Botticelli's Madonna & Child with Adoring Angel This paper will analyze the painting Madonna and

This paper will analyze the painting Madonna and Child with Adoring Angel (c. 1468), by Sandro Filipepi Botticelli. The work consists of tempera paint on panel and it stands at 35 x 26-3/4 inches. The subject matter of the painting shows Mary affectionately holding the baby Jesus while a nearby angel looks on. The context of the work is the early Italian Renaissance. In contrast to the strictly religious themes of the medieval period, the early Renaissance was a time when humanism was becoming increasingly important in painting. In addition, the early Renaissance saw the development of increased naturalism in terms of pictorial style.

Botticelli was born in about 1444 or 1445 and he died in 1510. He was a Florentine painter who is closely associated with the patronage of the Medici family. The Madonna and Child with Adoring Angel is an early work from Botticelli's career. As such, it can be seen that Botticelli's purpose in creating the work was to experiment with the new elements of Renaissance art which were developing at the time. Salvini has noted that the early Madonnas painted by Botticelli show the progress of the artist in "developing greater formal beauty and restudying problems in form" (All the Paintings 16). In this regard, Botticelli's early paintings show the influence of such contemporaries as Verrocchio and Antonio Pollaiuolo, as well as his teacher, Fra Filippo Lippi. However, Botticelli did not simply copy the style of these other early Renai

Related Essays

The Career of Botticelli .... the picture represents a step in Botticelli's development from .... at the Uffizi and the Berlin Madonna Enthroned with .... for the Bardi Chapel at S. Spirito around .... (6121 24 )

Italian and Northern Renaissance 1. Giotto's app .... Both paintings feature the enthroned Madonna flanked by eight .... The success of S. Andrea rests on Alberti's ability .... Venus (c. 1480) by Sandro Botticelli (1444/5 .... (9215 37 )

orially connected to one another. This technique can be seen in Madonna and Child with Adoring Angel in that the three figures of the work are not only linked by a common subject matter but also by the fact that they exist on the same line of perspective. A bit later in the Renaissance period, it became fashionable to create depth in painting through shadings in light and color rather than through the positioning of figures and backgrounds. As such, Botticelli's painting shows a transition from the flat, linear style of the medieval period to the three-dimensional style which was characteristic of the high Renaissance. Botticelli's paintings also show a unique approach to the treatment of anatomy. Hartt notes that Botticelli often elongated his figures, depicting them "with long necks, torsos, and arms and sloping shoulders" (555). This style of depicting human figures is clearly evident in his Madonna and Child with Adoring Angel. It has also been noted that the early Renaissance period marked a shift from the treatment of anatomy which was typical during the medieval period. In the medieval period, figures were often flat and rigid; during the early Renaissance they became more fluid, with "a new, free, natural range o

Category: Arts - B