apah notes and vocab (unit 3)

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Jesus vs. Rome

- Jesus rebelled against the occupying Roman government in what was then pakestine - crucified for upsetting the social order and challenging the authority of the Romans and their local Jewish leaders - Jesus' followers claim that after three days he rose from the grave and later ascended into heaven - his original followers are known as disciples or apostles - apostles travelled great distances and spread Jesus' message

orant fresco (catacomb of priscilla)

- aka, cubiculum of the veiled woman - fresco over a tomb niche; cemetery of a family vault - left - being married with Bishop officiating - right - seated in a chair nursing - center - orant pose (pose of prayer) meant to depict her in the afterlife - same woman being depicted 3 times - deceased - represents the hope of the family of her being in heaven - hands may be too large, but their is a shadow under chin in an attempt to represent her realistically - figure is compact, dark, set off from a light background; terse angular contours; emphatic gestures

Frontispiece of the Codex Mendoza - Viceroyalty of New Spain - 1541-1542

- around 1541, the first viceroy of New Spain, Antonio de Mendoza, commissioned a codex to record information about the Aztec empire - created to show Europeans the history of the Aztecs - viceroy = a ruler exercising authority in a colony on behalf of a sovereign - intended for Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire, but never made it to him because French pirates stole it - created 20 years after Spanish conquest - shows Aztec rulers and daily life in Mexico - codex's frontispiece relates information about the organization and foundation of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, or the place of the prickly pear cactus - uses pictograms created by Aztec artists that were later annotated in Spanish - shows a schematic diagram of Tenochtitlan, with the city divided into 4 parts by intersecting blue-green undulating diagonals - city made of canals, similar to the Italian city of Venice, and was divided into 4 quarters - image displays the quadripartite division of the city and the canals running through it - division of the city into 4 parts was intended to mirror the organization of the universe, believed to be 4 parts aligned with the 4 cardinal directions - the artist or artists were indigenous, and the images were often annotated in Spanish by a priest that spoke Nahuatl, the language spoken by the Nahuas (the ethnic group to whom the Aztecs belonged) - this scene depicts the founding of Tenochtitlan and the conquest of Colhuacan and Tenayucan on the bottom - eagle and cactus relate to the narrative surrounding the capital's establishment - according to Aztec myth, their patron deity, Huitzilopochtli (Hummingbird Left), told the Aztecs' ancestors to leave their ancestral home of Aztlan and look for a place where they saw an eagle atop a cactus growing from a rock - Huitzilopochtli informed them that when they saw this sign, they should settle and build their city - aztecs observed the sign in the middle of Lake Texacoco, and so established their capital on an island in the lake - below the cactus and stone in the middle of the drawing is a war shield, indicating the Mexican did not settle peacefully in the Valley of Mexico - enemy temples are on fire while Aztec warriors carry clubs and shields - small representation of the Templo Mayor above the eagle - skulls represent sacrificial victims - 10 men in the 4 quadrants, wearing white garments and displaying top knots in their hair -- men who led the Aztecs to the island location - one man: gray skin, different hairstyle, red mark around his ear -- priest because he let blood from his ear as offerings to deities and ash covers his skin -- glyph identify him as Tenoch - other motifs, such as the speech scroll coming from his mouth and the woven mat upon which he sits, convey his high status as well - Tenoch died in 1363, and the first Aztec tlatoani, or speaker (the ruler), was elected in 1375 by a council of elders - below the schematic diagram if the city are two scenes of military conquest - artist emphasizes the military power of the Aztecs by showing two soldiers in hierarchical scale: they physically tower over the two men they defeat - the aztec warriors are also identified by their shields -- identical to the one above that is associated with Tenochtitlan -- and their obsidian-bladed weapons (called macana) - eagle landing in a cactus at the intersection of the 2 waterways commemorates the division of Tenochtitlan into 4 quarters - current Mexican flag has an eagle perched on a cactus that rests on a rock, as scene in this work - significance: codex mendoza became a national symbol for Mexico

Angel with Arquebus - Master of Calamarca (La Paz School) - 17th Century

- arquebus = an early type of portable gun - angel depicted with rifle instead of traditional sword - military poses derived from European engravings of military exercises - the painting was found by itself, but was likely part of a larger series that included angels performing other activities such as drumming, holding lances, buglers, standard bearers, and holder of swords - drapery of a seventeenth century spanish aristocrat; rich costuming; period appropriate fashion - gold embroidered on fabric favored by indigenous people - mannerist influence in the stiffness of the figure; dance-like pose - shows influence of Aztec feather work - Latin inscription: "Aisel, fear of God" - angel appears in an androgynous stance - relationship between these images and the winged warriors of Pre-Colombian art - may have originated in the region around Lake Titicaca in the collar region of Peru - one example of an archangel carrying a rifle in protection of land/people - first appearing in Peru, these images were widespread throughout the Andes, in places such as La Paz, Bolivia, and as far as present-day Argentina - represents celestial, aristocratic, and military beings - these angels were created after the first missionizing period, as Christian missionary orders persistently sought to terminate the practice of pre-Hispanic religions and enforce Catholicism - the Catholic Counter Reformation held a militaristic ideology that portrayed the Church as an army and angels as its soldiers - the armed angel in Asiel Timor Dei represented this philosophy: its gun and mere existence protects faithful Christians - although the Council of Trent (1545-1563) had condemned all angelic depictions and names but those of Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael in the mid-sixteenth century, this ban was observed neither in the Viceroyalty of Peru nor in Baroque Spain - in fact, angels appeared in paintings in the royal convents of Las Descalzas Reales and Encarnación in Madrid, Spain - the Spanish Inquisition later prohibited the cult of angels in the mid-17th century, but depictions of angels still flourished in the "New World" - evidence suggesting indigenous people saw guns as supernatural manifestations -- paintings of angels with guns were perhaps representative of both the power of the Spaniards over indigenous people and protection offered to faithful Christians - the angel holds the gun like a professional, close to his chest -- Although the gun is ready for firing, the angel does not hold the trigger, nor does he hold it at eye level - the dress of the angels corresponds to the dress of Andean aristocrats and Inca royalty, and is distinct from the military attire of Gheyn's harquebusiers - the dress was an Andean invention that combines contemporary European fashion and the typical dress of indigenous noblemen - colonial gentlemen were aware of fashion trends in Europe, but they invented certain outfits that came from Spanish America, such as the overcoat with large balloon-like sleeves - excess of textile in Asiel Timor Dei indicates the high social status of its wearer - elongated plumed hat is a symbol of Inca nobility, as feathers were reserved for nobles and religious ceremonies in pre-hispanic society - broad-brim hat on which the feathers are planted was in style in france and holland around 1630 - compare Archangel with Lamassu of Assyria -- hybrid figures and guardian figures

Henri IV Receives the Portrait of Marie de' Medici - Peter Paul Rubens - Flemish Baroque - 1621-1625

- portrait of a young woman in a bejeweled dress with a stiff lace collar gazes confidently out of a simply framed, bust-length portrait -bplaced at the very center of a large canvas - Marie de' Medici, daughter of the Grandduke of Tuscany —powerful family - this painting depicts the engagement of Henri IV and Marie de Medici - portraits were exchanged before the marriage —married by proxy in 1600 - heroic gestures with demonstrative spiraling figures - Henri is shown as lovestruck by the portrait -- Cupid, Roman god of love, and Hymen, Roman god of marriage, show Henri the portrait - sumptuous full-fleshed women - standing behind Henri wearing a helmet and steel breastplate is a personification of France whispering in his ear about need for love over war - above Henri in the clouds are Roman king of gods, Jupiter, and Roman queen of gods, Juno — looking down approvingly on union - Jupiter and Juno's hands touch in a tender gesture of marital union - Jupiter's fierce eagle (top left corner) looks away from the couple and clenches its lightening bolts in its talons - Juno's tamed peacock looks at the divine couple, while his mate cranes her neck to look at the portrait. - following Jupiter's lead, Henry must also turn his attention to marriage - a pink silk ribbon binds peacock and peahen together - the peahen perches on Juno's chariot, directly above a golden relief of Cupid who balances a yoke-shaped garland (a symbol of marriage) on his shoulders as he playfully dances on the wings of a proud eagle - the message is clear: even the king of the gods can be subdued by love - splendid costumes suggest opulent theatrical production - in background there is smoke from a recent battle - various putti play in various pieces of armor at Henri's feet - symbolic that war should be left behind for love - this painting was created on the cusp of the age of absolutism —royalty considered above bodily existence. - bright colors, extravagant texture, and strong use of lines and diagonals pointing to center -- inspired by Caravaggio and Titian - royalty considered themselves demigods; approval of mythological gods in concert with their beliefs about themselves

Hagia Sophia - Constantinople (Istanbul) - 532-537 C.E.

- built in 6th Century, unique for its size and deisgn - two theoreticians (geometry specialists) - Isidore of Miletus and Anthems of Tralles - were hired by Justinian to design and build Hagia Sophia - different that a traditional basilica ... Justinian wanted a centrally planned space and a longitudinal axially planned format - used four pendentives = constructive device permitting the placing of a circular dome over a square room or an elliptical dome over a rectangular room - four piers support the weight of the dome with the help of the pendentives - hagia sophia means "holy wisdom"

Baroque Patrons

- catholic church was greatest source of artistic commissions in the 17th century - royalty and their autocratic governments closely followed church in number of commissions - huge churches and massive palaces had big spaces that needed to be filled with large paintings which commanded high prices - money was not only driving factor for Baroque artists, many were intensely religious and painted to renew their commitment to their faith

illusion of reality

- classical art sought to create a convincing illusion for the viewer - artists tried to make their statues appear like an idealized human figure - some of these sculptures were so lifelike that legends spread about the statues coming to life and speaking to people - a statue of a god or goddess in the ancient world was believed to embody diety

St. Luke portrait page (Lindisfarne Gospels)

- curly haired, bearded evangelist is seated on a red-cushioned stool against an unornamented background - saint Luke identified by Greek words using Latin characters: "Hagios Lucas" - Luke holds a quill in his right hand, poised to write words on a scroll unfurling from his lap - his feet hover above a tray supported by red legs - he wears a purple robe streaked with red - heavily bearded saint Luke gives weight to his authority as an author, but he appears as a younger man - gold hall behind Luke's head indicates his divinity - above halo flies a blue-winged calf (or ox), its two eyes turned toward the viewer with its body in profile - cow clasps a green parallelogram between two forelegs, a reference to the gospel - calf (or ox) traditional symbol associated with st. Luke (sacrificial animal) - identity of calf is acknowledged in the Latin phrase "imago vituli" - cross-cultural comparisons: manuscripts (Bahrum Gur Fights the Karg; Folio from the Qur'an)

Gothic Architecture (new to Gothic)

- flying buttress -- stone arches support a roof by having weight bypass the walls & travel down to piers outside the building — enabled open building for more windows, thus more stained glass - choir -- more elaborate ceremonies called for larger space introduced in east end between the transept & the apse — allowed for greater clergy participation & removed public further from main altar thus keeping ceremonies at arm's length - pinnacles -- originally thought to be just decorative, pinnacles added to roof; act as stabilizing force in a wind storm - gothic buildings are tall and narrow causing worshipers to look up, reinforcing religious symbolism of building - french gothic buildings usually nestled downtown surrounded by other buildings rising about city landscape as a point of civic & religious pride — towns competed to outdo their neighbors and would build successively taller buildings

Biombo and Enconchados (Screen with Siege of Belgrade)

- screen was commissioned by Jose Sarmiento de Valladeres, viceroy of New Spain - displayed in Viceregal Palace in Mexico City separating two rooms: an intimate space and a grand salon - inspired by Japanese folding screens (biombo = folding screen) - only known example of an art work that combines biombos and enconchados - 2 faces on screen: hunting scene and war scene

how to enter heaven?

- how do you get to heaven? good deeds? can you get yourself to heaven on your own merit or do you have to sit back and let god do the work? - these questions caused international controversy, mass looting, vandalism, and killing in the sixteenth century - one casualty of the violence and chaos was the destruction of thousands of works of religious art - in this argument, iconoclasts (breakers of likenesses/images) stormed through churches, destroying every work of art they could get their hands on

Dedication Page with Blanche of Castile and King Louis IX of France (Bibles moralisées) - 1225-1245 C.E.

- in 1226 a French king died died of dysentery after only a three-year reign, leaving his queen, Blanche of Castile (age 38), to rule his kingdom until their son came of age - rebelling barons were eager to win back lands that her husband's father had seized from them -- hey rallied troops against her, defamed her character, and even accused her of adultery and murder - blanche persuaded, cajoled, negotiated, and fought would-be enemies - when their son Louis IX took the helm in 1234, he inherited a kingdom that was at peace - 4 people involved in the production of this manuscript - as patron and ruler, Queen Blanche of Castile would have financed its production - in the upper register, an enthroned king and queen wear the traditional medieval open crown topped with fleur-de-lys—a stylized iris or lily symbolizing a French monarch's religious, political, and dynastic right to rule - the blue-eyed queen, left, is veiled in a white widow's wimple - An ermine-lined blue mantle drapes over her shoulders - her pink T-shaped tunic spills over a thin blue edge of paint which visually supports these enthroned figures - a slender green column divides the queen's space from that of her son, King Louis IX, to whom she deliberately gestures across the page, raising her left hand in his direction - her pose and animated facial expression suggest that she is dedicating this manuscript, with its lessons and morals, to the young king - as ruler-to-be, Louis IX's job was to take its lessons to heart along with those from the other biblical and ancient texts that his tutors read with him - Louis IX, wearing an open crown atop his head, returns his mother's glance - in his right hand he holds a scepter, indicating his kingly status - it is topped by the characteristic fleur-de-lys on which a small bird sits - a four-pedaled brooch, dominated by a large square of sapphire blue in the center, secures a pink mantle lined with green that rests on his boyish shoulders - in his left hand, louis holds a small golden ball or disc -- could be representative of french royalty tradition of giving the bishop of Reims 13 gold coins - a manuscript this lavish, however, would have taken eight to ten years to complete — perfect timing, because in 1235, the 21-year-old Louis was ready to assume the rule of his Capetian kingdom from his mother - the illumination's bottom register depicts a tonsured cleric (churchman with a partly shaved head) and an illuminator - the cleric wears a sleeveless cloak appropriate for divine services — this is an educated man —and emphasizes his role as a scholar - he tilts his head forward and points his right forefinger at the artist (illuminator) across from him, as though giving instructions - on the right, the artist, wears a blue surcoat and cap, seated on cushioned bench - knife in his left hand and stylus in his right, he looks down at his work -- four vertically-stacked circles in a left column, with part of a fifth visible on the right - Blanche picked the theologians whose job it was to establish this manuscript's guidelines, select biblical passages, write explanations, hire copyists, and oversee the images that the artists should paint - the art and text are mutually dependent -- very thorough - this 13th century illumination, both dazzling and edifying, represents the cutting edge of lavishness in a society that embraced conspicuous consumption - as a pedagogical tool, it helped Louis IX achieve the status of sainthood, awarded by Pope Bonifiace VIII 27 years after the king's death

Spaniard and Indian Produce a Mestizo - attributed to Juan Rodriguez Juarez - 1715

- inscription: "In America people are born in diverse colors, customs, temperaments and languages. From the Spaniard and the Indian is born the mestizo, usually humble, quiet and simple." ~ José Joaquín Magón - created in New Spain (Spanish colonial Mexico) - type of painting, known as pinturas de castas, or caste paintings, and they attempt to capture reality, yet they are largely fictional - this is a panel from the first known series of casta paintings but it may not have been a completed set - casta = a hierarchical system of race classification created by Spanish elites in Hispanic America during the Spanish colonial period -- used to describe and socially rank the mixed-race people who were born during the post-Conquest period - spanish social hierarchy: european ancestry on top with 16 different gradation of social scale - spanish blood linked to civilizing forces; wearing lavish costumes - fuses elements of traditional European paintings (gestures of familiar relationships) with colonial context (depiction of indigenous textiles, i.e. woman in this painting wears a huipil, a traditional indigenous garment) - africans and Indians are rendered with Southern European features: slim noses, curly hair, almond-shaped eyes - casta paintings are commonly produced in sets of sixteen, but occasionally we see sixteen vignettes on a single canvas - costume, accouterments, activities, setting, and flora and fauna all aid in racially labeling - first position of the casta series is always a Spanish man and an elite Indigenous woman, accompanied by their offspring: a mestizo, which denotes a person born of these two parents - Spanish colonists commissioned with works to be sent abroad to show how the caste system of the New World worked - not considered art objects but illustrations of ethnic groups - painting displays a Spanish father and Indigenous mother with their son carried by a child servant - the numbers and textual inscriptions on casta paintings create a racial taxonomy, akin to a scientific taxonomy -- in this way, casta paintings speak to Enlightenment concerns, specifically the notion that people can be rationally categorized based on their ethnic makeup and appearance - casta paintings convey the perception that the more European you are, the closer to the top of the social and racial hierarchy you belong - pure-blooded Spaniards always occupy the preeminent position in casta paintings and are often the best dressed and most "civilized" - often as the casta series progresses, discord can erupt among families or they are displayed in tattered, torn, and unglamorous surroundings - people also appear darker as they become more mixed - casta paintings from the second half of the eighteenth century in particular focus more on families living in less ideal conditions as they become more racially mixed

Chartres Cathedral Floor Plan

- integration of the radiating chapels creating a unified space with apse - unification causes light from one chapel to shine into another. - purpose of construction is to inspire people and invoke God's blessing "heaven on earth"

Gothic Art enduring understanding

- medieval art is mainly concerned with religious expression and court life; strong culture of endorsing scholarship - learning centered on specific fields that were transmitted through Europe through trade, pilgrimage, and military activity - medieval architecture was mostly religious - medieval painting and sculpture avoids naturalistic depictions - at time, medieval religions will reject images

early christianity

- not until 2nd century did Christianity begin to be understood as a religion distinct from Judaism - Christian's were sometimes severely persecuted by the Romans, thus they were an underground religion - it became legal to be Christian in early 4th century - less than a hundred years later, Christianity was made the official state religion

Annunciation Triptych (merode altarpiece) - workshop of Robert Campin - 1427-1432 C.E.

- small, portable object made for someone's home instead of a public church altar - upper middle class was buying art for their home; represents the affluence of the time - humanization of traditional themes -- no halos, domestic interiors, view into a flemish cityscape - center portrays a scene of the annunciation -- the moment when an angel comes to the Virgin Mary to announce she while bear the son of god - scene is a contemporary flemish interior; unusual because the story is placed out of time - steeply rising ground line; figures are too large for the room they sit in; multiple perspectives - tools and water stand for Mary's purity ~ water is a baptismal symbol - flowers have 3 buds symbolizing the Trinity; unopened buddies the unborn Jesus - lilies symbolize Mary's purity - candlestick = mary hold christ in the womb - mary seated in floor symbolizes her humility - mary blocks the fireplace, which symbolic of the entrance to hell - open window has figure of a cross = the divine birth - image of christ coming down on golden sun rays on his back heading toward Mary's womb -- her womb has a burns of light upon her dress - left panels -- donors, middle class people kneeling before the holy scene - wife added later, perhaps because of donor's marriage - campin used oil paint and its related techniques, which allowed him to achieve effects that were not possible with tempera - joseph in his carpentry workshop - campin's work, as a craftsman and painter, is reflected in the tools and activities of Joseph's workshop - mousetrap symbolizes the capturing of the devil - attention to detail to tools of trade - huge attention to detail

black death during the late middle ages & early renaissance

- the black death struck most of the "known" world 1348 - killed approximately 1/3 of the population of europe and other parts of the old world; some areas death rates were higher - this serious reduction of population led to significant political, social and artistic change - arts: subject matter became darker (exploring death & dying) in 2nd half of 14th century as people faced death daily - architecture: building campaigns of the gothic era (including massive cathedrals) came to an end... not enough people to support construction... smaller chapels and buildings more common - economics and social change: increased urbanization, helping support cities that flourished and provided environment necessary for creativity in Renaissance

Sistine Chapel ceiling layout

- troupe l'oiel molding divide the fault into 9 compartments; appears realistic - the divided 9 compartments in the vault depict scenes from Genesis - 8 triangular compartments above windows contain frescos of ancestors of Jesus

triptych

a picture or relief carving on three panels, typically hinged together side by side and used as an altarpiece

tessellation

geometric decoration using polygonal shapes with no gaps

Hagia Sophia interior

- "dome feels like it is suspended from heaven" - architects pierced dome with 40 windows causing light to stream in, causing the dome to appear to be floating and symbolically acting as a halo over the congregation when filled with light - dome covered in gold mosaic - floor made of huge paving stones - all walls are either covered with a colored stone or with gold mosaics - cornices unify spaces - an ornamental molding around the wall of a room just below the ceiling - arcade decoration - walls and capitals are flat and thin but richly ornamented - mosaics throughout had symbols such as palm leaves and crosses everywhere - large fields for mosaic decoration - at one time had 4 acres of gold mosaics on walls - there is a lack of figures in Hagia Sophia, likely due to iconoclasm; or could have been due to an attempt to stay focused on the architecture - marble panels throughout- cut to reflect complex pattern of the marble; imported by Justinian from the far reaches of empire - sanctuary included thrones enclosed in silver, encrusted with precious stones - change: Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople and turned church into mosque - all of original Christian relics and furniture were lost - when western christians invaded, crusaders sacked Constantinople and many important objects were lost to make money - minarets added in Islamic period, when Hagia Sophia functioned as a mosque - building is now a museum - marble columns appropriated from Rome, Ephesus, and other Greek sites - capitals avoid classical allusions; surfaces contain deeply cut acanthus leaves

St. Luke incipient page (Lindisfarne Gospels)

- "incipit" - meaning opening words of Saint Luke's gospel (Quoniam Quidem) - Quoniam quidem multi conati sunt ordinare narrationem. (translation: As many have taken it in hand to set forth in order.) - blue pin-wheeled shapes rotate in repetitive circles, caught in the vertex of a large Q that forms Luke's opening sentence - animal life, spiraled forms, and swirling vortexes - knots reveal themselves as snakes that move stealthily along the confines of a letter's boundaries - numerous Celtic spiral ornaments; step patterns appear in the enlarge "O" - birds all over: blue heron's chest shaped like a large comma. shape repeats vertically down the column, twisting the comma into a cat's forepaw at the bottom - naturalistic details - cat, who has just consumed the 8 birds that stretch vertically up from its head, presses off this appendage acrobatically to turn its body 90 degrees - tiny red dots that envelop words, except when they don't - the letters "NIAM" of "quoniam" are composed of the vellum itself, the negative space now asserting itself as four letters - cross-cultural comparison: zoomorphic designs (Jade Cong from Liangzhu, China)

Bayeux Tapestry

- 20 inches high and almost 230 feet in length - commemorates a struggle for the throne of England between William (the Duke of Normandy (northern france)) and Harold (the Earl of Wessex) - 75 scenes with latin inscriptions depicting the events leading up to the Norman conquest and culminating in the Battle of Hastings in 1066 - probably made in Canterbury, around 1070, within a generation of the Norman defeat of the Anglo-saxons -- considered to be somewhat historically accurate - the tapestry favorable depicts the Normans in the events leading up to the battle of Hastings, thus presents a Norman POV - identity of the artists is unknown -- high quality of the needle work suggests that Anglo-Saxon embroiderers produced the tapestry - the upper and lower zones contain images of animals and people, scenes from Aesop's Fables, and scenes of husbandry and hunting - image at right depicts the death of King Harold. At times the images in the borders interact with and draw attention to key moments in the narrative (as in the image right of the battle). - organization leads viewers eye from one scene to the next and divided the compositional space into three horizontal zones - provides important sources for scenes of 11th century life as well as objects that long longer survive -- such as dining practices, armor and battle preparations - william's tactical use of calvary is displayed in the "cavalry" scene -- the cavalry could advance quickly and easily retreat, which would scatter an opponent's defenses allowing the infantry to invade - the brutality of war is evident in the battle scenes -- figures of mortally wounded men and horses are strewn along the tapestry's lower zone as well as within the main central zone - bayeux tapestry serves as a medieval artifact that operates as art. chronicle, political propaganda and visual evidence of 11th-century mundane objects - monumental scale indicates its importance - neutral background; flatness of figures with no shadows - compare with other narrative retelling of real historical events (i.e. Column of Trajan)

Last Judgement (Sistine Chapel)

- 25 years after finishing the ceiling, Michelangelo painted "The Last Judgement" on the wall behind the altar - no cornice division like the ceiling - mannerism shown in the distortions of the body, elongations, and crowded groups - four broad horizontal bands act as the unifying element: 1) bottom - left: dead rising... right: mouth of hell 2) second level - ascending elect, descending sinners, trumpeting angels 3) third level - those rising to heaven gathered around Jesus 4) top lunettes - angels carrying the cross and the column, instruments used at christ's death - christ in center gestures definitely with right hand - complex pose - justice is delivered -- good rise and evil fall - lower right-hand corner has figures from Dante's Inferno - st. bartholomew's face is modeled on a contemporary critic. saint holds his skin - a symbol of his martyrdom, but face of skin is Michelangelo. this is a remark about critics who "skin him alive" with their criticisms - the spiraling composition is a reaction against the High Renaissance's harmony of the Sistine Chapel - reflects disunity of Christendom caused by protestant reformation

Early Medieval period - historical background

- 600 CE - almost everything known was old - great technological breakthroughs of the Romans were either lost to history or beyond capabilities of migratory people of 7th century - age of mass migration sweeping across Europe - age epitomized by the 5th century king, Attila the Hun - hordes famous for stealing or destroying all in their path - vikings from Scandinavia had speedy boats that flew across North Sea and invaded British Isles and colonized parts of France - vandals (east germanic tribes) destroyed much of roman civilization - desperate era - historians dubbed it the "Dark Ages" - this term reflects our knowledge of the times rather than the actuality of this time - stability in Europe is reached at the end of the 8th century when group of Frankish kinds (i.e. Charlemagne) built empire with capital in Aachen, Germany

Dutch Baroque

- Dutch paintings are harbingers of modern taste during Baroque period landscapes, portraits, and genre paintings flourished - religious ecstasies, great myths, and historical subjects were avoided - in contrast to massive buildings in other countries, Dutch houses were small and walls space was scarce, so painters designed works to hand in more "intimate" settings - despite the booming commerce and trade industry, the Dutch did not want industry portrayed in their works - if there are ships, they are sailboats, not merchant vessels -- Sailboats courageously braved the weather, NOT unloaded merchant ships - animals are shown quietly grazing rather than giving milk or being shorn for wool - featureless flat Dutch landscapes were animated by powerful & evocative skies Dutch painters had several things in common with the rest of European art: - many layers of symbolism that provokes the viewer to intellectual consideration - still life paintings, not the mere arrangement of inanimate objects, rather they cause people to ponder the passing and fleetness of life - stark church interiors often symbolize the triumph of Protestantism over Catholicism

byzantine art is broken into 3 periods

- Early Byzantine or Early Christian art begins with the earliest extant Christian works of art c. 250 and ends with the end of Iconoclasm in 842 - Middle Byzantine art picks up at the end of Iconoclasm and extends to the sack of Constantinople by Latin Crusaders in 1204. - Late Byzantine art was made between the sack of Constantinople and the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453.

Palazzo Rucellai - Leon Battista Alberti (architect) - Florence, Italy - 1450 C.E.

- Florentine palace: the first private residence that employed humanism in its design - significant because the facade considered quintessentially renaissance because its style is so separated from the medieval style - alberti's architectural style is reflective of his interpretation of classical elements in buildings like the roman colosseum - common of buildings today - usually three stories from street level - 1st floor reserved as a public area -- business is transacted here - 2nd floor raises in lightness, with string string course marking the ceiling of one story and the floor of another -- where families gathered in their private quarters - pilasters rise vertically and divide the space into squarish shapes - 3rd floor is capped by a heavy cornice in the style of a number of Roman temples - alberti was an architect and wrote a famous book on architecture - alberti sought revival of ancient roman architecture - vitruvius's treatise on architecture had just been found a few decades earlier - after Medici's created palaces, it started a palace building boom - Rucellai came from a wealthy family of wool manufactures (similar to most rich Florentines) - during this period, it was important to express his loyalty to the Medici; palace is organized much like the Medici palace - differences: more delicate and light; the Medici Palace has heavy, dark, rustic masonry — Medici Palace almost looks like a fortress in comparison - palazzo rucellai has plasters and rounded arches - gives senses of horizontality and decorative devices - stringcourse is not plain, rather it is an entablature - between ground floor and first floor is a Medici device: ring with three feathers - between 2nd and 3rd floor is a device of the Rucellai family: a sail with wind blowing - there are benches on the outside to give rest to tired visitors of Florence - the column capitals increase in complexity as they rise to the top with Tuscan on 1st floor, Ionic on 2nd floor, and Corinthian on 3rd floor - differentiation of orders rising in complexity is same as the Colosseum—another indication that he is looking at ancient Roman architecture - a hidden fourth floor, which had few windows and is invisible from the street, was where the servants lived

Triumph of the Name of Jesus (II Gesù) - Giovanni Batista Gaulli - Rome, Italy - 1676-1679

- Giovanni Batista Gaulli (Baciccio) was a gifted painter from Genoa, supported by the famous sculptor Bernini - most famous ceiling fresco after Sistine Chapel - Baciccio won the commission to paint the frescoes for II Gesù when he was just 22 -- 18 years later, he unveiled the Triumph - surrounded by a gilt coffered ceiling, the fresco depicts the loyal and pious ascending to join jesus in heaven and the impious being cast down - baciccio achieved an incredible three-dimensional trompe l'oeuil with the help of his pupil, Antonio Raggi - Raggi fashioned foreshortened stucco and wooden figures that were affixed at the bottom of the painting - baciccio then painted the figures so they would appear to be part of the main fresco - glaze was added to gilt, coffered ceiling to give illusion of a shadow - the inside of the dome depicts wise and learned men from the bible, praising jesus on their ascent to heaven to sit at his side - damned are cast into hell; the saved rise heavenward; depicts Last Judgement - focus in center is the golden aura with IHS (Iesus Hominum Salvator ) there center as if ceiling were open to sky and figure spiraling around Jesus's name

Justinian Panel (San Vitale)

- Justinian and Theodora never came to Ravenna - presence is to reassert control of city - Justinian was an Arian and thus believed Jesus was a child of God and thus subordinate to God (not a part of the trinity) - Justinian wanted to force eastern control and religious beliefs which was in contrast to orthodox christian beliefs - Justinian is in the middle and he is flanked by members of the church and then members of the military (representative of power and control in Ravenna) - Justinian's authority is divine - halo around his head - he is holding the bowl for the bread (eucharist) - schematic, abstracted, frontal ~ unconcerned with reality in posture - tesserae - individual files or pieces of glass - set at angles to increase reflective quality - emperor is leading a procession for the eucharist sacrament

Lamentation of Christ (Arena Chapel) - 1305 C.E.

- Mary holds her dead son -- more modern convention to show Jesus "dead" - Jesus is not at center, but is used to draw the eye to Christ in Mary's arms in a mother-child pose - angels are able and are also mourning at death of Jesus - shallow stage, figures occupy a palpable space pushed forward toward the picture plane - diagonal cliff formation points to the main action daringly placed in lower left-hand corner - modeling indicates direction of light -- light falls from above right - range of emotions -- heavy sadness, quiet resignation, flaming outbursts, despair - figures seen from the back seem to isolate the main action - sadness of scene emphasized by grieving angels barrenness of tree

Fruit and Insects - Rachel Ruysch - Dutch Baroque - 1711 C.E.

- Ruysch known for flower paintings - her father was a professor of anatomy and botany as well as an amateur painter - she probably used illustration in botany textbooks as a basis for paintings - this is not a depiction of actual flowers, but a construct of perfect specimens all in bloom to the same time - the arrangement is asymmetrical yet artful - part of a phase in which the artist produced still lifes in a woodland setting - the chosen fruits and nuts correlate to Christianity — grapes for wine and wheat for bread - reflects the interest in categorizing the natural world —microscope invented in 1590 - also reflects focus on color balance based on complementary colors in the color wheel

Sistine Chapel - Michelangelo - Vatican City, Italy - ceiling frescoes (1508-1512) - altar frescoes (1536 - 1541)

- Sistine Chapel hold tomb for Pope Julius II -- this is the room that the College of the Cardinal uses to decide on the next pope - Michelangelo was commissioned in 1506 by Pope Julius II to paint the chapel ceiling -- he did more than what he was asked to - the ceiling uses illusionistic architectural structure -- the painting is so realistic that when viewing the ceiling in person, the images appear to be 3-dimensional sculptures - painted cornice runs around the ceiling with projections supported by pilasters decorated with sculpted putti - between pilasters see figures and narrative scenes, including prophets from Hebrew Bible and Classical sibyls who foretold Jesus' birth - young nude men sit on pedestals above fictitious cornice - most well known scene is "Creation of Adam" in which Michelangelo shows god charging Adam's body with the spark of life as they touch fingers - first image of the three "Creation" images is God separating light from dark - at center is the creation of Eve in a separate panel from Adam -- separating the sexes - at corners of each of the main scenes are male nude figures -- painted in artistic expression as opposed to part of a narrative - immediately after "creation" is the "expulsion of Adam and Eve" - the final three scenes are focused on Noah's story: his sacrifice, the flood, and his drunkenness - all of the 9 center images come from Genesis, the first book of the bible - subject matter is interesting -- though this is a Christian church, the ceiling contains no images of Christ - christ not included, but all the prophets and sibyls that predicted his coming are included - though the Protestant Reformation has begun (1517) the frescos reflect hope - created during time of HIGH renaissance... just a few doors away, Raphael was painting the Pope's study with the School of Athens - there are approximately 300 figures on the ceiling, no two are in the same pose -- demonstrates Michelangelo's obsession with the male nude in motion - enormous variety of expression in each image - in the Sistine Chapel, most of the ignudi, the decorative male nudes on Michelangelo's ceiling, are shown with acorns, which are a recurring motif across the frescoes -- Julius II's family name was Rovere, which means "oak" in Italian -- the acorns are a less than subtle way of Michelangelo acknowledging his patron.

Theodora Panel (San Vitale)

- Theodora is wife of Justinian and empress - panel is the opposite of the Justinian panels, and gives appearance of her acting as an equal ruler - empress is wearing an elaborate gown with jewels and pearls all over headdress - like Justinian she has a halo around her head indicating the divinity of her rule - while Justinian holds the plate for the eucharist, she holds the chalice for the wine (blood of Christ) - surrounded by attendances that symbolize the imperial court

Notes Dame de la Belle Verriere (Chartres Cathedral)

- a lancet (or arch window) - the central lancet featuring the Virgin and child are considered Early Gothic and date to about 1170 C.E. - side panels with angels date to the 13th century and are considered High Gothic in style -- they were added to the central lancet during the rebuilding of Chartres Cathedral a er the catastrophic re of 1194 C.E. - focus is the enthroned Virgin Mary and Christ child —both the Virgin and child look directly at the viewer; Christ extends his right hand in blessing and holds a book with text from Isaiah related to the prophecy of the Incarnation - above them the Holy Spirit, in the form of a white dove, extends 3 rays of light to the Virgin's halo - 6 angels holding candles and incense burners flank them in worship - other scenes surrounding the Virgin and child include the Temptations of Christ and the Marriage at Cana - window was intended to underscore the Virgin Mary's central role in the Christian mysteries of Incarnation and Redemption, presenting the Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven, as well as the symbolic embodiment of the Church - her throne is not merely a queenly throne because she herself is the Sedes Sapientae (Throne of Wisdom) with the Christ child, Wisdom incarnate, seated on her lap - medium of stained glass further underscores the meaning of this iconographical program as the colored glass was intended to transform natural light into a mystical lux nova that could inspire a spiritual awakening in viewers - as light passed through the sacred images of the Virgin and child on the glass, it was not only the images that were intended to be enlightened but also the hearts and minds of those who viewed them - Chartres Cathedral is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and houses important relics relating to her, making Chartres an important pilgrimage destination at the time when the window was made - in the Middle Ages, Chartres also had an important cathedral school, where education in the liberal arts was conducted — Virgin's position as Throne of Wisdom while holding Wisdom incarnate holds special meaning when connected to the scholarly activities of a cathedral school in the same place - in terms of architectural history, the window acknowledges the design of the sculpted portal on the cathedral's west facade, which includes a similar depiction of the Sedes Sapientae; like the lancet, one of few elements to survive the fire of 1194 C.E. At one time, there was also a famously venerated wooden sculpture in the form of a Throne of Wisdom at Chartres

Notes Dame de la Belle Verriere (Chartres Cathedral)

Alhambra - Hall of the Sisters

- abstract patterns, abstraction of forms - highly sophisticated and refined interior - perhaps used as a music room or form receptions - 16 windows at top of hall, light dissolves into a honeycomb of stalactites that dangle from the ceiling - 5000 muqarnas refract light; carved in stucco onto ceiling - muqarnas = a form of architectural ornamented vaulting, the "geometric subdivision of a squinch, or cupola, or corbel into a large number of miniature squinches, producing a sort of cellular structure", sometimes also called a "honeycomb" vault

William, Duke of Normandy

- across the seas, William, had just heard news of Harold's replacement of king edward and was furious - as the distant cousin of king edward, william claimed that he should be crowned king and not harold - William also claimed that many years before, King Edward had sworn that if he died, William would be his successor and therefore crowned King of England - William was the son of the unmarried Robert I, Duke of Normandy, by Robert's mistress Herleva - in 1066, william invaded england - william became the first Norman King of England (also known as william the conquerer or the bastard)

Adam and Eve - Albrecht Dürer - 1504 C.E.

- adam and eve stand together in a dense, dark forest - far from the garden evoked in Genesis, this forest is distinctly German, the dark woods of the devils and spooks of grimm's fairy tales,, foreign and unexpected motifs intrude into this German wood - ideal image of humans before the fall of man - figures in contrapposto - four humors represented in animals below: cat (anger), rabbit (energy), elk (sadness), ox (lethargy) - prior to fall of man, four humors were in balance - mouse represents Satan - parrot symbolic of cleverness - adam tried to dissuade eve by grasping the mountain ash (a tree from which snake recoils) - indicates the Northern European devotion to detailed paintings - human figure: compare with Polykleitos' Spear Bearer or Botticelli's Birth of Venus - influenced by classical sculpture - adam -- greek sculpture, the Apollo Belvedere - eve -- italian, Medici Venus

Entombment of Christ - Jacopo Da Pontormo - 1525-1528

- altarpiece in Copponi Chapel in Church of Santa Felicita, Florence, Italy - altarpiece is in mannerist style - different from usual entombment of christ symbols -- missing a cross, a ladder to reach cross, or even a tomb -- instead, has a mass of figures - center of the circular composition is a grouping of hands that seem to be disembodied - elongation of bodies - high-keyed colors, perhaps taking into account the darkness of the chapel it is placed in - no ground line for many figures; cannot determine what mary sits on - some androgynous figures - no weeping as is common with Entombment of Christ, rathe figures seem to express yearning -- also no tomb, just carrying of Christ's body, despite title of painting - linear bodies are twisting around one another - anti-classical composition - appears to be a rejection of the earthly setting that is the norm of Entombment of Christ depictions - highly stylized figures - scenes of movement in entire composition - figures don't have any weight to them, instead they tip toe as they support the figure of christ - appears to be a rejection of the elements of naturalism that were hallmark of Renaissance - high emotional expression -- mary seems overwrought with grief - emotion of figures seemed to be contrived as if a mask - artificiality of emotion is very common of Mannerism - period of revolution in Florence: reformation, Copernicus' discovery of earth's revolution around sun, Medici's return and abolishment of Republic -- this painting expresses the beginning of changes away from the renaissance

Jewish Art

- although Jews almost universally ban images in temples today, their ancient and medieval ancestors did not always follow this tradition - perhaps inspired by episodes in Old Testament that mention incidents in which images could be valid: i.e. Exodus 18-22, God orders Moses to install 2 cherubim above the Arc o the covenant in the Holy of Hollies - jews in Greco-Roman lands were also influenced by pagan art of heroic deeds of their gods - perhaps explains why there are a few ancient synagogues with illustrations from Old Testament - Middle Ages, wealthy Jewish patrons often commissioned luxury objects like illuminated manuscripts just like their Christian & Muslim neighbors

byzantine architecture

- architects - Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus (a mathematician and a physicist rather than true architects) - Anthemius and Isidorus examined the issue of how a round dome could be placed on flat walls - solution - pendentives - a triangle-shaped piece of masonry with the dome resting on one long side, and the other 2 sides channeling the weight down to a pier below - pendentive allows the dome to be supported by 4 piers at each corner of the building - squinch - fulfills the same function as pendentive but a squinch can take a number of shapes and forms, come corbeling from the wall behind or arching into the center space

Great Mosque - Cordoba, Spain (Umayyad) - 785-786 C.E.

- as with most Islamic mosque courtyards, it has a large fountain for ritual ablution for faithful as they walk in - elaborate fountains and irrigation - double-arched columns, brilliantly articulated in alternating bands of color -- voussoirs - voussoirs = a wedge-shaped stone that forms the carved part of an arch -- the central voussoir is called the keystone - light and airy interior - horseshoe-shaped arches have a tradition in Visigothic Spain and Roman architecture - visigoths = a member of the branch of the Goths who invaded the Roman Empire between 3rd and 5th centuries and ruled much of Spain until being overthrown by the Moors in 711 - the horseshoe arch is also called the Moorish arch and the Keyhole arch -- it is the emblematic arch of Islamic architecture -- can take rounded, pointed or lobed form - hypostyle mosque - no central focus - no congregational worship - original wooden ceiling replaced by vaulting - complex dome over mihrab with elaborate squinches - columns are spoila from ancient Roman structures - relatively short columns made ceiling low - doubling of arches enhances interior space - perhaps influence by Roman aqueduct in Merida, Spain - one of the oldest structures still standing from the time Muslims rule Al-Andalusia in late 8th century - Al-Andalusia -- Muslim Iberia including most of Spain, Portugal, and a small section of Southern France

Great Mosque - Cordoba, Spain (Umayyad) - 785-786 C.E.

Baroque painting and sculpture

- baroque artists explored subjects born in the renaissance but previously considered "too human" for serious painters to indulge in - "too human" subjects, still life, and landscape painting flourished in the 17th century - while religious and historical paintings were still considered the highest form of expression, even great artists like Rembrandt and Rubens painted landscapes and genre scenes - still lifes were a speciality of dutch school - landscapes and still life's exist to express a higher meaning - still lifes frequently contain a vanitas theme - broad open landscapes feather small figures in the foreground acting out a biblical or mythological passage - genre paintings often have allegorical commentary on contemporary/historical issues - landscapes were never actual views of a particular site, instead they were composed in studios from sketches done in field - artist was free to select trees from one place and put them with buildings from another - landscape painters felt they had to reach beyond the visual world of creation -- rely on a thoughtful combination of disparate elements to make an artistic statement - painters were fascinated by Caravaggio's use of gene risk and greatest painters experimented with it - handling of light and shadow became a trademark of the Baroque for painters, sculptors and architects - northern artists specialized in impasto brushwork -- created feeling of spontaneity with vibrant use of visible brushwork - sculptors animated the texture of surfaces by variously polishing or abrading surfaces - painters like Caravaggio painted with an expressive sense of movement - figures are dramatically rendered, even in what would appear to be a simple portrait - light effects are key, as offstage sources illuminated parts of figures in strong dark light contrast called tenebroso - colors are descriptive and evocative - inspiration comes from Venetian renaissance, passes through Caravaggio and Rubens (and his followers, called Rubenistses) - naturalists reject what they perceive as the contortions and artificially of the Mannerists - baroque sculpture stressed movement - figures are caught in mid-motion, mouths open, with the flesh of one figure yielding to the touch of another - some large works were often meant to be placed in the middle of the floor at a slight distance from a wall and be seen in the round - sculptors employ negative space, carving large openings in a work so that the viewers can contemplate a multiplicity of angles - marble is treated with tactile sense -- human skin given a high polish, angel wings shown with a feathery touch, animal skins reveal a courser feel - Baroque sculptors found inspiration in the major works of Greek Hellenistic period

christian architecture

- before the year 313 C.E., when christianity was legalized, christian worship occurred in homes, at grave sites of saints and loved ones, or outdoors - basilicas (roman buildings that were long, rectangular, with a wide central nave and two side aisles) were adapted into churches because they did not have the pagan associations that Roman temples did and were large enough to accommodate the growing christian population - added the altar: eucharist celebrated and central focus for the liturgy - christians reordered the basilica, turning the entrance to face the far end instead of the side, and focused attention directly on the priest, whose altar (meaning "high place") was elevated in the apse - clergy occupied the perpendicular aisle next to the apse, called the transept - male worshippers stood in the long main aisles called the nave - females were relegated to the side aisles with partial views of the ceremony - christians were inspired by Jewish communities in which this sexual division was standard - a narthex (or vestibule) was positioned as a transitional zone in the front of the church - an atrium was constructed in the form of the building, framing the facade - the atrium also housed the catechumens (those who expressed a desire to convert to Christianity but had not yet gone through the initiation rites — both inside and outside the main building) - narthex = world,, nave = kingdom of god,,, sanctuary = heaven

Romanesque historical background

- by 1000, Europe had begun to settle down from the great migration that characterized the Early Medieval Period - wandering seafarers like the vikings were christianized and descendants colonized Normandy, France, and southern Italy and Sicily - Islamic incursions from Spain and North Africa were neutralized - crusades: europeans began a counterinvasion of Muslim lands - universal triumph of Christianity in Europe with the pope cast as its leader ~ spiritual empire similar to Roman secular one - even with Europeans fighting among themselves, enough stability was reached that trade and the arts could flourish - for the first time in centuries, cities expanded - people began to crisscross Europe on religious pilgrimages to Rome and even Jerusalem - most popular destination was the shrine dedicated to St. James in the northwestern Spanish town of Santiago de Compostela - magnificent Romanesque cathedral was built as the endpoint of western European pilgrimages - journey to Santiago took perhaps a year or longer to make - shrines were established at key points along the road, so pilgrims could enjoy additional holy places (many of which survive today) - pilgrimage movement, with its consequent building boom, is one of the great revitalizations in history - medieval society centered on feudalism, which can be expressed as a symbiotic relationship between lords and peasants

Pyxis of al-Mughira - Umayyad - 968 C.E.

- calligraphic inscription in Arabic identifies the owner, asks for Allah's blessing, and tells us the function of the pyxis - pyxis - small cylinder-shaped container with a detachable lid used to contain cosmetics or jewelry - fuction - container for expensive aromatics; left open for the scents to waft in the air - pyxis was probably cut from the cross-section of an elephant's tusk and it was adorned in highly specific, royal iconography - the particular pyxis was a gift to the then 18-year-old al-Mughira, the son of a caliph, possibly a coming-of-age present - caliph - the chief Muslim civil and religious ruler, regarded as the successor of Muhammad - vegetal and geometric motifs - 8 medallion scenes showing pleasure activities of the royal court, which are surrounded by figures and animals that include falconers, wrestlers, griffons, peacocks, birds, goats and animals to be hunted - each medallion has princely iconography - islamic art is not strictly speaking aniconic (the absence of human figures) - human and animal figures played a vital part in iconography - in this pyxis, some scholars have interpreted as expressing the political authority and legitimacy of Umayyad Caliphs (as opposed to the Abbasid Caliphs, who ruled in Baghdad) - best survive examples of the royal ivory carving tradition in Al-Andalus (Islamic Spain) - in Al-Andalus, ivory objects, including Pyxides, were bestowed upon members of the royal family, specifically sons, wives and daughters on important or memorable occasions, such as a marriage, birth, or coming of age - later they were given as Caliphal gifts to important allie's - Al-Andalus, the lands on the Iberian Peninsula (today, Spain), which were controlled by Muslims from 711 to 1492, are home to some of the most remarkable monuments of Islamic art - cross-cultural comparison: relief sculpture (Narmer Palette, Grave Stele of Hegeso)

Romanesque Architecture

- cathedrals were sources of civic pride well as artistic expression and spiritual devotion - sometimes took hundred of years to build and were extremely expensive.. great care lavished on their construction and maintenance - church leaders sought to preserve structures from the threats of fire and moved away from wood to stone roofs - those that were originally conceived with wood were sometimes retrofitted - revival of structures entirely in stone is one reason for the period's name "romanesque" - stone caused problems due to weight - walls had to be extra thick to sustain the weight of the roof - windows are small so there are as few holes in walls as possibles - interiors are correspondingly dark - to bring more light into buildings, the exterior of windows are often narrow and interior of windows wider - this way light would come in through the window and ricochet off its thick walls and appear more luminous - introduction of stained glass darkened attempts at lightening the interiors - to help support the roofs of these massive buildings, master builders designed a new devise: rib vault - at first, these ribs were decorative molding placed on top of groin vaults - eventually became a new way of looking at roof support - rib vault doesn't carry full weight, they help channel the stresses of its load down to the walls and onto the massive piers below, which serve as functional buttresses - rib vaults open up ceiling spaces more dramatically allowing larger windows to be placed in the clerestory - during construction rib vaults were first part of roof built - stones in spaces between were added later - besides advantage of being fireproof, stone has several other positive qualities: easy to maintain, durable, and generally weatherproof - stone conducts sound very well - medieval music characterized by Gregorian chant, could be performed - enable even those in read to hear the service - basic unit of medieval construction called the bay - bay became model for total expression of cathedral - form is repeated throughout the building to render artistic whole - to accommodate larger crowds who came to Romanesque buildings during feast days or for pilgrimages, master builders designed an addition to the east end of the building -- called ambulatory (feature also present in Early Christian churches) - ambulatory walkway had the benefit of directing crowds of pilgrims around the church without disturbing the ceremonies taking place in the apse - chapels were placed at measured intervals around the ambulatory, radiating so that pilgrims could admire the displays of relics and other sacred items housed there - romanesque buildings are characterized as uniformly large, displaying monumentality and solidity - round arches, often used as arcades, are prominent features on facades - concrete technology, a favorite of ancient romans, was forgotten by 10th century - interiors are dark; facades are sometimes punctured with round oculus-type windows - tendency outside Italy is to use Roman stone vaulting techniques, such as the barrel and groin vault to cover the interior space - later buildings employ rib-covered groin vaults to make interiors seem taller and lighter - italian buildings have separate bell towers called campaniles to summon people to prayer - northern european buildings incorporate this tower into the fabric of the building often over the crossing

San Vitale - Ravenna, Italy - 526-547 C.E.

- centrally planned church (focus on center) - ambulatory (aisle) - 8 sides (octagon); within there is another octagon that rises higher - exterior is plain except for porch which was added later in Renaissance - interior is covered with mosaics - apse-like shapes all around; open arched spaces - columns are thin and doubled (stacking on top of one another) - large windows for illuminating interior designs - east end is covered in dense mosaic, especially gold - apse has 3 large windows - above is a mosaic of christ dressed in purple sitting on an orb of Earth - christ is handing a crown to San Vitale, primary martyr of the city - Ecclesius is on the other side handing the church to an angel - San Vitale is a martyring to St. Vitalis - a martyr's sanctuary is both his tomb and Christ's burial chamber - early Christian theology conceived the dignity of martyrdom as the martyr's mystical transfiguration into christ - architecture of San Vitale evokes this relation of the death and resurrection of the saint to the death and resurrection of Christ - Vitalis suffered martyrdom after being executed by a Roman Emperor around 304 - mosaics contain scenes from the Old and New Testament - important for its surviving mosaics which exemplify Byzantium mosaic art, especially that of Justinian I and Theodora - classical orders are set aside and new capitals are attempted; include impost blocks above the capitals before they connect to the arches

christian doctrines

- christianity holds that god has a 3-part nature - God the father, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus Christ - believe that it was Jesus's sacrifice (on the cross) that allowed for human beings to have the possibility of eternal life in heaven - christian's demonstrate their faith by engaging in good (charitable) works (such as works of art) - traditional christian churches have a hierarchical structure of clergy. devout men and women sometimes become nuns or monks and may separate themselves from the world and live a cloistered life devoured to prayer in a monastery

Columbus

- columbus sailed the ocean-blue in 1492 in search for spices from India... he landed in the Bahamas - upon Columbus's discovery, European powers immediately set upon a mission of conquest and colonization - spanish and portuguese adventurers occupied vast expanses of territory in an area we today call Latin America - the great Native American civilizations of the Aztecs and Incas rapidly fell due to the technology advancements and disease-bearing Europeans

Mosque of Selim II - Edirne, Turkey - 1568-1575 B.C.E.

- complex is huge -- more than two football fields in length - composed of a mosque, a row of shops and , 2 symmetrical square madrasas (education institutions -- one served as a college for studying traditions of Prophet Muhammad) - located in Edirne rather than the capital, Istanbul - built by the Sultan Selim II, the son of Süleyman the Magnificent, between 1568 and 1574 - edirne was one of Selim II's favorite cities -- stationed here as a prince when his father campaigned in Persia in 1548 and he enjoyed hunting on the outskirts of the city - greatest Ottoman architect, Sinan, chief court architect for Suyleyman the Magnificent - extremely thin soaring minarets - abundant window space makes for a brilliantly lit interior - decorative display of mosaic and tile work - inspired by Hagia Sophia but a centrally planned building - octagonal interior with 8 pillars resting on a square set of walls - open airy interior contrasts with conventional mosques that have partitioned interiors - part of a complex including a hospital, school, library - transitions from square ground plan to round dome achieved by interesting smaller domes into corners - huge piers support the dome

Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria - Bernini - Rome, Italy - 1647-1652

- cornaro chapel is located in the Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome, Italy - church design by Madernk. Facade architect Giovanni Batista Sofia - funerary chapel of Cardinal Federico Cornaro. Bernini is architect of the chapel - single side nave; one of the side chapels houses Bernini's Ecstasy of Saint Teresa Cornaro Chapel - funerary chapel of Cardinal Federico Cornaro - Bernini - architect of chapel - chapel walls covered in colored marble panels - windows appear to dissolve into painted clouds and angels on the back wall - side walls have balcony, theatre-like facades with sculptures of Cornaro family kneeling reading prayer books, talking and even looking at spectators as they approach chapel Bernini - devoutly religious Catholic - theatre: wrote plays and designed sets - interests in theatre and pious beliefs led to Ecstasy of Saint Teresa - he was a sculptor and architect

Palace of Versailles - Louis Le Vau & Jules Hardouin-Mansart - Versailles, France - begun 1669

- created as a reorganization and remodel of Louix XIV's father's hunting lodge, which was turned into an elaborate palace - commissioned by Louix XIV aka the sun king - Versailles responds to Louis XIV's political and economic ambition - building was centered in a vast garden and town complex radiating from it - subdued exterior decoration on facade -- undulation of projecting members understated Louix XIV's bedchamber - at center of building was Louis XIV's bedroom, or audience chamber, from which all aspects of the design radiate like rays of the sun - bedroom faces the rising sun - this room saw the rising and retiring ceremonies of the French King ever since Louis chose this as his bedroom in 1701 - in the end this was to be the room where the Sun King would die Hall of Mirrors - 250 feet long - barrel-vaulted painted ceiling - light comes in from one side and ricochets off the largest panes of glass that could be made at the time - flickering use of light in an architectural setting - ceiling paintings illustrate civil and military achievements of louis XIV Versailles Gardens - classically and harmoniously arranged - formal gardens near palace -- more wooded and less elaborate plantings at distanced farther from palace - baroque characteristics: size -- long vistas -- terminal views in fountains and statuary - mile-long canal crossed by another canal forms the main axis of the gardens - only the fountains near the palace played all the time -- other gardens turned in for the king if he progressed through the gardens

Church of Sainte-Foy (interior)

- cruciform plan - symbolic form of the cross which helped control crowds of pilgrims - apse usually contained smaller chapels, known as radiating chapels, where pilgrims could visit saint's shrines, especially the sanctuary of Sainte-Foy - pilgrims could circulate around the ambulatory and out the transept or crossing - romanesque church - it has a barrel vaulted nave lined with arches on the interior

Jewish architecture

- during their exile in the desert, Israelites made sacrifices to god in the Tabernacle, which was a huge moveable tent - not until King Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem did the Jews have a permanent place of worship - Temple was destroyed (by Titus) in 586 BCE and was replaced by the Second Temple (current location of the Dome of the Rock) - Jews were forced to worship only in their synagogues, which are halls for prayer and study - bema - a platform from which men could read scripture and teach

Triumphant Christ

- earlier medieval representations of Christ focused on his divinity - in these works of art, Christ is on the cross, but never suffers - these types of crucifixion images are a type called Christus triumphans or "the triumphant Christ" - his divinity overcomes all human elements and so Christ stands proud and alert on the cross, immune to human suffering

difference between early and high renaissance art

- early renaissance -- painting have become realistic -- figures appear human (humanism) -- can hardly tell that these are divine figures (except for faint details such as halos) - in the middle ages, the need to create transcendent spiritual figures, meant a move toward abstraction -- toward flatness and elongation - in the early renaissance, a tension arises -- to create spiritual figures, your image can't look very real, and if you want your image to appear real, then you sacrifice some spirituality - in the late 15th century, Leonardo da Vinci creates figures who are physical and real and yet they have an undeniable and intense spirituality - Leonardo unites the real and spiritual, or soul and substance - figures that move elegantly and that are ideally beautiful are typical of the high renaissance

Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints Theodore and George - sixth or early seventh century

- encaustic icon painting (painting technique that uses was as a medium to carry the color) - the icon shows the Virgin and Child flanked by two soldier saints, St. Theodore to the left and St. George at the right - above these are two angels who gaze upward to the hand of god, from which light emanates, falling on the Virgin - modeling - three-dimensional effect created by the use of changes in color, the use of lights and darks, cross hatching, etc. - faces are modeled; we see the cams convincing modeling in the head of the angels (note the muscles of the necks) and the ease with which the heads turn almost three-quarters - there is spatial recession: in the throne of the Virgin where the right side and a shadow cast by the throne, receding armrest as well as a projecting footrest - painter selectively used the classicizing style inherited from Rome - shows consideration for what was rejected due to iconoclasm - At top of painting, an architectural member turns and recedes at the heads of the angels. The architecture helps to create and close off the space around the holy scene - composition displays a spatial ambiguity that places the scene in a world that operates differently from our world - "hierarchy of bodies" - saints show no recognition of the viewer but are slightly animated as each have lifted a heel as though they are slowly stepping toward the viewer - virgin averts her gaze and does not make eye contact with the viewer - ethereal angels concentrate on the hand above. The light tones of the angels and especially the slightly transparent rendering of their halos give the two an otherworldly appearance - gives sense of visual movement inward and upward, from the saints to the Virgin & from Virgin upward past the angels to the hand of God - passive saints stand ready to receive veneration of viewer & pass it inward and upward until it reaches the most sacred realm depicted in the picture - zones of holiness suggest a cosmos of the world, earth and real people, through the Virgin, heavenly angels, and finally the hand of God

Isenheim Alterpiece - Matthias Grünewald (painting) and Nikolas Hagenauer (carving) - 1512-1516

- enormous moveable altarpiece, basically a box of statues covered by folding wings - creates to serve as the central object of devotion in an Isenheim hospital built by the Brothers of St. Anthony - St. Anthony was a patron saint of those suffering from skin diseases (often seen with accompanying pig, because pork fat was used to heal skin infections) - at the Isenheim hospital, the Antonine monks devoted themselves to the care of sick and dying peasants, many of them suffering from the effects of ergotism - ergotism, popularly known as St. Anthony's fire, caused hallucinations, skin infection and attacked the central nervous system, eventually leading to death - the hallucinogen LSD was eventually isolated from the same strain of fungus

St. Matthew, Cross-Carpet page (Lindisfarne Gospels)

- exemplifies Eadfrith's exuberance and genius - mesmerizing series of repetitive knots and spirals is dominated by a centrally-located cross - horror vacui - stacked wine-glass shapes horizontally and vertically against his intricate weave of knots - many knots appear as snake-like creatures (dog-headed snakes) curling in and around tubular forms, mouths clamping down on their bodies - snakes intermix with birds with long beaks - bodies change colors: sapphire blue here, verdigris green there, and sandy gold in between - cloisonné style used in the bodies of the birds - symmetrical arrangement - cross is outlined in red with arms outstretched and pressing against the page edges, stabilizes the background's gyrating activity and turns the repetitive energy into a meditative force - black background makes patterning stand out - mixture of tradition Celtic imagery and Christian theology

Hagia Sophia exterior

- exterior is plain and massive with little decoration - engineering achievement: half-domes take pressure of the large dome in the middle - lateral thrust = force of dome is reduced with downward elevation - significance: first time a structure of this size was attempted - dome is composed of a set of ribs that meet at the top - space between the ribs does not support the dome and are open for window space - shows a marriage of the two traditional Christian church forms of axially and centrally planned churches - dome emphasizes a centrally planned core and the long nave directs focus toward the apse - many windows punctuate wall space - light = perfection / divine

Chartres Cathedral Portal

- facade is divided in 3 (trinity and Golden Ratio) - jam figures on either side of doorways (kings and queens of Old Testament) are very elongated -- represent spiritual, sense of weightlessness as they are part of column that doesn't really support anything -- kind welcoming faces that look past the visitors in the West Transept North Transept: - the jam consists of high relief sculptures of figures that are communicating with one another; part of our real world as opposed to outside of our world; these are the Old Testament prophets that foretold the coming of Jesus Christ - sharp contrast to figures of West transept; seem to move and have folds to their clothes; part of the human world; emphasizes salvation through sacrifice Coronation of the Virgin, Tympanum of central portal, north transept, Chartres Cathedral: - archevault: relief sculpture shows God's hand in creating the world - portal is dedicated to time before Mary - the trumeau (post between the two doors) is Mary being held in the arms of her mother - tympanum depicts Mary seated with Christ

Romanesque patronage and artistic life

- feudalism left artists living some place between the stations - eventually became middle class - painting was considered a higher calling compared to sculptors or architecture because painters worked less with their hands - women were generally confined to the "feminine arts" such as ceramics, weaving, or manuscript decoration - powerful and wealthy women were active patrons of the arts, sponsoring the constructions of nunneries or commissioning illuminated manuscripts - christian works dominate the artistic production of the Romanesque period - significant number of beautifully crafted secular works also survive - line between secular and religious works in medieval society not finely drawn - objects for one often contain symbolism for the other

Chartres Cathedral - Chartres, France - 1194-1220 C.E.

- finest example of French gothic architecture - employs all the structural elements of the new Gothic - architecture -- the pointed arch, the rib-and-panel vault, and most significantly, the flying buttress - also celebrated for its many stained-glass windows and sculptures - because most of its 12th-and 13th-century, stained glass and sculpture survives, it is one of the most completely surviving medieval churches - to provide stability for the daring construction, immense flying buttresses were used in an unprecedented way - a flying buttress is a specific form of buttressing most strongly associated with Gothic church architecture - the purpose of any buttress is to resist the lateral forces pushing a wall outwards (which may arise from stone vaulted ceilings or from wind- loading on roofs) by redirecting them to the ground - defining characteristic of flying buttress is that the buttress is not in contact with the wall like a traditional buttress; lateral forces are transmitted across an intervening space between the wall and the buttress - spiritual intensity is heightened by the fact that no direct light enters the building -- all the light is filtered through stained glass, so that the whole experience of visiting the cathedral feels otherworldly - the nave, wider than that of any other cathedral in France (52 feet), is in the purest 13th-century ogival style and contained an elevated apse which drew the worshippers' attention - in its center is a maze, the only one still intact in France, with 109 feet of winding passages, which the faithful used to follow on their knees - transept allowed for extra entrance/exit for pilgrims, but allow allowed for pilgrims to traverse the outsides of the church without crossing - light is used as a symbol of divinity; moment of creation of separation from dark to light - the stained glass, made around 1200-1235, follows a uniform style, with figures in the upper panels related to the legends of saints, and in the lower panels representing the trade guilds and corporations who paid for them.

David - Donatello - 1440-1460

- first large bronze nude since antiquity - in christian belief during the 1000 years of non-nudes, the belief was that the body was the path to corruption - no nude sculptures before David because they too closely represented the ideals of the pagan classical world of a mythological pantheon of gods - the choice of a nude recalls the nudity in classical public sculptures from greece -- looking back to ancient greek's love of the body - androgynous (indeterminate sex) figure - david's body stands in an exaggerated contrapposto (classical greece) - choice of bronze in the lost-wax casting method is also a recall of classical greece - life-size work probabilities meant to be housed in the Medici Palace, not for public viewing - stance of David -- sensuous and nonchalant, contemplating the victory over Goliath - Goliath is dead at David's feet - David's lowered head suggests humility - there is a laurel wreath on the head of David which indicates he was a poet, also the hat is the foppish renaissance design -- refers to David's authorship of one of the books of the bible - sense of sensuality in David due to stance and because he is clothed in just a hat and boots - one of the wings of Goliath's helmet is riding up the inside of David's thigh, adding to the feeling of eroticism to this sculpture - this sensual, eroticism seems to be at odds with the civil purpose of this sculpture - biblical connection: this is the story of King David and his defeat of Goliath even though he was the underdog - Goliath represented the Duke of Milan because Milan was much stronger than Florence at this time - Milan had a single ruler and were militarily focused - Florence was a mercantile city with a republic - David represented the sense of civic pride that the Florentines had - by keeping David in their private garden, the Medici are believed to have been keeping the item as pride for themselves -- essentially saying they were Florence and they were associating themselves with the youthful aspects of King David - when the Medici were finally run out of Florence, the sculpture was put in the center of the town/town hall -- became public - though this is a moment of battle, it is actually a scene of peace as seen through symbolism - david wears the soft hat of the renaissance instead of a helmet - severed Goliath's head with Goliath's own battle hardened sword (notches due to many battles as david has no sword of his own) - David's left hand holds a rock behind his back; the rock he used in the slingshot to kill Goliath

venetian high renaissance painting

- florentine and roman paintings valued line and contour - in contrast, Venetians bathed their figures in a soft atmospheric ambiance highlighted by a gently modulated use of light -- bodies are sensuously rendered - florentines and venetians both paint religious scenes: florentines choose to see them as heroic accomplishments -- venetians imbue their saints with a more human touch, setting them in pleasant countryside environments that show a genuine interest in beauty of the natural world -- this natural setting is called Arcadian - venetian climate caused wooden painting to warp and crack, and frescoes to peel and flake - artists began using canvas, a more secure lightweight surface that can maintain the integrity of a work for an indefinite period

romanesque summary

- for liturgical purpose, Romanesque buildings use ambulatories and radiating chapels and their dark interiors to give these churches a religious feeling quite different from their Roman predecessors - Romanesque builders reacted to increased mobility of Europeans (many of whom were pilgrims) by enlarging the size of their buildings - Hallmarks of Romanesque style include thick walls and piers that give the building a monumentality and massiveness lacking in Early Medieval art - most great Romanesque sculpture done around main portals of churches, usually thematically related to Last Judgment & punishment of the bad alongside the salvation of the good - French sculptors carved energetic & elongated figures that look flattened against the surface of the stone - religious themes dominate, but secular interest occasionally is created

II Gesù - Giacomo da Vignola (plan) architect and Giacomo della Porta (facade) architect - church: 16th century, facade: 1568-1584

- founded as mother church of the Jesuit order after death of St. Ignatius of Loyola - final resting place of St. Ignatius - II Gesù = Jesus - column groupings emphasize the central doorway - tympani and pediment over central door - slight crescendo of forms toward the center - two stories are separated by cornice; united by the scrolls - framing niche acts as a unifying device - name of Jesus is on ceiling - exemplifies Baroque's appeal to emotion rather than intellect - total focus on altar; space for individual chapels on sides - no aisles; meant for grand ceremonies - materials are spare... looks very extravagant but made of previous pagan temple pieces - focus on guided sunburst in the apse - in 1571, Giacomo della Porta's design for the facade of II Gesù was accepted - the main architect, Vignola also died that year, and Porta was in charge of finishing the church - della Porta's facade conveys a sense of harmony and seriousness that perfectly expressed the goal of the counter-reformation to assert the authority and majesty of the catholic church - the facade is divided into an upper and a lower portion - the lower portion is wonderfully reminiscent of Palladian architecture, and it's columns and pilasters quote the harmonious lines of ancient Greek and Roman temples - set into the wall are two statues of St. Ignatius stamping out ignorant savages, not very politically correct today - the upper portion has graceful scroll-shaped buttresses on each side, which delight the eye and echo the them of the Jesuits being learned scholars and teachers of the faith

Last Supper - Leonardo da Vinci - Milan, Italy - (1494-1498) - oil and tempera

- fresco in Santa Maria della Grazie in Milan - commissioned by the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza for the monastic refectory (dining hall) of this dominican abbey - took 3 years to complete - story of the Last Supper of Christ -- "one of you will betray me." (Mark 14:18) -- reaction to Christs revelation of this betrayal - gestures of figure indicate story - christ is reaching toward bread and wine (symbolic of holy eucharist) - looks as though Christ is reaching toward a bowl, and at the same time, judas is reaching toward the same bowl -- "he that dippers his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me" (Matthew 26) - judas received 30 silver pieces for the betrayal -- he is holding them in his right hand - obvious symbols of divine are absent, yet it is unmistakable as Christ and his last supper - christ's head and arms form an equilateral triangle - christs head is in the center of a circle indicating divinity - window frames head almost as if it is a halo - da Vinci simplifies the supper and leaves little space for viewer to enter - table is used as barrier between this world and the viewers world - mood: christ is serene with head down; apostles react with shock, disbelief, horror... reflects study of human emotion - to right are 3 figures grouped together: 1) judas with silver in hand, 2) peter with knife in hand prepared to protect Christ, 3) closest to christ is Saint John with closed eyes - foreshadowing that peter will sever the ear of a soldier as he attempts to protect christ from arrest - three figures grouped to furthest to christ's left are matthew, thaddeus, and simon, appear to be engaged in heated discussion - for sake of symmetry, there are four groups of 3 figures - creates contrast of reaction and drama for each grouping - christ is calm in center -- three windows in back = trinity - all perspective lines in fresco point to christ -- the number three is often a reference to the holy trinity in catholic art -- in contrast, the number four is important in the classical tradition (e.g. Plato's four virtues) - da Vinci used experimental combination of paints to get greater chiaroscuro; combination of oil paint and tempera in an environment where fresco was typically used - painted directly on to dry plaster -- condition of painting began to deteriorate quickly after completion - monks cut doo into bottom-center of painting - conservation was necessary -- restored several times

Lindisfarne Gospels - 700 C.E.

- gospel books = biographies of Jesus - entire Lindisfarne Gospels is the work of one man, a monk called Eadfrith, Bishop of Lindisfarne between 698-721... it is unusual to have one individual artist rather than a team of scribes - created in scriptorium of Lindisfarne, an island off the coast of Northumberland in England - uses St, Jerome's translation of the Bible, called "The Vulgate" - 130 calfskins used to make the manuscript - in 635, Christian monks from the scottish island of Iona built a priory in Lindisfarne - 793, vikings from the north attacked and pillaged the monastery - survivors transported gospels 75 miles north to Durham, a town on the Northumbrian coast - exemplifies the beginning of the English tradition of art - 6 years to copy in Latin and illuminate gospel text - latin script is called half-uncial - use of latin indicates classical influence - created with quill pen, fashioned from a goose feather, dipped into rich, black ink made from soot - 259 written and recorded leaves include full-page portraits of each evangelist - annotation in snglish between the lines - english script is called Anglo-Saxon minuscule - english added around 970 and is oldest surviving manuscript of the bible in english - colophon at end of book discusses the making of the manuscript - example of Insular or Hiberno-Saxon art - works produced in the British Isles between 500-900 C.E., a time of devastating invasions and political upheavals

Gothic Historical Background

- gothic mean architecture of the "Goths" the people of France - beginning of Gothic period cannot be dated precisely; place of creation (Paris) can the change in thinking called "gothic" is a result of several factors: 1. era of peace and prosperity in region around Paris due to increasingly centralized monarchy (new definition of concept of "king" & "kingship") and peaceful succession of kings from 987-1328 2. increasing growth and wealth of cities & towns, encouraged by the sale of royal charters that bound cities to king rather than local lords --increased wealth of kings 3. gradual development of money economy -- cities played role in converting agricultural products to goods and services 4. emergence of schools in Paris -- intellectual center of western Europe; brought together teachers and scholars who transformed western thinking by changing the way questions were asked and by arguing using logic

Las Meninas (The Maid of Honor) - Diego Velázquez - Spanish Baroque- 1656 C.E.

- group portrait of the artist in his studio at work - very large canvas - he is stepping back from the canvas and looking at the viewer - velazquez wears the cross of the Royal Order of Santiago elevating him to knighthood with palace keys tucked in his sash - central is the Infanta (Princess) Margharita of Spain - he is with her meninas (attendants): a dog, a dwarf, and a midget - the gaze of everyone focused on a specific point - in the doorway is possibly Jose Nieto, who was head of the queen's tapestry works, which is why his hands would have been on the curtain - king and queen appear in a mirror - not clear what the mirror is reflecting: Velasquez's canvas? - king and queen are standing in viewer's space, which could be why people have turned around... - it could just be reflecting a painting of the king and queen on the viewer's wall of the room - alternating darks and lights draw viewer deeper into canvas - mirror simultaneously reflects out into viewer's space - dappled effect of light on shimmering surfaces creating effect of a mirror with image of king & queen - sense of natural and some loose and visible brush strokes —allows for everything to feel in motion - painting originally hung in Phillip IV's study - Velasquez was first painter to the king - spanish king and queen were one of the most powerful monarchs of this time - seems like a genre painting and a portrait wrapped in one

Isenheim Altarpiece painting

- grünewalds painted panels come from a different world -- visions of hell on earth - physical and psychological torments that afflicted Christ and host of saints are rendered as visions wrought in dissonant (our of harmony), psychedelic color - distorted figures -- men, women, angels and demons - lit by streaking harsh light and placed in eerie other-worldly landscapes - the painted panels fold out to reveal three distinct ensembles,, in its common, closed position the central panels close to depict a horrific, night time crucifixion - a macabre and distorted christ is splayed on the cross - hands writhe in agony; body is marked with livid spots of pox; arms almost torn from sockets; lashed and whipped body - on one side of christ is Virgin Mary who swoons into the waiting arms of the young st. John the Evangelist; mary dressed like nuns who worked in hospital - on the other side, is John the Baptist; he gestures towards the suffering body at the center and holds a scroll which reads "he must increase, but I must decrease" - the emphatic physical suffering was intended to be thaumaturgic (miracle performing) for the denizens of the hospital - the flanking panels depict st. Anthony Abbot and St. Sebastian, long known as a plague saint because of his body pocked by arrows

Golden Haggadah - Jewish - 1320 C.E.

- illustrates the story of the Jewish exodus from Egypt under Moses & its subsequent celebration - to be read at a Passover ritual - "Haggadah" means "narration" — fulfills the Jewish requirement to tell the story of the Jews' escape from Egypt as a reminder of God's mercy narrative cycle of events from the Books of Genesis and Exodus - this haggadah used primarily at home -- avoids the more stringent restrictions against holy images in a synagogue - haddadot (plural) are generally the most lavishly painted of Jewish manuscripts - 2 unknown artists, probably Christian, illustrated the Golden Haggadah --a Jewish scribe wrote the Hebrew script - style similarities to French Gothic manuscripts in handling of space, architecture, figure style, facial/gestural expression, and the manuscript medium itself - painted in the Barcelona area of Spain - 56 miniatures using gold leaf background - book read right to left according to the manner of Hebrew texts - vellum pages - cross-cultural comparison: Works as Part of a Series (i.e. Lindisfarne Gospels; Rubens Marie de'Medici Cycle)

Church of Sainte-Foy - 1050-1130 C.E.

- important pilgrimage church on the route to Santiago de Compostela in Northern Spain: known as pilgrimage church because many of the large churches along the route to Santiago de Compostela took a similar shape - church built to handle large number of pilgrims: wide transepts, large ambulatory with radiating chapels - pilgrims treasured seeing relics of the saints, which were placed in chapels in the ambulatory around the altar of a church - an abbey, meaning that the church was part of a monastery where monks lived, prayed and worked - begun in the 11th century and completed in the mid-12th century - massive heavy interior walls, unadorned - no clerestory; light provided by windows over the side aisles and galleries - barrel vaults in nave, reinforced by transverse arches - cross-like ground plan

style shifts within the Sistine Chapel

- in 1510, Michelangelo took a yearlong break from painting the Sistine Chapel - the frescoes painted after this are characteristically different from the ones he painted before it - pre-break frescoes contained extraneous details that were difficult to see from the floor - post-break frescos are what we often think of when we envision the Sistine Chapel paintings (i.e. the Creation of Adam) where the narratives have been pared down to only the essential figures depicted on a monumental scale - because of these changes, Michelangelo is able to convey a strong sense of emotionality that can be perceived from the floor of the chapel

more on Baroque Period

- in 1600, artistic center of Europe was Rome, especially the court of the popes - completion of Saint Peter's became a crusade for the Catholic Church -- evocation of faith and symbol of church on earth - by 1650, increased power influence of French kings (first at Paris, then at capital in Versailles) shifted the art world to France - Rome still kept its allure as keeper of the masterpieces for both ancient world and renaissance - france became the center of modern art and innovation, a position it kept unchallenged until the beginning of World War II - most important political watershed moment of 17th century was the Thirty Years War, 1618-1648 - started over religion, and featuring a catholic resurgence called counter reformation - began when holy roman emperor Ferdinand II of Bohemia attempted to curtail the religious activities of his subjects, sparking rebellion among protestants

Colonial America essential knowledge

- in colonial Latin America there is a mixing of indigenous art form with European formulas and materials - there is also an influence from Asia and Africa - in addition to religious subjects found in Europe at the time, there are other types of paintings, including portraits, history paintings and genre scenes - latin america colonial art closely aligns with art production from spain and the rest of southern Europe

Isenheim painting 2nd position

- in the predellla panel is a Lamentation, the sprawling and horrifyingly punctured dead body of Christ is presented as an invitation to contemplate mortality and resurrection - the second position emphasizes the promise of resurrection - it's panels depict the Annunciation, the virgin and child with a host of musical angels, and the resurrection - the progression from left to right is a highlight reel of christ's life - all three scenes are, highly idiosyncratic with Grünewald's visions of biblical interpretation - the musical angels, in their gothic bandstand, are lit by an eerie orange-yellow light - the adjacent Madonna of Humility sits in a twilight landscape lit by flickering, fiery atmospheric clouds. Marian symbols: enclosed garden, closed gate, rose bush, rosary Resurrection Panel - the resurrection panel is the strangest of these inner visions - christ is wreathed in orange, red and yellow body haloes and roses like a streaking fireball, hovering over the sepulcher (cave where christ of buried) and the bodies of the sleeping soldiers - combination of Transfiguration, Resurrection and Ascension - message to patients is that earthly diseases will vanish in next world Panel in Fully Opened Position - two inner panels that flank the central sculptures - the temptations of Saint Anthony on the left; Anthony visited by Saint Paul on the right - most esoteric (only a few will understand) visions for the fully open position of the altar - on the right, St. Anthony is visited in the blasted-out wilderness by St. Paul -- the two are about to be fed by the raven in the tree above and Antony will later be called upon to bury st. Paul,, the meeting cured st. Anthony of the misperception that he was the first desert hermit, and was therefore a lesson in humility Temptation of St. Anthony - St. Anthony's temptations in the desert: hybrid demons torment Anthiny's waking and sleeping hours, bringing to life the saint's torment and mirroring the physical and psychic suffering of the hospital patients - symbols of erotism: oozing boils, withered arm, distended stomach - entire altarpiece praises human suffering and is an essay on faith and the hope for heaven in the troubled years before the reformation - compare the pathos (emotion) in Isenheim Altarpiece to Seated Boxer or Röttgen Pietà

Napoleon

- instability in Europe during the Napoleonic wars inspired Spains colonies to seek independence too - spain lost gained territory fast to generals like Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin - by 1822, most of Latin America was a patchwork of independent states and colonial rule was over

Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

- installation piece: the surroundings of the sculpture taken into account and designed around the sculpture - at center of chapel is the sculpture of Saint Teresa in the midst of receiving a miracle as depicted in her diary - an attempt to the human world to the spiritual - the subject matter is Saint Teresa of Avila who had recently been canonized - she wrote about the visions she had of angels - this scene depicts one such vision with an angel which appeared in bodily form - teresa recounts that a small angel pierced her repeatedly in the heart with a "great, golden spear" with an "iron tip" and there "appeard to be a point of fire" - she reports that this angel painfully pierced her so deeply in the heart that she could feel it in her "entrails" leaving her feeling "consumed" by the love of god - saint teresa describes her intensely spiritual experience in very physical, even sexual terms - important goal of Baroque art is to involve the viewer emotionally - Teresa is describing this experience in physical/sexual terms so that ordinary humans can understand the intensity and passion of this experience, in terms we can understand - sexual connotations are a metaphor to connect with her relationship to god - tactile use of marble to denote origins -- single piece of marble used for entire sculpture - fabric of Teresa's gown is heavy and of the human world - contrast fabric of angel which is soft with feathery wings - rough cut to clouds below teresa - marble used to create different textures and sculpture appears to be floating because of his support systems from behind and below and the deep recessing of the sculpture - light from hidden window above creates strong contrasts of light and dark to bring forward the miraculous in light - rays of light are symbolic of God's light, which illuminates the scene from behind -- golden rays lit from the hidden window above

Calling of Saint Matthew - Caravaggio - Rome, Italy - 1597-1601 C.E.

- italian baroque - one of three painting in the Contarelli Chapel, a private chapel of the Cointrel family - all their paintings are oil on canvas and are placed on the three sides walls of this chapel - Christ walks in on right pointing to Levi, a tax collector who becomes Saint Matthew - Christ's features and raised hand are unusual in their delicacy - Christ's wrist recalls the hand of Adam in Michelangelo's "Creation of Adam" highlighting the intent to view Christ as the new Adam - Saint Peter is with Jesus, back turned away from viewer, obscuring most of Christ's body - matthew is pointing to himself in disbelief with "Who? Me?" - moment of conversion. Christ just walks in and calls on Levi to come with him and he does. - theme: moment of transformation/awakening - environment of painting is contemporary and unusual given the theme - seedy location -- could be back room of a bar - surrounded by very greedy looking men grabbing at money and wearing swords on their person with very nice clothes - feeling that money was not gotten legally - diagonal shafts of light point directly to Saint Matthew —used by artist to highlight the figures - appears as thought a door or window is open and light is coming in and highlighting and pointing to Levi Elements that make this painting very Baroque: - use of extreme light with extreme dark - moment of time in the midst of conversion - use of divine in everyday life - intensely spiritual forms and maintains the naturalism of the Renaissance but building on it by putting it into an accessible, real, dirty, environment

high renaissance historical background

- italian city-states: money and small populations - spain and france began to take control of italian peninsula - venice remained independent: brought goods and profits around mediterranean - high renaissance flourished in cultivated courts of princes

Baroque Gardens

- landscape architecture becomes important artistic expression in Baroque starting with Versailles and continuing into 18th century - palaces were envisioned as the principal feature in an ensemble with gardens that are imaginatively arranged to enhance the building they framed - long views are views are important -- key windows are viewing stations upon which gardens spread out before the viewer in an imaginatively orchestrated display that suggests main's control over his environment - views look down extended avenues carpeted by lawns and embraced by bordering trees, usually terminating in a statue or a fountain - purpose -- to impress the viewer with a sense of limitlessness

romanesque sculpture and painting

- large-scale stone sculpture was generally unknown in early romanesque - sculptors took inspiration from goldsmiths and other metal workers - expanded scale to almost life-size works - sculpture as placed around portals of medieval churches so that worshippers could understand theme of particular buildings - small scale works continued to flourish as in earlier periods - most knowledge of Romanesque painting comes from manuscript and occasional surviving ceiling/wall mural - figures tend to be outlined in black and then vibrantly colored - gestures are emphatic, emotions exaggerated -- result: heads and hands are proportionally the largest features - figures fill a blank surface rather than occupy a 3-dimensional reality (seeming to float) - figures are sometimes on tiptoe or glide across surface - people are most important; dominate buildings which seem like props or stage sets in background of most romanesque illustrations - capitals of column are elaborately and fancifully carved with scenes from the bible - most important aspect of romanesque sculpture is portal - portal is the doorway of a church -- prominent location which sculptors vied for honor of carving - figures tend to have flattened look with zigzagging drapery that often hides body form rather than defining it - scale is carefully articulated, with a hierarchy of figures being presented according to their importance - most significant of smaller, independent sculptures were reliquaries which contain venerated objects, lie the bones of saints -- richly adorned and highly prized

Patient Christ

- late medieval devotional writing (from the 13th-15th centuries) leaned toward mysticism of Christ and many of these writers had visions of Christ's suffering - Francis of Assisi stressed Christ's humanity and poverty -- several writers, imagined Mary's thoughts as she held her dead son -- it wasn't long before artists began to visualize these new devotional trends - crucifixion images influenced by this body of devotional literature are called Christus patiens, the patient Christ

Santa Sabina - Rome, Italy - 422-432 C.E.

- maintained the basic structure of the Roman basilica - the bema was retained from the synagogue and continued to be used as the raised platform from which priests preachers - altar allowed for focus to be maintained on priest - has an apse on one end; 3-aisled basilica; no transepts ~ long, tall, broad nave, axial plan, coffered ceiling, thin walls support light roof - spoila - tall slender columns taken from the Temple of Juno in Rome, erected on this site; a statement about the triumph of christianity over paganism - windows not made of glass but of selenite, a type of transparent and colorless gypsum - columns have arches made of inlaid stone with chalice and bread plates (eucharist) - made 100 years after christianity was legalized - had a longitudinal focus so that people would lead their eye to the altar - wooden doors: one of the very first examples of crucifixion

Scenes from the Apocalypse (Bibles moralisées) - 1225-1245 C.E.

- manuscript has 4,887 medallions designed in stained class patterning - thin sheet of gold leaf is applied onto the background, and then medallion is painted with biblical and explanatory scenes in brilliant hues of lapis lazuli, green, red, yellow, grey, orange and sepia - this pattern throughout the moralized bible contains scriptural passages or an interpretation of the biblical story

Vienna Genesis - early sixth century

- manuscript of the first book of the Bible - Genesis - oldest surviving well-preserved illustrated biblical book - 24 surviving folios (pages) and they are thought to have come from a much larger book that included perhaps 192 illustrations on 96 folios - example of an artist caught in a moment of transition - difficult to create: all pages made of animal skin, then cut and ruled - all text written by hand in silver - pages dyed in purple (likely a royal patron) - very sumptuous and ostentatious; many preached against this type audaciousness

medieval patronage and artistic life

- medieval period was a time when even the emperor, Charlemagne, could read, but not write more than his name - monasteries were principal centers of learning - artists who could write and draw were very honored for creation of manuscripts - scribes copied great works of ancient literature, like the Bible or medical treatises - they did not record contemporary literature or folk tales - scribes expected to maintain wording of original, while illustrators painted important scenes using traditional approaches coupled with their creative powers - text of a manuscript is generally an exact copy of a continuously recooked book - illustrations allowed artists some freedom of expression

Merovingian Art

- merovingians were a dynasty of Frankish kings who descended from Merovech, chief of Salian Franks - power solidified under Clovis (reigned 481-511) who ruled what is today France and southwestern Germany - Frankish custom of diving property among sons when a father died led to instability because Clovis's 4 sons fought over their patrimony - with constant division of land after king's death, Merovingian history became marked by internal struggles and civil wars - court life and art production could be splendid - rulers treated their kingdom as private property and exploited its wealth as much as possible, spending lavishly on themselves - royal burials supply almost all our knowledge on Merovingian art - wide range of metal objects interred with dead: brooches, discs, pins, earrings, bracelets - garment clasps, called fibulae, were particular specialties - often inlaid with hard stones (i.e. garnets) and were made using chasing and cloisonné techniques

good shepard fresco (catacombs of priscilla)

- middle - depiction of "good shepard" - restrained portrait of Christ as a Good Shepherd, a pastoral motif in ancient art going back to the Greeks - standing in contrapposto - indicates knowledge of classical art - two doves at the top with three goats (one around his shoulders) - symbolic of christ's intention to care for his "flock" the way a shepard would - rescues individual sinners in his flock who stray - peacock is symbolic of eternal life - quail is symbolic of the earth - christ is placed between the symbolic earth and heaven - stories of the life of the old testament prophet Jonah often appear in the lunettes; Jonah's regurgitation from the mouth of a big fish is seen as prefiguring Christ's resurrection - parallels between old and new testament stories feature prominently in early christian art; christian's see this as a fulfillment of the Hebrew scriptures

Venus of Urbino - Titian - 1538 C.E.

- might have been a courtesan; identity unknown - title "Venus" was given later, which may have been protective under the guise of "classical" mythology - became common and more acceptable to view a nude female in contemplation of beauty if under guise of mythology - may be a painting about marriage due to symbols of roses, dog and cassoni - roses contribute to the floral motif carried throughout the work - dog perhaps symbolizes fidelity, faithfulness and domesticity - cassonim - trunks intended for storage of clothing for a wife's trousseau - patron: Guidobaldo della Rovere, Duke of Urbino - might be connected to guidobaldo's marriage in 1534 to 10 year old Giuliano Verano (she would've been 14 when painting was made) - figure looks at us directly - sensuous delight in the skin tones and fall of hair - complex spatial environment: figure placed forward in the picture plane, servants in middle space; open window with plants in background - sensuality of painting also is based on softness of painting using a glazing technique -- thin layers of paint very thinly - chiaroscuro technique also aides in sensuous softness of painting - significance -- Titian was first to create a popular reclining nude female which was followed for some time in art history; the reclining nude emerged as a genre during the renaissance - creating a soft line with her body propped up by soft pillows - as eye moves down her body, it is led to the figures in the background - not a perfect human composition -- overly long body with tiny feet

Byzantine Painting

- most characteristic work of Byzantine art is the icon - icon has wooden foundation covered by preparatory undercoats of paint - cloth placed over this base and successive layers of stucco are applied - perforated paper sketch is placed on the surface so image can be traced and then gilded and painted - artists then apply varnish to make icon shine and protect it because icons are often touched and embraced - the faithful were encouraged to kiss icons and burn votive candles beneath them - result: icons have become blackened by candle spot and incense - many icons have been repainted and no longer have original texture

Saint Charles of the Four Fountains - Francesco Borromini - Rome, Italy - 1638-1646 C.E.

- named because it is in a square in Rome with four fountains - unusually small site for a church -- placed on irregular plot of land - first independent commission for Borromini: work was completed for free and thus Borromini was given complete freedom - built for Trinitaruans -- a catholic order founded by St. john de Matha with intent to free Christians held for ransom during Crusades - alternating balance of convex and concave patterns and undulating, serpentine volumes in ground plan facade - facade higher than rest of building - borromini had to return to complete the facade 30 years later - exterior deviates from the classical architectural vocabulary that was received by High Renaissance architects in the period before it was built - instead, Borromini chose distinctly curvilinear forms that contribute to the dramatic visual vocabulary of the Catholic Church during the baroque period - uses the connection between mathematics and nature in the creation of the church - oval shaped apse - the oblong or "pinched oval" plan deviates from the classical geometry that is characteristic of previous High Renaissance architectural plans - the main altar is situated in direct sight line of the main entrance to the church - two side altars form a squeezed cross-plan, while the columns and entablatures of the wall decoration offer undulating and rhythmic lines throughout the interior space - dome consists of circles and crosses geometrically interconnected - light emanates from center lantern that reflects the actual sunlight - highly intellectual and mathematical, yet the impact is emotional - the cherubs are very detailed in the pendentives - instead of a rounded dome, Borromini stretched the church's dome to height the tension of the space - interior decoration of the dome contributed to this tension by exaggerating the implied perspective of the coffers as they move toward the central lantern at its apex - hidden windows, characteristic of baroque architectural and sculptural complexes, are fitted into the base of the dome to illuminate its interior

The Delphic Sibyl (Sistine Chapel)

- new monumentality felt in the figures of the sibyls and prophets in the spandrels surrounding the vault - delphic sibyl is 1 of 5 sibyls (prophetesses) on the ceiling - she wears the greek style turban - she holds the scroll containing her prophesy and turns her head as if if listening - expression seems sorrowful and body in contrapposto - combination of religious and pagan mythological imagery - overall circular composition of body adds to the sense of the sculptural weight of the figure - her arms are powerful, the heft of body impactful; left elbow and knee come into the viewer's space - michelangelo imbued the Delphic Sibyl with grace and harmony of proportion - her watchful expression, as well as the position of the left arm and right hand, is reminiscent of the artist's David

mannerism

- new style developed in Florence and Rome in 1520s (begins with death of raphael) - anti-classical movement - artificiality, grace, and elegance took priority over ordered balance and lifeline references, signatures of High Renaissances - patrons favored esoteric subjects, displayed technical virtuosity, and pursuit of beauty for its own sake - artists manipulated and distorted accepted formal conventions, creating: 1) contrived compositions 2) irrational spatial environments 3) figures with elongated proportions, complicated and artificial poses, enigmatic gestures and dreamy expressions

early renaissance of northern europe

- northern europe = france, flanders (belgium), holland - there is an interest in returning to the classical idea with greater emphasis on formal education and artistic training - greater exploration of the formal elements of painting, like perspective, composition, and color - artistic training is enhanced by the birth of academics - the display of artwork often mean glorification of the patron - emphasis on non-religious subjects, like portraits, genre paintings, and still lives - prosperous commercial and mercantile interests in the affluent trading towns of Flanders stimulated interest in the arts - emerging capitalism was visible everywhere, from first stock exchange in 1460 to the marketing and trading of art - cities were vying with one another for the most sumptuously designed cathedrals, town halls, and altarpieces - the printing press was introduced by Johannesburg Gutenberg, around 1440 -- books became available to almost anyone - with invention of printing press came the use of graphic arts for the books in the form of woodcuts, engravings, and etchings -- due to ability to reproduce works, artists were able to make more money in the sale of reproductions - fame for artists spread with reproductions in a way that a painting with a single owner could not - oil painting was second biggest development of the 1500s - oil painting creates exceptionally rich colors, having the notable ability to accurately imitate natural hues and tones in a way that frescoes and tempera painting could not -- became medium of choice in flanders - oil painting generates enamel-like surfaces and sharp details, hiding brush strokes as it dries - oil painting preserves well in wet climates - unlike tempera and fresco, oil painting is NOT quick drying and requires time to set, which allows artists to make changes - altarpieces became the pride of accomplished painters with their work visible to the public - unlike the screens of Italian altarpieces, northern european altarpieces were cupboards with wings that opened and closed - symbolic items are often included with meaning on several levels - fondness of nature unknown in italian art - sweeping alpine landscape views, a study of a rabbit or even a clump of earth - landscapes, even if represented purely, contain an element of human involvement -- buildings or farms, small people in overwhelming settings - use of high horizon lines allowing large part of canvas to be filled with earthbound details -- reluctance to use linear perspective in paintings, but atmospheric perspective is used in landscapes

greek chapel (catacomb of priscilla)

- not a chapel; named for two Greek inscription (letters) painted on the right niche - decorated with pompeian style wall painting - plaster is built up to try to make it look like marble and painting is done in sketchy painterly brushstrokes - oldest area of the catacomb - basement below original home of priscilla and has sarcophagi of her family - scenes from old and new testament - 3 youths were asked to worship a golden pagan idol and they refused, but instead of dying they were saved - scenes show an emphasis of the teachings of christ

dark ages / middle ages

- not a time of ignorance or backwardness, but rather a period during which christianity flourished in Europe - christianity brought with it new views of life and the world that rejected the traditions and learning of the ancient world - during this time, the roman empire slowly fragmented into many smaller political entities - this was a period of the rise of universities, the establishment of the rule of law, numerous periods of ecclesiastical reform and the birth of the tourism industry - the wealthiest and most influential members of society commissioned cathedrals, churches, sculpture, painting, textiles, manuscripts, jewelry and ritual items from artists - most of which were religious in nature

Last Supper condition statistics

- number of years after its completion that deterioration was noted: 18 - number of bombshell that have hit the refectory: 1 - number of years needed to complete the recent conservation project: 22 - number of years that Leonardo needed to complete the painting: 4 - number of research studies produced during conservation project: 60 - number of hours spent on the conservation project: 50,000 - percentage of the surface that is lost: 17.5 - percentage of the surface painted during the seven previous restorations: 40 - percentage of the surface that was painted by Leonardo: 42.

Battle of Hastings

- on January the 5th, 1066, King Edward, "The confessor" of England died - king edward had ruled england for 19 years and had no heir to leave the throne to - when he died, it was unknown who would be crowned King of England

early medieval art

- one great glory of medieval art is the decoration manuscript books, called codices, which were an improvement on ancient schools in terms of use and durability - codex was made of resilient (antelope/calf hide called vellum, or sheep/goat hide called parchment) - hides were more durable than the friable papyrus used in making ancient scrolls - hides were cut into sheets and soaked in lime in order to free oils and hair - then skin was dried and perhaps chalk added to whiten surface - artisans prepared skins by scraping them down to an even thickness with a sharp knife - each page had to be rubbed smooth to remove impurities - then, hides were folded to form small booklets of 8 pages - parchment was so valued as a writing surface that it continued to be used for manuscripts even after paper became standard - illuminations painted mostly by monks or nuns who write in rooms called scriptoria (writing places), that had no heat or light, to prevent fires - vows of silence were maintained to limit mistakes - booklets were sewn together to create a manuscript - manuscript books had sacred quality - this was the word of God and had to be treated with appropriate deference - books were covered with bindings of wood or leather and gold leaf was lavished on the surfaces; previous gems were inset on the cover - objects are done in the cloisonné technique, with horror vacui designs featuring animal style decoration; interlace/interwoven patterning are common - images have elaborate symmetry, with animals alternating with geometric designs - most surviving objects are portable

School of Athens - Raphael - Rome, Italy - 1509-1511 - fresco

- one of four frescos painted for Pope Julius II's library in the papal apartments - four frescos depict four branches of knowledge of 16th century: theology, philosophy, poetry and arts, and law - painting originally called "Philosophy" because pope's philosophy books were in shelves below fresco - remembered for harmonious arrangement of forms and space and calm, dignity of figures - Elder Plato (left) and young Aristotle (right) are at stage center on either side of vanishing point - nobility and monumentality of forms parallel to the greatness of the figures represented; figures gesture to indicate their philosophical thought - overall composition is influenced by da Vinci's "The Last Supper" - reflects beliefs in "humanist" philosophy

Alhambra - Granada, Spain - 1354-1391 C.E.

- originally constructed as a small fortress in 889 C.E. on remains of roman fortifications - ruins renovated and rebuilt in the mid-13th century by the Moor, emir Mohammed ben Al-ahmar - moors -- refers to the muslim inhabitants of North Africa, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during middle ages - palace of the Nasrid (dynasty) sultans of Southern Spain - light, airy interiors -- fortress like exterior - built on a hill overlooking the city of Granada - contains palaces, gardens, water pools, fountains, and courtyards - small, low bubbling fountains in each room provide cool temperatures in the summer

The Virgin of Guadalupe - Miguel González - Mexico City - 1698 C.E.

- painting describes an event in 1531 in which mary appeared to native americans on a hill called Tepeyac, a scribe sacred to a pre-columbian goddess - mary ordered a native american convert, Juan Diego, to tell the local archbishop to build a sanctuary on the site - mary made the hilltop sprout in flowers and Juan Diego brought the flowers to the archbishop; Juan Diego's clothe revealed the Virgin's image - Virgin of Guadalupe is the most revered symbol in Mexico; patroness of New Spain - in guadalupe, images of mary always stand on a crescent moon, surrounded by sun rays with clouds behind her - revelations 12:1 -- "a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head" - surrounded by four rounders depicting the apparition to Juan Diego at the moment the Virgin's image is revealed in his tunic - enconchados = inlaid shellwork objects imitating Japanese lacquerwork - exotic materials were brought from asia through a shipping route called the Manila Galleon - spanish artists were particularly attracted to the widespread use of mother-of-pearl, as seen in this screen - major symbol of Mexico and part of their national identity, especially with christians; intense devotions of our Lady of Guadalupe

Hunters in the Snow - Pieter Bruegel the Elder - 1565

- panel painting; one of a series of 6 paintings representing the labors of the months...this is November/December - idea of labors goes back to the the illuminated manuscript period of Medieval — first time when this idea of successive narratives brought to larger scale with paintings. - landscape has high horizon line, a Northern European tradition - alpine landscape, winter scene - strong diagonals less the eye deeper into the painting - figures are peasant archetypes, not individuals - though there are many details, nothing is static - hunters have had little success in the winter hunt; dogs are skinny and hang their heads - footprints in snow indicate trudging feet - hunters and dogs heads are hung low indicating melancholy and fatigue - beyond hunters, eye moves quickly down the hill due to high horizon line - hunters are juxtaposed against the playfulness of the villagers below on the ice engaged in fun winter activities - daily routines in winter are depicted - Bruegel inspired by Virgil (Roman poet) — painting a landscape that is given meaning by the labors of the people in the landscape - minutes of day-to-day life in winter depicted: hunters, woman pulling another on a sled, woman carrying firewood, people engaged in play on the pond - activity creates a narrative which is typical of Flemish painting of the time - painting focuses on the mandate of day-to-day activity. - bruegel traveled from Flanders to Rome and instead of returning with ideas of High Renaissance of Rome , rather he came back with the landscape of the moment. - landscape appears at first harsh and unforgiving but becomes warm with the narrative of the people of the village.

Reliquary of Sainte-Foy - ninth century

- pilgrims arriving in Conques focused on the reliquary of Saint Foy - this reliquary, or container holding the remains of a saint of holy person, was one of the most famous in all of Europe - so famous that it was originally located in a monastery in Agen but the monks at Conques plotted to steal it in order to attract more wealth and visitors - works like this were often criticized at the time because the faithful often treated them as idols - held the remains of Sainte Foy, a young Christian convert living n Roman-occupied France during the second century - at the age of 12, she was condemned to die for her refusal to sacrifice to pagan gods - she is revered as a martyr, someone who dies for their faith - sainte foy was a very popular saint in southern france and her relic was extremely important to the church; bringing pilgrims and wealth to the small, isolated town of Conques - overtime, travelers paid homage to Saint Foy by donating gemstones for the reliquary, so her dress is covered with various gems - her face, which stares boldly at the viewer is thought to have originally been the head of a roman statue of a childe - the reuse of older materials in new forms of art is known as spoila -- using spoila was not only practical but it made the object more important by associating it with the past riches of the Roman Empire

summary of medieval art

- political chaos resulted from the Fall of Rome caused periods of migrations - unifying force in Europe was Christianity - adherents established powerful centers of learning (particularly in places like Ireland) - artists concentrated on portable objects that intermixed animal style of Germanic art with horror vacui and strong interlacing patterns - fibulae and other person jewelry became a sign of status and wealth

Portrait of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz - Miquel Cabrera - 1750 C.E.

- posthumous portrait of sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (Sister Juana Agnes) (1648-1695) — Mexican nun of the Jeronymite order (named for St. Jerome) in Mexico - painting done 55 years after her death for her admirers - she was also a writer and considered the first feminist of the Americas - born to a creole family in 1648, she was a child prodigy - she chose to become a nun, rather than marry, so she could pursue her intellectual interests -- Jeronymite order allowed her to host intellectual gatherings and live a comfortable life - feminist culture survived in Mexican convents where privileged nuns lived in comfort with servants and households - she corresponded with scientists, theologians, and other literary intellectuals in Mexico and abroad - literary figure: she wrote poetry and plays that became internationally famous and engaged in theological debates - maintained a great library as seen in this portrait - she was instrumental in giving girls an education in a male-dominated world - 1690 she became involved in an ecclesiastical dispute between the bishops of Mexico City and Puebla about being a woman writer - she responded, which culminated in one of her most famous works: The Answer (1691) -- this work defended her right as a woman to write and to be a scholar - despite her eloquent defense, the Church forced her to relinquish her literary pursuits and even her library - when she sold her library and musical & scientific instruments, she wrote a document in her own blood that renounced her learning, which ended with "I, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, the worst in the world" - writing implements rest on the table, symbols of her written works and intellectual pursuits - after giving up her intellectual pursuits, she cared for the infirm during an epidemic but she fell sick and passed away - attire in painting: wearing the habit of the religious order of the Hermits of St. Jerome nuns of Mexico City; including the escudo de sonja (or nun's badge) on her chest underneath her chin — a framed vellum painting - she is seated in her library surrounded by symbols of her faith and her learning - her left hand toys with a rosary, while she turns a page of an open book with her right hand -- he book is a text by St. Jerome, the saint after whom her religious order was named - many portraits have survived, but all the images derive from a now lost self-portraits

Etching Process

- printmaking process in which a metal plate (usually copper) is coated with a waxy, acid-resistant material - artist draws through this ground with an etching needle to expose the metal - the plate is then dipped in acid, which "bites" into the exposed metal leaving behind lines in the plate - by controlling the amount of time the acid stays on the plate, the artist can make shallow, fine lines or deep, heavy ones - after the coating is removed, the plate is inked then put through a high-pressure printing press together with a sheet of paper to make the print. - typically, an artist can produce about 100 excellent impressions from a single plate

Catacomb of Priscilla - Rome, Italy - 200-400 C.E.

- priscilla donated the land for her family's burial and eventually others began to be buried there - 40,000 tomb - painters of the catacombs preferred the redo technique because mosaics were too expensive but fresco formed a permanent bond with the wall - catacombs are significant because they are the first in a long tradition of christian art

Röttgen Pietà - Late Medieval Europe - 1300-1325 C.E

- proves an emotional response -- perhaps revulsion, horror, distaste, terror, intrigue... - exemplary of gothic art, which aimed to create an emotional response in medieval viewers - new devotional style emphasized the humanity of Christ - the images of humanity of Christ quickly spread throughout western Europe through the rise of new religious orders (the Franciscans, for example) and the popularity of their preaching - in the Röttgen Pietà, Christ clearly died from the horrific ordeal of crucifixion, but his skin is taut around his ribs, showing that he also led a life of hunger and suffering - pietà = picture or sculpture of the Virgin Mary holding the dead body of Jesus Christ on her lap or in her arms - pietà statues appeared in Germany in the late 1200s and were made in this region throughout the Middle Ages -- many of those that survive today are made of marble or stone - the Röttgen Pietà is made of wood and retains some of its original paint -- the Röttgen Pietà is the most gruesome of these extant examples - many of the other Pietàs also show a reclining dead Christ with three dimensional wounds and a skeletal abdomen - one of the unique elements of the Röttgen Pietà is Mary's response to her dead son - she is youthful and draped in heavy robes like many of the other Marys, but her facial expression is different - in Catholic tradition, Mary had a special foreknowledge of the resurrection of Christ and so to her, Christ's death is not only tragic be she looks at peace while holding him - Mary in the Röttgen Pietà appears to be angry and confused -- she doesn't seem to know that her son will live again -- She shows strong negative emotions that emphasize her humanity, just as the representation of Christ emphasizes his - all of these Pietàs were devotional images and were intended as a focal point for contemplation and prayer - even though the statues are horrific, the intent was to show that God and Mary, divine figures, were sympathetic to human suffering, and to the pain, and loss experienced by medieval viewers - by looking at the Röttgen Pietà, medieval viewers may have felt a closer personal connection to God by viewing this representation of death and pain (especially after the Plague)

hiberno-saxon art

- refers to the art of the British Isles in the Early Medieval period - hibernia is the ancient name for Ireland - main artistic expression is illuminated manuscripts, of which a particularly rich collection still survives - hiberno-saxon art relies on complicated interlace patterns in a frenzy of horror vacui - borders of pages harbor animals in stylized combat patterns, sometimes called the animal style - each section of the illustrated text opens with huge initials that are rich fields for ornamentation - irish artists who worked on these books had an exceptional handling of color and form, featuring brilliant transference of polychrome techniques to manuscripts

Baroque Architecture

- relies on movement - facades undulate, creating symmetrical cavities of shadow alternating with projecting pilasters that capture the sun - emphasis is on the center of the facade with wavelike forms that accentuate the entrance - usually entrances are topped by pediments or tympana to reinforce their importance - a careful interplay of concave and convex shapes mark the most experimental buildings by Borromini - interiors are richly designed to combine all the arts - paintings and sculptures service the architectural members in a choreographed ensemble - aim of baroque buildings is a dramatically unified effect - baroque architecture is large -- seeks to impress with its size and its elaborate ornamentation - impressing via Baroque style represents the imperial or papal achievements of its patrons and proclaims their power and wealth - buildings are erected at high points accessible by elaborately carved staircases that spill out towards the spectator and change direction and view as they rise

painting in New Spain

- religious painting of the colonial spanish era is generally marked by a combination of Old and New World skills - spain contributed the oil techniques and Catholic imagery to American paintings - native artists, working within their own traditions, showed less interest in European painting formulas such as perspective - local artists favored a flattened surface with earthen tones - this is particularly evidence in the works from the cusco school - many works of art were created anonymously, in service of religion rather than in service of the fame of the artist - oftentimes, it is impossible to establish the name of the artists because the style of a given school is so closely united

early renaissance architecture

- renaissance architecture depends on order, clarity, and light - the dark and mysterious (which used to be sacred in gothic cathedrals) was deemed barbaric now - instead of dark, buildings were created with wide window spaces, limited stained glass, and vivid wall paintings - use of mathematics and geometry is needed in all building creation, but with renaissance, geometric design was used more demonstratively - ideal was harmony achieved through a system of ideal proportions learned from the architectural treatise of the Roman Vitruvius (the theoretician who helped us discern the roman Temple of Minerva) - the ratios and proportions of various elements of the interior of Florentine Renaissance churches were interpreted as an expression of humanistic ideals - the early christian past was recalled in the use of unvaulted naves with coffered ceiling: a square or polygonal ornamental sunken panel used in a series as decoration for a ceiling or vault

easily renaissance in italy

- renaissance was focused on returning to the classical ideals in the 15th century, with greater emphasis on formal education and artistic training - greater exploration of formal elements of painting: perspective, composition, color - artistic training was enhanced by the birth of academics - the display of artwork often meant a glorification of the patron - in northern europe there was an emphasis on non-religious,, in southern europe, emphasis was on religious subjects with more active and dynamic compositions - italian city-states we're controlled by ruling families who dominated politics throughout the 15th century - these princes were lavish spenders on the arts and great connoisseurs of cutting-edge movements in painting and sculpture - patrons' palaces were embellished with latest innovative paintings - they commissioned architectural works from the most pioneering architects of the day - competition among families and city-states encouraged a competition in the arts, each state and family seeking to outdo the other - princely courts gradually turned their attention away from religious subjects to more secular concerns (secular = non-religious) - became acceptable, even encouraged, to explore Italy's pagan past as a way of shedding light on contemporary life - the exploration of new worlds, epitomized by the great European explorers, was mirrored in new froths and appreciation of the sciences and arts

Madonna and Child with Two Angels - Fra Filippo Lippi - 1465 C.E.

- representative of the renaissance's humanist attitude toward the need for more human and approachable heavenly figures - mary is seen as a young, beautiful mother here; the model for Mary may have been the artist's lover - Fra Filippo Lippi was teacher of Botticelli - the landscape is inspired by a flemish painting and has atmospheric perspective - landscape is symbolic: rock formations indicate the church and the city near Madonna's head is the heavenly Jerusalem - the motif of a pearl as in the headdress and pillow are seen as products of the sea which is seen in the upper left corner - pearls used as symbols in scenes of the Immaculate Conception of Mary and the Incarnation of Christ - the scene is depicted as if in a window in a contemporary Florentine home - painting is significant for its humanization of a sacred theme - the mood of the painting feels real and playful - angels and baby seems like happy, playful, and even mischievous children - halo of mary and baby christ are very simple and minimalistic - Mary, Christ, and angels are intended to look very real

Gothic Architecture (advances on romanesque)

- rib vault -- invented at the end of Romanesque period and became a standard in Gothic period - bays -- standard in Gothic period - rose window -- begun as oculus on facade, rose window becomes elaborate circular feature - allows more light and open wall space - pointing arch -- 1st used in Islamic Spain; arch directs thrusts down to the floor more efficiently than rounded arches; more fanciful "S" shaped arches, called ogee arches developed

Arena Chapel - Padua, Italy - 1303 C.E.

- scrovengi family commissioned Giotto to complete the fresco in Arena Chapel - frescos demonstrate chiaroscuro = use of light and shadow contrasts to indicate volume and mass to create a sense of 3 dimensional objects - the chapel was commissioned by Enrico Scrovegni, whose family fortune was made through banking - at this time charging interest when loaning money was considered to be usury, a sin so grave that it resulted in exclusion from the Christian sacraments; many early bankers were concerned about the jeopardy of their souls - it is believed that Enrico built the chapel in penitence for his father's sin of usury and to obtain absolution for his own - inside of chapel is completely covered in fresco + Giotto used technique trope l'oiel (fools the eye) to create impression of marble panels inlaid throughout - organized in 3 registers: 1.) Joachim, Anna & Mary... 2.) Life of Christ (ministry)... 3.) Passion of Christ (events leading to death of Christ and assertion to heaven)

Isenheim Altarpiece carving

- sculpted wooden alters were popular in Germany at the time - Nicolas of Hagenau, carved and gilded the centerpiece - center ensemble consists of respectable, solid and unimaginative representations of three saints important to the Antonine order - bearded and enthroned st. Anthony flanked by standing figures of St. Jerome and St. Augustine - altar sits in a predella -- a step or platform on which an altar is placed - below, in the carved predella, usually covered by a painted panel, a carved Christ stands at the center of seated apostles, six to each side, grouped in separate groups of three - Hagenau's interior ensemble is therefore symmetrical, rational, mathematical and replete with numerical perfections -- one, two, four, twelve

Mestizos

- shortly after conquest, these local populations were made to work for their European overlords (including artists) - some Native Americans married into the established Spanish hierarchy and produced children called mestizos (a person of mixed race)

early christian art

- shows love/hate relationship with roman predecessors - christians hate: that romans cemented christians into giant flowerpots, covered them with tar, ignited them, and used them to light the streets at night - christians love: the world they knew - grandeur, excitement, eternal quality suggested by mythical Rome - christianity expressed dominance over the older forms of worship by forcing pagan architectural elements, like columns, to do service to god - churches came in two types (both inspired by roman architecture): centrally-planned and axially-planned buildings - exteriors of both types avoided decoration and sculpture that recall the facade of pagan temples - axially planned buildings are more numerous - long nave focusing on an apse; nance used as processional space, usually flanked by side aisles, 1st floor has columns lining nave, 2nd floor contained a space decorated with mosaics, 3rd floor had clerestory - early christian basilicas have thin walls supporting wooden roofs with coffered ceilings - altar was placed in the middle of the building beneath a dome ringed with windows

Allegory of Law and Grace - Lucas Cranach the Elder - 1530 C.E.

- some reformers followed Luther's example and staged rebellions against the Catholic Church; others took a strong position against religious art, forbidding it entirely - luther was more moderate and believed that some religious art was acceptable provided it taught the right lessons -- this is where the Allegory of Law and Grace enters - created in consultation with Martin Luther, leader of Protestant movement - protestantism -- faithful achieve salvation by God's grace; guidance can be achieved using the bible - two nude male figures appear on either side of a tree that is green and living on the "Gospel" side to the viewers right, but barren and dying on the "law" side to viewer's left Left Side - Law - left depicts last judgement -- skeleton is chasing a person into hell - a group of prophets point to and moses holds 10 commandments -- 10 commandments represent the "Old Law" and catholicism - the motifs in the left side of the composition are meant to exemplify the idea that law alone, without gospel, can never get you to heaven - christ sits in judgement as Adam and Eve eat the fruit and fall from grace - message: law of moses not enough to live a good life Right Side - Gospel - right part of woodcut depicts figure bathed in Christ's blood; not in original painting - John the Baptist directs a naked man to both Christ on the cross in front of the tomb and to the risen christ who appears on top of the tomb - message: faith in christ alone is needed for salvation - the Allegory of Law and the Grace explains Luther's ideas in visual form, most basically the notion that heaven is reached through faith and God's grace. Luther despised and rejected the Catholic idea that good deeds, what he called "good works," could play any role in salvation

Colonial America Summary

- spanish colonists combined European Baroque traditions with Native American labor and Asian imports to create a multi-layered artistic experience - patrons sponsored a wide range of subjects: religious images, portraits, painted screens, landscapes, and historical episodes - while many of the artistic formulas remain European in inspiration, the appeal of art from this period is its ability to wed disparate artistic experiences into a coherent whole

Spanish/Latin American Trade

- spanish extracted much that the New World had to offer: silver, gold, and new crops like potatoes and corn - spanish established a word-wide trading empire in which ships slowly trekked across the pacific, connecting Mexico with Asia -- voyages called the "Manila Galleon" -- enabled trade vessels to make the 4-month journey without problem - Manila Galleon brought trade from Asia and new materials: not unusual to see works of Latin American art that use ivory, silk, or ceramics - mexican market could boast Asian slices, ceramics, silks, ivory, and other precious items long before that became available in the Colonial U.S. - artistic life became enriched by the contact of East and West layered onto Native American population

The Flood (Sistine Chapel)

- story details Noah and his family's escape of rising flood waters astound in Genesis 7 - few remaining survivors cling to mountain tops - man carrying drowned son to safety, will only meet his son's fate... - over 60 figures; crowded compositions; sculptural intensity of the figure style - ark in the background is the only safe haven - exemplifies the frescoes before the 1510 break

Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well (Vienna Genesis)

- story from Genesis 24. Abraham wanted to find a wife for his son Isaac and sent his servant Eliezer to find one from Abraham's extended family - Eliezer took ten of Abraham's camels with him and stopped at a well to give them water - Eliezer prayed to god that Isaac's future wife would assist him with watering his camels - Rebecca arrives and assists Eliezer, who knows that she is the woman for Isaac - this story is about God intervening to ensure a sound marriage for Abraham's son - the illustration story shows two episodes, common in medieval art - Rebecca is shown twice, as she leaves her town to get water and then assisting Eliezer at the well with his camels - clear classical elements that recall artwork from ancient Greece and Rome. Rebecca walks by a colonnade (row of columns) that recall the details of classical architecture. - some of Eliezer's camels are shaded to emphasize that some are in the front and others in the back. the camel on the far right has one of its back legs in shadow to show a spatial relationship. - the figure that recalls the classical world is the reclining nude next to the river - not a part of the story of Rebecca and Eliezer, but serves as a personification of the source of the well's water - representation of rivers and other bodies of water as people were common in the classical world - the figure's sensuality is emphasized by her nudity and reclining pose, typical of Greek and Roman art - this stands in contrast to Rebecca's heavily draped and fully- covered body, typical of Early Christian art

Jacob Wrestling the Angel (Vienna Genesis)

- story: Jacob wakes and leads family across the river,, leading servants and his wives on donkeys,, sons behind wives - Jacob is separated from family and meets a man whom he wrestles,, the man puts Jacob's hip out of joint,, the man may have been an angel,, Jacob asked for a blessing - from this point on, Jacob is known as Israel - it conveys a transformation - the relief is bent in the middle - artist is trying to cause the narrative to fit in the book - recalls the classical: you can see one of the wives bodies, there are classical colonnades - linear perspective is at odds, i.e. the colonnades up front are shorter than those in the back

images in Hagia Sophia

- tension increasing about creating images of saints, Jesus, Mary, etc. - icons (images of Mary and saints) became central in Byzantine empire - emperor Leo III forbade use of images in the church, which begins history of iconoclasm (= breaking images) - images viewed as dangerous because there was a fear that worship would not be focused on god

Luther's view of God's role

- the Allegory of Law and Grace is concerned with two roles that God plays: to judge and to show mercy - god judged and condemns human sin - god also shows mercy and forgiveness, granting unearned salvation to sinful believers - Luther's idea of law is multifaceted, and bears a complex relationship to his idea of gospel. Though law alone will never make salvation possible, it remains indispensable as the way the believer recognizes sin and the need for grace. Law paves the way to salvation by preparing the way for grace.

Impact of Reformation on Art

- the Catholic Church insisted that believers could take action to vouchsafe their salvation by doing good deeds, including making financial donations and paying for elaborate art to decorate Christian churches - luther, however, insisted that salvation was in God's hands, and all the believer had to do was to open up and have faith - as people became disillusioned with catholic teaching, they grew angry about the ways the catholic church became rich in money, art, and power - when reform became impossible and rebellion the only course of action, furious, frustrated believers directed their anger at works of art, an easy and powerful target

King Harold

- the first person who claimed he would be king was Harold Godswin - he was second-in-command and brother-in-law to king edward when he was alive - he was well known and trusted by the people of England - harold claimed that when king edward was dying he said: "into's harold's hands I commit my kingdom" - the council of royal advisors then voted Harold as the king of england and his coronation was the same day as king edward's burial... that was when trouble started...

importance of patrons (early renaissance)

- the influence of patrons of this period can be seen in the art - amount of gold lavished on an altarpiece - which family members the artists was required to prominently place in the foreground of a painting - customary for great facilities to have a private chapel in the local church dedicated to their private use - artists often asked to paint murals in the chapels to enhance the spirituality of the location

Protestant Reformation's Effect on Art

- the reformation, initiated by Martin Luther in 1517, was originally an attempt to reform the Catholic Church - reform quickly became rebellion, as people began to question the power and practices of the Catholic Church - up until Luther the Catholic Church had been the only church in western Europe - reformation spurned by question of how the Christians achieve salvation and whether or not that was through purchased indulgence s

Colonial America patronage and artistic life

- the spanish brought Roman Catholicism to the new world... rich in religious imagery - ecclesiastical patrons sponsored an astonishing degree of high quality religious works - spanish we're not reluctant to use native artists (unlike the english) - works from new spain combine Roman Catholicism with Native American traditions in a pictorial landscape that often uses new materials from Asia - in contrast, English Protestants in the colonial U.S. limited their artistic expression to portraits - in the beginning, spanish brought over late medieval artistic conventions that were often combined with Renaissance works of various european provinces - soon, efforts were made to establish local art schools that were inspired by the more current Baroque style - many mexican portraits show men dressed in the latest Madrid styles to prove they had aristocratic sensibilities - first center of European art in the Americas was established in Cusco, Peru -- spanish painters taught local Quechuan and mestizo artists the newly imported art style - in addition to religious images, patrons also were interested in portraits, as well as other subjects correct in European painting like historical paintings of battle scenes and arcadian landscapes

Harald, King of Norway

- the third rival for the throne was Harald Hardrada, King of Norway. Harald said that he had ruled Norway jointly with his cousin Mangus until he died in 1047. - harald declared that five years earlier, Mangus and Harthacut (Danish ruler of England) had agreed that if one of them were to die, the other was to be crowned ruler of the other's country. - after the pact was made, Harthcut died but Mangus was too busy with his own battle to take over Denmark, so he was not able to take control of England too. - it was then that King Edward was crowned King of England. Harald declared that with both Mangus and King Edward dead, he was destined to be the King of England.

Thirty Years War - Influence on Art

- the war came to involve the major powers of Europe, with Sweden, France, Spain and Austria all waging campaigns primary on German soil - war ended with a series of treaties that made up the Peace of Westphalia - the fallout reshaped the religious and political map of central Europe -- old centralized Roman Catholic empire had to give way to a community of sovereign states - the war succeeded in devastating central Europe so effectively that economic activity and artistic production ground to a halt in this region for the balance of the 17th century - counter-reformation movement reaffirmed all the things the protestant reformation was against - protestants were largely iconoclasts, breaking painted and sculpted images in churches - catholics endorsed the place of images and were reinspiried to create new ones - protestants ridiculed saints -- catholics reaffirmed the communion of saints and glorified their images - protestants played down miracles -- catholics made them visible and palpable (i.e. Ecstasy of Saint Teresa)

Alhambra - Court of the Lions

- thin columns support heavy roofs -- feeling of weightlessness - intricately patterned and sculpted ceiling and walls - central fountain supported by protective lions; animal imagery permitted in secular monuments - parts of the walls are chiseled through to create vibrant light patterns within

Pazzi Chapel of Basilica di Santa Croce

- this is a Chapter House (a place for monks of Basilica di Santa Croce to meet) - significant because it is a true early renaissance architectural example; attempt to duplicate classicism - pietra serena -- gray sandstone; articulates decorative elements on the walls - perfect geometry -- attention to centrality with use of circles, rectangles, and squares - feels like walking into an ancient Roman temple, like walking into the Pantheon with its centrally planned space - dome on pendentives with oculus in center and windows piercing the dome - terra cotta rounders on the pendentives - pendentive rounders made by Lucca della Robbia -- recently perfected the ability to fire at high temperatures to create the glazes - not quite a centrally planned building but very close - longer on one side (a rectangular space) which uses barrel vaults on each side - significant due to its recall of classicism of ancient rome

Self-Portrait with Saskia - Rembrandt Van Rijn - Dutch Baroque - 1636 C.E.

- this is the only image of Rembrandt together with his wife in an etching - this etching marks the first time that Rembrandt has presented himself as an artist at work —calls attention to his drafting skills - depicts 30-year old Rembrandt with his new bride, Saskia - couple is not wearing contemporary dress, rather they are fancifully dressed - Rembrandt regarded as greatest practitioner of etching in the history of art; first to popularize this technique as a major form of artistic expression - both Rembrandt and his wife are shown wearing historical clothing - Rembrandt wears a fanciful 16th- century style plumed beret tilted at a jaunty angle and a fur-trimmed overcoat - Saskia wears an old-fashioned veil - images of Saskia abundant in Rembrandt's artistic output — she was a source of inspiration for him - depicts magical harmony; Saskia is a muse inspiring Rembrandt - example of a marriage portrait — they had 4 children together until Saskia died 13 years after marriage at age 30 - most evidence suggests that Rembrandt worked directly on the plate, most likely with a preparatory drawing in front of him to serve as a guide - as with his painted works, he developed a very individualized style that clearly set him apart from his contemporaries - his highly experimental nature led him to explore the effects of using different types, weights, and colors of paper for printing his works - this piece was not put on sale; kept for private purposes - the image of Saskia is not as deeply "bitten" (etched) as the figure of Rembrandt, which helped to make him appear to be closer to the viewer

The Arnolfini Portrait - Jan van Eyck - 1434

- this work is signed and dated showing the growing significance of the status of artists - see mirror behind the couple - this is a double portrait - many theories of the meaning - theory: the woman had passed away and this was a memorial - theory: this is a betrothal - theory: arnolfini is conferring legal/business privileges on wife during absence - much symbolism in this double portrait - shoes for both parties are removed is a reference to significant event taking place or standing on holy ground - there is only one candle in the chandelier which is believed as a symbol to the presence of god; also a custom of burning a candle on the wedding night - two witnesses in the convex mirror; perhaps the artist due to inscription - inscription above the mirror reads: "Jan van Eyck was here 1434" - meticulous handling of paint; great concentration of minute details - wife pulls up green dress to symbolize pregnancy but many scholars say she is not pregnant - statue of saint margaret, patron saint of childbirth, appears on the bedpost - not sure who Arnolfini is, but records indicate he was a well-to-do textile merchant - man appears near the window to symbolize his role as someone who makes his way in the outside world - woman is further in the room to emphasize her role as homemaker - cross cultural comparison: menkaura and his queen, Justinian and Theodora and their attendants

counter reformation

- time of spiritual renewal spurned by Catholic Church,, aka Catholic Counter-Reformation - catholic church's response to protestant reformation begun by Martin Luther - renaissance = humanism = protestant reformation = rationality and independent thinking - baroque (from italian word meaning "beautiful, fascinating, and strange") = catholic counter reformation = intense, emotional response, use of senses to transport yourself emotionally as you imagine religious events in mediation; dramatically lit and theatrical art - the counter reformation's goals were designed to: 1. reassert the power of the church 2. standardize the training of local priests 3. stimulate pious devotion 4. wipe out the corruption in the church, which had fueled Luther's movement - the council of trent (who worked out said goals) also issued a decree on art in response to the lush mannerist style of artists like Michelangelo, who included voluptuous nudes, commoners and pagan images in their paintings - the decree stipulated that religious art could not be designed to incite lust, be disorderly, or contain anything that was profane or unbecoming "the house of god" - importantly, the decree stipulated that the subject of the work of art was what should be venerated, not the work of art itself, which would have been considered idolatry - this still allowed the church to create shrines like the tomb of St. Ignacio's and the over-the-top decoration that characterizes this period, which were designed to inspire awe at the magnificence of the catholic church

Romanesque Art

- time periods: 1050-1150 - to 19th century art historians, Romanesque architecture looked like a derivative of ancient Roman art, thus "Romanesque" or "in the Roman manner" - although there are some superficial resemblances in the roundness of architectural forms, the Romanesque period was very different from namesake - classified as part of the bigger medieval art period

The Tympanum of the Last Judgment (Church of Sainte-Foy)

- tympanum, the central semi-circular relief carving above the central portal - stone and paint (tympanum) - at center sits Christ as Judge. he sits enthroned with his right hand pointing upwards to the saved while his left hand gestures down to the damned - shows the damned condemned to hell on the right and the saved rising to heaven on the left because one enters the church as a sinner but emerges saved (right to left) - immediately on Christ's right are Mary, Peter and possibly the founder of the monastery as well as an entourage of other saints -- saved move toward Christ and saints - Archangel Michael and the devil at Christ's feet, weighing souls - warning to pilgrims... last judgement - point of pilgrimage - served as a reminder to those entering the Church of Sainte-Foy about the joys of heaven and torments of hell - largest Romanesque tympanum - left triangle, arches Conques Abbey with dangling chains -- Sainte Foy interceded for those enslaved by the Muslims in Spain; she herself appears kneeling before a giant hand of God - below saints, a small arcade is covered by a pediment, meant to represent the House of Paradise - these are the blessed, those who have been saved by Christ and who will remain in Paradise with him for eternity. At center, Abraham and above him notice the outstretched hand of God, who beckons a kneeling Saint Foy - inscription on lintel: "O sinners, change your morals before you might face a cruel judgement" - on left side of the pediment, a row of angels opens the graves of the dead. as dead rise from tombs, their souls will be weighed and they will be admitted to heaven or hell - this is the scene that we might see right under Christ's feet -- you can see the clear division between a large doorway leading to Paradise and a terrifying mouth that leads the way to hell - inside hell, it is a chaotic, disorderly scene - contrasts against opposite side of pediment - also a small pediment in the lower register of Hell, where the Devil, just opposite to Abraham, reigns over his terrifying kingdom - the devil, like christ, is also an enthroned judge, determine the punishments that await the damned according to the severity of their sins - to the devils left is a hanged man,, this man is a reference to Judas, who hanged himself after betraying christ - just beyond Judas, a knight is tossed into the fires of Hell and above him, a gluttonous man is hung by his legs for his sins - each of these sinners represents a type of sin to avoid, from adultery, to arrogance, even to the misuse of church offices - portal was not only a warning for pilgrims, but for the clergy who lived in Conques as well

catacombs

- under Rome are hundreds of miles of catacombs, sometimes 5 stories deep with millions of interred bodies - considered a cheaper alternative to above ground interment - christians preferred this, as they considered the roman practice of cremation repugnant and conflicting with revival and ascension - dug from earth in a maze of passageways that radiated out endlessly from the starting point - the poor were placed in "local", which were holes cut in the walls of the catacombs meant to receive the bodies of the dead - wealthy had their bodies blessed in mortuary chapels, called cubicula, and then placed in extravagant sarcophagi

Plagues of Egypt page (Golden Haggadah)

- upper right -- plague of frogs initiated her by Moses, not Aaron as depicted in Bible - upper left -- place of lice -- Pharaoh & his magicians are covered with lice - lower right: Moses looks on as Pharaoh is attacked by wild beasts - lower left: plague on livestock

Preparation for Passover page (Golden Haggadah)

- upper right: Miriam, Moses' sister, holds a tambourine decorated with an Islamic motif and are joined by maidens dancing & playing contemporary musical instruments - upper left: master of the house, sitting under a canopy, orders the distribution of matzah (unleavened bread) and haroset (sweetmeats) to the children - lower right: family prepares house for Passover -- women clean and the man searches for leaven - lower left: people are preparing for Passover -- sheep are being slaughtered and utensils are being purified

Merovingian looped fibulae - mid-sixth century

- used to fasten garments - showed the prestige of the wearer - grave goods like fibulae provide the most concrete cultural information about barbarians, due to the sparse amount of written documentation about them. the diverse ethnic groups were constantly borrowing from one another, while putting their own spin on things - cloisonné and chasing techniques - zoomorphic elements - popular motif in barbarian art of the middle ages: eagles, originally a pagan symbol of the sun - end of fibulae are in the shape of Eagle heads, and little fish are shown on the main body of the brooches. gems were used to decorate eyes of eagles. gems were used to decorate the rest of the fibulae - demonstrates the proficiency of barbarian metal workers during the middle ages - small portable objects - decline of the classical tradition - celtics commonly used horror vacui and cloisonné technique

Birth of Venus - Sandro Botticelli - 1484-1486

- venus is on shore standing in a scallop shell - faraway look in her eyes - roses (with thorns) scattered around her - left: Zephyr (west wind) and Chloris (breeze) - right: handmaid rushes to clothe Venus - figures are floating (not anchored to the ground) - crisply drawn figures in pale colors - the landscape is flat and unrealistic; simple v-shaped waves - "Venus" is the Roman name for the Greek goddess, Aphrodite - he story of Venus' birth, borrowed directly from the Greeks, explains that she arose from the foam of the sea shore. - Saturn (Greek: Kronos) castrated his tyrant father, Uranus. - Saturn threw the severed genitals of Uranus into the sea. - As the genitals drifted over the water, the blood and (or, in some versions, the semen) that issued forth from the severed flesh mixed with the sea water to churn and foam and grow into the full grown figure of Venus - she floated to shore on a scallop shell - patron: Medici family - Lorenzo - painting is based on iconography described in an event in a poem by Poliziano, titled "Stanze per la giostra" - depicts not birth but moment when she came on shore - Poliziano's poem described Venus as being driven towards the shore on a shell by Zephyr, god of the winds, and the breeze Aura -- they are in a tight embrace, and are gently driving Venus towards the shore with their breath -- gentle rose-colored flowers are blowing around Zephyr and Aura in the wind - (poem continued...) Venus is standing naked on a golden shining shell, which reaches the shore floating on rippling waves - an onlooker would have seen the flash in the goddess' eye and the Horae of the seasons standing on the shore in white garments, their flowing hair caressed by the wind - there, a Hora of Spring is approaching on the tips of her toes, in a graceful dancing motion, spreading out a magnificent cloak for Venus - Venus rises with her marble-colored carnations above the ocean next to her, like a statue - her hair, which is playfully fluttering around her face in the wind, is given a particularly fine sheen by the use of fine golden strokes - the unapproachable gaze under the heavy lids give the goddess an air of cool distance - the rose is supposed to have flowered for the first time when Venus was born, which is why rose-colored flowers are blowing around Zephyr and Aura - rose — symbolic of beauty. - roses have thorns —symbolic of painful love - covering up of Venus — modesty of Venus - zephyr blowing —the story in which she is propelled to shore

Screen with the Siege of Belgrade - 1697-1701 C.E.

- war scene more suited for a grander room with political importance - war scene depots the contemporary event of the Great Turkish War (1683-1699) - dutch print of war scene was used for inspiration - illustrates a scene of Hapsburg power; expression of power of Viceroy and expression of power of Hapsburg Empire - would have been appropriate to be displayed in the grand salon, for formal occasions

Woman Holding a Balance - Johannes Vermeer - Dutch Baroque - 1664

-excellent example of a genre painting (painting depicting daily life) - there are few surviving works by Vermeer - other than two landscape paintings, Vermeer's work portrayed intimate scenes in the interior of Dutch homes - light enters from the left and warmly highlighted the textures and surfaces, incl. woman's garments, wood table, marble checkerboard floor, jewelry, painting, etc. - portrays a moment in time: stillness and timelessness - this is a moment of weighing and judging - behind the pregnant woman is a painting of "The Last Judgment" — a time of weighing souls - balance has nothing in it — pearls and coins are on the table waiting to be measured - pregnant woman is wearing fine clothing indicated by fur trim - balancing possibly references the unborn child - this is an allegory — eternal judgment - theme is vanitas: gold (and other earthly things) should not be a false allure - there are geometric lines focused on a central point at the pivot of the balance - thought to perhaps be a Vermeer family member that is posing for the painting - theories have suggested that this is Vermeer's wife, Caterina

cloisonné

a style of enamel decoration in which the enamel is applied and fired in raised cells (as of soldered wires) on a usually metal background

feudalism

a system of government based on landowners and tenants - peasants worked the land, sustaining all with their labor; lords owned the land, and they guaranteed peasants security

minarets

a tall slender tower, typically part of a mosque, with a balcony from which a muezzin calls Muslims to prayer

vanitas

a theme in still life painting that stresses the brevity of life and the folly of human vanity

can artists be christian?

during this time, Tertullian and St. Augustine of Hippo (both influential early Christian writers) determined that art has the potential to be worshipped away from its intended target and that art lies because it is not the thing it claims to be, and there is no room for lies in christianity

lunettes

half-moon shaped, or semi-circular, arch

art from the Byzantine period is completely lost because

iconoclasts believed that worshipping icons as idols was wrong/disrespectful and destroyed previously created works

di sotto in su ("from below to above")

in drawing and painting, extreme foreshortening of figures painted on a ceiling or other high surface so as to give the illusion that the figures are suspended in air above the viewer - it is an approach that was developed during the Renaissance, and it was especially favored by Baroque and Rococo painters, particularly in Italy

romanesque architecture (concise)

main buildings: churches and monasteries characteristics: - thick walls made of stone - few windows and dark interiors - use of semicircular arches - use of different types of vaults (barrel or groin) - latin cross plan, with several side aisles separated by arcades of semicircular arches - ambulatory, a pathway behind the altar where pilgrims could walk without interrupting the mass (only in pilgrimage routes' churches)

School of Athens -- Humanism Movement

- humanists looked to the great democratic cultures of Classical Athens and Classical Rome as ideal models for the present - humanists believed that knowledge could only be attained through well-rounded study of the liberal arts - as part of this movement, there arose the first systemization of language - Latin - using cicero's rhetorical style as the epitome - soon the intense textual focus on classical antiquity resulted in a broader interest in the culture and arts of the ancient period -- for italians, this focus was centered on rome, inspiring scholars and artists to travel to the city to obtain first-hand knowledge of its ancient monuments - incorporation of classical motifs and models is therefore one of the distinguishing features of Italian Renaissance - this gathering of Plato, Aristotle, and other great ancient thinkers such as Socrates, Pythagoras, Ptolemy, and Zoroaster, together with contemporary scholars, such as Tommaso Inghirami (the Vatican librarian, dressed as Epicurus in the lower left with the wreath on his head), and artists, including portraits of Michelangelo (lower center, with head resting on fist) and Raphael (lower far right, looking out to the viewer), suggests that the Rome of Pope Julius II was a "New Rome" in an enlightened age - painting includes references to the classical sculptures and buildings of rome that were popular at the beginning of the 16th century, both to collectors like Pope Julius II and to humanists, who came to the city for work or study - the buildings in which the philosophers gather takes the form of a greek cross (with coffered arches) - monumental marble sculptures of the ancient gods are set in niches that line the walls - the fresco reflect humanist interests in that its formal aspects are modeled after the classical principles of harmony, balance, and symmetry in order to provide an idealized setting - use of one-point perspective as an organizing element, raphael emphasizes how his interest in illusionism equates with an investigation of the natural world that humanists went to such great lengths to explore - the poses of the two central philosophers reflect the philosophical arguments contained in the texts held in their left hands: Plato holds his Timaeus and uses his right hand to point to the heavens to the eternal truths that exist in idea only - aristotle holds his Ethics and extends his right hand out forward from his body with his palm facing toward the material earth, which he argued was the empirical reality that can be measured through sight and touch. - raphael's composition uses perspective to harmonize these two divergent schools of thought, with the viewer's gaze directed upwards through the successive series of arches into the sky beyond, bringing together not only Platonists and Aristotelians, but also Christians with humanists at the center of the work, and thereby creating one unified School of Athens.

Islamic Architecture

-all mosques oriented towards Mecca because Muslims must pray 5 times a day facing the holy city - the qiblah (or direction) to Mecca is marked by the mihrab (an empty niche) which directs worshipper's attention - to remind faithful of times to pray, great minarets are constructed in every corner of the Muslim work - a call to prayer is received to the faithful form from a minaret - composes of a base, a tall shaft with an internal staircase and gallery from which muezzins call people to prayer - muezzins = islamic official who calls people to prayer from minaret - mosques come in many varieties - one common design is hypostyle halls - other common design is the unified open interior - hypostyle hall mosques are characterized by an interior that is a forest of columns, sometimes invested with an open central courtyard - arches at Córdoba are horseshoe-shaped with alternating striped stonework - focus of all prayer is the mihrab, which points the direction to Mecca - unified open interior mosques, like the Mosque of Selim II has a unified central core with a brilliant dome surmounting a centrally organized ground plan - inspired by Byzantine architecture - domes of mosques and tombs employ squinches, which in Islamic hands can be made to form an elaborate orchestration of suspended facets called muqarnas - muqarnas are a honeycomb-like ceiling of intricate web work - water passes from room to room and surfaces in a low bubbling fountain - thin columns give a sense of weightlessness - in Iran, mosques evolved around a centrally placed courtyard - each side featured a centrally placed half-dome open at one end called am iwan

Late Gothic period marked by three crucial historical events

1. Hundred Years' War between France & England (1337-1453) — conflict devastated both countries socially & economically -- left large regions of France in ruins 2. 1309, French popes moved headquarters of Christine church to Avignon, France; created spiritual crisis with far reaching effects on Europe, esp. Rome — neglected Saint Peter's began to decay until return to Rome in 1377 3. Black Death of 1348: Between 1/4th - 1/3rd of world died -- in many towns not enough living to bury the dead & architecture came to standstill; artists interpreted plague as punishment from God causing painting to be more conservative & began to look back on earlier styles

horror vacui

a type of artwork in which the entire surface is filled with objects, people, designs, and ornaments in a crowded, sometimes congested way

arcade

a covered passageway with arches along one or both sides

ergotism

a disease caused by consuming rye grain infected with fungus

horror vacui

a fear or dislike of leaving empty spaces, especially in an artistic composition

humanism

an outlook or system of thought attaching prime importance to humans rather than divine or supernatural matters -- humanist beliefs stress the potential value and goodness of human beings, emphasize common human needs, and seek solely rational ways of solving human problems

bay

arch on 1st floor, triforium with smaller arches on 2nd floor, and windows in a clerestory on the 3rd floor

synagogues purpose

chanting of psalms, prayers, and blessings, services in the synagogue, reading of scripture and teaching

putti

chubby male children, usually nude and sometimes winged

stringcourse

decorative horizontal band in the exterior wall of a building; such a band, either plain or molded, is usually formed of brick or stone

niches

decorative recess set into a wall for the purpose of displaying a statue, vase, font, or other object

liturgy

derives from a greek word that means "public service" or "work of the people" and has long been used to describe christian worship

eucharist

jesus' body and blood in the form of bread and wine (the last supper)

piers

large internal and upright support for a structure - sections of structural walls between openings (bays) can function as piers

arcades

series of arches supported by columns

colophon

statement at the end of a book that gives information about authorship and printing

genre

style of painting depicting scenes from ordinary life, especially domestic situations

transverse arch

supporting arch which runs across the vault from side to side, dividing the bays. it usually projects down from the surface of the vault

iconoclasm

the action of attacking of assertively rejecting cherished beliefs and institutions or established values and practices; the rejection or destruction of religious images as heretical

cornice

the decorated projection at the top of a wall provided to protect the wall face or to ornament and finish the eaves -- the term is used as well for any projecting element that crowns an architectural feature, such as a doorway

humanism

the intellectual movement of the late medieval and renaissance interested in the revival of classical languages and texts for their utility in contemporary society

eaves

the part of a roof that meets or overhangs the walls of a building

tenebrism

the use of strong chiaroscuro and artificially illuminated areas to create a dramatic contrast of light and dark in a painting

tessellate

to decorate (a floor) with mosaics

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