Martha Rebuking Mary For Her Vanity And Cindy Sherman's

Some people may believe that artwork is strictly just religious or just for entertainment in function due to the common subject matter. Martha Rebuking Mary for her Vanity by Guido Cagnacci (1601-1663) and Cindy Sherman’s Untitled Film Stills Series (1970s) have hidden meanings. These meanings allude to how people should act and should be portrayed. Religious leaders often used artwork to convey a message to their people to only believe in God, so in essence the former painting has advertising in it, while in the case of Cindy Sherman she is conveying a message to the film industry regarding how they should act toward women. The formal composition and the subject matter add to the meaning of Cagnacci’s work. The whole scene is very chaotic and full of dynamism. This is shown by the caught-in-action moment with Virtue and Vice. The angel, Virtue, is caught swinging a stick, his back curved to the right. Vice is caught in mid-action, running away. His facial expression conveys a pusillanimous attitude and yet also it conveys mischief. The placing of Virtue and Vice also conveys a message that people need to let go of their extra possessions and stop being materialistic. It conveys the message
All forms of artwork, whether it was from the Paleolithic era all the way to contemporary times, have had hidden agendas. The artwork has been catered to specific audiences at their respective time era. The intended audience of Cagnacci’s work was for all the people who strayed away from God. At that time people were driven towards money. Cagnacci’s focus was to scare people into thinking that they would go to hell if they kept having materialistic ways. For Cindy Sherman’s work, the intended audience was movie viewers and moviemakers. She wanted people stop making movies that objectified women. She also wanted people to stop supporting movies that do so. Artists all have hidden agendas no matter