Comparing Late Medieval Crucifixion Versus Renaissance

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Duccio di Buoninsegna and his workshop differ from Joos van Cleve in numerous ways. Both artists were influenced by the different works of their time. For instance Duccio lived and worked during the time between Late Medieval art and Pre-Renaissance, which emphasized a change from merely concealing the figures to making them more realistic than previous works of art. Joos van Cleve resided in the Renaissance period, which was later than Duccio by over two hundred years, where the act of making figures more lifelike with an increased amount of depth had been perfected. These differences and similarities can be most clearly seen with Duccio's Triptych: the Crucifixion; the Redeemer with Angels; Saint Nicholas; Saint Gregory and Joos' The Crucifixion.

Duccio di Buoninsegna and his workshop produced this piece in the time period of Late Medieval and Pre-Renaissance, which provided the piece with a mixture of different styles. The main subject of this piece revolves around the storyline of Christ's death and resurrection. Angels surround Christ in a circular formation when he lies on the cross, and when he has risen two angels flank him in the pinnacle. Meanwhile, two larger groups of mourners are firmly connected to the slight hill that holds the cross. At the base of the cross, a dead body appears to rise from the death as well, seemly from the blood of Christ as he is attached to the cross (Figure 1). This could represent how all souls will rise, because Christ gave his body and blood for all people. On the two doors of the triptych, Saint Nicholas and Gregory follow the pattern of being symmetrically placed along with the rest of this triptych. While each saint differs in color, they both hold up their right hand...

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...ifelike and realistic. This can be seen with Joos' painting in the way the figures have shadows and are arranged with perspective, compared to Duccio's where there is only a foreground, and the figures are rigidly attached to the ground. However, both works of art are similar in subject matter, and a viewer can clearly see how Duccio influenced Joos with the continuation of painting the bones at the foot of the cross. Both paintings came from different eras, but they each have similarities and differences.

Works Cited

Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Museum label for Joos van Cleve, The Crucifixion. Boston, 1 February 2014.

"Figure 1-5." Triptych: the Crucifixion; the Redeemer with Angels; Saint Nicholas; Saint Gregory. (1311-1318 CE.). Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA.

"Figure 6-8." The Crucifixion. (1525 CE.). Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA.

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