Leonardo da Vinci's painting, Annunciation - Term Paper Example

VISUAL ANALYSIS OF LEONARDO DA VINCI’S PAINTING VISUAL ANALYSIS OF LEONARDO DA VINCI’S PAINTING Introduction Leonardo de Vinci is one of greatest intellectual artist and painter of all times in the painting industry. He is known for his excellence in quite a number of scientific and non-scientific fields such as being a painter, architect, inventor, and engineering among other artistry works. His artistry had a direct relationship to science and anything related with nature (Muntz 1900, 5-30).1 Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting rotated within the subject of biblical dimension and non-biblical iconographic aspects. A number of conventional painting done by Da Vinci include The annunciation, Virgin of the Rock, John the Baptist, angel Gabriel, Mona Lisa, the last supper among other. The subject matter of his drawing and painting especially the annunciation is drawn right from the book of Luke that tells more on Prophet John the Baptist and how he prepared the way for Christ Jesus who would thereafter be referred to as “the son of man”. In addition, even though Da Vinci’s work of artistry has underwent a number of restructuring process by a number of artists who came after him, his work remains a legacy (Mills, 2008, 39-42).2 His knowledge in painting of the annunciation greatly owes much to the influence of Andrea Del Verrocchio one of his greatest masters. One of the major painting is the annunciation done by Leonardo Da Vinci at around 1475-1480 while still serving in Andrea’s workshop. Annunciation is believed to be his earliest work. His annunciation work was produced almost at the same time that Da Vinci had contributed to Verrocchio’s, baptism of Christ work. His involvement made him develop more interest in painting and his artwork became evident after he designed the annunciation painting (Franklin, David and Butterfield, 2005, 132).3 Leonardo is believed to have been merely twenty years when he did this painting that today stands as one major artwork done in the olden days. The major influence he received from artists such as Sandro Botticelli made him become a better painter by relating and modifying his artwork with ideas borrowed from the renaissance period. How the painting on the annunciation was done is somehow composed of a number of styles that are borrowed from the early renaissance period meaning that Leonardo was still learning from previous works done by past artists (Leonardo, 2012, 132).4 ANNUNCIATION The Annunciation simply means announcement and in this painting done by Da Vinci angel Gabriel is simply announcing to Mary the good news that she will be the mother Jesus. The story of Mary being visited by angel Gabriel is evident in the annunciation painting. Gabriel kneels in the garden of Mary the virgin to inform him that she would bear a son and the son will be named “son of man”. Gabriel holds a lily to show how pure Mary was. The background depicts a beautiful environment (Guidi at el., 1-12).5 The kneeling angel is seen youthful, stylish wings, rich clothing, and having a lily at his right hand. The virgin on the other hand shows astonishment probably due to the news she has received from angel Gabriel. Her pose gives her a monumental character and defines the kind of person Mary is, some say he is cold as per what they see in the image. Da Vinci painted the most imaginary wings of an angel that somehow seemed alive in his painting, the annunciation painting. The painting depicted in angel Gabriel’s wings shows how he was able to think and was able to fit practical wings to a human body. This was one great artistic expertise employed in the annunciation. The design are real wings and it is believed that his drawing came from his firm believe that in order to paint pictures or objects there was need to understand the structure of whatever object that is being drawn. Understanding something clearly is the idea behind excellent artistry, and that is one thing de Vinci did understanding how birds fly, and then expressing his thought in angel Gabriel’s wings. The Virgin Mary has a sense of emoticons on their faces and feelings. Mary is surprised a thing that defines precisely the suitability of his works in passing out the message to the viewers of his work. Da Vinci employed a vast level of artistry and techniques to create a lifetime impression of Mary and angel Gabriel (Lester, 2014, 255-300).6 Emoticons are utilized fully in the annunciation painting indicating that Leonardo Da Vinci emphasized more on the current human formation and anatomy to perfect his artistic drawing. His drawing has a special relationship with his physical appearances of nature’s creation such as birds and humans (Guidi, at el., 1-12).7 In the annunciation painting, he realized that artistry was all about having the ability to paint drawings in ways that show its movement and expressions in the right emoticons. Such should bring about an appropriate reaction from people viewing the drawing. Mathematics made him realize the use of lines, points and planes that could bring about relevant geometric applications while painting and drawing. He employs mathematical lines to bring out the way angel Gabriel was kneeling and fitting wings to his body that could not overweight his body shape (Leonardo et al. 2012, 167-185).8 The use of light and shade made Da Vinci’s drawing extraordinary in the annunciation painting. He used light and shadow to define three-dimensional objects. He realized that light and shade were supposed to blend to come up with an appropriate drawing. Mary the virgin and angel Gabriel are clearly painted to show a bright difference between the background and their images to a point that the painting looks so real. He understood that relating paintings and nature made the same painting look bright and more attractive (Mills, 2008, 39-42).9 Da whenever drawing he emphasized on detailed drawings that he could later transfer the drawing to the canvas and then start painting right on the shadows. The art of employing light and shadow has an awesome effect in making his artwork look like one actual work. Da Vinci employed such important and relevant artistic reasoning to bring out real-life paintings and drawings he encountered in his day-to-day observations. Use of lines is also evident in his drawing “the virgin of the rocks” where a hidden drawing of a woman kneeling is evident and the woman is assumed the mother of Jesus, Mary (Gardner & Kleiner, 458-500).10 ANALYSIS OF SIGNIFICANT ICONOGRAPHIC ASPECTS OF ANNUNCIATION The Iconographic aspects of Da Vinci’s painting on the annunciation are arrived primarily from the gospel of Luke. Right from the painting a number of symbolic subjects associated with the painting can be drawn. First, the Virgin Mary’s position and gesture. The virgin appears on the right of the scene and angel Gabriel to the left. Such alignment is a symbolic picture of how the the Latin and Greek are written. On the other hand, the annunciation painting shows Angel Gabriel holding a lily. The lily is a clear symbol of command that God entrust on his special and faithful ambassador such as angel Gabriel. Moreover, the Virgin Mary remains sited while receiving the angel sent to him by God to pass the message a thing that shows that Mary is a woman of dignity and purity (Veltman, 2008, 381-388).11 CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS TRENDS IN FLORENCE AND ITS INFLUENCE ON ANNUNCIATION During his time, the sense of art in Europe was on the rise especially in Florence. Early Renaissance had already kicked off in the times of Dante that roughly between 1265-1321centuary. At that time there was a growing cultural advancement and a vast growth in cultural practices and artistry in Italy and the whole Europe as well, a thing that gained strength even to the high period of Renaissance in Florence. Religious practices were also on the rise with majority of the population being Catholics. The existence of papacy and monks defined greatly the direction taken by artists in the painting and drawing industry (Franklin, Waldman & Butterfield, 2005, 160).12 A number of great paintings the Florentine artists did include Florence Cathedral 1420-36 that was done with great artistry. Religious practices dictated artistic structures in the city at that period. Many structures had previously been built using the gothic style one primary form of the Christian artistry had spread all over Europe. These drawing styles define the Gothic architects of the northern France that included the use of stained glasses that had beautiful images of biblical artistry that surpassed the mosaic art. The gothic drawings created a unique environment, as it was perceptibly exclusively a religious art of creative drawing. It defined greatly the vast connection of art that existed between religion and culture in the Renaissance period particularly in Florence. Leonardo Da Vinci was not that religious as we might be forced to believe but religion and culture somehow forced him to fit in to the society and design paintings that could be appreciated by the society within him. The religious and cultural environment influenced Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting on the annunciation. The artist had the passion to draw and paint artist work that could impress a lot and producing religious artwork was fit for the society of Florence. Other drawing done by Leonardo with a religious influence include the last supper, Madonna of the rock and Mona Lisa (Gardner and Kleiner, 2009, 143).13 In conclusion, Da Vinci is one famous artist in a wide range of work and one brilliant inventor, sculpture, scientist, painter and engineer of all time. His work has had a significant impact in the world of artistry and has led to growth and rigorous innovation on such areas. Da Vinci is one unique scholar who despite emphasizing on religious and semi-religious iconographic he left behind a legacy that will not be forgotten anytime soon by current or upcoming artists. References Franklin, David, Louis Alexander Waldman, and Andrew Butterfield. 2005. Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and the Renaissance in Florence. Ottawa, Ont.: National Gallery of Canada. Gardner, Helen, and Fred S Kleiner. 2009. Gardners Art through the Ages. Boston: Thomson/Wadsworth. Guidi, G., C. Atzeni, M. Seracini, and S. Lazzari. 2004. Painting Survey by 3D Optical Scanning - The Case of Adoration of the Magi by Leonardo Da Vinci. Studies in Conservation 49 (1): 1-12. doi:10.1179/sic.2004.49.1.1. Leonardo, J. F Rigaud, John William Brown, and Brown John William. 2012. A Treatise on Painting. [Whitefish, Mont.]: Kessinger Legacy Reprints. Lester, Toby. 2014. Da Vincis Ghost. [S.l.]: Free Press. Mills, Allan A. 2008. Leonardo Da Vinci and Perpetual Motion. Leonardo 41 (1): 39-42. doi:10.1162/leon.2008.41.1.39. Muntz, Eugene. 1900. Léonard De Vinci. Paris: Hachette. Veltman, Kim H. 2008. Leonardo Da Vinci: A Review. Leonardo 41 (4): 381-388. doi:10.1162/leon.2008.41.4.381. Top of Form Bottom of Form Read More