Good Example Of Essay On The Madonna Of The Orange Tree

The painting shows the Virgin Mary, dressed with bright fabric colors of rose, yellow, white and blue perched on the rock carrying the infant Jesus whose little hands looks as if he is encouraging Saint Louis to go near to him. Mary is bowing slightly while Saint Jerome’s face is steady. He is wearing a white robe wrapped half way on his tanned body. He is also holding a piece of bread on his right hand as an offering to Christ. His face looks old and he is standing barefoot with a large growth of white beard growth on his face. Mary and Jesus are both under the lush green leaves of the orange tree with Saint Louis of France standing on the right side. On the background of the painting, there is the tiny figure of Saint Joseph standing on a nearby tree whilst guarding the eating donkey, which they had used to travel. Behind him, there is a winding path across the steep mountain, which leads to a white castle on the top. The greenery behind painted with dark and light gradation provides a lush and peaceful mood throughout the painting. Looking closer on the background, the white castle atop the mountain is shows people doing different activities. On the winding path, there are two people, a man dressed in black robe and a woman wearing a rose pink robe are walking their way towards the castle entrance. There is one man riding a horse near the castle’s entrance while there is one man standing behind one of the castle’s defense fortress. Behind the standing figure of Saint Jerome, two pairs of unnoticed two animal figures are drawn as a part of the background. The brown deer has a very darker shade of brown, which is why it comes out unnoticed on the painting. There is also one white rabbit accompanying the deer, possibly they are Saint Jerome’s pets.
The most interesting feature of the painting are the shadows that creates a three dimensional effect on each characters. The brown to yellowish hue on Saint Jerome’s body is the result of under painting done by Cima to make a realistic view of each muscle structure on the saint’s body. The same thing is visible on the clouds floating above the sky, Cima also combined white and grey hues in order to make the chiaroscuro or the light illumination for the clouds and it gave a more serene approach to his painting by means of manipulating the light distribution on each of the subjects. There is also a harmony of proportionality in the faces of Mary, Saint Jerome and Saint Louis. All of their faces form a straight line with only a slight part of Saint Louis’ chin has exceeded. With all the simplicity, the light and the pigment tones on their bodies make the subjects to ‘come alive’. The beauty of the mountaintops possibly located in the countryside; consists of zigzag lines for the craggy peaks. The sharp asymmetrical features is found on the leaf structures of each tree and the vibrant colors of the blue skies, the earthly hues of the soil and the castle atop the mountain all add a significant value to the serene mood exemplified by the painting. Madonna of the Orange Tree is a painting, which shows monumental characters in the calm landscapes which he mainly base from his native town, Conegliano. His unwavering devotion to Christ made him as the leading altar painter during his time. It is indeed that Cima’s painting is a creation of supreme artistry and expression.