Introduction
Chris Ofili painted The Holy Virgin Mary in his London studio in 1996. He was born in Britain and his parents were of African heritage. He won a scholarship to travel and paint for eight weeks in Zimbabwe. While in Zimbabwe he was motivated by the exquisiteness of the land and its wildlife, thus compelling him to complete many works of art with elephant dung, to include The Holy Virgin Mary. The elephant dung that is used in his art work is obtained from the London Zoo. (CAROL VOGEL, 1999)
When Ofilif painted The Holy Virgin Mary when he was part of a group of artists called Young British Artists (YBA) the group was formed in 1992. The group was not part of any particular movement; they were simply a mixture of dissimilar artists
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With sensibly placed dots of paint and glitter, the black Madonna eyes are open wide and facing forward, the right eye is a different color than the left eye thus drawing your attention from the eyes down to the and separated lips with full rows of upper and lower teeth showing. The Holy Virgin Mary depicts a black female who appears to be floating above a glittering golden field of dots. She is surrounded by one hundred different cut-outs they are depicting female sex organs and rear ends that resemble butterflies that float around the painting. The Madonna is draped in a bright blue gown that is over the top of her head and flowing over the rest of her body. The gown is open over one breast to expose a black breast created from the elephant dung and ornamented with colored teal blue map pins. Along the bottom of the panting right below the flowing blue robe is a symmetrical row of more of the paper cut out of images as if she is floating over them. The painting sits atop two balls of resin-covered elephant dung that read Virgin on the left ball of dung and Mary on the right ball of Elephant dung (Jerry Saltz,
When that room is entered all voices are hushed, and all merriment silenced. The place is as holy as a church. In the centre of the canvas is the Virgin Mother with a young, almost girlish face or surpassing loveliness. In her eyes affection and wonder are blended, and the features and the figure are the most spiritual and beautiful in the world's art.
At the top of the artwork the upper part of the cross extends beyond the altarpiece. The edge of John the Evangelist’s red robe on the left of the altarpiece and the edge of Mary Magdalene’s pale blue skirt on the right are cut off when the panel ends, giving the viewer the feeling that, rather than looking in on the scene, the viewer is actually taking part in the scene. This, added to the empathy invoked through the delicate, heart-wrenching rendering of the figures in the artwork, let the observer directly interact with the painting and places him/her within the narrative.
The Holy Trinity by Masaccio was a painting done in approximately 1428. It is a
The color on the floor are very different, she is holding a twig she look down. The style and dark background add to a sense of feeling. At the back of Virgin Mary, the closet was old but looks clean, with all the furnishing. The clothes they wear were very simplicity, with all the light colors. The mixed color of the curtain with all the stripe, the panel was almost certainly commissioned as a private devotional image , not as part of a large structure. This was one of the most celebrated masterpieces in the Robert Lehman Collection. Angel Mary wears yellow with pink apparel on the top, she looks very serious as she look at one perspective. The painter used rough brushes on the ground makes it more realistic. In the Sandro Botticelli painting, the window looks proportion, and the window illuminated the scene of the tree, with light blue and green. In addition, on the top of the ceiling, the light blue and yellow mixed fits perfectly, The characters are focused on one event, the body are proportional as the bend their knees. The deep background of the frame gives a sense of the perfect event. The way paint was applied on the thick, such as the curtain, and
Bernard Van Orley painted the Virgin with Child and Angels (ca. 1518) near the beginning of his career. This piece brings elements from the High Renaissance as well as early Renaissance and hints of the Gothic era. Orley’s use of oil on wood in this piece has allowed him to paint intricate details on the structures in the building and the drapery in the fabrics, and the triangular composition in the foreground gives it a nice focal point. The first thing that captures the eye in the hierarchy of scale is the Virgin Mary, holding a nude baby Jesus. The lack of a golden halo on both figures is notable, bringing the world into a realistic perspective. Mary face and body encloses Christ with an expression of endearment, creating a circle that connects
The elaborate artwork by Lucas Cranach the Elder titled: Virgin and Child, 1513-1514, depicts the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus sitting on what appears to be a bench under a tree. In the background and to the left of The Virgin Mary is a castle, or what could be considered as a mansion of some sort. Closer to the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus, but still behind them, is a path that is surrounded by grass. This path could signify that they are in a park. One of the colors used in the painting is blue, which signifies the sky. The color brown represents the tree, the bench, and the path that is in between the grass behind the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus. The Virgin Mary's hair is brown in the painting also. The color green is used for the Virgin Mary's garment, as well as the vegetation in the artwork Virgin and Child. The color of light brown, or what it appears to be, is also used in Cranach the Elder's artwork. The castle, or mansion, in the painting is the color of light brown. What attracts me about Cranach the Elder's Virgin and Child is how calm and serene the characters depicted in it are. Cranach the Elder's style and portrayal of the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus sitting on a bench in the park would be considered as unconventional to me because most of the people of that time period knew about how special Jesus was going to be, even before he was born. Furthermore, with the prior knowledge of how great Jesus would have be before he was even born, I can imagine that the people of this time period would have been gathered around behind the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus, bombarding them almost, because of all the special things they have heard about Jesus; coupled with the fact that it was virgin birth by Mary. Alth...
The depiction of Madonna and Christ is among the most ancient and common in Christian iconography and has an extensive number of variations because apart from its symbolic religious functions, it allows one to interpret the link between mother and child in many aspects. (8)
“The Met’s very own Mona Lisa” (Tomkins 9). That is what Duccio di Buoninsegna’s Madonna and Child painting is known as today. “The Metropolitan Museum of Art bought the Madonna and Child for forty-five to fifty million dollars” (Tomkins 1). However, the painting was not always in public hands; in fact, the Met purchased the last known work of Duccio in private hands. Originally, the painting was held in the private hands of Adolphe Stoclet and his wife. When the couple died, their house and their collection went to their son, Jacques who held onto the painting, and passed it down to his daughters who lent it to an exhibition in Siena of Duccio and his school. The painting was eventually withdrawn from the exhibition and sold (Tomkins 2). Madonna and Child painting dated 1300 and was painted by Duccio di Buoninsegna a Sienese painter, who is considered the founder of modern Italian painting. I chose to research this painting because the subject matter of religious imagery and symbols interests me. Also because when I looked at the painting the emotion on the Madonna’s face almost jumped out at me. It is as if, she is looking at her newborn child with this deep sadness, which almost makes you think that the painting is foreshadowing the death of Jesus Christ. In addition, the burns of the side of the frame peaked my interest, as to why they were there. Art critics were also interested in this work they even consider Madonna and Child one of Duccio’s perfect works, and it said to be worth all the other paintings exhibited under the name of Duccio (Christiansen 14). The Madonna and Child painting’s iconography, imagery, emotional appeal to the viewers, and meaning all make this painting still a great work of art today.
The Painting Martha and Mary Magdalene is one of the many masterpieces in the DIA’s collection in Detroit. Although there is much more to understanding a work of art then just looking at it. In order to understand a piece, you have to understand the Artist, the time period, and the symbols in that painting that may have very different meaning today.
The theme can be generally recognized in this piece through color, space, and especially through use of light. The colors used in this piece are mostly calm toned, whereas the robes and shawls worn are pale blues, corals, and beiges. There are however, some harsh colored objects such as Mary’s navy blue shaul and deep coral gown, as well as Christ’s coral necklace that stand out from the rest of the colors. Mary’s veil and the angel on the lefts’ hair are translucent in certain streams of light coming from the windows throughout the room. The artists suggests that the light is dedicated not to represent the divine but to rather represent a more natural juxtaposition on the piece. The space that the characters stand in is fully used by the subjects but also has a very interesting doorway with heightened perspecti...
She knows her mother has a history there and she hopes to bring herself closer to her. Lily carries with her three of her mother’s old belongings, the most important of these belongings being a small statue of the Black Madonna. The Black Madonna is a recurring symbol of hope and guidance for Lily, leading her down the path to inner peace.
Madonna and child is one of the early Christian paintings. It shows “Madonna” as the virgin Marry and the “Child” as baby Jesus. The artist Berlinghiero did this great painting in the Greca period in the twelfth century. This painting was done on wood with two figures in front of a gold background. Madonna is wearing a dark blue cloak with golden decorations that cover most of her body; she is also wearing a reddish dress underneath her cloak that is only visible on her arms. To show here modesty the only thing that can be seen is here arms, neck and face. Her hand has and unrealistic look to them so as if they look long and skinny. According to the museum label “Berlinghiero was always open to Byzantine influence, and this Madonna
In Giotto’s Madonna and Child Enthroned I see an older renaissance painting of a woman and her child. The child is sitting on the lap of his mother who is sitting on a large burgundy throne in the middle of the painting. The woman is dressed in a navy cloak while her child is clothed in a pink robe. Above the child’s head there is a yellow circle. This circle is a renaissance symbol for religious leadership or importance. Surrounding this throne are a gathering of angels. There are exactly seven angels on each side worshiping this mother and child. The background consists of a yellow brick pattern.
The immediate background consists of natural mounds of dirt and a brick wall that enclose the Virgin, Child, and St. John, amplifying the protective effect that Mary’s figure has. The dirt mounds roll inward with a brick wall bordering them on the right, drawing the viewer’s attention towards the three figures. The background is painted in broad terms, with a simple, uniform depiction of tree leaves and smooth rock faces on the horizon. This contrasts with the fine-lined detail and texture of Mary’s hair, facial features, and veil, which further contribute to her elegance and highlight her
The ability to create a picture of The Annunciation in one’s mind is a key factor in understanding the analysis of the work. Francisco de Zurbaran approaches the painting with a naturalistic style. The painting features a room in which a woman – like angel is seen at the left kneeling on the ground before the Virgin Mary. The figure of Mary is placed between a chair and a small wooden table draped with a green cloth. Mary disregards an open Bible on the table, as she appears solemn while staring at the floor. Floating above the two main figures in the upper left side of the painting are cherubs resting on a bed of clouds. They happily gaze down at Mary with eyes from Heaven.