
An image can be used as a still frame that portrays an entire story. An image or a painting contains elements in which develop the works’ theme as a whole. Jesus Feeds the 5000 is a painting that uses visual elements to tell a story. The work’s elements of contrast, proportion and use of various facial expressions contribute to the emotional appeal to the audience. A few of these elements include color, style and design. This specific painting uses these visual elements to represent the character’s emotions to tell a story to the audience. By depicting and analyzing these elements, the audience can analyze the image beyond its visual context. By looking at contrast, proportion and various facial expressions in this painting, we can see Jesus Feeds the 5000 is portraying the overall theme of hope.

The painting Jesus Feeds the 5000 represents the bible story very well. At a first glance, the audience sees Jesus making hand gestures to a man, which we can assume is one of his disciples. Jesus is also standing next to the young boy that originally provides the five small loaves of bread and the two fish. Behind them, we can see a green valley with thousands of people. The focus of the picture is on Jesus, the young boy and the disciple. These three people are very defined and clear, and the background becomes blurrier the further away that the audience looks.

The elements of this painting not only portray the story to the audience but also the overall general theme and message. One element that helps the audience to decipher the theme of this painting is the contrast. The most recognizable use of contrast in this image is the contrast of size and clarity. Jesus, the boy and the disciple are noticeably different in size compared to the rest of the people in the painting. These three characters were created much larger to represent their importance in the story and the theme as well. They are also clear, sharp and well defined from the background. The remaining “five thousand” people are smaller as well as blurrier. As distance increases, they begin to blend into the background and eventually become small circles. This helps to keep the focus of the audience on Jesus, the young boy and the disciple. Another thing being contrasted in this painting is color. Jesus and the young boy are both wearing lighter colors, which tend to have a more positive connotation. Many of the others, including the disciple, are wearing darker colors that tend to be more associated with negative emotions. These darker colors could even represent a lack of hope. We can see this lack of hope and worry on the disciples face. However, you can see the peace and willingness to help on Jesus’ face as he gestures towards the food.

Another element that is used in this painting to help develop the theme of hope is proportion. As mentioned before, Jesus, the young boy and the disciple are all larger than the rest of the people in the image and stand out from the background. They are represented as larger because the artist wants the audience to focus on them. They are also proportionately larger because the main message and story of the painting stems from these three characters. On the other hand, the mountains in the background are proportionately small to these main three characters. As mountains symbolize struggle and uphill battle, the artist could have created the image this way to show that hardships and struggles in life can be overcome with a little bit of hope and faith.

The theme of this painting is also represented by the various facial expressions that the author creates. The facial expressions help convey the message of the work to the audience both visually and emotionally. The style of this painting could be categorized as realism. The various facial expressions represented by the characters in this image help to relate the work to realism. The realistic style heightens emotional aspects of this scene. The subjects of the painting are realistic and the perspective by the audience helps to perceive the space and depth of the painting. Jesus, the young boy and the disciple are all wearing realistic clothing and are displaying realistic problems that happen in everyday life. The subjects in this painting are not trying to be perceived as perfect or glorified, not even Jesus. The style of this painting also helps the audience to feel the emotions that the subjects of the painting may be feeling, such as anguish and despair. We can see pain in struggle in the disciple’s eyes as he tries to understand how to feed so many people with so little supply. The audience can read his facial expressions and notice that he is probably struggling himself as well. This helps the audience to feel these emotions of pain and struggle. On the other hand, Jesus has a relaxed, calm facial expression. This helps the audience to feel some of this certainty, even though other subjects in the painting seem lost and confused.

The elements of contrast, proportion, and pathos are all used in this painting to help develop and illustrate the painting’s overall theme of hope to the audience. The artist uses these elements to help to tell a story, but more importantly to show the audience the larger message of hope. The subjects of the painting are large and stand out from the background to help create focus. They are also clearer and more defined. The mountains in the background symbolize struggle and hardship, but they are also small. The author is trying to show how having hope and faith will make the “mountains” in one’s life to seem small. The artist also uses pathos to help the audience to feel the certain emotions that the subjects and characters in the painting are feeling. These elements are significant in helping the audience to understand the theme of hope in this visual text.

