Marriage Of The Virgin Raphael Essay

The Marriage of the Virgin, a painting by Raphael, shows the fundamental aspects of a Renaissance artwork. This particular piece enthralled me from the moment I saw it. Raphael added finer details to The Marriage of the Virgin that, at first glance, I had not noticed but, upon further examination, could be spotted. For instance, the priest’s robes are sketched with elegant patterns, and the draping of Joseph’s clothes adds a sort of three-dimensional effect. Moreover, Raphael added faint halos over the heads of Mary and Joseph. These halos are not as obvious as ones in pre-Renaissance artwork, but the addition of the halos shows the vast importance of the two Biblical figures as opposed to their entourage. Aside from the better anatomical details of the people, Raphael added detail into the background. On the left side of the mountains, architecture of a distant city or town is shown. The structure seen behind Mary and Joseph houses the artist’s signature: Raphael Vrbinas MDIIII. The adding of his name and the year the painting was completed shows the artist’s desire to be more included in his artwork unlike artists of previous generations.
In Raphael’s painting, a building takes up the majority of the painting’s background in addition to a handful of people milling around in the background to add realism to the painting since a community square would have civilians. Additionally, The Marriage of the Virgin shows planes in the display of a foreground, a middle ground, and a background. Mary, Joseph, the priest, and the assemblage of wedding onlookers create the foreground of Raphael’s work. The loitering civilians further back as well as the extravagant building create the middle ground whereas the distant mountains and the sky form the background of the art