Rocky Landscape with Saint Jerome 

Editor: We're looking at "Rocky Landscape with Saint Jerome," an oil painting attributed to Joachim Patinir. The composition strikes me as quite unusual, a dramatic landscape dominating the religious subject. How do you interpret this work through a formalist lens? Curator: Precisely. Notice how Patinir employs a bird's-eye perspective, flattening the pictorial space. This compositional strategy prioritizes the interplay of forms and colors over realistic depth. The stark contrast between the foreground rocks and the hazy, ethereal background creates a visual tension. Are you noticing the specific color palettes he utilizes and how they divide the landscape? Editor: I see the clear separation – the browns and greens up front shifting into blues in the distance, creating almost distinct zones. It's not just perspective creating depth. Curator: Exactly. That's atmospheric perspective. More crucially, consider the materiality of the paint itself. The visible brushstrokes in the rocks, contrasted with the smooth blending in the sky, highlight Patinir's engagement with the medium. The texture almost rivals the form in expressive power here. What symbolic value might these stylistic choices provide? Editor: So, it's about analyzing the individual elements - line, color, texture - and how they create a self-referential system? Patinir seems interested in exploring the potential of paint as much as depicting the saint. I didn't consider the impact of brushstrokes, or think so literally about how materials guide perception. Curator: Precisely. And how these formal decisions actively create meaning within the composition, engaging the viewer in a dialogue between the tangible and the transcendent. Looking at this again now, it's about pushing boundaries. Editor: I’ll look closer from now on at how the physical application of paint can impact the painting’s overall statement, that has provided some new insights for my studies, thanks!