It is often difficult to interpret or explain a work of art. There are many theories and views by experts that can be taken into account. But possibly the most rewarding way to understand and express ideas about art is through an expression of the emotions that one feels when one looks at a picture or painting. This is a personal view, but I think that expressing your own feelings about a work of art is an honest way of experiencing the work of art.
             The painting "Christ at Thirty-Three" by Heinrich Hofmann is one of the most moving pictures that I have seen. Heinrich Hofmann was born in Darmstadt, Germany in1824. He studied at the Antwerp Academy in Dusseldorf and he died in 1902. He was very interested in painting pictures of Christ (Heinrich Hoffman).
             Looking at this painting makes me feel a wide range of emotions but I also feel that these emotions are all connected. The first and most important feeling that the painting gives me is one of amazing compassion. The most immediate impact that the painting makes is the expression of the face. The face is very human and the expression of Christ makes me feel the following emotions. Firstly, the painting is not bright or very colorful or 'showy' as one often sees in portraits of Christ. The painting is mainly painted in dullish brown colors and there are no haloes or angels surrounding Christ. The artist is very clever in that these dull brown colors and background to the painting make the light on the face of Christ seem bright and holy.
             The Christ figure is very human and the angle that the artist uses to depict his face is also something that struck me immediately. He has a look of humility combined with a deep sense of compassion. I think that it is the feeling of kindness and compassion that the face suggests that most attracts me. There is a feeling of understanding that the painter has managed to portray in the painting. The title of the painting also makes me r...