AP Art History Unit VIII Test (Chapters 14 and 20)- everything but specific works of art.

Chartreuse

"A Carthusian monastery."

Breviary

"A Christian religious book of selected daily prayers and Psalms."

Cherub

"A chubby winged child angel."

Finial

"A crowning ornament."

Intaglio

"A graphic technique in which the design is incised, or scratched, on a metal place, either manually (engraving, drypoint) or chemically (etching). The incised lines of the design take the ink, making this the reverse of the woodcut technique."

Etching

"A kind of engraving in which the design is incised in a layer of wax or varnish on a metal plate. The parts of the plate left exposed are then etched (slightly eaten away) by the acid in which the plate in immersed after incising. See also drypoint, intaglio."

Oil Painting

"A painting technique using oil-based pigments that rose to prominence in northern Europe in the 15th century and is now the standard medium for painting on canvas."

Lunette

"A semicircular area (with flat side down) in a wall over a door,niche, or window; also, a painting or relief with a semicircular frame."

Edition

"A set of impressions taken from a single print surface."

Quatrefoil

"A shape or plan in which the parts assume the form of a cloverleaf."

Glaze

"A vitreous coating applied to pottery to seal and decorate the surface; it may be colored, transparent, or opaque, and glossy or matte. In oil painting, a thin, transparent, or semitransparent layer applied over a color to alter it slightly."

Woodcut

"A wooden block on the surface of which those parts not intended to print are cut away to a slight depth, leaving the design raised; also, the printed impression made with such a block."

Polyptych

"An altarpiece composed of more than three sections."

Doge

"Duke; a ruler of the Republic of Venice, Italy."

Matins

"In Christianity, early morning prayers."

Sfumato

"Italian, 'smoky.' A smokelike haziness that subtly softens outlines in painting; particularly applied to the paintings of Leonardo da Vinci and Correggio."

Gesso

"Plaster mixed with a binding material, used as the base coat for paintings on wood panels."

Compline

"The last prayer of the day in a Book of Hours."

Charter House

"The meeting hall in a monastery."

Engraving

"The process of incising a design in hard material, often a metal plate (usually copper); also, the print or impression made from such a plate."

Annunciation

- "A pupil of Duccio's, Martini was instrumental in the creation of the International style. Its hallmarks are elegant shapes,radiant color, flowing line, and weightless figures in golden, spaceless settings." - The International Style "swept Europe during the late 14th and early 15th centuries because it appealed to the artistocratic taste for brilliant colors, lavish costumes, intrcate ornamentation, and themes involving splendid processions." - "The complex etiquette of the European chivalric courts probably dictated the presentation. The angel Gabriel has just alighted, the breeze of his passage lifiting his mantle, his iridescent wings still beating. The gold of his sumptuous gown signals he has descended from heaven to deliver his message. The virgin, putting down her book of devotions, shrinks demurely from Gabriel's reverent genuflection- an appropriate act in the presence of royalty. Mary draws about her the deep blue, golden-hemmed mantle, colors befitting the queen of Heaven. Between the two figures is a vase of white lilies, symbolic of the Virgin's purity. Despite Mary's modesty and diffidence and the tremendous import of the angel's message, the scene subordinates drama to court ritual, and structural experimentation to surface splendor. The intricate tracery of the richly tooled (reconstructed) French Gothic-inspired frame and the elaborate punchwork halos (by then a characteristic feature of sienese panel painting) enhance the tactile magnificence of Annunciation." - "Simone Martini and his student and assistant, Lippo Memmi... signed the altarpiece and dated it (1333). The latter's contribution to Annunciation is still a matter of debate, but most art historians believe he painted the two lateral saints. These figures, which are reminiscent of the jamb statues of Gothic church portals have greater solidity and lack the linear elegance of Martini's central pair. Given the nature of medieval and Renaissance workshop practices, it is often difficult to distinguish the master's hand from those of assistants, especially if the master corrected or redid part of the pupil's work".

Madonna Enthroned

- "Giotto displaced the Byzantine style in Italian painting and revived classical naturalism. His figures have substance, dimensionality, and bulk, and give the illusion that they could through shadows." - made "for the high altar of Florence's Churhc of the Ognissanti." - gold background. - very stable looking madonna - assertion of madonna's body, breasts emphasized. - no gold highlights on madonna's robe. - return of the physcial being,which was not really seen in Italo byzantine and byzantine art. - "Giotto's Madonna Enthroned marks the end of medieval painting in Italy and the beginning of a new naturalistic approach to art." - REMEMBER: GOLD GROUND PANEL PAINTINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tilman Riemenchneider Altarpiece

- "He incorporated intricate Gothic forms, especially in the altarpiece's elaborate canopy, but unlike Stoss, he did not paint the figures or the background. By employing an endless and restless line running through the garments of the figures, Riemenschneider suceeded in setting the whole design into fluid motion, and no individual element functions without the rest. The draperies float and flow around the bodies lost within them, serving not as descriptions but as design elements that tie the figures to one another and to the framework. A look of psychic strain, a facial expression common in Riemenschneider's work, heightens the spirituality of the figures, immaterial and weightless as they appear." - "Riemenschneider specialized in carving large wood retables. His works feature intricate Gothic tracery and religious figures whose bodies are almost lost within their swirling garments."

Death and Assumption of the Virgin Altarpiece

- "In this huge sculptured and painted altarpiece, Stoss used every figural and ornamental element from the vocabulary of Gothic art to heighten the emotion and to glorify the sacred event." - Death and Assumption are on center, on wings are "scenes from the lives of Christ and Mary." - "The altar forcefully expresses the intense piety of Gothic culture in its late phase, kwhen artists used every figural and ornamental motif in the repetoire of Gothic art to heighten the emotion and to glorify sacred events. In the Krakow altarpiece, Christ's disciples congregate around the virgin, who collapses, dying. One of them supports her, while another wrings his hands in grief. Stoss posed otehrs in attitudes of woe and psychic shock, striving for realism in every minute detail. he engulfed the figures in restless, twisting, and curving swaths of drapery whose broken and writhing lines unite the whole tableau in a vision of agitated emotion. The artist's massing of sharp, broken, and pierced forms that dart flamelike through the composition- at once unifying and animating it- recalls the design principles of Late Gothic architecture. Indeed, in the Krakow altarpiece, Stoss merged sculpture and architecture, ennhancing their union with paint and guilding."

Birth of the Virgin

- "In this triptych, Pietro Lorenzetti revived the pictorial illusionism of ancient Roman murals and painted the architectural members dividing the panel as if they extended back into the painted space." - student of Duccio - "Lorenzetti achieved a remarkable degree of spatial illusionism in his Birth of the Virgin, a large triptych (three-part panel painting) created for the altar of Saint Savinus in Siena Cathedral. Lorenzetti painted the wooden architectural members dividing the altarpiece into three sections as though they extended back into the painted space. Viewers seem to look through the wooden frame (added later) into a boxlike stage, where the event takes place. That one of the vertical members cuts across a figure, blocking part of it from view, strengthens the illusion. In subsequent centuries, artists exploited this use of architectural elements to enhance the illusion of painted figures acting out a drama a mere few feet away. This kind of pictorial illusionism characterized ancient Roman mural painting but had not been practiced in Italy for a thousand years." - "Lorenzetti's setting for his holy subject also represented a marked step in the advance of worldly realism. Saint Anne- who, like Nicola Pisano's virgin in Nativity, resembles a reclining figure on the lid of a Roman sarcophagus- props herself up wearily as the midwives was the child and the women bring gifts. She is the center of an episode occuring in an upper-class Italian house of the period. A number of carefully observed domestic details and the scene at the left, where Joachim eagerly awaits news of the delivery, create the illusion that the viewer has opened the walls of Saint Anne's house and peered inside. Lorenzetti's altarpiece is noteworthy both for the painter's innovations in spatial illusionism and for his careful inspection and recording of details of the everyday world."

Portinari Altarpiece

- "This altarpiece is a rare instance of the awarding of a major comission in Italy to a flemish painter. The florentines admired Hugo's realistic details and brilliant portrayal of human character." - patron is shown on "the wings of the altarpiece with his family and their patron saints." - Central panel's subject is the Adoration of the Shepherds. - Serious, important feeling to event. - Mary is huge, and kneeling "on a tilted ground, a device the painter used to situate the main actors at the center of the panel. (This compositional device may derive from the tilted stage floors of 15th century mystery plays.) - is a scene of "Solemn grandeur" - "Three shepherds enter from the right rear. Hugo depicgted them in attitudes of wonder, piety, and gaping curiosity. Their lined faces, work-worn hands, and uncouth dress and manner seem immediatelt familiar." - "The architecture and a continuous wintry northern European landscape unify the three panels. Symbols surface throughout the altarpiece. Iris and columbine flowers are the emblems of the sorrows of the Virgin. The angels represent the 15 joys of mary. A sheaf of wheat stands for bethlehem (the 'house of bread' in hebrew), a reference to the eucharist. The harp of david, emblazoned over the building's portal in the middle distance (just to the right of the virgin's head), signifies the ancestry of christ. To stress the meaning and significance of the illustrated event, Hugo revived medieval pictorial devices. Small scenes shown in the background of the altarpiece represent (from left to right) the flight into Egypt, the annunciation to the shepherds, and the arrival of the magi. Hugo's variation in the scale of his figures to differentiate them by their importance to the central event also reflects older traditions. Still, he put a vigorous, penetrating realism to work in a new direction, characterizing human beings according to their social level while showing their common humanity." - "after portinari placed the altarpiece in his family's chapel in the florentine church of sant'egidio, it created a considerable stir among italian artists. Although the painting may have seemed unstructured to them, Hugo's masterful technique and what the florentines deemed incredible realism in represnting drapery, flowers, animals, and, above all, human character and emotion made a deep impression on them. At least one florentine artist, Domenico Ghirlandaio, paid tribute to the Flemish master by using Hugo's most striking motif, the adoring shepherds, in one of his own nativity paintings.

Orvieto Cathedral

- French Gothic architecture influenced the facade. "Characteristically French are the pointed gables over Orvieto Cathedral's three doorways, the rose window and statues in niches in the upper zone, and the four large pinnacles dividing the facade into three bays. The outer pinnacles serve as miniature substitutes for the tall northern European west-front towers. Maitani's facade, however, is a Gothic overlay masking a marble-revetted basilican structure in the Tuscan Romanesque tradition, as the three quarter view of the cathedral...reveals. Few italian architects fully embraced the gothic style. The orvieto facade resembles a great altar screen, its single plane covered with carefully placed carved and painted decoration. In principle, Orvieto belongs with Pisa Cathedral and other earlier Italian buildings, rather than with the French cathedrals at Amiens and Reims. Inside, Orvieto Cathedral has a timber-roofed nave with a two-story elevation (columnar arcade and clerestory) in the Early Christian manner. Both the chancel arch framing the apse and the nave arcade's arches are round as opposed to pointed."

Madonna Enthroned with Angels and Prophets

- artist was big into observation and naturalism- which are important in the classical tradition. This "challenged some of the major conventions of late medieval art". - "The composition and the gold background reveal the painter's reliance on Byzantine models. Cimbabue also used the gold embellishments common to Byzantine art for the folds of the Madonna's robe, but they are no longer merely decorative patterns. In his panel they enhance the three-dimensionality of the drapery. Furthermore, Cimabue constructed a deeper space for the Madonna and the surrounding figures to inhabit than was common in Byzantine art. The virgin's throne, for example, is a massive structure and Cimabue convincingly depicted it as receeding into space. The overlapping bodies of the angels on each side of the throne and the half-length prophets who look outward or upward from beneath it reinforce the sense of depth." - "Cimabue was one of the first artists to break away from the maniera greca. Although he relied on Byzantine models, Cimabue depicted the Madonna's massive throne as receding into space." - Bye bye Italo-Byzantine style (at least, somewhat).

Lamentation

- buon fresco technique - painted in sections due to that technique - pathos and emotion - angels are foreshortened (bodies recede into background) - "Though narrow, the ledge provides firm visual support for the figures." - "Giotto arranged a shallow stage for the figures, bounded by a thick diagonal rock incline defining a horizontal ledge in the foreground.: - individualized responses of figures - Giotto arranged the figures so that the viewer focuses on Christ and Mary, who are "dynamically off center". - dead tree represents the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Adam and eve, etc..) - "Figures seen from the back, which are frequent in Giotto's compositions, represent an innovation in the development away from the formal Italo-Byzantine style. These figures emphasize the foreground, aiding the visual placement of the intermediate figures farther back in space. This device, the very contradition of Byzantine frontally, in effect puts viewers behind the "observer figures," who, facing the action as spectators, reinforce the sense of stagecraft as a model for painting." - "Giotto's new devices for depicting spatial depth and body mass could not, of course, have been possible without his management of light and shade. He shaded his figures to indicate both the direction of the light illuminating their bodies and the shadows (the diminished light), thereby giving the figures volume. In Lamentation, light falls upon the upper surfaces of the fiugres (especially the two central bending figures) and passes down to dark in their garments, separating the volumes one from the other and pushing one to the fore,the other to the rear. The graded contiuum of light and shade, directed by an even, neutral light from a single, steady source- not shown in the picture- was the first step toward the development of chiaroscuro (the use of contrasts of dark and light to produce modeling) in later Renaissance painting." - "The stagelike settings made possible by Giotto's innovations in perspective (the depiction of three-dimensional objects in space on a two-dimensional surface) and lighting suited perfectly the dramatic narrative the Franciscans emphasized then as a principal method for educating the faithful in their religion. In this new age of humanism, the old stylized presentations of the holy mysteries had evolved into mystery plays. Actors extended the drama of the Mass into one-and two-act tableaus and scenes and then into simple narratives offered at church portals and in city squares. (Eventually, confraternities also presented more elaborate religious dramas called sacre rappresentazioni- holy representations.) The greta increase in popular sermons to huge city audiences prompted a public taste for narrative, recited as dramatically as possible. The arts of illusionistic painting, of drama, and of sermon rhetoric with all their theatrical flourishes developed simultaneously and were mutually influential. Giotto's art masterfully synthesized dramatic narrative, holy lesson, and truth to human experience in a visual idiom of his own invention, accessible to all. Not surprisingly, Giotto's frescoes served as textbooks for generations of Renaissance painters."

Last Supper

- central panel of the Altarpiece of the Holy Sacrament, which was commissioned by the Confraternity of the Holy Sacrament in Louvain - In 1648, the artist, Dirk Bouts, became the official painter of the city of Louvain for the city's town hall. - it is "one of the earliest Northern Renaissance paintings to demonstrate the use of a vanishing point... for creating perspective. All of the central room's orthogonals (converging diagonal lines imagined to be behind and perpendicular to the picture plane) lead to the vanishing point in the center of the mantelpiece above Christ's head. The small side room, however, has its own vanishing point, and neither it nor the vanishing point of the main room falls on the horizon of the landscape seen through the windows, as in Italian renaissance paintings." - Artist did not focus "on the biblical narrative itself but instead presented Christ in the role of a priest performing a ritual from the liturgy of the christian church- the consecration of the eucharistic wafer. This contrasts strongly with other depictions of the same subject, which often focused on Judas's betrayal or on Christ's comforting of John. " -"The confraternity of the holy sacrament dedicated itself to the worship of the eucharist, and the smaller panels on the altarpiece's wings depict old testament prefigurations of the eucharist. bouts also added four servants (two in the window and two standing) not mentioned in the biblical account, all dressed in flemish attire. these are portraits of the four members of the confraternity who contracted bouts to paint the altarpiece, continuing the flemish tradition of inserting into representations of biblical events portraits of the painting's patrons, first noted in the Merode Altarpiece."

Man in Red Turban

- completely secular portraits were common in the 15th century in flanders. - it is "the first known Western painted portrait in a thousand years where the sitter" "looks directly at the viewer." - 3/4 "head pose" and "level, composed gaze". - "The painter created the illusion that from whatever angle a viewer observes the face, the eyes return that gaze. Van Eyck, with his considerable observational skill and controlled painting style, injected a heightened sense of specificity into this portrait by including beard stubble, veins in the bloodshot left eye, and weathered, aged skin." - "The inscriptions on the frame... reinforce this identification. Across the top, van Eyck wrote 'As I can' in Flemish using greek letters. (One suggestion is this portrait was a demonstration piece intended for prospective clients, who could compare the painting with the painter and judge what he 'could do' in terms of recording a faithful likeness. Across the bottom appears the statement (in latin) 'Jan van Eyck made me' and the date. The use of both greek and latin suggests the artist's view of himself as a successor to the fabled painters of antiquity." - The fact that the subject is not named also makes us think that it is a self-portrait.

Maesta

- front shows "virgin and child enthroned with saints". - "Duccio derived the formality and symmetry of his composition from Byzantine painting, but relaxed the rigidity and frontality of the figures, softened the drapery, and individualized the faces." - back shows the passion of christ - the piece was such a big deal that on the day it was unveiled there were processions, shop closings, and celebrations in the city. - he got to inscribe his name on it because he was so well known and highly thought of - central panel has 7 pinnacles, and a predella - used tempera - figures on front are talking to each other, facing each other - "The folds of the garments, particularly those of the female saints at both sends of the panel, fall and curve loosely. This is a feature familiar in French Gothic works and is a mark of the artistic dialogue between Italy and northern Europe in the 14th century." - experimented more on back than on front, because had to be traditional for church - Duccio gave mary robes which mirror the "sumptuous" fabrics that would have been traded along the silk robe at this time. - gold punchwork on haloes -no gold patterning on "garments", "in favor of creating three-dimensional volume. Traces remain only in the virgin's red dress." - on the back, Jesus is usually in blue, but after the Transfiguration scene, he wears gilded clothes. - back, Betrayal of Jesus: background is traditional (has "golden sky and rock formations") but the bodies are not flat and frontal, instead they have "mass" and are modeled using "light and dark", and the draperies look more naturalistic, and they are showing a rnage of emotions. In this way "Duccio took a decisive step toward the humanization of religious subject matter".

Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife

- is "a purely secular portrait, but one with religious overtones" - oil painting - shows the couple in their home - is arnolfini's second wife (we don't know her name) - "According to the traditional interpretation of the painting, van Eyck recorded the couple taking their marriage vows." - objects have symbolic meaning: *"the cast-aside clogs indicate this event is taking place on holy ground" * little dog is symbolic of fidelity * open curtains on the marriage bed * finial ("crowning ornament") of bedpost has a tiny statue of Saint Margaret, who is the patron saint of childbirth. * the bride's outfit makes her look pregnant, although she actually isn't. It's just the style of her outfit. * whisk broom hanging from the finial symbolizes "domestic care". *oranges on chest below window may be reference to fertility. * "single candle burning in the left rear holder of the ornate chandelier and the mirror, in which the viewer sees the entire room reflected, symbolize the all-seeing eye of God." *"the small medallions set into the mirror frame show tiny scenes from the passion of Christ and represeent god's promise of salvation for the figures reflected on the mirror's convex surface." - "Viewers of the period would have been familiar with many of the objects included in the painting because of traditional Flemish customs. Husbands customarily presented brides with clogs, and the solitary lit candle in the chandelier was part of Flemish marriage practices. Van Eyck's placement of the two figures suggests conventional gender roles- the woman stands near the bed and well into the room, wheras the man stands near the open window, symbolic of the outside world." -" Van Eyck enhanced the documentary nature of this scene by exquisitely painting each object. He carefully distinguished texturs and depicted the light from the window on the left reflecting off various surfaces. He also augmented the scene's credibility by including the convex mirror (complete with its spatial distortion, brilliantly recorded), because viewers can not see only the principals, Arnolfini and his wife, but also two persons who look into the room through the door. (Arnolfini's raised right hand may be a gesture of greeting to the two men.) One of these must be the artist himself, as the florid inscription above the mirror, Johannes de Eyck fuit hic ("Jan van Eyck was here"), announces he was present. The picture's purpose, then, would have been to record and sanctify this marraige." - "Most scholars now reject this traditional reading of the painting, however. The room is a public reception area, not a bedchamber, and it as been suggested that Arnolfini is conferring legal privileges on his wife to conduct business in his absence. In either case, the artist functions as a witness. The self-portrait of van Eyck in the mirror also underscores the painter's self-consciousness as a professional artist whose role deserves to be recorded and remembered."

Peaceful City (Effects of Good Government in the City and in the Country)

- is an allegory. Shows the benefits of good government. Touts the benefits of the Sienese government. - the country scene is "one o fthe first instances of landscape painting in western art since antiquity." - in the country "the winged figure of Security promises safety to all who live under Sienese law." - city scene shows commerce, dancing, etc... Dancer's "presence also serves as a metaphor for a peaceful commonwealth." - "The artist fondly observed the life of his city, and its architecture gave him an opportunity to apply sienese artists' rapidly growing knowledge of perspective." - country scene shows happy, productive farmers, city folk taking a trip out to enjoy the country, etc... - was in the Palazzo Publico - fresco -commisioned by leaders of city.

Merode Altarpiece

- lots of lay people commissioned religious art in Flanders during the 15th century. - was a little altarpiece for prayer in the house. - combination of secular and religious imagery - it was common for the artists to show the religous events happening in a flemish household - religion=totally combined with general life - combining the reliigous and secualr probably gave the work more meaning for the patrons - is a triptych - mary is reading - "The view through the window in the right wing and the depicted accessories, furniture, and utensils confirm the locale as Flanders. However, the objects represented are not merely decorative. They also function as symbols. The book, extinguished candle, and lilies on the table, the copper basin in the corner niche, the towels, fire screen, and bench all symbolize the Virigin's purity and her divine mission." - "In the right panel, Jospeh, appartently unaware of the angel's arrival, has constructed two mousetraps, symbolic of the theological concept that christ is bait set in the trap of the world to catch the devil. The ax, saw, and rod campin painted in the foreground of joseph's workshop not only are tools of the carpenter's trade, but also are mentioned in isaiah 10:15. in the left panel, the closed garden is symbolic of mary's purity, and the flowers campin included relate to Mary's virtues, expecially humility." - you can see the city out of the windows - patrons included in the picture - "The altarpiece's donor, Peter Inghelbrecht, a wealthy merchent, and his wife, Margarete Scrynmakers, kneel in the garden and witness the momentous event through an open door. Donor portraits- portraits of the idividual(s who commissioned (or "donated") the work- became very popular in the 15th century. In this instance, in addition to asking to be represented in their altarpiece, the Inghelbrechts probably specified the subject. Inghelbrecht means "angel bringer," a reference to the annunciation theme of the central panel. Scrynmakers means "cabinet-or shrine-makers," referring to the workshop scene in the right panel."

Florence Cathedral

- shows the citizens of Florence's pride in their city. - wanted it to hold city's whole pop (aobut 100 thousand). Holds about 30,000. HUGE! - called the Duomo - shows competition with other cities. - "The florentine duomo's marble revetment carries on teh Tuscan Romanesque architectural tradition, linking this basilican church more closely to early christian italy than to gothic france." - the revetment is similar to that of the baptistery of San Govanni, which is across the street from it. - emphasis on horizontality, size, and staying on the ground, as opposed to the Gothic love of making things tall and look like they will fly up into the sky. This is a very grounded cathedral. "The clearly defined simple geometric volumes of the cathedral show no tendency to merge either into each other or into the sky." - campanile is detached from cathedral. - facade was not finished until the 19th century.

Ghent Altarpiece

- supposedly started by Van Eyck's older brother Hubert van Eyck. - is a retable, one of the largest from the 15th century. -commissioned by Jodocus Vyd "diplomat-retainer of Philip the Good" and Vyd's wife for "the centerpiece of the chapel Vyd built in the church originally dedicated to Saint John the Baptist." - "Vyd's largesse and the political and social connections the Ghent Altarpiece revealed to its audience contributed to Vyd's appointment as burgomeister (chief magistrate) of Ghent shortly after the unveiling of the work." - Donors shown on "two of the exterior panels... The husband and wife, painted in illusionistically rendered niches, kneel with their hands clasped in prayer. They gaze piously at illusionistic stone sculptures of Ghent's patron saints, Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist (who was probably also Vyd's patron saint)." - "The Annunciation appears on the upper register, with a careful representation of a Flemish town outside the painted window of the cneter panel. In the uppermost arched panels, van Eyck depicted the old testament prophets zachariah and micah, along with the sibyls, greco-roman mythological female prophets whose writings the christian church interpreted as prophecies of christ." - "When opeed, the altarpiece reveals a sumptuous, suberbly colored painting of humanity;s redemption through christ. In the upper register, god the father- wearing the pope's triple tiara, with a wordily crown at his feet and respendent in a deep-scarlet mantle- presides in majesty. To god's right is the virgin, represented, as in the gothic age and in an earlier van eyck dyptych (two-paneled painting), as the queen of Heaven, with a crown of 12 stars upon her head. Saint John the Baptist sits to god's left. To either side is a choir of angels, with an angel playing an organ on the right. Adam and Eve appear in the far panels. The inscriptions in the arches above Mary and Saint John extol the Virgin's virtue and purity and Saint John's greatness as the forerunner of christ. The inscription above the lord's head translates as 'this is god, all-powerful in his divine majesty; of all the best, by the gentleness of his goodness; the most liberal giver, because of his infinite generosity.' The step behind the crown at the lord's feet bears the inscription, 'on his head, life without death. on his brow, youth without age. on his right, joy without sadness. on his left, security without fear.' The entire altarpiece amplifies the central theme of salvation. Even though humans, symbolized by Adam and Eve, are sinful, they will be saved because god, in his infinite love, will sacrifice his own son for this purpose." - "The panels of the lower register extend the symbolism of the upper. In the central panel, the community of saints comes frm the four corners of the earth through an opulent, flower-spangled landscape. THey proceed toward the altar of the lamb and tje octagonal fountian of life. The book of Revelation passage recounting the Adoration of the Lamb is the main reading on All Saints' Day (November 1). The lamb symbolizes the sacrificed son of god, whose heart bleeds into a chalice, while into the fountain spils the 'pure river water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of god and of the lamb'. On the right, the 12 apostles and a group of martyrs in red roes advance. On the left appear prophets. In the right background come the virgin martyrs, and in the left background the holy confessors approach. On the lower wings, hermits, pilgrims, knights, and judges approach from left and right. They symbolize the four cardinal virtues: Temperance, Prudence, Fortitude, and Justice, respectively. The altarpiece celebrates the whole Christian cycle from the fall of man to the redemption, presenting the church triumphant in heavenly jerusalem." - "Van Eyck used oil paints to render the entire altarpiece in a shimmering splendor of color that defies reproduction. No small detail escaped the painter. With pristince specificity, he revealed the beauty of the most insignificant object as if it were a work of piety as much as a work of art. He depicted the soft texture of hair, the glitter of gold in the heavy brocades, the luster of pearls, and the flashing of gems, all with loving fidelity to appearance. This kind of meticulous attention to recording the exact surface appearance of humans, animals, objects, and landscapes, already evident in the merode altarpiece, became the hallmark of Flemish panel painting in the 15th century."

Les Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry

- the "characteristic activities of each month" are shown. - genre subjects becoming more "prominent" shows how religious and secular art were becoming more and more combined. - "The Limbourg brothers exanded the illusionistic capabilities of manuscript painting with their care in rendering architectural details and convincing depiction of cast shadows." - There were 3 Limbourg brothers: Pol, Herman, and Jean. They came from Nijmegen, which is in the Netherlands. They were "the most innovative early 15th century manuscript illuminators." - Duke of Berry, Jean, was very into the arts and collecting things. - name means "The Very Sumptuous Hours of the Duke of Berry". - Like a book of hours, has prayers like matins and complines in it. - Books of Hours were popular objects in northern European aristocracy in the 14th and 15th centuries. - has "full-page calendar pictures" which "represent the 12 months in terms of the associated seasonal tasks, alternating scenes of nobility and peasantry. Above each picture is a lunette in which the Limbourgs depicted the zodiac signs and the chariot of the sun as it makes its yearly cycle through the heavens. Beyond its function as a religious book...[it]... visually captures the power of the duke and his relationship to the peasants. For example, the colorful calendar picture for January portrays a new year's reception at court. The duke appears as magnanimous host, his head circled by the fire screen, almost halo like, behind him. His chamberlain stands next to him, urging the guests forward with the words 'aproche, aproche.' The lavish spread of food on the table and the large tapestry on the back wall augment the richness and extravagance of the setting and the occasion." - "In contrast, the illustration for October focuses on the peasantry. Here, the Limbourg brothers depicted a sower, a harrower on horseback, and washerwomen, along with city dwellers, who promenade in front of the Louvre (the French king's residence at the time, now one of the world's great art museums). The peasants do not appear discontented as they go about their assigned tasks. Surely this imagery flattered the duke's sense of himself as a compassionate master. The growing artistic interest in naturalism is evident here in the careful way the painter recorded the architectural details of the Louvre and in the convincing shadows of the peopple and objects (such as the archer scarecrow and the horse) in the scene."

Deposition

- triptych, was comissioned by the arhcer's guild of louvain for the Notre dame hors les murs church. - crossbow in painting references/"honors" painting's patrons. - pathos, emotion, and drama - figures "compressed onto a shallow stage with a golden back wall, imitating the large sculptured shrines so popular in the 15th century."

Saint Anthony Tormented by Demons

- use of the engraving technique began in the 1430s. - the artist, Martin Schongauer,"was the most skilled and subtle 15th-century Northern Renaissance master of metal engraving." - the piece "shows both the versatility of the medium and the artist's master of it. The stoic saint is caught in a revolving thornbush of spiky demons, who claw and tear at him furiously. Schongauer incised lines of varying thickness and density into a metal plate and created marvelous distinctions of tonal values and textures-from smooth skin to rough cloth, from the furry and feathery to the hairy and scaly. The use of cross-hatching (sets of engraved lines at right angles) to describe forms, which Schongauer probably developed, became standard among German graphic artists. The Italians preferred parallel hatching and rarely adopted cross-hatching, which, in keeeping with the general Northern European approach to art, tends to describe the surfaces of things rather than their underlying structures." -"Schongauer probably engraved Saint Anthony between 1480 and 1490. By then, the political geography of Europe had canged dramatically. Charles the Bold, who had assumed the title of duke of Burgandy in 1467, died in 1477, bringing to an end the Burgundian dream of forming a strong middle kingdom betwen France and the Holy Roman Empire. After Charles's death at the battle of Nancy, the French monarchy reabsorbed the southern Burgundian lands, and the Netherlands passed to the Holy Roman Empire by virtue of the dynastic marriage of Charles's daughter, Mary of Burgandy, to Maximiliian of Hapsburg, inaugurating a new political and artistic era in northern Europe." - "By using a burin to incise lines in a copper plate, he was able to create a marvelous variety of tonal values and textures."

Well of Moses

- was for the cloister of the Chartreuse de Champmol - was a "large sculptural fountain located in a well. The well served as a water source for the monastery, but water probably did not spout from the fountain because the Carthusian commitment to silence and prayer would have precluded anything that produced sound." - has Moses, and 5 Propjets: David, Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Zachariah on the base. Originally, it supported "a 25-foot-tall group of Christ on the cross, the virgin mary, john the evangelist, and mary magdalene." - was called a fons vitae by the carthusians. means "a fountain of everlasting life." - "the blood of the crucified christ symbolically flowed down over the grieving angels and old testament prophets, spilling into the well below, washing over christ's prophetic predecessors and redeeming anyone who would drink water from the well. Whereas the models for the dijon chapel statues were the sculptured portals of French Gothic cahtedrals, the inspiration for the Well of Moses may have come in part from contemporaneous mystery plays in which actors portraying prophets frequently delivered commentaries on events in Christ's life." - "The six figures are much more realistically rendered than Gothic jamb statues, and the prophets have almost portraitlike feautres and distinct individual personalities and costumes. David is an elegantly garbed Gothic king. Moses is an elderly horned prophet with a waist-length beard. Sluter's intense observation of natural appearance provided him with the information necessary to sculpt the prophets in minute detail. Heavy draperies with voluminious folds swathe the life-size figures. The artist succeeded in making their difficult, complex surfaces seem remarkably naturalistic. He enhanced this effect by skillkfully differentiating textures, from coarse drapery to smooth flesh and silky hair. Originally, paint, much of which has flaked off, furhter augmented the naturalism of the figures. (The painter was Jean Malouel..., another Netherlandish master.) This fascination with the specific and tangible in the visible world became one of the chief characteristics of 15th-century Flemish art." - "Sluter's figures recall French Gothic jamb statues but are far more realistic."

Annunciation, Adoration, Nativity Pulpit

-it "retains many medieval feautres, for example, the trefoil arches and the lions supporting columns, but the figures derive from ancient Roman sarcophagus reliefs." - he specialized in carving marble reliefs as well as ornamentation for pulpits. - has classical elements too: The large capitals with two rows of thick overlapping leaves crowning the columns are a Gothic variation of the Corinthian capital..... The arches are round, as in Roman architecture, rather than pointed (ogival), as in Gothic buildings. Also, each of the large rectangular relief panels resembles the sculptured front of a Roman sarcophagus...." - "the densely packed large-scale figures of the individual panels also seem to derive from the compositions found on Roman sarcophagi. One of these panels depicts scenes from the infancy cycle of christ...., including the annunciation, Nativity, and adoration of the shepherds. Mary appears twice, and her size varies. The focus of the composition is the reclining virgin of nativity, whose posture and drapery are reminiscent of those of the lid figures on etruscan and roman sarcophagi. The face tpes, beards, and coiffures, as well as the bulk and weight of Nicola's figures, also reveal the influence of classical relief sculptrue. Art historians have even been able to pinpiont the models of some of the pulpit figures on Roman sarcophagi in Pisa." - "Classical sculpture inspired the faces, beards, coiffures, and draperies, as well as the bulk and weight of Nicola's figures. The nativity madonna resembles lid figures on Roman sarcophagi."

campanile

A bell tower of a church, usually, but not always, freestanding.

cathedral

A bishop's church.

Baptistry

A building used for baptism in Christian architecture, often next to a church. Or a certain area or hall inside a church for baptisms.

sinopia

A burnt-orange pigment used in fresco painting to transfer a cartoon to the arriccio before the artist paints the plaster.

rose window

A circular stained-glass window.

trefoil

A cloverlike ornament or symbol with stylized leaves in groups of three.

arch

A curved structural member that spans an opening and is generally composed of wedge-shaped blocks (voussoirs) that transmit the downward pressure laterally. See also thrust.

mystery play

A dramatic enactment of the holy mysteries of the Christian faith performed at church portals and in city squares.

machiolated gallery

A gallery in a defensive tower with holes in the floor to allow stones or hot liquids to be dumped on enemies below.

dome

A hemispheric vault; theoretically, an arch rotated on its vertical axis.

battlement

A low parapet at the top of a circuit wall in a fortification.

parapet

A low protective wall along the edge of a balcony or roof.

illuminated manuscript

A luxurious handmade book with painted illustrations and decorations.

barrel vault

A masonry roof or ceiling constructed on the arch principle. A barrel or tunnel vault, semicylindrical in cross-section, is in effect a deep arch or an uninterrupted series of arches, one behind the other, over an oblong space. A quadrant vault is a half-barrel vault. A groin or cross vault is formed at the point at which two barrel vaults intersect at right angles. In a ribbed vault, there is a framework of ribs or arches under the intersections of the vaulting sections. A sexpartite vault is a vault whose ribs divide the vault into six compartments. A fan vault is a vault characteristic of English Perpendicular Gothic, in which radiating ribs form a fanlike pattern.

vault

A masonry roof or ceiling constructed on the arch principle. A barrel or tunnel vault, semicylindrical in cross-section, is in effect a deep arch or an uninterrupted series of arches, one behind the other, over an oblong space. A quadrant vault is a half-barrel vault. A groin or cross vault is formed at the point at which two barrel vaults intersect at right angles. In a ribbed vault, there is a framework of ribs or arches under the intersections of the vaulting sections. A sexpartite vault is a vault whose ribs divide the vault into six compartments. A fan vault is a vault characteristic of English Perpendicular Gothic, in which radiating ribs form a fanlike pattern.

perspective

A method of presenting an illusion of the three-dimensional world on a two-dimensional surface. In linear perspective, the most common type, all parallel lines or surface edges converge on one, two, or three vanishing points located with reference to the eye level of the viewer (the horizon line of the picture), and associated objects are rendered smaller the farther from the viewer they are intended to seem. Atmospheric, or aerial, perspective creates the illusion of distance by the greater diminution of color intensity, the shift in color toward an almost neutral blue, and the blurring of contours as the intended distance between eye and object increases.

grisaille

A monochrome painting done mainly in neutral grays to simulate sculpture.

Corinthian capital

A more ornate form than Doric or Ionic; it consists of a double row of acanthus leaves from which tendrils and flowers grow, wrapped around a bell-shaped echinus. Although this capital form is often cited as the distinguishing feature of the Corinthian order, there is, strictly speaking, no Corinthian order, but only this style of capital used in the Ionic order.

altarpiece

A panel, painted or sculpted, situated above and behind an altar. See also retable.

landscape

A picture showing natural scenery, without narrative content.

icon

A portrait or image; especially in Byzantine churches, a panel with a painting of sacred personages that are objects of veneration. In the visual arts, a painting, a piece of sculpture, or even a building regarded as an object of veneration.

corbel

A projecting wall member used as a support for some element in the superstructure. Also, courses of stone or brick in which each course projects beyond the one beneath it. Two such walls, meeting at the topmost course, create a corbeled arch or corbeled vault.

pulpit

A raised platform in a church on which a priest stands while leading the religious service.

apse

A recess, usually semicircular, in the wall of a building, commonly found at the east end of a church.

tramezzo

A screen placed across the nave of a church to separate the clergy from the lay audience.

arcade

A series of arches supported by piers or columns.

International Style

A style of 14th- and 15th-century painting begun by Simone Martini, who adapted the French Gothic manner to Sienese art fused with influences from the North. This style appealed to the aristocracy because of its brilliant color, lavish costume, intricate ornament, and themes involving splendid processions of knights and ladies. Also a style of 20th-century architecture associated with Le Corbusier, whose elegance of design came to influence the look of modern office buildings and skyscrapers.

tempera

A technique of painting using pigment mixed with egg yolk, glue, or casein; also the medium itself.

triptych

A three-paneled painting or altarpiece.

pier

A vertical, freestanding masonry support.

column

A vertical, weight-carrying architectural member, circular in cross-section and consisting of a base (sometimes omitted), a shaft, and a capital.

mural

A wall painting.

Transfiguration

Among other things, a scene from the Life of Christ on the Maesta.

ogee arch

An arch made up of two double-curving lines meeting at a point.

guild

An association of master craftspeople, apprentices, and tradespeople.

city-state

An independent, self-governing city.

Dominicans

An order of monks who were big in creating "urban educational institutions". Rivals with the Franciscans.

monastic order

An organization of monks living according to the same rules, for example, the Benedictine, Franciscan, and Dominican orders.

Franciscans

Another order of monks, similar to the Dominicans. Rivals with the Dominicans.

Great Schism

Began in 1305 when a French pope, Clement V was elected pope, and decided to live in Avignon. Later French popes stayed in Avignon, even though traditionally popes had been in Rome. This caused a big conflict in the church, and in 1378 there were two popes elected, and thus two papacies, one in Rome and one in Avignon. This state of affairs continued until 1417, when a pope who everyone could aggree on was finally elected. This turn of events lead to an increase in religious orders, etc...

Gilding

Covering things in gold.

cruciform

Cross shaped.

Orthogonal

Diagonal lines that direct a viewer's eye to the vanishing point.

Renaissance

French, "rebirth." The term used to describe the history, culture, and art of 14th- through 16th-century western Europe during which artists consciously revived the classical style

saint

From the Latin word sanctus, meaning made holy by God. Persons who suffered and died for their Christian faith or who merited reverence for their Christian devotion while alive. In the Roman Catholic Church, a worthy deceased Catholic who is canonized by the pope.

gold leaf

Gold beaten into tissue-paper-thin sheets that then can be applied to surfaces.

terracotta

Hard-baked clay, used for sculpture and as a building material. It may be glazed or painted.

stigmata

In Christian art, the wounds that Christ received at his crucifixion that miraculously appear on the body of a saint.

pinnacle

In Gothic churches, a sharply pointed ornament capping the piers or flying buttresses; also used on church facades.

basilica

In Roman architecture, a civic building for legal and other civic proceedings, rectangular in plan with an entrance usually on a long side. In Christian architecture, a church somewhat resembling the Roman basilica, usually entered from one end and with an apse at the other.

revetment

In architecture, a wall covering or facing.

chiaroscuro

In drawing or painting, the treatment and use of light and dark, especially the gradations of light that produce the effect of modeling.

arriccio

In fresco painting, the first layer of rough lime plaster applied to the wall.

intonaco

In fresco painting, the last layer of smooth lime plaster applied to the wall; the painting layer.

confraternity

In late antiquity, an association of Christian families pooling funds to purchase property for burial. In late medieval Europe, an organization founded by laypersons who dedicated themselves to strict religious observances.

mendicants

In medieval Europe, friars belonging to the Franciscan and Dominican orders, who renounced all worldly goods, lived by contributions of laypersons (the word mendicant means eggar), and devoted themselves to preaching, teaching, and doing good works.

cartoon

In painting, a full-size preliminary drawing from which a painting is made.

humanism

In the Renaissance, an emphasis on education and on expanding knowledge (especially of classical antiquity), the exploration of individual potential and a desire to excel, and a commitment to civic responsibility and moral duty.

maniera greca

Italian, "Greek manner," The Italo-Byzantine painting style of the 13th century.

giornata (pl. giornate)

Italian, "day." The section of plaster that a fresco painter expects to complete in one session.

sacra rappresentazione (pl. sacre conversazioni)

Italian, "holy representation." A more elaborate version of a mystery play performed for a lay audience by a confraternity.

sarcophagus (pl. sarcophagi)

Latin, consumer of flesh.A coffin, usually of stone.

oculus

Latin, eye. The round central opening of a dome. Also, a small round window in a Gothic cathedral.

Gothic

Originally a derogatory term named after the Goths, used to describe the history, culture, and art of western Europe in the 12th to 14th centuries.

tracery

Ornamental stonework for holding stained glass in place, characteristic of Gothic cathedrals. In plate tracery the glass fills only the punched holes in the heavy ornamental stonework. In bar tracery the stained-glass windows fill almost the entire opening, and the stonework is unobtrusive.

buon fresco

Painting on lime plaster, either dry (dry fresco or fresco secco) or wet (true or buon fresco). In the latter method, the pigments are mixed with water and become chemically bound to the freshly laid lime plaster. Also, a painting executed in either method.

fresco

Painting on lime plaster, either dry (dry fresco or fresco secco) or wet (true or buon fresco). In the latter method, the pigments are mixed with water and become chemically bound to the freshly laid lime plaster. Also, a painting executed in either method.

fresco secco

Painting on lime plaster, either dry (dry fresco or fresco secco) or wet (true or buon fresco). In the latter method, the pigments are mixed with water and become chemically bound to the freshly laid lime plaster. Also, a painting executed in either method.

Vanishing Point

Part of perspective, used in the horizon.

Mass

The Catholic and Orthodox ritual in which believers understand that Christ's redeeming sacrifice on the cross is repeated when the priest consecrates the bread and wine in the Eucharist.

chancel arch

The arch separating the chancel (the apse or choir) or the transept from the nave of a church.

nave

The central area of an ancient Roman basilica or of a church, demarcated from aisles by piers or columns.

florin

The denomination of gold coin of Renaissance Florence that became an international currency for trade.

ogive

The diagonal rib of a Gothic vault; a pointed, or Gothic, arch.

clerestory

The fenestrated part of a building that rises above the roofs of the other parts. The oldest known clerestories are Egyptian. In Roman basilicas and medieval churches, clerestories are the windows that form the nave's uppermost level below the timber ceiling or the vaults.

predella

The narrow ledge on which an altarpiece rests on an altar.

transept

The part of a church with an axis that crosses the nave at a right angle.

aisle

The portion of a basilica flanking the nave and separated from it by a row of columns or piers.

texture

The quality of a surface (rough, smooth, hard, soft, shiny, dull) as revealed by light. In represented texture, a painter depicts an object as having a certain texture even though the paint is the actual texture.

bay

The space between two columns, or one unit in the nave arcade of a church; also the passageway in an arcuated gate.

crossing

The space in a cruciform church formed by the intersection of the nave and the transept.

classical

The style of art during Greco-Roman antiquity. With an uppercase C, specifically the period 480-323 BCE.

naturalism

The style of painted or sculptured representation based on close observation of the natural world that was at the core of the classical tradition.

capital

The uppermost member of a column, serving as a transition from the shaft to the lintel. In classical architecture, the form of the capital varies with the order.

foreshortening

The use of perspective to represent in art the apparent visual contraction of an object that extends back in space at an angle to the perpendicular plane of sight.

punchwork

Tooled decorative work in gold leaf.

facade

Usually, the front of a building; also, the other sides when they are emphasized architecturally.