The Assumption of the Virgin

Her undying passion and faith in God contributed towards her vocation which inspired others. From birth till death Mary has been a significant figure in the church’s history.

“The virgin will be with child and she will give birth to a son”       - Matthew 1:23

The Italian Renaissance was a period in history unlike most others; this was an era of ingenuity, expansion, and enlightenment that would revolutionize both society as the people of the Renaissance knew it to be, and as the future generations of individuals across the globe understand it today. Florence held itself out to be the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance, yet the people of this renaissance era never lost sight of the Greek and Roman heritage. The following essay will discuss the varying ways in which Florence was the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance, and will provide the reader with examples that demonstrate Greco-Roman ideas and practices in the Italian Renaissance.

At the council, 338 members met to rule on the use of images to depict religious figures and ideas. This assembly, including Emperor Constantine and Leo, rules that “the unlawful art of painting living creatures blasphemed the fundamental doctrine of our salvation—namely, the Incarnation of Christ, and contradicted the six holy synods” (Iconoclastic Council, 1). The Iconoclastic Council bans the use of images and pictures to depict religious ideologies and figures because they feared that worshippers honored the image over the actual person, place, or thing represented. To support their argument, the council recalls the Holy Book in which God states, “Thou shall not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath…They changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man,…and served the creature more than the Creator” (2). Unlike John, this council uses stronger textual evidence from the Holy Book in order to validate their argument against icons. Furthermore, they argued that “folly” painter constructed the icons to undermine the icons. Council members aimed to demonstrate the icons as evil creations because religious affiliates did not construct them. Nevertheless, the council banned all images, relics, and other representations of

Baroquer artists used the Baroque style to hallmark the rich impasto particularly used in the paint texture and also the light and shade strongly used in the painting.

Another characteristic of this period is the lack of distinct or realistic perspective in renderings. Michelangelo was one of the first artist who pioneered the Mannerism at the Laurentian Library in Florence Italy according to Britannica (2012). One such painting that employed the Mannerism characteristics such as eroticism and obscure imagery is the "Madonna with the Long Neck" painted by Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola, also known as Parmigianino (Artble, 2012). In 1520 the humanistic model of the classical Renaissance such as the serenity, beauty, and order began to break down as a negative world view began to emerge due to machinations and wars of Spain, France, and the Holy Roman Empire. (Ozarks, 2012)

In addition to, Italian Mannerism is a style of later Renaissance art, in which depicts a “self- conscious stylization involving caprice, complexity fantasy and polish (Kleiner ) .” Mannerism is the reaction to the features of the High Renaissance style. This style, can be seen as a rejection of classical themes of harmony and balance that are represented by Renaissance art pieces. Paintings in the mannerist style can be seen as an “exaggeration” or a parody of previous works, such as the Pieta executed by Michelangelo. Similar to other styles, Mannerism includes characteristics which make the style intricate. These characteristics include

Renaissance art created standards and principles that every painting and artist had to utilize in order to even be considered good, let alone great. Characteristics such as the phenomenon of natural light, one-point and linear perspective, and highly idealized religious or mythological figures changed into the Baroque techniques of manipulating light to create emphasis, dramatizing the illustrated allegory, and unidealized realism. Additionally, “… the Baroque trend dominated and gave its name to the age… [but it was the presence of both styles] that give the Italian seventeenth century its richness and diversity.” (4) Italy, and Rome especially, is home to what can

"Therefore, the lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

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

Throughout the world of suburbia, there seems to be a persistence of communities who attempt to create a perfect, enclosed world for the whole of the community to live in. By providing for everything that the inhabitants would ever want, suburbia is able to close itself off from those around it that it deems unworthy of belonging. While this exclusivity helps to foster the sense of community, it can also bring with it isolation from the outside, and also from within, and have disastrous results. Throughout the semester, there have been a number of works that have dealt the issue of isolation, but the greatest representation of a work whose physical qualities in its representation of suburbia help to

Numerous artists had to of been present to make Renaissance art the way it is. Some of the world’s most famous artists were working during this time period, including Leonardo da Vinci, and other artists like Sandro Botticelli and Lorenzo Ghiberti.

The High Renaissance was characterized by the combination of Classical principles, such as clarity and symmetry, and a new form of attraction, that involved monumentality, which together produced meaningful works of art. Raphael’s The Alba Madonna displays a mixture of his Florentine style and new Roman influences around him. For example, the Roman influences in this painting would be the delicacy of color, the arrangement of the figures in a strong pyramid shape, and the Madonna’s clothing which indicates the setting is Ancient Rome. The Florentine style is evident by Raphael’s choice of the tondo, or round picture,

The present work is focused on undertaking an in-depth analysis of two famous religious paintings: The Virgin and Child by Barnaba da Modena, an Italian painter from the fourteenth century, and The Elevation of the Cross by Peter Paul Rubens, a seventeenth century Flemish artist and diplomat. Following, by comparison, a thorough account of the two works' features, careful observation reveals more than one interpretation.

El Greco, at the age of 26, like other Greek artists had travelled to Venice and came under the influence of Titian and Tintoretto. During his stay in Italy, he widened his style with aspects of Mannerism and