Art and Society: Renaissance to Modern Art
Paper Assignment I
Analysis of the Museum’s Painting The museum’s painting (Attributed to Quentin Massys, Lamentation, c. 1520) depicted a scene in which several grieving people were gathered around Christ after his crucifixion. The thing that stands out about this painting is that Christ is not adorned in fine clothing, nor does he even appear divine in any way. The surrounding people do not appear to be priests or divine, but are normal, plainly garbed, people. Upon moving my attention to other areas of the painting, I noticed the detailed landscape upon which this scene was set. The museum’s painting can be recognized as a northern painting, even without prior knowledge of the artist who painted it. Two distinct features in this painting are strongly indicative of a northern painting. One of these said features is the landscape setting. Northern works of art deal strongly with naturalism. The second indication that this may be a northern painting has to do with the people gathered around Christ. It is easy to tell that these individuals are merely common folk. A southern painting would most likely feature angels or clergymen gathered around Christ, but within paintings from the north was the concept of humanism. In lamens terms, humanism is merely a system of thought in which human beings are of utmost importance as opposed to the divine or supernatural. In summation, both styles of this painting, naturalism and humanism, are indicative of a northern painting. Dissimilar to paintings of the North, which dealt heavily with naturalism, Southern paintings were more abstract, and less detailed, and mostly featured classical mythology and religious scenes. The works of art from the North convey a more accurate depiction of Christianity and do so by allowing the emotion of the artwork to be felt by the viewer.
Northern vs Southern Cultural Influence The geographical layout of the land played a major role in the cultural differences illustrated by Northern and Southern painting. Countries north of the Alps lacked the resources of the Italian Renaissance. Trade was abundant in Italy, exposing the artists, architects, and sculptors to many different cultures. This afforded them great inspiration to develop and discover new things. Although southerners still though religion had importance, it was not their main priority. Politics and other sciences were coming into the mainstream, changing both their way of thinking and living. The North was mostly rural, providing little opportunity for the dispersion of new ideas. The artists of the North drew from their everyday lives and surroundings, using oil paints to craft realistic landscapes of exquisite detail. Since the Northerners were not exposed to the changes taking place in the south, the north maintained close ties to the Christian church. This connection with the church gave way to the Christian humanism, for which the North’s Paintings are so well known for.
Each Painting’s Portrayal of Christianity Both paintings illustrate distinctly different ideas of Christianity. In the Northern depiction of Lamentation, Christ is surrounded by normal people, who, through their sadness, portray their intense love and compassion for Him. As previously stated, the Northern Renaissance maintained their close ties with the Christian church, giving birth to Christian humanism, which emphasized both the moral teachings of Christ as well as Christ’s humanity. This painting clearly illustrates the deep connection the people have with their savior. In the South, the artists were exposed to a large number of different cultures. The artists of the South, always looking for something better and new to create, would paint religious scenes with Greek or Roman mythology. The painting Giotto, Lamentation, c. 1305 shows Christ surrounded by what appear to be Saints, with angels flying overhead. This depiction of Christianity is quite different than that of the North.
The Effect of the Color and Composition on the Interpretation of the Narrative While Northern paintings involve naturalism, in which the color and detail are critically analyzed, Southern paintings are somewhat more mysterious, as if to let the viewer’s imagination run free. The Northern painting uses oil paints, which help give the art bold and vivid colors. The Southern artists were using frescoes (paintings done with pigment on wet plaster), which leaves the colors of the painting rather flat and somewhat dull. In addition to the dullness of the coloration, there is not nearly as much detail as there is in the Northern painting. While the Southern painting appears almost two dimensional, the Northern one is very detailed in three dimensions. In addition to the extreme detail of the Northern painting, the viewer can actually see emotion on the faces of those surrounding Christ, which, in turn, allows the viewer to share in that emotion as to better understand their loss and sadness. The Southern painting conveys no emotion, as all the faces of the people in the painting are emotionless. Thus, the Northern painting gave me a better understanding of the narrative of the scene depicted.
Conclusion
When experiencing a work of art in a museum environment, it truly gives one an appreciation of both the history and emotion behind the painting. There is a much greater significance to experiencing a work in the museum context as opposed to seeing the work as a reproduction. In the museum, one can actually see the work that someone did centuries ago, which, in my opinion, give greater meaning the work itself. Seeing a work in reproduction still gives one an appreciation of the beauty of the piece, but seeing the work first hand in a museum environment allows the viewer to have a true appreciation for the art, as well as the story behind it.