Woman Plucking a Duck

Dandi Gu

Elizabeth Holland 

ESL-460-01

8 March 2016

Critical Method

        Woman Plucking a Duck is an oil painting on canvas which was created by Nicolaes Meas between 1655 and 1656. The dimensions are 59.7cm length and 65.4cm weigh. On the left side of the painting, the window is open showing with a strong contrast of light through. There is a woman in s dark room plucking feathers from a dead duck with its red blood. Besides her feet, a black and white cat is staring at another dead duck on the red tile floor, which is made by small pieces of square bricks. On the cat’s right side, a plate with polka-dot holes is overlapping a metal bucket. In addition, a decorated round pattern dish is on the basket, which is full of orange-red oranges. Some oranges are spilling with a wooden spoon. in the background, there is a big long hunting gun leaning against the wall. Next to the gun, a broom is hanging on the wall. In the shadow, a ceramic plate is standing on the wall and delivering a dull luster. At the back of room, a dim light is squeezing through the open door, and a bright white flagon is on the table. Because of far distance, it is smaller and higher than the other flagon on the window close to the woman.

        The painting’s composition is according to two principles of design to achieve this artwork; movement and emphasis. From the top left side to the right bottom in this painting, there are two striking diagonal lines which represent the front the burst of outside light coming through the window. These two lines make the painting divided into a light part and a dark part. The brightest light shines on the woman’s headscarf, a moving cat, a dead duck, oranges and kitchen appliances. It definitely throws into sharp contrast the things between the leading subjects and the dark background. At the bottom of painting, the organized tile floor composes one point linear perspective, which means every vertical edge of brick is meeting a vanishing point of the open door in the back. Due to the distance, this bricks generate the effect of size constancy as the nearer bricks are bigger than the farther ones. The dominant color of this painting is red, which covers half of the picture. The sleeve of the woman’s clothing is bright red. The plate with holes is a red shade. The blood of the dead duck is a fresh red. The disordered oranges are analogous red color. The color of largest proportion is the floor, which represents different shades of red. That’s the reason why the key issue, the color of red, can make this painting unique.