Looking at Renaissance Artworks
When we look at works of the Renaissance, it may somemes be difficult to understand the visual language the arst has used, depending on our familiarity with this
me period. Time and culture may separate us from the painngs. Somemes the
artwork may show an unfamiliar subject or have a subject we can’t recognize at all.
For those of us who are not familiar with the subject ma%er depicted in Renaissance works, it can be difficult to understand what the works are about. Looking at
the imagery, composion, color, style as well as facts about the arst and the way it
was painted, and why, can help us understand the work at a deeper level.
Work in this exhibit can be approached with the following quesons:
• What do you see in this artwork? Describe all of its details.
• Who created it, when and why?
• What is it “about”?
• Why was the subject chosen and how was it interpreted?
• In what style is it painted? Does it look realisc?
• How is the composion structured?
• What colors are used? Are they bright? Subdued?
• Describe the textures depicted in the artwork.
• What materials did the arst use? If it was paint, what kind of paint is it? What is
it painted on?
• Do you like it? Why or why not?
Other possible brainstorming queson include:
• What is the mood of the work?
• If there are figures depicted, what does the clothing tell us about the subject?
• Where is the subject or the figures situated? How can you tell?
• What other objects do you see in the background? What do they tell us about
the subject of the artwork?
• What me of day is it? How can you tell? Is this important? Why or why not?
• Discuss the use of perspecve and what techniques the arst is using to demonstrate depth in the work.
• What does the arst want the viewer to think about or feel about the painng?
• What other quesons can you think of that you would want to know about the
work?
James A. Michener Art Museum
www.learn.michenerartmuseum.org • www.michenerartmuseum.org
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Looking at Renaissance Artworks
Below are a selecon of themes and topics that can be addressed during a
discussion of the works featured in Offering of the Angels.
Birth and Death: In looking at Renaissance works, when arsts showed the baby Jesus asleep across
his mother’s lap, they knew that contemporary viewers would be reminded of another familiar image in which Mary is shown mourning over the body of her dead son, known as the Pietà. Painngs
depicng Mary and baby Jesus embracing or arranged together also refer to Jesus’ fate with visual
elements such as Mary’s distant expression, or the white cloth placed underneath baby Jesus symbolizing the cloth used during Jesus’ burial.
Space/Depth: Many Renaissance painngs aim to create the illusion of real, three dimensional
space exisng beyond the flat surface. Using linear perspecve, arsts imitate the way objects appear smaller and parallel lines converge with increasing distance from the viewer. Using atmospheric perspecve, darker colors in the foreground and lighter colors in the background are used to
achieve a sense of depth.
Size, Shape and Scale: The religious purpose of the artwork o6en was expressed in their shape and
size as well as their imagery. Some altarpieces were very large, which symbolized God’s glory and
the Church’s power. They o6en had several painted panels placed in an detailed architectural
framework.
Composion: This can have a strong effect on how the viewer responds to a painng. Symmetrical,
balanced painngs can suggest a mood of calmness and harmony. Large-scale works can create an
impression of formal splendor. Acon, drama and unease can be created by asymmetrical and intenonally unbalanced composions. Composions can also help tell the story, by leading the eye
through the picture in a way that helps the spectator to “read” the narrave as the arst intended.
Color/Line: Color can be used descripvely, create three dimensional form, express emoon, or create mood. It can also have symbolic significance, such as blue, which symbolizes Mary and heaven.
Line can be used to create a balanced, calm composion, or by using strong diagonals, they can be
used to create drama or acon.
Value: Renaissance works o6en employ a dramac use of lights and darks, known as chiaroscuro.
Arsts also used light as a symbol to give emphasis on a figure, signifying his or her importance, or
to indicate a holy significance.
Context: O6en we look at works out of their original context. To fully appreciate the work of art, we
need to consider its original funcon and se<ng and think about how those affected its form and
content. For the painngs in the exhibit, they were not made to be hung beside others in a gallery;
they were commissioned or sold for a set purpose. Some were used for altarpieces and made for
people’s homes, so when viewers were look at a painng, o6en they were kneeling. This may explain why some of the figures appear slightly unproporonal.
James A. Michener Art Museum
www.learn.michenerartmuseum.org • www.michenerartmuseum.org
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Looking at Renaissance Artworks
Medium: The way a Renaissance work was created has a large impact upon the way in looks to the
viewer. The types of paints that were available to arsts made significant changes in the styles and
techniques that were used. With the development of oil paints in the 15th century, this allowed a
greater creaon of realism or variety of brushwork that was not possible with tempera or fresco
techniques. Oil paint took longer to dry, which allowed arsts to make changes as they worked.
Narrave: Works of the Renaissance were created to educate the public about the stories told in
the Chrisan Bible. This visual storytelling has been important component in the history of art, and
was tradionally held to belong to a valuable branch of painng, as long as the work had a religious, historical, or mythological meaning. The stories depicted in Renaissance works were based
on the same theme and stories, but it is important to note that painters interpreted the subjects in
a variety of ways, which also helps communicate their meaning.
Symbolism: The work by Renaissance arsts contain symbols that were immediately recognizable
to contemporary viewers. We can appreciate the various qualies of the work for its aesthecs, its
style, and its use of the elements of art such as line, color, value, etc., but somemes the content
remains a mystery. Works have repeated figures and objects, such as the Mary and Jesus, angels,
the saints, and objects such as the doves or halos, for example. Somemes these figures can be
idenfied by objects in which they were tradionally shown with. Idenfying the visual symbols or
“codes” of these painngs takes some me and effort, but they can greatly increase the appreciaon and understanding of the painngs.
Landscape: The subject of the landscape in Renaissance works usually was used as an element, but
not focused on as the main subject. The use of the landscape was an outgrowth of the efforts of
perspecve and to make the painng more naturalisc due to the movement of humanism (which
focused a%enon on man and the percepon of man). With this idea, people were more interested
in the world around them and the ideas of other people rather than heaven and the teachings of
the Chrisan Bible. As a result, the use of landscapes and buildings in painngs became more prevalent.
Painter and Patron: At the beginning of the Renaissance, most patrons provided detailed instrucons to arsts about how the art they were paying for should look. As the Renaissance connued,
arsts began to assert their own views about art and their own ideas and styles. Arsts began to
paint portraits of themselves to adverse their skill an promote their images. The new innovaons
in portraiture spread all over Europe and the portraiture that developed in the Renaissance remains much the same today. While today we might be using new techniques and materials, capturing the essence of another person was the idea that began in the Renaissance. Today’s arsts have
to the Renaissance to thank for the ability to now have their individual creavity and vision!
James A. Michener Art Museum
www.learn.michenerartmuseum.org • www.michenerartmuseum.org
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