Neri Di Bicci The Virgin Analysis

Italian artists during the fifteenth-century were part of a movement formally known as the Renaissance. Altarpieces were crafted for religious purposes and served as individual or communal devotional pieces. They commonly depicted scenes from classical antiquity. Neri di Bicci’s first important commission, The Assumption of the Virgin (1455-1456), was an Italian altarpiece. It is composed of numerous recurring forms and lines that serve to unify the composition. This results in the spiritual bridge between the divine and the natural world. The altarpiece was commissioned for the Spini family chapel, in Santa Trìnita, Florence. During this time, notable families, such as the Spini family, dominated the political scene. They had chapels dedicated to their family name and commissioned artwork to fill the spaces. The altarpiece illustrates the Virgin Mary’s body ascending into heaven following her death. The twelve apostles are
Tone is utilized to highlight the folds in the garments of the figures and the use of lighting on the seams creates movement. The fluid movement and chaotic mass of the apostles in the foreground contrasts with the clear linear spacing around the Virgin. The placement and size of the Virgin also illustrates her importance in classical antiquity. The separation between the natural and the spiritual world is also clearly defined through the use of a light blue to a dark blue gradient in the sky. This disconnect is then unified through the triangular layout of the apostles and angels, which allows for visual stability within the composition. It leads the viewer’s eye back to the main focal point, the Virgin Mary. Despite the casket’s positioning on the bottom left of the frame, this asymmetrical layout is still balanced and unified due to the triangular structure, converging lines of light, and space surrounding the Virgin and