Compare and Contrast Essay on Italian Renaissance Painting and a Greek Vase Painting

For this comparison essay, I chose to compare and contrasts artwork from the Museum of fine arts Huston. The comparison is about an Italian Renaissance painting and a Greek vase painting. There are a variety of paintings and sculptures that one can choose from the artwork in the museum. However, the two choices for this essay is the Italian landscape with mountains by Joseph Wright, 1790 and the Greek White-Ground Lekythos with Young Soldier and Woman by Bowdoin Painter, 480-470 BC. These two artworks are the best of their time. At the same time, they have their similarities and difference that makes them stand out among the rest of the artwork collections in the Museum of fine art Huston.

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Joseph Wright is the first artist to express the European spirit of the industrial revolution. He was an English painter who focused on landscape and portrait painting. He lived from 1734 to 1797. Wright was among the most influential artists during the scientific innovations that took place in the 18th century. He was known for his artistic effect which created a contrast in his paintings between light and darkness. Joseph Wright is said to have traveled to Rome in1773 to study the artwork. He improved his artwork and later returned to England, where he continued to paint candlelight paintings. He painted several Italian paintings that captured many people's eyes. He was passionate about science and nature. Most of Wrights work was owned by the Derby City council where he got his name, Joseph Wright of Derby. His work on the Italian landscape with mountains and rivers is one of his best pieces of a painting showing his art different light and darkness.

Bowdoin painter is a Greek artist who is known for his paintings on vases. His real name was not known, but he was named after Lekythos of Bowdoin College. His artistic work suggests that he had a strong artistic personality. Many of the vase paintings have been attributed to Bowdoin since they have a similar characteristic with the red Lekythoi in the red figure. He was also assumed to be the painter of Athena. However, this claim has not yet been proved. Bowdoin work attracts many artists who view him as one of the legendary artists to have lived. His work was done to perfection to draw a person's eye. His beautiful work can be noticed on his Lekythos with a young soldier and woman in the Museum of fine art in Huston. Bowdoin Painter work represents the classical Greek artwork.

Joseph Wright's artwork of the Italian landscape with mountain and rivers is a romantic expression of nature. The paint shows a beautiful golden sunset that reflects on the hills and trees as the stream passes in between. The paint is an expression of the painter's interest in the light. One can see the beauty of the landscape as it has the collect illumination of light which reflects the real color of nature. The paint has several green trees which receive the sunlight from the top as their shadows are reflected on the ground. Above the trees, there is a thin white cloud which gives a view of the far blue sky. The amount of light in the paint reflects a beautiful evening with golden sunrays. On the other hand, Bowdoin's paint shows a young person with a woman at a grave. The paint is on a white vase with a black lining at the top and the bottom. The paint is on the white background of the ornament. The young man in the paint has a shield leaning on his leg while there is a helmet near his head. The woman is holding a lamp in translucent clothing.

The setting of the photo suggests that the dead person was a soldier. According to Greek's ancient history, such vases in which the paint appears were placed near the graves. The painting shows perfection by art personality. Both the Italian and Greek painting are pieces of artwork that have their differences in terms of form, style, description, and Iconography. However, they are perfect in terms of their texture and pattern.

The style of both artworks helps to identify with the artist's style and ideas of art. The landscape style of lighting identifies with Wrights interest in lighting. The paint reflects a natural light that is realistic and natural. This is maintained by the golden illumination shown in the painting. The style corresponds to Wright's other artwork which he portrays the candlelit decorations. The contrast existing between light and darkness in wright's portrayal makes it a perfect Italian natural landscape. On the other hand, Bowdoin's painting style seems different from Italian art. The Greek painting is more idealistic that natural. The form adopted by the artist indicates a Greek culture of death.

The paint, however, does not show a distinction between lighting and darkness. Despite a lighting lamp being in the paint, it does not show contrast lighting. The difference in the style of painting between the Greek and Italian picture exists due to their significance and meaning. They both have different significance. The Greek picture of a vase is a reflection of Greek cultural mourning since they are art is drawn at a grave. Perhaps this explains the lack of excitement and light in the paint. On the contrary, the Italian landscape painting reflects a subject matter on a romantic reflection of nature. It is drawn to indicate the beautiful mountains, trees, and rivers of Italy. The light illuminated in the painting gives a clear picture of nature as it appears in Italy.

The Italian landscape painting is done on an oil medium that is cropped to fit in one perfect square. The square fitting was precise and accurate to make the picture fit in any way. The shade and light were balanced to show a tone of different colors. The art is built on an aerial perspective which is at a vanishing point. On the other hand, the Greek painting is done in terracotta and slip medium. The paint is balanced to match asymmetry of similarity. The lines of the painting are thin to match the contours of a perfect drawing. The lines are correctly drawn to show ideal human anatomy matching the culture of the Greek. The concentration on color is paired with a bright painting that is illuminated with the perfect shading and lighting. The texture of the surface is smooth while the pattern is sharp and angular. The paint is made on a varnishing pint perspective.

The two paintings described have their differences and similarities in terms of design, style, form, and texture. At the same time, they represent their differences in terms of significance. However, they serve different times of artwork in that existed in Greek and Italy. In conclusion, the work done by Bowdoin and Wright is a reflection of creativity in the art industry.

Works Cited

Marconi, Clemente, ed. Greek Vases: Images, Contexts and Controversies; Proceedings of the Conference Sponsored by The Center for the Ancient Mediterranean at Columbia University, 23-24 March 2002. Vol. 25. Brill, 2004.

Stupperich, Reinhard. "The iconography of Athenian state burials in the Classical period." (1994): 93-103.

Wilson, Carolyn C. Italian Paintings Xiv-Xvi Centuries in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Houston, Tex: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in association with Rice University Press and Merrell Holberton Publishers, London, 1996. Print