The Lamentation Over the Dead Christ Fundamentals of Art Notecards

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Interpretation of Lamentation over the Dead Christ by Mantegna

One of the greatest Renaissance paintings of the quattrocento, this tempera painting by the Padua artist Andrea Mantegna is probably the most famous example of foreshortening in the history of art. Also known simply as The Dead Christ or The Lamentation, information technology shows the corpse of Christ lying on a marble slab, watched over by the grieving Virgin Mary and Saint John, who are weeping for his expiry. Unlike most religious art of the Early Renaissance, this is not an idealized portrait of Jesus: the nail holes in the easily and feet, the discolouration of the peel, and the dramatic perspective of the foreshortened trunk lend information technology a coldness and a realism belonging to the mortuary slab. Mantegna'due south adoptive male parent and instructor Francesco Squarcione (1395-1468), was a painter and antiquarian, and he instilled an interest in Greek sculpture in the fellow, from which he developed his skill in modelling figures and his mastery of chiaroscuro. The verbal date of the painting is unknown, although experts believe it probably dates back to the 1470s. If so, it must have remained in his workshop for around 30 years, which suggests it was probably painted for Mantegna'southward personal tomb in the chapel of San Andrea in Mantua. As it happened, it was discovered in his studio after his death and, after being displayed next to the coffin at his funeral, it was sold off to pay his creditors. Later on purchased by Cardinal Sigismondo Gonzaga, it was acquired past the Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan, in 1824. It ranks alongside Masaccio'due south Holy Trinity (1428, Santa Maria Novella, Florence), Roger van der Weyden's Descent From the Cantankerous (Deposition) (c.1435-twoscore, Prado, Madrid), and Piero Della Francesca'due south Flagellation of Christ (1450-sixty, Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, Urbino) as ane of the finest works of Christian art of the 15th century.

Composition

A mutual theme in many religious paintings, the 'Lamentation Over the Dead Christ' is not a Biblical theme at all. Information technology does not appear in any of the New Testament gospels, and only emerged as a devotional prototype during the 11th century. Other famous Lamentations include those by Giotto (Scrovegni Chapel, Padua), Botticelli (Munich), Annibale Carracci (National Gallery, London) and Rubens (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna). About Lamentations focus on the passionate grief being expressed past the mourners, but Mantegna'due south vision is quite different.

His motion-picture show is defined from the outset by its window-like frame. This emphasizes the bars infinite of the scene and makes information technology announced fifty-fifty more than similar the cold slab of a morgue. It also gives the viewer, positioned at Christ's anxiety, a dramatic shut-upwards of Christ's dead body: the physicality and naturalism are extraordinary - it looks completely lifeless.

The static nature of the body is further enhanced by a series of vertical and horizontal lines in the painting. The vertical ones comprise the position of the corpse, notably its artillery and legs; and the correct edge of the table. The horizontal ones are seen in the left/right centrality of the pillow, the left/correct flow of the shroud, and the bottom edge of the painting. These lines reinforce the stillness and immobility of Christ.

Within this filigree however, Mantegna creates an illusion of movement, of life. The weeping Mary is dabbing her center with a handkerchief; the damp, bloody shroud swirls across the lower half of the picture. Fifty-fifty Christ's hair has a wild look. This contrasting advent of motion helps to create a tension which attracts our attention, as do the elements which are visible only at second glance, like the face of Saint John (left edge), or the ointment container (elevation correct).

This uncomfortably realistic representation of death, farther enhanced past the moving-picture show'due south muted colour scheme, and wax-like flesh tones, leaves no room for arcadian musings or religious rhetoric. This moving-picture show is about the bland physicality of death - the terminate of earthly life. A fact and a prospect which is only relieved by our faith in God and a life after expiry. This may be the cardinal message of the piece of work.

Spatial Illusionism: Foreshortening, Linear Perspective

Mantegna's principal contribution to Early on Renaissance painting was his mastery of trompe l'oeil spatial illusionism, exemplified by his foreshortening technique both in this painting and in his fresco painting on the ceiling of the Camera degli Sposi (room of the helpmate and groom) in the Ducal Palace, Mantua (1471-74). Foreshortening, namely the application of linear perspective to a unmarried object or figure in order to simulate projection or depth (thus creating the illusion of three-dimensionality), helps to render the advent of objects as we perceive them. Thus Mantegna'due south Christ is shown greatly truncated, fifty-fifty though the artist had to deliberately reduce the size of the feet so as not to obscure our view of the body. If a photo had been taken from the aforementioned viewpoint, the feet would have blocked our view of the torso.

Tempera Painting

Forty years before Mantegna completed Lamentation over the Dead Christ, Flemish masters like Jan van Eyck (1390-1441) and Roger Van der Weyden (1400-1464) were creating powerful examples of religious oil painting, in the form of altarpiece fine art and other works. Mantegna, however, like other Early Renaissance artists in Italy, preferred the medium of tempera painting, or fresco, although he did apply oils from fourth dimension to time. Hither is a short pick of some of his best works in tempera.

- St. Jerome in the Wilderness (c.1450) Sao Paulo Museum of Art.
- The Adoration of the Shepherds (c.1452) Metropolitan Museum, New York.
- Christ the Suffering Redeemer (1495–1500) State Fine art Museum, Copenhagen.
- Agony in the Garden (c.1459) National Gallery, London.
- Presentation at the Temple (c.1463) Staatliche Museen, Berlin.
- St. George (c.1460) Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice.
- Adoration of the Magi (1462) Uffizi, Florence.
- The Ascension (1462) Uffizi, Florence.
- The Circumcision (1462–1464) Uffizi, Florence.
- Madonna della Vittoria (1495) Louvre, Paris.
- Holy Family (c. 1495–1500) Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden.
- Judith and Holofernes (1495) National Gallery of Fine art, Washington DC.
- Trivulzio Madonna (1497) Museo Civico d'Arte Antica, Milan.

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Source: http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/famous-paintings/lamentation-over-the-dead-christ.htm

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