The Virgin And Child With Saints Analysis

The Virgin and Child with Saints Jerome and Francis by Pietro Perugino is an oil on wood painting depicting the Virgin Mary with Saints Jerome and Francis. This Early Renaissance altarpiece, dating from the years 1507-15, was commissioned from Perugino by Giovanni di Matteo Schiavone to be built in the church of Santa Maria de ' Servi, Perugia. The body’s of the six figures in the painting are in correct proportion and are very naturalistic. This is Stemming back to the Ancient Greek and Roman cultures that placed a high value on the faithful representation of the natural world and human body. Most notably, baby Jesus is seen very plump and with a child’s face; very different from earlier Italian art that featured him. Additionally adding to the naturalistic and humanistic feeling to the painting, Mary and the two Saints are seen in a contrapposto pose. Contrapposto is when the figures stand in a very natural and comfortable pose, the contrapposto in this painting stems back to the contrapposto seen during the classical antiquity. Thus, these figures have a sense of weight seen in how Mary and the Saints and putting most of their weight on one foot and how baby Jesus is weighing down the art of Mary. Chiaroscuro, the use of light and dark to create an illusion of form in space on a flat surface, is also used by the artist in this painting. In order to achieve this three-dimensional effect in the painting, the artist uses chiaroscuro in the drapery of Mary and the Saint’s