there is one common thread that runs along these works; the emotiveness and expressions in the faces. It is more apparent in the works of Vermeer given that the number of images (characters) in the canvases is one. Although there are more characters in the paintings of El Greco, they are highly emotive nonetheless.
In the Study of a Young Woman, the lighting is very subtle gibing the face an almost eerie look. The color of the face and lips of the girl are very mute. Most of the face of the young woman is under the light and a small portion is in shadow giving her face a sculpted look and helps it stand against the background. This interplay of light also gives the work a dreamlike appearance. The shimmer of the fabric is also brilliantly brought out in this painting with clever brushwork. The dots of white or light colored paint bring out the texture of the wrap around the girl. Vermeer also uses bold strokes to bring out the sharp creases in the material. This is in contrast to the uniform, blended strokes that he applies for the face. The painting concentrates just on the face of the girl and there is nothing on the front or on the background to take the viewers attention away which is quite different from his other painting , ‘young Woman with a Water Pitcher’, where there are a number of things. In the ‘Young Woman with a Water Pitcher’, Vermeer creates an impression of light coming from the open window. The light that fall on the woman’s face makes it the central object in the painting in spite of the painting being a little overcrowded with the map, window and the patterned table cloth. The use of light and shadow in the painting also gives it the right depth and a realistic view of the room; almost a three dimensional effect. The brushstrokes are quite subtle and hardly perceptible. The saturation and hue are also uniform throughout. The primary colors- blue, red and yellow are used to predominantly. There is intricate brushwork on the pitcher, bringing out the highlights and also bring out in details the creases on the cloth.
El Greco’s Opening of the Fifth Seal is completely different when compared with Vermeer’s work. There is an element of abstract in the painting, the figures are disproportionate, taller and elongated and are as far from the realistic portrayal of Vermeer’s work as possible. The brushwork is also bold with patches of color throughout the canvas. There is a lack of linear structure and balance in the painting. An exaggerated longish male form is on the left, more vertical figures on the background and horizontal forms floating about with the draperies. The lights from the top and through the clouds fall of the nude figures highly exaggerating their forms and make the whole scene theatrical, creating an arresting effect on the viewer. The use of light and shadows is quite extraordinary in bringing out the emotions on the face of the figure on the left (St.John) and also the folds of his cloth. This is similar to the use of light and shadow in bringing out the expressions in Vermeer’s work. El Greco uses primary colors such as blue, yellow, red and green like that of Vermeer, but the output is so different. The colors here do not blend in but rather stand out against the nudes and the brownish earth and sky. The bold and free brushworks and patches of paint make his paintings dramatic giving a sense of agitated motion to the characters and the scene as a whole. Although the figure is slightly abstract, the expression is brilliantly brought out. An interesting aspect of the painting is the similarity of the clouds that can be found in, ‘Christ Healing the Blind’. The clouds are haphazard and look agitated, just as the figures are in the paintings.
Unlike Vermeer’s paintings, there is so much happening in the paintings of El Greco. To begin with, the two paintings are bigger and have numerous figures in the canvas. While the focus on Vermeer’s paintings is on the faces and the expressions, the attention of the viewer is constantly shifting in the case of El Greco’s works. In the painting, ‘Christ Healing the Blind’, Christ is the central figure, with his serene face, but there are also numerous other figures vying for attention. There is a lot of tension in the scene with crowds of people standing on either side of Christ and the blind man. In Spite of all the action surrounding them, the figures of Christ and the blind man are clam and serene as if they are not a part of the painting. Unlike his other painting, El Greco’s sense of perspective is correct in this. He mixes light and dark colors to bring out the depth and the distance of the buildings in the background. The Brushstrokes are also bold which helps in showing the muscles in the men and also the creases on their clothes. The primary colors in the painting also stand out against the dark browns and light browns of the surface, the buildings and the male bodies.
The two paintings of Vermeer are subtle and haunting with scenes of domesticity and serene expressions. On the other hand, El Greco’s paintings are anything but subtle. They are theatrical and dramatic and are examples of the styles of each painter. On comparing El Greco’s two paintings, his evolution as a painter is apparent. While, ‘Christ healing the Blind’ is descriptive, ‘Opening of the Fifth Seal is quite dramatic. Vermeer’s works on the other hand are realistic and he takes great pains to make the painting as close to real life as possible. Although both artists use primary colors in their paintings, the emerging canvas is entirely different. While the bright colors do not stand out in Vermeer’s paintings, they make a bold statement in El Greco’s works. The yellows are muted in Vermeer’s work as compared to the very bold and bright tones in El Greco’s work. El Greco’s were inspired by the scriptures and many of his paintings had biblical themes. His spiritual nature seeped on to his work as can be seen in the elongated and exaggerated forms. Vermeer is said to have used the camera obscura technique to bring realism into his paintings. However different their styles might be, the two artists are brilliant in bringing out the emotions in the paintings.
Vermeer tries to merge all the colors in his paintings while El Greco lets them stand out and that is what makes his painting dramatic. The brushstrokes are subtle in Vermeer’s work as opposed to the free and bold strokes that can be found in El Greco’s work. Perhaps the main difference between the works compared is the number of characters in the painting. Vermeer’s paintings have just one character, the young woman whose face becomes the central focus of the paintings. El Greco’s works have numerous characters and although the central focus of the painting is usually one, each character is brought out in exceptional detail. In spite of the details in the background, the expressions on the faces of the central characters are what the main focus in all the paintings remains. Even though the figure of St. John is not realistic, the expression on his face is quite authentic, and it isn’t just the twisted body but the face that brings out his inner turmoil. Although at first glance El Greco's, 'Opening of the Fifth Seal' looks like it lacks a linear structure and balance, further study makes it clear that it was intentional and is keeping with the dramatized biblical depictions of El Greco. The lack of linearity gives the painting a sense of movement. The end product is a result of his evolution as an artist; from a mannerist painting biblical themes to a more abstractist artist who influenced the liked of Piccaso. Vermeer's 'The Study of a Young Woman' is different from his other paintings as it was not a commisioned portrait. The subtlety and eerie look together with muted colors bring out the real face and not an exaggerated form as would happen in a portrait. The model is said to be the painter's daughter and this is another reason the painting is as close to reality as possible. Vermeer and El Greco are two painters with different styles influenced by their peers, predecessors and lifestyles. Yet they manage to capture human emotions at their best either subtly or in a drmat
Works Cited
Vermeer, Johannes. Study of a Young Woman. 1665-67. Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York.
Vermeer, Johannes. Young Woman with a Water Pitcher. 1662. Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York.
El Greco. Christ Healing the Blind. 1570. Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York.
El Greco. The Vision of Saint John. 1609-14. Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York.
Davies, David. El Greco (National Gallery Company). London: Yale University Press, 2005. Print.
Liedtke, Walter. A View of Delft: Vermeer and his Contemporaries. London: Yale University Press. 2001. Print.
