Part One
Ognissanti Madonna
Ognissanti Madonna (Madonna Enthroned) is a religious painting created by Giotto di Bondone. The Virgin Mary and baby Christ are shown in the artwork, surrounded by saints, in a classic Christian theme. Giotto presents the Virgin as a strong, huge, and queenly figure. The panel has a conventional Byzantine gold backdrop, yet there are few indications of emotional connection between the figures, increasing the sensation of crushing weight. It’s conceivable that Giotto wanted to portray Madonna as a formidable figure. Giotto maintained the scale order by making Madonna and Child center much bigger than the saints and religious figures in the surrounding area.
Giotto’s Madonna exemplifies the artist’s brilliance. Mary is robed in maphorion, but there is no gold to emphasize the folds. The artist creates the folds using a range of color tones. The robe is just partially parted, and shadows of Mary’s breast can be seen, demonstrating her authenticity. This personalizes her image for the audience, making it more relatable to their daily lives. The artist chose a presentation style that emphasizes the fabric of Mary’s robe over her body characteristics. On the other side, Mary’s figure is solid, far from anatomically correct, and far from graceful, yet it exists. The Child’s body seems to be in discomfort, although Jesus’ clothes have become almost entirely translucent. The Child’s physique is much too muscular, his legs are far too skinny, and the clothing clings to him in an uncomfortably close manner. Giotto’s greatest asset was not his anatomical knowledge (WebMuseum). The artist used perspective to transform the throne into a church in this work. Giotto’s viewpoint on the throne panels provided an incredible feeling of spaciousness. The marble throne is inlaid with various little white and red marble designs. Giotto’s embellishments are modest. The open panels evoke images of windows and a bright, breezy environment. They add space and volume with their sharply retreating outlines.
Giotto painted The Madonna Enthroned in the Italian style of the proto-Renaissance. Cimabue, a contemporaneous painter, mentored Giotto, and his style was akin to Greek Manner or classicism, but with a stronger Gothic influence and realism – express strong emotional content (Cecchi 345). The painting’s angels seem to be lined behind one another, demonstrating Giotto’s vision. Madonna’s surrounding figures are gazing straight towards her, rather than away from her, as Cimabue did in his painting. Additionally, Giotto considered the human as a light sculpture. Unlike Cimabue, who utilized patterns and sudden color changes to create flat figures, he painted with a progression of light to dark and a greater emphasis on three-dimensional shapes. The pointed arches framing the throne and the pointed panel focus on Gothic characteristics; the kneeling angels portray a greater depth of feeling in Madonna’s worship.
In this traditional Christian artwork, the Virgin Mary and the baby Christ are surrounded by angles and saints. The Virgin cradles the Child, clutching a rolled scroll, symbolizing knowledge, in his right hand and a benediction in his left. A pointed tabernacle surrounds the throne with beautiful marble inlay. At the foot of the throne, angels bring vases of roses and lilies, symbols of purity and giving, while angels at the throne’s side present a crown and a pyx, a sacred item most likely linked with Christ’s Passion. Giotto’s placement of the throne and Mary against a religious setting, I believe, was meant to emphasize the scene’s majesty. By doing so, Giotto gave the Virgin and infant more weight and depth, emphasizing their significance in the painting.
This painting inspires me to be emotionally put and intellectually liberal. Despite being mentored by another artist, the artist chose to embrace his form of painting. He strayed from the classical painting mode to naturalism, which inspired later forms of painting. In our normal life, it is easy to do things conventionally. However, such an inspiration builds the sense of being liberal-minded and trying out new things.
Part Two
The Bodhisattva Maitreya (National Museum of Korea.)
The Bodhisattva Maitreya is a gorgeous statue of a standing bodhisattva dressed impeccably in nobleman’s clothes and jewels. The muscular frame, rounded chest and abdominal musculature, and long, flowing hair add to the figure’s royal aspect. The statue also portrays a powerful mother’s profile with a strong, round chin, straight nose, smooth oval face, and a mustache that elegantly twirls around the face. The figure is dressed like an Indian king, with a dhoti on the chest and draped over the forearm in a beautiful curve with a ribbon hanging from the shoulder. By incorporating these noble features into a sculpture, I believe the artist intended to convey a real sense of a godly image.
The artist created a work of art depicting a god, replete with movie star features and a lifelike treatment of the body and drapery. Because the statue is made of schist, the sculptor could carve exact details onto the Bodhisattva’s hairdo, draperies, and jewels. Schist is a metamorphic rock created during the transition from mudstone to shales. It is a stone that is very durable and robust (Earle). Mica crystals, abundant in quartz, provide a sparkling brightness to the stone. The rougher rock was chopped and carved using an abrasive technique. The statue is very detailed. The hairdo of Bodhisattva Maitreya is sumptuous, with a crescent moon adorning the crown and kept in place by a beaded net. His pointed brows, lotus petal eyes, delicate nose, and squishy cheeks are adorned with an urna.
Bodhisattva Maitreya sculpture was created around the Gandhara area between 100 and 300 CE (National Museum of Korea). Bodhisattvas are enlightened people who put their happiness on hold to help other people. Bodhisattvas share some traits with Christian saints. They are kind people who help religious people in their journey. But unlike saints, they are not linked to real people, or martyrdom (Khan Academy). The bodhisattva sculpture is meticulously carved, with sufficient detail to imply that local rulers were probably similarly adorned. Buddhist art has successfully spread the faith across Central Asia and beyond by mixing local forms and traits with globally appealing themes.
Since the sculpture has a human look but lacks certain human body parts, such as arms, it evokes mystical religious concepts. Though there is no right arm, the Bodhisattva Maitreya’s left arm looks like it is holding something that has the elixir of life and a promise of future redemption. This exquisite sculpture demonstrates how the Bodhisattva has changed over time as a unique symbol in both the Buddhist religion and in art.
The brilliance and craftsmanship shown in this statue is truly exceptional. Unlike other forms of art, which have evolved over the years to achieve artistic magnanimity, this piece of art is excellent. This inspires my intellectualism to pay keen attention to detail while ensuring that I am patient enough to achieve high levels of excellence.
Works Cited
Bodhisattva, Maitreya. “National Museum of Korea. Retrieved May 30, 2013.” (2012).
“Bodhisattva Maitreya (Article).” Khan Academy, Khan Academy, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-asia/beginners-guide-asian-culture/buddhist-art-culture/a/bodhisattva-maitreya
Cecchi, Alessandro. “Il restauro della Madonna d’Ognissanti di Giotto.” (1991).
Earle, Steven. “7.2 Classification of Metamorphic Rocks.” Physical Geology, BCcampus, 1 Sept. 2015, opentextbc.ca/geology/chapter/7-2-classification-of-metamorphic-rocks/.
“Giotto Di Bondone.” WebMuseum: Giotto Di Bondone, www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/giotto/.
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