Christian Art Work done by: Sofia Machado nº4 Dora Ferreira Nº6 Elsa Cardoso Nº7 Fernando Couto Nº8 Hugo Pereira Nº10

Pietà by Michelangelo The Pietà is a recurring theme in religious art. This beautiful work was carved in marble by Michelangelo, in his early twenties, between 1498 and The greatness of this masterpiece can not be explained, only felt. The Virgin Mary holds the dead body of Christ after his crucifixion and removal from the cross, but before he was placed in the tomb.

Pietà This was a special work of art even in the Renaissance because multi-figured sculptures were rare at the time. The two figures are carved so as to appear in a unified composition which forms the shape of a pyramid, widely used in other Renaissance works. To achieve this, Michelangelo altered and modified the body proportions, making Jesus smaller than his mother to show that is her child.

Madonna in the Meadow, by Raphael Also called Madonna Belvedere, this painting shows the Virgin with Christ and St. John the Baptist in a tender moment in the Tuscan setting. St. John the Baptist was the patron of Florence so this was very appropriate. The figures are arranged in a pyramidal composition, which Raphael learned from Leonardo da Vinci.

The Holy Family Basilica by Gaudi The Holy Family is the most famous and characteristic landmark in Barcelona. The church is being built since 1882 and is supposed to be finished in Gaudi directed the works until his death in It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Gaudi, a young architect, combined Gothic and Art Nouveau forms.

The Holy Family Basilica by Gaudi Gaudi choose geometric shapes for the different elements of the chapels, including the columns, windows, spires and ceilings with a specific system of proportions. The plan of the church has an unusual feature: a covered passage (cloister) which forms a rectangle enclosing the church and passing through the atrium of each of its three portals. The towers on the Nativity façade are crowned with geometrically shaped tops that are reminiscent of Cubism. Gaudi also used hyperboloid structures in later designs of The Holy Family.

‘He was sure it was impossible for him to finish the project. So he left everything completely resolved in a few geometric laws that I will now explain to you.’ (Lluis Bonet, executive architect) All the dimensions of the design are based on proportional divisions of 12, from the span of the main nave and transepts to the diameters of the elliptical medallions on the capitals of the piers; All the forms are developed from the transformation of basic geometric figures without discontinuities, as Gaudi found in nature; For example, the base of each pier in the nave has a different polygonal shape. As the pier rises, it shifts through different sections, each time with more vertices, until it becomes circular at its head.

The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci Perspective Drawing is an application of geometry that artists use to organise the arrangement of space in a picture. For many centuries, artists have been inspired by the visual beauty and order that exists in geometry and they have used it in many ways to help the composition of their art. Leonardo da Vinci uses the geometry of perspective to make Christ the unmistakable focal point of the painting. Besides, the circles around the figure of Jesus mean that all knowledge of God.

Leonardo has cleverly divided the 12 disciples into groups of 3, surround Christ, in the centre of the painting. Alone in the centre, Christ's open arms encompass him into a triangular shape, expressing the Holy Trinity. The four groups around him are boxed within their areas of the painting. Like in most of Leonardo's works, geometric shapes are present and essential.

St. Peter’s Basilica - Rome St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is an example of geometric perfection. The church design is based on a square, the symbol of perfection. The square plan considers how processions had become an integral part of Catholic worship at the time, the form of the Basilica divides into quadrants separated by four processional naves to form a Greek Cross in plan. St. Peter's Square is a perfect geometric example marked by a symmetrical visual axis. It is formed by a succession of open spaces that lead us to a large elliptical place.

St. Peter’s Basilica - Rome

Christian Art and Mathematics Geometry has been employed symbolically in religious architecture to cause spiritual effect. Sacred Geometry, specifically the circle and the square, was used in Italian High Renaissance architecture to designate a house of God. Squares, arcs, triangles, rectangles, circles, symmetries are organized to make a perfect connection between God and man – churches, paintings, sculptures and other art forms are proof of that.