Raphael, Ansidei Madonna
This is a painting by Raphael, who was an Italian high renaissance painter. The painting was between 1505 and 1507 during his Florentine period. The painting shows an image of Virgin Mary sitting on a throne. From a closer look, the throne appears to be wooden based on its color and texture. Child Jesus Christ is on her laps. On the left side is Saint Nicholas who is reading a book and on the right stands John the Baptist who appears to be listening carefully to the words of Nicholas is reading.
Notably, the poise of the painting is incredible and the lighting impressive. The white arch behind the throne illuminates the throne relatively well giving a sense of holiness and righteousness. A close observation of the throne, the internal architecture of the throne is not entirely logical in regard to the shape of a trivial throne. The throne has no arms, and the wooden stairs are too steep to be practical. The intention of the painter ate this level was to present the sense of a humble approach to the throne. Despite the impractical nature, the throne clearly and beautifully reflects the arches above. The contours on the painting are physically and psychologically more complex and structurally more pronounced and volumetric. The structural representation of the throne, the high baldachin, and the luminous background of the painting serve to show the uniqueness of Raphael artwork. The aspect creates a sense of harmonic and monumentality proportion, which are consistent with his other works.
In a detailed review of the characters in the painting, John the Baptist to be youthful and handsome. His right leg is twisted out is a ballet pose, and he appears to be pointing the baby on Mary laps with a crooked finger. On the other hand, Mary appears to be intent on the book that she is holding. Saint Nicholas is relatively older than other characters, and he appears to utterly self-absorbed to the content of the book that he is holding. There is “bliss of solitude” in all the characters, where they all appear to be looking at the world in an inward eye.
There various details in the painting that I can use to tell that the image is from the Italian High Renaissance period. One of the aspects is the serene mood that is presented in the painting. This was an aspect during this period where artists painted individual in a calmer theme which is a representation of the serene environment of this period. Another element is the luminous colors of the painting. Notably, most of the artists during the High Renaissance period preferred to use highly luminous colors to illuminate their themes. Other elements in the painting that are related to this period include exaggerated poses of the characters and elongated proportions
Italian High Renaissance is the historical period that the work above was created. It is a period that started from the 1490s to 1537 as a result of the sacking of Rome by Charles V troops. The high conservativeness and affiliation to Christianity by the society during this period affected what the artists painted. This notion can be supported by the level of serenity that was presented in most of the paintings from this period. The artists helped in amplifying the actual social orientation of the society in this period.