Activity #4 "Write About it"

The Rebuke of Adam and Eve is an oil on canvas painting that was created by Domenichino in 1626. Domenichino uses a variety of design principles that are supported by design elements to give the story of Adam and Eve an archaic feel. Domenichino employs unity, emphasis, hierarchal scale, and rhythm to direct the viewer’s eye to the he who receives the final rebuke.

Domenichino uses unity based on color to separate Adam and Eve from God and his angels. Unity is defined as a sense of oneness, of things belonging together and making up a coherent whole. The partially bare skin of Adam and Eve create an oneness between them as a couple. Whereas, the primary colors of red, yellow and blue that clothe God and his angels provide a sense of oneness between them. He uses emphasis to lore the viewer’s eye down the chain of rebuke. Domenichino places emphasis on Adam, Eve, and God by contrasting light against dark. The flesh toned color of Adam and Eve’s skin stands out against the dark landscape and the dark red color of Gods robe against light blue places him in the foregrounds of the sky. The emphasis placed on the main characters of this narrative creates a hierarchical scale. Rebuke first comes from God to Adam and is then passed from Adam to Eve and from Eve to the Serpent.

As the blame is passed, rhythm based on repetitious finger pointing creates a diagonal line from the upper right corner of the painting to the lower left corner, ultimately passing the blame to the serpent who receives the final rebuke.


Jacope Bassano painted “The Miraculous Draught Fishes” in 1545. This work is an oil on canvas painting. Like Domenichino, Bassano uses color to unify his painting. Visual weight, symmetrical balance, and emphasis are some of the other design principles Bassano used to depict the draught of fishes.

The monochromatic harmonies of orange, peach and tan used to clothe the upper portions of the fishermen’s bodies unifies the painting. This unity of bodies in boats creates a visual weight that is equally distributed, both boats having three men each. The two boats sail side by side, with one boat slightly in front of the other. A man standing up in the boat that appears closer to the viewer serves as the symmetrical balance of the painting. Symmetrical balance is defined as the implied center of gravity. He stands at the edge of the boat, seemingly overlapping the second boat, his body creating a line down the center of the composition.

Like Domenichino, Bassano also uses emphasis in his painting in order to bring out the main objective of the painting. The men in the boat that appears closer to the viewer are interacting with he who performs the miracle. And the men in the second boat are bent over the side of the boat, in search of a miracle.