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Presepe
Nativity
scene
by
Federico Brandani
Federico
Brandani (1525-1575)
Presepe (1545-1550)
Oratorio
di San Giuseppe
Urbino
The
Urbino artist mainly worked in the ducal city. He was a sculptor and a stuccoer.
He was at Guidobaldo I da Montefeltro court.
The nativity scene at San Giuseppe oratory is a refined stucco masterpiece.
Elegance and experimentation with forms create a matchless sculptural model.
The
Nativity iconography was solemnly respected by using all the elements
characterizing the figurative tradition that has become a treasure in the Art of
making Cribs.
The setting in the
cave doesn’t prevent the artist to build an architectonic background.
The two roofs built, one of which is triangular and shelters the
characters, are conceived according to the Platonic geometrical concepts
as symbols of divine perfection.
The ox and ass in
Brandani scene, belong to the Artistic panorama since IV century. They
were in fact named in the Apocryphal Gospel by Pseudo-Matthew for the
first time. The two animals were also named in Isaia prophet 1,3: ”the
ox knows the owner and the ass the manger of the master".
The composition
core is the figure of Jesus and the other characters develop around it.
The Madonna is
leaned over the fruit of her womb and she also participates at the
ecstatic admiration of the Infant. The shepherds patiently wait in the
middle of the night. They understand the beautiful event that they are
witnessing.
The artist ability to make the volumetric figures naturally, is coupled
with the expressive connotation of each figure depicted in an original
position. The luministic values are expressed in the twilight areas. They
are stressed in the drapes and in the well articulated poses.
by
Sara Tassi
Translated
by Guendalina Santini
for Paradise
Possible
Copyright©
2007Liberation Ventures Ltd.
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