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The Madonna in Art
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Art HistoryReligion General General Christianity
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Publisher: Larina
Pages: 66
Weight: 0.22
Height: 0.14 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
THE PORTRAIT MADONNA.
T
he first Madonna pictures known to us are of the portrait style, and are of
Byzantine or Greek origin. They were brought to Rome and the west-
ern empire from Constantinople (the ancient Byzantium), the capital of the
eastern empire, where a new school of Christian art had developed out of
that of ancient Greece. Justinian's conquest of Italy sowed the new art-seed
in a fertile field, where it soon took root and multiplied rapidly. There was,
however, little or no improvement in the type for a long period; it remained
practically unchanged till the thirteenth century. Thus, while a Byzantine
Madonna is to be found in nearly every old church in Italy, to see one is to
see all. They are half-length figures against a background of gold leaf, at first
laid on solidly, or, at a somewhat later date, studded with cherubs. The Vir-
gin has a meagre, ascetic countenance, large, ill-shaped eyes, and an almost
peevish expression; her head is draped in a heavy, dark blue veil, falling in
stiff folds.
Unattractive as such pictures are to us from an artistic standpoint, they in-
spire us with respect if not with reverence. Once objects of mingled devo-
3 ESTELLE M. (ESTELLE MAY) HURLL
tion and admiration, they are still regarded with awe by many who can no
longer admire. Their real origin being lost in obscurity, innumerable leg-
ends have arisen, attributing them to miraculous agencies, and also endow-
ing them with power to work miracles. There is an early and widespread tra-
dition, imported with the Madonna from the East, which makes St. Luke
a painter. It is said that he painted many portraits of the Virgin, and, natu-
rally, all the churches possessing old Byzantine pictures claim that they are
genuine works from the hand of the evangelist. There is one in the Ara Coeli
at Rome, and another in S. Maria in Cosmedino, of which marvellous tales
are told, besides others of great sanctity in St. Mark's, Venice, and in Padua.
It would not be interesting to dwell, in any detail, upon these curious old
pictures. We would do better to take our first example from the art which,
though founded on Byzantine types, had begun to learn of nature. Such
a picture we find in the Venice Academy, by Jacopo Bellini, painted at the
beginning of the fifteenth century, somewhat later than any corresponding
picture could have been found elsewhere in Italy, as Venice was chronologi-
cally behind the other art schools. The background is a glory of cherub heads
touched with gold hatching. Both mother and child wear heavy nimbi, or-
namented with gold. These points recall Byzantine work; but the gentler
face of the Virgin, and the graceful fall of her drapery, show that we are in a
different world of art. The child is dressed in a little tunic, in the primitive
method.
With the dawn of the Italian Renaissance, the old style of portrait Madonna
passed out of vogue. More elaborate backgrounds were introduced from the
growing resources of technique. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, pic-
tures of the portrait style were comparatively rare. Raphael, however, was
not above adopting this method, as every lover of the Granduca Madonna
will remember. His friend Bartolommeo also selected this style of composi-
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