Giorgione’s Sleeping Venus

Giorgione’s Sleeping Venus is an excellent example of the type of erotic and sensual artwork that evolved during the Renaissance. Venus is portrayed asleep, supposedly having an erotic dream, indicated by the placement of her hand. Her head rests on her other arm, which is raised and exposes her inner arm. She is completely nude and placed on elaborate and rich tapestries in the midsts of an idyllic and pastoral landscape. The foreground is made up of green brush and the background pictures brown rolling hills with a village resting atop them. Larger cliffs are pictures at the very back of the painting. The sky is blue with light, rolling clouds. The lighting is glowing but muted and the coloring rich. The drapery works to enhance the eroticism of the painting, for it contains a type of energy that is lacking in the calm and muted body of Venus. Her pose is effortless and graceful. She lies out in a manner which can be interpreted as inviting. Venus’ body is a metaphor for the landscape. The contour of her leg, a long and slow cure, matches that of the hill behind it. Likewise the shorter curves formed by each of the outlines of the left arm, breast, and shoulder are matched by the above landscape of the horizon. This theme, the woman as a metaphor for the landscape, recurred frequently in Western iconography. It shows both the idolatry surrounding the perfect woman, and the marginalization. In this painting especially, where Venus’ eyes are closed, we see that she is vulnerable and turned into an object for the viewers inspection. Unlike other Venus’ portrayed, Giorgione’s is asleep and therefore less aggressively and overtly seductive. This painting also shows the influence of Roman mythology and the interest of painters, intellectuals, and writers in tying it into Renaissance culture.

Annunciation by Piero della Francesca

Francesca’s painting contains many important and fascinating elements that are not only revealing of the artist himself, but of the distinctive styles that developed during the Renaissance. For example, Francesca paints the scene in a traditionally Greek or Roman settings. The Corinthian and Ionic columns are a prominent element of the work. This is a good example of Francesca’s interest in combining Christian ideology with the Classical Revival that took place during the Renaissance. Mary holds a book, revealing her intelligence, Gabriel enters from the left, and God literally hovers above them watching. From God, who is portrayed as an elderly Anglo Saxon male, a ray of light shines onto Mary. This is a symbol of her pregnancy and Jesus as the “light of God.”. God is ‘giving’ Mary Jesus while Gabriel is telling her the news. Mary’s placement and relationship to the architecture is a symbol of her role as the “House of God.” Other symbols include the closed door to the left of Mary to show her virginity. However, a closed door is above her, symbolizing her ‘openness’ to the word of God. The tones in the painting are rather muted. Francesca uses primarily blues and reds. The blue of the sky along with the blue of Mary’s robe give her an ethereal, royal appearance. God also wears a blue robe, tying him and Mary together, while Gabriel wears darker, earthier tones showing his lowered status as a mere messenger and servant. The painting lacks one point perspective and continues in the Gothic tradition of painting important figures frontally. While some perspective is used in the portray of the overhanging and open door, the rest of the backdrop is flat. Where perspective is used it is over exaggerated. Along with the ray of light, we also see use of shadow across Gabriel, reflected in the shadows of his bare feet and the front column.