FREE ESSAY ON COMPARISON ASSIGNMENT: MADONNA OF THE MEADOW & MADONNA ENTHRONED

COMPARISON ASSIGNMENT: MADONNA OF THE MEADOW & MADONNA ENTHRONED

COMPARISON ASSIGNMENT: MADONNA OF THE MEADOW & MADONNA ENTHRONED
The following paper is a comparison of Raphael's Madonna of the Meadow and Cimabue's
Madonna Enthroned. Madonna of the Meadow was painted by Raffaello Sanzio, otherwise known
as Raphael, in 1505. This time period is known as the Italian Renaissance. The painting
was oil on panel and stood 3 ft 8.5 in X 2 ft 10.25 in. It is now in the
Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Italy (Adams, 567). Madonna of the Meadow is of a
classical nature, which is very common of the time period. A good example of this would
be the nude characters used in the art. The medium used (oil) was also being used very
widely in Italy by this time. It allowed the painter to make very realistic shades and
colors. The figures and landscape in the painting also looked very fluid and real due to
the use of the oil paint. 
The iconography of the painting lies in the history of its famous characters. The three
figures come from the Bible; however, the artist has taken some liberties. The picture
contains the Virgin Mary, the baby Jesus and his second cousin St. John the Baptist. The
picture foreshadows the death of Christ on the cross. This point is displayed in the
action of the painting where St. John is handing Jesus a small cross and Mary is looking
upon it knowing what is to come. There is a feeling of connection between the three of
them by the way they are all looking at each other and the cross. Although I could find
no documentation on this, I feel there is also a symbol of the trinity in the three
flowers to Mary's left side. The flowers are very prevalent and are connected to the
figures in the painting by having the same color that is in the Virgin's shirt. It is
also speculated that the water in the background symbolizes the baptism of Christ by John
the Baptist. The fact that Mary is barefoot in the painting indicates that she is walking
on holy ground. This painting is among a series that has been called Madonna of the Lands
because the Florentine countryside in the background is said to be under the protection
of the Virgin, the Child and the infant Baptist. The Virgin Mary is also joined to the
landscape by her sloping shoulders which make a continuation of the mountainous peaks of
Florence in the background (Hartt, 470). 
The positioning and placement of the three biblical characters are said to be in a
Leonardesque-type pyramid (Hartt, 470). Raphael favored this style and positioning from
Leonardo DiVinchi. The poses of the three are very calm, relaxed and subdued. His overall
style of the painting was very realistic and smooth. The use of light was very natural
and soft with delicate shadowing and a continuous flow of the direction of the sunlight.
The setting is very spacious and deep and his use of atmospheric perspective is very
noticeable, allowing the scene to become even more alive and believable to the eye. The
halos adorning the three are also put into perspective by an elliptical shape and by
being very faint. The colors and tones are very natural and soothing, much like the
brushwork of the painting as well. The best description of the painting comes from our
textbook Art Across Time stating that, Raphael's style is calm, harmonious, and
restrained.
In comparison, Madonna Enthroned has many differences although it contains two of the
same characters. The painting is much larger having a height of 12 ft 7 in and a width of
7 ft 4 in. It was designed about 200 years earlier than Madonna of the Meadow during the
Byzantine Influence. It is currently being held in the Galleria degli Uffizi. Its medium
also differs quite much in that it is a tempera on wood (Adams, 452). The tempera does
not allow the painting to look as real and as fluid as does the oil. The Christ child is
very much adult-like in his appearance and gestures, nothing like the one in Raphael's
painting. It is, however, very typical of the Byzantine style as is the gold background
and thin figures (Adams, 450). The figures in the painting are once again from the Bible.
However, in this painting we also have angels and four older men at the bottom of the
throne holding scrolls. These men depict the four prophets of the Old Testament. The
style differs quite a bit from Madonna of the Meadow in that it is not as soft and
realistic. The light does not seem to come from one clear direction and the illusion of
space is somewhat flat and non-dimensional. A big difference is the appearance of the
halos around the heads. They are very flat and non-realistic which is typical of the time
period, but very unlike the elliptical halos of Raphael's painting. The colors are not as
natural and realistic in that Cimabue used distinctive golds all through the painting.
The figures are not relaxed and smooth as Raphael's. Their faces do, however, look calm
and restrained, but the positioning of the bodies and expressions are not fluid and
natural. The figures also seem much more confined and scrunched unlike the open and free
figures of Rafael. The brushwork also seems tighter and less smooth almost making a very
hard edge to the objects and figures of the art. The painting is, however, very balanced
in the placement of the angels and the prophets around the Virgin and Christ. One aspect
of the painting that is quite interesting is the use of the throne. It looks like the
structure of a cathedral in an abstract way, thus tying Christ to the modern church. 
Although both paintings are very different in many aspects they are extremely good
representations of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus. Despite their differences they still
portray two very prevalent characters from the Bible and relate though they were created
over 200 years apart.