Art History

The most prominent artist of his day, Giotto has influenced Italian art in many ways. Giotto's figures are forceful, monumental, some even might say bulky. His paintings are intense, slow-moving, building up a rhythm to a supremely climactic style. Giotto achieved a convincing representation of space and background. Not only was he an amazing artist but even more amazing that his talent was inherent, not taught in any school but enhanced by his mentor Cimabue. Giotto revolutionized the Renaissance art landscape through his ability to depict a three-dimensional reality through the use of perspective and tonal lights. These elements enabled Giotto to paint with a greater sense of depth and space within the picture. There are several ways in which he used these elements to provide us with truly innovative paintings.

The master of the Straus Madonna Virgin and Child (The museum of Fine Arts Houston) c. 1395-1400 contains extremely bright colors and patterns. Compared to the art of Giotto it is much like the classic Italian style, somewhat abstract and smooth. The painting is odd and not so realistic. The Christ child is holding a bird eating a worm in his hand, which I was told represents the passion of the Christ. The Christ child is also wearing a red, feather-like necklace. His cloth is bright red with some kind of pattern and inside the cloth is yellow also with a pattern. The Virgin Mary matches the Christ child with similar bright hues. Her robe is blue outlined with a pattern of gold stars. Her dress is yellow which matches Christ's blanket. Both Mary and baby Jesus are gazing off into the same direction.

More on the Straus painting both figures have what look like halos or auras around their heads. Of course contained in the halos are some more patterns. It looks to be like golden leaves. Their skin looks smooth and unrealistic. I noticed there were not many wrinkles or places where you can clearly see their joints, which I thought was kind of odd. The frame of the painting looks wooden and surprise also contains a checkerboard pattern at the bottom of the piece. There is also something written in I'm guessing Italian, seeing as how the painting is Italian, at the bottom of the art work.

Possibly with the exception of Jan Van Eyck, Rogier Van Der Weyden was the most influential Northern European of his time. During the middle ages, Netherlandish art was influenced by Romanesque and gothic art styles. In painting, the fanaticism for Italian art, combined with rejuvenation for Gothicism, the combination resulted in a mixture of mannerist and classicist elements. The Italian influence lasted well into the seventeenth century. This brings us to one of Rogier Van Der Weyden's pieces of art work, Virgin and Child (The Museum of Fine Arts Houston) c. 1399/1400-1464.

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