14th Century Italian Paintings of Religious Iconography Essay

14th Century Italian Paintings of Religious Iconography - Essay Example The essay "14th Century Italian Paintings of Religious Iconography" analyzes the Religious Iconography in 14th Century Italian Paintings. The work is tempera on a panel, and thus absorbs the grain of the panel in a way that contributes to the overall feel and texture of the piece and depiction. There appears to be an effort by the artist to create an ethnic look in the depictions, rather than the later works, especially those of the 16th century, which have a very â€Å"Italian† look about the subjects. The grain of the panel, itself aged with time, transfers that effect to the depiction. That the materials used are tempera as opposed to oil, does not take away from the artist’s ability to create the brilliance of the Assumption, however, it is noted that that brilliance is accomplished with the use of gold and yellow as opposed to the actual brilliance of light that can be achieved used oil on canvas. The color of the blues, yellow, and red against the gold, and the sk illed hand of the artist create panels that extraordinary to see. Close examination of the panel shows that there is some deterioration of the original work, especially in the image of Christ and one of the many angels looking over the ascending Virgin. Still, the grain of the panel itself adds an aged dimension, which probably cannot be accomplished using oil on canvas. Certainly the detail of the work is worthwhile too, in that it depicts the physical body of the Virgin receiving the traditional rites as suggested by Christian.