Anthony Lee, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

The artwork that I had the pleasure of observing is the artwork titled “Virgin and Child with Saint John” there was no artist name for this artwork but it was attributed to Francesco Granacci. This artwork is an Italian art piece in the early 16^th century from 1477-1543 and it is an oil on panel work. This art piece was located in The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.(http://www.huntington.org/)

The lines of the “Virgin and Child with Saint John” is very smooth. The painting has no rough edged lines. The lines on the garment that the virgin is wearing are also curvy conforming to the virgin’s body. The colors are also very rich and vivid. The artist used oil making his colors stand out more, the colors that stand out to me is the red and also the green of the garments that the virgin is wearing. The brilliant color that is on the garments of the virgin signifies that she is the important subject in this painting. The painting is also very spacious showing the open landscape in the background of the virgin. The space is so far that the artist added atmospheric perspective to show how far off into the landscape it was. The lighting seems to come from one light source and it is the baby that is staring at the viewer, with that light source the artist was able to add shadow making the painting more realistic. The motion that the virgin is acting out is the motion to praise the child that has the cross which I believe is praising the baby for following the path towards god. The mood of this art piece is more of a calm humble mood. The reason why the mood is more of a calm and humble mood is because of the way the virgin’s eyes are showing.  The painting made from oil on a panel and is roughly two feet high and roughly one and a half feet wide.

The artist uses the lines to help define the shape of the people in the painting. The lighting also complements the dark shade on the virgin’s garment as well as the tree line in the background. The arrangement of the figures in the painting is following a film rule called the rule of thirds, where the whole scene is divided into three sections and each character in the painting is occupying a third of the space in the painting. The artist also shows depth and proportion in the painting by down scaling all the building behind the Virgin, Child and Saint John making them smaller that the characters that are in front of the buildings.

This painting was made to inform the viewer about the virgin and her child. The patrons help fund and also help the idea of the painting to take shape while the viewer helps shape the view of the artwork. The viewer is only limited by their own interpretation and idea of the artwork. In this art piece the baby is looking right at the audience inviting them into the scene. Anything beyond what the painting offers is all an interpretation of the ideas of the viewer.

This painting focuses more on ideal beauty and what the artists, as well as the viewer, views as ideal beauty rather than a naturalistic depiction. The child who happens to be Christ is stepping on a cushion as well as a white cloth which some people would believe is a sense of separating himself from the earthly realm that the Virgin and Saint John is on. There are some iconographies in painting that represent how holy the characters are. For example the halos that are on top of their head and also the cross that Saint John is holding all represent heavenly spirits. The smoothness of the lines and vivid colors of the paint has inspired me to play more with the idea of color combination as well as trying a new art medium.

(Here's the original pic size so you guys can see the details in the painting)