Fabritius (1622-1654) was probably one of the most accomplished Dutch painters ever lived to create a replica following the Rembrandt style in painting. The painting is now in the custody of the LACMA Museum in Los Angeles where it has been valued as one of the valuable paintings from the 17th century. The theme of the painting is domestic farm life and several artistic devices were used in the painting. The cows and sheep for instance denote an overlapping of figures mainly to emphasize the narrow space of the surroundings; it is also possible that the artist had tried to portray which animals were present on the scene for the viewers’ information. Second, foreshortening is evident in the figure of the sleeping Argus on the left panel; the legs are visibly reduced to illustrate the distance between the painter and the subjects.
Chiaroscuro or the balance of light and dark pigments emphasizes the direction of the light which in this case, shone from the top left corner of the painting. There is also the evidence of atmospheric perspective seen on the background of the painting. The artist illustrated the forest background as a coagulation of green shrubbery and woods but never focused on detailing them unlike the figures on the front. Further painting analysis reveals that the figures of Argus and Mercury were based from two opposite diagonal lines while the animals were made from straight lines. Implied lines were cast by the painting pigments; the artist did not use bold lines to emphasize the figures but rather used the pigments to do the work in order to portray realistically the subjects as real humans. The subjects were mostly based from organic shapes; therefore, the images reflect what the human body looks in the real world. Additionally, circles and curves also occupy some parts of the painting. For instance, the curves ultimately form the bones and horns of the animals. The circle on the other hand depicts the shape created by the hand which is round; other shapes such as the oblong was also used to create the body of the decanter located above the head of the sleeping Argus. The painting does not define its focus as the subjects were more concentrated on the left and the right sides than on the center; a triangular implied shape can be seen on the figure of Argus and Mercury, however, the triangle formed by their figures was not properly scaled. In other words, in Argus’ side, the line of the triangle collapsed while the line on Mercury’s figure remains true to the real triangle shape.
The purpose of using the above mentioned elements is to illustrate the story of how Mercury killed Argus by making him drunk first. The artist emphasized the figures of Mercury and Argus by isolating them on the left part of the painting so that the viewers can concentrate on the symbolisms within the painting; for instance, a closer look on the right side of Mercury’s hip revealed a small dagger a weapon which he will later use to behead the poor Argus in order to steal the animals. The chiaroscuro of colors heightens the drama of the painting, creates tension between the characters. The lesser detailed figure of the animals suggests their less importance in the painting and their role as subservient creatures meant to be raised and killed by the Gods themselves. The background also played an important role; by diminishing the detail by using monochromatic moss green, brown, and black pigments, the viewers of the painting are not overwhelmed by the design and the painting is certainly not overcrowded by many figures; therefore, lesser background design meant that the artist will have the opportunity to explain the story in great detail to his audiences.
WORKS CITED
Fabritius, Carel. “Mercury and Argus.” Circa 1645-1647. Web. LACMA 50. 23 Mar. 2016.
