Duccio di Buoninsegna's Madonna and Child

Many ages of art shine through Duccio’s portraying of Mary in Madonna Enthroned (fig. 6). Both being trained in the Greek manner, Duccio’s version of Siena’s patron saint is comparable to Cimabue’s Enthroned Madonna and Child with Angels and Prophets from the year 1280 2 (fig. 7). Duccio, however, took a softer

Through art, man started to change their view on themselves. Paintings during The Middle Ages focused a lot on God and religious views, but not a lot on man itself. During The Renaissance, however, paintings shifted to being much more realistic with humanistic features. Berlinghiero’s Madonna and Child from 1228 shows a woman holding a small child (Doc. A). There are a few facial and body features added such as on the nose and the hands. It shows Mary holding her child, showing that he is “the way to salvation” (Doc. A).

While both reflect a Biblical theme with a central focal point of the Madonna and Child, "Madonna Enthroned" has a key image that is best viewed from a central position and "Madonna and Child…" has a greater degree of importance over the majority of the surface of the canvas. In "Madonna and Child…" the viewer does not perceive that an image is being forced upon them as is found in the work by Giotto. A use of light and space is also key to preventing the Puligo piece from being "forced", where the organization of distance visibly removes the viewer from "Madonna Enthroned" while drawing the viewer into the painting in "Madonna and Child…". Color also serves a similar purpose, where Giotto's work is monochromatic but ocher while Puligo's work carries a greater expression through the detail involved.

From my trip to the art museum the piece which stood out the most to me throughout the entire experience was David Ghirlandaio’s Altarpiece showing the Virgin and Child, with Saints Apollonia and Sebastian. The work of art specifically depicts an example of a sacra conversazione such as the ones we have looked at in class. This piece was made specifically in the 1490’s or the Early Renaissance time period and directly came from Florence, Italy where it was commissioned by the church as an altarpiece. Ghirlandaio specifically used tempera and gold on panel for this painting which he made in his family enterprise. Overall, the painting is roughly five and a half feet in length and height and is an excellent example of the type of works one would expect to see out of the Early Renaissance time frame.

One of the most effective principles Paolo de Matteis uses in this painting is his use of lines and invisible lines to direct the viewer’s attention to the child in his mother’s arms. The shepherds and their animals, the Virgin Mary, and Saint Joseph are all instances of invisible lines in this painting, as their outstretched hands and lines of vision are all pointing to the baby Jesus. For example, the three women and the child kneeling to the bottom right side of the manger are all staring or pointing to the upper left, toward Jesus. Moving to the upper right corner of the painting, the ox and the donkey are directing their gaze to the bottom left, once again at Jesus. The two men to the right of the animals also point in that direction. In the top and center, Mary and Joseph watch their child, creating yet another invisible line pointing toward the point of emphasis, while the angels

The viewer can see and feel the bond between the mother and the child. I also think the artwork is beautiful and makes a deep impression on the viewer, because of the innocence and peaceful appearance of the infant. The woman has such an intense gaze with the way she is looking at the infant; it gives each viewer an opportunity to interpret it in their own way, concern or admiration, all part of motherhood. The woman’s body language is intriguing because she is replicating the infant’s arm position, maybe to find her own peace. In my search, I discovered that Berthe Morisot was a famous female artist in the 19th century, and in making a choice, this piece of art quickly caught my

In the painting, ‘Virgin and Child’, by Rogier van der Weyden, it can be observed that the artist chose to use the medium of oil on wood. Despite the fact that Rogier van der Weyden created this painting in the Netherlands and was born in Tournai, Belgium, their primary influence appeared to stem from the Italian Renaissance, which had begun to use the technique of oil paintings with increasing frequency by turn of the 15th century. The subject of the painting itself, Madonna and her virgin child, were a common theme in the Renaissance, where religious subjects and topics were the primary choice for any prominent artist during this historical artistic period.

Throughout history, people have used paintings and art as a tool to express their religious beliefs and values. Illustrations depicting the Virgin Mary and child, often referred to as Madonna and Child, are one of the most recurring images in Christian and European Art through the ages. Though these paintings and sculptures may have similarities in their iconography and style each work of art varies based on the different artists’ and time periods. Two paintings that portray these features currently reside in the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. The first, Virgin and Child by Rogier van der Wyden, was originally painted after 1454. In the painting, the Virgin Mary is holding Christ against her shoulder as he twists around to face toward the viewers. The second painting is Virgin and Child with a Donor, painted by Antoniazzo Romano and originally painted c. 1480. In this painting, Virgin Mary is supporting Christ who seems to be standing and includes a figure of a man with his hands crossed in prayer. While both paintings depict the mother and child, there are both similarities and differences in style and portrayal. In this paper, I will thoroughly examine these traits, as well as address the similarities and differences associated with the two paintings. This analysis will be done by using information gained from reading Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, in class lectures from ARTH 1381 Art and Society Renaissance to Modern and ARTH 1300 Ways of Seeing Art, and close visual

Madonna and Child with Angels and Prophets, an alter piece standing some 12 feet and 7 inches tall, was created around 1280-1290 A.D. for the Church of Santa Trinità in Florence, Italy and is now in the Galleria delgi Uffizi Florence. This iconographical piece was constructed through tempera and gold leaf on wood by Cimabue, an Italian painter who brought classical tradition back into art during the 13th century, when Italo-Byzantine style was dominant, paving the way for art in the Renaissance period.

Madonna in the Pinks, whose existence cannot be substantiated before 1833 , was not identified as an autograph painting of Raphael until 1991, after an acquisition made by the National Gallery in London by using public funds. However, the authenticity of the rediscovered painting attributed to Raphael remains under some dispute. Apart from the incomplete provenance, it demonstrated visual inconsistency in style and quality with other proved works of Raphael, supplemented with the incomprehensive scientific re-verification that the current attribution of the masterpiece-to-be perhaps still needs to be viewed with skepticism.

The Virgin and Child was created by Barnaba da Modena in 1360, and is deemed Gothic in style. It depicts The Virgin Mary holding a Child Christ in her arms, and rests undamaged to this day in Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. In terms of formal elements, it is 39.4 inches in height and 24.8 inches in width (100 x 63 cm), a religious painting executed by means of tempera on panel. The enduring framing edges might indicate that the painting was initially planned to be the central piece of a polyptych. A first impression is that of anachronism: its opulent golden background and the intricate striation outlines on the Madonna's mantle seem to indicate a much earlier conception, mainly Byzantine in nature. However, the Byzantine herring-bone pattern is clearly endowed with a more modern linear roundness.

     The style and the form of these two paintings reflect the development of the artistic techniques during the Italian Renaissance. While both reflect a Biblical theme with a central focal point of the Madonna and Child, “Madonna Enthroned” has a key image that is best viewed from a central position and “Madonna and Child…” has a greater degree of importance over the majority of the surface of the canvas. In “Madonna and Child…” the viewer does not perceive that an image is being forced upon them as is found in the work by Giotto. A use of light and space is also key to preventing the Puligo piece from being “forced”, where the organization of distance visibly removes the viewer from “Madonna Enthroned” while drawing the viewer into the painting in “Madonna and Child…”. Color also serves a similar purpose, where Giotto’s work is monochromatic but ocher while Puligo’s work carries a greater expression through the detail involved.

In this relief, we see it as Christ the child shares the viewer his joy of starting his new adventure as well as praising the purity of Virgin Mary. There are also three angels emerging from the cloud. In the Old Testament, angel’s functions refer to convey God’s will to mankind, which in this relief the angels reminds us of their role as “annunciators (ABRAHAM, 2: The three angels). They were the ones who carried messages from god and annunciated the birth of Christ. They are the witnesses of Christ the child coming to the human world as well as proof of Virgin Mary’s virtue of immaculate. In this relief, they are the guardian of the Virgin and child as well as admirers of Mary’s pure and virgin status. With their hands holding together in prayer, they show their blessings and caring to the mother and son as well as to the human world. In addition, unlike other Virgin Mary we see in churches’ altarpieces that are usually seated on throne, we also have Mary sitting humbly on the ground in this relief. According to Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art, there is a popular theme of “Madonna of Humility” which its essential figure is that the Virgin is seated on the ground. The dictionary also states that artists set Virgin Mary on the ground to convey a medieval theology,

The Lucca Madonna portrays Virgin Mary sitting on a throne feeding baby Jesus. Van Eyck's use of color truly draws the viewer to the painting. As soon as one sees the painting they as on looks upon the painting they are guided towards Mary and Jesus' bright skin then is soon drawn to the beautiful scarlet dress Mary is wearing. There seems to be little negative space in the paintings. The throne of which Mary sits on does not belong in the room. The only other items located in the room is the fruit on the window seal and the trinkets on the shelf.

Portraits of the Madonna and Child depicting Mary holding the infant Christ provide a recurrent image in art throughout the ages. In prevalent portrayals over the span of centuries, artists reflect a wide diversity in their representations of the iconic duo. In particular, two works found in the National Gallery of Ireland in the early Italian Renaissance gallery, The Virgin and Child, Saint John the Baptist and Prophets by an unknown artist (1325-1450) and The Virgin and Child by Paolo Uccello (1435-1440), highlight the transition between Byzantine and early Renaissance paintings of the Madonna and Child, particularly in relation to subject matter, composition, material, style and meaning. Although each of these paintings of the Madonna and Child depicts the same Christian iconography of Mary and Jesus, their differences in composition and style influence their meaning, with each painting reflecting the individual artist who painted it and the different time period during which it was created.