Atmospheric Perspective: A Visual Analysis

Atmospheric perspective is designed to suggest a 3D space in the 2D space of the picture, and in which forms and objects distant from the viewer (Adams, 2003). This atmospheric perspective can be seen in the sky of the painting, the viewer cannot see anything distinct pass the mountain, but it is implied there is something beyond the mountains. The atmospheric perspective stretches the landscape of the painting, and makes the painting seem bigger than it actually is. Highlights in paintings are the points that have the highest value in the painting (Adams, 2003). In this particular painting the highlights of the painting are mainly on the faces of the objects of the painting. The highlights on the faces of the virgin and child show the innocence …show more content…
The implied line of this particular painting is with the glances of the objects of the painting. The viewer can look at Saint Anne and see that she is looking at the virgin, and when the viewer looks at the virgin, she is looking at the child with the child and lamb looking back at her. This implied line draws attention to the child, and makes him the focal point of the painting. A closed or restricted palette is a selection of colors limited in its range of hues (Adams, 2003). This painting has only a few hues, making it have a restricted palette. Leonardo da Vinci in this particular painting uses greens and browns for the landscape, and uses reds for the clothes of the women. With Leonardo da Vinci’s limited color palette for most of his paintings, brings more attention to the objects of his painting. Chiaroscuro is the shadow cast by a figure that is darker than the shadowed surface itself (Adams, 2003). The painting’s figures feet is where a viewer can see the chiaroscuro of this painting, where it is dark and hard to see the reason behind the overly shadowed area. The next visual element found in the painting is intensity, the relative purity of a color’s hue, and a function of relative brightness or dullness (Adams, 2003). The intensity in this painting is found on the purple skirt of …show more content…
The implied visual texture in the painting can be found in the arm of the virgin and in the hair of the virgin. The clothing the virgin is wearing is very textual, but the arm of her clothing is what stands out to viewers. Da Vinci painted the clothing on her arm to look rouged, and when looking at the painting a viewer will look at the virgin’s arm and see how it looks very realistic. The hair of the virgin appears to be very wavy, and looks as if someone would touch it he or she would be able to feel the waves in her hair. The position of a painting is in reference to the method that establishes space in a two-dimensional work by placing objects closer to the viewer lower and objects farther away from the viewer higher in the picture (Adams, 2003). The position of the painting has to do with where the mountains and background are placed higher on the canvas, and the people that are supposed to be the focal point of the painting lower on the canvas to bring more attention to them. The position also adds to the effect that the mountains are farther away then they actually are. Negative space is an empty space, surrounded and shaped so that it acquires a sense of form or volume. The negative pace of this painting can be found to the left of the virgin, where there is just this dark spot filled with nothing significant to the painting, making it negative