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Narrative art tells a story through visual means, often depicting religious or historical events. It can be a continuous narrative, a single event, or multiple scenes simultaneously. While some believe images are not good at telling a story, viewing art can occur over time. Examples include Giotto’s frescoes, Trajan’s Column, da Vinci’s The Last Supper, Leutze’s Washington Crossing the Delaware, and the Ghent Altarpiece.
Narrative art is the name given to visual art that conveys a story. The most common instances of narrative art could be found in children’s books, although the subjects of narrative art have more often been religious or historical. Narrative graphics can depict continuous scenes, a single event, or multiple scenes simultaneously.
Illustrations in children’s books usually rely heavily on the written word to express meaning. Some experts believe that images are not a good job of telling a story, because stories are told over time and images are seen all at once. This can be an arbitrary view, however, because most people cannot absorb the content of a complex work of art all at once. In other words, the viewing of art can also occur over time, and this is especially true with some famous works of fiction such as the Arena Chapel frescoes and Trajan’s Column.
Narrative art can express a continuous narrative or just a scene. The frescoes completed by Giotto in 1305 in the Arena Chapel in Padua, Italy are a good example of a continuous narrative. Through a series of painted scenes running from left to right, Giotto illustrated the life of Mary and Jesus. When viewers look at these paintings, it is almost like reading a story when viewed in sequence.
Trajan’s Column expresses a continuous narrative in an innovative way. Erected around 113 AD, the column commemorates Emperor Trajan’s victory over the Dacians, a group of people from Northern Europe. Details of the wars wind their way from the bottom of the column to the top, though seeing the images at the top of this 125-foot (about 38-meter) structure is a nearly impossible feat from street level.
Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper, completed around 1498, is an example of narrative painting that is monoscenic, meaning it shows a single event. In this scene, Jesus foretells his imminent betrayal and departure, setting off a complex series of emotional reactions among the apostles at the table. Another example of a one-scene narrative painting is Emanuel Leutze’s Washington Crossing the Delaware. Completed around 1851, this painting depicts Washington and his troops struggling to cross the frozen Delaware River to face Hessian troops during the American Revolutionary War. Leutze created a dramatic scene with a backlit Washington striking a determined pose as he makes his way to engage his enemy.
Occasionally, a narrative work illustrates the simultaneous narrative. The Ghent Altarpiece, painted by Hubert and Jan van Eyck, was completed in 1432 and illustrates a number of Christian themes. Jesus is depicted in the upper center of the altarpiece with the Virgin Mary to his right and John the Baptist to his left. When facing the artwork, Adam and Eve appear at the far left and far right, respectively. The lower panels depict the worship of a lamb, a symbol of Jesus, on an altar.
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