Rodin's The Thinker

 I recently visited San Francisco and went to the Legion of Honor Museum.  I saw many wonderful works of art but was really happy to get to see one of the bronze casts of Auguste Rodin's The Thinker.  This sculpture has been cast in bronze nearly 25 times and those works are located in a variety of museums and parks throughout the world.  In addition there have also been several smaller versions of the sculpture cast in materials other than bronze.

I personally have also seen Rodin's The Thinker at the Rodin Museum in Paris and the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia and every time I am struck by this profoundly beautiful work.

This is probably the most famous of all of Rodin's sculptures, an image synonymous with the sculptor himself.

Auguste Rodin (French, 1840–1917). The Thinker, 1903. Cast bronze, Rodin Museum in Paris

The sculpture was intended to portray the great 14th century Italian author and poet Dante Alighieri.  However it has now been transformed by those who observe it to represent a man in thought, or the idea of the thoughts of humanity.  It was originally called The Poet to refer to Dante.


Rodin undertook an enormous project to create a set of doors for the French Decorative Arts Museum in Paris and the theme for this was the Gates of Hell from Dante's Inferno (from his Divine Comedy), the author's imaginings on hell and afterlife.  Another of Rodin's most famous sculptures, The Kiss, also represents characters from Dante's Inferno, the star crossed lovers Francesca and Paolo.

Rodin, The Gates of Hell, 1917, one of the three original bronze casts

 Rodin Sculpture National Museum of Western Art Ueno Taito-ku Tokyo Japan

Like The Thinker or many of Rodin's other bronze sculptures, The Gates of Hell has also been cast many times.  A detail is shown above with The Thinker at the top in the tympanum of the door looking down upon everything.  The entire sculptural work contains 180 figures and this version of The Thinker is much smaller than the more well known over life size work.

This sculpture is a good example of the naturalism that Rodin was famous for.  Take a minute to carefully observe this figure, his muscles, bones and facial expressions are all taken straight from life and nothing is idealized or over dramatized as some works of art were at this time.

Auguste Rodin (French, 1840–1917). The Thinker, 1904. Cast bronze

Legion of Honor Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco 

Gift of Alma de Bretteville Spreckels

Dante is portrayed as being deep in thought in this contemplative pose.  Depending on the sources that I have read over he is either meant to be shown thinking about what he is about to write, what he has written, the fate of those in hell (since it was conceived as a part of The Gates of Hell from Dante's Inferno) or the fate of mankind.  It is certainly possible that he could be thinking about all of those ideas.

Your Art History Blogger in front of Rodin's The Thinker at the Legion of Honor

There are several other works and artists which have been said to have inspired Rodin.  Rodin was influenced quite a bit by the muscular nudes of Michelangelo such as can be seen below from a section of the Sistine Chapel Ceiling.  The athletic male nudes that surround each larger fresco have come to be called "ignudi" and the poses of the various ignudi inspired Rodin.  The particular seated pose could also have been inspired by Michelangelo's figure of Lorenzo de'Medici from the Medici family tomb in San Lorenzo in Florence.


Another source of inspiration was said to have come from the French sculptor Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux's statue of Ugolino.  Ugolino was another character from the Inferno and he met his end by starving to death while imprisoned.

Rodin had spoken frequently of his debt to Michelangelo's work.  During his lifetime he traveled to Florence and had visited the Casa Buonarroti which is a museum honoring the Renaissance master.

God Separating Darkness and Light, Michelangelo

Sistine Chapel Ceiling, Vatican, 1508-12 

 Ugolino, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1867-1869) Petit Palais, Paris

 Gift of Louise Clément-Carpeaux, daughter of the artist, 1938

In addition to The Thinker, which sits outside in the entrance courtyard,  The Legion of Honor has a gallery devoted to the beautiful sculptures of Auguste Rodin.  I recommend that anyone who is visiting San Francisco should take a tour through this museum.

Suggested Reading:
Fergonzi, Flavio. Miaria Mimita Lamberti, Pina Ragionieri and Christopher Riopelle. Rodin and Michelangelo, A study in Artistic Inspiration. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1996.

Sculpting David: Donatello and Michelangelo

The young figure of King David, as represented in the Biblical story of David and Goliath is frequently represented throughout art history.  Perhaps no representation is as well known as Michelangelo's sculpture of David in Florence.

David, Michelangelo, marble, 1501-1504, Accademia Gallery, Florence

photo- © Rico Heil / public domain, via Wikimedia Commons  

Michelangelo won a contest to carve the figure of David out of a block of marble that had been worked on more than 50 years earlier possibly by Donatello or a member of his workshop.  At that time the marble was said to have had a flaw in it and the project was abandoned.  Michelangelo however was very excited to have the opportunity to now carve from it.  He was just starting out in his career and only 26 years old when he began this piece.  

The subject of David and Goliath was a popular one, and at this time in history it was commissioned to represent the city of Florence.  Florence was a small city and could be seen as the smaller "David" winning battles with several different "Goliaths." France had taken control of the Duchy of Milan in 1494 and then the French army marched to Florence, however Florence was able to negotiate for peace instead of captivity.  The famous influential Medici family was exiled from Florence when Lorenzo's son Piero II rose to power, before the Florentines created their peace treaty with France he surrendered the main fortress of Tuscany to avoid war.  The Florentines were enraged and the Medici were exiled for nearly 20 years.

In the 1490's the Domenican monk Savonarola had wielded much power over the Florentines and preached that the new arts and humanism of the Renaissance would bring down the city.  He staged several huge bonfires known as "Bonfires of the Vanities" in which art, books, furniture, clothing, jewelry and anything he considered a luxury were burned.  He was burned at the stake in Florence in 1498 after being excommunicated by the Pope.

As Florence faced the French army, the Medici and Savonarola and kept coming out ahead the symbol of the boy David facing the giant Goliath had an extra layer of symbolism and came to represent the pride they had in their republic.

Michelangelo's David is different in that he chose to depict the moment before David kills the giant Goliath.  He isn't afraid at all, he is shown with complete confidence as he faces his much larger foe and knows for certain that he will emerge the victor.  The symbolism here is that Florence emerged as victorious several times from large threats in the 1490's and would again in the years to come. 

Michelangelo's close study of human anatomy (including dissecting corpses to learn more about bones and muscles) can be seen here in what has come to be thought of as the perfect example of the human form.

Giorgio Vasari was a contemporary of Michelangelo and an artist himself, but is known best for his comprehensive biography of all the Italian Renaissance artists, known as Lives of the Artists.  In this book he tells a story about Michelangelo and his sculpture of David (paraphrased from pgs 427-428):

As he was finishing the statue Piero Soderini who was the Gonfaloniere (one of the highest posts in the Florentine government) stopped by and said that he really liked the David but that the nose was too big and that Michelangelo should chisel it down to make it smaller.  Michelangelo had no intention of changing the finished David but also thought that Soderini was looking at it from the wrong angle.  He climbed a ladder with a handful of marble dust and his chisel and pretended to chisel as he threw the dust around.  

When he asked him what he thought now Soderini said, "I like it better, you've made it come alive."

David, Donatello, bronze, c-1430, National Bargello Museum, Florence

photo- © Patrick A. Rodgers / public domain, via Wikimedia Commons 

This wasn't the first time that Donatello had sculpted the David, but this sculpture was a departure from his earlier two.  The others were both done in marble showing a young clothed boy, the first was created in 1408-09 and the second was begun around 1412 and was left unfinished. 

In fact Donatello's 1430 bronze David was a departure from any contemporary figurative sculpture, being the first life-size nude created since antiquity.  This was done when Donatello was well established in his career and was commissioned by the extremely influential Cosimo de'Medici.

Donatello has sculpted a "Triumphant David" in that he showed him after he has already killed Goliath and his foot rests upon the giant's severed head.  He is sculpted after the battle between the two. The sculpture was meant to stand in the round, many of Donatello's works were created for niches but this was meant to be seen from all sides.  He has sculpted him in a contrapposto pose, a term which refers to the naturalistic way in which a human figure is shown with weight distributed to one hip and how the rest of the body shifts in relation to that.  Michelangelo drew on this type of contrapposto pose when he created his David as well.

Let's compare these two famous sculptures of David side by side:

Both look towards the ancient classical examples found in Greek or Roman sculpture and Michelangelo was also influenced by all the work of Donatello who he considered a great master sculptor.  Donatello's earlier version was created over 70 years earlier and was inspired by the ancient art he saw on his trip to Rome (discussed further in an older post on the Beginnings of the Renaissance.)

There is a great difference in size between the two: Donatello's stands at 6 feet tall (185 cm) while Michelangelo's is over twice it's size at 13 feet, 5 inches tall (411 cm).  Another big difference in the way they were constructed, Donatello modeled his figure in clay and then had it cast in bronze.  This was technically very difficult, after it was sculpted it would be covered in wax which would eventually be melted out when molten bronze was poured into the mold made from it.  Michelangelo carved his David from a huge block of marble.

As stated earlier Michelangelo shows the moment before David slays Goliath, where Donatello shows a scene after the battle.   Both were revolutionary works of art that changed the direction of sculpture that came after them. 

An Overview of Electric Guitar History

The Majority of the musical genres depend heavily on the use of electric guitars. There are many types of these instruments available. These instruments were developed just 70 years back (the 1930's) by Adolph Rickenbacker. From that period, these guitars have significantly advanced to the level where it's today. In the following paragraphs, we will discuss the electric guitar history.

The Brief History

The earliest electric guitars included smaller sound holes in their body. These types of instruments are classified as semi hollow body and still they are fairly popular nowadays, mainly because of the reason that they're of flexible models.

By making use of pick-ups, it was capable to make guitars with no sound holes (just like the Classical and Acoustic guitars) if connected to the guitar amplifiers. These models are known as solid-body.

The electric guitar's recognition started to increase over the Big-Band era of the 1930's and 1940's. Because of the high magnitude of sound of the brass sections in jazz musical groups, there was a need for guitars that can be heard over the sections. These instruments, with the capability to be connected to amplifiers, filled up this void.

The most common instrument these days was the solid body. This instrument was found by an inventor and musician, Les Paul in the year 1941. It was a guitar made out of solid wood with no sound-holes. The original solid body instrument developed by Paul was fairly simple - it was a rectangle shaped block of solid wood attached to a neck together with 6 steel guitar strings. Les Paul's original solid-body guitar appearance has, not surprisingly, changed from the primary rectangular design to a round design Les Paul guitars.

Gibson presented Les Paul's design to the public in the year 1958. This model was called as 'The Gibson Les Paul' and it rapidly grew to become a very famous instrument. It's remained the most famous instrument for fifty years.

Around the same time period, another inventor called Leo Fender found a solid-body electric guitar of his very own. During the 1940's, Fender released the Fender-Broadcaster electric guitar. This model was re-named the Strato-caster, was officially brought to the general public in the year 1954. The Strat, as it's now called, was completely a different guitar in comparison with Les Paul's. The Strat had a distinct shape as well as hardware and it was very lighter in weight. Fender's Strato-caster electric guitar is the 2nd most in-demand instrument, next to the Les Paul.

Academic Still-Life Painting in 18th Century France

The year 1648 was notable as the French Royal Academy of Art (Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture) was founded in Paris. French artists would now have uniform training and the Royal State would be able to control art production. As Ludwig states in his essay on Still-Life Painting in the Eighteenth Century:

“The most important developments in 18th century painting came from France, that is artists who worked under privileged conditions but also fiercer competition, as a result of the French state’s efforts to make the city of Paris a center of European art.”  [1]

  Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, The Ray, 1728, The Louvre

Excellence in French art was seen as reflecting on the magnificence of King Louis XIV. In 1737 the Annual Salon was established at the Academy and the work of artists was now viewed by the public on a regular basis.

In the Royal Academy a strict hierarchy of subject matter was created, most important was history painting which helped promote the state, still-life was referred to as “dead nature”; the least significant category. The still-life was considered the art of copying, not an intellectual art.

As the Enlightenment flourished in Europe, the importance of reason was spread by scientists and writers, such as Voltaire and Diderot. Inspired by new ideas of rationalism and order, themes in painting shifted toward a greater simplicity in both technique and subject matter. Chardin was accepted into the Academy in 1728 and during his career he became well known for his still-lives. He also adopted a rational approach to the use of color and paint and applied a minimalist style to his work, influenced by ideas from this time. Rather than showing every detail of objects, Chardin painted in a way such as to capture the essence of them. As the writer and art critic Diderot said of Chardin:

“Oh Chardin! It is not white, red or black that you grind on your palette: it is the very substance of your subjects: it is air and light that you dip your brush into and transfer and attach to the canvas.”[2]

Chardin’s work was highly praised and he influenced an entire generation of painters.

One such painter was Anne Vallayer-Coster. She was admitted into the Royal Academy in 1770 based on the strength of her still-lives and was one of only four women admitted in the 18th century. Her work attracted the attention of Marie-Antoinette and she became one of the painters of the royal court. Women had been long excluded from this profession, but talented artists such as Vallayer-Coster found success within the still-life genre.

Anne Vallayer-Coster, Still-Life with Tuft of Marine Plants, Shells and Corals, 1769, Louvre

Chardin, The Attributes of the Arts and their Rewards, 1766, Minneapolis Institute of Arts

The new importance of artists in France at the time was reflected in another still-life by Chardin, The Attributes of the Arts and their Rewards. This was painted in honor of his friend the sculptor Pigalle, the first sculptor to win the highest award from the Order of St. Michael. This work is an allegory of the arts which symbolized that being an artist was a learned and noble profession, and one that contributed greatly toward the French culture in the 18th century.

[1] Heidrun Ludwig. Still-Life Painting in the Eighteenth Century. Sander, Jochen. ed. The Magic of Things: Still Life Painting 1500-1800, page 337

[2] Tuchman, Phyllis, The Quiet Master of Jean Simeon Chardin, 5.

Bibliography/suggested further reading-

Sander, Jochen. ed. The Magic of Things: Still Life Painting 1500-1800. Frankfurt am Main,

            Germany: Stadel Museum, 2008.

Tuchman, Phyllis. The Quiet Master of Jean Simeon Chardin. Smithsonian Magazine, June 2000.

The Mill and the Cross and Bruegel's Road to Calvary

The extremely unique movie, The Mill and the Cross, by the filmmaker Lech Majewski  features Rutger Hauer as the Flemish Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder.  If you are interested in the Northern Renaissance I would recommend seeing this movie.

This movie is visually stunning and takes the viewer inside the painting The Road to Calvary which was painted by Bruegel in 1564.  The painting, seen below, shows Christ carrying the cross on the way to his crucifixion in the center of the painting.  Instead of a quiet, solemn scene with just a few key biblical figures and a focus on Jesus, it has an almost festive atmosphere with about a hundred people.  Jesus carrying the Cross is nearly hidden in the center of the chaos and the Crucifixion appears to be set during the 16th century.  Let's first look at the painting and then I will discuss more about this movie.

The history of the region is important to keep in mind as you view both the painting and the movie.

The Road to Calvary, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1564

Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

In the 15th century Flanders consisted of Belgium, the Netherlands, part of France and was ruled from Burgundy.  In the late 15th century Flanders was absorbed into the Hapsburg Empire, then King Charles V of Spain inherited it in the early 16th century.  After the Reformation of the Church the Flemish Netherlands became Protestant while Spain was staunchly Catholic.  This led to the 80 years war between Spain and the Netherlands with Flanders being ruled over by Spain.  Eventually the Netherlands won its independence in 1648.

In 1564 when Bruegel painted this work the Protestant Reformation had happened recently and Spanish soldiers were now occupying Flanders.  They are shown in red and on horseback in the painting.  It was not uncommon to set Biblical themes within the time of the painter, this had been done from Roger Campin to Raphael to Caravaggio.  This was in part due to a lack of knowledge of the architecture and dress of life in the time of Jesus and done unintentionally.  There were also many times when it was done intentionally, so that the churchgoers who were praying in front of the painting could better relate Christ to their own lives.

In the case of The Road to Calvary this can be seen as the latter, almost a warning to those who are fighting with each other in the name of religion.  Mixed in with scenes of the Passion of Christ are scenes of everyday life, life continues from dancing to fighting to selling wares to mourning the life of Jesus.  Above everything sits an imaginary steep and rocky hill topped by a windmill.  A windmill had four arms like the cross and was often a symbol for the cross, the windmill also seems a symbol for the ever present eye of God watching down on everyone.  This seems more like a festival such as in Bruegel’s many other works such as his Peasant Wedding, the artist was well known for his scenes of peasant life.

The Peasant Wedding, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1568

Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

An important thing to keep in mind as well is the role of art in the church at this time, it was not meant to be decorative but to teach parishioners who may be illiterate.  Even for those who could read, paintings were a source for meditation and reflection. 

I saw the movie in that same sense.  Rather than an entertaining story it provided a similar role for the 21st century viewer that religious painting would have provided a 16th century viewer.  Majewski's film contained very little dialogue, no real plot and characters who were not fleshed out.  But the film is so visually stunning, so absorbing and engages the viewer in such a way as to transport you back to that time. It is obvious that a lot of work went into making this and creating every little detail that was shown.

While there isn't much dialogue, the movie is rich in sound: children playing, bells tolling, crows, crowds and the ever turning and grinding mill which more than ever is the symbol for God in this movie.  It is a composite between real and imaginary scenery, full of symbols.  I left thinking I would need to watch it again to fully understand it.  Charlotte Rampling played the mourning Madonna and had the most eloquent dialogue in the film.

Bruegel's wife seemed to symbolize a young Madonna, one of my friends who I saw it with noticed that a town magistrate seemed to symbolize Ponchos Pilate.

There are violent and brutal scenes, a man is killed and Christ is shown being crucified.  However that ties into the theme of the movie acting as a catalyst for reflection the way the painting would have.

Part of the description reads: "Majewski invites the viewer to live inside the aesthetic universe of the painting as we watch it being created." 

That statement for me sums the movie up best and has had me thinking about the painting and reflecting on life since I left.

The Last Supper as painted by Ghirlandaio, Leonardo and Tintoretto

The theme of Christ's Last Supper was a very popular image in Italian Renaissance painting.  Perhaps the most well known version is Leonardo da Vinci's fresco in Sta. Maria delle Grazie in Milan, but this scene has been well represented in art history.  The Last Supper (known in Italian as l'ultima cena or il cenacolo) was the last meal Christ shared with his twelve apostles before his Crucifixion.  


It was at this meal that Christ said "This is my body which is given for you" when he broke the bread to eat and "this is my blood" when he drank the wine.  These acts formed the basis for the Eucharist.  This is an important part of Christianity which is why it was depicted again and again in art.  Let's compare and contrast three different versions of The Last Supper as painted by Ghirlandaio, Leonardo and Tintoretto.

 The Last Supper, Domenico Ghirlandaio, San Marco, Florence, 1480's

You may remember from an earlier post that Michelangelo trained in the fresco workshop of Domenico Ghirlandaio.  The above Last Supper was painted as a fresco in San Marco in Florence, Ghirlandaio painted an almost identical version at the church of Ognissanti (All Saints) in Florence a few years prior.  This is a beautiful fresco and a good example of a standard type for this painting in quattrocento (15th century) Italian Renaissance painting.

The Last Supper was also the event where Christ announced that one of his twelve apostles would betray him, he didn't say who but any contemporary viewer would have known that was Judas.  Judas is always shown in these early Last Supper paintings as set apart from the rest of the group, here he is the only one present without a holy halo, sometimes his halo is shown as black.

This depiction was used so that the group of apostles would all be visible to the viewers and  that worshippers would easily be able to recognize the scene.  Symbols were commonly used in art and just as saints all had attributes in art, so did Judas.  His attribute early on was to be shown in a disgraced way.

Ghirlandaio (pronounced gear-land-eye-oh) has painted this scene using perspective and created depth in the painting with the tiles on the floor, incorporating painted architectural elements such as windows and arches, and by including a background of landscape with sky, clouds and birds.

He paints with his signature delicate and decorative style using bright light, soft colors, realistic faces and convincing figures.  At the time this and the other at Ognissanti were painted, they were considered some of the most beautiful Last Supper frescoes that had been painted.

The Last Supper, Leonardo da Vinci, Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan, 1495-98 

However within ten to fifteen years later Leonardo da Vinci painted his fresco in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie and this Last Supper was to become the definitive representation of this story.  This was also a fresco, but Leonardo used a new technique that didn't work well and began to disintegrate within his own lifetime.  As this wasn't done with standard fresco technique his colors are different and he was able to paint with more detail, however much of the original detail has worn away.

Leonardo used a startling and bold new type of composition, done in a much more realistic style than that of his predecessors.  Here he doesn't just show the event of the Last Supper but a specific moment, that in which Christ has just announced that one of his apostles will betray him.  All at once they begin to ask "Is it I my Lord?  Will it be I?" 

Jesus is the central point of perspective in this rendition, all the lines used in the architecture to create depth can be traced back to him.  Jesus is completely still and calm and all movement and shapes radiate outward from him.  In this painting Judas sits with everyone and has just knocked over the salt.  Leonardo also uses symbolic representation in this painting, I have mentioned in previous posts that three was a divine number and four was the number of man.  Here he separates the apostles into four groups of three, symbolically calling attention to the fact that Christ was the one who joined mankind with divinity through his Crucifixion.

I have always found this to be a powerful piece and have only seen representations of it.  When I have seen Leonardo's paintings in person I have felt like they eclipse everything else in the room and seem to glow with a heavenly light all their own.  The Last Supper in Milan is something that I very much look forward to seeing in person someday as I get the same sense of that from just seeing pictures in books or slides in lectures.

With Leonardo's new depiction the Last Supper was transformed in painting into a stronger and more realistic scene.

  

 The Last Supper, Tintoretto, San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice, 1592-94

For our last painting to compare and contrast let's jump ahead 100 years later to the Late Venetian Renaissance.  The damp, humid climate in Venice didn't work as well for fresco painting where pigments where mixed directly into wet plaster.  At this time artists used oil on canvas and due to this different medium were able to get different results from Florentine frescoes.

Tintoretto was known for his dynamic style, broad and painterly brushwork and bold highlights painted on a dark ground.  Rather than using the early perfectly proportioned and symmetrical compositions of the High Renaissance, he used energetic and dramatic compositions.

We can see that here in this later Last Supper that uses a diagonal dinner table to create depth and drama in the painting.  Angels and servants join the others in this painting, however Tintoretto does go back to the earlier depiction of having Judas sit on the opposite side of the table and the only apostle without a halo.  His Christ is shown breaking the bread, and as in Leonardo's work Christ seems to be a calm center from which all action emanates.

The Last Supper was painted literally hundreds of times throughout art history, these three artists and styles were important and had a large influence on many of the depictions that followed. 

Titian's Entombment of Christ

Titian (Tiziano Vecellio) was undisputedly one of the great masters of the Venetian Italian Renaissance in the 16th century.  He studied under two other great masters: Bellini and Giorgione, and built on the skills he learned to become the most influential painter to come out of the Venetian school.  Titian became the official painter of the Venetian Republic in 1516.

 The Entombment of Christ, Titian, The Louvre, 1523-26

One of Titian's most significant contributions to painting was his style of brushwork.  Titian broke from the tradition of meticulously painting every minute detail from life, instead using expressive bold strokes and dots of color to create illusions, which captured reality.  His technique revolutionized painting in the 16th century.  Another thing he was known for were his sophisticated mathematical compositions within his works, breaking from earlier more symmetrical paintings.

The Entombment of Christ was a work which embodied the new harmony of the Renaissance.  In this composition the figures are placed with a mathematical precision forming two isosceles triangles within the painting.  The curving shapes of several others then enhance these triangular shapes. This emphasizes the harmonious proportions that were used in ancient Greek art and revived in the Renaissance.  His use of mathematics within the work draws the eye of the viewer into the action taking place. 

 Death of Meleager, Roman sarcophagus lid, marble, The Louvre, c-180 AD

photo- © user Mbzt / public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Entombment of Christ is a relatively early work in Titian's sixty-eight year career as an artist.  Frederick Hartt in his History of Italian Renaissance Art wrote of this work:

            "The pose of Christ is borrowed from that of the dead Meleager carried from

            the boar hunt in a well-known group of Roman sarcophagus reliefs."*

I am not certain if the example of the Roman sarcophagus from the Louvre (shown above) is the specific work that influenced Titian.  Even if it was not, it does help illustrate the idea of placing figures within a composition using mathematical arrangement which was common in antiquity.

Pesaro Madonna, Titian, Sta. Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, 1519-26

Another early example of this type of composition can be seen in the Pesaro Madonna, shown above.  This work also breaks from the perfect symmetry of the High Renaissance to give us a new type of interesting arrangement of form.  Again the various sets of figures are arranged in a triangular form.


As I stated in my blog post on Chartres Cathedral, the triangle was the number of divinity.  This can be seen in the Trinity and in Christian art and architecture is repeated many times over: the trefoil in Gothic architecture, tripartite naves, figures grouped into three, etc.


The Pesaro Madonna (so named as it was commissioned for the Pesaro family) rearragnes the standard frontal Madonna and Child portrait so as better to create depth, move the viewers eye through the painting and pull the viewer into this divine space.  In this Titian uses his trademark brushwork and coloring.

These are just two examples of painting from Titian who created hundreds throughout his long painting career.  He was nearly 90 when he died and continued to use the triangle in his compositions up until his final painting of the Pieta which he began for his own tomb.




*Hartt, Frederick. History of Italian Renaissance Art. 4th edition, New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc. Publishers, 1994. p. 591.