Scholars Day: April 15, 2009

A Marble Madonna and Child from the Rochester Memorial Art Gallery

From the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, artists changed their style and techniques such as greater realism, the humanization of the Christ and Mary figures, and the increasing influences of Renaissance ideals. Although the style of this art appeared new, it revised Greco-Roman influences to treat medieval themes. These changes are shown in the Rochester Memorial Art Gallery’s marble sculpture Madonna and Child from the mid to late 1400’s. Usually in both periods such pieces were part of a larger, more extensive, group of work. These groups were often used in devotional settings such as churches or tombs. The marble relief Madonna and Child by Domenico Roselli is an example of the changing style of Renaissance art, with the reoccurring themes from the Middle Ages.