The pieces I chose are the paintings ‘Baptism of Christ’ (pg. 618) and ‘The Virgin of the Rocks’ (pg. 634). Both of these paintings have people as the main focus, but the Virgin on the Rocks is has more dynamic unity then the Baptism of Christ. The color and techniques used in the paintings are vastly different, and I think this is the biggest noticeable difference between the two paintings.
In the Baptism of Christ, Christ is the main focus of the painting and he is directly in the middle, the virgin on the rocks also places the main character in the center of the piece. The surrounding characters are all facing the direction of the main character in both paintings. In this sense I would consider the compositions very similar. But the Virgin on the Rocks has more dynamic unity then the painting of Baptism of Christ. The people are at different levels on the canvas- spread out better than the people on the Baptism of Christ. In the Baptism of Christ they are all standing and reach about the same level, making it much less interesting.
The colors and techniques used is what I find makes them most different. The Virgin on the Rocks has deep rich colors with a lot of contrast. The people also have somewhat of a spot light on them, giving them a very pleasant glow that brings your eye toward them. But the Baptism of Christ has lighter coloring, and less saturated. Your attention is drawn to Christ who is basically an all-white coloring, which helps bring him out. But Baptism of Christ has many more light colors then the Virgin on the Rocks. I find the darker more contrasted painting more appealing than the lighter colored painting.
Both of these painting have a background that is a landscape. Baptism of Christ is, again, very light colors. But it also has a very low horizon line you see clouds, blues skies, even a white bird flying. The Virgin on the Rocks on the other hand has a very high horizon line; you can hardly see the sky. The small portion of the sky is still dark colors like much of the painting, and it leave the people with the light to be the main focus of the painting.
The Virgin on the Rocks has a much more realistic look then the Baptism of Christ. The Virgin on the Rocks really shows the natural curves on the human body, and the shadows on the body really make it look realistic. With the painting of the Baptism of Christ the human body is much less pronounces, and the natural curves are harder to see. This painting also doesn’t have the dramatic showing and shading that the Virgin on the Rocks does, which to me makes the figures have a flatter appearance.
The Virgin on the Rocks and The Baptism of Christ are both done well, and it is obvious the difference in the time periods paintings.
Nice thoughts. In my opinion, I also think that the different gestures of da Vinci's figures help to unify the composition (and lead the viewer's eye around the group of figures) in a very coherent and tightly-knit way.
ReplyDelete-Prof. Bowen
I thought it was interesting how you viewed the color differences as some of the main differences. I also compared these pieces and did not really take color into consideration. The contrast in colors is so obvious but a great difference that really shows how things have progressed. I thought it was interesting to note the foreshortening used in both paintings as well as the arrangement of the composition.
ReplyDelete-Jake
I agree with Jake, I never really considered color when I looked at these pieces. I agree with you they clearly make both images very different. When I first looked at these two pieces I noticed the differences with the details within the human figures. The Virgin of The Rocks have a much more naturalistic/perfected quality than Baptism of Christ.
ReplyDeleteI personally have found that I tend to prefer more saturated colors, as such I agree with you in that I find the Virgin of the Rocks more appealing.
ReplyDeleteI agree when you say that in your opinion the more saturated painting is more interesting to you. I think that the deep dark areas that the piece has allows for more depth and that creates more for the eye to get fixed on. Like some of the other comparisons that were done by others, I like that you chose two pieces with similar compositions and I believe that this makes us look closer into the pieces as wholes and as they stand up on their own.
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