The intellectual art of the Renaissance and the emotional aspects of Romanticism present clear differences. The Renaissance is characterized by the era of the victory of reason over prejudices and feelings, which is clearly expressed in paintings with the correct perspective, shadows and living faces (Ames-Lewis and Rogers 5). At the same time, romanticism, which came to art several centuries later, focuses on the elevation of feelings and emotions. To compare and distinguish between these two eras, the painting by Titian Beauty and the work of Francisco Goya The Naked Maja were chosen.
Both paintings depict beautiful girls who correspond to the spirit of their era. Titian, as a representative of the Renaissance, depicted a portrait of a girl in compliance with all the canons of his time. The dark background is designed to draw attention and focus on the face and clothes depicted. Both paintings depict beautiful girls who correspond to the spirit of their era. Titian, as a representative of the Renaissance, depicted a portrait of a girl in compliance with all the canons of his time (Adams 43). The dark background is designed to draw attention and focus on the face and clothes depicted. Titian depicts the standard female beauty of the renaissance period. The girl is distinguished by a proud fit of her head, gracefully folded hands and a majestic posture.
The depicted girl at the work of Francisco Goya is very different from the beautiful Titian. First of all, unlike the girls of the Renaissance, the naked Maja sensually collapsed on the couch, resting her head on her arms thrown up. In her whole pose, one feels the lightness and openness inherent in the time of romanticism (Burns-Dans 11). Renaissance girls are reminiscent of ancient goddesses, proud and puffy, as in the work of Titian. Goya portrays a living woman who, although graceful, has her flaws. The beauty in the painting by Titian is ideal, there is not even a hint of flaws in her.
Maja’s pose is a little awkward, but at the same time, she exudes the seductiveness of the female body. Her blush was too bright to be real, and her sensitive mouth was twisted into a slight smile. The girl directly and confidently looks into the face of the viewer, while the images of naked women of the Renaissance era tried to lower their eyes. Moreover, the artist does not try to cover up her nakedness, leaving the girl completely exposed.
Nevertheless, there are obvious similarities in the works of two artists of different times. First of all, the faces of both girls froze in a half smile. The image of Titian is touching and sublime, however, the girl is not just a copy of the ancient Greek goddesses, a slight sadness is read in her eyes. Thus, it can be said that in both paintings they are depicted with a difference in liveliness and ardor of the heart. The dark tones of the clothes and the background of the Beauty create a dazzling contrast with the light skin of the face and shoulders, involuntarily attracting the eye precisely to the expression of the face, the inner beauty depicted by the great master.
In conclusion, it should be said that the artists of the Renaissance and Romanticism are distinguished by a fundamentally different approach to depicting girls. The image of the Beauty of Titian is focused on the correct posture and the rounded shape of the head. The artist depicts the ideal female appearance of his era. At the same time, Goya is an innovator and a prominent representative of romanticism. The girl in his picture is naked and self-confident, her pose is open.
Works Cited
Adams, Laurie Schneider. Italian renaissance art. Routledge, 2018.
Ames-Lewis, Francis, and Mary Rogers, eds. Concepts of beauty in Renaissance art. Routledge, 2019.
Burns-Dans, Elizabeth. “The shadow in the light: The dark romanticism of Francisco de Goya, 2018.