Laocoon Art Analysis
El Greco, a Greek painter, created the Laocoon sculpture between 1610 and 1614. The Trojan priest, Laocoon and his two sons are the principal subjects of the painting. Laocoon’s two sons in the historical art are identified as Antiphantes and Thymbraeus. The painting depicts the mythological story of the death of the Trojan Priest. Monstrous sea serpents are attacking Laocoon and his sons. The artwork portrays a feeling of physical suffering as Laocoon, and his sons try to rescue themselves from the snakes. El Greco used design elements such as line, texture, color, shape, and balance to create rhythm in his artwork and to depict the emotional nature of the art.
The foreground is the first glance of the Laocoon painting. Upon looking at the Laocoon sculpture, the audience notices a bearded man lying on rocks in agony (Stoenesca & Livia, 2017). The lying man is identified as the Laocoon, who is the central subject of the painting. A sea serpent attacks Laocoon, but he struggles to defend himself. Although Laocoon has grabbed the snake, it still bites him on his head. One of Laocoon’s son his lying dead on his right side. On the left side of the sculpture, the second Laocoon’s son is struggling to defend himself from the serpent that is about to bite him on his abdomen. On the extreme right side of the painting, three unidentified subjects are witnessing the killing of the Laocoon and his two sons. Perhaps, these three witnesses seem like the Greek gods who are after the killing of Laocoon and his sons. On the background, the Trojan horse is depicted heading to the city of Toledo that is presented under a gloomy sky. The Gloomy atmosphere in the background portrays Toledo as a city of suffering.
The Laocoon sculpture is an example of three-dimensional artwork. In the sculpture, implied lines are used to visually connect all the subjects in the painting. In art, implied lines are only used in three-dimensional works. The Laocoon sculpture is thus a three-dimensional artwork where the sculptor sets implied lines in motion to show the emotional suffering of the subjects who are under snakes’ attack. Laocoon painting is a framed artwork that is displayed at the National Gallery of Art, Washington. El Greco used oil as the painting medium in his famous work. The Laocoon sculpture has a height of 137.50 cm and a length of 172.50 cm.
The line is an essential element of design as depicted in the Laocoon painting. Lines are trajectories that are left by a moving point in the process of painting. El Greco used lines to separate his subjects and show their emotional suffering (Beckman, 2019). Lines can be diagonal, curved, horizontal, soft, expressive, or mechanical. El Greco used curved lines to show the agony on Laocoon’s face as the serpent was attacking him. A combination of horizontal and soft lines is used in the famous artwork to create the snakes. One-point perspective is used in the painting to attract the attention of the audience to the central figure. Through lines converging to one point, El Greco expresses his ideas of space. All the lines in the painting converge at the head of Laocoon, who is the central subject of the artwork. Besides, El Greco uses expressive lines in the Laocoon painting instead of mechanical lines.
Shape and color are crucial design elements that are used in the Laocoon painting by El Greco. Organic shapes are used in art to represent physical features. In the Laocoon painting, organic form is used in the background of the subject figures to represent the sky (Pereda, 2020). El Greco employed the proportionality rule while designing his shapes. Laocoon, who is lying at the center of the painting, is the main subject of the artwork. A large shape is used to represent Laocoon as compared to the other subjects. Use of a large Laocoon’s shape allows El Greco to create a focal point in his artwork. The grey color is used for the bodies and the landscape of the painting. The grey color and the looming sky at the background is used to set the tone and anguished mood of the subjects who are being attacked by serpents. El Greco used naked bodies in his painting, which depicts mythological characters. Balance is used in the painting to ensure that there are no figures that are prominent over the others. Symmetrical balance, horizon lines, and smooth texture are used to create rhythm in the artwork without repetition of shapes. Dark and unnatural lighting creates a surreal scene in the Laocoon painting.
In conclusion, Laocoon painting by El Greco contains a deeper meaning than it appears to most of the audience. In the painting, Laocoon and his two sons are being killed by serpents near Toledo city after disobeying the Trojan horse. Therefore, the city of the Toledo can be the place where people who disagreed with the laws of the Catholic Church were being executed during the time of the painting. However, the interpretation of the Laocoon painting remains speculative.
References
Beckman, L. (2019). The Grotesque in El Greco: Between Form-Beyond Language-Beside the Sublime.
Pereda, F. (2020). Review of” The Pictorial Art of El Greco: Transmaterialities, Temporalities, and Media” by Livia Stoenescu.
Stoenesca, Livia (2017), “Pictorial Allegory in El Greco’s Laocoön of Toledo,” RES: Anthropology and Aestethics, 67-68, 164-176.