8/10/2019 Writing Assignment One - Siena.pdf

1/5

W R I T I N G A S S I G N M E N T O N E : S I E N A

Nativity of the Virgin,Pietro Lorenzetti

Paragraph One: (Description)

Paragraph One: (Description)The Nativity of the Virgin is a single-scene triptych, painted in the rst half of the

14th century in Siena, Italy by Pietro Lorenzetti. The painting now resides at Opera

della Metropolitana di Siena.

8/10/2019 Writing Assignment One - Siena.pdf

2/5

Lorenzetti paints a voyeur ! s view of Saint Anne ! s bedroom where the vaulted ceilings

create dimensionality within the room. High ceilings with white curtains, edged with

red and gold trim, adorn the interior space of Saint Anne ! s bedroom, where she is

resting on her bed, covered with a plaid blanket of black and gold. Dressed in a silky

maroon-colored dress, a shimmering golden scarf draped over her head and adorned

with a halo wrapped around her head, she is propped on her right elbow atop a red

pillow with golden accents and grey tassels. The painting shows Saint Anne in

conversation with a female visitor who is sitting atop a trunk beside her bed, holding

a woven ag.

Below the two women conversing, sitting on a patterned tile oor in-front of Saint Anne,

is a female with the new child adorned with a gold leaf halo on the lap of her red,

empire-waisted red dress, testing the temperature of the water in the bowl while another

female dressed in olive green adds more water to it.

On the right-hand panel are two females approaching Saint Anne with nourishment. The

female on the left is dressed in white, carrying a basket of bread covered with a white

cloth. The woman on the right is dressed in a red dress with a white scarf draped over

her left shoulder and a pitcher of water or wine in her right hand.

On the left hand side of the triptych, a young male child whispers to infant Mary's father

as he sits in front of a window that is exposing the pink architecture of Siena. The father

8/10/2019 Writing Assignment One - Siena.pdf

3/5

is dressed in a red cape and has white hair, a long white beard and a golden halo.

Beside him rests a dark man dressed in a gold tunic staring out at the viewer.

Paragraph Two: (Emotional or Subjective Response)

The painting of The Nativity of the Virgin by Pietro Lorenzetti exhibits each character's

familiarity with one another. An emotional awareness of contentment is displayed on

the faces of the painted subjects. The use of common textures and patterns in the

textiles, tiles, furnishings and accessories proclaim a comfortable, unpretentious

and harmonious home.

The combined colors, patterns, expressions of the gures, the relationships depicted

among those gures within the painting impress the emotions of love, acceptance and

joy upon the viewer.

The illusion of movement within the painting makes it appear not to be orchestrated.

All of the characters, except one, are paired in quiet conversation, oblivious to the

presence of the viewer. The only character not involved in quiet conversation within the

painting is dressed in orange, sitting beside the infant ! s father on the left panel of the

triptych. This character connects with the gaze of the viewer, allowing the viewer to

participate in the birth of the virgin Mary.

8/10/2019 Writing Assignment One - Siena.pdf

4/5

Paragraph Three (Linked to an article within the Art Theory text)

Pietro Lorenzetti, who painted Nativity of the Virgin, and metal artist Richard Serra

appear to have nothing in common. Lorenzetti paintings were commissioned renditions

of Christian themes, while Serra sculptures were massive steel units. Lorenzetti relied

on his skill with wood, paint and brushes while Serra relied on structural and civil

engineers, surveyors, laborers, transporters, riggers and construction workers. 1.

Born 656 years apart, it ! s hard to imagine how Lorenzetti and Serra could possibility have

anything in common. While reading Serra!

s "The Yale Lecture," I realized that Serra had

at least one thing in common with Lorenzetti: they both created site-specic art. But, while

Lorenzetti was commission e d to paint site-specic work, which helped reinforce the views

of Christian beliefs, Serra ! s believes that, The concept of site-specic sculpture has nothing

to do with opinion or belief. 2

While Lorenzetti takes on the role of a skilled master, Serra does not see himself as a

master. He writes, The work does not enter into the ctitious realm of the 'master'. I would

just as soon have the work available to anyone's inspection. The evidence of the process

can become part of the content. 3 So, even though Lorenzetti made site-specic w ork and

Serra continues to do so today, they do so in very different ways.

1 Richard Serra: From the Yale Lecture In Art in Theory 1900-2000, Harrison & Wood ed. Blackwell: Oxford2002, p 1124.

2 Richard Serra: From the Yale Lecture In Art in Theory 1900-2000, Harrison & Wood ed. Blackwell: Oxford2002, p 1125.

3 Richard Serra: From the Yale Lecture In Art in Theory 1900-2000, Harrison & Wood ed. Blackwell: Oxford2002, p 1125.

8/10/2019 Writing Assignment One - Siena.pdf

5/5

Another difference between Lorenzetti and Serra is that Lorenzetti was

commissioned to paint, while Serra believes that the artist loses all control of his/her work

when he/she accepts money from corporate sponsors. He writes, Artists who willingly

accept corporate support likewise submit to corporate control. In effect, they become

puppet creators. Their hands and minds are set in motion by external strings: supply upon

demand, accommodation with consent. 4

4 Richard Serra: From the Yale Lecture In Art in Theory 1900-2000, Harrison & Wood ed. Blackwell: Oxford2002, p 1125.