Madonna and Child with the Infant St. John the Baptist - Giovanni Bellini (1490–1495) Oil on panel - eviltoast

I really enjoy the contrast in this piece between the precise Mary and the realistic texture of her clothes and the cherubs looking like jelly babies, along with some odd looking kids. I honestly can’t think why they made choices they did.

  • kglitch@kglitch.social
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    11 months ago

    Around that time was the Middle Ages. While paintings were starting to get more realistic (Dark Ages paintings were often pretty much 2D with little attempt at realism) they hadn’t rediscovered perspective yet, which happened a century or two later in the Renaissance. Painters were getting really good at fabric & clothing in the Middle Ages but everything else was pretty damn rough.