Art analyze paper

Running head: VISUAL ANALYSIS 0

Visual Analysis Paper on di Credi's "Madonna and Child" (c. 1500) Image

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One of the main characteristics of Baroque paintings is that that they assign pro-catholic meanings to art. The di Credi’s Madonna and Child has features that are commonly found in Baroque paintings. Like other paintings of this nature, the Madonna and Child has clarity, simplicity and intelligibility. A visual examination of this masterpiece suggests that it has direct and realistic interpretation, since the artist clearly subscribes to counterreformation religious school of thought. The di Credi's Madonna and Child (c. 1500) image is one of the first Florentine panel paints which are known currently to have been produced with a paint medium that consists of oil for color pigments. This method of painting is said to appear first in the northern painting in the first half of the 15th century which rapidly spread until his time. The technique of painting was adopted fist in Italian who developed it to meet the appropriate standards.

Like other Catholic Church art depictions by Lorenzo di Credi, the painting of the Madonna and Child predominantly occupies the foreground, especially the middle section of the foreground. The veil of Madonna is painted in an attractive way with the use of transparent glazes of white. The robe, on the other hand, has been developed with the utilization of paints that are mainly made up of reddish lake and deep, blue azurite. The artist’s beautiful modifications of the oil medium are clearly brought out since the jewelry and clothing are rendered.

The size of the above Madonna seems to be extra-large. In particular, it looks like it is bigger than life-size image. This is because it seems as though it is bigger than the ordinary and natural size of an object, such as a human being or normal beastly creature that roams about the surface of the earth. While the actual size of the above portrait is not stated, its appearance brings the impression that it is extremely larger than ordinary objects. In addition, the Madonna has been depicted as occupying the central part of the foreground with a background landscape that seems to be peaceful and serene in nature..

The painting led to the massive spread of the commonly rounded Florentine type of depiction. It is very attractive and most religious foundations have used the image in expression of Jesus and His mother Marry during the child’s tender age (Gelfand, 2000). It is also commonly used and found to be one of the most expensive and precious paintings in the world. The panel is said to be very minor when weighed using Italian standards. However, its regard is extensively expressed in relation to many other paintings that are said to be the most commonly praised during the Renaissance.

The painting depicts a mother and her daughter sitting next to a window. The mother holds the baby with her right hand as the child holds her the left hand. The baby is depicted as healthy and almost naked as it sits on its mother’s laps. The mother is dressed in a long gown that consists of inner yellow lining and a blue outer cover. She is also dressed in a reddish dress and her head is covered with a bluish net. The child on the other hand, is covered with a cream white piece of cloth as he sits on a brown clothe. The background of the image rests a transparent window through which one can see a serene city with buildings erected at the lower sections of a hilly land. One can conclude from the picture that the mother is sitting on a high place whereby she may look on other building structures within the city

The male child seems relaxed and perplexed as the mother expressively looks at her child with compassionately. They both seem expressively connected in love and very relaxed. With their appearance, it looks like they are alone with no one to talk to. Although their expressions suggest that they are in a relaxed mood, their minds seem to be immersed in deep thought. Though the mother to the child looks with a loving glare at her baby, she stills appears to have thoughts which might be scary hence making her to be moody

The color contrast of the portrait can be described as sharp. This is because there is a clear difference in intensity of the colors that have been used to develop all the images. For instance, red, blue, and yellow colors sharply contrast each other in a way that clearly brings out images of different robes and clothing used. The sharp difference in the intensity of the colors used also makes it easier for the viewer to distinguish the background and the foreground elements. The shadowing of the picture has a background of a black color which shows that the portrait represents a cool whether condition. It is considerably attractive in view, considering the expertise that is illustrated by the drawing. In relation to what it represents, that is, Mary and his son, the portrait creates an imaginative picture of what was happening during anti-reformation times. It also brings out a good impression of how the baby and Mary looked.

In terms of the picture content, Michelangelo’s High Renaissance Pieta (c. 1500) image shows a lady holding someone who appears to be dead or asleep (Kleinbub, 2013). In this case, the one who is held is a grown up and the lady who holds him seems to be older unlike the one in di Credi's "Madonna and Child" (c. 1500) image. Both pictures have only one feature of actions, they express emotional feeling of the representative parties.

The first image shows a mother emotionally feeling for his son, in the second image, a grown lady who might be probably feeling for his or her husband. Though not fully depicted in the second image who is held, likely in the first image the assumption is that the baby belongs to the woman. The woman in the second picture looks sorrowful unlike the first image whereby the woman looks caringly to her child. It might not be the husband but his son, though he looks to be a grown up child.

In relation to color, contrast and shadowing, both pictures express different category of contrast and shadowing. The colors are also different for both the pictures. In the second image, the characters are shown in a silver color, which shows that it’s just a curved image and the first picture is a drawn image. The caricature of the first image has more colors than the second image. The contrast of the second image is less clear if compared with the first caricature. The background setting of the picture suggests that the setting is in a closed place. This evidence is illustrated by the wall that is seen behind the characters in the picture. Also the dressing style and the appearance of the lady may suggest that she might be a queen.

Likewise the appearance of the person held suggests that he is dead or badly ill, unlike the first image (di Credi's "Madonna and Child”), the lady in the picture looks simple. Closely considering the second image, the gesture of the character may suggest that she is praying. It looks like her eyes are closed and she is bleeding in prayer of the healing or revival of the person in her hands. All this gestures from the picture are controversial and they suggest different moods of the characters and setting .This illustrations created different imaginative thoughts of what the caricatures portrays.

When comparing both the images discussed from above, they both have different features. For this third image, it shows only a head of an elderly person bowed down sorrowfully. The person has covered the head with a faded bluish clothe from the outside and a crème white from the inside. In comparison with other images, the person looks much older and very worried. In the earlier images, the ladies looked relatively young but in this Caravaggio image, the person’s forehead is wrinkled and the chicks are sunk hence suggesting that she is older.

The divergence of the image is clear, that is, it has a high contrast which is almost similar to the first image. It’s difficult to identify the background setting of the picture but from the appearance of the character in the picture and how she has lowly bent her head, it is clear that the person may be sitting in a strategic way thinking of something. Elusively, he might be thinking of some bad times in the past. As for the di Credi's "Madonna and Child” image, the women looks like worried of what will happen for the child, that is , she is thinking of the future.

The elderly person looks educative and knowledgeable and tired of life. The image does not expressly reflect what the person is troubled from but it can show that the person is much troubled and fed-up. In the first two images, it is suggestively depicted that both women are troubled of the child and the grown up boy. They both have got different expectations from the scenario representation of the portrait. The background is different for both the image, although in the Caravaggio image, the background cannot be well illustrated but it can be depicted that the character is in a dark place looking down at something while thinking. This depiction is evident from the black background color from the picture.

Considering the three images, that is, MICHELANGELO’s High Renaissance Pieta (c. 1500), the di Credi's "Madonna and Child” and Caravaggio image, different moods are expressed and all the characters have got different types of emotional feelings which cannot conclusively be said to be from life. Likely, many conclusive statement can be given from the image concerning the existence, surrounding and the actions being performed in relation to the portraits depending on an individual’s point of view when he or she looks at the image.

Ultimately, different illustrative measures can be said concerning the pictures. Considerably, the images have been used for long time and they are regarded to have a historical connection to the ancient times (Carruthers & Ziolkowski, 2003). They are of benefit for historical art development and current beliefs in religion and societal history .The images are treasured and highly valued due to the type of proficiency they exhibit.

References

Carruthers, M., & Ziolkowski, J. M. (2003). The medieval craft of memory: an anthology of texts and pictures. University of Pennsylvania Press.

Gelfand, L. D. (2000). Devotion, Imitation, and Social Aspirations: Fifteenth-Century Bruges and a Memling School Madonna and Child. Cleveland Studies in the History of Art, 5, 6-19.

Kleinbub, C. K. (2013). To Sow the Heart: Touch, Spiritual Anatomy, and Image Theory in Michelangelo’s Noli me tangere. Renaissance Quarterly,66(1), 81-129.