Symmetry in Art:

Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting, Last Supper, found on page 380 in our text book, is an example of symmetry in art. Although it may not be a mirror image, it is balanced evenly. There are six figures of people on each side of the table along with one in the center. One side of the room is lightly colored while the other side is dark with three even and centered windows in the back. The Last Supper represents a scene where Jesus tells his disciples one of them will betray him. It was commissioned in 1495 as part of a renovation to the Catholic Church. I think that Da Vinci may have chosen this type of symmetry because it keeps our eye to the center of the painting, Jesus, whom is the center of the Catholic Religion.
Found on page 416, Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night is a good example of an asymmetrical painting. It’s asymmetrical because if you draw a line through the middle of it, the two sides are not the same. However the painting is still balanced. Starry Night keeps your eye moving all about the painting. You first see the dark, tall object on the left rising up to the sky. The sky seems to have motion, with circular lines that move you to the right of the painting towards the moon. The moon shines down on the village below. Van Gogh painted this while in an asylum in 1889. Starry Night can be interpreted as Van Gogh’s dream of the world outside the asylum he no longer has contact with. Even though he committed himself to the asylum for help with bouts of mental illness, the dark object in the foreground is often said symbolize the feeling of isolation Van Gogh feels while being sequestered in the asylum.
The upper portion of Notre Dame’s North Rose Window, found on page 254 in our book, is an example of radial balance or symmetry. Although the Rose Window, as the term would suggest is round, radial symmetry does not have to be. There just needs to be a center point with a pattern or objects of equal distance around it. The Rose Window does have a circular point to which symmetrical patterns form around. The stained glass window that dates back to 1250 has a religious theme. While the actual pictures depicted inside the little circles are all different, the use of the same colors, shapes and distance make it appear completely symmetrical. As a whole this beautiful window represents the story of the Old Testament. The Old Testament is a collection of writings that form the beginning of the Bible, used by the Catholic Church. When you look closely at the window, the story is obvious and easy to follow. At first glance however, your eye goes straight to the center, a picture of the Virgin Mary and her child, Jesus. Just like Da Vinci’s Last Supper, the Rose Window suggests that all Catholic beliefs revolve around Jesus.