Word of Life

A detailed Summary of Word of Life

In the early 1960s artist Millard Sheets was commissioned to create a mural large enough to cover the south face of the Hesburgh Library on the University of Notre Dame campus in South Bend, Indiana. The work had to be visible from the football stadium and have a theme of saints and scholars throughout the ages. "As the composition evolved, the figure of Christ the Teacher was developed with arms raised in what has become known as the "touchdown" gesture." (Stevenson)

"Millard Sheets, as one of the founding members of the "California Scene Painters," exerted a lasting influence upon subsequent generation of Western painters. He and the small group of painters who worked in California during the 1930s and 1940s developed a new style of watercolor painting that was at the forefront of the American watercolor movement of the time." ("Papers")

"Sheets was born in 1907 in Pomona, California; his mother died during childbirth and the Millard was sent to be raised by his maternal grandparents. Encouraged to pursue art by two maternal aunts, first by using crayons and pencils, and later using paints. He won his first art competition in 1919 at the Los Angeles County Fair." ("Papers")

"After being schooled in the Choinard School of Art

There appears to be no real visual rhythm to this work. There are many lines running across this work but they don't seen to lead to any particular point. They are intentionally there but I can't see the purpose they serve.

Color: For the most part the colors used in this mural are earth tones because of the materials used to create the mural; mostly reds, browns, blues, grays with gold leaf used for effect. The darkest of the browns are in the four corners, which leaves a large cross of the light browns used for the background and the light grays used for the clothing.

All that came to be had life in him.

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Symbolism: The symbolism used in this work is achieved by the use of gold in this mural. The use of gold in this work are on the halo of Jesus, the crowns of the three kings, the small harp with a cross on it held by the king of the right, the crowns on the clothes of the king in the bottom left corner, and the staff with the cross on the top held by the king in the center. I think that because gold is only used on the persons of power in this mural, it depicts the power of the kingdom of heaven and Jesus himself.

A light that darkness could not overpower.

Lighting: In this mural, there seems to be no source of light present. Any sense of light given seems to come from within the work.

in Los Angeles as a child, and by master printer Dorfinant in the late 1920s, and further education at Scripps College in Claremont, CA; Sheets opened the Millard Sheets Design Company in 1953."("Papers")

Some common words found in the essay are:
Jesus Christ, Roman Catholic, Granite Company, Greek Roman, John Ch, Pomona California, Scene Painters, Surrounding Christ, Millard Sheets, Bend Indiana, millard sheets, los angeles, center mural, source light, notre dame campus, light colors, bottom mural, held king, word god, south bend indiana, simplicity size, university notre dame, 1 john, hesburgh library university, library university notre,

Approximate Word count = 1852
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Arts