Aryan IzadiArts 2C26 February 2014Colors of WorshipWhen it comes to art, the first thing that comes to our mind is its beauty; the realism, the story, the scale or sometimes even the setting. But what really brings all these elements together is a simple word, hue (color), that you can play with to change the story and drama of the artwork. Everyone can paint or draw, but the main key is how to play with colors to attract the audience's attention. When you enter the first European gallery of the Cantor Center, most of the artworks look alike, because they mostly have the same color theme and the same story progression. But once you look deeper and actually get close to the walls, you may find a triptych of private devotional images called “The Adoration of the Holy Child,” which features the Virgin with saints and angels. The size of this artwork is no larger than 20" x 20". This artwork is unique in many ways, mainly in size, because it is one of very few triptych artworks created at such dimensions for personal purposes. This piece belongs to the Circle of Bonafacio Bembo, a family of painters with the name of Bembo from Cremona, the picturesque town located in Northern Italy; Giovannit Bembo, Bonafacio, Benedetto and Ambrosio. Bonafacio was involved with the dukes of Milan, lords of the region and many others and thanks to all these involvements his art became the most famous of the Bembo brotherhood. The only unknown about this triptych is its commissioner. It may have been commissioned by a cleric or a layman. The Adoration of the Holy Child dates back to 1460 and is a delightful small altarpiece painted in tempera on...... half of the sheet...... the main colors that appear are yellow and red which refer to the main story. The side panels and other colors are just there to fill the space and give this piece some background history. If we were to compare this piece with another work of art created during the same era, we could talk about Hugo van der Goes and the Portinari Altarpiece, c-1473-78. In Hugo's version of the Adoration, we can see the same elements such as the Child, the Virgin Mary, angels and many others. The only noticeable difference would be the color choice which is slightly different. In Hugo's version we don't see too much red, but we see a lot of blue and that's because blue represents Christ when it comes to colors in the Bible. So now we can say that colors make a big difference, it's not just a question of graphics, but also of choice of colors.