Deodato Orlandi: The Virgin And Child With Two Angels

Painted in the late thirteenth century the Virgin and Child with Two Angels, portrayed through the magnificent art work of Deodato Orlandi, is truly a magnificent piece that reveals a great deal about the Christ child and the Virgin Mary. The method by which the artist depicted the image, the meaning behind the painting, and the history of the painter are all critical aspects to consider when attempting to gain a full understanding of a piece of artwork. There are hundreds of techniques used to create an image, and thousands of styles specific to each artist, making each piece of art extremely unique. Additionally, the meaning behind each picture as another layer of individuality to each masterpiece. There is a famous quote that says, …show more content…
This is because back in the thirteenth century, artists had not yet learned how to paint the faces of children. Therefore, they simply painted an adult face on a small body, which gave children a strange appearance. Additionally, if observers look closely at the faces of the angels they might find something interesting. Occasionally, for pieces of artwork intended for personal use, the individual who commissioned the painting would request their face or the face of a family member to be depicted somewhere in the image. It would not be uncommon for one of the angels in the background to portray the face of the individual who commissioned the piece of artwork. Because of the small size of the piece of artwork, art historians suggest that it was intended for personal devotion, while others suggest that this painting of the Madonna and Child was one panel of a diptych, which is a painting on two hinged wood panels, that may have been placed in a …show more content…
He was a Lucchese painter in the late Middle Ages. While no signature is found on the painting, the stylistic singularities are identical to those found in other pieces of artwork that were signed by the Italian artist. According to art historians, Deodato Orlandi was the “last major representative of Lucchesean Painting” (Virgin). Apprentice under Bonaventura Berlignhieri, Orlandi learned many of his techniques from this skilled Lucchese artist, but many of his styles appear to be influence by Cimabue, a Florentine artist who worked with paints and mosaics, typically focusing on depicting the Jesus’ death on the cross or other religious scenes. It is evident that Deodato Orlanddi’s paintings opened a doorway for more Florentine styles to impact the Lucchesean artwork of the day. This incredible artist also had the opportunity of painting many other biblical scenes. At one point he was commissioned by the Contari family of Pisa to use his artistic ability to paint an array of images. They commissioned him to paint a total of thirty frescos depicting different scenes from the life and journey of the Saints, Peter and Paul. A fresco is a watercolor painting that is rapidly completed on the wet plaster of a wall, in order to allow the painting to become one with the wall. These thirty scenes were in addition to portraits of all the popes. One of these struggles that Deodato Orlandi faced was