Arth 206 Broque Art

Bernini

Added the Ovular plaza in front of the building Had a feeling of an embrace to all worshipers as well as sinners, deviating from traditional shapes, part of the themes of baroque period (trapezoid and oval) His life: Multi-talented

Michelangelo's View on Art: Anthony Blunt Artistic Theory in Italy (1450-1600)

Michelangelo's View on Art: Anthony Blunt Artistic Theory in Italy (1450-1600) Michelangelo: Most writing not about theories. Made love poems. Trained under masters still belonging to quattrocento. Rome, high renaissance, lots of works made 1530': View of high renaissance humanism Ceiling of sistine chapel Pieta in st peter's Affected by Neoplatonism: Truth to beauty not science, did not investigate neutral causes of beauty Rome was influential for him: height of welth, political leader for italy. Reflect, feel at ease Training in neoplatonism caused him to believe beauty of the visible universe, worship beauty and human body Beauty of material world: emotion and physical passion in poems, visible beauty. Studied nature scientifically. Learned of anatomy, dissections. Did not want to imitate nature but pursue beauty. Art is beauty above tht of nature, manifests in human figure Inner beauty is superior Dependent on beauty in the outside world Artist is inspired by nature, make what he sees in nature conform to an ideal standard of his own, he thought this was a close and reict connection with nature 1530's and onwards: failure of secular state, reformation, split the church, weakened pope, bad financial change. People of Michelangelo's age felt Roman Church needed reform. Individual reason. Last judgment: shaken out of his secure position, no longer at ease, unable to face it directly. Not aim to be idealized beauty, hand was failing, no longer interested in physical beauty for its own sake. Revealed idea, spiritual state. No classical beauty. Convey idea by human figure. Can also be found in his poems. Physical beauty passes away, mind is unsatisfied. Love of spiritual beauty gives perfect satisfaction, does not fade with time, contemplation of the divine. Expressed to Tommaso, who he had a relationship with, overwhelmed with his physical beauty. Outward sign of spiritual and mental beauty. Moved away from material because he was growing old. Spiritually minded, mysticism because his own world was crumbling around him. Expression of art has to be done by a blameless, innocent person. Art devoted to service of church. Not imitation of nature but god. Mind creates beautiful images, barely seen in final product. Divine gift. Starts with a block, cuts away to reveal the statue in it. Almost as if the statue was always inside. For example: St. Mathew Rafael was the ideal balanced painter, Michelangelo was the eccentric genius Further chane: intensification of characteristics of art and ideas. Church began to fall. Pieta Rondanini Unfinished at his death. Purely spiritual, given up classical subjects, violent, personal, mystical Christian Faith, equal intensity in the drawings of the crucifition. Even more spiritual, more christian. Religious feelings combined with mystical conception of neoplatonism. Wishes to abandon world and focus all his thoughts on god. Sonnet where he turns away from world, mortal beauty, imagination, and art Neoplatonism: philosophical and religious system that rivaled and influenced Christianity from 3-6 AD, from Greek philosopher Plato, oriental mysticism. Founder: plotinus, soul could ascend from physical existence to merge with the one. Revived in Renaissance with the idea of good and evil demons. Rfael's frescoes in the Stanza Della Segnatura: Four themes: Theology, Pagan Philosophy, Poetry, and Justice are intricately blended.

Buon Fresco

"True fresco", where paint is applied to a wet plaster on a wall or mural, and all procedures must be finished before the plaster dries, and becomes a permanent part of the wall. To remove a buon fresco, one must chisel the wall and remove that layer of paint as it is engraved on the wall. Buon fresco requires a team. Example!: Raphael's School of Athens, Buon Fresco (15010-11), Stanza Della Segnatura, Vatican, Rome

Donato Bramante

1444-1514, was considered the greatest High Renaissance Architect.

Contrapposto

A style of Greek sculpture where people are depicted standing and leaning so that the person's weight is being put on one side. People are depicted with their bodies curved like an "S" The most iconic is David, however another piece that shows this is Madonna with the goldfinch by Raphael. Here we can see baby jesus in a very sophisticated contraposto as he reaches for the finch.

Counter Reformation/Council of trent (1560-1648)

Counter Reformation: Catholic revival from Pope Pius IV in 1560 to the end of the Thirty Years' War in 1648. (Michelangelo lived into this!). Arose largely in answer to, or response to the counter protestant reformation. Led by conservative forces, aim to reform church from within and secure traditions against the innovations of protestant theologies and the more liberal ideas of the high renaissance. Reforms: Establishing proper seminaries for proper training of priests. Increased number of spiritual exercises. Cleaning up catholic church from within, rid of corruption. Council of Trent: met as early as 1545, initiated by Pope Paul III, to discuss changes/reforms of Catholic Church. Tasked with Institutional reforms, addressing corrupt priests, indulgences, and financial abuses. Upheld basic structure of medieval church. Dedicated to improving the discipline and administration of Catholic church, to reject every aspect of protestantism. Make Churche's more attractive to normal people. There were many examples where the catholic church used art and architecture to attract normal people to the church. For example, when adding onto St. Peter's Basilica, Bernini added a large, giant arms of columns that graduate from the building, forming an oval at the end. This not only overwhelmed the common person, but it made the church more attractive, appeals to people, wrapping arms around them.

Martin Luther (1483-1546) No connection

Founder of Protestantism, Attacks of the catholic church, threatened the catholic church.

Borromini

Friend of Bernini, became a rival. Important architect of this time. From Milan, trained as a stonecarver. Complex, imaginative architecture in small space. Believed himself to be a student of classical, mathematically and classically based work.

Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574), Lives of the Painters (1550)

Giorgio Vasari wrote lives of painters (1550) lived from (1511-1574) was the first one to really accumulate information about biographies and their works. Even knew some of the artist. Primary source of information for later scholars. He has a chapter in his book, called Mona Lisa a miracle of naturalism, almost like she was living.

Vitruvius

Great Roman architect of the time of Augustus (27BC - 14 AD) who wrote 10 books on architecture. Was a writer, engineer and architect. He was used in Da Vinci's piece "The Vitruvian Man" to show how close man is to the celestial realm. Realizes man can fit in a perfect circle and square, also writes book on architecture

Humanism

Philosophy that celebrates human cultural achievements and emphasizes human reason and ethics. Focuses on the power and potential of humans. We see many paintings that suggests humanism. But one of the most memorable ones is the Creation of Adam on the Sistine Chapel Ceiling in Vatican Rome. Here, Michelangelo brings forth the idea of power and potential of human beings in the center of the universe. Adam is larger then god, bringing a promise of poential and power of the human beings. Human potential is inherently god given.

Medieval Feudalism

Structure of society based on the relationships derived from land ownership and servitude

Chiaroscuro

The treatment of light and shade in a work of art, especially to give an illusion of depth. The contrast of light and dark. Perhaps the most iconic artist to use Chiaroscuro was Leonardo Da Vinci. In his Madonna, The Virgin of the Rocks, we can see a heavy contrast of light and dark to model his figures. He uses this light technique to draw attention to jesus, the virgin, and john the baptist.

Neo-Platonism

philosophical and religious system that rivaled and influenced Christianity from 3-6 AD, from Greek philosopher Plato, oriental mysticism. Founder: plotinus, soul could ascend from physical existence to merge with the one. Revived in Renaissance with the idea of good and evil demons. contemplation of beauty, whether physical or moral beauty, as a way of understanding a connecting to the divine. Male human body was embodiment of the soul, of god. Creation of that beauty, contemplation of that beauty was a way or merging with god. Michelangelo spent his whole life trying to find the beauty in humans. A way of understanding god, a way of connecting with the divine, Michelangelo used his work to do that. He believed that the male human body was the embodiment of the soul, of god, and David was perhaps the most iconic neo-platonism work he created. A person who was truly ideal, of god-like beauty, with the idea position using contrapposto. Michelangelo never relied on precise proportions to his figures, he chose the best parts from other statues and created the ideal beauty. The David and the Virgin are ideal types, not particular individuals. They said that the beauty of the sculpture would pass through a viewers soul and be made into something divine. Michelangelo focused on human subjects a lot in his work, cause it was once said that man is a link between God and the world. The mind contemplates the divine ideas which puts it even closer to God. Michelangelo saw the body as a reflection of the beauty of the soul. His use of the nude form was to show human beauty reflects Gods beauty. He thought the body was a cage for the soul keeping it tethered to the earth instead of rising to its divine calling. He portrayed the struggle of the soul in stone, using serpentine forms to show difficult movements. Michelangelo's contorted figures symbolize the struggle of the soul to free itself from matter and achieve a vision of God.