Whatever the artists thought of them, all those religious paintings were
done to order, for the churches that were a major source of
entertainment--Lancelot Andrewes was standingroom-only every Sunday, not to
speak of Savonarola across Europe a century before--but also for private
devotions. Botticelli became a disciple of Savonarola and devoted himself
to austere (for him) religious subjects. But they had always formed the
bulk of his work. A key here may be Botticelli's smaller paintings meant to
go with the larger religious pieces but now separated. These are from all
periods of his work. Many depict pagan stories that were read allegorically
as representing--prefiguring--the central Christian story or illustrative
of Christian values.
A half-century after Shakespeare Milton illustrates the process that was
still going on in "On the Morning of Christ's Nativity," where pagan myth
is put to serve within the context of Christian myth. Dante had done the
same in the 14th century.
Walk through any European city c. 1500 and one would be overwhelmed by the
presence of Christianity.
Mark
At 10:23 AM 1/21/2001 -0800, Jon Corelis wrote:
> > From: Kari Foster
> >
> > > The Renaissance artistic world in general seems more pagan than
> > > Christian.
> >
> > I find that statement surprising; what makes you say that?
>
> It may be more a reflection of my own taste. But when I think of the
>Renaissance, and try to think of things which most fully represent the R
>Renaissance spirit (even if they aren't the bulk of Renaissance
>matter), I think of Botticelli's Venus and all the other portrayals of
>ancient myths, Shakespeare's Greco-Roman plays, Marlowe's Hero and
>Leander... Of course there's Michaelangelo, but doesn't he really prove
>the point, was there even an artist who subscribed less to Christian
>denial of the flesh, even though most of his art is on Biblical
>subjects? It comes as something of a shock to remember that the David
>is a religious statue.
>
>
>====
>
>
>Anyone may be an honorable man, and yet write verse badly.
>
>
> -- Moliere
>_________________________________________________________________
>Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
>
>
|