Pietro Lorenzetti’s Birth Of The Virgin and Fortitude by Nichola Pisano are two classical artistic works that are thematically related as they are both about religious subjects. This article, it is to have a discussion and comparing of the formal treatment and iconography of each work.

Pietro Lorenzetti’s Birth Of The Virgin of 190 * 180 centimeters was created in 1342. Pietro Lorenzetti(1290-1348) is one of the representatives of Sienese School in the mid-14th century[ “Pietro Lorenzetti | Italian painter”. 2009. ]. In the painting, the medieval arched roof, window curtains, floor tiles, as well as bedside cabinets, floor cabinets almost reproduce the environment of living space at that time. It treats the surface of the painting as a transparent window. Through the porch, people can see the streets.

The middle and the right part form a connected space, in which the holy grandmother wearing a purple robe just gives birth to a child. And she looks plump, who is recumbent in the seemingly stiff bed. The foreground is some maids preparing for the baby’s bath, with a light and dark contrast in the treatment to place them in the dark place. The midwife on the right side is almost overflowing from the frame. On the left side, there is a father waiting on the porch, and he has just got news of her daughter’s birth. The content of the painting shows the transition from the medieval painting tradition to the Renaissance new art.

Fortitude by Nichola Pisano created in 1260 also shows the trace of Renaissance art. In his work, he is more fond of a Roman style, with a grand, solemn, noble, and quiet atmosphere. He is believed to create a new sculptural style in the late 13th and the 14th centuries in Italy[ “Nicola Pisano | Italian sculptor”. 2015. ]. His Fortitude is reminiscent of the ancient Roman carving.

But he gives the traditional creation more dynamic and emotional elements. Thus, there is a combination of classicism and Christianity. In Fortitude, there is the use of contrast effect of light with a distinctive classical-style of Christian traditional themes, leading to a good expression of the content of the work and its feelings. It depicts a dignified man with solemn and elegant air with a smart lion cub. He is identified as a hero with the Christian virtue of fortitude. It shows the traces of Greek and Roman classical art, revealing the budding of humanism.

Thus, both works show traces of works of Renaissance art and deal with religious subjects. But Birth Of The Virgin’s surface depicted a birth scene of a virgin, while Fortitude is about a dignified man with a solemn and elegant air.