Comparing The Nike Of Samothrace And The Vladimir Madonna

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Throughout art history, the female form in its body, face, or maternal position has always had an important and different meaning in each piece when portrayed to its viewer whether it be elegance, subservience, purity, or depravity, and it is important to learn how and what the artist is trying to show and tell the audience as the interpreter. In this analysis, we will be observing the forms of the Nike of Samothrace and the Vladimir Madonna, how they affected its period, and how the two pieces compare with one another. Our first piece comes from the Hellenistic period around 190 BCE, known only as the Nike of Samothrace. The piece shows a marble rendition of the Greek goddess of victory Nike as a winged woman standing at the bow of a ship with her clothes blowing in the wind behind her. This …show more content…

The composition and posing of the Virgin Mary nuzzling with the infant Christ was also so iconic that it created the image of the Eleusa icon. In early Byzantine society, the painting was often viewed as such a masterpiece and religious symbol that many leaders were able to perform many miracles through prayer or vision granted from seeing the Vladimir Madonna. One such miracle was that through religious vision, they were able to defend the Tatar invaders in the 1380s allowing a successful defense of Moscow (Miler 5). While these masterpieces have completely different mediums, these two works of art show many similarities for pieces split across decades. Both pieces serve as religious symbols, serving as different pieces of propaganda for their respective cultures and religions. The Nike of Samothrace was a symbol of the military and naval might of the Rhodians, while the Vladimir Madonna was a holy symbol for the Byzantine Empire, pushing and propelling Christianity throughout the

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