"Legend of St. Dorothea of Cappadocia"
Wolran Kim
October 2013
The overall composition within the frame is an impending situation between three characters on a dark background of the stage. All the characters in the play consist of a man, a woman, a child angel, dead tree, part of a castle, sky, clouds, distant mountains, two rocks, flower baskets, and a sword. The two adults are forming a story line with the child angel. These three characters account for nearly two-thirds of the canvas as a theme, and the woman and the angel are emphasized with colorful, bright tones, which are different from the man who is expressed very darkly, the same as the background.
The order of the three characters is the man, the woman, and the angel, and all of them are very dynamic. They are portrayed as an active scene, as a snapshot of a motion film. Their faces, arms, legs, and clothes are all in rapid motion and feelings. The behavior of all three characters seem to have different purposes, but also have a strange harmony as being one in flesh and spirit. They are moving at the exact same paces.
Their facial expressions and gestures seem to be in serious condition, which requests urgent decisions. This picture makes one guess the coming and going of conversations between the three characters on the stage. The woman and the angel are facing each other, and the man is looking at them with his body turned in the opposite direction in a quickening motion.
The main character drawing attention is the woman in the middle. Her face and exposed right shoulder are glowing with very bright skin tone in the center of the whole frame. Her dress is dark green with a very bright orange long shawl wrapped around her entire body. Her revealing shoulder and the dynamic wrinkles of her shawl show her urgent and desperate feeling. Her left hand is pointing to the back of the angel, appearing to persuade the angel to go back.
Her right hand is touching the flower basket that is held in the angel’s two hand. Her right foot is not touching the ground under her shawl, and this helps to portray her whole attitude more urgently and dynamically. Her hand and body gestures make her appear to have a strong will that she must go somewhere with the man after making the angel return.
The angel, who is facing the woman and holding a flower basket, wears a short sky blue dress and large wings, barefoot. His hair, shawl, and wings are all the same golden color, and these unified hues create a sense of stability in his small silhouette, compared to the woman and the man. His wing is old and torn out, seeming to symbolize the reality of religious persecution. His facial expression looks like he wants to follow the woman or prevent the woman’s beckoning. He seems innocent and cares for the woman. The angel’s bright skin color, similar to the woman’s, contrasts the dark-skinned man, and this emphasizes the bond between the woman and the angel. The flower basket held by the angel seems to be a symbol of life and religious salvation or faith.
The man presses the woman, watching the woman and the angel, and his upper body is hanging down, ready to leave. His clothes are dark brown as is the gloomy background, in contrast to the bright appearances of the woman and the angel. The man’s figure feels like a part of the background; however, his size is much bigger than the woman’s. His right hand holds a long sword, and his left hand holds a sheath. He seems as if he is a warrior with a sword and his hood. His shoulder and right foot are ready to go in his direction, taking the woman.
The buildings and the land are fully static, but a dead tree and clouds give the impression of some dynamic. The dead tree, which is behind the angel’s wing, is a very dark brown without any leaves. The tree is completely dead. The darkness of the dead tree is the most contrasting with the woman’s light skin, and the bony branches are laid out like long thorns around the bright woman and angel. The figure of the tree is bleak and gloomy, imagining it to shiver in the wind.
The color of the tree on the right is balanced with the man’s clothes on the left, and its pointy branches match the man’s sharp sword. The dead tree represents the woman’s reality and the future. A part of the magnificent castle behind the woman and the angel is not detailed but is enough to show some authority with its white, round shape. The second building is small and dim in perspective. The sky is blue, but is almost covered with wide clouds, and represents dismal weather. The clouds seem to be moving slowly.
If the angel symbolizes the woman’s religious beliefs, her attitude that seems to be protecting her son (angel) may be her will to try to keep her faith. The man must come from the power of religious persecution, because he looks like a person from a completely different world than the woman and the angel. The three characters show the dramatic climax of the scene. The exposed, bare shoulder of the woman represents the persecution and suffering, and the woman’s bright shawl symbolizes her religious hope and faith.
The angel will go back home as is the woman’s solicitation, and the woman will follow the man with the sword. The woman in the picture is a tragic heroine through suffering. The brightest parts in the frame are the woman’s shoulder and her hand, which is pointing toward the direction for the angel. Her bright shoulder represents her hope and faith that lives despite the reality of the persecution, and the brightness of her left hand expresses her strong, firm will. On the contrary, the dead tree and the man’s sword suggest the woman’s tragic fate.
Wolran Kim
October 2013
The overall composition within the frame is an impending situation between three characters on a dark background of the stage. All the characters in the play consist of a man, a woman, a child angel, dead tree, part of a castle, sky, clouds, distant mountains, two rocks, flower baskets, and a sword. The two adults are forming a story line with the child angel. These three characters account for nearly two-thirds of the canvas as a theme, and the woman and the angel are emphasized with colorful, bright tones, which are different from the man who is expressed very darkly, the same as the background.
The order of the three characters is the man, the woman, and the angel, and all of them are very dynamic. They are portrayed as an active scene, as a snapshot of a motion film. Their faces, arms, legs, and clothes are all in rapid motion and feelings. The behavior of all three characters seem to have different purposes, but also have a strange harmony as being one in flesh and spirit. They are moving at the exact same paces.
Their facial expressions and gestures seem to be in serious condition, which requests urgent decisions. This picture makes one guess the coming and going of conversations between the three characters on the stage. The woman and the angel are facing each other, and the man is looking at them with his body turned in the opposite direction in a quickening motion.
The main character drawing attention is the woman in the middle. Her face and exposed right shoulder are glowing with very bright skin tone in the center of the whole frame. Her dress is dark green with a very bright orange long shawl wrapped around her entire body. Her revealing shoulder and the dynamic wrinkles of her shawl show her urgent and desperate feeling. Her left hand is pointing to the back of the angel, appearing to persuade the angel to go back.
Her right hand is touching the flower basket that is held in the angel’s two hand. Her right foot is not touching the ground under her shawl, and this helps to portray her whole attitude more urgently and dynamically. Her hand and body gestures make her appear to have a strong will that she must go somewhere with the man after making the angel return.
The angel, who is facing the woman and holding a flower basket, wears a short sky blue dress and large wings, barefoot. His hair, shawl, and wings are all the same golden color, and these unified hues create a sense of stability in his small silhouette, compared to the woman and the man. His wing is old and torn out, seeming to symbolize the reality of religious persecution. His facial expression looks like he wants to follow the woman or prevent the woman’s beckoning. He seems innocent and cares for the woman. The angel’s bright skin color, similar to the woman’s, contrasts the dark-skinned man, and this emphasizes the bond between the woman and the angel. The flower basket held by the angel seems to be a symbol of life and religious salvation or faith.
The man presses the woman, watching the woman and the angel, and his upper body is hanging down, ready to leave. His clothes are dark brown as is the gloomy background, in contrast to the bright appearances of the woman and the angel. The man’s figure feels like a part of the background; however, his size is much bigger than the woman’s. His right hand holds a long sword, and his left hand holds a sheath. He seems as if he is a warrior with a sword and his hood. His shoulder and right foot are ready to go in his direction, taking the woman.
The buildings and the land are fully static, but a dead tree and clouds give the impression of some dynamic. The dead tree, which is behind the angel’s wing, is a very dark brown without any leaves. The tree is completely dead. The darkness of the dead tree is the most contrasting with the woman’s light skin, and the bony branches are laid out like long thorns around the bright woman and angel. The figure of the tree is bleak and gloomy, imagining it to shiver in the wind.
The color of the tree on the right is balanced with the man’s clothes on the left, and its pointy branches match the man’s sharp sword. The dead tree represents the woman’s reality and the future. A part of the magnificent castle behind the woman and the angel is not detailed but is enough to show some authority with its white, round shape. The second building is small and dim in perspective. The sky is blue, but is almost covered with wide clouds, and represents dismal weather. The clouds seem to be moving slowly.
If the angel symbolizes the woman’s religious beliefs, her attitude that seems to be protecting her son (angel) may be her will to try to keep her faith. The man must come from the power of religious persecution, because he looks like a person from a completely different world than the woman and the angel. The three characters show the dramatic climax of the scene. The exposed, bare shoulder of the woman represents the persecution and suffering, and the woman’s bright shawl symbolizes her religious hope and faith.
The angel will go back home as is the woman’s solicitation, and the woman will follow the man with the sword. The woman in the picture is a tragic heroine through suffering. The brightest parts in the frame are the woman’s shoulder and her hand, which is pointing toward the direction for the angel. Her bright shoulder represents her hope and faith that lives despite the reality of the persecution, and the brightness of her left hand expresses her strong, firm will. On the contrary, the dead tree and the man’s sword suggest the woman’s tragic fate.