Evolution of the Virgin and Child

Michael DozsaSurvey of Art History

Spring 2014

IntroductionThis presentation will show you not only the evolution

of paintings depicting the Virgin and Child but also the progression of painting from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century; As well as from different locations around Europe.

From Cimabue to Jan Hossaert, Italy to Germany the representation of the Virgin Mary with an infant Jesus has been reproduced throughout time, and many different art styles. This symbolic image shows up throughout Europe due to one of the main political powers of the time being the Catholic church.

With that political power in addition to their considerable wealth commissioned a majority of artwork within the period. Art of the time was a product of the wealthy, unsurprising considering the time and dedication it took to become not just a successful painter but to complete one of these masterful works, in contrast today where art seems hurried and is available to the masses with simple and cheap reproduction.

Hopefully this exhibit will show you the progression of painting and art that these masters of their time honed their skills over a lifetime to create.

• Cimabue (Italian)• Virgin and Child Enthroned• C. 1280• Tempera and Gold on Wood• Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Thirteenth Century Italy

This piece starts our journey with Cimabue’s Virgin and Child Enthroned. Standing at 12 and a half feet tall this shows the art of Tempera, using egg yolk (or other similar materials) to create a fast drying but very resilient paint. As you can see the earlier styles show some depth but certainly are not quite as lifelike as paintings later on in the presentation.

• Dieric Bouts (Flemish, c.1415-1475)• Virgin and Child • C. 1455-1460• Oil on Wood Panel• Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York• pg580

Fifteenth Century Flanders

Jump a little further down the line to 1455, oil painting was emerging as a preferred style in Flemish art. As opposed to tempera, oil paints dries slowly and allows much more simple corrections. This painting shows the difference very clearly, the depth being much more profound. In addition to the depth you can see another obvious difference in how the Virgin and Child are displayed, with obvious affection as opposed to the regal disposition in the earlier work.

• Giovanni Bellini (Venetian, c. 1430-1516)• Virgin and Child Enthroned with SS. Francis, John the Baptist, Job,

Dominic, Sebastian, and Louis of Toulouse• C. 1478• Oil on Wood Panel• Reconstruction resides in Galleria dell’Accademia, Venice

Fifteenth Century Italy

Another step forward in the illusion of depth is Giovanni Bellini’s version of the Virgin and Child. This show’s the improvements made toward realism in painting. While showing as much or more surface detail than Dieric Bouts piece it also gives the illusion of a tunnel into the wall. Spectacular difference from just 15-20 years ago.

• Jan Gossaert (French, c.1478-1533)• St. Luke Drawing the Virgin Mary (1520)• Oil on Panel• Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Sixteenth Century Italian Romanism

This painting is different from the rest in that it’s not just the Virgin and Child but also St. Luke, supposedly seeing a heavenly apparition of them so he could show his fellow Christian followers an accurate representation of them. The roman influences in his paintings are apparent from classical architecture and decorative style. Lastly though this is the most famous, he created many works depicting the Virgin and Child.

• Parmigianino (Italian, c.1503-1540)• Madonna With the Long Neck (1534-2540)• Oil on Wood Panel• Galleria degli Uffizi

Sixteenth Century Italian Mannerism

This shows a major shift in the way the subject is portrayed. As opposed to the others which both pushed for as much realism or idealization within their media as possible, Madonna with the Long Neck is in the emerging Mannerist style; The extra long extremities and a tiny saint making it look incredibly unnatural but visually enticing at the same time.

Bibliography

• "Dieric Bouts: Virgin and Child" (30.95.280) In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/30.95.280. (October 2006)

• "Jan Gossaert." Getty.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. <http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artMakerDetails?maker=707>.

• Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History Fourteenth to Seventeenth Century Art. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.