Art 3

Can you explain why and how portraits evolved in northern Europe during the Renaissance, including the approaches of Hans Holbein the Younger and Quentin Massys to portrait painting?

With their new riches, the rising mercantile or business class were able to commission and purchase artwork. These portraits and landscapes let them record and show off their newly rich status. Holbein used props in his paintings and Massys was interested in conveying personality

Can you define sfumato and explain how it was used in the Mona Lisa and other works?

sfumato is using haze to outline figures unlike black lines. Da Vinci used sfumato around Mona Lisa's face and hair

Can you describe the elements within Tribute Money from the Brancacci Chapel frescoes?

single-point perspective, tempera paint, Greek and Roman dressing, single light source

Do you know what Humanism is and how it influenced the development of perspective in art?

A new interest in importance to humans rather than divine entities prompted the exploration of people's ability to act as rational beings

Can you explain what a patron is and why the Medici family had an impact on art?

A patron is a person who supports the arts and artists, and the Medici, frequently commissioned paintings to highlight their wealth and splendor

Can you define Renaissance Naturalism?

A realistic approach to traditional subject matter using mathematical techniques was founded by Masaccio.

Can you define a woodcut and explain the importance of Dürer's series The Apocalypse of St. John as well as his Melencolia I?

A wood cut is Prints created by rolling ink over a carved wooden surface and transferring the ink to paper. Other artists' woodcuts were usually printed in stark black and white. Dürer, though, used closely spaced black lines to create shades of gray.

Can you explain how Michelangelo's use of color and proportion and his background in sculpting affected his paintings?

Anatomical proportion makes the figures' movement seem realistic. Also clear through this painting is Michelangelo's preference for bright, pastel colors.

Can you describe Giovanni Bellini's impact on the art world, with a focus on landscape painting?

Before Bellini, landscapes had not received much attention since the artists of ancient Rome focused on painting all the new land the empire was conquering

Can you describe the Sistine Chapel frescoes and explain the importance of The Creation of Adam?

Between 1508 and 1512, Michelangelo composed nine Old Testament scenes, each one a large, independent fresco. Creation of Adam has Adam's open eyes suggest that he is already living and that here God is giving him intelligence.

Do you know who Hieronymous Bosch was and can you describe his approach to creating art?

Bosch was a Dutch painter about whom very little is known. His unconventional style set him apart from the Flemish tradition by which he was influenced.

Do you know who Sandro Botticelli was and what makes his Birth of Venus stand out?

Botticelli was more interested in the poetic side of the Classical world. he doesn't use perspective in the birth of Venus

Can you give a brief description of each Renaissance master and his major contributions to art?

Da Vinci brought the scientific principle of observation to the artist's toolbox, Michelangelo brought anatomy and proportion to art, and Raphael made his complex compositions seem natural to the eye and effortlessly rendered.

Can you describe Albrecht Dürer's approach to painting and engraving, with a focus on his ability to blend Northern and Italian Renaissance styles?

During Albrecht Dürer's travels to Venice, he was exposed to the idea that, like the sciences, art should involve careful observation of the natural world. Albrecht Dürer's goal was to balance the artistic differences in northern and southern European styles.

Can you list the factors that affected art in Renaissance Florence and the development of the Renaissance man?

Families and other rich, influential people began to commission work, prosperity increased after the Dark and Middle Ages, demand for art was high.

Can you list the factors that affected artists in Renaissance Venice and their use of color?

Florentine artists wanted to communicate realistic scenes. Venetian artists wanted to communicate emotion and activate the senses. The Venetians were masters of color

Can you describe the composition in Adoration of the Magi?

He used simple shapes like an arc and triangle to arrange the bodies

Can you describe Grünewald's Isenheim Altarpiece?

Isenheim Altarpiece, was created for a hospital. Monks there cared for people infected with skin ailments. It was a potent reminder to the patients that none had suffered more than Christ.

Can you describe the different possible meanings of Massys's Grotesque Old Woman?

It is a real woman with a bone disease that caused her to be deformed The woman is based on a character in a book called The Praise of Folly by the philosopher Erasmus, who sat for many portraits of his own. It is a metaphor for a famous duchess who was known for being unfaithful to her husband and was therefore considered ugly or "grotesque."

Can you describe Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights?

It is a triptych altarpiece showing the Garden of Eden and the Last Judgment from the Bible. Bosch's odd imagery makes the work seem profane.

Do you understand why the landscape become more popular, and how such artists as Bruegel and Patinir infused meaning into their landscapes?

Joachim Patinir specialized in the landscape. Before the 16th century, landscapes were generally used as the background in which events occurred. Pieter Bruegel the Elder clearly drew inspiration from Joachim Patinir. Bruegel's sweeping landscapes combine an ideal view of the natural world with a very detailed look at the Flemish landscape.

Can you explain the impact that Leon Battista Alberti and Filippo Brunelleschi had on perspective in art?

Leon Batista Alberti introduced the idea that in order for art to be truly beautiful, it must be done in perfect proportion. Filippo Brunelleschi developed a method for achieving mathematically correct linear perspective.

Do you know who Quentin Massys was and what he was best known for?

Quentin Massys, another leading artist, also drew attention to the minute details.

Do you know who Lucas van Leyden was and what made his engraving The Baptism of Christ significant?

Lucas van Leyden engraving The Baptism of Christ, the major figures of Jesus and John remain in the background, while the figures in the foreground are anonymous observers.

Do you understand Masaccio's evolution from the International Gothic style to Renaissance techniques?

Masaccio started using perspective and moved away from the International Gothic style to the more realistic Renaissance techniques

Do you know who Matthias Grünewald was and can you describe his approach to creating art?

Matthias Grünewald's art stands as a link between the old International Gothic style traditions and the new ideas of the Renaissance

Do you know what the statue of David is and why it is a significant work of art?

Michelangelo's David is often considered the pinnacle of Renaissance culture. David is neither still nor in motion. Instead, he is posed before a burst of movement,

Can you explain the Reformation and its main impact on art?

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther challenged the Catholic authorities in Rome. Within a few short years, the Reformation raged in full force, and religious turmoil spread throughout Europe. In order to avoid losing commissions from either the Protestant or Catholic church or a wealthy patron, artists were forced to paint works without any religious subject matter.

Do you know who Pieter Bruegel the Elder was and can you describe what's happening in Battle Between Carnival and Lent?

Pieter Bruegel the Elder has more than a few messages to convey with this painting. It is a commentary on the constant tension between the moral and material worlds.

Can you list and explain the elements at work in the Vatican fresco The School of Athens?

Plato and Aristotle are clothed in pink and blue robes. These colors are repeated elsewhere in the painting to encourage viewers to look at the other figures as well. This illustrates the idea that everyone's pursuit of knowledge is important and of equal weight

Can you explain what made Raphael's style unique by talking about the elements in The Alba Madonna?

Raphael arranged the woman and two children in The Alba Madonna into an effortless yet powerfully solid composition. The graceful movements of The Alba Madonna's figures make the figures appear linked to one another.

Can you describe Raphael's approach to portraiture?

Raphael usually created a plain background using a simple color scheme so that all the focus went to the subject of the painting.

Do you know who Hugo van der Goes was and what made his Portinari Altarpiece significant, including its use of symbolism?

The Portinari Altarpiece was created for a church in Florence. Hugo van der Goes was commissioned by Tommaso Portinari, a representative of the Medici family. The Portinari Altarpiece had very deep levels of symbolism.

Can you list the elements at work in The Last Judgment?

The colors are the same bright pastels used on the ceiling paintings. The figures in this work are more sophisticated and detailed than those found on the ceiling. There is more emotion here than on the ceiling. Unlike the ceiling, The Last Judgment has no architectural elements.

Can you describe how Piero della Francesca created balance in his Flagellation of Christ?

The three figures in the foreground are perfectly aligned with three of the figures in the background to create balance. All of the figures are in correct proportion according to their places in the painting. You are the fourth person in the foreground

Can you explain the symbolism and meaning in Bruegel's Peasant Dance?

This feather, a sign of vanity, is Bruegel's commentary on the simple people who are so busy having fun that they cannot see what's really going on.

Can you explain how da Vinci brought the scientific principle of observation to the artist's toolbox?

Through more than 30 dissections of corpses, Leonardo da Vinci learned about human anatomy. Da Vinci had a knack for observation.

Do you know who Titian is and what his major contributions were to portraits, composition, and balance through color?

Titian's talents were not limited to portraits. Part of what made him so great was his ability to paint equally well a portrait or a landscape. No matter what he was painting, he brought an intense focus to the colors he used.

Can you define still life and vanitas, and can you explain why the vanitas style was short-lived?

Vanitas still life were a subtle but effective medium for transmitting a reminder to all that life and its pleasures will end. Soon all Vanitas were replaced with objects of international trade.

Can you list the techniques used inThe Last Supper?

linear perspective, aerial perspective, anatomically proportional, chiaroscuro and sfumato, geometrically organized figures