stance. The columns and archway that border the painting are, in fact, completely symmetrical. And the Virgin and Child are in the center. It is, again, a beautifully balanced composition, typical of the Renaissance. The composition is also completely filled, but not overcrowded. Even with the flying angels, the painting appears rational; all the figures appear to be based on real-life scale. There are no huge exaggerations. A peaceful, calming feeling is portrayed - another Renaissance trait.The space, too, shows signs that this painting is from the Renaissance. There is clearly a recession in space, although it is seen mostly in the landscape beyond the main subject. But even in the foreground, the use of diagonals to create architectural perspective on the columns and on the tiled floor gives the feeling of looking back into space. Again, that becomes fully obvious when looking at the landscape beyond. Arial perspective is used very well to make the mountains in the far distance appear quite a bit hazier than the church that is supposed to be a little closer to the viewer, and that is even slightly hazier than the brick wall, shrubs, and trees that are right outside of that archway. David also makes the objects that are meant to be closer much larger. That mountain, of course, would be massive. But, because of the perspective he uses, it appears to be only about the size of the top of the church. Additionally, almost all of the figures in the painting lead the viewer's eye right to the baby Jesus. Each of the angels, except the one playing the guitar, are looking directly at him so that when the viewer looks at them, they immediately look over to Jesus. Even Mary, who is also the subject of the composition, is looking down at the baby. Renaissance paintings often used tricks like that to draw the viewer's eye to the main subject, which was usually Jesus.The lighting seems to be mostly unified, though some aspects of...
