Back to: Renaissance Art and the Christmas Story
The Renaissance (1350-1650) gave us a new connection between Art (painting with this study) and the Christmas stories. The Christmas stories became a prevalent subject and certain ways of expressing the story in art grew up. Within the larger context, certain favorite stories within the Christmas scriptures were favored. These include the Annunciation, the visitation, the nativity, the adoration of the Shepherds, the adoration of the Kings, and finally the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt.
The Renaissance witnessed a revival of interest in classical art, culture, and humanism. During this period, artists found inspiration in various sources, including religious texts and scriptures They changed how they looked at these stories bringing art developments during their time.
Here are several characteristics:
• Linear perspective.
Renaissance artists were able to practice the art of three-dimensional illusion using linear perspective, which gave their works a greater sense of depth. They prepared detailed drawings to get the perspective correct. Medieval Art was flat by contrast
• Landscape. – The depiction of landscape was encouraged by the development of linear perspective and the inclusion of detailed landscapes in the background of many painting
• Light. Light and shade exist in a painting in two forms. Tone is simply the lightness and darkness of areas of a picture, graded from white to black. Tonal arrangement is a very significant feature of some paintings.
Chiaroscuro is the modelling of apparent surfaces within a picture by the suggestion of light and shadow. While tone was an important feature of paintings of the Medieval period, chiaroscuro was not. It became increasingly important to painters of the 15th century, transforming the depiction of three-dimensional space.
• Anatomy.
While remaining largely dependent upon topographic observation, the knowledge of anatomy was advanced by Leonardo da Vinci’s meticulous dissection of 30 corpses. Leonardo, among others, impressed upon students the necessity of the close observation of life and made the drawing of live models an essential part of a student’s formal study of the art of painting.
• Realism.
The observation of nature meant that set forms and symbolic gestures which in Medieval art, and particularly the Byzantine style prevalent in much of Italy, were used to convey meaning, were replaced by the representation of human emotion as displayed by a range of individuals
•Figure composition.
Among the preoccupations of artists commissioned to do large works with multiple figures were how to make the subject, usually narrative, easily read by the viewer, natural in appearance and well composed within the picture space.
Christmas, as one of the central events in the Christian tradition, was a subject of particular fascination for the Renaissance. The first nativity scene is believed to have been conceived by Francis of Assisi. In the year 1223, Francis celebrated Christmas in the small town of Grecio. The monastery chapel was not large enough to hold midnight mass, so an altar was created in a nearby grotto. To aid worshippers in the visual appearance of the birth of Christ, Francis prepared a wooden manager with hay, installed a live donkey and ox, and kindled a number of candles and torches, transforming Grecio into a version of Bethlehem fit for Jesus
The manner in which the Christmas story was portrayed in Renaissance art dramatically evolved over time, mirroring changes in society and shifts in religious attitudes. Its depiction moved from a narrow, sacred vision of mother and child to a full-blown cast of humans and animals persisting into to modern times.
Artists sought to convey the humanity of religious figures, making them more relatable to the viewers. This shift in focus allowed for a deeper emotional connection to the Christmas scriptures.
The paintings were intended to teach about the birth of Christ and the virtues of his mother but also included a secular element to show off wealth.
We will look at the paintings based on the subject, each part of the Christmas story.
1. Annunciation
2. Visitation
3. The Nativity
4. Adoration of the Shepherds
5. Adoration of the Magi
6. Flight to Egypt