Saika Kibria Professor Woods-Marsden Art History 57 Due 11/21/13

Realism within Religion The historical transition from the late medieval age to the Italian Renaissance invents an entirely new, yet familiar, realm of beauty and theology through art. Bernardro Daddis tempera painting on a gold leaf panel, Madonna, Saint Thomas Aquinas and Saint Paul (hereafter referred to as Madonna), and Fra Bartolommeos oil painting on a panel, The Rest on the Flight into Egypt with St. John the Baptist (hereafter referred to as The Flight), are two prime examples that ideally characterize this notable historic transition between both eras. Madonna (c. 1330) is a triptych portraying Virgin Mary alongside Saint Thomas Aquinas, who is holding a book containing his own writings, and Saint Paul, who is holding a sword, which symbolizes martyrdom. The Flight (c. 1509) depicts Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph spending an uncannily tranquil afternoon, during their departure for Egypt, peacefully observing infant Christ playfully clutch infant John the Baptists cross. The variant paintings reveal that the Italian Renaissance added humanistic qualities to religion in artwork. Humanism significantly altered art to the extent where the two time periods exhibit numerous differences and only a small number of similarities in the areas of narrative, color and light, and space. The two separate pieces of artwork explore historia in completely different manners, owing that each piece represents dissimilar iconographies and time periods. The Flight illustrates the flight into Egypt, an eminent biblical story that appears in various painting throughout the

fourteenth century; this image recounts the tale of Virgin Marys urgent departure for Egypt. Preceding the exit, King Herod of Jerusalem responded to a prophecy, declaring that a man will overthrow his kingdom someday, by massacring countless infant boys born in Jerusalem, thus triggering Virgin Marys leaving in order to protect infant Christ from death. Bartolommeo paints the Virgin and Saint Joseph with serene expressions in a dire situation, perhaps to reflect on Christs humanistic capacity to survive and endure hardships. In contrast, Madonna tells no narrative, simply presenting the icon, Madonna and Child. The Virgin Mary and saints wear stoic facial expressions, and stand in front of a solid, gold background. Virgin Mary appears to reach outside the marble parapet, implying the Holy Mothers power and compassion. This painting is detached from the humanistic qualities of realism and daily life, and solely highlights the divinity of religious figures. Both The Flight and Madonna use Virgin Mary to serve divergent purposes, truly differentiating the late medieval era from the Italian Renaissance. While Bartolommeo narrates a vivid story in his artwork by skillfully incorporating light and color, Daddi uses splashy, bold hues to merely assign individuals religious importance. In Madonna, Virgin Mary is wearing an intensely vibrant, ultramarine blue cloak set again a bright, glossy gold background, thus signifying her importance. On the contrary, Bartolommeo focuses the attention on infant Christ by directing the raking light on the childs bare body and shrouding other individuals in shadows, hence mastering the art of relievo. The background glorifies nature with a detailed palm tree and hazy blue sky. The Flight embraces both nudity and nature, two noteworthy facets of humanism. Yet, both works pay homage to the religious figures in similar fashion; Virgin Mary is clothed in shades of red and blue, and halos lie above the peoples heads. The Renaissance explores humanism by shifting the flamboyant style and composition of the late medieval age to skillful artistry. For instance, according to Frederick Hartt, gold became more

uncommon during the renaissance because artists wanted to showcase their talent and aptitude without using the luxurious commodity, and affordability also played a major role in the diminishing usage of gold. Thus far, the renaissance artist, Bartolommeo, has adeptly fulfilled the criteria in Albertis treatise, On Painting: historia, relievo, and, lastly, perspective. Perspective is a core asset to the Renaissance, but wholly nonexistent during the medieval time period. Humanism derives from Greco-Roman origins, a cultural that was heavily reliant on calculation and precision. The Flight sets a three-dimensional background entailing a blurred city in the distance, and a low, nearby hill. The human-beings have proportionate bodies and they are evenly-spaced in the picture, providing an overall balance. Conversely, in Madonna, the background is a solid color, and the spaces between the humans are cramped and miniscule. Proportionately, the Virgin Mary appears unnaturally larger than the other two saints, as well, therefore perspective helps sketch realistic scenery for viewers. Scale is imperative to renaissance art and architecture; domes, columns, pediments, vanishing points, transversals, and other mathematical assets of space are tremendously important contributive factors of humanism. During the late medieval era, religion was never devised for any other reason except to illustrate a biblical event and to glorify biblical figures. The Italian Renaissance marked the beginning of humanistic values such as accuracy, prowess, depth, and detail. Humanism shaped and molded religion into a more realistic, everyday concept in the world of art and philosophy. Space, light, narrative, and color are a blend of ingredients that make up art, often causing paintings like Madonna, Saint Thomas Aquinas and Saint Paul and The Rest on the Flight into Egypt with St. John the Baptist to differ, or relate, in variable ways. The transition between the late medieval period and the Renaissance was, in a manner of speaking, a revolution in art history.

Works Cited Hartt, Frederick. History of Italian Renaissance Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1969. Print. "Madonna, Saint Thomas Aquinas, and Saint Paul (Getty Museum)." Madonna, Saint Thomas Aquinas, and Saint Paul (Getty Museum). The J. Paul Getty Trust, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. "The Rest on the Flight into Egypt with St. John the Baptist (Getty Museum)." The Rest on the Flight into Egypt with St. John the Baptist (Getty Museum). The J. Paul Getty Trust, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.