Cesare Dandini’s Young Man with Globe and Compass (Allegory of Geography?) Essay Example

he might be absorbed in his own personal thoughts.The boy is not immediately identified within the painting’s title nor his social class indentified by his black outer garb, which lacks any ornamentation or decoration and vaguely reminiscent of mourning attire. An unseen light source appears to be illuminating the boy’s face and left arm from the upper right, not only directing the viewer’s eyes toward this moment but also rendering dimensions to the boy’s face by creating shadows. The boy’s softened features and Dandini’s meticulous blending of multiple paint layers and refined brushstrokes, give him a classicized appearance; he round contours of his cheek, chin, and nose are highlighted in a higher value off-white flesh hue.

Unlike playful or energetic school children, Dandini predominately uses green and blue hues as a base layer in the boy’s face, further draining the passion and excitement from his expression. Dandini’s dramatic rendering of the boy’s undershirt (noted in the collar and sleeve) with super-saturated white contour lines evoke a sense of restlessness and movement hiding beneath the boy’s black garb, fighting to free itself from its confines.At the individual level, the boy could perhaps be mourning the loss of his free time to play due to academic study. However, in the context of the seventeen-century, especially considering European colonization and the rise of sciences, this boy (which could be anyone really) might represent on a smaller scale the organizing concept of the Baroque period – the reevaluation of humanity and its relation to the universe.