Week Four: Post #3 Comparative Analysis

I conduct comparative analysis between a work of art from the Early Renaissance period and one from the High Renaissance. For this analysis I have chosen The Virgin Of The Rocks by Leonardo da Vinci for my example from the High Renaissance. For the Early Renaissance I have chosen to study the Baptism Of Christ by Piero della Francesca. To start with at first glance these are very different paintings both are beautiful compositions and both have a sense of three dimensionality on a two dimensional surface. But The Virgin of the Rocks displays a more mature working of idealism, naturalism as well as a stronger composition.

The Baptism of Christ seems to me to be heavily weighted to the left with a conglomeration of figures in the foreground on the left side of the panel in addition to a number of trees. As opposed to the right side of the painting where these same pieces of the composition are dropped into the background amongst the hills. As far as dynamic unity is concerned in the Baptism of Christ piece I suppose it could be argued that it does exist. John the Baptist is leaning forward toward Christ and a man in the background is either putting on or taking off his shirt. Yet the book argues that the artist achieves “an air of beatific calm and peaceful stasis a stillness suggesting that nothing will ever change, no one will ever move in this frozen moment”. This to me seems to be a strong case against dynamic unity.

However in The Virgin of the Rocks the composition in my opinion is much more visually pleasing and balanced the image of young John the Baptist on the left opposing Jesus on the right with the rocks and background creating a pleasing type of room for the figures. Naturalism in The Virgin on the Rocks is much more apparent the body shapes and the skin tones in conjunction with the way the clothing is modeled is much better examples on naturalism. In the Baptism of Christ the figures are white almost like ghosts and there is seemingly very little effort to make the figures appear as they would in reality. Chiaroscuro and sfumato are both present in The Virgin of the Rocks while in the time that the Baptism of Christ was created these were not prevalent practices in creating paintings. The way that light is modeled in the Virgin peace shows an enlightened and better understanding of the way lightness and darkness can be addressed with paint. I must point out as well that The Baptism of Christ was painted with Tempera while The Virgin of the Rocks was painted in oil.

My favorite part of both paintings however is the use of foreshortening which is present in both pieces. In the Baptism it is used in the dove that is flying over Jesus head and in front of the tree, while in the Virgin on the Rocks it is the Virgin’s hand that is foreshortened. In the Baptism it seems to be used in more of a symbolic way while in the Virgin it used symbolically but also creates an illusion that is very beautiful to the eye and creates a great depth in the work. The Virgin of the Rocks is a great way of showing the progress of the southern renaissance in comparison to the Baptism of Christ because it shows the progress in thinking in skill that took place over time.