Page 351 - Uros Todorovic Byzantine Painting Contemporary Eyes

Chapter VI
In the diptych presented on the next page, the colour as mood is in both examples a dominating aesthetic aspect, one which is charged with symbolism (images 54 and 55). In the 15th century Russian icon shown on the left, the crucified body of Christ is immersed in the darkness of his unjust condemnation and death – and this is symbolised by the absolute black colour of the sky area. In the same image, the almost orange and particu- larly warm red colour, which prevails on the robes of the surrounding figures below the crucified Christ,70 delicately heralds his subsequent Resurrection. Accordingly, in Roth- ko’s work on the right, the dark green in the upper part of the composition could be understood to reflect human mortality, or Rothko’s inner experience of the tragedy of human existence, while the bottom part of warm orange colour could relate to the posi- tive energy of life.
In view of this comparison, it should be emphasised that Rothko was no stranger to religious thematology, nor was he negative towards religious interpretations of his work. For example, Gage notes that Rothko “told the president of Harvard University [Nathan Pusey] in 1962 that his somber monumental triptych for the university was intended to convey Christ’s suffering on Good Friday, whereas the brighter panels represented East- er and the Resurrection.”71 Jacob Baal – Teshuva notes that Rothko’s religious interpreta- tion of the triptych was aimed to counter Pusey’s comment that the paintings were “very sorrowful,” and that consequently, Pusey recommended that the board of trustees ap- prove the paintings, which were hung in Rothko’s presence in January of 1963.72 Even if Rothko’s religious interpretation of the Harvard triptych was entirely motivated, which in our view is doubtful, it still reflects Rothko’s awareness of the fact that his work can be seen in such ways.
70 As can be observed, only the robes of the lamenting Virgin are not of red colour, and are comparatively much darker. In this way, it is understood that among the depicted figures, the Virgin is the most affected by the tragic event. 71 John Gage, “Rothko: Color as Subject,” in Mark Rothko, ed. Jeffrey Weiss (Washington: National Gallery of Art, in
association with New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1998), 257. 72 See: Jacob Baal-Teshuva, Rothko (Taschen, 2003), 67–68.
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