Composition
is arranging a complexity of activities for an appointed end. Compositions are governed by the precise organization and harmony of the elements of perspective, light, color, motion and proportion. It is the lintel for the support of form in the temple of art.
see
The layering of space in foreground, middle
ground & background in:
The Annunciation
Leonardo da Vinci
1472-75
Tempera on wood, 98 x 217 cm
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
The sacred scene is set in the garden of a Florentine
palace; with a landscape on the background which Leonardo is know for and the
magic and unreal atmosphere created by mountains, water and sky.
The archangel Gabriel is kneeling as a dignified
profile figure and raising his right hand in greeting to Mary, indicating her
divine pregnancy. The Virgin has stopped reading and reacts to the Annunciation
with an expression of deep respect and by gesturing with her left hand. There
is a conspicuous perspectival mistake: her right arm had to be painted too long
proportionally, so that, despite her seated position, it would still be able to
depict the impressive position other hand over the prie-dieu. Leonardo depicted
Mary in a three-quarter profile in front of the corner of a room. All three
spatial coordinates - height, width and depth - converge on this point, thus
creating a sense of depth in the picture as well as enhancing the importance of
Mary. Her head clearly contrasts with the dark wall and her body is
emphatically framed by the cornerstones whose parallel lines are converging on
her.
Recompose this composition in Photosphop (using
image: annComposition.psd)