In the panel Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple by Giotto the scene shows Mary at three years old with her parents, Anna and Jaochim, at the temple to be consecrated to God. This painting can be found in the Arena Chapel in the horizontal series of panels devoted to the Life of Virgin Mary, and is placed on top of the Baptism of Christ and the Crucifixion of Christ. The panel shows Mary in the center, on the steps of the temple in a bright white robe with a crowd of people facing her. Anna, Jaochim, and Mary all have golden halos around their head to symbolize their holiness, a common motif in works of the time. The priest’s hand reaches out to Mary and Mary’s mother Anna, seems to be in unity with the priest because they are wearing
At the top of the artwork the upper part of the cross extends beyond the altarpiece. The edge of John the Evangelist’s red robe on the left of the altarpiece and the edge of Mary Magdalene’s pale blue skirt on the right are cut off when the panel ends, giving the viewer the feeling that, rather than looking in on the scene, the viewer is actually taking part in the scene. This, added to the empathy invoked through the delicate, heart-wrenching rendering of the figures in the artwork, let the observer directly interact with the painting and places him/her within the narrative.
The Mérode Altarpiece is a triptych because it includes 3 paintings in one or 3 panels with hinges that can be closed together. The painting on the left shows two people praying and on the right a man is working. As can be seen, the painting in the middle is a recreation of the Annunciation scene stated in the Bible where the angel Gabriel descends from heaven to tell Mary that she will have a baby named Jesus who is the son of God.
The Merode Altarpiece is a triptych painting that represents the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. This work displays the main characteristics of the Northern Late Gothic period. There is so much detail in this work of art. Campin utilizes many symbols in this altarpiec. The setting of the painting is in a Flemish middle class house. The Annunciation theme is being depicted in the central panel. A scene of Saint Joseph at work as a carpenter occupies the right-hand panel. The portraits of the donors are depicted in the left hand panel. Campin failed to understand the scientific perspective. To illustrate, there is no focal point in the painting and the table looks tilted. Campin used no aerial perspective. To illustrate, the background is still very crisp when seen from a distance. The most important aspect of the painting is the symbolism. For example, the lilies represent Mary's purity, the candle represents the Holy Spirit, even the mouse traps represent trapping evil. Campin also made use of bright, rich colors. In the central panel, the drapery of the figures are filled with colors of red and white. Campin has also made a good use of illusion of the space by making the town seem to be far away by distance by making them appear blurry. Furthermore, Campin has created figures that are not in proper proportion. To illustrate, the figure’s head is small and the bodies are big and it seems that if they get will hit their head if they get up. They look very unrealistic. Although they are not in proportion, the figures seem to have very sharp edges. The figures also look very stiff and rigid. In Merode Altarpiece, the light is arbitrary and the figures do not cast any...
Bernard Van Orley painted the Virgin with Child and Angels (ca. 1518) near the beginning of his career. This piece brings elements from the High Renaissance as well as early Renaissance and hints of the Gothic era. Orley’s use of oil on wood in this piece has allowed him to paint intricate details on the structures in the building and the drapery in the fabrics, and the triangular composition in the foreground gives it a nice focal point. The first thing that captures the eye in the hierarchy of scale is the Virgin Mary, holding a nude baby Jesus. The lack of a golden halo on both figures is notable, bringing the world into a realistic perspective. Mary face and body encloses Christ with an expression of endearment, creating a circle that connects
By most accounts, the year 1500 was in the midst of the height of the Italian Renaissance. In that year, Flemmish artist Jean Hey, known as the “Master of Moulins,” painted “The Annunciation” to adorn a section of an alter piece for his royal French patrons. The painting tells the story of the angel Gabriel’s visit to the Virgin Mary to deliver the news that she will give birth to the son of God. As the story goes, Mary, an unwed woman, was initially terrified about the prospects of pregnancy, but eventually accepts her fate as God’s servant. “The Annunciation” is an oil painting on a modest canvas, three feet tall and half as wide. The setting of the painting is a study, Mary sitting at a desk in the bottom right hand corner reading, and the angel Gabriel behind her holding a golden scepter, perhaps floating and slightly off the canvas’s center to the left. Both figures are making distinct hand gestures, and a single white dove, in a glowing sphere of gold, floats directly above Mary’s head. The rest of the study is artistic but uncluttered: a tiled floor, a bed with red sheets, and Italian-style architecture. “The Annunciation” was painted at a momentous time, at what is now considered the end of the Early Renaissance (the majority of the 15th Century) and the beginning of the High Renaissance (roughly, 1495 – 1520). Because of its appropriate placement in the Renaissance’s timeline and its distinctly High Renaissance characteristics, Jean Hey’s “Annunciation” represents the culmination of the transition from the trial-and-error process of the Early Renaissance, to the technical perfection that embodied the High Renaissance. Specifically, “Annunciation” demonstrates technical advancements in the portrayal of the huma...
The depiction of Madonna and Christ is among the most ancient and common in Christian iconography and has an extensive number of variations because apart from its symbolic religious functions, it allows one to interpret the link between mother and child in many aspects. (8)
Although Eichendorff’s story displays religious elements, the pious facets take on a different form than in Psyche. In “The Marble Statue”, Sunday remains a holy day where evil subsides. God and Satan manifest into the metaphysical through characters, settings, and motifs. Fortunato is a pure character directing Florio towards the path of the righteous man while Donati is a sinister man leading the boy into temptation. The seductress is the embodiment of evil while Bianca is the good. The aspect of religion is demonstrated in a more direct manner in Psyche. The artist abandons a life of art to become a brethren of the covenant where it is proclaimed the Goddess of Art is “a witch who carries towards vanity, towards earthly pleasure”. The good and evil is left to interpretation in “The Marble Statue” while religion in Andersen's tales contains a straightforward portrayal of faith and sin.
One of the very first well-known portrayals of this narrative was by Giotto di Bondone. From around 1304, it is an Early Renaissance painting. Jesus is lying down, cradled by the Virgin Mary, and Mary Magdalene is cares...
One of Piero della Francesca’s well known paintings known as, Madonna and Child with Two Angels (Senigallia Madonna), is a piece that caught my eye while browsing The Metropolitan Museum of Art located on the Upper East side of Manhattan. This piece, created circa 1478 was done in Sansepolcro, Italy and was executed with oil paint on wood sized at 24 in. x 21 1/16 in.. Piero della Francesca’s biblical portrait of the Virgin, Christ, and angels is a central icon in the Catholic church specifically of the Renaissance (rebirth) in Italy. Throughout this piece, there is an underlying theme of the Virgin Mary’s son, Jesus Christ as he is intimately represented. It is an iconic scene that has been depicted by many different artists of the Renaissance but the way that Piero della Francesca represents his iconic piece differs in that it is more than a portrait, it is a scene of the Virgin Mary and her child being blessed.
Madonna and child is one of the early Christian paintings. It shows “Madonna” as the virgin Marry and the “Child” as baby Jesus. The artist Berlinghiero did this great painting in the Greca period in the twelfth century. This painting was done on wood with two figures in front of a gold background. Madonna is wearing a dark blue cloak with golden decorations that cover most of her body; she is also wearing a reddish dress underneath her cloak that is only visible on her arms. To show here modesty the only thing that can be seen is here arms, neck and face. Her hand has and unrealistic look to them so as if they look long and skinny. According to the museum label “Berlinghiero was always open to Byzantine influence, and this Madonna
In Giotto’s Madonna and Child Enthroned I see an older renaissance painting of a woman and her child. The child is sitting on the lap of his mother who is sitting on a large burgundy throne in the middle of the painting. The woman is dressed in a navy cloak while her child is clothed in a pink robe. Above the child’s head there is a yellow circle. This circle is a renaissance symbol for religious leadership or importance. Surrounding this throne are a gathering of angels. There are exactly seven angels on each side worshiping this mother and child. The background consists of a yellow brick pattern.
The immediate background consists of natural mounds of dirt and a brick wall that enclose the Virgin, Child, and St. John, amplifying the protective effect that Mary’s figure has. The dirt mounds roll inward with a brick wall bordering them on the right, drawing the viewer’s attention towards the three figures. The background is painted in broad terms, with a simple, uniform depiction of tree leaves and smooth rock faces on the horizon. This contrasts with the fine-lined detail and texture of Mary’s hair, facial features, and veil, which further contribute to her elegance and highlight her
The ability to create a picture of The Annunciation in one’s mind is a key factor in understanding the analysis of the work. Francisco de Zurbaran approaches the painting with a naturalistic style. The painting features a room in which a woman – like angel is seen at the left kneeling on the ground before the Virgin Mary. The figure of Mary is placed between a chair and a small wooden table draped with a green cloth. Mary disregards an open Bible on the table, as she appears solemn while staring at the floor. Floating above the two main figures in the upper left side of the painting are cherubs resting on a bed of clouds. They happily gaze down at Mary with eyes from Heaven.
There is a cast of five different characters, which includes the angels and Jesus Christ himself. This painting seems to be symmetrical as there are two figures, or angels, on both sides. Christ is in the center and the angels are surrounding him. He is also in the foreground, upfront, whereas the angels appear to be in the background. Christ is dominating the pictorial composition, and is the main focal point of the work, guessing from his centered location in the painting. There are no real vibrant colors used in the painting, even the bright colors shown feel darkened as if the figures are in the shadows somewhere, and light is peaking in, shining off all of them. If the lighting wasn’t as dark, the colors would surely be brighter. Christ himself is nude, whereas the angels are each clothed in different colors. There is a warm light that makes Christ appear soft. The color schemes of the clothes the angels are wearing appear to be a lot of red, green and white. The painting helps us to understand that the main focal point of the piece is Christ. Not only is he the largest figure and takes up most of the painting, the light is directly shining onto him and leaving the angels to be darker, in the shadows. The angels have light on them to show they do have a presence but not nearly as much as Christ. Additionally, the left side of the bench that Christ is seated on, if looked at closely, appears to be
During the Renaissance, the Virgin Mary was prevalent theme throughout this period where artists such as: Fra Angelico, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Bothicellical and Perugino were inspired to paint the Virgin Mary. The paintings show a motherly pleasant looking women holding or caring for her child. The paints are capturing the Mary as a human but giving her a divine appearance. The child being Christ shows her power by giving birth to him and by caring for the Son of God. In essence providing love, caring, and protection for the young child of God. For example, plate 15 and frame 23, these plates show a compassionate caring mother that is humanistic in depiction but larger or more encompassing of the painting than the Christ child. This is implying her importance in the early life of Christ. This also shows the power or her earthly influence over the child even though she is a human and not a deity. This gives her a special place in the church as the earthly Mother that is the most perfect of humans, other than Christ.