Paintings from Florence and Rome
Paintings from Florence and Rome were influenced by the humanists who strived to acquire knowledge in fields such as botany, geology, and optics. The Tunsan dialect furthered their knowledge in literature. The humanists are epitomized by their perspective system and their quest for precision in human anatomy. Artists in the era used the linear perspective to make their artistry more measurable and specific using a Camera Obscura. They also used an atmospheric perspective to make the images more precise and more detailed.
An example being Leonardo da Vinci of Venice in his painting of the Madonna on the rock. He used light and shadow to represent himself and presented the Madonna in a pyramidal grouping. His vast knowledge inspired his atmospheric perspective in science. He depicted the objects in his painting as unified, which alluded to an invisible substance representing them. Leonardo uses light and shade to represent the Madonna, Christ, and John the Baptist from a visionary landscape. Furthermore, light helps in making them conspicuous. The picture is also emotionally compelling with the angel’s glance intriguing the viewer, John prays to Christ, and Madonna’s left-hand reaches out to her son while the right-hand rests on John’s shoulder.
In comparison to the Florence and Rome painting, the vertical abandon the linear perspective to a sensual focus. The artists are inspired by music in making the art poetic. Giovanni Bellini was the trailblazer in the vertican painting. After interacting with Antonello da Messina’s, who used mixed oil in developing sensual colours, Bellini abandoned the linear style. His portrait of San Zaccaria Altarpiece, painted in Venice, gathers saints from different eras. The saints appear to be conversing with each other or with the viewers. The setting is in a meticulously painted shrine. The painting exudes serenity from the scene compared to the individual saints who do not interact with each other. Therefore, in comparison with the Florence and Rome painting, line is secondary, while colour, light, and shadow are the core focus.