Offering of the Angels: Treasures from the Uffizi Gallery Detail Detective: The Burial of Christ

Take a look at these two paintings depicting the lamentation over and the . What similarities and differences can you find? Looking Questions: • What do you see in each of these paintings? Describe their details. • The surface of the painting on the right seems different from the Sagrestani and most of the others in this exhibit. Consider the color, texture, and type of paint used in each. • Look at the figures in each painting. Describe the movement found in each. What is creating this movement? • What is the focal point in each of the works? How is the artist leading your eye to this area? • Can you identify some of the people represented in the burial scene? Who is por‐ trayed in each of the paintings? Who is not? • What symbols can you find in each of the works? What do they mean? • The painting on the right is a copy of the original painting by Federico Barocci. It was created by an unknown painter of the time. Why do you think this was reproduced?

Images: (left) Pietà, (The Descent from the Cross with the Virgin and the Angels), c.1720, Download a copy of this activity on Giovanni Camillo Sagrestani ( 1660‐ Learn with the Michener: 1731); (right) copy of Burial of Christ, beginning of 17th Century, after Federico Barocci www.Learn.MichenerArtMuseum.org

Detail Detective: The Burial of Christ Explore and Discover The painting see on the right is done in egg tempera. Because tempera is opaque, the light striking its surface does not penetrate to lower layers of color and reflect back. So, the surface is matte, or a dull finish. It can be varnished to give it a sheen. Egg tempera dries almost as soon as it is laid down, while oils stay wet for a longer time. So, one color of oil can be blended into the color laid next to it to achieve the shading that indicates the light and shadow of depth. To achieve this in tempera, techniques such as cross‐hatching are often used (see below). Oils could be made even more reflective by adding layers of glazes giving the painting a glow from within.

Movement is created in several ways in Renaissance art. This can be done with the folds of the fabric in the figures, or the gestures of the figures while walking, lifting, lean‐ ing, etc. The composition in the painting on the upper right is structured so that the artist leads your eye by the position of the figures in a diagonal, as shown with the white line.

The figures in the painting on the upper right include the Virgin Mary who is on the upper left being consoled by two women. The figure on the lower right is Mary Magda‐ lene. The figures carrying Jesus are , , and Jesus’ disciple, John. The figures in the painting by Sagrestani on the left include three angels with the Virgin Mary.

Copies or replicas of artwork were often done, created by assistants of the master artist in the workshop, or by the artist himself. Sometimes variations were found between works. The painting completed on the top right is a copy in miniature of the original by Barocci made in 1582 for the Church of Santa Croce in Senigallia. It is said that it remains faithful to the original in its iconography, or symbolism, rather than the artist’s style. cross‐hatching

Idea taken in part from by the Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale

Images: (left) Pieta, (The Descent from the Cross with the Virgin and the Angels), c.1720, Giovanni Camillo Sagrestani (Florence 1660‐1731); (right) copy of Burial of Christ, beginning of 17th Century, after Federico Barocci