A Circle of Life

Kelly Butler

Art History

Wagner

9 May 2018

                                        A Circle of Life

Joyous birth and mournful death. This is what we see in these two pieces.  Two things that happen to us all yet cause opposing emotions. Giotto’s Lamentation (1395) and Pietro Lorenzetti’s Birth of a Virgin (1342) are two very similar, yet so different. The aspects that will be focused on is how the emotions of these paintings affect the viewer. Another aspect that will be discussed is how the work is similar not only in type but the message. Differentiating these two pieces can show the complexity and the ideals of them.  When comparing two art pieces, we need to keep an open mind and allow our minds to wander to all of the possibilities of explanations. Doing so can allow questions to form and make the mind point out the similarities, differences and other aspects.

Both of these scenes show immense emotion and allow the viewer to get a feeling of exactly what is being perceived. Having two such emotional pieces shows you that at this time, this was a common theme. Allowing feelings to be placed into artwork could often reflect that of the artist, or in these cases, an event that took place. The body language is one of the giveaways of the emotion being shown. Having some facial expressions being shown is used as well. As we look further in, a noticeable factor that is similar among these two is that the response is shown in each case. We see works of religion also among these paintings with one being Jesus’ death and the other his birth. Religious paintings at this time were common and Christian paintings were a main focus of art in the era.

Lamentation is seen a grieving process. This work shows the possible family members kneeling down with Jesus’ body and taking in those last moments that they have with them. The angels above show facial expression of extreme sadness and can almost hear them wailing in despair. In Birth of a Virgin, we see a joyous occasion. The birth of a child, but not only is this a precious newborn, it is one born to a virgin. This was said to be a miracle of this mother and that this child was conceived by the works of God. These are two very different occasions and while both of them will come to us all at one point, we see a circle of life in a way. It allows us to feel the happiness and sadness of each piece in our own ways.

Birth of a Virgin was created for the Siena Duomo. The Siena Duomo is a cathedral in Italy. It is said to be one of Lorenzetti’s final pieces.  It has also been depicted as being created for one of the four civic saints of Siena. (Cave to Canvas) The women in this piece is the Virgin Mary, seen as the mother of Jesus Christ. This architecture shows a structure of Siena’s typical Gothic style. We are able to see a place that is strong in unity, which was one of Lorenzetti’s most popular themes. Giving the viewers that sense of belief helps them be able to feel the emotion shown. The drapery on the body shows how delicate and important his dressing was at this time. The detail shown allows us to get the most out of Lorenzetti’s work and keeps us on our toes as we continue to view the  photo.

Lamentation is a scene that not only makes the viewer immediately feel grief but draws them in and puts them into a witness perspective of what is happening. The absolute anguish seen and perceived in Lamentation can help us conclude that Giotto was going for the theme of loss and mourning. While this is a common thing to do in the case of any death, being able to properly show and invoke feelings of those not even there is something that is hard to do. Giotto was able to do this and made the viewers understand and be able to relate. The showing of human emotions is what put Giotto apart from other artists of this time. (Art Museums) With this painting, we see Jesus in his final being and his followers and family surrounding him with the love and support that we usually see during times of loss. We notice that Jesus’ body does not actually touch the floor and is being held by three women. This is a sign of respect and ultimately the power that Jesus was seen as. (Art Museums) The women cradling his head is said to be his mother, Mary, and this would tie together as most mothers would want to be as close to their child as possible. Giotto was known for his use of symbolism and in this particular piece, in the middle, we see a man that contains the iconographic symbols of St. John.