The Shepherd Faustulus Bringing Romulus And Remus To His Wife

On my visit to the Dallas Museum of Arts, I was stunned by so many different types of arts that ranged in the forms of sculptures to paintings in different eras and areas of the. One of the most visually stunning artworks I’ve witnessed is The Shepherd Faustulus Bringing Romulus and Remus to His Wife by Nicholas Mignard located in the Rococo section of the European Art floor.
A simple oil painting made in 1654 on an unknown canvas medium, it is encased in a golden frame with intricate carvings that seems to resemble plant patterns. The overall artwork’s visual is mainly comprised of earth tone colors ranging in hues and shades, six people from what seems to be the lower class, excluding the dog, present in an area with rugged lands, a lake,
The two children draped with bright blue garb in his hands are depicted as plump and realistically proportionate babies, unlike the past art pieces where the head was adult-sized with a mature face and small bodies. The main focus of the piece displays two bright, dominant clothing belonging to the outstretched woman and the man bearing the two children with it. At the current time, this idea would be considered to be barbaric for peasants to even consider wearing colors that were reserved for the wealthy and the noble class. However, it is possible that Mignard’s intentionally did this due to the history behind the two small individuals in the bright blue cloth, Romulus and Remus. The textual depiction of the painting states that “the subject was derived from the mythological fable of the two who were suckled by a she-wolf, saved by a Shepherd to found the city of Rome” (Dallas Museum of Art wall text). Mignard went on to depict and dressed them in bright royal colors to symbolize their greatness as the “Kings” who founded the great city of Rome. And
Often, the paintings of Mary and Jesus used mainly red and blue and are used interchangeably with one another. Red symbolized the blood and the martyred heroes, whereas the blue stood for heaven, serenity and calmness. Mary was crowned as the queen of heaven when she died and Jesus brought her up to heaven to stand with him in the kingdom of God. Likewise, Romulus and Remus would’ve done the same and bring their mother to live with them in their kingdom/city. In person, it is more stunning to witness not only due to the size, but also because of the vividness the painting still holds after all these years. It seemed as though it was done almost yesterday due to the freshness the content displayed and in comparison to all the other artworks in the area, this stood out to me due to the colors itself. Mignard’s choice to bring attention to the individuals’ clothing by surrounding it with darker colors in the background created a contrast that was not too harsh to view and the bright colors lures one’s eyes into it. Also, his choice of the lighting created a focus that draws the viewer in so they would not have to look elsewhere to determine what the “thesis” of the artwork is. Lastly, the details of the painting are astonishing to see up close. The brushstrokes of the dog’s hair looked as if you could touch it, the muscles in the shepherd’s legs and arms