A Contrastive Study On Figure Paintings Of The Tang Dynasty In China And Those Of Renaissance Period In Italy

Up to the present day, the course of Chinese figure paintings isn't free from its set pattern formed in ancient time. That is, Chinese figure painters usually attach importance to "idea", yet take "form" lightly, advocate ink and wash techniques and ignore the use of color. The author of this thesis maintains that the development of Chinese figure paintings depends in a large sense on its freedom from the theoretical pattern of "literati painting", and referencing to and drawing on the essence of foreign arts on the basis of inheriting to Chinese painting tradition.Starting from the artistic characteristics of Chinese and western paintings, the author draws a contract between the peaks of figure painting in China and Western countries — figure paintings of the Tang dynasty in China and those of Renaissance period in Italy. The distinguishes, relations and mutual influences between them as well as their respective developing regulations are traced through contrastive analysis on their aesthetic psychology, expressive subject matter, and expressive forms. The aim of the study is to find out the start-point of mutual references between Chinese and western figure paintings, and the author hopes that it could be beneficial to the development of Chinese figure paintings.Influenced by growing up of "literati painting" and spread of the idea of Daoism and Buddhist, the ancient Chinese paintings processed along the way of "advocating ink and wash techniques" by the end of the Tang dynasty and thus impelled the techniques of wash painting to its peak. The splendid and glowing characteristics of figure paintings developed in the Tang dynasty faded and couldn't recover after this setback. It is the fact of being ignorant of form and indifferent to color that leaves a wide and free developing space for modern figure paintings.