Art 101
First Formal Paper Assignment
June 21, 2010

The two-dimensional painting that caught my attention was the “Virgin and Child with Saints Jerome and Nicholas of Tolentino” by Lorenzo Lotto. The painter uses oil on canvas as his media because oil enables the artist to change color, texture, or the form of the figures at any time. And you can see how important the use of oil was to effectively impact the responses from the audience to see many details of the painting and make a conclusion of what the painting is conveying to the individual viewer or to the masses. I couldn’t keep my eyes away and at first I couldn’t pinpoint why Lotto’s painting was striking a profound cord in me. What made it so easily noticeable was the vibrant coral color of the Virgin’s dress and the deep pastel blue that drapes on her lap. It was if, I had to pay attention to the center of the painting and there I would be able to see a story unfold (a sad dramatic foreshadow for the child). The foreground elicits cohesiveness among all the figures because each figure is important to each other. Lotto’s arrangement of the figures is positioned strategically and the painting is balanced. The foreground takes up half of the portrait leaving no space for the middle ground and a quarter spaces for the background. The halo which symbolizes sacred figures could be seen over the Virgin and Saints Jerome and Nicholas of Tolentino’s head. Saint Jerome was placed on the left with his head tilted away from the Virgin. His demeanor shows sadness and despair; he is crying because of what is to come of the Child. One hand is holding the crucifix and the other holding his chest showing his complete devotion to Christ. His cloth draped over his arm and hangs off his right shoulder which may suggest a rocking motion. He is beside the Virgin, but her body is turning away from Saint Jerome and holds the child gently. However, as much as she turns away from Saint Jerome she tilts her head toward him and her eyes pointing down which seems to be her acceptance of her child’s future. The Virgin cares deeply for her child (Christ), but she cannot ignore what her child is sitting on a coffin…death awaiting him in the future. The child tilts his head to Saint Nicholas of Tolentino and also looks down with acceptance of his fate. Saint Nicholas of Tolentino holds a white lily as if he is offering it to the child. A white lily represents the purity of thought and action as well as innocence. He holds the glowing white lily as if to offer it to Christ. Saint Nicholas of Tolentino stares at the child with love and understanding of what is to come for the child (suffering he must endure for his people). I can understand why it was important for the artist to leave out the middle ground because he wanted the focus to be on the foreground. The expression and the relevance to each figure play a specific role in the painting. I see the love and pain that each one of these figures must go through knowing that the future for the child will end up in violence.

The shape of the two figures in the center is a triangle shape and focus is on the Virgin and child. The long stem white lily allows the reader to see the triangle forming. The coffin gives the child height up to the axis. The way the body of the Virgin is diagonally shifted toward the child forms the other side of the triangle. Lotto uses the green drape which falls between the Virgin and the child giving us an axis point. He uses the lines in the green drapes very well. The background has a diagonal slope of the cliffs sloping down to the axis point of the painting once again letting the viewer focus on the Virgin and child. The foreground and the background that is seen in the painting and Lotto shades a small area above Saint Jerome and the Virgin’s head letting us know that he wants the focus to be on the important parts of the painting. As I was viewing the painting the lines that seem to dominate are the diagonal lines and the unstable curves in the draperies of the clothes and curtain.