The Art of Attraction: Romance in the Renaissance — 3D Virtual Gallery by Kiera Wilson
The Art of Attraction: Romancing the Renaissance The concept of this exhibit is to understand a relationship, how it develops from start to finish from physical beauty, attraction, desire, love and marriage. The Art of Attraction: Romancing the Renaissance shows how Renaissance artists used the body to show each phase of a relationship and each artwork comes together to ask a bigger question that is still important today: how much of what we see is real romance and not just what is expected? The Art of Attraction: Romancing the Renaissance is based on the exhibit Art and Love in Renaissance Italy from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. “The very title ''Art and Love in Renaissance Italy'' is a win-win. It promises romance, desire, youthful beauty, ritual, expensive gift items and possible sex in the land of Romeo and Juliet. It delivers on all counts,” says Roberta Smith from The New York Times. This exhibit explored 150 artifacts including paintings and art objects that celebrated love and marriage. This exhibit was split into three sections with each titled Celebrating Betrothal, Marriage and Childbirth, From Cassone to Poesia: Paintings of Love and Marriage and finally Profane Love. The Art of Attraction: Romancing the Renaissance builds upon Art and Love in Renaissance Italy by serving as a prequel because it’s going back to the foundation of a relationship which is attraction. The exhibit opens with a focus on the first stage of attraction which is found in physical beauty. The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo is an in your face painting of a near perfect human body. Adam is thin and muscular, attractive, just the epitome of a physically attractive person. You see Adam and you are definitely taking a look. Moving on we capture the essence of overall beauty with The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticilli. We move from simply a gorgeous physical body and change to appreciating overall beauty. Venus is the goddess of love and while she is fully expose
A 3D virtual art gallery on Galerra featuring 5 artworks. Walk through the gallery in an immersive 3D experience.
Artworks in this gallery
- The Creation of Adam, Michelangelo, 1508-1512, Fresco Painting (2026) — The painting, The Creation of Adam, shows God creating Adam and essentially beginning humanity. This painting uses a lot of light colors with the exception of God who is shown in more bright and rich colors. Shading is especially important as different shades highlight Adam’s physical perfection. The focal point of the two hands, fingers nearly touching, creates a sense of tension but also of peace as God is leaving behind “the perfect man” to begin the world. Michelangelo was a famous sculptor and painter whose work captured the physical body in a realistic physical form. His training led him to using the human body for everything from showcasing form to emotions and more. Knowing this, Michelangelo’s painting of The Creation of Adam was to connect the biblical story to the physical body and show the ideal body.
- The Birth of Venus, Sandro Botticilli, 1485, Tempera on Canvas (2026) — The Birth of Venus shows the goddess Venus arriving on land with the aid of Zephyr and his partner. This painting showcases the use of light colors to highlight beauty in its purest form with the lightest colors being used for Venus so all attention is on her. Showing Venus as a nude figure and saving some of the lightest and brightest colors for her keeps all the focus on her and allows the reader to take in her purity and beauty. The Birth of Venus is often considered to be one of the few paintings that fully captured the spirit of the Renaissance because Botticilli chose to show nudity with a goddess/mythological figure instead of only showing nudity in a religious form or using it with biblical stories. Botticilli’s use of modesty with Venus also keeps the innocence and focus on love and beauty rather than just having nudity for the sake of nudity.
- Venus of Urbino, Titian, 1538, Oil on Canvas (2026) — Titian’s Venus of Urbino shows a nude woman in a comfortable position lounging on a cushion of some sort. The painting strikes a great balance between light and dark colors with the lighter colors in the foreground highlighting the nude woman and the darker colors playing to the background giving the illusion of a romantic or intimate setting. Titian valued color and portrait arts and that is clear in Venus of Urbino. Titian’s overall goal in Venus of Urbino was to celebrate love, marriage, passion and faithfulness while acknowledging the expectations of marriage.
- Venus and Cupid, Lorenzo Lotto, 1520's, Oil on Canvas (2026) — Venus and Cupid shows a playful interaction between a mother and her son. However, they are not presented in their mythological forms rather they are presented as a traditional mother and son. Cupid’s wings although they are present, they look more costumelike. The painting uses a lot of rich colors for the background while keeping the bodies of Venus and Cupid light in color so the viewer’s focus remains on the figures and the symbols of love, marriage and family around them. Lorenzo Lotto was a great portrait painter and Venus and Cupid was likely painted as a wedding gift for a newlywed couple to give joyful blessings of fertility and faithfulness. This painting reflects all the “wishes” for a happy, successful family life filled with love, joy, faith, and fertility.
- Portrait of a Woman with a Man at a Casement, Fra Filippo Lippi, 1440, Tempera on Wood (2026) — At first glance, Portrait of a Woman with a Man at a Casement looks like a simple portrait of a woman and a man. However, this portrait is a one of a kind double portrait that is celebrating a Florentine engagement or marriage. The painting definitely keeps its focus on the couple because they stand out in their richly colored clothes with jewels while everything else is pretty muted as compared to the couple. The word “lealta” which is Italian for loyalty is embroidered on the woman’s sleeve and that gives another little touch to the fact that this is a celebration of an engagement or marriage. Fra Filippo Lippi’s use of color in this particular painting is significant because it highlights a skill that he uses in the majority of his paintings and that’s using color to bring depth and focus to the figures. This use of coloring definitely keeps the viewer’s focus on the people rather than any of the background elements. Lippi’s goal was to mark the occasion of a great marriage between two wealthy families and this painting did exactly that as the focus is on the happy couple and their status. Positioning them in a casement is important because a casement is like a window so Lippi is giving us a view into this couple and their world.
About the creator
Kiera Wilson on Galerra