Italian Renaissance artist, Raphael's portrait called Maddalena Doni

 

 

 

I chose Raphael because of his vision, and my heart falling in love with the ugly Maddalena, but

 

back to Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino known as Raphael was an Italian painter and architect of

 

the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and

 

visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur. Together

 

with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters

 

of that period.

 

The portrait is one of a pair that depicts a recently married merchant and his wife.

 

Agnolo Doni married Maddalena Strozzi in 1503, but Raphael's portraits were probably

 

executed in 1506, the period in which the painter studied the art of Leonardo da

 

Vinci most closely. The composition of the portraits resembles that of the Mona Lisa: the

 

figures are presented in the same way in respect to the picture plane, and their hands, like

 

those of the Mona Lisa, are placed on top of one another. But the low horizon of the

 

landscape background permits a careful assessment of the human figure by providing a

 

uniform light which defines surfaces and volumes. This relationship between landscape

 

and figure presents a clear contrast to the striking settings of Leonardo, which

 

communicate the threatening presence of nature.

 

The Italian Renaissance was a very difficult time period in European history. The 

arts were flourishing, while the city-states in Italy fought bloody battles with each other 

and within themselves. Bribery and murder were not uncommon tools for men to use 

when they wanted power. Meanwhile, those same rulers patronized the arts a great deal 

and they would commission the best artistic minds of the time to build, design and paint 

their palaces and churches and later on their own portraits and everyday paraphernalia. 

     At the beginning of Renaissance the artists, as well as the princes, were mostly 

interested in religious themes, mostly from the New Testament.

 

There were very few masters, who were considered brilliant, so there was

the 15th century it was still unheard of the artists’ mingling with the powerful and the rich. 

     By the 16th century, the profession of the artist was becoming fashionable. In the 

told stories of Greek and Roman gods and goddesses or people’s favorite pastime. 

Many people wanted to see something else around them and the elaborate pictures 

neighbors.practically no 

competition between them. One person could paint the same monastery or church for 

years, adding just a little personal variation to the story and the style of the painting. It 

was becoming fashionable for an artist to not only do his work at a royal court but also be 

associated with that court. Many city-states claimed ownership of the brilliant minds that 

worked there. Also, individualism was becoming an important aspect of people’s lives.