Compare And Contrast Madonna And Child

I got the opportunity to view the works of art by Aelbrecht Bouts, and Luca di Tome at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In comparing Madonna and Child Enthroned by Aelbrecht Bouts, and Madonna and child with Sts. Nicholas and Paul by Luca di Tomme, although they are more than a century apart they have striking similarities. Madonna and child refers to the maternal images of the Virgin Mary with her son and these images have long been some of the most cherished in Christian art. The word Madonna is an Italian term that means “my lady” and was given to these images as a title of honor. Over the centuries depictions of these images have changed, but the mother and child continued to stay as the central figures in the scene. There is nothing …show more content…
The Madonna and child in Tomme’s painting have tanner skin and darker hair. The Madonna and child in Bouts’ painting have more fair skin and reddish hair. This makes me remember that everyone in these times didn’t have a means of transportation, let alone travel so their depictions of religious figures had to be similar to their native people.
In Tomme’s painting everyone has halos including the saints. He painted them in a whiteish transparent hue with gold patterns. In comparison to Bouts’ painting, he only painted a halo around Madonna and not the child. Bout’s color choice for her halo is like if the top of her head is emitting a bluish-green light and the halo around her head is a shadow. It’s very easy to miss her halo. I noticed it as I was walking away from the painting and realized there was a darker area around her head.
You can see the dramatic change in just one century apart. The amount of detail that Bouts put into his painting is unbelievable. From the landscape in the background to the detail of the throne. In Tomme’s painting his color palette and creativity amuses me. The smirk and frown on the saint’s faces really have me questioning what that