Paper Assignment I
Throughout Europe, the Renaissance period had various effects on art which can be broken down and seen from Southern (Italian) and Northern paintings. With the renaissance, came disinterest in dogma, and more of a focus on naturalism and humanism. However, the strong influence of religion never left either the Northern or Southern art works, due to the commission by the church. Giuliano Bugiardini’s, Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist, 1510, is a pristine depiction of what Southern European art during the renaissance contained, element by element. Northern artists kept most their roots, focusing heavily on religion while enhancing on the details and adding few aspects of naturalism; while Southern artists took …show more content…

More attention is paid to the folds on the skins, rather than the halos above them. The fascinations in the human body and the natural world are truly what distinguished Southern from Northern artists, however, Humanism still did subtly sweep across the North, to a much lesser extent. If a Northern painter were to paint the same picture, the interpretations would vary vastly because of the conflicting mind sets of what the focus should be. With a northern painter, there would be an emphasis on the halos as they shined with an all-time favorite color of gold. Natural lighting would ascend from the skies, spotlighting the three characters with great reverence. The bodies would be less anatomically correct, due to the sexual nature is represented by the body, and the detached concern of absolute accuracy. The background would be less static with maybe a boat drifting in the background as the calm winds brushed against the tree branches. There would be less space and more cramming in a northern painting. Maybe a few more religious icons or bystanders would be present in this painting. Birds, trees, and flowers would be bustling about, displaying a slight affinity of the natural world stemming from the Naturalistic movement all around Europe. And last but not least, the pin-point accurate details that Northern artists were known for would make the painting come alive. A bee could be