The Branchini Madonna
Every artist has their own interpretation, style, and meaning for any subject they paint, and as for the Madonna and child, Giovanni di Paolo and Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (Raphael) have only showed the viewers one of the many depictions of these religious icons. In 1427, Giovanni depicted Mary and the child with tempera and gold leaf on a panel known as The Branchini Madonna. In the painting, Mary is painted with a gold crown surrounded by wings from angels on her sides as well as holding her off the ground. She is painted carrying baby Jesus on her lap while looking off into the distance or towards the audience. At the top of the piece, our father is painted with wings around him also. The painting represents the Virgin Mary and Christ in
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In The Branchini Madonna, Giovanni uses a dark blue color known as lapis lazuli for Virgin Mary’s dress, which was used because of its quality. This color creates great contrast with the gold background and detailing on Mary. The gold brings out a feeling of royalty and a godly presence. Since the gold is reflective, when light would shine on the painting, this would further establish this godly feeling. Also, according to the Norton Simon Museum, the flowers below Mary represents the Holy Trinity as well as support Giovanni’s massage. In the Madonna and Child With a Book, Raphael used the elements to help establish the close connection between the Virgin and Christ and to put emphasis on the book in the painting. For example, Mary’s form and position she is in encloses around baby Jesus. One arm is around the child while the other hand is holding a book. The infant Jesus is also holding the book in one hand while the other is touching the Virgin Mary’s hand. Raphael used the book to form the visible connection between them as well as creating a smaller space for the two subjects of his painting. The background scene was included to give the painting depth and since the scene is arched, this further construct the enclosing space between Mary and the child. The scenic scene is viewed as wrapping around them. In addition, he uses color and light to create contrast between the background and the Virgin Mary. The scene is in a light blue while Mary’s cloak in a dark blue. Also the scenic view ends with the bottom half of the background being black and that is where Mary’s deeper red dress color begins. All of these elements Raphael used was to properly plan out and establish the connection between the Virgin and Christ as well as to draw the viewer’s eye to the
In The Branchini Madonna, Giovanni uses a dark blue color known as lapis lazuli for Virgin Mary’s dress, which was used because of its quality. This color creates great contrast with the gold background and detailing on Mary. The gold brings out a feeling of royalty and a godly presence. Since the gold is reflective, when light would shine on the painting, this would further establish this godly feeling. Also, according to the Norton Simon Museum, the flowers below Mary represents the Holy Trinity as well as support Giovanni’s massage. In the Madonna and Child With a Book, Raphael used the elements to help establish the close connection between the Virgin and Christ and to put emphasis on the book in the painting. For example, Mary’s form and position she is in encloses around baby Jesus. One arm is around the child while the other hand is holding a book. The infant Jesus is also holding the book in one hand while the other is touching the Virgin Mary’s hand. Raphael used the book to form the visible connection between them as well as creating a smaller space for the two subjects of his painting. The background scene was included to give the painting depth and since the scene is arched, this further construct the enclosing space between Mary and the child. The scenic scene is viewed as wrapping around them. In addition, he uses color and light to create contrast between the background and the Virgin Mary. The scene is in a light blue while Mary’s cloak in a dark blue. Also the scenic view ends with the bottom half of the background being black and that is where Mary’s deeper red dress color begins. All of these elements Raphael used was to properly plan out and establish the connection between the Virgin and Christ as well as to draw the viewer’s eye to the