Art History Exam 2

Painterly handling

A style of painting which emphasizes the techniques and surface effects of brushwork (also color, light, and shade). The handling of the paint becomes a part of the experience of the painting

The evolution of St. Peter's, Rome—architects who worked on it and how the building changed

Carlo Maferno, Sta.: Designs St. Peter's Facade, 1606-12, Rome. Considered failure in this design The design was saved by Bernini, Piazza of St. Peter's, begun 1656, makes the harm half the height of the visod

Jesuit Order--St. Ignatius Loyola

Catholicism maintained its primacy in southern Europe, the Holy Roman Empire, and France through the efforts of an energized papacy aided by the new Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuit Order Art became a powerful weapon of propaganda, especially in the hands of members of the Society of Jesus, a new religious order founded by the Spanish nobleman Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) and confirmed by Paul III in 1540. Dedicated to piety, education, and missionary work, the Jesuits, as they are known, spread worldwide and became important leaders of the Counter-Reformation movement and the revival of the Catholic Church.

The patronage of Pope Julius II

Despite Michelangelo's contractual commitment to Florence Cathedral for additional statues, Pope Julius II, who saw Michelangelo as an ideal collaborator in the artistic aggrandizement of the papacy, arranged in 1505 for him to come to Rome to work on the spectacular tomb Julius planned for himself. Donato Bramante apparently told the Pope it was bad luck to have someone working on your tomb while still alive

Symbolism and imagery in Dürer's Adam and Eve and Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Dürer began to publish his own prints to bolster his income, and ultimately it was prints, not paintings, that made his fortune. Perhaps best known is the four horsemen of the apocalypse, based on figures described in Revelation 6:1-8: a crowned rider, armed with a bow, on a white horse (Conquest); a rider with a sword, on a red horse (War); a rider with a set of scales, on a black horse (Plague and Famine); and a rider on a sickly pale horse (Death). Earlier artists had simply lined up the horsemen in the landscape, but Dürer created a compact, overlapping group of wild riders charging across the world and trampling its cowering inhabitants. His growing interest in Italian art and his theoretical investigations are reflected in his 1504 engraving adam and eve, which represents his first documented use of ideal human proportions based on Roman copies of ancient Greek sculpture. But around these idealized human figures he represents plants and animals with typically Northern attention to descriptive detail. Dürer filled the landscape with symbolic content reflecting the medieval theory that after Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they and their descendants became vulnerable to imbalances in the body fluids that controlled human temperament: excess of black bile from the liver caused melancholy and greed; (symbolized by the elk) yellow bile caused anger, pride, and impatience; (symbolized by the choleric cat) phlegm in the lungs resulted in lethargy and apathy; (symbolized by the phlegmatic ox) blood made a person unusually optimistic but also compulsively interested in the pleasures of the flesh (symbolized by the sanguine / sensual rabbit) The mouse is a symbol of Satan, whose earthly power, already manifest in the Garden of Eden, was capable of bringing human beings to a life of woe through their own bad choices Dürer placed his signature prominently on a placard hung on a tree branch in Adam's grasp on which perches a parrot—possibly symbolizing false wisdom, since it can only repeat mindlessly what it hears.

Caravaggisti

The Caravaggisti were imitators of Caravaggio's style in Italy and elsewhere

Absolutism

The divine right of Kings and Queens

Rubenesque

characteristic or reminiscent of the paintings of Rubens, especially with reference to his voluptuous female nudes.

Leonardo's career/techniques/style/notebooks/interests/etc.

polymath: studied engineering, botany, geology, human and animal anatomy, fluid dynamics, weaponry design, cartography, stage design, costume design, musics composition, musical instrument design, urban planning, painting, sculpture, architecture, even robotics. illegitimate son of a Florentine notary, apprenticeship in the shop of the Florentine painter and sculptor, he never mastered Latin or Greek, trusting what he could see and experience for himself instead of what he learned in books First documented work, Landscape 1473, first landscape that's just landscape. en plein air: drawing was made on the spot

camera obscura

(literally a "dark room" in Latin), ancestor of the modern camera. It has a tiny pinhole, acting as a lens, that projects an image on a screen, the wall of a room, or the ground glass wall of a box. Artists used these as an aid in drawing from nature because, like a camera, you could set this in front of the scene you wished to draw or paint and the 3D objects would be projected onto a 2D surface and could then be traced, or otherwise copied.

Little Dutch Masters and their specialized genres

- Because specific subjects were sought after, artists specialized in those subjects. The only way the artists could compete in an open art market was by being the best at one thing. We call these specialists the "Little Dutch Masters." Jacob van Ruisdael: Landscapes Frans Hals: Group portraiture / iscocephaly Rachel Ruysch: Vanitas / still life Johannes Vermeer: Domestic scenes / portraits

Sfumato

- Italian term meaning "smoky," soft, and mellow. In painting, the effect of haze in an image - Resembling the color of the atmosphere at dusk, sfumato gives a smoky effect.

Terribilità

- is a quality of provoking terror, awe, or a sense of the sublime, in the viewer, that is ascribed to Michelangelo's art

Baldacchino—definition, symbolism and imagery, function in church, source of the bronze

A canopy (whether suspended from the ceiling, projecting from a wall, or supported by columns) placed over an honorific or sacred space such as a throne or church altar. When Urban VIII was elected pope in 1623, he unhesitatingly gave the young Bernini the daunting task of designing an enormous bronze baldacchino, or canopy, over the high altar of St. Peter's. The resulting baldacchino, completed in 1633, stands almost 100 feet high and exemplifies the Baroque objective to create multimedia works—combining architecture, sculpture, and sometimes painting as well—that defy simple categorization. The gigantic corner columns symbolize the union of Christianity and its Jewish tradition; the vine of the Eucharist climbs the twisted columns associated with the Temple of Solomon. They support an entablature with a crowning element topped with an orb (a sphere representing the universe) and a cross (symbolizing the reign of Christ). This imposing work not only marks the site of the tomb of St. Peter, but also serves as a tribute to Urban VIII and his family, the Barberini, whose emblems are prominently displayed—honeybees and suns on the tasseled panels and laurel leaves on the climbing vines.

basilica plan

A large rectangular building. Often built with a clerestory, side aisles separated from the center nave by colonnades, and an apse at one or both ends. Originally Roman centers for administration, later adapted to Christian church use.

Mannerism and possible reasons for the style's development

A new style developed in Florence and Rome in the 1520s that some art historians have associated with the death of Raphael and labeled "Mannerism," a word deriving from the Italian maniera (meaning "style") Mannerism developed into an anti-Classical movement in which artificiality, grace, and elegance took priority over the ordered balance and lifelike references that were hallmarks of High Renaissance art Patrons favored esoteric subjects, displays of extraordinary technical virtuosity, and the pursuit of beauty for its own sake. Architects working in the Mannerist style designed buildings that defied uniformity and balance and used Classical orders in unconventional, even playful, ways. Painters working in the Mannerist style fearlessly manipulated and distorted accepted formal conventions, creating contrived compositions and irrational spatial environments. Figures take on elongated proportions, enigmatic gestures, dreamy expressions, and complicated, artificial poses.

Marie de'Medici

Along with the Church, the other great patron of Rubens and his workshop was the Aristocracy, and the Aristocracy especially loved paintings that celebrated their power and glory. Marie de' Medici, Queen of France was a patron of Rubens she lived in Paris: the Palais du Luxembourg. Her husband dies a year after their wedding, the French court thought she may have been the one to do it. Rubens' Marie de' Medici cycle, 1622-25 is 21 large canvases celebrating the glory of the queen, even though her husband died under mysterious circumstances. (King Henri IV Receives a Portrait of Marie de'Medici, Arrival of Marie de Medici in Marseilles)

Influence and Compositional elements in the work of Raphael

Already a superb painter technically, the youthful Raphael shows his indebtedness to his teacher in the delicate tilt of the figures' heads, the brilliant tonalities, and the pervasive sense of serenity. Leonardo's impact is also evident here in the simple grandeur of the monumental shapes, the pyramidal composition activated by the spiraling movement of the child, and the draperies that cling to the Virgin's substantial form. Experimenting with the multiple-figure interactions pioneered by Leonardo in The Virgin of the Rocks, Raphael included the young John the Baptist in other Madonnas from this period Unlike his predecessors, Raphael turned his subjects to address the viewer in his portraits

Characteristics of the architecture of Palladio

Andrea palladio - perhaps the most influential of all renaissance architects due to his Four Books on Architecture 1570. Thomas jefferson referred to it as the bible of architecture Andrea Palladio dominated architecture during the second half of the century by expanding upon the principles of Alberti and the ancient Romans. His buildings—whether villas, palaces, or churches—were characterized by harmonious symmetry and controlled ornamentation. Much of palladio's architecture is on the mainland of italy, in suburb houses he designed for the wealthy venetians Palladio is responsible for crescent windows now found in every mansion in america Villa Rotunda (formerly Villa Capra) near Vincenza Italy 1550-1570 - Country family estate, statement of dignity and sophistication, same facade on all four sides with dome in the center, classical style (Pediment, columns, etc.)

central plan architecture

Any structure designed with a primary central space surrounded by symmetrical areas on each side, e.g., a rotunda.

Patronage/art market in the Dutch Republic, as opposed to the other cultures we looked at

Because they were free from the control of a king and not every province shared the same religion (some were Catholic and some were Protestant), there was no single powerful patron, such as a monarch or the pope to commission artwork. Therefore, it was the middle class who purchased the art in the Dutch Republic. For the most part, the art was not commissioned, however. It was made without a specific buyer in mind—like today's galleries. It was an open, competitive art market. This makes the Dutch art market different from all other Baroque art markets.

Bernini's David—how is it different than those that came before it?

Bernini's david, made for a nephew of Pope Paul V in 1623, introduced a new type of three-dimensional composition that intrudes forcefully into the viewer's space. The young hero bends at the waist and twists far to one side, ready to launch the lethal rock at Goliath. Unlike Donatello's sassy boy and Verrocchio's poised and proud adolescent—both already victorious—or Michelangelo's pensive young man contemplating the task ahead, Bernini's more mature David, with his sinewy body, tightly clenched mouth, and straining muscles, is all tension, action, and determination. By creating a twisting figure caught in movement, Bernini incorporates the surrounding space within his composition, implying the presence of an unseen adversary somewhere behind the viewer. Thus, the viewer becomes part of the action, rather than its displaced and dispassionate observer.

Francesco Borromini

Borromini, a nephew of architect Carlo Maderno, worked under Bernini's supervision on the decoration of St. Peter's Awarded the commission for San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (St. Charles at the Four Fountains) at the intersection of two of the wide, straight avenues created by Pope Sixtus V, with fountains marking each of the four corners of the crossing san carlo alle quattro fontane stands on a narrow piece of land with one corner cut off to accommodate one of the fountains that give the church its name. To fit the irregular site, Borromini created an elongated central-plan interior space with undulating walls. The coffers (inset panels in geometric shapes) filling the interior of the oval dome form an eccentric honeycomb of crosses, elongated hexagons, and octagons. The dome appears to be shimmering and inflating—almost floating up and away—thanks to light sources placed in the lower coffers and the lantern. Borromini's treatment of the architectural elements as if they were malleable was also unprecedented. His contemporaries understood immediately what an extraordinary innovation the church represented; the Trinitarian monks who had commissioned it received requests for plans from visitors from all over Europe. He turned the building's front into an undulating, sculpture-filled screen punctuated with large columns and deep concave and convex niches that create dramatic effects of light and shadow. Borromini: commited suicide because he never got as much credit as another artist we learned about with a similar name.

Tenebroso/tenebrism

Caravaggio's knowledge of Lombard painting, where the influence of Leonardo was strong, must have facilitated his development of the technique now known as tenebrism, in which forms emerge from a dark background into a strong light that often falls from a single source outside the painting. The effect is that of a theatrical spotlight.

Pope Urban VIII Barberini

Cardinal Maffeo Barberini (Pope Urban VIII Barberini 1623-1644) makes Bernini head of all artistics projects under Papacy in Rome "Your luck is great to see Cardinal Maffeo Barberine Pope, cavalier; but ours is much greater to have Cavalier Bernin alive in our pontification."

Il Gesù--why is its facade and ground plan important for the history of architecture?

Catholicism's new emphasis on individual, emotional participation brought a focus on sermons and music, requiring churches with wide naves and unobstructed views of the altar. Ignatius of Loyola was determined to build il gesù, the Jesuit headquarters church in Rome, according to these precepts Vignola designed a wide, barrel-vaulted nave with shallow, connected side chapels. There are no aisles and only truncated transepts contained within the line of the outer walls—enabling all worshipers to gather in the central space. A single, huge apse and dome over the crossing directed attention to the altar. The symmetrical façade, in Vignola's original design as well as della Porta's variation on it, emphasized the central portal with Classical pilasters, engaged columns and pediments, and volutes scrolling out laterally to hide the buttresses of the central vault and link the tall central section with the lower sides. the façade design had significant influence well into the next century. The early Renaissance grid of Classical pilasters and entablatures was abandoned for a two-story design that coordinates paired columns or pilasters, aligned vertically to tie together the two stories of the central block, which corresponds with the nave elevation. The main entrance, with its central portal aligned with a tall upper-story window, became the focus of the composition. Centrally aligned pediments break into the level above, leading the eye upward to the cartouches with coats of arms—here of both Cardinal Farnese, the patron, and the Jesuits (whose arms display the initials IHS, the monogram of Christ).

How was Michelangelo's Last Judgment changed?

Conservative clergy criticized it for its nudity, and after Michelangelo's death they ordered bits of drapery to be added by artist Daniele da Volterra to conceal the offending areas, earning Daniele the unfortunate nickname "Il Braghettone" ("breeches painter").

Council of Trent guidelines on art

Council of Trent last session 1563 with mannerism being so strang the church felt that art was not serving the needs of the faithful and offerings some guidelines for art to be useful of the church Recommendations for art used in the service of the church: Art must be as real as possible even if the subject is horrible Art must be simple clear and legible Art should evoke a pious response

Diego Velazquez—his life, his work, his influences, his relationship with the royal family and court

Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (1599-1660), the greatest painter to emerge from the Caravaggesque school of Seville, painted scenes set in taverns, markets, and kitchens, and emphasized still lifes of various foods and kitchen utensils. His early "water carrier of seville" is a study of the surfaces and textures of the splendid ceramic pots that have characterized folk art through the centuries. Velázquez arranged the elements of his paintings with almost mathematical rigor. The objects and figures allow the artist to exhibit his virtuosity in rendering volumes and contrasting textures in dramatic natural light. Light reflects in different ways off the glazed water pot at the left and the coarser clay jug in the foreground; it is absorbed by the rough wool and dense velvet of the costumes; it is refracted as it passes through the clear glass held by the man and the water drops on the jug's surface. In 1623, Velázquez moved to Madrid, where he became court painter to the young King Philip IV, a prestigious position that he held until his death in 1660. The opportunity to study paintings in the royal collection, as well as to travel, enabled the development of his distinctive personal style. He was profoundly influenced by contemporary Italian painting, and on the first trip seems to have taken a special interest in narrative paintings with complex figure compositions.

Bramante and his inspiration for the Tempietto and New St. Peter's

Donato Bramante (1444-1514) was born near Urbino and trained as a painter, but turned to architectural design early in his career. Spanish rulers Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand commissioned a small shrine over the spot in Rome where the apostle Peter was believed to have been crucified In this tiny building, known as Il Tempietto ("Little Temple"), Bramante combined his interpretation of the principles of Vitruvius and Alberti, from the stepped base to the Tuscan columns and Doric frieze (Vitruvius had advised that the Doric order be used for temples to gods of particularly forceful character) to the elegant balustrade. The centralized plan and the tall drum supporting a hemispheric dome recall Early Christian shrines built over martyrs' relics, as well as ancient Roman circular temples. Especially notable is the sculptural effect of the building's exterior, with its deep wall niches and sharp contrasts of light and shadow. Bramante's design called for a circular cloister around the church, but the cloister was never built.

Leonardo's Last Supper—composition, technique used, damage, restoration

Duke Ludovico Sforza's request, Leonardo painted the last supper in the dining hall of the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan between 1495 and 1498 The painting's careful geometry, the convergence of its perspective lines, the stability of its pyramidal forms, and Jesus's calm demeanor at the mathematical center of all the commotion, work together to reinforce the sense of gravity, balance, and order. The clarity and stability of this painting epitomize High Renaissance style. Hoping to achieve the freedom and flexibility of painting on wood panel, he worked directly on dry intonaco—a thin layer of smooth plaster—with an oil-and-tempera paint for which the formula is unknown. The result was disastrous. Within a short time, the painting began to deteriorate, and by the middle of the sixteenth century its figures could be seen only with difficulty.

Still lifes and Landscapes in Dutch Baroque Art—symbolism and imagery

Dutch landscapes showed low horizon lines to emphasize the flat landscape of the Dutch Republic, especially in the areas where they reclaimed the land by draining their swampy marshes. It is a symbol of their national pride because it shows off the hard work they did in order to become so wealthy. Initially, still life paintings included objects that were meant to show off the wealth of the country. These items were expensive and obtained through trade (how the middle class made their money). Therefore, these paintings can be interpreted as a patriotic display of the Dutch Republic's prosperity. However as you learned in discussion, there is another side to these still life paintings. They can also be seen as warnings—to not value the ephemeral and material world. These works are examples of vanitas—paintings with obvious references to the brevity of life. Notice that the cheese is beginning to mold and the peeled fruit is shriveled.

Watercolor

Dürer was the first artist to use the watercolor medium, water is the binder for pigment

Figura serpentinata

Figura serpentinata is a style in painting and sculpture, intended to make the figure seem more dynamic, that is typical of Mannerism. It is similar, but not identical, to contrapposto, and features figures often in a spiral pose. Leonardo used in in Mona Lisa, Michael Angelo in Sistine Chapel

Bernini's Cornaro Chapel

From 1642 until 1652, Bernini worked on the decoration of the funerary chapel of the Venetian cardinal Federigo Cornaro in the Roman church of Santa Maria della Vittoria, designed by Carlo Maderno earlier in the century. Bernini designed it as a rich and theatrical setting for the portrayal of a central event in Teresa's life. He covered the walls with multicolored marble panels and crowned them with a projecting cornice supported by marble pilasters. In the center of the chapel, framed by columns in the huge oval niche above the altar, is Bernini's marble group St. Teresa of Ávila in Ecstasy, which represents an eroticized vision described by the Spanish mystic in which an angel pierced her body repeatedly with an arrow, transporting her to a state of indescribable pain, religious ecstasy, and a sense of oneness with God St. Teresa and the angel, who seem to float upward, are cut from a heavy mass of solid marble supported on a seemingly drifting pedestal that was fastened by hidden metal bars to the chapel wall. Bernini's skill at capturing the movements and emotions of these figures is matched by his virtuosity in simulating different textures and colors in the pure white marble; the angel's gauzy, clinging draperies seem silken in contrast with Teresa's heavy woolen monastic robe. Kneeling against what appear to be balconies on both sides of the chapel are marble portrait sculptures of Federigo, his deceased father (a Venetian doge), and six cardinals of the Cornaro family. The figures are informally posed and naturalistically portrayed. Two read from their prayer books, others exclaim at the miracle taking place in the light-infused realm above the altar, and one leans out from his seat, apparently to look at someone entering the chapel—perhaps the viewer, whose space these figures share. Bernini's intent was not to produce a spectacle for its own sake, but to capture a critical, dramatic moment at its emotional and sensual height, and by doing so guide viewers to identify totally with the event—and perhaps be transformed in the process.

Sources for imagery in Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights

Garden of Earthly Delights 1505-1510. In closed form the "altarpiece" is in grisaille, sources of inspiration include: flemish proverbs, bestiaries, dreambooks, alchemy In the left wing, God introduces doll-like figures of Adam and Eve under the watchful eye of the owl of perverted wisdom. The owl symbolizes both wisdom and folly. Folly had become an important concept to the Northern European humanists, who believed in the power of education. In the central panel, the Earth teems with such monsters, but also with vivacious human revelers and huge fruits, symbolic of fertility and sexual abandon. In hell, at the right, sensual pleasures—eating, drinking, music, and dancing—become instruments of torture in a dark world of fire and ice. Luscious fruits of obvious sexual symbolism—strawberries, cherries, grapes, and pomegranates—appear everywhere in the garden, serving as food, as shelter, and even as a boat. One scholar has proposed that the central panel is a parable on human salvation in which the practice of alchemy—the process that sought to turn common metals into gold—parallels Christ's power to convert human dross into spiritual gold.

Artemisia Gentileschi—her life and themes in her work

Gentileschi first studied and worked under her father, Orazio, one of the earliest followers of Caravaggio.One of her most famous paintings, a clear example of her debt to Caravaggio's tenebrism and naturalism, is judith beheading holofernes: The subject is drawn from the biblical book of Judith, which recounts the story of the destructive invasion of Judah by the Assyrian general Holofernes, when the brave Jewish widow Judith risked her life to save her people. Using her charm to gain Holofernes's trust, Judith enters his tent with her maidservant while he is drunk and beheads him with his own sword. Gentileschi emphasizes the grisly facts of this heroic act, as the women struggle to subdue Holofernes while blood spurts from the severing of his jugular. Dramatic spotlighting and a convergence of compositional diagonals rivet our attention on the most sensational aspects of the scene, which have been pushed toward us in the foreground. Throughout her life, Gentileschi painted many such images of heroic biblical women, which art historians have interpreted in relation to her own struggle to claim her rightful place in an art world dominated by men. She was raped at 15 by a family friend giving her art lessons (trail provoked a scandal in Rome) She never changed her story even after torture, her father became friends with her rapist

Symbolism and imagery in the Pastoral Concert

Giorgione, Pastoral Symphony, 1508-10. In this mythic world, two men—an aristocratic musician in rich red silks and a barefoot, singing peasant in homespun cloth—turn toward each other, seemingly unaware of the two naked women in front of them. One woman plays a pipe and the other pours water into a well; the white drapery sliding to the ground enhances rather than hides their nudity. Naked women could possibly be the "muses" that inspire the men to make their music. Glass pitcher is a celebration of venetian glass, only made in venice during this time. As if "drawing inspiration" from a well The painting evokes a golden age of love and innocence recalled in ancient Roman and Italian Renaissance pastoral poetry. In fact, the painting is now interpreted as an allegory on the invention of poetry.

Jusepe de Ribera—his training and influence

He combined the Classical and Caravaggesque styles he had learned in Rome to create a new Neapolitan—and eventually Spanish—style. Ribera became the link extending from Caravaggio in Italy to the Spanish masters Zurbarán and Velázquez. Ribera's painting of the martyrdom of st. bartholomew (the apostle who was martyred by being skinned alive) captures the horror of the violence to come while emphasizing the saint's spirituality and acceptance. The bound Bartholomew looks heavenward as his executioner tests the sharpness of the knife that he will soon use on his victim. Ribera has learned the lessons of Caravaggio well, as he highlights the intensely realistic faces with the dramatic light of tenebrism and describes the aging, wrinkled flesh in great detail.

Jan Vermeer—style

He wasn't the typical professional artist of the time. He made his living as an innkeeper and only made/sold about one painting a year. The fact that he was a hobbyist working out of his home dictated his subject matter (usually domestic scenes or portraits of those around him). In typical Baroque fashion, Vermeer's Girl With A Pearl Earring is interacting with the viewer. She has turned to look toward you and is responding to something you have said. Also typical of the Baroque, you see the use of tenebrism against a dark background The painting almost looks like an out-of-focus photograph with the blobby highlights on the eyes and earring. During the time of Vermeer, the pinhole had a series of lenses in it, but they were not perfectly ground. So, they were probably a bit out of focus, thus producing that blurry and washed out effect that he most likely copied when painting the Girl with a Pearl Earring.

Symbolism and imagery of Michelangelo's David--where was it made to go, where did it end up, what did this placement come to symbolize?

In 1501, Michelangelo accepted a Florentine commission for a statue of the biblical hero David to be placed high atop a buttress of the cathedral. But when it was finished in 1504, the David was so admired that the city council instead placed it in the principal city square, next to the Palazzo della Signoria, the seat of Florence's government. There it stood as a reminder of Florence's republican status, which was briefly reinstated after the expulsion of the powerful Medici oligarchy in 1494. Slingshot over his shoulder and a rock in his right hand, Michelangelo's David knits his brow and stares into space, seemingly preparing himself psychologically for the danger ahead, a mere youth confronting a gigantic experienced warrior This David stands for the supremacy of right over might—a perfect emblem for the Florentines, who had recently fought the forces of Milan, Siena, and Pisa and still faced political and military pressure.

Titian's Pesaro Madonna and its compositional innovation

In 1519, Jacopo Pesaro, commander of the papal fleet that had defeated the Turks in 1502, commissioned Titian to commemorate the victory in a votive altarpiece for a side-aisle chapel in the Franciscan church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice. He created an asymmetrical setting of huge columns on high bases soaring right out of the frame. Into this architectural setting, he placed the Virgin and Child on a high throne at one side and arranged saints and the Pesaro family below on a diagonal axis, crossing at the central figure of St. Peter (a reminder of Jacopo's role as head of the papal forces in 1502). The red of Francesco Pesaro's brocade garment and of the banner diagonally across sets up a contrast of primary colors against St. Peter's blue tunic and yellow mantle and the red and blue draperies of the Virgin. St. Maurice (behind the kneeling Jacopo at the left) holds the banner with the papal arms, and a cowering Turkish captive reminds the viewer of the Christian victory. A youth turning to meet our gaze at lower right guarantees our engagement, and light floods in from above, illuminating not only this and other faces, but also the great columns, where putti in the clouds carry a cross. Breakthrough in composition: oblique diagonal space, mary is off-center Vanishing point perspective isn't central Plunging diagonal space becomes hugely popular in Baroque/Rococo

Etching, Drypoint

In etching, the print is made using the same intaglio process as with engravings. However, the lines are not cut with force into the surface of the metal plate. Instead they are drawn on a metal plate covered with an acid resistant wax coating called the etching ground (the drawn lines are created by lightly scratching away the ground, but not digging into the metal). The plate is then put in a diluted acid bath and the acid etches ("bites") the lines into the plate where the ground has been scratched away. Then the plate is removed from the acid, washed, and inked With drypoint, the artist uses a sharpened stylus—a drypoint needle. The artist pushes into the metal plate with this tool. As they do, the metal is not cut away, as in engraving; instead a groove is made and the excess metal is pushed to the sides (like digging a ditch). As a result, there are curved bits of metal all along the groove where ink is trapped during the inking process. When printed, that trapped ink spreads out and causes the lines to appear sort of soft and textured; therefore, you get the black, velvety tones

Poesie

Italian Renaissance paintings based on Classical themes, often with erotic overtones, notably in the mid-sixteenth-century works of the Venetian painter Titian. A poetic treatment of the subject

Michelangelo's Pietà subject matter, meaning, and his composition, especially in comparison to Northern versions

Michelangelo Pieta 1498-1500 represents sorrow over son, reinterprets and brings new light to a famous story, only work he signed on the strap of her chest, fully sculpts face even though viewers can not see (but Mary does). Cardinal wanted it to be the most beautiful sculpture Michelangelo traveled to the marble quarries at Carrara in central Italy to select the block from which to make this large work, a practice he was to continue for nearly all his sculpture. The choice of stone was important to him because he envisioned his sculpture as already existing within the marble, needing only his tools to set it free. Michelangelo's Virgin is a young woman of heroic stature holding the unnaturally smaller, lifeless body of her grown son. Inconsistencies of scale and age are forgotten, however, when contemplating the sweetness of expression, technical virtuosity of the carving, and smooth interplay of the forms. Michelangelo's compelling vision of beauty was meant to be seen up close so that the viewer can look directly into Jesus's face.

Sistine Ceiling—its symbolism and imagery, Michelangelo's techniques, development

Michelangelo considered himself a sculptor, but the strong-minded pope wanted paintings; work began in 1508. In Michelangelo's design, an illusionistic marble architecture establishes a framework for the figures and narrative scenes on the vault of the chapel. Life of Moses and Life of Christ (trying to bridge the two testament) According to Michelangelo, when he objected to the limitations of Julius's plan, the pope told him to paint whatever he liked. Between the pilasters are figures of prophets and sibyls (female seers from the Classical world) who were believed to have foretold Jesus's birth. Delphic Sibyl (see visions like prophets but pagans adding the complete history of mankind) -ignudo (ignudi, plural) (singular: Ignudo; from the Italian adjective nudo, meaning "naked") are the 20 athletic, nude males that Michelangelo painted as supporting figures at the each corner of the five smaller narrative scenes that run along the centre of the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Acorns represent someone household/family lineage Noah's Flood (issue with mold, too much detail to be seen) Lilith, Adam's first wife becomes serpent. Michelangelo makes both Adam and Eve reach for the fruit (refuses to blame women) Michelangelo portrays God as gender-fluid God's earliest acts of creation are therefore closest to the altar, the Creation of Eve at the center of the ceiling, followed by the imperfect actions of humanity: Temptation, Fall, Expulsion from Paradise, and God's eventual destruction of all people except Noah and his family by the Flood. Perhaps the most familiar scene on the ceiling is the creation of adam (fig. 21-18), where Michelangelo captures the moment when God charges the languorous Adam—in a pose adapted from the Roman river-god type—with the spark of life.

Four Books of Architecture

Over the years, Palladio became involved in several publishing ventures, including a guide to Roman antiquities and an illustrated edition of Vitruvius. He also published his own books on architecture—including ideal plans for country estates using proportions derived from ancient Roman buildings—that would be valued for centuries as resources for architectural design. Despite their theoretical bent, his writings were often more practical than earlier treatises. Perhaps his early experience as a stonemason enabled him to discuss technical problems with the same clarity as theories of ideal proportion and uses of the Classical orders. By the eighteenth century, Palladio's Four Books of Architecture were in the libraries of most educated people. Thomas Jefferson had one of the first copies in America.

Raphael's School of Athens—symbolism, imagery, characters

Raphael left Florence about 1508 for Rome, where Pope Julius II put him to work almost immediately decorating rooms (stanze, singular stanza) in the papal apartments. In the Stanza della Segnatura—the pope's private library and study—Raphael painted the four branches of knowledge as conceived in the sixteenth century Raphael's most influential achievement in the papal rooms was The School of Athens, painted about 1510-1511. Here, the painter summarizes the ideals of the Renaissance papacy in a grand conception of harmoniously arranged forms in a rational space, as well as in the calm dignity of the figures that occupy it. Almost completely symmetrical composition within a rationally defined space, significant use of shadows to reinforce their substantiality. Takes place in a barrel-vaulted space with even light from a single source, inspired by Bramante's design for St. Peters Divided people into groups (similar to Last Supper) to seem more natural. Each figure has a distinct physical and intellectual presence, a variety of poses and gestures create dynamic unity Plato and Aristotle are center (plato points up to the realm of abstract ideas, central to his philosophy, Aristotle gestures to his surroundings signifying the empirical world). They are surrounded by mathematicians, naturalists, astronomers, geographers, other philosophers who are demonstrating and teaching their theories to others. Figure lying on the steps is Socrates as he was often seen teaching reclined from his prison bed Figure leaning over compass (right hand corner) is Euclid, father of Geometry, has a likeness to Bramante Figure brooding in the front is Heraclitus (actually a portrait of Michelangelo, wearing stone-cutters boots and in the style of michelangelo's own work) Figure on the edge of the far right is a self portrait of Raphael

Rembrandt van Rijn—his life, work, influence, innovation in group portraiture

Rembrandt van Rijn is the most important artist working in 17th century Holland, and he is the exception to the rule of Dutch specialization. He practiced every kind of genre supported by the Dutch audience of the day, and invented some unusual subjects of his own, including a large body of religious works. At the height of his career, Rembrandt was extremely wealthy; his works fetched the highest prices of any Dutch artist of this time. Rembrandt's great innovation in Night Watch is to have his company shown in the act of defending their country. The captain and his lieutenant are striding forward out of the painting toward us, calling the company to order to march from the city gate of Amsterdam to fight. In addition to mastering painting, Rembrandt was also a printmaker. A major portion of Rembrandt's artistic output is self-portraiture. He portrayed himself more than any other artist. In 1631, Rembrandt moved from his hometown of Leiden to the biggest city in Holland, Amsterdam. He immediately found great success as a society portraitist. He married the wealthy Saskia van Uylenborch in these early years Rembrandt, like so many of his countrymen, had invested heavily in the Dutch shipping companies, which in 1656 suffered a severe setback when the English seized many of their ships on the high seas. Rembrandt took major losses, couldn't pay his debts, and had to sell off virtually all of his goods—a cessio bonorum.

Quotations used in/Influence for Rubens' Elevation of the Cross, 1610

Rubens's first major commission in Antwerp was a large canvas triptych for the main altar of the church of St. Walpurga, the raising of the cross, painted in 1610-1611. He extended the central action and the landscape through all three panels. At the center, Herculean figures strain to haul upright the wooden cross with Jesus already stretched upon it. At the left, the followers of Jesus join in mourning, and at the right, soldiers supervise the execution. The drama and intense emotion of Caravaggio is merged here with the virtuoso technique of Annibale Carracci, but transformed and reinterpreted according to Rubens's own unique ideal of thematic and formal unity. The heroic nude figures, dramatic lighting effects, dynamic diagonal composition, and intense emotions show his debt to Italian art, but the rich colors and careful description of surface textures reflect his native Flemish tradition. Influence from Italy (light & dark contrast), use of Caravaggio's tenebro, Laocoon (his jesus is almost a direct copy), plunging diagonal of Titian's paintings

Symbolism and Imagery in Bronzino's Allegory with Venus and Cupid

Seven figures, three masks, and a dove interweave in an intricate, formal composition pressed claustrophobically into the foreground plane. Taken as individual images, the figures display the exaggerated poses, graceful forms, polished surfaces, and delicate colors that characterize Mannerist art. Venus and her son Cupid engage in an unsettlingly lascivious dalliance, encouraged by a putto striding in from the right—representing Folly, Jest, or Playfulness—who is about to throw pink roses at them while stepping on a thorny branch that draws blood from his foot. Cupid gently kisses his mother and pinches her erect nipple while she snatches an arrow from his quiver, leading some scholars to suggest that the painting's title should be Venus Disarming Cupid. Venus holds the golden apple of discord given to her by Paris; her dove conforms to the shape of Cupid's foot without actually touching it, while a pair of masks lying at her feet reiterates the theme of duplicity. An old man, Time or Chronos, assisted by an outraged Truth or Night, pulls back a curtain to expose the couple. Lurking just behind Venus, a monstrous serpent—which has the upper body and head of a beautiful young girl and the legs and claws of a lion—crosses her hands to hold a honeycomb and the stinger at the end of her tail. This strange hybrid has been interpreted both as Fraud and Pleasure. In the shadows to the left, a pale and screaming man tearing at his hair has recently been identified as a victim of syphilis, which raged as an epidemic during this period. The painting could, therefore, be a warning of the dangers of this disease, believed in the sixteenth century to be spread principally by coitus, kissing, and breast feeding, all of which are alluded to in the intertwined Cupid and Venus.

Judith Leyster—her significance as an artist, how she presents herself in her Self-Portrait, 1630

So, just like Artemisia Gentileschi, we have an exception to the rule that all artists were men during this period. In the Dutch Republic, you do actually see more female artists. However, they are usually restricted to painting landscapes and still lifes (subjects that do not require them to study nude bodies). Judith Leyster breaks this rule and paints figures, but not just portraits. She paints the most inappropriate genre for a proper young woman in polite society; Judith Leyster paints low-life genre scenes. These images of vices weren't just meant to be humorous. Just like the vanitas still life paintings we looked at, these are warnings against these bad behaviors. Leyster has adopted the tenebrism of Caravaggio In her self portrait she is showing off her unique profession by depicting herself in the act of painting one of those low-life genre scenes. Notice how cocky she seems about it too (badass).

Colore (or Colorito) vs. Disegno

The Venetians paint and create form through color, rather than line. This approach is called coloré. It is empirical, optic--what you see and experience with your senses, and sensual The technique most of the mainlanders used at this time is called disegno. Disegno is the Italian word for "drawing." It is conceptual, haptic—what you know is out there from careful study, and intellectual. Michelangelo mapped out composition through a series of intellectualized sketches, until he reached the twists and turns of lines that describe the movement of the forms you see in the painting.When you look closely at the work, it is line that describes those forms. Titian's work, on the other hand, looks like it's constructed primarily by planes of color, not crisp, controlling lines. The forms are made up of intersecting and blended areas of color. And a sense of atmosphere pervades the figures, as if a haze is fusing all of the colors together. In Venetian painting, a filtered light reveals color, which articulates form

Iconoclasm

The banning and/or destruction of images, especially icons and religious art. Iconoclasm in eighth- and ninth-century Byzantium and sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Protestant territories arose from differing beliefs about the power, meaning, function, and purpose of imagery in religion. Endorsed by John Calvin and others, but not by Martin Luther. Waves of iconoclastic riots continued through out the 1500's

Titian's career/accomplishments/innovations

Titian's early life is obscure. He supposedly began an apprenticeship as a mosaicist, then studied painting under Gentile and Giovanni Bellini, perhaps working later with Giorgione. He certainly absorbed Giorgione's style and completed at least one of Giorgione's unfinished paintings. No photograph can convey the vibrancy of Titian's paint surfaces, which he built up in layers of pure colors, chiefly red, white, yellow, and black, on his canvases. A recent scientific study of Titian's paintings revealed that he ground his pigments much finer than had earlier, wood-panel painters. The complicated process by which he produced many of his works began with a charcoal drawing on the prime coat of lead white that was used to seal the pores and smooth the surface of the rather coarse Venetian canvas. The artist then built up the forms with fine glazes of different colors, sometimes in as many as 15 layers.

Symbolism and imagery in Velazquez' Las Meninas—who is he painting, viewer participation, levels of reality, social status, etc.

Velázquez's most enigmatic, and perhaps most striking, work is the enormous multiple portrait known as las meninas (the maids of honor) painted in 1656, near the end of his life. This painting continues to challenge viewers and stimulate debate among art historians. Velázquez draws viewers directly into the scene, the viewer stands in the very space occupied by King Philip and his queen, whose reflections can be seen in the large mirror on the back wall Velázquez himself is also present, brushes in hand, beside a huge canvas. The central focus, however, is neither the artist nor the royal couple but their brilliantly illuminated 5-year-old daughter, the Infanta (princess) Margarita So Baroque is this work in its interest to involve the viewer, that the viewer has become the subject of the work of art. The figures in the painting are watching you as Velazquez paints your portrait. After the painting was finished, Philip the IV awarded Velazquez with knighthood. So proud was Velazquez of this honor that he came back to the painting and added the red sword--the badge of the highest order of knighthood in Spain--to his vest. This is another example of the rise of social status of the artist.

Symbolism and imagery in Titian's Venus of Urbino

a beautiful Venetian courtesan with deliberately provocative gestures, stretching languidly on her couch in a spacious palace, her glowing flesh and golden hair set off by white sheets and pillows. The painting was more about marriage than mythology or seductiveness: the subject is awake and making eye contact with the viewer, the dog however is peacefully asleep, meaning that the viewer is familiar /safe. This also symbolizes fidelity in marriage, therefore the viewer is the husband The chests in the background signify that the subject is married / about to get dressed Titian's picture might be associated with Duke Guidobaldo's marriage in 1534 to the 10-year-old Giulia Verano. Four years later, when this painting arrived, she would have been considered an adult rather than a child bride. It seems to represent neither a Roman goddess nor a Venetian courtesan, but a bride welcoming her husband into their lavish bedroom.

Vitruvius/Symbolism in the Vitruvian Man

c. 1490 Based on a maxim coined by Protagoras, and quoted by Vitruvius: Man is the measure of all things. The body creates perfect square (arm span, head to toe), body creates perfect circle (belly button to finger tip and toe length)

Portraiture of Frans Hals

iscocephaly - all of the heads are placed at the same level in a group of figures, creating a static and unnatural effect. Frans Hals innovated group portraiture by eliminating iscocephaly. By eliminating iscocephaly, the composition is more lively and interesting. It also feels less staged and more natural, as if we have walked in on this militia company having a dinner banquet. Notice some of them have stopped mid-speech to look at us and others haven't realized we are there yet. Frans Hals also painted portraits of local characters, Frans Hals painted a number of images like this (drunkards having a good time). This genre of painting is known as LOW-LIFE GENRE or COMIC LOW-LIFE GENRE scenes. In general, low-life genre scenes depict people engaging in bad behaviors, such as vices like drinking, smoking, and enjoying music a little too much.

Caravaggio—characteristics of his work and his influence on other artists

likely the most influential painter in 17th century Europe, who developed a set approaches to realism in painting that influenced ever artist He had a violent temper and scrapes with the law, killed a man in 1606 and was on the run until his death due to illness in 1610 at the age of 38 Homicidal temper but brilliant artist introduced a powerfully frank realism and dramatic, theatrical lighting and gesture to Italian Baroque art. His subjects from the 1590s include not only still lifes but also genre scenes featuring fortune-tellers, cardsharps, and glamorous young men dressed as musicians or mythological figures. Most of Caravaggio's commissions after 1600 were religious, and reactions to them were mixed. Sometimes patrons rejected his powerful, sometimes brutal, naturalism as unsuitable to the subject's dignity. Others recognized him as a great innovator who reintroduced realism into art and developed new, dramatic lighting effects. Caravaggio interpreted his religious subjects directly and dramatically, combining intensely observed figures, poses, and expressions with strongly contrasting effects of light and color.

Impasto

the surface is of a painting is built up into heavy layers with a visible texture, many artists use this technique to enhance the expressive power of their work.