Renaissance Venuses

           In the beginning of the Early Renaissance different ideals start developing that directly affect how art is made. During the High Renaissance these ideals are perfected and can be seen within the art work. The Birth of Venus painted by Sandro Botticelli from the Early Renaissance illustrates the development of naturalism. Titian’s painting of the Venus of Urbino from the High Renaissance conveys naturalism at its best. The Renaissance ideas were focused around humanism. There were developing ideas in naturalism, idealism, and illusionism.

            Painted in 1484-86 The Birth of Venus conveys Early Renaissance ideals. Color is used to bring a youthful and majestic feeling to the paint of the Birth of Venus. The colors are very bright and vibrant. The Venus’ hair is brightly painted to emphasis her modesty. Botticelli utilizes many colors throughout the painting. The garment which the devotee brought for the Venus is pink. The cloth covering Zephyr is a light blue color. Using many colors in a painting can convey naturalism because the natural world is full of color. There is use of line that in a way detracts from the naturalism of the painting. The way that the waves are depicted is far from how they appear in nature, which can clue the viewer that this painting was created during the Early Renaissance when paintings were picturesque. The Birth of Venus painting utilizes light and dark contrast. The Venus is illuminated and is very light due to her fair complexion. The areas around the Venus are darker, which helps emphasize the Venus. In the background of The Birth of Venus painting expresses illusionism. This is done by creating atmospheric perspective which means that the further into the background the more objects appear blue. The painting does this in a way that conveys the birth to be majestic. The texture of this painting suggests naturalism. The texture of the drapery in the clothing seems almost natural and conveys movement due to the wind from the ocean. There is movement from Zephyr swooping down causes his garments to be flowing. Zephyr’s and the nymph’s, Chloris, hair is being blown back from the force of him swooping. Venus’ and the devotee’s hair and clothing are also being blown from the ocean winds. The painting is well balance with Venus being the center, and the figures on her sides are asymmetrically balanced. Unity in this painting provides a harmony that is need. The Venus is born and the figures are coming together for her birth which conveys unity and harmony throughout the painting.

            Titian painted Venus of Urbino in 1538 during the High Renaissance. This painting conveys developed ideas of naturalism, idealism and illusionism. Although Titian utilizes only a few colors, red, yellow and touches of green his painting feels very natural. The way that color is used in the painting of Urbino draws emphasis and guides the viewer. First one would see the red of the sheets that the Venus is laying upon then the viewer would see the red of the servant’s dress. The drapery behind the Venus is the only area of green, which gives a main emphasis on the Venus. The richness of the colors is overall visually pleasing. Unlike The Birth of Venus, there is not any unnecessary use of line. There is contrast within the painting that is with rich bold colors which contrast the light colors; this is different from The Birth of Venus that contrasts light and dark values. The bed Urbino lays shows a small area of red then contrasts it with the cream sheet. The same idea is applied with the red dress of the servant which contrasts the white dress the other servant is wearing. Texture within this painting is very natural with the way that the sheets are wrinkled from the Venus laying on them. The Venus’ hair is idealized yet appears very natural how it is laying over her shoulder. In the painting there appears to be minimal movement compared to The Birth of Venus. The Venus of Urbino suggests stillness; however there is movement in the background the servants are shuffling around putting the Venus’ clothes away. There is an illusion of perspective; the overall scene is inside the room yet there is an illusion of space by including a window where the viewer can see the sky and foliage. Unity in this painting is achieved by color. I feel that Titian used color carefully and precisely to tie everything together. There is not a true reason for why the servants are included yet Titian included them and unified the painting by using colors that were already present.

Titian achieved a more picturesque painting by utilizing ideals that have developed since the Early Renaissance that High Renaissance artists have perfected. Although both Venus paintings are beautiful works of art, Renaissance art is about naturalism, idealism and illusionism. Each painting can be identified to when they were creating during the Renaissance by how these ideals are refined.

Mary Magdalen

              Sometime between 1430s and 1450s Donato di Niccolo de Betto Di Bardi, also know as Donatello created a Mary Magdalen sculpture.  Mary is made from polychromy and gold on wood. This Mary Magdalen sculpture stands about six feet tall. I chose this work of art because I have not yet seen Mary Magdalen portrayed this way before; usually she is very beautiful and appears like a doll. My first reaction to this sculpture was that it is very emotional and it evokes a lot of feeling and curiosity on the viewer.

           

            Donatello captures Mary Magdalen in an fascinating way through use of texture. Mary Magdalen is clothed in her own hair. The utilization of texture conveys hair, and the texture creates contrasting values which increase visual interest. Although I am unsure why she is dressed in her own hair, it adds a twist to the way Mary Magdalen is perceived. Her clothing is droopy, cheerless and depressing. Through the use of texture and line in her clothing you feel that she is being pulled down and emulates her gloomy facial expression. There is a great amount of texture in her face. Donatello expresses her naturally by including wrinkles in her face. Her facial appearance looks as if she has been suffering and is being tormented; she looks extremely depressed and miserable. Donatello captured her emotion in a way that viewers are able to feel what she may have felt. There are shadows being cast upon her eyes due to her dramatic brow. She is looking downward conveying a physic line to the unknown. Mary’s mouth is slightly open, almost appearing to be saying something. Her hands are held up and are about to be pressed together as if she is going to pray. The idea that she could be praying communicates to me that she might actually be tortured and could be asking god for help in some way.

             

This sculpture of Mary Magdalen created in the round suggests movement. There is anticipated movement because she is lifting her hands and is about to press them together to pray. The anticipated movement captures the viewer’s interest. Perhaps the artist did this in order for the viewer’s eyes to be moved from her hands to her face which is truly being emphasized. There is emphasis through placement; her hair is placed on her face in a way that emphasizes her facial expression. Mary Magdalen is posed with the contrapposto weight shift. This weight shift goes almost unnoticed due to her frumpy clothes made of hair. I believe Donatello created what more or less looks to be a belt above her hips. Usually, when contrapposto is utilized it is immediately noticed in the hip area. In Mary’s case the contrapposto is more so noticed in her legs, which are not being covered by the dress of hair. Mary Magdalen has one weight bearing leg and the other leg is slightly bent. I find the way Mary is standing on the pedestal to be rather enthralling. She is standing on a rock pedestal with one foot on the pedestal and the other foot looks as if she might take a step of the pedestal, this appears very engaging to the viewer. One could say there is stylization in the fact that she is dress in her own hair, yet there is also naturalism. Mary Magdalen has toned muscle in her arms and legs give her a naturalized appearance.

All together this Mary Magdalen sculpture created by Donatello during the Southern Renaissance in Italy is out of the ordinary, and puzzling. I think part of why this sculpture stood out to me is that the sculpture is not conforming to the classical ideas that some sculpture during this time were returning to. For example Donatello’s David appears to be influenced by classical ideals. One could stare at this sculpture for hours considering why she would be dressed in her own hair. Or why does she have such an discontent facial expression, what happened in order for her to feel this way. One could also wonder why Donatello chose to create a sculpture of Mary Magdalen in a way that is so abnormal for her. 

Northern Renaissance

          During the Northern Renaissance several values can be seen in the art created at this time. Many works of art created have focus on religion and religious events. The Ghent Altarpiece painted by Jan van Eyck, the so called prince of painting, captures religious art at its best. When this piece was created many people were in awe due to intense naturalism and by the amount of skill that went into producing this work of art. This naturalism is best seen in the painting of Adam, Jan van Eyck painted him with tanned hands and face as if he was a real man. He was able to create such naturalism by painting the underside of Adam’s foot which makes viewers feel as if he could walk out of the painting. Jan van Eyck considered how the light in the Church would reflect onto the painting. He created reflections on shiny surfaces the way it would have been if they had light cast upon them and by doing this it helps convey naturalism.

            At this time, I think that artistic style began to focus on creating images that were very close to how the appear in the natural world. Claus Sluter, the creator of the Well of Moses, was able to achieve naturalism through carved stone. He was able to do this by creating the figures to more then part of the architecture; the figures are in the round and nearly free standing. Each figure is very detailed showing even little details such as wrinkles, and movement in their clothing. Sluter was even able to create a book which Jeremiah holds that appears so naturally with its open pages. Sculpture was the supreme art during the Northern Renaissance while painting was used to enhance sculptures. Altarpieces would have had painted wings then when opened there would be religious sculptures.

            Northern Renaissance artist revamped Manuscript illuminations to be more then just pictures. Manuscript illuminators created worlds within a small area of prayer books that unfolded with each turn of the page. Some Illuminators were master artists, and were able to capture nearly anything they choose, from religious events, and landscapes, to every day life. These illuminations could be windows into seemingly natural worlds.

            Not only was the Northern Renaissance artistic style focused on naturalism, I feel that part of these artistic styles was using many colors throughout the artwork. Oil paint was layered to produce rich natural colors. This can be seen in many Northern Renaissance art. Jan van Eyck’s painting The Arnolfini Portrait conveys his use of color in a naturalistic way. From the woman’s elegant green dress which appears like real fabric to the fur of the dog. Jan van Eyck truly revolutionized the art of oil painting. He was able to create surfaces that would be challenging to convey such as the mirror behind the couple.

            The Northern Renaissance was the beginning of arts rebirth. During this rebirth values shifted and are apparent in the art created at this time. There was a large focus on naturalism, for objects to appear like they would in the natural world.

Cultural focus on Renaissance art

I think that our culture focuses on Renaissance art because the art produced in the 15^th and 16^th centuries have good balance of naturalism and stylization that is visually appealing. Some people might feel that Renaissance art is “better” then other art for the same reasons that Greek art can be seen as ”better.” I feel that both Greek and Renaissance artists were able to capture a sense of beauty in all of their works of art. There is more focus on Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Raphael possibly because the quality and quantity of their work. I look forward to learning more about Renaissance art and why our culture focuses on this type of art.