Study of Dosso Dossis Jupiter free essay sample

Study of Dosso Dossi’s Jupiter, Mercury and Virtue Dosso Dossi (c. 1486-1542) was a Renaissance painter from the city of Ferrara in Northern Italy. Collaborating with his brother Battista, Dosso created some of the most groundbreaking yet baffling works for the dukes of Ferrara. Dosso’s paintings, however, remained largely unheard of apart from occasional appearances in academic journals, until a series of traveling exhibitions in 1999 brought the artist back in attention. Heavily influenced by High Renaissance masters Leonardo and Michelangelo, as well as by Venetian painters, Dosso adopted a rich yet still subtle colour palette. What set him apart from his peers, on the other hand, were his atmospheric and â€Å"impressionistic† landscape and imaginative treatment of mythological subjects. In 1523, commissioned by Duke Alfonso I d’Este, Dosso painted Jupiter, Mercury, and Virtue, a profound rendition on canvas of extraordinary scale (44 1/8 x 59 inches). The painting is an illustrious demonstration of Dosso’s skills and visions during of his mid-career. We will write a custom essay sample on Study of Dosso Dossis Jupiter or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page To show this, this paper includes a visual analysis of the painting as well as a description of major iconographic aspects in context with the artistic and social developments in High Renaissance Ferrara. In Jupiter, Mercury, and Virtue, from a visual perspective, a trio of figures occupies the surreal stage-like setting; the leftmost is Jupiter, the king of gods in Roman mythology. Sitting with his legs crossed next to his thunderbolt, Jupiter is calmly painting butterflies on a blue canvas, a delicate extension of the hazy sky in the background. With his back turned to his father Jupiter, Mercury is seated in the centre with his winged hat and green drapery blowing fiercely in the gusty winds. He puts his fingers to his lips to shush a pleading female figure in a lavish golden dress and luxurious jewelry, identified as an allegory of Virtue (Creighton 1999, 1). Jupiter, Mercury and Virtue, in comparison to Titian and Giorgione’s paintings and Venetian art in general, not only has the trademark serene and radiating colours, but also a significant chromatic depth and subtle variation. Through mixing and layering pigments and oil, Dosso achieved astonishing levels of detail and texture in both shadow and highlight, which transform accordingly to the unified light source. The light source, meanwhile, is accentuated by an overall chiaroscuro applied to the entire canvas. Following Leonardo’s tendency to use complementary colours to accomplish compositional unity, Dosso stressed the issue by juxtaposing Jupiter’s red drapery with Mercury’s green one. Meanwhile, large portions of gold blend harmoniously with vast areas of blue in the background. Dosso’s realistic depiction of gestures and facial expressions is also reminiscent of Leonardo’s works. This is most evident from Mercury and Virtue’s exchanging gazes and hand gestures, which intensify the drama and emotion in the scene in addition to the already authentic portrayal of human body. In terms of dealing with human body, Dosso’s achievement is akin to that of Michelangelo. Over and above the clinically precise anatomy, the figures embody exceptionally relaxed and elegant postures. To hint interaction among the figures, Dosso placed each of them at an angled position with their shoulders twisted and legs crossed, much like the contrapposto poses found in Michelangelo’s sculptures. Small patches of localized chiaroscuro replicate the idealized yet soft muscles to create a sense of weight and plasticity, particularly on Mercury’s exposed arms and feet. Regardless of numerous signs of influence from works of High Renaissance masters such as Leonardo and Michelangelo, as well as Venetian paintings, Dosso’s Jupiter, Mercury and Virtue demonstrates a great many aspects of originality in its visual presentation alone. At its immense size, the painting seeks to convey a large amount of information with its intricate details, as often seen in Northern paintings. Despite the fact that the trio appears in the same plane, Dosso still managed to imply a vibrant three-dimensional space on canvas: as a perspective grid is difficult to apply without a complex architectural setting, Dosso used extensive chiaroscuro and foreshortening to make the figures more convincing. The effect is particularly striking on Virtue’s shortened right arm, which alludes to the space beyond the principal plane. Above all, the most distinctive feature in Dosso’s painting is its imaginative treatment of mythological subjects. As indicated by a good number of art historians, Virtue, here personified as a goddess, turns out to have been mistreated and abused by Fortune and her companions. Virtue’s friends, who were unable to protect her and thus fled, left her to be â€Å"beaten, stripped bare, and dragged through the mud† (Fiorenza, 152) by Fortune and her fellow bullies. Immediately following Virtue’s mistreatment is the scene depicted on canvas: Virtue comes to Jupiter to inform him of Fortune’s crime, when she is given the trivial excuse that the gods are busy aking sure that the butterflies have beautifully painted wings. Amusingly, this brief background story is practically the only part that the art historians agreed upon. Early interpretations include a complicated love story between Mercury and Virtue, as well as the possible allusion that Jupiter is in fact a portrait of Duke Alfonso I d’Este, the commissioner of the painting. (Fiorenza, 29) Some even suggested t he painting was created to celebrate the artist’s fortieth birthday. Fiorenza, 24) Virtue’s identity has also been questioned frequently, as she had never been portrayed as such in previous paintings. Based on the luxurious clothing and elegant attire, some have even suggested the female is in fact Flora, the goddess of flowers and the season of spring, as depicted in Sandro Botticelli’s Primavera. (Fiorenza, 152-159) Subsequent to the 1999 exhibitions, deeper readings into the painting have emerged. Jupiter, Mercury, and Virtue has become the universal title since the exhibitions and remains the official name at its current location of Wawel Castle in Krakow, Poland. According to Giancarlo Fiorenza, the silencing gesture by Mercury is evocative of his counterpart in Greek mythology, Hermes, the god of eloquence. During the Renaissance, scholars including Boccaccio claimed Mercury as a wind god, which justifies the gusty winds around him that sends his green cloak mid-air. In contrast to the dynamism of Mercury and Virtue, Jupiter, the ruler of the gods, appears to be painting butterflies, a reference to his control over nature, in his own tranquil world. Even the immaculate and ethereal background is meaningful to the narrative. The impressionistic landscape, transforming from a spring rainstorm to a misty summer day from the right to the left, is highlighted by a dazzling rainbow directly above Jupiter’s painting. The landscape not only serves as a backdrop to fill in the void, but also evokes the narrative aspect of the painting, along with the brilliantly positioned figures: the kneeling Virtue, whose ornamental flowers are no longer in blossom, begs Mercury to extend the season of spring. A messenger of Jupiter, Mercury silences her mercilessly. Jupiter’s butterflies, meanwhile, resemble the transition to summer, a common time for butterflies to hatch. Mercury’s contrapposto seating posture, in this scenario, serves as a compositional device, as well as a connection between the sequence of events, by sitting toward summer and turning back at spring, linking the two with astounding elegance. At the time of Dosso’s creation of Jupiter, Mercury, and Virtue, the Duchy of Ferrara had ended its war against the nearby Venice, and the city’s art scene, along with the its economy and magnificence, were booming. The dukes’ interest in art started with Ercole I, who appointed architect Biagio Rossetti to re-plan and design the city in 1484, around the time Dosso was born. The stunning new town of Ferrara introduced the humanist concept of the â€Å"ideal city† and marked the beginning of modern town planning. It remains standing today and has become a UNESCO World Heritage Site in recent years. Ercole, together with his son Alfonso, by financing musicians and painters to work in Ferrara, became some of the most significant patrons of art during Italian Renaissance after the Medicis of Florence. With the father and son’s support, the fine art of painting thrived in and around Ferrara and later became known as the School of Ferrara, whose members include Dosso Dossi. By 1523, the year Dosso began with Jupiter, Mercury, and Virtue, he had already visited Venice and Florence and no doubt had he studied the numerous paintings in the two cities. Stylistically, Dosso’s piece was clearly influenced by Venetian and Florentine art. Even though the slightly exaggerated and elongated torsos suggest hints of Mannerism, which was just developing around Florence at the time, the idea of natural harmony appears to be more predominant in Dosso’s painting. In terms of subject matter, however, Dosso’s choice was a rare one: while most artists focused on religious subjects and portraitures for their patrons, Dosso opted for an allegorical scene from Roman mythology, showing his homage to antiquity.