Representation of the Figure during Renaissance Times

Fra Angelico- 'Deposition of Christ'

Helloo everyone!!

So the past couple of weeks I have been doing my own research on a couple of Renaissance paintings to start developing my picture and research analysis. Let me know what your input is on this! :)

As you can see the image on the left: Fra Angelico is an early Italian renaissance painter, his work reveals both conservatively Gothic and progressively renaissance. In the altarpiece ‘Deposition of Christ’ it shows Christ being carried, with Mary Magdalene kneeling at his feet this represents human preservation.

Giorgio Vasari defined it to have been “painted by a saint or an angel”.The human figure relations in this painting make it seem like a community because the way the figures are looking down with sincere may confirm an acquaintance or relationship with Christ. Also there are only few figures who have gold circular symbols on their heads, I think this is to separate the disciples from the persecutors. In the distance at the top left lies Jerusalem, shown by Angelico as a sparkling Tuscan hill town. The city fortifications appear as a series of cubes, pillars, and walls massed together in a sharply defining light. Buildings of widely varying sizes, shapes and colours are arranged together within the city walls.

Fra Angelico's Deposition demonstrates not only his skillful treatment of landscapes, but also figures, to which he often gave specific and presumably identifiable features. The man in the turban is likely a portrait of a person known to the artist. In this detail the towered buildings confirm the landscape as Italian. The hills stretch out into the distance, softened and smoothed by the light, peppered with gleaming villages and farmhouses. The foreground rocks are insufficiently distant to be mellowed, and are shown with all their facets and angularity. A row of trees again screens the landscape, emphasizing its distance.

Michelanglo- 'The dying slave'

Michelangelo was another Renaissance artist that expresses religion and symbolism within his work. “Michelangelo was a painter, sculptor, architect and poet and one of the great artists of the Italian Renaissance.” Michelangelo is widely regarded as the most famous artist of the Italian Renaissance. Among his works are the "David" and "Pieta" statues and the Sistine Chapel frescoes. 

From what I have sourced through research I have become to dislike Michelangelo’s work because mainly it is based upon the human figure and religion and with that I find boring unlike Botticelli he used the human figure to reflect upon beauty, love and mythological creatures. I also find that the use of sculptural work is really detailed compared to Dürer’s Adam and Eve but in this case his is an actual sculpture so the detail had to be fitting compared to on a canvas.

Michelangelo’s sculpture ‘The Dying Slave’ was created between 1513 and 1516. It was meant for the tomb of Julius II but was not included because of lack of space in the smaller version dedicated in 1545. The position of the slave seems uncomfortable with most of the weight converted to the right leg and the left arm out stretched to the back to the head makes it look like an awkward position to die. The stone entombing the back of the figure is a really interesting aspect of Michelangelo’s sculpture as it makes you think that the slave died in imprisoned in stone.

Sandro Botticelli- Birth of Venus

 In my opinion Sandro Botticelli was one of the greatest and most popular Italian masters of the late 15^th century, not only can I admire the style and project the sense of spirituality in his work but by reviving the elements of Gothic art…A delicacy of sentiment, expresses in an ornament style that he entwined with freshness and beauty. Mainly his painted portraits have targeted many genres including religious, political, and mythological works full of allegory as well as symbolism.

Botticelli was influenced by a couple of Renaissance artists during the time of the period; strongly influenced by the precise anatomy draftsman ship of the brothers Pollaiuolo. Antonio Pollaiuolo (1432-1496) and Piero Pollaiuolo (1441-1496), both Florentine painters were famed for their innovation in painting the anatomy of figures. The Birth of Venus shows the Roman goddess of love and beauty rising from the sea on a sculpted sea shell or being pushed in by the zephyrs, personified on the left. In this painting Botticelli shows weight on his characters shows the probability that his art was committed to naturalism. But realistically given that her pose and weight is slanted onto the right leg you would know that the shell would tip. Also the only shadows or dark areas are the ones on the foreground of the painting and of the plants in the background which could only mean that the figures show no realism.

I think as well the painting shows unusual skeletal structure because the zephyrs are intertwined with each other which make the painting look twisted almost not realistic. Which will make me wonder if Botticelli was really committed to naturalism at all? Or maybe it was just a starting point to get the figures right. Although I really like this painting it points out a number of topics within; that make me sort of wonder whether this was actually based on the goddess of love or something entirely different. It makes me feel like you’re on a different plane because as you can see from the reflection of the waves, the flowing of the drapery, the exotic trees up ahead and the flowers flowing down form the zephyrs. It concludes an idyllic paradise like heaven or nature that is influenced by the floating characters proving this.

The Birth of Venus, focused on mythological subjects and populated figures of pagan gods, like Venus, Flora, Cupid, and Zephyr. In "The Birth of Venus," the figure of Venus represents the Virgin Mary as well, joining the religion of the day to mythology. Botticelli accepted paganism as a religion, and his religious paintings frequently manifest this by converging all truths into one.

Adam and Eve- Durer

Northern Renaissance art is commonly viewed as secondary to that of Renaissance Italy, with the notable exception of German artist Albrecht Dürer. Not also was he a skilled painter but he was also known in the field of engravings and woodcuts which shown increasingly popular at that time. His main influences started simply by following a technique introduced by Leonardo da Vinci by placing a body part at the front of the painting to intensify the illusion that the viewer is included in the painting.

 However, he does not use this technique in his ‘Eve’ painting which makes his work look differentiated in my opinion. The use of biblical reference is used heavily in this piece as he connects the story of ‘Adam and Eve’ to the other meanings of the fruit and snake in the picture. You can also recognize that eve is main protagonist of this painting as she is more illuminated than he. Dürer's fascination with ideal form is manifest in Adam and Eve. 

The first man and woman are shown in nearly symmetrical idealized poses: each with the weight on one leg, the other leg bent, and each with one arm angled slightly upward from the elbow and somewhat away from the body. The branch Adam holds is of the mountain ash, the Tree of Life, while the fig, of which Eve has broken off a branch, is the forbidden Tree of Knowledge. Four of the animals represent the medieval idea of the four temperaments: the cat is choleric, the rabbit sanguine, the ox phlegmatic, and the elk melancholic. Before the fall, these happenings were held in check, controlled by the innocence of man; once Adam and Eve ate from the apple of knowledge, all four were activated, all innocence lost.

I prefer this piece to Van Eyck’s because not only does it give the viewer something to think about but it’s also a famous piece for its biblical reference of creation. I especially like the monochrome effect and the detail of the engravings as it shows that Durer wanted the story to look realistic and it could also be used as a good example for teaching others the story too.

Jan Van Eyck was a Flemish painter that was responsible for the spread of the International Gothic Style and “is generally considered one of the most significant Northern European painters of the 15th century” Some believed he invented oil painting because his advanced use of the medium. In fact, this technique had been known since antiquity, but Van Eyck used it as never before to portray sensational lighting effects of clarity and realism.

His skillful development of oil’s translucent properties is explored on a variety of textures in his painting Dresden Triptych; the five individual panel paintings each show the biblical references of the assumption of Mary. The view of the inner wings of the triptych show the Archangel Gabriel present by a kneeling donor and on the right shows St Catherine of Alexandria reading a prayer book. These two outer wings contain an Annunciation scene in Grisaille which sums up the main scene in the middle which defines the Virgin Mary sitting while holding Christ on her lap. The center panel reminded me of how similar the woman looks to one of Van Eyck’s other paintings of ‘The Lucca Madonna’. It is said that The Lucca Madonna was thought to be a portrait of the artists’ wife, Margaret; which relates back to how Humanism was used in Renaissance times and the symbolism of a loved one. Given the scale of the piece “Dresden 33.1cm × 13.6cm; 33.1cm × 27.5cm; 33.1cm × 13.6cm" the triptych probably was a portable piece since members of the upper class acquired these through papal digression, which could only mean that the this was what the painting was for or Van Eyck was inspired to produce one. 

The colors and oil techniques used reminds me of the similars used on Dutch still life like the way they used bright colors to charm the human eye towards materialism and life (fruit) and color contrast the opposition to darker objects such as death (skulls) books etc. Although in Van Eyck’s work you can see that they use a similar style in their work such as concentrating the use of colors solely on the mood on the characters or objects present. In a style that depicts a sole portrayal of religious subjects I find that Van Eyck’s work shows the upper hand because not only is it presented in a form that can be used for travelling but it also has a meaning that it was used typically for religious visits.

Furthermore, when I first saw this piece it also made me think of an illuminated manuscript called The Aurora Consurgens. 

Although the illustrations are allegorical representations of alchemical elements, I know that this has nothing to do with the triptych or art within the Renaissance times but as a matter of fact I actually found a connection that they both used which was Humanism and alighting areas that show a purpose of a character (In Van Eyck’s work the Archangel Gabriel holding an illuminated spear of some sort and the tiny gold details within his armor). Instead of comparing people back in the middle ages to saints this manuscript depicts elements in human or animal form. For example, mercury is depicted as a serpent; gold as the Sun and silver as the Moon.