The National Gallery: Medieval and Renaissance

Within the first few days we were here, we were able to visit the National Gallery. It was amazing to see so many famous paintings that I have learned about for so long. We were asked to find one painting from the Medieval era and one from the Renaissance era and compare and contrast them. Here is the paper that I wrote:


Comparison of Medieval and Renaissance paintings


The subject matter of Duccio’s The Virgin and Child with Saints Dominic and Aurea and Raphael’s School of Athens differ greatly, although they were painted just a few centuries apart. Almost all paintings created in the medieval period have a religious theme. Many if not most of these paintings are of the Virgin Mary and the Christ child surrounded by either angels or saints. The Virgin and Child with Saints Dominic and Aurea is just one of many Virgin and Child portraits painted by Duccio. Religion was very important in the medieval times, and many diptychs such as this one were used in churches all over Europe. By the time of Raphael, paintings started to contain subject matter of all kinds. The School of Athens is not religiously themed whatsoever. It portrays many great and important philosophers and scientists of the world gathered together, including Pythagoras, Socrates, and Plato. By 1510, painting secular subjects was more common and accepted.


The aesthetics in both paintings are also very different. Duccio’s diptych is characterized by unrealistic physical aspects such as the gold background. The proportions of the all the figures are not accurate; the Virgin’s nose is very elongated and the saints seem to be floating. There is no depth to the painting either; Mary, the saints, and the angels are all different sizes. There is obviously no linear perspective used in this painting. In the medieval world, subject matter and glorifying Christ and the Virgin Mary was much more important than perspective. In The School of Athens however, proportions and correct perspectives were very important. The use of linear perspective is clearly used, as one can see there is a horizon line with all lines converging to one vanishing point. There is also a very elaborate background of a Roman building used. All figures are very realistic, as well as the folds of their clothing and the movement of their actions. This painting is much more alive than Duccio’s. In just two-hundred years, the style of painting changed drastically thanks to discoveries in perspective and scale.