All Work No Play

Let's compare Madonna of the Meadows painted by Raphael during the

Renaissance with Parmigianino's Mannerist Madonna of the Long Neck.

From this comparison can you tell how Parmigianino mannered Raphael's

style?

Discuss the similarities and differences between the two Madonnas.

What role does cultural context play in the stylistic differences?

I will attempt to compare and contrast the images Madonna of the Meadow and Madonna of the long neck by the artists Raphael and Parmigianino respectively. Both Raphael and Parmigianino have different styles but often use the same subject matter in their paintings. Parmigianino's work is greatly inflounced by Raphael's work, however unlike Raphael, Parmigianino was a Mannerist artist.

Around the 1520's in Italy, art in many ways had reached its peak of excellence. It was the time of the great High Renaissance painters Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonaroti, Titian and Raphael Santi. It was believed by many that the works of these four giants of art could never be bettered and thus the Mannerist style was born.

The picture painted in 1534 by the Italian Mannerist artist, Parmigianino is entitled Madonna with the Long Neck, is a prime example Mannerist style painting. Raphael's "Madonna in the Meadow" also depicted the Madonna but in two very different styles. When looking at the painting by Raphael, you can see classical antiquity influence. The painting by Parmigianno's that breaks away from realistic paintings and became the popular style called Mannerist art, after the death of Raphael between 1520-1600's.

The Madonna of the Meadow was painted in a Raphael's style of art that relied heavily on realism and the study of nature. Unlike the second image that is the work of the artist Parmigianino. The style of art used in the Madonna of the long neck painting is abstract in style due to the impossible anatomy of the figures in the image that appears to be unreal.

Raphael painted the image of the Madonna of the Meadow during the high renaissance artistic movement. The renaissance art movement made use of classic renaissance realism. The main goal of this artistic movement was to use new and innovative techniques and to manipulate light and darkness by utilizing Chiaroscuro. In addition, the artistic works of this movement had good mastery in both technology and aesthetics. This movement was focused on the art of Rome and ancient Greece. Raphael has also ensured a good composition of colors that make the image appear life like. The renaissance movement was affected by technological changes and revolutions that took place during that time. Madonna of the meadow represents the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus and john the Baptist. The painting was made with has made vibrant color palate that make the image more realistic. The image is a characteristic of the renaissance art movement because it has made use of the realism. The renaissance art movement emphasized on the rediscovery and use of high technology in the work of art which caused various innovations.

The image of the Madonna with the long neck by Parmigianino was painted during the mannerism art movement. The mannerism art movement had a theme of exaggerating human form for the sake of idealistic beauty. The main goal of this movement was to present images of human in unrealistic ways and to improve upon nature. The mannerism movement aimed at having a more emotional approach to the work rather then trying to achieve realism. Parmigianino made use of various artistic styles. The major style that he employed was the abstract and almost impressionist style. This is because; he like many other Mannerst artist did not think that painting