Neroccio De Landi On Painting Analysis

An Italian artist, architect, poet, and philosopher, Leon Battista Alberti was the epitome of the Renaissance man. His expertise in these fields, as well as many other professions, led him to become one of the most significant figures in the fifteenth century. In 1435, Alberti authored On Painting, a didactic book where he laid down the rudiments of this practice for fellow and aspiring artists. Judging from the principles expounded in it, Leon Battista Alberti would have admired several features of Neroccio de’ Landi’s Annunciation (1475), but also disliked an element of that painting. He would have commended Neroccio’s spatial construction, variety in composition, and representation of emotions since they all accorded with the methods that

For the depiction of any mental state, such as anger, joy, grief, and countless others, Alberti stated that the figures should express them as clearly as possible. This could only be accomplished through the manipulation of the figures’ bodily arrangements. Neroccio’s Madonna is an excellent demonstration of having the posture of the body reflect the person’s feelings (76-77). In the act of receiving news from angel Gabriel that she will conceive and become the mother of the son of God, Jesus, Virgin Mary slightly slouches in the chair. Her head dips forward, eyes are cast downwards, and lips are drawn into a firm line as she clutches a red book at her side. From such body language, one senses how a heavy responsibility weighs down upon Mary, causing her to slouch from worries. The nervousness is further emphasized by the small frown and hands fiddling with the book. Neroccio de Landi was, therefore, able to clearly communicate the Madonna’s emotions through the positioning of her body. As a result, Leon Battista Alberti would have admired the portrayal of feelings in the Annunciation, since it implemented his teachings from On