Throughout history, artwork has been an indication of the values of the society from which it originated. The Republic of Venice in the 1500s was beginning a cultural revolution known as the Renaissance. The arts were able to thrive due to Venice’s status as a wealthy port and trading location. During this period, the Catholic Church remained a dominant force. Tiziano Vecelli, known as Titian, was regarded as the preeminent artist in Venice when he painted The Assumption of the Virgin. Painted between 1515 and 1518, the work demonstrates pioneering artistic techniques, the power of the Catholic Church, and the religious significance of the Virgin Mary, all of which are characteristics of the Renaissance in Venice, and Italy more generally. …show more content…
Titian’s massive 22′ 8″ x 11′ 10″ painting was commissioned by the Catholic Church to be hung in the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice. Titian was one of the most successful painters of the Republic of Venice and the fact that the Church could afford to hire him shows its economic power. The Catholic Church commissioned such a large painting because they wanted to leave viewers feeling both intimidated and impressed. The Church used the large scale to demonstrate its power and authority, yet also to allure viewers, hoping if impressed they would be drawn to the religion. The Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari church, in which the work is located, is a Franciscan Basilica; Franciscans are members of a branch of Catholicism. The Church was one of the largest in Venice and was visited by large numbers of Venetians as well as visitors and traders from foreign places. In a city filled with renowned art and architecture, this painting was a noteworthy one that would have been widely discussed. Because of its large size and famous creator, this painting was one of the Church’s most significant artistic statements in Renaissance …show more content…
The Catholic Church in Venice realized that in order to gain followers it had to adopt similar methods, luring “customers” by “selling” its religious product in a sophisticated, beautiful manner. Seen from a modern perspective, Titian’s The Assumption of the Virgin is a form of propaganda. Titian uses new techniques, clever compositional choices, and the sheer power of size to allure viewers and promote the cause of the Church that was employing him. This is not to say that the painting is not very beautiful in itself or the product of sincere religious belief; however, the painting also had to serve an important, practical agenda. In the period of change that was the Renaissance, the Church had to evolve with the times in order to maintain its place in Venetian
In the article “Conditions of Trade,” Michael Baxandall explains that fifteenth-century Italian art is a “deposit” resulting from the commercial interaction between the artist and the purchaser, who he refers to as a client. These works, as such, are “fossils of economic life,” and money, and they play an important role in the history of art. In our current perception of the relationship between the artist and art, “painters paint what they think is best, and then look around for a buyer” . However in the past, especially during the Renaissance period, the customers determined the content and form of paintings, as it was them who commissioned the work before it was created. He states that the artists and clients were interconnected and a legal agreement was drawn up specifying subject matter, payment scheme and the quality and quantity of colors, which would influence the artist’s painting style. Baxandall not only looks at the explanation of the style of painting that reflects a society, but also engages in the visual skills and habits that develop out of daily life. The author examines the situations between the painter and client within the commercial, religious, perceptual, and social institutions, centrally focusing on markets, materials, visual practices, and the concept of the Renaissance period, which saw art as an institution. Baxandall notes that Renaissance paintings also relate to the clients’ motives through such ways as possession, self-commemoration, civic consciousness, and self-advertisement. The author considers works of a wide variety of artistic painters, for instance, Filippo Lippi, Fra Angelico, Stefano di Giovanni, Sandro Botticelli, Luca Signorelli, and numerous others. He defines and exemplifies fiftee...
In the two different depictions of the scene Betrayal of Christ, Duccio and Giotto show their different styles on how they compose their paintings. The first decision into the composure of the painting would be the comparison of the size of surface they chose to paint on. Duccio in comparison to Giotto chooses to work on a wooden panel no wider than a foot, and Giotto went with a plaster surface with a width of ten feet. This detail alone lets the viewer know that Giotto’s artwork is embedded in detail and visual consumption. The size difference is the factor between who see’s it and what they see; the fine details and symbolism of the narrative will be better understood if the viewer can see every detail.
By most accounts, the year 1500 was in the midst of the height of the Italian Renaissance. In that year, Flemmish artist Jean Hey, known as the “Master of Moulins,” painted “The Annunciation” to adorn a section of an alter piece for his royal French patrons. The painting tells the story of the angel Gabriel’s visit to the Virgin Mary to deliver the news that she will give birth to the son of God. As the story goes, Mary, an unwed woman, was initially terrified about the prospects of pregnancy, but eventually accepts her fate as God’s servant. “The Annunciation” is an oil painting on a modest canvas, three feet tall and half as wide. The setting of the painting is a study, Mary sitting at a desk in the bottom right hand corner reading, and the angel Gabriel behind her holding a golden scepter, perhaps floating and slightly off the canvas’s center to the left. Both figures are making distinct hand gestures, and a single white dove, in a glowing sphere of gold, floats directly above Mary’s head. The rest of the study is artistic but uncluttered: a tiled floor, a bed with red sheets, and Italian-style architecture. “The Annunciation” was painted at a momentous time, at what is now considered the end of the Early Renaissance (the majority of the 15th Century) and the beginning of the High Renaissance (roughly, 1495 – 1520). Because of its appropriate placement in the Renaissance’s timeline and its distinctly High Renaissance characteristics, Jean Hey’s “Annunciation” represents the culmination of the transition from the trial-and-error process of the Early Renaissance, to the technical perfection that embodied the High Renaissance. Specifically, “Annunciation” demonstrates technical advancements in the portrayal of the huma...
Discussion 2 topics: 1. What is the significance of Perugino’s Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom top St. Peter? The artist Pietro Vannucci, or otherwise known as Perugino (1450-1523) was heavily influenced by Piero della Francesca and other Flemish artists, in the use of light and the uniting of clear lines in paintings. This is especially significant in the piece, Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to Saint Peter in that Perugino used linear perspective to achieve a feeling of depth and successfully incorporated both 2-d and 3-d elements into his work. The unique placement of the figures emphasizes the pieces axial-center.
The artists of the Baroque had a remarkably different style than artists of the Renaissance due to their different approach to form, space, and composition. This extreme differentiation in style resulted in a very different treatment of narrative. Perhaps this drastic stylistic difference between the Renaissance and Baroque in their treatment of form, space, and composition and how these characteristics effect the narrative of a painting cannot be seen more than in comparing Perugino’s Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to St. Peter from the Early Renaissance to Caravaggio’s Conversion of St. Paul from the Baroque.Perugino was one of the greatest masters of the Early Renaissance whose style ischaracterized by the Renaissance ideals of purity, simplicity, and exceptional symmetry of composition. His approach to form in Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to St.Peter was very linear. He outlined all the figures with a black line giving them a sense of stability, permanence, and power in their environment, but restricting the figures’ sense of movement. In fact, the figures seem to not move at all, but rather are merely locked at a specific moment in time by their rigid outline. Perugino’s approach to the figures’themselves is extremely humanistic and classical. He shines light on the figures in a clear, even way, keeping with the rational and uncluttered meaning of the work. His figures are all locked in a contrapposto pose engaging in intellectual conversation with their neighbor, giving a strong sense of classical rationality. The figures are repeated over and over such as this to convey a rational response and to show the viewer clarity. Perugino’s approach to space was also very rational and simple. He organizes space along three simple planes: foreground, middle ground, and background. Christ and Saint Peter occupy the center foreground and solemn choruses of saints and citizens occupy the rest of the foreground. The middle distance is filled with miscellaneous figures, which complement the front group, emphasizing its density and order, by their scattered arrangement. Buildings from the Renaissance and triumphal arches from Roman antiquity occupy the background, reinforcing the overall classical message to the
Both Jan van Eyck and Fra Angelico were revered artists for the advances in art that they created and displayed for the world to see. Their renditions of the Annunciation were both very different, however unique and perfect display of the typical styles used during the Renaissance. Jan van Eyck’s panel painting Annunciation held all the characteristics of the Northern Renaissance with its overwhelming symbolism and detail. Fra Angelico’s fresco Annunciation grasped the key elements used in the Italian Renaissance with usage of perspective as well as displaying the interest and knowledge of the classical arts.
The Venetian Renaissance: Giovanni Bellini & Titian's The Feast of the Gods. Perf. Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Stephen Zucker. Smarthistory.org. Smart History. Web. 28 Mar. 2011. This video was very informational in providing expert opinions on Bellini's painting, "Feast of the gods". This source was used in providing professional criticism on this painting.
Titian had many accomplishments in his lifetime. In 1518, Titian’s Assumption of the Virgin was shown at the Church of the Frari in Venice. It was in this composition that Titian seemed suddenly to absorb the achievements of the Roman High Renaissance style. At the time, it was learned that Titan had not traveled much, and therefore assumed that he squired this knowledge of art by visiting artists, studying their drawings and reproductive engravings. During the decades following his appearance in the art life, Titian’s reproductions placed him along with Michelangelo, as the most powerful artist in Europe. He was recognized for his mythical paintings, three of which he created for Alfonso I d’Este of Ferrara, called The Bacchanal of the Andrians, The Worship of Venus, and Baahus and Ariadne. Among his many patrons, the most important were the Spanish Habsburgs. Titian’s fame, wealth, and social position resulted from his patrons and admirers. His major artistic inhibitions included being especially creative with diagonal placing and perspectives, as well as setting up unusual spectator viewpoints. Among his most famous works, rests the picture known as The Gypsy Madonna. This picture ...
The High Renaissance (1490-1527) was a period of Italian painting that had the qualities of harmony and balance with dignified, calm movement. It was also a time when painterly techniques of linear perspective, vanishing points, shading (chiaroscuro and sfumato) and other methods of realism were mastered. There were significant changes in the development of early sixteenth century Venetian paintings, in particular, Titian’s paintings during the High Renaissance. I’ve chosen Gallery 607 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art because it has the works of Titian, who was one of the greatest Venetian artists, well known for his remarkable use of color and for his appealing renderings of the human form. Titian created rich, luminous images by layering
Ziegler, Joanna E. “Michelangelo and the Medieval Pietà: The Sculpture of Devotion or the Art
In the article “Conditions of Trade,” Michael Baxandall explains the interaction serving of both fifteenth- century Italian painting and text on how the interpretation of social history from the style of pictures in a historical period, pre-eminently examine the early Renaissance painting. Baxandall looks not only on the explanation of how the style of painting is reflected in a society, but also engages in the visual skills and habits that develop out of daily life. The author examines the central focus on markets, material visual practices, and the concept of the Renaissance period overlooking art as an institution. He observes a Renaissance painting, which relate the experience of activities such as preaching, dancing, and assessing. The author considers discussions of a wide variety of artistic painters, for instance, Filippo Lippi, Fra Angelico, Stefano di Giovanni, Sandro Botticelli, Luca Signorelli, and numerous others. He defines and exemplifies concepts used in contemporary critic of the painting, and in the assembled basic equipment needed to discover the fifteenth- century art. Therefore this introductory to the fifteenth- century Italian painting and arise behind the social history, argues that the two are interconnected and that the conditions of the time helped shape the distinctive elements in the artists painting style. Through the institutional authorization Baxandall looks at integration in social, cultural and visual evaluation in a way that shows not only the visual art in social construction, but how it plays a major role in social orders in many ways, from interaction to larger social structural orders.
As the seventeenth century began the Catholic Church was having a hard time bringing back the people who were swept away by the protestant reformation. The conflict between the protestant had a big influence on art. (Baroque Art) The church decided to appeal to the human emotion and feeling. They did so by introducing a style called Baroque. Baroque was first developed in Rome and it was dedicated to furthering the aims of Counter Reformation. Baroque was first used in Italy than later spread to the north. In this paper I will argue that the Italian Baroque pieces were more detailed and captured the personality of the figure, in contrast and comparison to Northern Baroque pieces that aimed to produce a sense of excitement and to move viewers in an emotional sense leaving them in awe. I will prove this by talking about the different artwork and pieces of Italian Baroque art versus Northern Baroque Art.
Additionally, the styles changed; from Rococo, which was meant to represent the aristocratic power and the “style that (…) and ignored the lower classes” (Cullen), to Neoclassicism, which had a special emphasis on the Roman civilization’s virtues, and also to Romanticism, which performs a celebration of the individual and of freedom. Obviously, also the subject matter that inspired the paintings has changed as wel...
The concept of divinity in this picture is a visual translation of Catholic teachings. It has been noted that the transition from a preacher’s words to the faithful has been a challenge, especially for people who were illiterate. Explaining theology and complex theories of divinity in a level that can be understood by these people is an important task as they make up most of the faithful. Numerous religious paintings, including this one, serves as a bridge between the religion and its
The artwork created during the Renaissance reflected the social and political events that took place in that time period. During the Renaissance the political views amongst the people began to change. Citizens started to questions the Church’s legitimacy,