Art History Hotties: Madonna and Child with Saints John the Baptist and Catherine

Ethan Doskey
Perugino, Madonna and Child with Saints John the Baptist and Cathrine, 1495
By ETHAN DOSKEY

Perugino's Madonna looks like the Valedictorian of your grade who kept a steady 4.4 gpa, got a 32 on the ACT in 7th grade, was the Homecoming Queen, who you wish you were, and who you still think is a 10. Her mom attends Jazzercise every day (when Mary isn't dress-coded and needs her mom to get her jeans from home), and grabs Mary's arm at the grocery store to tell her to shut up because she's embarrassing her. Her favorite Snapchat filter is the deer - seeing her story is the highlight of your day. Her hands look soft and warm like a blanket fresh out of the laundry, and her hair looks as smooth as the over-priced tablecloth they pull out of the closet whenever their extended family from Cincinnati comes into town.

Madonna looks like you just told her that you forgot to bring cupcakes to advisory... even though she sent you an e-mail last night reminding you. Catherine and St. John the Baptist are fed up - this is the second week in a row. You are very embarrassed by this because you were planning to confess your feelings to her on the upcoming field trip (you were assigned the same group so this was your big chance to be alone with her). Yet, you still love the sensation of her acknowledging your existence.

Despite this incident (and no, you chickened out and missed your chance to profess your love to her), you still crush on Madonna everyday and cherish her note in your yearbook from last year telling you to "stay cool" just before you tuck yourself in at night.

  • 7:00 AM

The Last Supper and Baxandall

Anirudh Vadlamani
Perugino, The Last Supper, 1496

“The Effective unit of the stories was the human figure. The figure’s individual character depended less on its physiognomy—a private matter largely left for the beholder to supply, as we have seen—then on the way it moved. But there were exceptions to this, and particularly the figure of Jesus.” (Baxandall 56)

The fifteenth century brought about an exciting new way to look at art. The times of Giotto and Duccio evolved into the more anatomically-correct renditions of Raphael and Perugino. Including them, the architectural front was led by a certain Michelangelo and Donatello. However, among so many changes to art, the depictions of Jesus got more intricate, but maintained the same aura as its predecessors.

Perugino’s Last Supper depicts this exactly. Perugino, a mentor to Raphael, painted many well-known (and well painted) scenes from the bible. In particular, his last supper shares many characteristics with those painted in the past, but also include some features unique to this piece. For starters, he has one of the few Last Supper pieces that include a view of the outside. In the last supper itself, Perugino uses techniques previously administered by Duccio  and gives Jesus his usual, forgiving facial expression as he looks upon the table, awaiting his demise.

Baxandall says it best when he says “The individual character depends less on its physiognomy then on the way it moved.” However, he is further correct when he says that the only exception is Jesus. In almost all depictions of Jesus, he gives off a serene sense of softness and untold grace. His lack of movement in the paintings is one of the only laws of art that stick through the time of the “Old Masters” (Giotto and Duccio) into the masters of the fifteenth century.


  • 7:00 AM

The Baptism of Christ

Baptism of Christ
Perugino, Baptism of Christ, 1482

Perugino's The Baptism of Christ, a fresco composed in 1482 in the Sistine Chapel in Rome, is definitely a captivating one. Why is Jesus in several places at once? Why is God surrounded by floating baby heads? This painting along with Delivery of the keys are my favorite of Perugino's paintings for their intricate detail, depth, and emotion.

This scene follows Perugino's typical symmetrical pattern. St. John is baptizing Jesus in the front. Above Jesus's head is a dove symbolizing the holy spirit. Rome is shown in the background with the Colosseum and Pantheon. Also seen in the background is John preaching to the crowd, and on the opposite wall, the circumcision of Moses. Perugino uses good perspective in this painting and his figures are weighty and full of emotion and depth in the facial expressions. Despite the many number of figures in this painting, Perugino still manages to keep it balanced and not chaotic.

The floating baby heads and God, however, still  remain a mystery.
  • 7:00 AM

Delivery of the Keys

Delivery of the Keys
Perugino, Delivery of the Keys, 1481

Pietro Perugino's Delivery of the Keys is one of his most well-known works commissioned by Pope Sixtus and painted in 1481. It is located in the Sistine Chapel in Rome. The fresco represents the story from Matthew 16 where Christ gives the keys to heaven to Saint Peter. The people in the background represent two biblical stories of Christ. Tribute Money and The Stoning of Christ.

The composition of this painting is beautifully done. It is almost perfectly symmetrical and has a strong use of perspective. Two vertical lines from the bottom left and right corners meet at the vanishing point at the door of the middle building. Perugino also uses a slight aerial view, which makes the hills appear to fade into a never-ending horizon. The slim-feathered trees and hills are Umbrian influenced, and the style of the figures in the painting is adopted from Verocchio. The figures are elegant and calm but tightly clumped in rows at the front of the painting. The faces are very realistic and full of emotion, however the heads are slightly small in proportion. Perugino uses Da Vinci's sfumata to make his characters hands appear less rigid.

I loved this piece for its beautifully vibrant and detailed composition and lively characters. The motion leads your eye around the painting from the scenes in the background to the engaging figures in the front. You can't help but notice each intricate fold in the robes and realistic shadowing in the faces and necks. The posture and arm gestures make you feel present in the painting. This is overall my favorite piece of Perugino's.

  • 7:00 AM

The Dead Christ

Alex McDonald
 Perugino or Raphael, The Dead Christ, 1495
Christ in the Tomb, Perugino, 1473
In my humble opinion, The Dead Christ appears too lively to be considered dead. The scientific community has performed countless experiments whose findings have been verified by the configurations of world renowned mathematicians and even some Nobel Prize winning economists, which all support the theory that dead people cannot climb out of their coffins. The situation would change, however, if that dead person had been resurrected. My conclusions for art historians to consider would be this; The Dead Christ is a gross misnomer as this Christ appears to be resurrected. Also, art historians have not been able to discern the painter of The Dead Christ, but research and careful analysis narrowed our choices down to two Renaissance artists: Raphael or Perugino. I am about to tell you why Perugino really painted The Dead Christ.

Saint Sebastian (Detail), Perugino, 1490
Exhibit A, background. While looking at numerous paintings of both Raphael and Perugino, I realized Raphael was very fond of his backgrounds. The total darkness, though somewhat out of character for both artists, appears to be more typical of Perugino (who painted another Dead Christ called Christ at the Sepulcher with a completely black background). Exhibit B, Christ’s body. Raphael exaggerates his subjects’ muscles far more deeply with crevices that usually are inhabited by shadows. Exhibit C, Perugino likes to paint the resurrection of Christ. There are two other paintings by Perugino depicting this exact same scene. One I mentioned before and is called Christ at the Sepulcher and the other bears the title Christ in the Tomb. Both of these paintings have Christ in the exact same position as in The Dead Christ. His hands are by his sides, spread out in a welcoming fashion. Christ tilts his head to the viewer’s left, and He always stands upright in his tomb. Exhibit D, Christ’s hip. Perugino had this odd way of exaggerating the curve between his people’s belly and hips. This can be seen in The Dead Christ, Christ in the Tomb, Christ at the Sepulcher, and Saint Sebastian to name a few.

So, review the evidence for yourself. Look at the paintings of Raphael and Perugino and get back to me. If you disagree, I would love to talk it over, but in the meantime I think we can all decisively agree that Christ is either alive in this painting or a puppeteer has rigged Christ’s body with all sorts of strings and now works him like a puppet. You decide.

  • 7:00 AM

Christ's Charge to Peter

1481
Perugino, Christ's Charge to Peter,  c.1481
Perugino's painting tells three stories: one in the foreground and two in the middle ground. The former displays the story of Jesus bestowing to Peter the keys of heaven. The story is taken from Matthew 16:19, where Christ says to Peter, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven". Henceforth, the idea that Peter awaits in the afterlife, keys at the ready, granting or denying entry into heaven. The middle ground displays two scenes: the Rendering of the Tribute Money on the left, and the stoning of Jesus on the right. The Rendering of the Tribute Money comes from Mark 12:13-17, where the Pharisees question Jesus on taxes. The Stoning of Jesus comes from John 10:31: "Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him."

Perugino painted this with symmetry in mind. The key sits at the exact center of the foreground, with equal amounts of followers gathered behind Jesus and Peter. The background has three buildings: the temple of Solomom, situated directly in the center, and two arches to either side of it. Perugino divides the ground into tile-like sections, adding to the symmetrical nature of the painting.

  • 7:00 AM