Art History II 4/22/2009 Museum Assignment For the museum assignment I choose to compare and contrast the following two examples of Italian renaissance art. The renaissance or re-birth was a cultural change that spanned from about the 14th through the 17th centuries. The renaissance began in Italy; it emphasized learning based on classical sources. The two works of art were altarpieces; an altarpiece is a picture or relief representing a religious subject suspended in a frame behind the altar of a church. Altarpieces were commonly commissioned to artists during the renaissance in Italy.
Art 101 Final Essay Duccio, Annunciation of the Death of the Virgin, from the Maesta Altarpiece (Pg. 86) and Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Supper (Pg. 87) are both drawn with one-point linear perspective. However they are different in the aspect of the one-point linear perspective. Duccio’s was painted before linear perspective was fully understood while Leonardo da Vinci’s was painted when linear perspective was understood and the system was successfully employed.
In comparing and contrasting Cimabue’s and Giotto’s Madonna Enthroned, the artist’s main idea of Madonna sitting on the throne is the same, however the forms used greatly differ. Both artists paint with a Gothic and Byzantine style with noticeable halos on the angels and a gold background. When contrasting these two pieces of art, the main difference is the placement of the figures of Madonna in each painting. In Cimabue’s, the Madonna looks as if she is sitting solidly, and the angels appear to be “stacked” around her in parallel form. In Giotto’s artwork, the angels in front appear closer, as the angels in the back row seem farther away giving an appearance of surrounding the Madonna.
Miracle of the Crib at Greccio and the Lamentation Giotto’s painting shows many similarities of a Christian style painting. One of giotto’s painting was the Miracle of the Crib at Greccio. Many scholars differ whether young Giotto or his followers, in the late 1330, painted the Miracle of the Crib at Greccio. Therefore, many have adopted the neutral designation of the artist as the Saint Francis Master. This masterpiece was from the late 1200s and is in the church of San Francesco, Italy.
Art Analysis Paper-Sacred Theme Paintings During the research for the Scavenger Hunt class paper, the Sacred Realm theme was selected as the theme to be discussed and analyzed. A comparison analysis of the two paintings by Sano di Pietro's Madonna and Child (15th Century) and Pietro Cavallini's The Most Holy Mother of God (13th Century) revealed that even when they are of different time periods they possess very interesting similarities. These paintings were selected because they both use the Madonna and Child as their main focus, and contain themes that correspond perfectly with the Sacred Realm theme, as stated in the progress report previously submitted and in the text book, Living with Art by Getlein (Getlein 50). Pietro Cavallini was the most dominant painter in Rome when Giotto worked there at the close of the 13th century (Eimerl 86). Sano di Pietro was also highly regarded in his time: Sano di Pietro was one of the most prolific and successful Sienese painters, the head of a workshop that satisfied the demands of civic and religious institutions in the city as well as those of private devotion.
As humanism quickly gained popularity, its influence permeated to the arts - renewing the idea of classical art forms. Da Vinci's Madonna and Child with Saint Anne in a Landscape (1508 - 1513) incorporates classicism within the culture of Christianity to show human achievement and Christ's dual nature of divinity and humanity. Da Vinci's painting depicts a moment of intimate affections between the three generations - Saint Anne, Virgin Mary, and infant Jesus. The Virgin Mary is balanced atop of her mother's lap, Saint Anne, while gently supporting baby Jesus, who is playfully clutching a small lamb. This arrangement of the figures creates a pyramid in the painting.
He covered them with a layer of pure egg white, in a process unusual for his time. His painting resembles a fresco in its freshness and brightness. Birth of Venus is dependent on the slenderness of Botticelli's line. The proportions show their greatest exaggeration, yet the long neck and torrent of hair help to create the mystifying figure. Botticelli uses very linear lines in the birth of Venus all of the figures are on same plan going from one end to the other giving the painting a very linear feel.
Van Eyck’s work is also known for being highly symbolic. Van Eyck painted The Annunciation in 1435. It was transferred from a panel to oil on canvas. Generally speaking, it depicts an angel and a young woman in what appears to be a place of worship. The historical context and plethora of symbolism, however, makes this picture very unique.
I Introduction The birth of Christ, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, the Pieta; religious art has always been an important tradition in the West. This paper examines an altarpiece by Raphael, painted around 1504 (16.30 ab), first describing it briefly then considering it in more detail. II Description The first thing we notice is that the painting is in two pieces: the main subject, Mary and the Child, are in the center of the lower portion, which is a square. Above it is a semicircle with other figures in it. A heavy horizontal wooden bar, which is part of the structure that frames the entire work, divides the two.
Italian Renaissance art was heavy on symmetry and balance and giving the subjects a sense of mass and volume by using knowledge of the underlying anatomy of the human figure. This allowed for more realistic art with shadows and motion in sharp contrast to the flat art of the Middle Ages. A fine example of this is another work of Michelangelo’s from the Sistine Chapel, titled the Creation of Adam. Northern Renaissance art, while also more realistic than previous movements, focused heavily on the minute surface details and naturalism. A kind of documentary nature takes hold in this kind of art, as if the painters are capturing a moment in time, much the way a photograph would.