Early vs. High

     I decided to analyze and compare the painting Madonna of the Harpies by Andrea del Sarto from the high renaissance, to the early renaissance painting Sacred and Profane Love by Titian. Both of these paintings are still held in high regard and share a certain esthetic from the period they were established. It takes an easy eye to find many similarities between these two pieces, differences however, could take a bit deeper of a look to discover but as I will show are very present as well.

       Sacred and Profane Love is a painting over flowing with symbolism, story and maybe even secrets. Art critics have declared many different interpretations of the two women, the baby angel (Cupid) and countless other subjects within the painting. Even without a relevant story, without a resemblance or knowledge of characters, this painting still amazes me. This is the first of the two paintings that I gazed at and with dynamic unity fresh in my mind, the energy and movement was highlighted on the painting right away and littered my view with neon colors. Everything from Cupid’s hand submerged into the water to the nude women in a contrapposto stance reaching one arm out into the air. Even the women’s hand sitting down is placed in an un-rested position and brings energy to the atmosphere. While each individual has there own unique movement it was not until I spent some time with the high renaissance painting Madonna of Harpies that I realized the interaction of this energy that each character holds is what was missing in Titian’s piece.

       In Modanna of Harpies, I went through somewhat of the same discovery of action in the painting but it was not entirely the same,. It seemed as if everything in the painting was composed to support everything else and after viewing it once I felt as if every unique detail was just as important to the piece as was the paint on the canvas. This painting truly brought to light the dynamic unity implemented during the high renaissance and the impact it has on the composition and the viewer. The Saints that surround the Virgin Mary are placed and shaded in a sense of protection. The subtle details of one’s foot risen up on the alter and the others body facing Mary shows the energy they share. But the most impressive form of dynamic unity is the interaction between the Virgin Mary, the child in her arms and the angels that cling to her. While these are all separate subjects they are all viewed as the same dynamic form in this painting. The angels are not merely reaching out for Mary but clinging to her as if they share the same force.

         These two paintings are both so similar and so unique at the same time. It was amazing to see how every decision that made each of these paintings can be traced back to a reason, a chance, and a time period. Even more amazing is the thought of what each of those decisions could have meant for the current era of art and what decisions made today will do for tomorrows angels.

Dead Christ

I decided to analyze the painting “The Lamentation of Christ “or, “Dead Christ” by Andea Mantegna for a few special reasons. It is a very abrupt and emotional piece at first glance but is very reflective and dense at the same time. The perception Mantegna used for the painting was very confronting and period. The colors used are dull but realistic and not straying too far from monochromatic witch I have been finding a lot in the dull and dark renaissance paintings I have been enjoying. I like this painting for its overall layout and composition the most, but all the small subtleties, the emotional expressions, the linear perspective used to show all of Christ’s body. It all comes together and delivers an epic and very unique piece, especially for the time period.

            The way that Christ is set up in the painting is not entirely realistic which is odd for that time where the more precise in scale and form your painting was the more style you seemed to have. After discovering my own focal point of the painting being Christ’s stomach and chest I moved toward the wounds on his hands and finally his feet. Something wasn’t right about his feet, they were too small for the perspective to fit. After, I read about how Mantegna did not want his feet to overpower the rest of the painting so he decided to keep them smaller. These are the little choices that I believe make paintings unique especially when they are decided in a time where they have yet to be judged. Every small choice used today in art can be traced back to, at one point being an invention. The Renaissance was a time of the most artistic inventors.

            The colors used in this painting are very natural and warm colors. They show a lot of emotion in them and are used well to bring out that emotion especially in the reds and violets of the faces.  The lines in the piece really pull the viewer in the main subject of Christ. Every other subject has very subtle lines and trapped in between horizontal and vertical. But the lines surrounding Christ are crisp and straight and box him and the viewer’s eyes, in at him.

            The detail and attention to the light and shadows of the environment are very period for this painting. Even with the dull warm colors are bent and bruised to shadows without giving up detail in return.  I would not be surprised to learn that this paintings placement was decided and taken into account before it was even started. My eye traveled around this painting following the light and digging itself out of shadows finally and inevitable ended on Christ’s face. While this seems like it might be the first thing the viewer would look at, for me every little subtlety of line color and light, led me to rest my eyes on Christ’s face.  After collecting all the emotion and passion from everything around him the painting ends for me on a dead, motionless body of Christ. 

Northern Renaissance Art

To me it is both very amazing and expected that the advent of not only a new style of painting beyond realistic detail but a new kind of artist would change the art world to the degree it has. An artist that takes painting to a new level in both his own mind and in the mind of the rest world.  This technique of making fiction not only seem real but hold weight and gravity as they put it changed the way the public saw art. They were no longer merely able to look at art but experience it.  Van Eyck was so detailed in not only his technique but also his materials his use of light and shadows and his details to give every composition, every piece, and every form in them an identity. One that could be related to, watched and even seem to change.

            Style at this time meant everything, not only the style of a painting but of clothes, jewels, and tapestries. The style of a person or object a person owned resembled them personally.  This is why Van Eyck’s portraits were so sought after. I find it interesting that if I wanted a self-portrait it would be quite easy and inexpensive to find at the current moment. But back then as it is now, the subject does not make the painting the painter makes the subject. It was a time of elegance for the rich, in everything they encountered. And a portrait back, then done by Van Eyck, would spell out royalty, elegance, or wealth. In the documentary they were referring to the Duke of Burgundy and described his food, as well as everything he surrounded himself with “long to prepare and short to consume”. This description caught my ear as easily applied to Van Eyck’s painting style. His work was beyond tedious and was a lengthy process to get the detail and genuine color he needed to capture from his head. Yet it was very quickly consumed, realized and understood in a literal sense, because his forms were so life like.

These paintings were not only seen as works of art but precious religious artifacts, Van Eyck’s paintings were broken apart and hidden around Europe, they were both stolen and protected not for there worth in currency but in there realistic hope and innovation. He was praised as having secret powers in his techniques of painting and was even accredited at one point of inventing oil paint.  That alone is an indicator on how people viewed Van Eyck at the time and how his work not only changed art but also changed the attitude of people viewing art around the world. It was no longer a singular experience, no longer just about the aesthetic beauty, Van Eyck put a mirror in front of us with every piece he birthed.

Northern Renaissance art was work of elegance and commitment, Van Eyck was an Artist of purity and innovation, and he brought a movement to art that needed no other backup then his own materials and pieces. It was said in the documentary how Van Eyck was able to depict the infinite. It is amazing that it took only one artist to bring art to life for a world of people and make it a mortal experience that will be protected cherished and referenced until the end.

My Overview on Renaissance Art

    It seems to me that Renaissance Art was born from the transition of one age to another. Through new knowledge gained in the period from science and religion to the more simple aspects of painting and sculpture technique, the Renaissance period was a starting point to where we find ourselves in the present art world. This is the reason we are so infatuated with what went on and what was produced during this time. If one minuet aspect of the art or of life for that matter was reflected upon in a different way back then, the butterfly effect could have altered art as we know it today.

This was the period that Art seemed to really become powerful and evident. One of my favorite quotes is from Pablo Picasso “It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child”. This comes to mind when I think of the Renaissance, in the long scheme of things it seems like a time when painting like a child was done without realizing it.

     Another reason I believe art not only flourished in the period but makes it so evident now is because the Renaissance was such a special and innovative time in our exitance. With new ideas surfacing from religion, society, even astronomy all at once in a sense comes this very strong will to question and even a stronger one to answer or figure out. How we interpret these drastically changing times is very important not only to remember but to reflect on, the art does just that. The artists of this time because faced with such new ideas and even new material and techniques were turned into innovators. This is why we look back at artists like Michelangelo and Raphael, and this is why other artists reference back to them as well.

     While Renaissance artists may not have all the techniques and materials that are available in the current age of art, it was a time when materials were more easily obtained then ever before and was also a period in which art itself took a prideful and meaningful jump in European society. When people started to find meaning and inspiration in art and when art could be profited from both intellectually and physically.

      I enjoy the Art of this period because it seems to raise more questions then it answers. To me Renaissance art is paintings and sculptures of brilliant stories, of gods along side humans of the unreal and the authentic at once. It is the reflection of people in a society where everything is changing, but changing not necessarily for the better but for the truth. These are my ideas and thoughts on Renaissance Art and the importance of it with little knowledge of the period. While am familiar with some of the artwork produced during this time I am not up to speed on the technique and styles of the compositions. I am very excited to learn more about the period, the artists and especially the art produced during that time.