Bellinis Madonna and Child, (1509) Detroit Institute of Arts - Essay Example

Bellini’s Madonna and Child, (1509) Detroit Institute of Arts Bellini was an innovator and has been described as "The most modern of the ancients andthe most ancient of the moderns"( In Italy Online, 2014). This painting is an oil on a wooden panel. More often Bellini, officially the painter of Venice for some thirty years, used canvas, although he did on occasion paint on wood. (In Italy Online, 2014) It has dimensions of only 84.8x106 cms. It could perhaps be that the artist was limited by the size of the panel available to him, or this small scale could be the choice of his commissioner. Such a relatively small painting would have been meant to be viewed from a fairly close proximity, rather than from a distance as in a very large alter piece. In earlier life Bellini has worked as a conservator for the many works of art in the Doge’s palace. This would have exposed him to many great works of art from a variety of artists, differing in their time, style and the materials. This piece, now one of the stars of the city of Detroit’s art collection, was painted in 1509, towards the end of Bellini’s life, for the personal collection of Venetian Mocenigo family who commissioned it, and it stayed in the family in the Palazzo Vendramin Calergi until 1815. They would have seen the Queen of Heaven and Christ not in the distant heaven, but in a home like their own in Venice. Later, after passing through a number of hands it was purchased by the City of Detroit in 1928 from the collection of the Vicomte de Canson ( Art at the DIA, 2014). Born in the 1430’s, Bellini died in 1516, well into his 80s. Although the scene tells of something that happened in Israel or Egypt 1500 years earlier, the background is of medieval Venice, and even the cloudy sky, with its diffuse light, is much more typical of northern Venetian skies than those of the dryer eastern Mediterranean. Although in line with the main axis of the image, Mary, shown at just over half length, and her child, the infant Christ, are not completely facing the viewer directly, but are at perhaps a quarter turn, giving a somewhat more relaxed image than a full frontal or complete half turn image would give, a device he was fond of as in ‘Madonna and Child with Four Saints and Donator’ (1507). This slight asymmetry was considered daring at the time (Senex Magister, undated). Earlier, in the 1460s, he had painted another Madonna asymmetrically, this time adoring her sleeping child (Metropolitan Museum of Art , 2014). The tempera used in the earlier work gives the painting a coldness, gone from the later oil, as Bellini developed his skills over a lifetime of practising his art. It could be argued that Bellini was simply painting what he knew, but on the other hand the message could be that what was important in the first century was still important, and Christ was still with his people. Giovani Bellini was also known as Joannes Bellinus, the Latin version of his name, which is how he signed his first known nude ‘Naked Young Woman in Front of the Mirror of 1515. He was a member of a family of Renaissance artists, and was known for his use in his later life, of very clear and slow drying paints which enabled him to produce very detailed shadings, as can be seen in the clouds and rich tones which have lasted down the years. All Bellini’s early works are in tempura, such as his ‘St Jerome in the desert’ from 1450, one of many religious works, although Bellini did also produce portraits and more rarely allegorical works. This use of oil paints was a relatively new technique, having been introduced into Venetian art only in the late 15th century. The oil gave the later works a luminosity not seen in earlier tempura works. All the members of the Bellini painting family and their pupils developed and followed a particular style of painting known as Venetian and characterized by the use deep, rich colors, together with emphasis up on patterns and surfaces, and a growing interest in the use of light and its effects (Khan Academy, 2014) . The new medium of oil allowed effects of the play of light which would have been impossible using other mediums. Mary is wearing the traditional dark blue and wears a headdress in white. Often she is depicted wearing a lighter blue, but according to Roten :- The older, classic and more representative colour is dark blue. Marys dark blue mantle, from about 500 A.D., is of Byzantine origin and is the color of an empress Her robes are luxurious, as are her surroundings, and she is also wearing red, a royal color, as she does in Campin’s ‘Annunciation Triptych of 1425’ , now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. She wears very similar clothing in Bellini’s ‘Virgin in Glory with Saints’, painted at around the same time. According to Catholic answers ( 2013) artists from the Flemish school tended to clothe the Virgin in blue, although German artists used red. Both represent the clothing of special people, those who stand out from the crowd. She has a faint halo, a simple line, whereas the child radiates rays of light. In both cases these halos represent holiness. The child is held in her right hand and under her left hand is a book, as she has in Maria degli Angeli’s ‘Annunciation of 1595 (Dupre, 2010), although in real life she may only ever have seen scrolls. The presence of the book is an artistic device as careful examination shows that it bears the name Joannes Bellinus and the date in Latin, still in use at the time for many purposes. It is difficult to tell if the name is on the back or front cover of the text. As in many other ‘Madonna and child paintings’ she is not looking at the child, but looks downwards, as does the naked child. A very similar representation is to be found in his ‘Madonna and Child’ of 1510 ( Senex Magister , undated). The combination of action, in that she is caring for the child, and contemplation, were seen in the Venice of the time as equally important parts of the religious life. Maccise ( 2011) describes the ideals of the contemplative life, which is one of detachment, obedience , silence and solitude, which this portrait shows clearly. The Christ child has his right hand raised in what is usually described as a blessing, something frequently seen in paintings of this type, although elsewhere he is depicted asleep , a symbol of his later death and the many ‘;Pietas where the dead Christ is depicted in the arms of his mother. He is naked. This represents a new interest in the nude figure which had developed in the Renaissance, but also had theological implications according to Steinberg, ( Cited by the Metropolitan Museum of Art , Hillbrun Timeline of Art History, 2014) who believes that the depiction of the nude baby in his mothers arms, with his sex clearly shown , was meant to prompt ideas about the theological pre-eminence of Christ as God made man (Philippians 2 v 6 and 7:- Who being in the very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be used for his own advantage ; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. So this picture depicts Christ, but is also making an important theological point, despite the fact that he is depicted out of time, and in surroundings he never experienced in his human life. The painting also shows Bellini’s mastery of using two sources of light. He has the duller diffused grey window light coming from the cloudy sky seen to the right of the portrait at the back, and a much brighter, purer light coming from the right and front. Bellini was influenced to a significant measure by Antonello da Messina, who had earlier worked in Flanders. From him Bellini learned both about using aesthetic ideas from the more northern areas of western Europe. It was da Messina, a Sicilian, who brought in the use of oil paints to Venice, so different in both techniques and results to the tempera paint being used up to that time by Bellini, as well as most other Italian Renaissance painters. Da Messina ,also used disguised symbolism, a strong force in the Northern Renaissance art world. The Hellbrun Timeline of Art ( 2014) shows how this way of depicting God as a human child was a very ancient one, giving the example of a statue of a very young Eros from the 2nd century B.C.E. In this mediaeval depiction , as in the much earlier Greek Eros, the portrait is and obviously taken from life, so a real infant depicts the Christ child. The model for the virgin may be a sister of the artist who had died, or his wife when very young , but whoever she was she was obviously well remembered ( Senex Magister, undated, and Bob, Mr History, 2010). Mary has an almost blank face, unsmiling, thoughtful. She seems almost removed from the world around her, so deep is she in contemplation, as described in Luke 2 v 19 ‘Mary treasured all these things , pondering upon them in her heart.’) Bible, New International Version, 2011). This however is not the Christ as the shepherds saw him, but a somewhat older child, capable of standing on his mother’s lap. He too seems to be in a contemplative mood. The viewer however cannot tell what either of them are thinking. Mary, despite the presence of her child, is isolated and austere in her reverie. This is a very similar Mary to that in ‘Madonna and Child, 1510’ ( High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Oxford University Press, 2013). This contrasts strongly with Bellini’s ‘Pieta: Dead Christ Supported by the Madonna and Saint John ‘(1460), which it is claimed moves those who see it to tears ( Senex Magister, Undated). Bellini is an important and skilled artist in that he was prolific, and has been acknowledged for his abilities from his own time until the present day, and his works are still to be found in many modern day collections. It is only be studying his works alongside others of the time, the Italian medieval Renaissance, that we can realize how innovative he was, and also how influenced he was by others, from the ancient Greeks onwards to artists of his own period who had travelled far from their native land, and who had learnt new ideas and techniques which they readily passed on. He was also influenced by theological and other thinking of his time. A man of his time, and yet one who works have stood the test of time. A modern day viewer may not necessarily take in all the religious symbolism of this double portrait, but they can still appreciate the great skills and techniques involved. References Art at the DIA, Madonna and Child, Giovani Bellini,2014 Web, 21st March 2014http://www.dia.org/object-info/409fc5bf-7faf-494e-a71c-e15f0d446048.aspx?position=3 Bellini,G. Madonna and Child, (1509) Detroit Institute of Arts. Bridgeman , undated, Web, 21st March 2014, http://www.bridgemanart.com/fr/asset/495367/bellini-giovanni-c-1430-1516/madonna-and-child-1509-oil-on-panel Bellini, G., Madonna and Child, c. 1510, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Bellini’s Luminous Madonnas, Italian Renaissance Learning Resources, Oxford University Press, 2013, web, 21st March 2014 http://italianrenaissanceresources.com/units/unit-1/essays/bellinis-luminous-madonnas/ Bellinus, J. Naked young woman in front of a mirror, 1515, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna Bible Gateway, Bible New International Version, 2011, 2014, web, 22nd March 2014 http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/New-International-Version-NIV-Bible/ Bob, Mr History, Madonna and Child, 2009, web, 22nd March 2014 http://www.flickr.com/photos/57669468@N00/2132835144/ Dupre, J., Full of Grace , Front cover , New York, Random House.2010, Print In Italy Online, Giovanni Bellini, Founder of the Venetian School of Painting Undated, web, web, 22nd March 2014 http://www.initaly.com/regions/veneto/bellini.htm Khan Academy, Venice: Another World,2014, web, web, 22nd March 2014 http://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-history/art-history-1500-1600-end-of-the-renaissance-and-the-reformation/venice-1/a/introduction Maccise, C., The Foundation and Development of Theology of Consecrated Apostolic Life: Insights and Problems 2011, web, 22nd March 2014 vd.pcn.net/en/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc... Metropolitan Museum of Art , (2014), Bellini’s ‘Madonna Adoring the Sleeping Child’, 1460s, Web 22nd March 2014 http://www.metmuseum.org/collections/search-the-collections/435640 Metropolitan Museum of Art ,Hellbrun’s Timeline of Art History, Statue of Eros sleeping, Hellenistic, 2nd century B.C.,2014, web 22nd March 2014 http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/43.11.4 Roten, J. , cited by Catholic answers, 2013, web 22nd March 2014 http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=156329 Senex Magister, ( undated) Giovanni Bellini, http://hoocher.com/Giovanni_Bellini/Giovanni_Bellini.htm Read More