High Renaissance Art Essay

Many art historians believe that the High Renaissance was a short period between 1490 and 1527 in the Italian States. It was characterized by a renewed emphasis upon classical tradition, and the expansion of patronage. During the Baroque period of art, the exploration of the human nature, the realm of senses and emotions was very crucial. The Baroque vision of the world is dynamic and dramatic; figures are depicted with the utmost vividness and richness through the use of rich colors, and dramatic effects of light and shade. In the following paper I am going to compare and contrast Antoniazzo Romano’s Virgin and Child with a Donor (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston) of c. 1480 and Carlo Dolci’s The Virgin and Child with St. John the Baptist (Museum
John the Baptist. Comparing these two works of art, we can see an increasingly level of artistic genius throughout the years. Dolci’s Virgin and Child with Saint John was painted using oil on wood and is a much smaller scale painting than Romano’s Virgin. Dolci’s images have softer contours which fade into the shadowed background. We can see that the painter is separating from the rigid outlines that were seen in earlier years. Color is a main component that differentiates these two paintings. The different use of media is what attributes to a dramatic contrast between the two paintings. In Dolci’s painting the use of color is more intense, the bright and radiant of the colors stands out of the painting. When I was observing Dolci’s painting, the intensity of the colors is what drew my attention even before the solid figures formed. The rich, radiant colors play an important role in the intensity of the light and movement of the painting. The wrinkles of the cloth give a feeling of movement in the painting. And the colors give us the feeling of warmth. The blue and red cloth is very rich and bright, reflecting the light off of it. The process of chiaroscuro is being used among the red and blue cloths, giving them a soft grasp of reality and