RAPHAEL (1483-1520)

Though lived a short life, dying at the age of 37, Raphael was well recognized for his works as an italian painter and architect during the high renaissance. In the early years of Raphael’s career, it is said that he apprenticed for Perugino. The similarities between Raphael’s early pieces such as “The Marriage of the Virgin” to Perugino’s piece “Giving of the Keys to St. Peter” show that Perugino had a heavy influence on Raphael at the time. Small things such as the way the two painters painted their hands on their figures are almost identical. However the similarities started to wear off once Raphael furthered into his career. People were beginning to distinguish Raphael for his strong sense of form and composition he used in his pieces such as the “Vision of a Knight”, “Three Graces”, and “St. Michael”. It is undeniable that Raphael was talented. This high renaissance artist had great knowledge when it came to using composition and perspective in his paintings. I might be bias because the High Renaissance is one of my favourite eras in art history, but I have a great respect for Raphael. It is evident that Raphael’s paintings are much simpler than other artists during this period of time, however I think the simplicity works well for him because he is able to incorporate composition in all of his pieces, which gives his viewers a clear sense of focus. The simplicity in Raphael’s painted figures help give off a feeling of sweetness and innocence, which I find charming because it helps soften a topic. This can help if I am looking at one of Raphael’s more gruesome pieces.

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Raphael-Italian-painter-and-architect

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphael

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.theartstory.org/amp/artist/raphael/

Hugo Van Der Goes (1440-1482)

Considering that Hugo Van Der Goes is known to be one of the most influential artists in northern Belgium, most of his life remains unknown due to his short life span of 42 years. Yet, Goes’ career is still well established through pieces such as the “Adoration of the Kings” and “Portinari Altarpiece”.

Hugo Van Der Goes is an early renaissance painter who specializes in flemish paintings. All of Goes’ pieces share one common theme of Christianity, as most of his pieces were commissioned by the Roman Catholic “City of Ghent”. What makes Goes’ style authentic is his limited colour choice in his paintings. In the transition between late gothic to early renaissance, viewers can see that most of Goes’ paintings are dark in colour. That is because Goes uses certain colours to highlight his symbolism. Blue would be used to show purity, red to show holy spirit and white to represent goodness. Goes does a good job at storytelling, allowing his viewers to gain a better understanding of the meaning of his paintings through hidden messages. 

From his paintings, I can tell that Hugo Van Der Goes was a well educated artist with a good understanding of the Christian religion. Goes knew how to tell a story through his art. What made his style particularly interesting was although Goes was known to take a certain realistic approach to his figures, Goes also experimented with his work by diverting away from reality and seeking the immortal. In most of his well recognized pieces such as “The Fall” and “The death of the Virgin”, he includes drawings of angels, and animocaputs. 

Sources:

https://www.wikiart.org/en/hugo-van-der-goes/the-adoration-of-the-kings-monforte-altar

https://www.italian-renaissance-art.com/Van-der-Goes.html

http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/old-masters/hugo-van-der-goes.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_van_der_Goes