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- QUESTION
In an essay of approximately 500 words (with a typical font and spacing, this will be approximately 2 pages), respond to the following question.
The path from Medieval/Byzantine art to the Renaissance can be illustrated in the changing renditions/transformation of the Virgin and Child. Chose the Byzantine icon of the Madonna and Child on a Curved Throne from lecture 15 and show the changes that occurred and lead to Fra Filippo Lippi’s Madonna with Child (Tarquinia Madonna) of 1437 as described in lecture 16. How does the art of this time echo human experience?
In essay please include Cimabue’s Madonna of the Holy Trinity, Duccio’s Maestà , and Giotto’s Virgin and Child as transformations of a pervasive and powerful theme (a continuity) in Western art. Please quote Soltes
| Subject | Essay Writing | Pages | 6 | Style | APA |
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Answer
How the Path from Byzantine art to the Renaissance is illustrated in the changing Renditions of the Virgin and Child
According to Duits (2013), Byzantine art is the term that refers to the art that originates from the Eastern Byzantine (Roman) Empire, which was profoundly inspired by works from ancient Greece. The following essay seeks to elaborate the changing renditions of the 13th and 14th Century Madonna and Child.
Woods and Richardson (2007) explain that the 13th Century Byzantine representation of the Virgin and Child places emphasis on the stylized representation of the child and mother’s body. The painting focuses on gold leaf striations on both the knees and folds of the mother. The child Christ is portrayed as a miniature adult in both Cimabue’s Madonna of the Holy Trinity and the famous 13th Century image of the virgin and child on a curved throne. Wonderful hallows and gold leaf striations are also present in both the Duccio’slate 13th and early 14th Century painting. As such there is evident similarity in the Madonna icons, which indicates diversity between the human reality and aspiritual reality indicated in the paintings.
This is in direct contrast to Filippo’s 14th Century humanistic representation of the mother and child. Fillipo illustrates transformation of the Byzantine icons where the child Christ is no longer a miniature adult and he further undermines the supernatural element based on the fact that most people are well aware of the identities of the mother and child (Lee &Shnitker, 2010). To further emphasize on the human reality, Fillipo places the portrait in an interior space rather than the mother and child sitting on a throne. The humanistic way of thought further evolves in Giotto’s 14th Century representation of the mother and child where Giotto takes a different approach, which shows both the mother and child looking out from a window, indicating a sense of realism.
In lieu of the discussion presented above, there are certain similarities between the 13th and early 14th century portraits of the Madonna and Child. The wonderful hallows identified in the 13th Century virgin and child on a curved throne is in direct contrast to Fillipo Lippi’s humanistic representation of the virgin and child.
References
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Lee, A., Péporté, P., & Schnitker, H. (2010). Renaissance?: Perceptions of continuity and discontinuity in Europe, c.1300-c.1550. Leiden: Brill. Lymberopoulou, A., & In Duits, R. (2013). Byzantine Art and Renaissance Europe. Woods, K., Richardson, C. M., & Lymberopoulou, A. (2007). Viewing Renaissance art. New Haven: Yale University Press. |