When considering the options given to me the piece that caught my attention the most was the Shrine of the Virgin. The piece is a wooden sculpture made in Germany in the year ca. 1300 and is currently being exhibited at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in gallery 304. It has dimensions of (open): 14 1/2 x 13 5/8 x 5 1/8 in, (closed): 5in. and figure of Christ: 9 5/8 × 3 13/16 × 1 9/16 in.
The entire piece is of an upright stead Mary softly looking to the side while holding an infant Jesus, who his nursing in her lap. Mary has a crown on, representing her statues as the queen of heaven, with a veil under it and infant Jesus just has a long shirt/robe on. Both of them are fully gilded and painted, although the painting does look slightly newer than what would be expected. Upon opening the sculpture when opened there are three different sections to look at. Mary being like a vessel for the
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There are a large handful of sculptures that have an infant Jesus sitting down on Mary’s lap because of how nurturing, domestic and human the scene looked. Mary was spoken about as someone caring and nurturing, so by posing her in this way you are brings out those characteristics to the viewer. This was a pose that she was even painted in, but what makes this artwork interesting and distinct is how much further it goes into its storytelling and description of Mary. She was the vessel through which Christ came to earth, so this artwork makes her into a literal vessel. When looking inside of her you see, or where supposed to see, the image of the holy trinity. This is to represent how Mary had used her body and womb to bring forth all the forms of god to the people on earth. The holy trinity is the three forms in which God resides and by placing them inside the artist is clearly reminding the viewer of how important Mary truly is the salvation of her
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.
A couple of symbols that can be observed closely in the middle painting are the lily flower which is Mary’s symbolic flower, the vessel in the niche represents Mary’s womb, the star pattern in her dress is the star of Bethlehem that the Magi were looking for and underneath the window is a little guy carrying the cross, a symbol of Jesus’s crucifixion. In the right painting the symbol of the grapes are inferred implicitly because Joseph is making tools to harvest grapes which are needed to make the wine used in the Holy Communion which then becomes the blood of
The piece was chosen primarily because of the magnificent presence that is felt as one enters the room, or cathedral, where the piece may be located. The viewer's eye is drawn immediately to the central figure of Saint Peter who was seated as pope at the time. Giving the main focus of the work to the pope is representative of the importance that was placed on the papal seat. This importance was exemplified, during the time of this altarpiece's creation, by the crisis of the Great Schism. Furthermore, a scene of Christ's crucifixion can be seen directly above the panel of Saint Peter further emphasizing the importance of Christ in the painting, and in the medieval time period as well. Overall, the piece depicts four images from the life of Saint Peter, which surround the center panel on the left and the right sides. In addition, scenes from the lives of the Virgin Mary and St. Blaise, a fourth century martyr, are also present. All the characters in the panels more or less have halos and therefore are holy figures. The twelve apostles line the bottom of the panels, perhaps suggesting that they were the foundation of the Catholic religion. Basically, the painting is designed for a church altar, it has religious figures in it, and it is filled with Bibles and images of Christ's crucifixion. All of this relays a strong message to the viewer that this is what is important in life; one should pay close attention to religion and have respect for it.
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
...ic meanings that still are puzzling art historians today. Some of the key symbols that Stokstad points out in the text is the dove, representing the Holy Spirit; the white lilies as a symbol of the Virgin Mary. She also points out, two rather unknown symbols to the sacrilegious, the date of the Annunciation in signs of the zodiac on the floor, as well as the lone stained glass window that is symbolizing God rising above the three windows that are placed in the background behind Mary. These three windows represent the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Immaculate Conception by Pereda is very dark and rich with the lighting focused mainly in the middle of the image on Mary to depict her innocence and purity. The light appears to be coming from above and just like the last painting this gives the shape of a triangle pertaining to religion. Two puttoes are at the top of the image holding a crown. This symbolizes innocence and more cherubs’ faces are along the bottom of this painting. The puttoes are all looking up while Mary is looking down with her hands touching as if in prayer. This painting comes off as serious and Mary looks very realistic. The cloth that is draped on Mary is also dark and has many folds to it. Along with one black piece hanging over her shoulder loosely. While the
Examining the iconography in this sculpture, there are two details to note. The first is the grapes in the Virgin’s hand. The grapes represent
‘Martha and Mary Magdalene’ sometimes known as ‘Martha Reproving Mary’ or ‘The Conversion of the Magdalene’ was painted by Caravaggio in 1595 and completed in 1596. The piece was done in oil and tempera on canvas, measuring at 39 and three eights by 53 inches. Art historians believed it to be a copy until the 1970’s. It wasn’t until after, that the DIA purchased this painting in 1974, where it has resided since. This composition is said to be where the artist has fully devel...
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...
The Virgin Mary serves as the connection between the fertility of the paradoxical garden and the divine structure of the golden tapestry. Wearing an ornate and naturalistic cloak, which conceals the majority of her physical features, the Virgin becomes the pyramidal anchor of the
Vinci’s painting of the Last Supper. This picture displays Jesus sitting at the table with
The theme can be generally recognized in this piece through color, space, and especially through use of light. The colors used in this piece are mostly calm toned, whereas the robes and shawls worn are pale blues, corals, and beiges. There are however, some harsh colored objects such as Mary’s navy blue shaul and deep coral gown, as well as Christ’s coral necklace that stand out from the rest of the colors. Mary’s veil and the angel on the lefts’ hair are translucent in certain streams of light coming from the windows throughout the room. The artists suggests that the light is dedicated not to represent the divine but to rather represent a more natural juxtaposition on the piece. The space that the characters stand in is fully used by the subjects but also has a very interesting doorway with heightened perspecti...
Like in the two works of art below, Mary’s work was more of a tradition while Edgar’s work was more of a modern. Mary used the crown to depict the nature and the position of the woman in society while Edgar had a simple girl. Mary used the round base to place her sculpture on while Edgar had a square base for his sculpture. The former sculptures shows the man wearing the Native American clothes and the figure is clearly of a male. The later shows partly tinted image of a girl putting on a cotton skirt and satin hair ribbon, placed on a wooden square
In the painting Mary, Christ Child, Saint Elizabeth, Saint John, and Saint Joseph are all represented. Certain things happening in the photo are keys to things that have happened in our past which was also explained by The Cleveland Museum of Art. Saint Elizabeth is said to be leaning
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.