Early and High Renaissance-

In the last lecture I started to discuss the Early Renaissance phase where we
studied the pioneering individualist artists like Masaccio and Botticelli who
revived and reinterpreted the classical factors of naturalistic modelling,
humanistic communicative figures and idealistic religious allegorical narratives
with unique spatial characteristics of compositions. Now in that era of Early
Renaissance, especially in terms of socio-cultural documentation-oriented art
works, the most accurate, refined and most realistic or actual life like pictorial
representations can be attributed to one painter named Jan Van Eyck (c. 1385-
1441). Actually we can find rendering of perfect reflection of light and shade and
realistic surface qualities in Eyck’s works- that can only be described by the
modern mechanical term as photographic- like an absolute picture of real world
captured by a camera- considering the practical logic of direction of light and
reflection and refraction of images on various material surfaces. He was able to
capture remarkable details of real environmental objects and conditions in his
paintings. The exact and minute realistic details of real objects are revealed in
his paintings and that can be immediately accepted in terms of convincing
parameters of natural atmospheric effects in the physical space through the
physics of optical reflection and refraction of light on real material surfaces. He
developed a matured technique of oil painting in which the sensitive effects of
light and shade are fused realistically and also we find specific highlights that are
shown as reflecting back to the viewer from nearly every surface and texture of
the painted forms. It is one extreme level of realistic observation and depiction
of material world with so much depth in the objective view and with so much
minute and varied detailing. Now Van Eyck’s most celebrated work is the
‘Arnolfini wedding’- 1434- which is an oil painting on wooden panel.
Arnolfini Wedding

Basically, this composition represents a secular and social theme of a real-life

marriage- but still we find that Van Eyck used certain religious symbolisms in the
composition. And in that period, an out and out painting on a secular context of
documentation of personal marriage ceremony- other than religious themes of
gods and goddesses was an entirely new intervention. Here the secular theme
is represented with much photographic accuracy of realism and this also shows
a new approach towards humanistic and logically analysed material world in
context of Early Renaissance culture. Now in this painting we see the ritualistic
ceremony of the marriage, which is being contracted between Giovanni
Arnolfini- who was a silk merchant and his bride Jeanne Cenami. Actually, it is a
portrait-oriented documentation of the auspicious ceremony of marriage of
Arnolfini, and Eyck has conveyed or captured maximum amount of realistic
effects or realistic material ambience to make it look like a proper real-life
documentation. In this picture we see that Arnolfini, standing in his
bedchamber, has held his wife’s hand and lifts his right hand to take the oath of
faithfulness. Now the realistic accuracy in case of material or objective
representations in the room has been mainly developed by remarkably minute
optical reflections, where there are varied degrees and categories of reflections
with perfect angles of light and shade, shown on the surfaces of the materials.
Such as the certain angle in which the natural light is entering through the
window and in certain natural ways the light has illuminated various different
surfaces of the household objects, which are meticulously arranged in various
parts of the room, and how the varying depths of surfaces of different material
characters or qualities have been developed, which altogether construct a
believable natural and real ambience of the room itself. But the most
astonishing part of realistic effect in this painting is the painted reflection of the
figures and the reflection of the whole room on the round shaped mirror
hanging on the background wall. We see that it is a small convex mirror and a
very realistic reflection of the figures and the objects of the room and the
window are being painted on the mirror. Even the reflection of the figures and
the window and the walls and ceiling are distorted very realistically according to
the round convex nature of the mirror surface. We find very minute details in
this image of reflection, like an image of the painter himself, beyond the
backside of the bride and the groom is shown at the centre of reflection. Other
than these we see very accurate details- like in case of the amber beads hanging
by the side of mirror- where we see nearly photographic realistic effect of
highlighting on the each small amber bead and then there is an extremely
realistic reflection of light and shade on the solid and glossy metal surface of the
chandelier hanging from the ceiling. In this painting Eyck has captured every
single realistic subtlety in representation of the interior illumination- mainly by
leaving the window open- with the natural reflections shown on the amber
beads, metal surfaces and even on the fruits, which are kept on the table and
interestingly there is also a quality of diffused highlighting on the matted
background wall along with creating a soft material effect of the cloths of
costumes and of the bed sheets etc. I mean every material object has been
painted with distinctive surface qualities. The draughtsmanship or the skill of
Eyck in this painting has been used for representing the material reality. The
intense glowing colours also help to highlight the material realism, and that
mainly to show the material wealth or social grandeur of Arnolfini's properties.
There are subtle variations in light and shade that are used to heighten the
illusion of the realistic three-dimensional forms. He carefully distinguished
textures of every different material surface in respect of single directional
reflection of lighting. It is said that he used a magnifying glass in order to paint
minute details such as the individual highlights on each of the amber beads
hanging beside the mirror. The pictorial effects of materials in this painting are
remarkable for its time, for rendering the details, particularly for the use of light
and perspective to evoke the idea of lively three-dimensional space in an
interior. Also the objects in this room have some symbolic interpretations
related to the religious vitality and auspiciousness of the ceremony. Such as the
spotless convex mirror in the background symbolises virgin Mary and the dog on
the floor is a symbol of faith and honesty and the fruits on the table by the
window symbolises fertility and on the background wall above the mirror we
also see the writing, which says- Jan Van Eyck was here as a witness- 1434.
Donatello was the first successful sculptor during early Renaissance phase. He at
an early age was an appreciated stone cutter, but later on in his mid-twenties he
was recognised as one of the leading sculptors of Florence. Donatello’s most
appreciated work is a bronze statue of David.
 David

Here the context of this sculpture of David is related to the story of a fight
between the Hero David and the giant Goliath, where David defeated the Goliath
by throwing a stone with sling shot to the giant’s eye, and then he decapitated
the giant. But here in this sculptural composition, only the victorious part of the
narration is being shown, where David had already won the battle and is standing
in a heroic stance with the severed head of Goliath under his left foot. Now this
is the first time, after Greek period, when a non-god mortal hero is being shown
as a nude human figure, and also this is the first free standing statue with such
sensitive and natural anatomy- with idealistic and humanistic features since the
Roman classical times, where this three-dimensional realistic statue shown with
such naturalistic contrapposto pose and gesture stands without any background
support. So, this statue prominently projects the rebirth of classicism within
Renaissance. But very interestingly Donatello did not project this figure of David
with a much idealised masculine physique- this figure is very much unlike the
Greek figures with developed muscles and matured heroic body, but here the
figure of David is much petite and delicate with fine, sophisticated and sensitive
naturalism- which is just like a physique of a young boy’s character. Here the
naturalism of the figure again reflects a divinely poetic quality- and also a
sensitive feminine quality- which relates to a pure and lyrical non muscular
beauty of physique- mainly presenting the concept of youth. So here David’s
physical beauty is derived with the sinuous grace of the subtle graceful lines and
polite surface quality of anatomy relating the subjective expressions of a
delicate, pure and childish character of youth. Now If we analyse the reason of
this youthful nude, wearing only leather boots and a crowned hat, it should be
understood that in classical religious sense, David’s victory over Goliath
symbolises Christ’s own victory over sin and death, and this nudity with eternal
boyish youth and a charming beauty of the figure- symbolically means the purity
and clarity of the soul before god. So despite its ambiguous appearance- the
statue has an idealistic and moralistic content. Also we find an isolated,
impassive expression on David’s face- there is a very casual and relaxed gestural
expression in his posture- as if he is in a calm and serene mood and there is a
childish playful look on his face- which again reflects the nature of his boyish
youthfulness- and as a complete contrast we find a heavy and tragic expression
on the face of the severed head of Goliath under David’s left foot. Which again
symbolises a concept of new beginning and an end of old traditions- interpreting
a revival of humanistic ideologies. This formal contrast is also reflected between
the fluidity of the polished delicate surface of the bronze body of David and the
rather harsh and rough surface quality of Goliath’s head. And again this figure of
David is shown wearing helmet and boots to show the symbols of a warrior of
honour. So here the representation is all about the symbolic victory of the
divinity and youth against the evil and it is shown here with a sense of
romanticised classical qualities- with universal values of beauty, truth, balance
and morality.
Following the early phase, in next, the High Renaissance occurred in Florence of
Italy, during the time period of late 15th cent. to mid-16th cent. And during High
Renaissance- in case of stylistic aspects we find the most hieratic achievements
of universal vitalities and values of truth in artistic representations. We find
highly humanistic life like naturalism- like mainly revival of humanist aspects that
are associated with classical realism- which are also represented with
scientifically qualitative skills, analytical perceptions and rationalised pictorial
techniques such as depictions of accurate spatial perspectives and natural
human anatomy. And one very important aspect is that the divine beings like
images of Christ, Madonna and saints and angels are represented in pure natural
human like forms with very blood and flesh realism with formal anatomical
representations- and these religious figures and religious scenes are shown with
much real and natural physical depictions with the earthly or worldly humanism
and materialistic emotions. So contexts of religious scenes are represented with
strong analytical humanist approaches, which also make this period of High
Renaissance in Italy in 16th cent one of the most famous and greatest phases of
Western classical art. The major artists of this period are Leonardo-Da-Vinci,
Michelangelo and Raphael and all of them were individual geniuses and
developed most natural and humanistic pictorial languages in the scenario of
Renaissance art. Especially Leonardo Da Vinci looked towards the
representational forms of space and human figures with much analytical and
realistic and scientific understandings. Their approaches were much critical and
research oriented and experimental which were based on solid scientific analysis
and understandings. So high renaissance was the period of great discoveries in
fields of scientific and philosophical understandings of human life, religion and
their implications in naturalistic and humanist art forms. These artists studied
the actual ways of seeing the real space and forms, so they turned to
mathematics to study the law of spatial perspectives and the dimensions of
human anatomy, and they actually studied and dissected dead bodies in real to
learn the inner structures of anatomy- such as the skeleton structures,
arrangement of muscles and their shapes and measurements- everything to
build the most natural image of human body in their art practices. So High
Renaissance artists were the individual masters who brought down the images
of divinely beings to the level of analytical and real structure of naturalism
through much perfected perception of universal truth. Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-
1519) was the most ambitious analyst of natural forms and one of the most
intelligent artists to experiment with scientific structures and views. He was also
inventor of incredible varieties of designs of machines- and in his notebook there
are many drawings of innovative machines such as aircrafts and even tanks. So
he was an innovator of tremendous genius in true sense. And along with being a
painter he was a talented architect, and engineer, musician, he was an
investigator in field of aerodynamics, a geologist and most importantly he was
an anatomist. So in the Renaissance art, Leonardo mainly searched for the ideal
representation of the figure of universal man. Leonardo was a personality who
actually challenged the previous understandings or old conventions of art and
he rather became a researcher and curious about actual universal truth of
scientific forms and tried to analytically understand the nature. Leonardo
believed in concrete perceptual evidences that he saw and felt physically about
the representation of a figure or a form. He said that the eye or the perceptual
vision is the window of the soul and he actually merged the scientific studies and
art practice into an organised body of perceptual universal understanding of
truth and reality. In his creative organisation of analytical science and perceptual
art, both were interrelated and much naturally physically accessible. In his
drawings- side by side he has analysed the geological structures of rocks, the
behaviour of light, the movement of water, growth of plants, flight of birds and
anatomies of insects and animals and human beings. He studied very accurately
and meticulously the scientific natures of figures, form and objective direction
of light in visualising the actual perspective of space- and these drawings were
the base of his complete paintings, where in every representation, he utilised
these scientific analytical knowledges in depicting very accurate and logical
characters of forms and spaces.

Studies
by Leonardo

Leonardo’s drawings of dissections were scientifically done according to every

process of biological system, such as through dissections of human bodies he
studied the growth of foetus in the womb, he studied the blood vessels to
understand the circulation of blood- and had done hundreds of drawings of
human anatomy- such as in the above figures we see the progressive dissection
of the arm and shoulder to clarify the shapes of the muscles and tendons- their
functions and their relation to the bone structure.

Vitruvian Man
Then he had drawn the Vitruvian Man in 1490- and this drawing depicts a male
figure in two superimposed positions with his arms and legs apart and
simultaneously inscribed in a circle and a square. The drawing and text are called
the Canon of Proportions or Proportions of Man. The drawing is based on the
correlations of ideal human proportions with geometry- which was actually first
described by one ancient Roman architect Vitruvius and so the title of this work
is Vitruvian man. Vitruvius described the human figure as the principal source of
proportion among the Classical orders of geometric architecture. So here
Leonardo calculated the exact scientific proportions of the human body in two
different postures of balance or equilibrium- where he measured the factor of
geometric balance or ratio in the posture of the figure in relation to the
proportions of body parts, and here he proved that factor in accordance to the
geometrical diagram of circle and square, which are converged in an equilibrium
state and are related to the measurements of figurative proportions and
structure of figurative balance. Also along with his sketches and diagrams, very
interestingly he has written notes from right to left direction in a codified
manner- which only could be read in front of a mirror. So we see that he also
was interested into the area of codes and symbols. He actually mixed the logical
humanism, the perceptual naturalism with scientific accuracy and meaningful
symbolism.
Now one of his greatest works by Leonardo is Madonna of the Rocks or Virgin
of the Rocks- which was done in 1483 and the context of this painting deals with
the subject of immaculate conception of mother Merry- the Immaculate
Conception is a doctrine of Catholic Church reflecting the moment when Mary
conceived Christ in her womb, she was blessed as the virgin Mary and was kept
free of any kind of sin, and that she was filled with divine purity from the very
beginning.
 Virgin of the Rocks

So here Leonardo has interpreted the religious doctrine but that with a humanist
drama- with analytical arrangements of figures and spaces- by focusing on very
natural, calm, serene and graceful qualities of the figures of Mary and Jesus and
other characters- who have a soft glowing divine illumination reflected from
their skin tones, and the figures have accumulated like a symbolic spiritual
source of light at the middle of a dark atmosphere with mysterious towering
rocks- that are seen in a spatial distance. Now the painting shows the figures of
Madonna and Child Jesus along with the infant Saint John the Baptist and an
angel, in a rocky setting which gives the painting its usual name. Here we see
that Mary raises her left hand in a gesture of protection over the child Jesus, and
the child Jesus is also blessing the kneeling figure of infant John the Baptist. So
the composition shows a group of four figures, the Virgin Mary, the baby Jesus,
infant John the Baptist and an angel sitting behind Jesus- and these figures are
arranged in a very specific logical pattern- the figures are shown at specific
points- where the organization of figures project a certain straight triangular or
pyramidal structure within the space- against this background of rocks, and that
with a distant hazy landscape of mountains and water create a much logical and
also spiritual and poetic aspect of figurative balance and spatial perspective or
spatial depth. And here the figure of Virgin Mary sits at the apex or at the highest
point of the symbolic pyramidal group of figures, stretching one hand to include
John the Baptist and raising the other above the head of the baby Jesus in a
manner of blessing and this arrangement and connection of figures create a
harmonious and unified balanced compositional structure of a pyramidal design.
So this group of figures is arranged or composed in a calculated manner with a
pyramidal shape and that is related to creating a pictorial illusion of balanced
three dimensional space- as a pyramid is three dimensional in shape and also the
pyramidal shape represents a concept of the most balanced and stable structure
of energy in equilibrium. The figures are kind of composed with much scientific
symmetry of positions- and with balanced and stable and unified design of forms.
Leonardo also has these figures gesturing to each other and looking at each other
in lively and humanistic way. And all these innovations serve to unify the
composition with logical naturalism. This is an important difference from
paintings of the Early Renaissance where the figures often looked separated and
scattered from each other. So this can be represented as a unified and balanced
composition. And this composition defines the qualities of the new style of High
Renaissance. Normally we have seen in early Renaissance representations of
Mary and Jesus- mainly in case of Giotto’s paintings, where Mary has been
shown enthroned and majestically glorified as the queen of heaven. But here, in
contrast, we see Mary is seated on the ground in a form of very normal and
natural human being. This type of representation of Mary develops a more
humanist, logical and earthly connection with spiritual senses. And this is the first
time that an Italian Renaissance artist has not used halos behind the heads.
Clearly the unreal, symbolic, ritualistic nature of the halo to show divineness was
against the humanistic naturalism of the Renaissance. Leonardo found another
way to indicate divinity- that by giving the figures ideal beauty of natural grace.
We immediately notice Mary's ideal beauty and the humanist graceful way in
which she moves, that feature typical character of the High Renaissance. And
here we see the more complexly unified and communicative and yet balanced
poses and arrangement of the figures.
Next we can see Leonardo’s another very famous painting which is a mural on
the wall of the Monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie- means holy Mary of grace,
situated in Milan in northern Italy, which is the ‘Last Supper’ done in 1495-97.
Last Supper

The painting represents the scene of the last meal of Jesus with his disciples.
Here Leonardo had depicted the various expressions of contradictions and
reactions of the characters that occurred among the twelve disciples when Jesus
announced that one of them would betray him and then he would be
resurrected from death after crucifixion. All twelve disciples are shown to have
different humanistic reactions to the news, with various degrees of anger and
shock and grief and fear and disappointment. There are different symbolic
expressions provided to different individual identities of the followers, such as
there are characters in the front left corner who are shown to be surprised- and
then there is the figure of Judas who is sitting low in shadow- in darkness at our
left side- looking rather withdrawn as he was going to betray Jesus. Then there
are also other figures who are loudly communicating- with strong gestural
expressions with one another- like the character of Peter who is shown to be
angry and the character of Thomas is shown as doubting about the prophecy of
resurrection of Jesus etc. Every person is shown with scattered degrees of
emotional expressions- but only the figure of Jesus is shown in a very calm and
graceful posture and with balanced expression- that also at the accurate center
point of the composition- maintaining a sense of balance, symmetry and
equilibrium of figurative and spatial arrangements and of a perfect ideal
humanist personality. Now there are four different groups of three disciples in
each on either side of Jesus- I mean two groups of three in the right side of Jesus
and two groups in the left side of him. The identities and reactions of the
disciples from left to right- from the viewer’s point of view, that is in the far left
or in the far right side of Jesus we see- Bartholomew, James and Andrew form a
group of three, who all are surprised. And then we see Judas Isariot, Peter and
John form the next group of three. Judas is wearing green and blue dress and is
in shadow, looking rather withdrawn and taken aback by the sudden revelation
of his plan of betraying Jesus. He is holding a small bag, perhaps signifying the
silver given to him as payment to betray Jesus, or perhaps a reference to his role
within the 12 disciples as treasurer. He is also tipping over the salt container. This
may be related to the expression to "betray the salt" meaning to betray one's
Master. He is the only person to have his elbow on the table and his head is also
horizontally the lowest of anyone in the painting. Peter looks angry and is holding
a knife pointed away from Christ, which is an expression of anger after hearing
the news. And on the other side of Jesus we see disciples Thomas, James the
Greater and Philip, who are the next group of three. Thomas is clearly upset; and
his raised index finger is showing his doubt about the Resurrection of Jesus.
James the Greater looks stunned, with his arms in the air. Meanwhile, Philip
appears to be requesting for some explanation. And Matthew, Jude-Thaddeus
and Simon are the final group of three. Both Jude Thaddeus and Matthew are
turned toward Simon, perhaps to find out if he has any answer to their initial
questions. And we see a tremendous humanist harmony in the arrangement of
these figures which are kind of organically interlinked with their humanly
gestures and postures. There is a design of equilibrium in the linear and
horizontal arrangement of figures keeping Jesus at the central point of balance.
Now here we see an extra ordinary depiction of the realistic architectural
perspective. We see that there is an immense sense of unified symmetry and
balance and harmony in the whole composition, where two symmetrical
diagonal lines of the roof and the two symmetrical and diagonal surfaces of side
walls reach to the end to meet at a vanishing point at the wall behind the
horizontally arranged figures- and these all together create a balanced and very
logical depth of the space, and the vanishing point along the symmetrical
diagonal perspective is then again spread and exposed into the landscape
outside the window. The frontal space is blocked by a steady horizontal
arrangement of figures and table- this acts as the horizontal base of the optically
created three-dimensional space. The visual illusion of the background space-
the logical perception or realistic depth of three-dimensional space is created
with the geometrically symmetrical diagonal architectural walls and with the
expansion of landscape beyond the windows in the background. This exactly
accurate and logical sense of spatial depth within the interior of architectural
space was never seen before in early Renaissance period. And this whole
symmetrical diagonal structure and spatial perspective and the logical lighting-
all together create a focus on the figure of Jesus at the center. So automatically
the diagonal angles and symmetry of architectural lines, and the one directional
lighting draw attention to Jesus, whose head is located exactly at the center or
at the actual vanishing point of all the perspective lines. So it is one greatest
example of the harmony and stability of visual composition- developing a logical
connection between realistic space, design, humanism and spirituality.
In next, the artistic styles of High Renaissance were also founded upon the
researches and experiments of another most talented and creative individual
sculptor- Michelangelo (1475-1564). Michelangelo was not only a great sculptor
but also a painter and architect. Michelangelo’s personality was distinctively
different than that of Leonardo’s. In contrast to Leonardo’s sceptical or analytical
attitude, Michelangelo had an immense faith in God. Leonardo had scientific
concerns for natural objects and had fascination towards the mysteries of
nature, but Michelangelo searched for spirituality of God and revealed his divine
intentions in the moral and emotional beauty of human forms. There is no one
single point of time from which one can grasp Michelangelo’s art as a whole. It
is his personality that reveals the unity of his entire art- from his earlier works to
his last. By understanding his personality one can uncover the origin of his each
individual work. Michelangelo’s progress and development over the time reflect
and unfold his own personal identity. Michelangelo was the first artist in whom
the urge of self-expression became as important as the subject matter he was
portraying. One of the main aspects of Michelangelo’s intellectuality was to
assess the true relationship between the execution of the form and subject and
manifestation or development of an inner spiritual identity.

Pieta

His earliest masterpiece is the Pieta done in 1498-99 in marble. The sculpture’s
grace and delicate naturalism of anatomy is shown with the perfect formation of
the bone structure and looseness of muscles and the stretch of skin of the
slender figure of deceased Christ, lying across the lap of his mother Mary. The
anatomical accuracy and perfect humanist naturalism of these figures are
undoubtedly the results of anatomical dissections that Michelangelo had
performed in 1495 at a hospital in Florence. The delicately exquisite and sensitive
figuration of the Virgin, whose left hand is extended in a mode of depiction of
motherly interpretation, reveal a more soulful or spiritual bond of humanistic
communication, but this gesture is not much about the grief but about an eternal
humanist love between mother and son and from her looks she appears as
youthful and as young as her son. The explanation is more probably sought by
the concept that the Virgin is ageless, which is a symbol of Church, who presents
timeless reality of Christ’s sacrifice. Here through the physical gestures- such as
Christ’s so relaxed and effortless reclining posture, a strong aspect of figurative
naturalism is being created. The extreme sensitivity in handling the marble and
the subtle organic contrast between the stretched structural lines of Christ’s
figure and the naturalistic heavy drapery folds of Mary, that produce passages
for beauty and grandeur in Michelangelo’s works.
The marble carved statue of David is one of Michelangelo’s most famous works,
and here again the context is related to the story of the fight between the Hero
David and the giant Goliath, where David defeated Goliath by throwing a stone
with sling shot.
 David

Here the figure represents the typical heroic quality that is usually seen in
Michelangelo’s style of sculptures. This David is more than 14 feet in height, and
it became a symbol of triumph and courage and the identity of the free republic
of Italy. This statue of David became the first true symbol of humanism and moral
bravery and truth during High Renaissance. Michelangelo’s conception of David
was totally new as compared to the earlier David by Donatello. In Michelangelo’s
David, the teenage boy like image of Donatello’s David, is no longer seen and this
David is being transformed into a heavily masculine or manly identity with large
hands, feet and matured physiognomic features- with a sense of determination
and confidence. As with all Michelangelo’s figures the figure of David deals with
various meticulous aspects such as the sling rests over David’s left shoulder and
the stone is held in his right hand, but he is not about to launch it. His vision is
under immense concentration, and his look and thought is focussed to the target
at a distance- developing a dramatic sense of interaction and communication-
and that is shown by his intense glance and the tilt of his head. He stands with
an eternal alertness in his spirit with every muscle of his body vibrant and
energetic. Michelangelo’s anatomical knowledge and his ability to communicate
with the spirit or energy of life are shown through the beauty of this body. The
strong characteristics of undercutting of structure, muscles, expressions and the
natural style of hair and the high towering features of the figure- give the statue
a transfigured stand of heroic value and a standard of humanity and a symbolic
imagination of high esteem.
There are variations of statues titled Slaves which were done by Michelangelo in
1505- 1513.

Dying Slave Rebellious Slave

These representations are related to the philosophical subject of contrast or

fight between soul and body- in context of the freedom of soul from the enclosed
physique or body of sin and death and the soul’s victory over the body. So the
representation here is very much metaphorical which is depicted through an
immense level of humanist passion and humanist naturalism. The figure called
the Dying Slave is actually not shown as dying but the character is symbolically
presented in a state of spiritual ecstasy or self-enlightenment, where he is shown
as turning his head in a relaxed manner with one hand keeping behind as if he is
in sleep, with the other hand putting consciously on his massive chest. There is
another strikingly different companion sculpture known as the rebellious slave-
a figure shown with twisting in a powerful contrapposto pose, where the
character exerts all his gigantic strength in vain against the binding that ties his
arms- which again symbolises a humanist urge to break free from worldly limits
towards spiritualism. These are the new figure types created by Michelangelo
after David that in their physical actions established a humanist standard.
Symbolically it is a spiritual conflict of human mind and personality that is shown
in visual physical forms in Michelangelo’s heroic nudes like David and Rebellious
Slave- which were again heavily inspired from Classical Hellenistic sculptures.
Now in case of Raphael (1483- 1520), who was much younger than Leonardo
and Michelangelo, but he had an immense level of dedication for doing intensive
practice and determined hard work to achieve highly sophisticated level of skill.
He developed high-quality painterly skill to represent refined and sophisticated,
humanistic compositions. I mean he took his skill to a level where his
representations of figures appear distinctively lively with relaxed and casual
lifelike expressions along with simplistic ambiences and radically direct
naturalism. His humanistic forms, arrangements and colours appear so normal
and natural in relation to life like humanist expressions and appearances that
integrally reflect the relation between earthly humanistic acts and nature. I
mean in case of Leonardo’s works we see much complex intellectual symbolic
interpretations and in case of Michelangelo’s works we find an immense
expression of spiritual power and philosophical emotions, but Raphael’s
compositions, with much casual and relaxed natural figures, include a normal
humanistic atmosphere and a sense of objective and subjective clarity- without
much drama and complication. And he developed this individual language of
natural, normal or casual and humanist representation through a much intense
and dedicated practice of classical skills. I mean this apparent simplicity in his
representation is a result of very practical and realistic way of thinking towards
the classical forms- with very detail and careful planning and a classical wisdom
to make them appear as casual and normal as close to the practicality of life and
nature. This simplistic naturalism is related to Raphael’s extremely detail
observation of the normal characters and casual expressions of human forms
and nature. I mean in his representations we find an ease and relaxed quality of
normality that was achieved in a very precise, perfected and simplistic manner-
which reflect an accurate model of practical and natural representation. So his
paintings do not promote any complex intellectual ambiguity or any emotive
spiritual expression, but he implemented a humanistic normality and humanistic
ease and grace and a sophisticated naturalism in activities and appearances of
the figures. So in context of high Renaissance, Raphael’s works stood out as the
standard and perfect model of classical naturalism and normal humanist forms.
And later his works became the greatest inspiration for the academic practice of
classical art.

Madonna of the Meadows

Now one of prime examples of his works which reflects the quality of
distinctively graceful naturalism is ‘Madonna of the Meadows’, done in 1505,
and certainly the theme here is inspired from the painting ‘Madonna of the
Rocks’ by Leonardo, where we see the same kind of pyramidal design of
figurative arrangement of the virgin, Saint john the Baptist and child Christ. But
here the whole expression and atmosphere of the composition involves simple
gestures and normal lively humanistic behaviours related to the characters. I
mean here we do not see any symbolic complexity and rather we find much
sophisticated, gentle and graceful clarity of natural forms, and their natural
communicative behaviours within a sober landscape ambience- which connect
the characters to more real earthly humanistic life. There are four most
important factors that we see in this representation- which are the humanistic
normality in the expressions and gestures- there is a sense of calmness in the
whole figurative appearance and ambience- there is a quality of natural
liveliness in relation to the feeling of mother-hood and playfulness of children in
an open natural ambience, then the next factor is the implementation of
accurate and normal balance in the arrangement of the figures- which is a very
standard structural harmony, the third factor is about a comprehensive
harmony in figurative representation- in representations of beauty, and grace of
the formal structures and expressions, and lastly we find a much perfect
representation of optical perspective- especially in the representation of the
background scenario of landscape and cityscape in far behind. I mean the faded
landscape with trees and river and buildings in the background much realistically
define the accurate and logical understanding of spatial and perspectival depth
of field. So here we see a very standard representation of humanist beauty and
logical reality of forms and spaces along with harmony of humanist normality. I
mean the feeling of humanist beauty, earthly liveliness and harmony is
consistently observed through-out the composition- that is from the balancing
and arrangement of figures- their earthly and lively communicative humanist
interactions- that altogether make the characters appear as if any normal real
life loving mother is accompanying two children who are playing with each other
in a very calm peaceful normal scenario- where the religious icons have been
brought down and re-established as any ordinary mother and children. I mean
though it is symbolically shown that John is kneeling, and Christ is blessing him,
but still their appearances and expressive gestures are more casually humanist
and simplistically normal and lively. And in this case the harmony and the
delicate humanism are so subtly and minutely balanced with a refined quality-
that certainly rejects any necessity of dynamic perspectives and dynamic
arrangements. So here the fact of Raphael’s skilful approach towards naturalism
is established. I mean technically also we can see the very well defined model of
the three dimensional symmetry, where the pyramidal structure of the
figurative arrangement reflects the stability of the composition, and the head of
the virgin from her neckline is in a parallel symmetry with the background
horizontal landscape and sky. So we can say that Raphael’s works are not as
dynamic, experimental or creative as of Leonardo’s and Michelangelo’s, but his
works are rather most standard in the parameter of classical naturalism, and
thus his works are considered as the ideal academic model of Renaissance art.