15th Century Painting... Piero della Francesca

Piero De La Francesca an artist that used the resources that he had to create his work and created his resources to keep working and innovating: This is what I take with me from his life, he was able to transmit emotions in painting that had no facial expressions, the representation of the emotions was in the actions of the figures. reminds me of classic family portrait from the 50s and 60s, all the family getting together for a picture taking in their best clothes and posing, most of the facial expressions would be the same, everyone is looking at the lense of the camera waiting for the flash and the picture will soon be ready to be hung in the Living room(like the one in my grandparents house).

Out of all his work the different pieces related to the Madonna are by far the wants the get my attention the most and also the curiosity of knowing what inspired him to represent this scenes in the way he did; in the MADONNA DEL PARTO almost feels like a theatrical representation, Real and Breath taking for the meaning behind it, with the divine presence and the support of Angels showing us the scene, notice the color balance all throughout the painting (look at the clothes that the angels are wearing they match and contrast each other).

the MADONNA DE SENIGALLIA feels like a continuation of the MADONNA DEL PARTO the Virgin is showing her baby Christ Di Salvatore that comes to life full of love for us and I can feel the innocence in both of them. In the paint we can also see 2 women behind them admiring the scene. Piero used often the Sacra conversation in his paintings as other artists of the time.

The Madonnas of Piero had the same expression but totally different messages (also look at the Brera Madonna).

Art in the 15th Century

A couple months one of my best friends gave me "Italian Joy" a book written by Carla Coulson, an Australian photographer who found her muse in Italy, she talks about the great the Italian culture is, how Fantastic the Architecture is, how warmth the Italians are and of course about their amazing cuisine.

Since I read that book, I have found myself very interested in the Italian culture, (hoping to visit soon) reading about humanism and Renaissance in Italy I realized that a lot of their culture comes from this 2 movements, one Cultural the other Social but both of them impacted the way the country is perceived in the world, I definitely have to read more about it to put this ideas in a better shape and make more sense, I particularly will definitely research more about humanism.

The David by Donatello it's definitely a perfect representation of this tought, Donatello's put a more physiological meaning into his word (David being a representation of triumph over something that seemed almost impossible) his facial expression and the pose show security, at that time when Florence won the battle over Milan gave a huge security and pride to the Florentines, but I also think that Donatello's used this opportunity to express his self in a different and more personal way, definitely way ahead of his time.

Donatello was also and inspiration for a lot of other Artist whom adopted his technique to add more emotion into their work. I would say that taking risk pays back and the David it's a perfect example of it.

Now I know more about a great country and where it comes from and find myself even more in interested in visiting soon.