The Religios of Jesus Christ

Giovanni Bellini’s Madonna and Child and Carlo Crivelli’s Pieta are religious in nature and pertain to the life and death of Jesus Christ. Both works explore different themes on the same subject. Crivelli’s Madonna and Child represents a more human representation as the setting takes place in a room with familiar scenery and objects. The only hint of divine beings is the ever so light haloes around mother and child. Bellini’s Pieta, on the other hand, is encased in other worldly gold cameo of grief after Jesus is removed from the cross. Life, death, and divinity are important themes seen in both of the portraits. Giovanni Bellini’s Madonna and Child is a Venetian oil on wood painting done in the late 1480’s and is considered to be one of his more mature works. Bellini was trained in the art of painting by his father but did not develop his own style until after his father’s death. The painting depicts the baby Jesus, sitting in her mother Mary’s lap. Mary seems to stare at you while sitting, supporting the back of her son’s head with her left hand while the right lays lightly on his stomach. She stares intently at you! Are you involved in a conversation? Are you a threat to her and her son? Knowing this is Mary and baby Jesus, and during this time period the Catholic Church was at the center of power, perhaps she is gazing intently at you because you know each other, in fact you are part of the family, part of the Catholic family which certainly was a good bet since it was the predominant set of beliefs at that place and time. Madonna sits upright holding the Child in a graceful and realistic manner, by his head and stomach. There is a halo over their heads to represent their uniqueness and their status as transcendent beings. I noticed the halo was painted very thin and hardly noticeable. This is to show their serenity and divinity in a subtle way. The child holds a fruit called a quince which is suggested to represent the themes of redemption. Bellini uses colors to dramatize or exaggerate and bring more attention to the objects so it catches the viewer’s eyes easily. Madonna and Child is very powerful because Bellini obscures most of the background with a red cloth causing you to wonder what is going on behind it. This may represent the unfathomable nature of God. A gap in the drape reveals a landscape in the distance representing a theme of death and resurrection. There is a path, in the background, leading away from the town which is supposed to suggest the journey of life to death. If you look in the front of the scenery, the trees are still growing, not yet fully matured, representing life and growth. Carlo Crivelli’s Pieta, is tempera on wood painted in 1476. This portrait depicts the death of Jesus. The figures in this portrait are involved in a kind of narrative action. The body of Jesus is being held up by Madonna, Mary Magdalene, and maybe Joseph of Arimathea to support his lifeless body. The Bible does not specify who exactly took Jesus off the cross but many worshipers believe Joseph did. Everyone has a halo representing divinity. This portrait is very dramatic and shows Jesus as frail and exaggerates the horribleness of death by the gory hole in his hand to grasp viewer’s attention. There is a crown of thorn pushed down on Jesus’ head making his shin bulge out to make the time seem more gory and horrific. The viewer can see the massive cut on His side and the hole in his hand signifies that he is already deceased as he was up on the cross with the nail through his hand. Crivelli uses these subtle ways to make the bigger picture so viewers can see this portrait and almost feel what is going on with the thought of Jesus’ dying for them. Madonna is old and has a pained expression which is Crivelli’s way of communicating her suffering. She is weeping and looking at Jesus as though she is begging him to undo what has happened. This is a reminder of how awful the moment was to shocked viewers. Mary Magdalene is holding Jesus’ limp and lifeless arm, staring at the hole in his hand where the now missing nail affixed him to his cross. Joseph is weeping to the Heavens with his mouth open as though he is angry and curious, asking why this happened. The figures in Bellini’s portrait are taking an icon action, as they are just posing. Their representation of life and serenity is clearly visible by the Childs youth and playful actions and by Madonna’s innocent gaze. The scenic background helps the viewer see this picture in a more realistic perspective. Crivelli’s paints using more a symmetrical approach. Madonna’s eyes line up with Jesus’ eyes and are parallel with Joseph’s eyes. The background in this picture is just of a gold engraving or glow making the viewers see a story only by looking at the figures. The figures in both Bellini’s Madonna and Child and Crivelli’s Pieta all have haloes showing the symbol of divineness and sacredness. They are religious and symbolic in that they show some time period of Jesus’ life whether or not it depicts life or death. Both artists use different shades of color to exaggerate certain features such as the quince in Madonna and Child or the tears in Pieta. Also, these artists make the fabric look very realistic by using darker shades of color for shadows. Bellini’s Madonna and Child and Crivelli’s Pieta are about the life and death of Jesus Christ and are religious in nature. Different themes are being used by both artists to convey their message of the storyline and what the viewer should be paying attention to. Bellini uses a more humanistic approach by adding a scenic background arising feelings of conformability and reassurance helping the viewer envision the portrait as though he or she can relate to the figures as family members, while Crivelli uses a simple gold background and focuses more on what his figures are doing to and exaggerate how horrible Jesus’ death was. Life, death, and divinity are important themes found and closely examined in both portraits. Both Bellini and Crivelli use these themes to influence their viewers on how important these figures with an authoritative approach and to show the supremacy of what these figures represent.