As you may know from my bio, I am a YouTube gamer and I play along with my husband. It’s his channel and I help with the banter. Now you must be wondering what this has to do with the art blog.
Recently I came across a game titled The Procession to Calvary by the game developer Joe Richardson and Digerati. If you are an art historian or you happen to be studying up on art from the 1500s, you may know of a painting by the same title by Netherlandish Renaissance artist Pieter Bruegel.
The game is centered around a female knight named Bellona, who is the Roman goddess of war featured in Rembrandt’s work by the same title. She has a penchant for killing and goes on a quest to kill a king named Heavenly John. Bellona must solve these absurd puzzles, which gets her closer to him. The background of the game display artworks from the 1500s to the 1800s and the characters move in the foreground.
Besides the silliness of the puzzles, the people that she encounters gives the gamers laugh out loud moments, such as helping out a “street magician” who has a striking resemblance to Jesus and the girl with the amethyst earring, which we coax her to switch to a pearl one.
Perhaps this is a new way of engaging people with art. I didn’t recognize many of the art pieces in the game and had to look up some of them. Maybe gamers who play the game get curious to know if the art are actual pieces. There are plenty of bizarre ones to ponder over.
It’s a short, easy game where you play with your computer and point and click on characters and objects. If you’re interested in seeing our gameplay, check us out under Woolly Mammoth Gaming on YouTube.
What the Art?! Art History Simplified 