Anyone who has been or seen pictures of Italy are aware that the country is known for its beautiful churches and amazing art. While there are many different aspects that make up the glorious style of design that these churches have come to be known for, there are two churches located in Florence, Italy that are unique in a completely different way: Santa Maria del Carmine and Santa Maria Novella. While the two churches are similar in ways, they both have unique structures and art inside them that make them completely different. To understand how much these two churches compare one must look at the structure, history, artists, and art inside them.
The Santa Maria del Carmine church was founded by the Carmelite monastery in 1268. Building the
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What made the Santa Maria Novella different was that it is built to represent the Florentine Gothic system of architecture instead of older buildings that resembled French gothic architecture (Erdogmus, Boothby, & Smith, 2017). The Ruccellai family hired Alberti to design the Gothic church (Kleiner, Mamiya, Tansey, 2013), during the late Middle Ages (1200-1400) (Erdogmus et al., 2017). Alberti took his cue from Brunelleschi, who was an architect and used a pre-Gothic medieval design of a different church. Following the model, he designed a small temple front and supported it with a broad base of arcades that incorporate the six tombs and three doorways. He had the height of the Santa Maria Novella equal the width so that the entire façade could be a square which was unique in this era (Kleiner et al., 2013). Along with a square method, Alberti designed and built the structure using the Florentine Gothic system. The Santa Maria Novella was one of the first churches to make this change. Louis Grodecki described the Santa Maria Novella as “the most successful and promising achievement of Italian Gothic during the middle and second half of the thirteenth century” and named it the first Florentine Gothic work of architecture (Erdogmus et al., 2017, p. …show more content…
For this project, Masaccio worked with painter Masolino on the fresco decoration in the chapel that was dedicated to St. Peter and his life (Stokstad, 2007). There were two major frescos that Masaccio painted in the chapel. The Expulsion from Paradise and the Tribute. The Expulsion from Paradise is known as the most powerful painted nude since antiquity (Adams, 2011). This scene had been painted by many artists, but Masaccio’s use of light and expression on their faces made it different. (Kleiner et al., 2013). The other fresco that Masaccio was famous for in the chapel would be the Tribute. What made this painting so famous is that Masaccio did not make the people look stiff in the painting, and he used an aerial perspective to paint the picture. Ancient Roman painters have used the aerial perspective, but medieval artists abandoned it, therefore it was lost until Masaccio rediscovered it (Kleiner et al., 2013). This painting represented a tax collector going to Jesus for payment and Jesus telling Peter to go and catch a fish and look in his mouth where he finds the money and pays the tax collector (Stokstad, 2007). It was thought that this painting may have been done because Christ condones taxation, and during this time there was a catasto (state tax) that the Florentines were considering (Adams, 2011). Masaccio left Florence and died later that year before
Art in the early Renaissance began with artists such as Giotto, who was credited with beginning a new style of art that Masaccio had taken up and integrated into his art later in the Renaissance. This specific style, being the use of massive figures, relation of background/landscapes to figures, and visual representation of perspective, was utilized by Masaccio in his frescoes in the Brancacci chapel. Masaccio’s Tribute Money is showing a biblical tale ,as the renaissance was not entirely anti religion, but with subjects that are being made to look realistic through a use of perspective (vanishing point, horizon line, etc,) and it is said that Masaccio's work was said to be “ living, natural, and real”. Artists such as Uccello took this style and adapted it to also make his art more realistic by using figures to show the laws of perspective, while others like Pollaiuolo
Barna da Siena’s Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine and Other Scenes from 1340 is vastly different in content, composition, and a number of other attributes from Fra Carnevale’s 1467 painting Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple. It is clear between the roughly hundred years between when the two were painted that advancements in realistic painting soared and a further appreciation for realism and humanism developed. The need to portray more than just the holy subjects, and to show how far painting had evolved is evident in the differences between Barna and Fra Carnevale’s works. Although, the emotion behind Barna’s work, and its significance are, in my eyes, far greater than that of Fra Carnevale’s.
This paper will compare the themes found in the paintings "Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist and an Angel" by Domenico di Bartolomeo Ubaldini (Puligo) and "Madonna Enthroned" by Giotto. Both paintings deal with fables from the Christian faith but were executed during different periods in art. The Giotto painting was created around 1310 and the Puglio painting was executed between 1518 1520. Here, these two paintings have similar themes both at the extreme beginnings and endings of the Italian Renaissance, and as such they serve to present an exceptional example of the developments in art that occurred within that time. This paper shall compare
The inside of St. Mary's is filled with icons of the Virgin, pictures of the life of Christ, and other saints. The images of the icons have large, eerily lifelike eyes and they convey a sense of 'specialness,' that the church is a 'sacred space' even though the architecture is not tall and lofty. St. Mary's is a Coptic church, a branch of the Orthodox faith that originated in Alexandra and is based in Egypt today. I learned this from perusing some of the literature in the church distributed for people to read, as well as later reading the website.
* Masaccio –Tribute Money/ Expulsion in the [and Masolono, Filippino Lippi] Brancacci Chapel; Trinity with Virgin, St. John the Evangelist, and Donors
In this research paper I will be looking at two different artworks by the same artist. The two I will be looking at are the Sistine Chapel Ceiling (1508-1512) and The Last Judgment (1534). Both of these painting are painted in the Sistine chapel which is located in the Vatican. I am going to attempt to evaluate these two pieces of art painted by Michelangelo and explain the cultural and religious aspects of them. I will also look to other scholars to get their perspective and their reactions to the paintings. The last step of my research will be to formulate a theory about the relationship between culture and religion and use my topic to help defend my theory.
Michelangelo Merisi de Caravaggio’s The Denial of St. Peter depicts the accusal of Peter for being a disciple of Jesus. Painted in 1610 on oil on canvas as was the emerging medium of paintings during the Italian Renaissance. It is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the Caravaggio and Southern Italy room in the European paintings department. Caravaggio’s piece is relatively medium sized and place directly at eye-level.
The Deposition from the Cross (Entombment of Christ) by Jacopo Pontormo was completed in 1528 and originally resided in the Florence Charterhouse as the main altarpiece. With it’s distinct iconography, the work was intended to show the public the raw suffering of Christ after his sacrifice and how those around him felt at the time of his death. It holds an uplifting and even hopeful tone with it’s “sour” color palette, a stable for the Mannerist movement.
The painting The Holy Family with Saints Anne and John the Baptist, 1592 (oil on canvas) was created by Italian painter Sofonisba Anguissola (c.1532-1625). It is currently held at the Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, as a gift from Mrs. Forbes Hawkes and Bridgeman Images. This painting is among the unique pious narrative paintings by Anguissola. “The Holy Family” is the last dated painting by the artist. It was executed when she had just returned to Italy after spending 14 years working for King Philip II at the Spanish court. By this time, she had already married to a Genoese ship captain. Her various visits to court and her personal contacts with great painter at that time largely inspired herself. Through these contacts, she successfully stayed in touch with current developments in art. By closely observing this masterpiece, I argue that the artist perfectly sustain the beauty of counter-reformation arts in her work by use of light and shadow, delicate brushwork and accurate proportions of each subjects.
While constructing both of these cathedrals there were sculptures created that represented narratives of theology and mysticism. Both were created for a place of worship that’s why sculptures and paintings of religious images were added. This showed a great respect for the belief in Christ and the surrounding believers.
The great thing about art, is that there are multiple portrayals of one idea but, the artist’s own personal style allows one to feel something that another may not. Early Renaissance painters, Giotto di Bondone and Duccio di Buoninsegna established their own unique style to depict a biblical scene known as, The Betrayal of Christ. Through a close analysis of each artist’s representation of, The Betrayal of Christ, one is able to compare and contrast the artists own understanding of the scene through their attention to detail, character, and space throughout the painting. When examining these two works, one will have a stronger emotional response towards Giotto’s interpretation rather Duccio’s, due to his methods of handling organization, figures, and space.
Although it does resemble Gothic architecture, it does so in a unique way that is characteristic of the architect Antoni Gaudi (The Sagrada Familia). However, Gaudi’s masterpiece does not follow the definition of Gothic style architecture. “This new architecture, based on the precision of geometry, can be effectively adapted to the new graphic and building technologies. As a consequence, the quality of the works in the Sagrada Familia increases clearly as the construction processes technology is improved. This project is therefore advanced for its time and is also very suitable to the technologies of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries” (Aguado et al., 94). Gaudi believes that the inside of La Sagrada Familia should be left strictly for worship and the outside should tell the story of the Catholic faith. The story that Gaudi wishes to portray can be told by the towers, the east entrance, and the west entrance, which all resemble different aspects of the life of Jesus Christ. This is uncharacteristic of Gothic style cathedrals and basilicas because there are usually small chapels inside the church that explain the stories that relate to Catholicism. Gaudi also has a unique style of architecture that uses geometry to create pillars, columns, arches, as well as allow more light to enter his Gothic style building that had never been seen before. His unique take on the Gothic style was
El Greco’s Lamentation of Christ is “a translation in paint of Michelangelo's late sculptured group of the Pietà in Florence Cathedral, at the time in Rome. The pattern and the feeling are the same. The figures of the Dead Christ, His Mother, Saint Mary Magdalene and Joseph of Arimathea make one compact group. Michelangelo achieved this by his new treatment of form; El Greco by paint, by employing broader, more continuous passages of color. The more vivid colors of Rome combine with the richer palette of Venice to convey the intensity of expression demanded by the subject. The horizontal composition of Venice, more suited to a narrative type of subject than to the single image, is given up and is only very rarely found appropriate in Spain. Michelangelo's Pietà group was not the only source on which El Greco drew: the arrangement of Christ's legs and his outspread arms, no less than the idea of viewing one of the two bearers of his body from the side and the other from behind, derive from Michelangelo's drawing for Vittoria Colonna, in which, as in El Greco's painting, the Virgin is placed behind and above Christ.” (Web Gallery of
First, we visit St. Peter’s Basilica and Adjoining Piazza in Rome. The beautiful structure still used today, initially was brought to fruition by Donato Bramante as a temple shaped like a Greek cross. Quickly Pope Paul V rejected the design, deeming the Greek cross to be pagan-like. He commissioned Carlo Maderno to make some changes to the floor plan, adjusting the look into a Latin cross. The florid baroque styles are seen entering the Apse and Alter, which “symbolized the power and richness of the church” (392). The sculptures throughout, specifically in the Apse, are dramatic and real, shunning classical styles.
With the continuous growth of paintings and artists, prestige for art increased dramatically to the point in which religious aspects were shown through landscapes, portraits, and temperas. This then allowed the creation of new styles and mathematical input that manifested everyday life with religious aspects. One such artist was Giovanni Bellini who introduced bright, rich, strong colors into his palette and landscapes that expressed the happiness, calmness, and prosperity that Italy carried throughout the Renaissance. These characteristics and styles of paintings subsequently became a popular Venetian cornerstone. Other important figures in the Italian Renaissance that demonstrated the movement?s ideas through their ingenious paintings and architectural methods were Pier Della Francesca and Leon Battista Alberti. Francesca, who was and expert in mathematics, developed the art form of perspective. Alberti, on the other hand, as an architect developed the pediment which became popular throughout the entire Renaissance. His monasteries and churches depicted many of the religious ideas, as evident in one of his famous works, the Santa Maria Novella. All in all, the use of the common religious themes such as the annunciation, adoration, Crucifixion, and the popular Madonna