Fra Angelico and di Lorenzo - Essay Example

Visual Analysis Paper The religious motif of Annunciation often served as an inspiration to create an artwork, especially in the case of Early Renaissance painters. In the essence of this narrative, there is a glorious moment when angel Gabriel came to Virgin Mary in order to tell her that she will be the mother of God’s child, Jesus. In Early Renaissance period, both Fra Angelico’s The Annunciation (c. 1450) and di Lorenzo’s The Annunciation (c. 1435-1440) imaged this religious celebration. In other words, they referred to the same narrative with identical figures within the same period in art. Due to this, the selected artworks demonstrate both striking similarities and certain slight differences. In fact, the setting where the act of Annunciation takes place has similar features in both paintings. Even though di Lorenzo painted the small room and Fra Angelico had put angel Gabriel and Virgin Mary outdoor, the overall setting is similar. However, the choice of color and light indicates of different styles of Fra Angelico and di Lorenzo. In fact, color saturation and its distribution on the paintings create different perception of the Annunciation event. Notwithstanding, the paintings are similar in terms of composition, perspective, and figures’ representation. In short, the appearance of these several common characteristics makes it possible to state that creations of Fra Angelico and di Lorenzo are rather similar than different and refer to Early Renaissance period of art. Setting: similarities and differences To start with, the setting of the painting plays important role in understanding of the artwork context. In case of Fra Angelico, the most part of the space takes a porch with visible garden on the background. In his artistic vision, the act of telling Virgin Mary the good tidings takes place outdoor in the porch. On the contrary, the setting in The Annunciation in di Lorenzo’s version takes place in the limited space of closed room. Spectators can easily recognize the walls, columns, and the pieces of furniture. Because of these surroundings, it is relevant to state that that the selected two paintings are mostly different. At the same time, this opposition reveals similarities, if to look closer to the details. In particular, the pillars appear in both cases of Annunciation imaging. In the painting di Lorenzo, he inserted pillars into the front view of his room. In detail, their function in the artwork is to divide the overall image in two registers. In the setting of Fra Angelico’s The Annunciation, six pillars bear the porch where postures sit. In the same manner, he uses three pillars to draw the line between angel Gabriel and Virgin Mary. Moreover, the appearance of the columns is similar. In this context, both Fra Angelico and di Lorenzo supplemented the columns with Corinthian capitals. At the same time, differences between two paintings appear in the scape and function of the above-mentioned pillars. In the painting of di Lorenzo, scape of pillars has three visible lines that form the chief linear dimension. They carry flat celling of the room, which does not attract any specific attention. On the contrary, pillars on Fra Angelico’s painting are smooth and carry pointed arches in Gothic style. On another differences, the attention to furniture is different in these two artworks. While Fra Angelico left only chair and filled the background space with garden, di Lorenzo painted the bed and the place Virgin Mary sits in the room. Considering all these specifics, it is evident that the exact setting of Annunciation event in the interpretation of Fra Angelico and di Lorenzo has both similarities and differences in detail. At the same time, the importance of the details is not equal. In terms of composition, the pillars and overall arrangement of elements on the paintings are similar. If to look at them more attentively, the exact appearance of the place, the structure and function of pillars, and the exact pieces of furniture are different on these two versions of Annunciation. Color and light: differences In terms of color and its effect on light, the paintings used completely different approaches in showing Annunciation. Since Fra Angelico puts brightest object in the middle of the painting, di Lorenzo directs the light from right to left. Notwithstanding, both painters have chosen angel Gabriel as the object with highest color intensity and brightness. On the one hand, Fra Angelico used pastel gradations of pink, sandy, and blue color. In particular, Virgin Mary wears slightly sandy dress with pale blue overdress. The color of her dress resembles the color of porch she sits in. In his turn, angel wears pastel pink dress and his wings have different types of pastel colors: from yellow to black. In fact, this technique in imaging wings makes them look beautiful and remain in harmony with overall composition. In addition, most of the colors on the wings appear in the background landscape of porch and garden. Because of this, the overall painting appears muted and soft. At the same time, the choice of color puts emphasis on the Gabriel’s figure, once both Virgin Mary in blue overdress on the brown chair and pastel blue garden with brown fence fetches him out. On another hand, di Lorenzo used vibrant colors ranging from deep black to bright red. In his painting, the emphasis is also on the posture of angel, because he wears bright red dress with white ribbons. Like Fra Angelico, this artist painted Gabriel’s wings in different colors, starting from red and ending by black one. At the same time, the sequence of colors is opposite in the case of di Lorenzo’s The Annunciation. As for Virgin Mary, her dress is also red on this painting as in case of Gabriel’s dress, but black overdress covers almost all her figure. Both these figures have golden halos. As in case of Fra Angelico’s Annunciation, colors on the postures of angel Gabriel and Virgin Mary correspond with the background. Nevertheless, these two paintings are different in the exact appearance of light and color. On di Lorenzo’s Annunciation, it appears in the red color of the bed and golden coloring of the chair and panels under the bed. Because of this technique, the painter created the artwork with localized red and golden color and complimented it by black darken objects. Consequently, di Lorenzo used directed light by choosing the rhythm of brightness that goes from brighter right side to darker left one. On the contrary, Fra Angelico’s painting does not have this direction. His usage of blue color on both Virgin Mary’s overdress and on showing the garden puts the posture of Gabriel in the center with the brightest pink color. Because of this, it is evident that Fra Angelico and di Lorenzo used color and light in different manner. Perspective, figures’ representation and composition: similarities In terms of perspective, both paintings reveal similar approach on catching viewer’s attention. To start with, Fra Angelico’s The Annunciation used linear perspective. In particular, three front columns on the artwork form horizontal line and three background ones create receding diagonal. In addition, Virgin Mary sits on the chair that also fits above-mentioned linear perspective. Even though he painted garden on the background, the brown fence continues the line of the wall within the porch. Thus, there is no aerial perspective on this painting. Similarly, di Lorenzo concentrated on linear perspective in his painting. This impression strengthens after closer look at the surroundings of the Annunciation act. In fact, both the bed itself and the panel under it form several lines. For instance, the insertion in the bed panel creates four lines in terms of perspective, while the upper bed and the celling on the top support this artistic technique. Furthermore, the halo of angel Gabriel supplements the overall painting with golden diagonal lines in different directions. This manner resembles the receding diagonal lines from pillars in Fra Angelico’s The Annunciation. Thus, both painting are similar in terms of concentration on linear perspective. Furthermore, the figures’ representation have certain similarities in case of both versions of Annunciation. On the one hand, Fra Angelico tended to create idealized figures. Their faces have no flaws, and their figures are thin. At the same time, the drapery on their cloths is very naturalistic and follows the poses of the figures. In this context, drapery on Gabriel’s standing posture is different from Virgin Mary who sits on the chair. On another hand, di Lorenzo also made faces of angel Gabriel and Virgin Mary in an idealized manner. Even though this artist is not that attentive to drapery as Fra Angelico is, its appearance is also naturalistic. In general, both painters referred to religious motif, which led to the tendency of rather idealized than realistic figures. Moreover, the specific gesture of crossed hands is evident on both paintings, even though angel Gabriel raises one hand on di Lorenzo’s Annunciation. In retrospective, it is possible to state that period of Early Renaissance evoked attention of these painters to drapery and more naturalistic details in the background. Finally, both artists used stable composition with bilateral symmetry while showing the act of Annunciation. In his turn, Fra Angelico used pillars in order to create the center on the painting. Thus, figures of angel Gabriel and Virgin Mary appear in the openings between them. Similarly, di Lorenzo put three columns in order to create the center and registers for two postures. In case of his The Annunciation, the figures create striking symmetry, because Virgin Mary is standing in the same manner as angel Gabriel does. In short, both paintings looks similar due to the identical composition. In sum, this analysis shows that two pieces of art created within the Early Renaissance period on the same religious motif are rather similar than different. In terms of stylistic elements, Fra Angelico’s The Annunciation (c. 1450) and di Lorenzo’s The Annunciation (c. 1435-1440) used mostly similar setting with Corinthian motifs, identical linear perspective, resembling idealized figures of angel Gabriel and Virgin Mary with typical gestures and naturalistic pleats on drapery, and stable composition with bilateral symmetry. Even though there appeared certain differences in terms of color, light, and objects on the background, the overall appearance and the leading narrative of these two painting makes them typical representatives of Early Renaissance art. At the same time, closer attention to harmony, light, and color on Fra Angelico’s The Annunciation makes this painting more impressive and influential in further development of art than mostly synthetic and unnatural composition of di Lorenzo’s vision on this religious event. Works Cited: Lorenzo, Florenzo di. The Annunciation. C. 1435-1440. N/a. Lowe Art Museum. Fra Angelico. The Annunciation. C. 1450. Fresco, 230 x 321 cm. Convent of San Marco, Florence. Read More