The Holy Family (Doni Tondo), Michelangelo, Circa 1503 –
1507
Michelangelo’s “Doni Tondo” is an early sixteenth century Renaissance
painting of the Holy Family and is revered as Michelangelo’s sole completed
panel painting that has survived in its original frame. The artwork includes an
interior comprised of oil and tempera, and an exterior frame that has been
carved through Michelangelo’s influence. Currently, the “Doni Tondo” is on
display at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. The foreground of the painting
depicts Jesus as a baby being held and passed between Joseph and Mary. The central
positioning, and emphasized muscles and bones, of Mary create the feeling of
strength and importance surrounding her. Contrastingly, Joseph is shown as protective
and cautious as his eyes are focused on successfully passing the baby to Mary,
while his body position symbolizes supporting and stabilizing Mary. Michelangelo
places five naked people in the background of the painting, who are seemingly
interacting with each other and separated from the focus of the painting by a thick,
horizontal line. On the frame of the painting, 5 3-D heads are shown as protruding
above the painting with each face being depicted with a different emotion (Left
– Intrigued, Bottom – Shocked, Top – Satisfied). Despite different emotions
depicted on the heads, the appearance of viewing the subject from a far
distance is consistent in all of them. The painting reflects the theme of power, as
the Holy Family is separated from the background figures while being elevated
on a higher floor. Furthermore, the choice to clothe only the Holy Family and
leave the background figures naked signifies the wealth and status associated
with the focus of the painting.
Michelangelo employs multiple techniques in this painting to
create the three – dimensional effect across different levels in the painting. The
bodies of the members in the Holy Family are deliberately blended and cover
each other to emphasize their position in relation to 3-D space. Additionally,
this facilitates the feeling of movement and allows for the interpretation of
the baby being passed between Joseph and Mary to be viewed as an active action,
rather than a past occurrence. Michelangelo uses the foreshortening technique
to create the effect of Mary’s elbow protruding forward, which draws attention
to the action of reaching for Jesus. The 3-D nature of the painting is also
emphasized through color shading that creates the casting of a shadow, that is
uniform throughout the painting. The light is projected as coming from in front
of Mary, as her clothes are visibly brighter in the front and left, compared to
the space diagonally right of her, that has a much darker shading. The frame of
the picture is also used to add an element of 3-D, as the 5 heads are all sculpted to give the effect of popping off the painting and looking downward. The significance
of the 3-D effect in this painting is to make the event in the foreground more current
and dramatic, as well as providing multiple perspectives based on the different
directions the figures are shown looking in.
Based on the paintings title, “Doni Tondo”, it is believed
that Michelangelo was commissioned to work on this by Agnolo Doni, to celebrate
his marriage with Maddalena Strozzi in 1503. The marriage represented the
broader occurrence of wealthy and powerful families marrying each other to
maintain and grow their status in society. This depicted the trend of composite
monarchies of the time, as powerful heirs to thrones would marry to consolidate
power. Michelangelo’s painting challenges the patriarchy as Mary is depicted as
the central, strong figure and is representative of increasingly powerful
queens and women leaders (Ex. Queen Isabella in Spain). This is consistent with
the parties involved in the marriage, as Maddalena Strozzi came from an influential Tuscan family. Leonardo Da Vinci’s “The Virgin and Child with St. Anne” influenced
the style Michelangelo uses to paint the Holy Family, as Da Vinci’s painting
only came a few years earlier. While both paintings use a triangular display in
the foreground, Michelangelo emphasizes Mary as powerful and includes background
figures to exemplify her significance. Finally, Michelangelo’s painting has
elements of traditional artwork as the painting was commissioned by a wealthy,
powerful family with the focus of the painting involving religious figures.
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