As I viewed the former piece, Entombment, by Pontormo (alterpiece in Capponi Chapel, Florence), I immediately sensed that I had experienced these deeply personal religious feelings a short while ago....and viola! I recalled the Deposition by Van Der Wayden (Chapter 18. Was it really that long ago we learned about 15th century art in northern europe?) Coincidentally, late one evening last month, since I couldn't sleep, I turned on the tube to catch the ending of The Passion of Christ, where Jesus was ridiculed and publicly beaten prior to carrying his (our) cross to his death. The brewing emotions which grew, as I, the spectator, lay witness to the same story as told by 3 different people. What strikes me is the following: how three distinct individuals can uniquely share the same scene/parable while stirring up the same deeply profound human emotions (deep sorrow, shame, compassion, love, hope...)These two artists portrayed the same story with similar juxtaposition of figures (recall the "parenthesis" beginning and ending with Mary and Magdelaine of the latter piece, Deposition), but note Pontormo's use of an unusual color schemes (contrasting secondary colors and pale palette compared to van Der Wayden deep jewel tones used during the 15th century), different shifts in scale (note the boy in foreground catching Jesus) as well as his "artificial" placement of figures/objects ( note the ambiguous placement of the cloud in background as if for no other reason but to give little sense of the physical location which was atypical at this particular time). All in all, the spectator begins to sense (and perhaps learns to appreciate) a progression of craftsmanship over time as these artists perfect their work and attempt new ways of expression. For the first time, I now have a deeper understanding and even, greater appreciation, for abstract art....as a means to stir up different human emotion (perhaps shock?) by the spectators giving them something out of the ordinary (extraordinary, so to speak).
It is remarkable how these two pieces while depicting a similar event become almost individual in their representations of it. As I look at both of these paintings, they almost each elicit a different emotion. I agree with you that the color schemes chosen for each changes ones emotional response to them. I look at the darker deeper colors versus the lighter spring like colors, I have different responses, and the darker deeper colors seem to bring out more emotions for me than the lighter colors.
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