The Virgin Of The Rocks Analysis

The 14th century was an epoch of new artistic developments, new techniques and ideas spread through Italy. Artists were getting involved in a new naturalistic vision, leaving behind excessive ornamentation and intricate patterns in their work of arts in order to explore vividly the human emotions and solid bodies. Religious icons, passages and istoria were less seen as this humanistic idea started to spread through Europe. These changes allowed the 15th and 16th centuries emerge, bringing not only a new cultural idea, but also social, political and economic improvements to Europe. New ways of learning brought a rebirth of art known as the Renaissance, bringing back Greco-Roman traditions and ideas of past centuries. Two art pieces that highlighted …show more content…
His pieces are known by been highly naturalistic incorporating seamless elegant details and at the same time portraying its figures in a simplistic way to enhance the beauty of them in the eyes of the beholder. Leonardo da Vinci’s The Virgin of The Rocks has a strong use of dark colors, creating a transition of light to darkness, making an emphasis on the depth of the features in the human body. These contrasts are known as chiaroscuro and sfumato, “they became a hallmark of Leonardo’s style” (Stokstand and Cothren 636). The seamless lines of the background blend into a whole with the human bodies as if they were vividly photographed. Leonardo was also known by its strong use of vanishing point that can be seen in the rocks that are vanishing into the fug, giving a mysterious but also outstanding feel to it. Even though this is a dark painting, the color red from the angel’s tunic gives dimension in the composition giving a balance to the whole atmosphere. Leonardo is also known by its capacity to blend objects as if they were transparent. In this case, the angel’s wings are barely noticeable, you can only see them if you are face to face with the art piece or with a good quality photograph. What makes this painting interesting is that Leonardo didn’t paint the Virgin with ostentatious …show more content…
He truly depicted istoria by the careful placement in the figures, their naturalistic facial expressions and how the colors contrast the whole art piece into a whole. By avoiding complex and ostentatious details from the Byzantine art, he made his naturalistic views highlight the purity of heaven rather than Bellini’s painting that showed the ostentatious side and supreme features of religious figures. Furthermore, da Vinci’s painting is more appealing to the beholder and this not only made him a role model in the artistic world, but also he is one of the most important painters of all