Between the years of 1480 and 1483, an early Italian renaissance painter by the name of, Sandro Botticelli painted the Madonna del Libro (or Madonna of the Book). The Madonna of the book is a small, 23in x 15.6 painting, ‘executed with the use of tempera on panel’ (Madonna of the Book. Wiki). In this work of art Mary and the infant Jesus are peacefully seated, reading the book of hours, Mary is intently reading while the infant Jesus gazes into her eyes. Upon analyzing this beautiful painting, I discovered that this is indeed a southern renaissance painting due to the painting exhibiting 5 classic themes from the southern renaissance period. These themes are the use of: religious works, halos, symbolism, windows, and red and blue hues (Goldberg. Web).
During the Italian renaissance it was fairly common for artists to use religious works and references in their art, especially images of Mary and Jesus. The religious aspect of this work is very clear, we see Mary and infant Jesus reading the book of hours, which was a very popular read …show more content…
In the Madonna of the Book, Sandro Botticelli painted a window with a beautiful view behind Mary and infant Jesus. The windows in renaissance art gave the work a more realistic feeling and conveyed a great deal of depth. In the Madonna of the book, the window gives me a sense of depth, I feel as if there could possibly be more activities occurring beyond this room. Botticelli’s use of the window also makes the rooms lighting a lot more realistic for me. Common knowledge tells us that during the renaissance there was no actual electricity, so candles must have been used to illuminate homes, churches, shops, etc. The lighting in this room with Mary and Jesus is so bright that it could not possibly be coming from man-made light, it could only come from nature itself, hence, the
During the Italian renaissance it was fairly common for artists to use religious works and references in their art, especially images of Mary and Jesus. The religious aspect of this work is very clear, we see Mary and infant Jesus reading the book of hours, which was a very popular read …show more content…
In the Madonna of the Book, Sandro Botticelli painted a window with a beautiful view behind Mary and infant Jesus. The windows in renaissance art gave the work a more realistic feeling and conveyed a great deal of depth. In the Madonna of the book, the window gives me a sense of depth, I feel as if there could possibly be more activities occurring beyond this room. Botticelli’s use of the window also makes the rooms lighting a lot more realistic for me. Common knowledge tells us that during the renaissance there was no actual electricity, so candles must have been used to illuminate homes, churches, shops, etc. The lighting in this room with Mary and Jesus is so bright that it could not possibly be coming from man-made light, it could only come from nature itself, hence, the