Madonna And Child Enthroned With Saints Analysis

The painting, “Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints”, also known as, Colonna Altarpiece, is an Italian renaissance painting completed by Raphael in 1504. The altarpiece is painted on wood with oil and gold and its main panel is 172.4cm by 172.4 cm and depicts a woman sitting in a throne like chair in the middle third of the painting. She is dressed in a red dress covered by a black cloak with white spots, which covers most of her body from her hair to her feet. The folds in her cloak are shown through shadowing which gives dimensionality to the painting. She is looking kindly into the eyes of a child standing beside her, showing the viewer a three-quarter profile with slightly blushed cheeks, as she looks down at the child, she holds his head gently with her left hand. The child’s hands are clasped as he looks back up at the woman’s eyes. He is in a contrapposto pose as he places all his weight in his right leg, …show more content…
She wears a green dress and blue, red and purple flower crown in her hair. She stares off behind the viewer as if she can see the viewer’s world. Still on the right third of the painting but below this woman resides a man holding a sword in his right hand while reading a book held with both his hands. In the left third of the painting, there is another woman with a green quill like object in her left hand and a book in her right. She appears to be looking at the baby Jesus in Mary’s lap so her face is a complete profile. Below her stands a man looking out of the painting, directly at the viewer while holding a book in both hands. This man seems to almost make eye contact with the viewer, which helps the viewer feel apart of the paintings. Not only that, it reaffirms the Alberti’s idea of a painting as a window, something that a viewer can see through, and actually interact with the figures on the other