Honors College Art & Science of Emotions Fall 2017 (12:00 p.m.) Sadness Journal | Page 7

can create feelings of sadness, depression, and negativity. Even the white napkin
seems to be blended in with the blue table.
Picasso was sad over the death of his
good friend. By painting this picture in blue, Picasso put the viewer feel the same emo-
tion that he was feeling. In addition, there is only one man in the picture. The man
may be feeling a sense of isolation or loneliness. When Picasso lost his friend, he may
have been in a state where he had nobody else to turn to. Therefore, the man being
painted may have a lot of characteristics that relate to him.
It is evident in “The Blind Man’s Meal” Picasso played with different artistic ele-
ments. Picasso elongated the man’s hands and fingers as well as distorted the man’s
body. He used the element of elongating body parts from El Greco who Picasso studied
during his time in school. The neck and shoulders of the man seem to be an uncom-
fortable position. This also contributes to the sadness and sorrow that was being re-
layed to the viewer. Creating a man that was blind instead of one that had vision con-
tributed to the sorrow that one would when viewing the portrait. The empty bowl on the
table and the single roll on the table may leave the viewer questioning why Picasso
highlighted these elements. An interesting element is he made the vase on the table a
gold color. It seems that Picasso is making a reference to religion and his Catholic faith
where the bread represents Christ’s body and in the vase, the wine represents Christ’s
blood. Overall, these elements and the blind may reference the biblical scripture of
when Jesus healed a man born blind. Furthermore, Picasso had aspects to the portrait
that made this man look realistic. Therefore, the audience can better relate to the suf-
fering and sadness that this man may be facing and even feel sympathy.
However, “The Blind Man’s Meal” is more than just a portrait of a blind man. Pi-
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