Christ and Disciples on the Road to Emmaus and Creation and Fall Comparison

Iconic sculptures have been done since the baroque and Romanesque movements. This paper will give the comparative visual analysis of two architectural sculptures; the Christ and Disciples on the Road to Emmaus of 1100 and Creation and Fall, West Façade, Modena Cathedral by Wiligelmo of 1099. These two artistic pieces will be addressed in several subtopics such as their identification and technical data, their subject matter and what they represent, formal analysis of prevailing axis and volumes, their space or the space they create, line work and color combination or choice, play of light and material techniques, their function and context of creation. Identification and technical data The sculpture, Christ and Disciples on the Road to Emmaus is of was done by a Spanish artist on a Peri-relief medium using the Romanesque culture in 1100(Travis, pp.

Similarly, Creation and Fall was sculpted using the same Romanesque culture but done in 1099 by the artist Wiligelmo. These are therefore spiritual figures and the detailing of their emotion among the group of three is important in order to send the message of being good Disciples of Christ to the Christian believers. On the sculpture of the Creation and Fall of Adam and Eve, the repetition of the human figures who are naked and seem to plead and ask for forgiveness from another figure who is much bigger is a representation of the Biblical narrative of the original sin. The whole sculpture uses the human form in various ways to show the journey from the creation of humankind by God and angels to the committing of the first sin, which is considered as the original sin.

The storyline is portrayed from left to the right side; the far left is the depiction of angels and God contemplation the creation of Adam, who is then created by God himself. The central part of the sculpture has three human figures, a man sleeping, a much bigger human(God) who seems to be instructing Eve. Besides, there are a number of various activities going on in the sculpture from the creation of both Adam and Eve, to the snake (the devil) leading them to commit the original sin. The contextualization of the relief sculpture on a horizontal wall gives it a clear predictable axis. In terms of volumes, the human figure is said to be organic yet symmetrical. The use of the human form in the two sculptures gives the organic feel of the sculptures and again provides the audience with a geometric visual feel.

The case of Creation and fall, there are several rectangular volumes that are creatively created using the illusion of the journey of Creation and fall. On the other hand, Christ and Disciples on the Road to Emmaus use continuous contour lines that create a closed silhouette of the three human forms. The curvilinear line at the crown is used to connect the three forms and create an illusion of space from which the journey seems to commence. The space that is created between each human figure is minimal. This illustrates the close relationship that exists between Jesus and his disciples. Clearly, the context of the sculptures conveys the various values and beliefs of Christianity. I. Burgundy. " Gesta 11. Travis, William J. "The Journey to Emmaus Capital at Saint-Lazare of Autun.