Art History

Saint Luke Painting the Virgin (1434 ) by Rogier van der Weyden (1400 ? - 1464 ) and Medusa (1597 ) by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571 ? - 1610 ) will be compared and contrasted in this paper

The paintings belong to different styles , epochs and were created in different countries . Rogier van der Weyden is the prominent representative of Flemish School of Painting that inherited Italian Renaissance traditions and combining them with Medieval Gothic features affected the further development of European art . Van der Wyden learns the ponderous detailed realism that characterises his early paintings at

br the workshop of Robert Campin (1375-1444 ) when being enrolled as an apprentice of the master . Saint Luke Painting the Virgin is attributed to the very period . The depiction of Madonna as well as all the rest Christian plots is typical for the Flemish School masterpieces . Van der Wyden does not exclude this theme from his creation either . The artist is the member of St . Luke guild which is the community of Flemish painters . According to the legend exactly Saint Luke the Evangelist was the first Christian painter who painted Mother of God from life . He was the saint patron of painters and their guilds . Most of the paintings representing St Luke are destined for the altars of painters communities painting by van der Wyden is the altarpiece for the Brussels guild

Caravaggio 's creation is associated with the Italian Baroque , which embodies new imagination about unity , infinity and diversity of the world . Baroque replaced humanistic culture of Renaissance and art subjectivism which is so typical for Mannerism . The virtuoso decorative compositions of religious , mythological and allegorical nature predominate in the art works of Baroque style . Luxurious portraits emphasise the privileged social status . Baroque is characterized by pomp and action , pathetic exultation , feelings intensity and passion for effective performances , overlap of reality and illusion , strong contrast between materials and textures , scales and rhythms , light and shade Baroque aesthetics has the strong rules to apply for painting . These rules are introduced in the Treatise about Painting , Sculpture and Architecture (1584 ) by Giovanni Paolo Lomazzo (1538-1600 , the contemporary of Caravaggio . It is supposed to follow the principles of the great art of Renaissance . Caravaggio does not accept them because he considers that the Nature itself is true example for art , but not Renaissance neither classic sculpture . Caravaggio revolutionises the art of the time by creating dramatic and realistic paintings . Caravaggio constantly violates the principle of decorative art , at best he interprets it in his own manner which provoke to hate and love his paintings

In Greek myth , Perseus used the severed snake-haired head of the Gorgon Medusa as a shield with which to turn his enemies to stone . By the sixteenth century Medusa was said to symbolise the triumph of reason over the senses and this may have been why Cardinal del Monte commissioned Caravaggio to paint Medusa as the figure on a ceremonial shield presented in 1601 to Ferdinand I de Medici , Grand Duke of Tuscany . It destined to symbolise...