If you see this message, your browser is unable to view the answers through dynamic HTML. The answers to the questions are:

  1. What parts of the story do you see in this painting? (A priest witnesses a host of angels lifting Mary up to heaven.)
  2. How can you tell it's a priest? (Ecclesiastic clothing.)
  3. How can you tell they are angels? (Wings.)
  4. How many angels are there? (Fourteen.)
  5. What details has this artist carefully described? (Mary's hair, the folds of angels' costumes, angels' wings, leaves and rocks in landscape.)
  6. Does the sky behind her look similarly naturalistic? (No. BACKGROUND is covered with GOLD LEAF.)
  7. Why might an artist use gold on a background? (Gold was often used in religious painting to indicate a sacred subject and to reflect light in the dark environment of a church.)
  8. Why might he have done this? (Although we don't know for sure, Strüb may not have known the landscape of southern France. He also may have wanted to associate his homeland with a holy event.)
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The Elevation Of The Magdalen



Discussion Questions:

The Elevation Of The Magdalen
The Elevation Of The Magdalen
The Elevation of the Magdalen
Peter Strüb the Younger (Master of Messkirch)
16th century
Tempera on panel
The Bergmann Richards Memorial Fund and the Fiduciary Fund

Key Ideas
Story
Background
Discussion Questions

Look

  1. Review the story of Mary Magdalene.
    What parts of the story do you see in this painting? A priest witnesses a host of angels lifting Mary up to heaven.
    How can you tell it's a priest? Ecclesiastic clothing.
    How can you tell they are angels? Wings.
    How many angels are there? Fourteen.

  2. Attention to details is one of the most characteristic traits of German RENAISSANCE art.
    What details has this artist carefully described? Mary's hair, the folds of angels' costumes, angels' wings, leaves and rocks in landscape.

  3. Below Mary is a detailed NATURALISTIC landscape.
    Does the sky behind her look similarly naturalistic? No. BACKGROUND is covered with GOLD LEAF.
    Why might an artist use gold on a background? Gold was often used in religious painting to indicate a sacred subject and to reflect light in the dark environment of a church.
  1. Strüb and his contemporaries during the German RENAISSANCE sought to IDEALIZE their subjects. They believed that artists should strive to represent perfection even if that perfection was absent in real nature. How has Strüb idealized his subject? Clue: The story of Mary Magdalene tells us she lived in a cave for 30 years before angels daily lifted her toward heaven! Does Mary look as if she lived in a cave for 30 years in this painting? Why not?

Think

  1. During the Middle Ages, Mary Magdalene served as a reminder to Catholics that every one may be forgiven. Have you ever regretted anything you have done? Were you forgiven? How? What happened? Have you ever forgiven someone else?

  2. Strüb painted Mary in a German landscape rather than the landscape of southern France, where she lived, according to this myth.
    Why might he have done this? Although we don't know for sure, Strüb may not have known the landscape of southern France. He also may have wanted to associate his homeland with a holy event.

  3. During the Middle Ages, many people looked to the saints as behavioral role models. Who are your role models? Do pictures of your role models exist? Where?
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