Comparison Essay of Leonardo s Madonna of the Rocks and Parmigianino s Madonna of the Long
The stylistic differences in Leonardo’s Madonna of the Rocks and Parmigianino’s Madonna of the Long Neck reflect a difference of political, social and philosophical views between the Renaissance and Mannerist periods. While Leonardo’s work represents the refined idealism of the Renaissance, Parmigianino’s work rebels against this Renaissance tradition of idealism and is anti-classical in every way. ... Parmigianino’s Mary has several distorted features that are symbolic as well as representative of Mannerist painting. Most notably, Mary’s body is drawn to very unusual proportions. ... Her head is disproportionately small compared to the rest of her body and her hands are incredibly long. Both of these can be seen as commentary on the Catholic Church; the hands represent greed for wealth and power and the small head infers that Rome’s governing body doesn’t have the mental capacity to govern. In contrast, Leonardo’s Mary is a balanced figure who looks physically accurate and meets the excepted view of Mary as a conservative loving mother figure. ... Leonardo presents a Mary dressed in plain clothes in a very natural environment without attendants or another form of luxury. ... On the other hand Parmigianino’s Mary seems to be at the opposite end of the spectrum.