Exemplary Renaissance Art Work

The goal of this paper is to describe in detail an exemplary Renaissance art work. I will explain and discuss how this masterpiece is a perfect representation in respect to specific tendencies of the Renaissance period and its style. The piece chosen for the main topic is the ‘Mona Lisa’. The Mona Lisa is thought to have been painted by the artist Leonardo Da Vinci between 1503 and 1506.

During the Renaissance era artist strived for humanism artwork were created to represent humanism of individual figures.

Paintings where realistic, and attending to each details was captured to represent humans more real like and vivid as never before. From the lighting that perfectly highlights the face of his muse and the anatomically approved bodies that helps to support and enhance the realism of the painting is a perfect example of the Renaissance era. Leonardo Da Vinci is one of the most famous High Renaissance artist of the time period. While not known for his artwork as a painter. The Mona Lisa is ranked as one the most famous paintings of the Renaissance period and exemplifies the techniques used at the time. Such key characteristics of renaissance artwork are; Realism, Humanism, Anatomically Approved Bodies, Perspective, Light and Shadows, Nature and Reality, Weakness of Church, and Exploration. Ancient artwork from the Renaissance can be identified by key characteristics which are present in Leonardo’s creation of the Mona Lisa. The portrait of Mona Lisa shows humanism as Leonardo’s painting is of aristocrat Lisa Del Giocondo, it captures the image of an individual, her worth and her unique characteristics. This style was highly employed at the time, as more attention to detail was placed in capturing the life like image of his muse Lisa Del Giocondo. Such key details are easily noticeable with the lighting and shadowing techniques used in the painting of the Mona Lisa. Shadowing techniques are prominently used by Leonardo Da Vinci around the Mona Lisa eyes as well as the corner of the lips.

These techniques gives her an exceptional realism appearance and look of amusement. The painting is such a life like image that to an observer it would seem that they are standing directly in front of Lisa Del Giocondo herself. The lighting is prominent around her face, neck and chest are giving the painting an ambience of natural light would be present on a human being or object visible to the naked eye. The Mona Lisa was anatomically correct in every feature present; her eyes are evenly symmetrical. The spacing between each was perfectly captured with the spacing and size of her nose. Her hands lightly resting on the armrest with each finger and its shape proportional to the other giving the observer the feel and sense of realism and enhancing their perception of the portrait. Leonardo created a scenery of a beautiful aerial view landscape with vibrant colors and light. The exemplary capturing of the landscape being beautifully painted leaving no visible brush strokes does not diminish the Mona Lisa’s face and hands that are the first noticeable pieces of this masterpiece. Such execution by Da Vinci and his brush techniques was said to make master painters left astonished and thus considered the Mona Lisa a true masterpiece worthy of the praise it demanded through the ages. Each level of the landscape took a life of itself in the details capturing the vibrant yet shuttle coloring of the roads and cliffs. It also perfectly blended to the further soft and warm cloudless sky. The rich blues of the ocean with the deepness of the variation of the ripples of the wave and the further mountains in the reaches were executed flawlessly.

The precision to each detail in the landscape in no way overshadowing the portrait was a key trait mark of a master painter of the Renaissance era understanding balance and visual contrast. Da Vinci aimed for a 3-D space and depth to his work, which was another key characteristic of the time period. Using the idea of a horizon line, linear perspective and vanishing point. These techniques were used in the Mona Lisa giving depth to the portrait from the larger prominent portrait of Lisa Del Gherardini to the further scenery of the landscape gives the observer a sense of realism observed in everyday life. The technique used in the creation of the Mona Lisa distinguished it as a masterpiece of the time period. The details in her hands, eyes and lips, the subtle shadowing techniques around the corners of her lips and the corners of her eyes. These key details gives the portrait a life of its own, captivating is viewers. The attention to detail using perspective and realism present in the contrast from the main image to the scenery of the landscape giving a truly perfectly executed three dimension and depth to the Mona Lisa is a perfect execution of master Renaissance artist. The Mona Lisa is clearly a work created non-objective and a portrait of an individual a key characteristic of the High Renaissance period.

Did you like this example?

618

33