Gethsemane 1958

Editor: This is Botong Francisco’s 1958 oil painting, "Gethsemane." It depicts Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane before his crucifixion. There's a definite somber mood about the piece, and the composition, with that central figure, has a strong vertical emphasis. How do you interpret this work? Curator: What I immediately notice is how Francisco uses color to delineate form and evoke emotional response. Observe the chromatic scale employed to highlight the central figure, the figure of Jesus. Red, often associated with sacrifice and passion, dominates, immediately contrasted by cool, muted greens which evoke both mourning and possibly, rebirth. How might we interpret the use of these colour masses in our semiotic decoding? Editor: That's interesting. I was mainly thinking about the narrative aspect of it. The realism suggests it is supposed to reflect something literal. Curator: Yes, but let us examine the handling of the paint itself. The loose brushwork, the almost impasto-like application in areas, pulls away from mere representational realism. Do you not see this also contributes to the work's feeling of internal conflict? The dynamism in its materiality elevates beyond simple representation. Editor: I see your point now, focusing on the surface and texture does give the painting a certain tension I hadn’t noticed. Curator: Precisely! Francisco masterfully balances both the representational and the textural aspects to enhance the overall thematic resonance. This gives it formal potency. Editor: I definitely appreciate it more having considered the painting in terms of structure, texture and the symbolic language of the material elements. Curator: And I am so glad that this exploration has changed the relationship you can build with art by enhancing its theoretical construction.