Divino 1

Madelyn Divino
Mrs. Lucarelli
Honors Comparative Civilizations
13 January 2016
Museum Visit Analysis
After visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art, three Renaissance paintings stood out to
me in particular. The Madonna and Child, The Lamentation, and Madonna and Child Enthroned
with Saints all display many characteristics of the Renaissance and are beautiful paintings that I
saw while at the museum.
One particular characteristic of Renaissance art that all of these paintings have in
common is the use of oil paint. Unlike the egg tempera paint used in the Middle Ages, the oil
paint makes the colors in each of the paintings vibrant and long-lasting. In all three paintings,
there are examples of vivid red shown in the clothing of certain people depicted.
As well, another common characteristic of Renaissance art is the use of perspective. For
example, in Madonna and Child, the woman and her baby are clearly in front of a window.While
paintings are two dimensional, the Renaissance artists use perspective to make their people and
objects appear to be three dimensional. Therefore, the woman appears to be in front of the
window rather than in line with it.
Another feature of Renaissance art that all three paintings contain is a scenic background.
Unlike in the Middle Ages, where the subjects of the paintings were surrounded by a solid
background, Renaissance painters usually created a nature background in their paintings. For
instance, in The Lamentation, behind all of the people there is a river, a few cliffs, and a sunset.