Renaissance Artwork

The work of art I have chosen for my paper is inspired by one of the most amazing experiences I had in my life; my trip to Italy. I admit after visiting so many museums with so many different forms of art, I became a little bit obsessed with Italy’s art history. I was mesmerized by the richness of details and the talents from some of the pieces I have seen. When I was in Venice, I was amazed by the richness of the Renaissance paintings, and how lively the colors seem and the richness of the so many gold details in almost every piece from the paintings to the amazing finishes on the frames. Which can be noticed and set apart from paintings in other parts of Italy.

I visited so many churches with so many diverse pieces of art, but the one that stood out the most to me and it made pay attention to every possible detail, how the colors were so bright and lively was the San Zaccaria church Altarpiece by the very talented Giovanni Bellini. This piece of art the “sacra conversazione”. It is truly an amazing painting. So, for this paper, I decided to write about another Bellini’s piece “Madonna and Child”, dated the late 1480s.

Giovanni Bellini was born in Venice and “was one of the most influential Venetian artists. He lived and worked in Venice all his life; his career spanned 65 years”. (Gallery, London The National.

“Giovanni Bellini.”). Giovanni came from a family from Venetian painters as well, but according to researchers; Bellini had an amazing talent and it is shown throughout his career and the many pieces that he created and the ones he really mastered for example altarpiece at the San Zaccaria church.

The “Madonna and Child” is another great piece done by Bellini, the media used to create this piece was oil painting on canvas. Which is something that Bellini became an expert on it by mixing the right colors, combining them and creating a great harmony with all the other colors. When you look at this piece you can observe how the colors just “pop” and how lively and bright the colors are shown.
The harmony of the all the colors used by the artist in this piece creates an idea of depth and saturation; the red background with the bluish sky and the soft landscape in the back, matches so well together and it does not conflict with the focus point of the image the Madonna and child. The colors used on the child are very soft, and almost using the same shade for Mary’s hands as she holds the child, both use a light shade of beige that creates an idea of a soft skin color but also of gives a dimension to the shape of the child and the mother’s hands, as the details for both Mary and child hands and nails. The child’s hair in auburn color, is very lively and bright, but it also balances well with all the red background. Both Mary’s and the child’s eyes have a depth of color and you can almost sense the momentousness of Mary and the innocence of the child, especially the way he is looking at the mother and by Mary’s facial expression, the use of color creates this aspect for both.
Virgin Mary’s robe, the very rich dark royal blue is so bright and lively and powerful that you can almost see the texture of the painting, it really stands out in this piece. The depth of the blue color with the small gold details on the border of the robe, both stands out but also complement each other. When you first look at the painting, the richness of the shade of blue is one of the first colors that you will notice. Also, by looking very closely you can observe the very thin halo crown on Mary and the child’s head. For this one, it is so soft, that if you do not pay attention to every detail, you might not observe. As most of the other pieces, emphasize the halo crown, I have noticed some painting that uses a very deep gold that makes the halo crow stands out and shine through. Which can be a technique that was developed at a later period. I thought it was interesting for this one, to be very soft.
If I was to compare this piece of art with another one that we have learned in the class so far.

I would say Cave paintings of Lascaux used similar concepts but with different tools and materials, that were available at that time. The richness of the colors used on the cave paintings had depth and saturation and the harmony of the colors also and the use of assorted colors and techniques to create assorted color shadows to demonstrate several aspects of the described animals. For example, some of the bull paintings used different shades and techniques of black the black color to give a unique perspective of the animal’s part that was being

drawn.
In this piece, Bellini also uses different shades and colors saturation to portray various parts of the sky with mountains in the back. It creates a perfect harmony with the sky colors and the clouds and the mountains. He wanted to paint mountains in his picture, but maybe he did not want to use the color brown to paint them. He wanted everything to complement each other and not be so much the focal point of the landscape in the back. The distinction between the sky, the clouds, and the mountains is the choice of the slightly darker or the lighter shade of blue with white color. As for the landscape on the right side, he uses a shade of beige to demonstrate a small village but also uses shades of green to show lively trees with slight sunlight shining on them. When you look at the picture, you do not see the sun, but you can get the idea with the use of a slight shade of color on the treetops.