Example Art Analysis: Rogier Van der Weyden - St. Luke Drawing the Virgin PDF

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Summary

Italy 1400-1500: EARLY RENAISSANCE in Italy: Painting

This is an example analysis of Rogier Van der Weyden's "St. Luke Drawing the Virgin" for an introduction to Art History (namely the Early Italian Renaissance). The essay is ordered by the parts below.

1) Identifying the ...

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- Rogier Van der Weyden - Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin - ca 1435-1440 - oil and tempera on wood - 15th Century The purpose of this work was to humanize the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus. It was most likely commissioned by the painters guild in Brussels, meant to be displayed in the guild hall. The painting shows an upper-middle class home, seen from an elevated perspective. A man dressed in red robes kneels at a ¾ angle on the right side of the piece, holding a piece of paper or sketchbook. His gaze is pointed towards Virgin Mary, who is draped in blue robes and seated on the footrest of a bench. She holds baby Jesus, nursing him. A golden cloth, appearing to be intricately woven using silk, is hung behind her to announce her importance. Carved into the bench is a depiction of Adam and Eve. A doorway on the right side of the piece shows an open book, presumably a bible, on a lectern, and an ox is pictured directly below. The back wall is missing, replaced by two straight pillars that give a view of a garden. A man and a woman stand at a tall fence with their backs facing the viewer, observing a long river that disappears into the background. Mountains cut off the water in the distance, and cityscapes frame the river on both sides. The man drawing the Virgin is suggested to be a self-portrait of Van der Weyden, and this choice would ultimately lead to a revolutionary addition of a painting genre. By proclaiming that the Virgin wanted him to paint her, the artist raised his stature, which was unheard of in this time since craftspeople remained anonymous. This piece is rich with religious symbolism. The ox in the background is a symbol of St. Luke, and Jesus and Mary are depicted as being the reincarnation of Adam and Eve. The colour of the subjects’ robes also plays a part, as Mary is always depicted wearing blue because it is the colour of femininity and represents her as the Queen of Heaven. St. Luke’s clothes are red, the colour of masculinity, martyrs, and the coming of the holy spirit. The room was established using intuitive perspective, and convergence is visible in vanish points where lines do not match up true to life. There is a lot of overlapping and diminution that balances the scene and keeps proportions accurate to the viewing angle. The painting is done with approximate symmetry, in which the two sides are not perfectly balanced but the focal point is well split between the two subjects. Mary and St. Luke are given the appearance of human bodies under the layers of fabric, with the illusion being achieved using lighting and depth. Light values shape the subjects’ joints, creating shadows and, in turn, shape. Visual texture is prevalent in the piece, particularly in Mary’s hair, the silk weave behind her, and the wool clothing her and St. Luke wear. The oil paint palette is composed of rich, earthy, typically Northern colours. There appear to be two light sources; the front of the room, where the viewer is, is exposed, and light comes in from the opening in the back wall. Flat, even lighting is cast on Mary and Gabriel, giving their forms just enough contrast to stand out against the neutral background of the house. There is a slight spotlight on Mary, with overall even lighting in background. The style of this work well-adjusted to the pieces coming out of 15th Century Flanders. It is naturalistic, with impeccable levels of visual detail and deep iconography. The look of the piece was influenced by Christian symbolism and beliefs. Being a religious piece, it relied heavily on representing the events of the Bible and Jesus’ soon-to-be rule as King of Heaven. In social context, this served to humanize Mary and Jesus by showing her nursing him, and depicting him as a human child....