Art History 2.1
Birth of Venus, Boticelli
-15 c CE, panel painting, Renaissance -Wind god blows the shell to shore showing that love comes from no where -Roses flying all around her, roses are a symbol of love and passion -Modest venus pose -Shell is a metaphor for the female genitals in classical antiquity -Emphasized femininity of her body with elongated neck and curves -Painting is meant to bring pleasure to the viewer -Center figure is similar to Praxiteles sculpture of Aphrodite. The version of her birth where she arises from the sea already a full woman -The pose of the woman is similar to the Venus de Medici a marble sculpture that Boticelli studied
David (Donatello)
-15-16 c, Renaissance and Mannerist sculpture, bronze -Lost wax casting (hollow bronze), which ancient greek and romans employed -For 1000 years the christian west had looked at the soul as a place of focus. The body was seen as a path to corruption so it was not celebrated -Return to ancient greek and roman respect for the body -First free-standing nude statue since antiquity, notice contraposto -Nudity used to portray a biblical hero instead of an allegory for sinfulness (medieval mentality) -David killed Goliath, Old Testament -Before he became a king, he was a shepherd and only had a stone and a sling -Success of the apparent underdog against a powerful aggressor (shepherds hat and slingshot vs. helmet and sword) -Moral triumph of christ over the devil -Revival of classical tradition of heroic nudity -First freestanding nude sculpture since antiquity -Life size male nude bronze -Revolutionary depiction of the nude -Revival of classical tradition of heroic nudity which celebrated the physical beauty of human body; idealized naturalism -Sensuous adolescent, elegant pose in contraposto (greeks) -Standing on Goliaths head that has helmet, holding Goliaths sword and stone -Moment when Giant is dead -Self satisfaction of having conquered the enemy -The power of right over might is an important symbol of Florentine Republic in its resistance against Milan, Florentines identified with David -Wreath and shepherds had: symbol of victory -Victorious king after killing Goliath -Satisfied and at peace with his actions -Large lifelike wing sprouting from the giant's helmet and rising up inside of David's leg
Hercules and Antaeus
-15-16 c, Renaissance and Mannerist sculpture, bronze -Pollaiuolo -Careful observation and study of the musculature of struggling human form -Antaneus challenged all passers by the wrestling matches; he remained invincible as long as he was in contact with his mother, the earth. Everyone attempted to force Antaeus to the ground but Hercules realized he could not beat him in this way. Instead he lifted him from the ground and crushed him to death in a bearhug -Figurine -Violent action and final moments; clenched teeth of Hercules and the kicking and screaming of Antaeus -If you know the strength and weakness of your enemies, you can defeat them -Pollaiuolo invented the action group or the space around and between the figures is included in the composition -Mythological subject, popular in ancient times and in Renaissance -Figures break free into surrounding space -Dramatic departure from the convention of frontality -Open form: figures break free into surrounding space and statue opens up -Complex interlocked figures and explosive energy -Classicism: close attention to human body, muscles, veins, heroic nudity in physical perfection
Last Supper, Castagno
-15th c CE, fresco in refectory of monastery -Jesus is eating his last meal before his crucification with his closest followers -"one of you will betray me" -Judas is on the other side of the table (he is the one that will betray Jesus) -John fainted when he heard the news, he is the visionary who sees the second coming of christ -Judas does not have a halo -Christ is demonstrating to his disciples that his teachings will stay after his death -Symbol of the eucharist -Close observation of reality, idealized -Christ is eating his last meal WITH the monks eating in the monastery refectory -Creating a 3D effect on a 2D surface -Trump l'oeil: Painting so realistically you fool the eye -Same as we need physical food to nourish our body, we need spiritual food to fuel our spirit -New individualized gestures and spatial integration
Assumption of the Virgin
-16 c, High Renaissance, fresco ceiling -The architecture of the dome dissolves in front of our eyes -The bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into Heaven at the end of her earthly life -A person as good or holy as the mother of Christ was immediately brought into heaven -Windows are not real but painted -Octagonal dome -When you look up it alludes you are looking up at heavenly beings that are swirling into heavenly light -Our body is transported into a plain that is eternal life -Leonardos influence: softly modeled forms combined with chiaroscuro and slightly hazy overall appearance- sfumato -The spiritual essence of the assumption -Illusionistic ceiling painting di sotto in su (seen from directly below), radical foreshortening -Symbolizes the final union of the faithful with the divine at the end of time -Swirling center of heavenly beings accompanying the Virgin in her miraculous assumption directly to heaven and the moment of her death -Powerful, shift, spiraling upward motion with which her soul is lifted into heavens starts a long-lasting tradition of illusionistic ceiling painting -Illusionistic ceiling painting: artists paint a ceiling and create and illusion that we are looking up into space -The uniqueness was the 3D ceiling opening up and figures flying up -The apostles w/ wingless angels (putti) -Trump o leil perspective around the base -Draperies flying describe energy and gestures that pull virgin upward -Funerary rituals behind such as oil lamp and burning cypress branches -Mary repairs the bond between the human and divine -Mary sits on a cloud rises toward a golden light -Domes were received as symbols of heaven -Reality of eternal salvation -Leonardos influence: softly modeled forms combined with spotlight effects, slightly hazy overall appearance -Eve extends apple as symbol of disobedience -Adam touches his chest acknowledging his faults
Calling of Matthew
-17 c, Baroque, Caravaggio, Italy -The divine has entered every day life -Painting has been done many times but none as dramatic as this -Foreshortening and linear perspective, naturally receding space -Jesus as a source of light -Jesus tells Matthew "you will follow me". Matthew was a tax collector and was gambling with other men at the time -Classicism because classical proportions and contemporary clothing -Golden coin on Matthews head, he is repeating gesture of Christ because he is already a follower -The power of divine can help you triumph over weakness -Hope, spiritual realization -Real life poses and gestures -Spiritual light penetrates darkness -Wall in a Roman Inn: oiled paper in the window was customary before the universal use of glass
Baroque
-17 century -Emotionalism: powerful and immediate emotional response evoked in the viewer -Naturalism: use of elements from every-day life; accurate depiction of physical reality (same a renaissance) -Classicism: maintaining some of the classical Renaissance ideals and principles -Tenebrism: extreme contrasts between light and shadow; intensity and drama
Important Elements of Renaissance
-Attention to the human form including the return of classical nudity and contrapposto pose (Classical Roman statues) -Discovery of systematic use of linear perspective to create the illusion of three dimensional space -Use of chiaroscuro to model forms, greater realism (modeling with light and shadow) -Paintings with balanced, symmetrical compositions -Paintings incorporate Classical architecture (triumphal arches, domes, coffers, harmonious geometric relationships
Aurora
-Baroque, Reni, Italy, ceiling fresco -Huge baroque ceiling projects, churches and civic buildings -Illusionistic ceiling painting/fresco in a garden house at a place in Rome -Apollos representation of sun, women are personification of seasons -Rolling away clouds bring in the sun/dawn -Aurora from the latin word for sunrise and the roman Goddess of dawn -Baroque classicism, classical frieze composition (processional composition) similar to Parthenon in acropolis -Idealized forms -Apollo (sun god) in a chariot, surrounded by the seasons -Looks like a framed picture w elaborately carved frame but it is not -Diagonal movement -Possibility of love in a new day: cupid -Aurora, goddess of dawn, flying and leading Apollo's chariot, flying cupid -Trompe l'oeil and mythological subject -The swift pursuit of darkness, movement of revelation of light, favorite baroque motif
Entombment
-Caravaggio, 17 c, Baroque, Panel -Emotional power of Baroque naturalism -Caravagism -The viewer is placed in the burial tomb in which Jesus' lifeless body is to be placed -Sharply projecting edge of the stone slab -Angular elements, triangular and diagonal composition -The figures are all ordinary looking, they are not idealized -Christ looks ordinary so we can relate more -Finger in wound (feel horror of death) -No background, only darkness -No architecture, no landscape, focuses on foreground -Diagonal position is baroque element of movement
Triumph of the Barberini
-Ceiling fresco, 17 c, Baroque, Pietro da Cortona -Barberinis were the most powerful family in Rome at the time -In palace in audience hall, where they receive their guests or do business -Triumph and greatness of the family -Ceiling opens up and figures are all flying above heads into pyramidal composition -Pyramid of clouds and figures, different personifications -Sense of triumph: the sky is the limit -Attributes of apple authority: giant keys and the crown -Family emblem of Barberini: three giant bees surrounded by a huge wreath -Putti is holding giant crossed keys which is a symbol of St. Peter and the Catholic Church -Papal tiara: Crown of popes, worn by popes of Roman Catholic church from perhaps as early as the 8th c. -A representation of the triple tiara combined with two crossed keys of St. Peter continues to be used as a symbol of papacy -Personification: faith, hope, charity carry the wreath -Immortality offers the crown of stars -Divine providence (gods will) gesturing towards the wreath -Painted architecture and sculpture frames the scene -Rushing figures seem to be moving, flying through the room -Di sotto in su
The Virgin and St. Anne with the Christ Child and John the Baptist
-Da Vinci, 16 c CE, High Renaissance, drawing on tinted paper -Unified representation of objects in an atmospheric setting -A ground breaking achievement of Leonardo -Looks like one body with two heads -Highlights create a sense of circular movement -Foreshortening -Just a study to put on paper his inner visions of the perfectly beautiful mystery of life, god, and love -Complex interaction, exquisitely tender facial expressions, idealized naturalism
Art in 15 century Italy
-Done to inspire Christian religion v. secular -Interest in classical antiquity -Ancient romans adapted greek culture and respected it -Paganism: religion before Christianity -Art Patrons: Church and wealthy families and artists did pieces on commission -Home decoration with panel paintings (New) -Private collectors for personal enjoyment, secular works, allegorical and mythological themes -15th century Italian art continued to be predominately religious (Christian) -Murals, altarpieces, panel paintings -Classicism -Iconography: how you can paint -Most rewarding commissions were for churches
View of Toledo
-El Greco, 16 c, Mannerist, Spain -Cityscape view of Toledo on panel -First cityscape ever painted -Cityscape: paints a view of a city -Mannerist distortions of space, not receding naturally -Something is about to happen and it isn't going to be good, emotional -Psychological state of artist, depression, sense of threat or danger, something weighing on the city -Ambiguous, leaves meaning up to viewer -Darks of depression and light of hope -Most threatening light is around tallest building which is Church -Son was very ill and he needed prayers but the church cannot protect us from suffering or fears, mans relationship to the divine -The violence of the exterior world vs. the interior ones we're subject to forces beyond our control
Burial of Count Orgaz
-El Greco, 16 c, Mannerist, panel, SPAIN, panel -Christian mysticism: mystical experience of the divine presence -The kingdom of god as immediate spiritual reality (not some outwardly other place or event) -Comissioned by a local Paris priest, popular Christian legend -The count of the women of Orgas was a generous, rich, man who helped others. A miracle happened when he died. Sky opened up and two Saints appeared from heaven and laid his body in his tomb -Group of portraits of local aristocracy around the burial scene -Tomb is right below painting -Noblemen would attend burials of other noblemen to pay their respects -Only one person looking straight at you and it is El Greco himself -Elongated figures, artificial light, ambiguous setting, court figures -Portraits w/ saintly figures -Small painting of being stoned, son in painting, young Stephen and St. Augustine -Golden light at the top and natural light at bottom to define mystical divine presence -Light is the unifying element, heavenly above clear light below. Christ radiates outworldly light above and natural light below as this world -Heavenly vision -Jesus in top center, Mary holding keys, John in sheepskin, angel carrying transparent white baby (the soul) which is what is innocent and pure -Earthly and heavenly realm are melded together, intertwined -Less material than below -Staffs reach upward to cross heaven and earth
Mannerist Painting
-Elongated figures -Figura serpentinata -Less emphasis on balance, symmetry, and rational composition (values of High Renaissance) -Unusual lighting effects -Elegant, stylish refinement in a way unnatural and different from idealized naturalism of Renaissance conventions -Supported by aristocracy and court officials -Starts in Florence (Pontormo) and Rome (Parmigianino) -Serpentine figures: unnaturally turning figures -Main subject: human body, elongated, exaggerated, elegant, arranged, twisted poses, odd -Artificial, elegant compositions with graceful figures -Distortions of form, like elongated body proportions -Exaggerated unnatural poses -Irrational space around the figures, compressed, crowded
Annunciation
-Fra Angelico, 15th C Italy, fresco -Heavy folds in drapery of angel but not Mary -Figures are far too big for the space they are in -Angel is not casting a shadow because he is a spiritual presence -The halos are flat -The arches in the painting echo the arches of the monastery porch and is an extension of that space, the effect is looking through a window -Gabriel and Mary are simplified figures wearing plain but glowing draperies -The angel Gabriel comes to Mary to tell her she is going to give birth to Jesus -Wants to paint the scene so the monks in the monastery can contemplate like it is happening in front of them.
International Gothic Style
-Gentile Fabriano was working in international Gothic Style -Not all painters in 15 c Italy turned to classicism -Even Fabriano's work contains elements of the new naturalism 1. Interest in modeling with light and shadow 2. Creating an illusion of receding space 3. Animals are depicted from a variety of angles 4. Forms are foreshortened convincingly 5. Many details are painted very realistically
Adoration of the Magi
-Gentile da Fabriano, 15th c Italy, Gothic -All figures don't look like they have personal characteristics but rather are stylized and used to symbolically tell the story -Flat space figures all stacked on top of each other (Gothic flatness) and steeply rising landscape -Continuous narration: Many parts of a story within a small frame (old style) -Nativity of Jesus -Behind the three men is the dense confusion of earthly life, and before them the diving serenity of the world to come. And the gatekeeper of this peaceful realm is Jesus Christ 1. The young man stands tall and confident, wearing his crown proudly and only gazing in the direction of Christ 2. The middle aged man begins to kneel before the child and reaches to remove his crown 3. The elderly man kneels in complete devotion before the divine, his earthly crown cast aside -Earthly kings were wise enough to recognize there was something more powerful than the earthly kingdom -Bring gifts to pay respect, spiritual values are more important than earthly values -With more life experience we gain more wisdom -Calls viewers to reflect on which position they are in -Humility v Vanity -Gothic Influence: very decorative, use of gold stamping, non-real world stylized figures, generalized representations, pictorial space is flattened
Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden
-Masaccio, 15th century, Italy, Renaissance -Desperation of man when separated from God -Notice that Adam and Eve's body types and poses are derivative of ancient Roman statuary -Eve has the modest venus pose (like Aphrodite of Knidos) -Linear perspective door -Fresco
Tribute Money
-Masaccio, Florence Italy, Fresco, Renaissance -Masaccio was the first to figure out how to portray real space and real people with real size relations -Linear perspective created by the Ancient Greeks then Ancient Romans adapted and included in their art -The people are naturally receding uses techniques of classical world (atmospheric perspective, foreshortening, and linear perspective) -Real world versus life Christ lived in as if they are happening now so we can RELATE -Continuous narration as Peter is seen three times -Educational Fresco: Following the instruction of Christ leads to being rewarded -Face of Christ is very idealized as he is surrounded by his disciples -Masaccio studied real characters so people could recognize those followers of christ as real -Subject: Justification of tax collecting, relevant to every day life in Florence (the city council needed money for the military defense) -Integration of figures, architecture into landscape into a consistent whole -Figures modeled with strong highlights -Figures cast long shadows -Modeling form with light creates volume -Close attention paid to human anatomy -Halos as a symbol of divinity -Composition is perfectly symmetrical -Reference to Classical Antiquity: idealized naturalism, solid volumetric forms -Space defined with perspective -Halos are shown in linear perspective because they are tilted -Background shows atmospheric perspective with fading background, goes on forever
The Creation of Adam
-Michelangelo, 16 c., High Renaissance, Fresco -Painted cornice/stone supported by short pilasters -Triangular spandrels above the windows -Putti- naked, boy angels -Giving Adam life, his soul, spark of life -Eve is in Christs arm staring at Adam -Illusion of 3D space, receding background -Foreshortening, idealized naturalism -Diagonal recession -Classicism -Beauty of the mystery of life -Beauty of the physical perfection of life -Brain as the image -Monumental figures, heroic bodies, muscular figures, the power of human body, solidity, clear light
Madonna with the Long Neck
-Parmagianino, Mannerist, 16 c, Panel, Italy -Face is symbolic of artificial beauty -Young figures (youths) -Neck is compared to long columns -Abstract (stylized) conception of beauty versus idealized naturalism -Deliberate, conscious, courtly elegance, typically mannerist serpentine figure -Female form compared to the forms of classical columns and vases, elongated figure -Her body is unproportional/narrow shoulders, long neck, massive legs and lower torso -Size of the man with the scroll is illogical, unnatural, exaggerated, and artificial
Entombment of Christ
-Pontormo, Italian, 16 c, Mannerist -Large size panel painting -Body of Christ removed from the cross -Rejection of earthliness or earthly setting (w linear perspective) -No balance and symmetry -Sense of constant movement -Figures appear to be floating in the air, drastic shifts in scale -Very emotional atmosphere, range of facial expressions -Jesus has just been removed from the cross -Christ in serpentine form -Crowded and compressed -Space does not make sense which is done deliberately -Unnatural bodily poses -Emotionally extreme faces: artificial beauty -The shroud brought for his entombment
15th Century Italy
-Renaissance -Italy was the most important part of Europe for new developments -Italy was divided into city states -The most important and earliest artist who made changes in style took place in Florence
David (Michelangelo)
-Renaissance and Mannerist Sculpture in Italy, 15-16 c, marble -Power of right over might -Elegant beauty vs. elegant potential -Relaxed and calm face vs. concentration and tension -Idealized naturalism in both -Commissioned by the government of Florence, the most powerful symbol of their new Republic and democracy -Originally placed in main city square in front of Signoria, the government building -Way over life size nude -New emotional power of facial expression -Psychological complexity: perfect balance between tension in face and relaxation in body -Energy in hair -Classical idea of human beauty: regular facial features, smooth skin, particular body proportions -Single ideal of physical perfection -About potential -Heroic nudity, antiquity, contraposto pose -The moment before David killed Goliath -Goliath is still alive in this moment -Emphasized hands, veins, and muscles -Emotional power of facial expression and concentration We can walk around but both are intended to be seen from the front
Pieta
-Vatican Rome, marble, Renaissance and Mannerist sculpture, 15-16 c -Larger than life -He is her baby and son and brings connection of mother and child and the worst pain someone can experience -Commissioned for the tomb chapel in St. Peters Vatican -Enclosed form, Mary and Christ are formally and psychologically interrelated -Enclosed Form: figures contained or enclosed in their own space -Placed within a pyramidal space set on a circular base -Pieta: Mary holding Jesus after he is taken off the cross -Spiritual bonding -Christs body and Marys drapery folds blend together harmoniously. The slow curves of her drapery is repeated by Christs limp right arm -She moves her hand in one direction and his foot moves in the same direction -If you imagine invisible strings where one bodily movement is affecting another -She inches her head forward and Christ tilts his back, emotional bond -Powerful emotional and formal bond between the two figures -Pain, suffering, sacrifice, love, compassion -Unconditional mothers love as a reflection of divine unconditional love -Suffering and they both accepted it. He volunteered his life and she did not pray to God to make it not happened
Primavera, Botticelli
15 c. CE, Renaissance, panel painting -allegory: a story or poem that has a hidden meaning (metaphor for spring) -Ancient roman festival of spring when life is reborn -Three graces stand for the trinity and stand for life, the circle of life, mother father and child -Cupid is aiming his arrow at three graces because you need love to make the baby -The garden of the goddess is guarded by Hermes on the left, messenger god, Hermes knows death doesn't care what season it is (he guides people into the afterlife) -Winged god sees nymph Chloris and falls in love. He grabs her for his wife and realizes he was too aggressive. So to reward her, he makes her a goddess of spring and a garden where spring eternally reigns -Continuous narration -Idealized faces -Flowers coming from the mouth of Chloris -Flora is scattering roses next to Venus, the flowers of the goddess of love -The women's domed stomachs demonstrate the contemporary ideals of beauty -Renaissance characteristics: idealized naturalism, integration of landscape and figures, ripe fruit for fertility, domed stomachs are beautiful and can bring new life -High forehead was beautiful and Florence style dresses
The Last Supper, Leondaro Da Vinci
16 c CE, High Renaissance, fresco in refectory in Milan -Christian art, not Pagan Art -Rome became the center of development of a new Christian art based on classical forms and principles of idealized beauty and harmonized proportions of human body -Sharing a meal with one another and Jesus -Creating an illusion of the natural world -Atmospheric perspective, linear perspective, symmetry and balance, individual faces, chiaroscuro, classicism -Pursuit of perfection -Even more realistic version, Judas is on same side as everyone else -Wanted to experiment with a new medium. Tried oil and and tempera on plaster. Now it is cracking. -Christ is in the center of the painting with three openings behind him (trinity) -Coffered ceilings and tapestries on wall lead Christ to be the vanishing point with light coming towards the viewer -Christ is the only calm one, he knows who will betray him and represents the idea of eternal stability and truth -4 groups of 3, 4 directions, past present future, 4 gospels, father son holy spirit -Peter angrily grips the knife with which he will later cut off the ear of the Roman soldier who arrests Christ, lead the Christian church after Jesus's death -John is the youngest about to faint, the visionary, the Second Coming of Christ, the book of Revelation -Judas is clutching his money bag and falls back. Suddenly he upsets the salt dish which is a bad omen. He is the only one moving away from Christ. Judas is the apostle whose face is in darkness, started the events that led to Christ's sacrifice
Classicism (Classical Antiquity)
Deriving from the orderly qualities of ancient Greek and Roman culture; implies formality, objectivity, simplicity, and restraint. -Idealized naturalism
Mona Lisa
Leonardo da Vinci, 16th c. CE, High Renaissance -Portrait of a real woman -Panel Painting -Portraits were strictly forward and strictly profile -Diagonal recession: positioning a portrait where body is twisted into pectoral space, 3D space where the subject exists, half length figure -Contemporary fashion: plucked eyebrows and high hairline -Enigmatic facial expression: bold, slightly flirting gaze, her eyes follow you no matter where you go -Sfumato: toned down, varnished in smoke, misty dreamlike effect -Soft colors, soft chiaroscurro -Spotlight effects, path in background to create naturally receding space, eye of the viewer is naturally led -Imaginary rocky background, hazy, misty atmosphere -Atmospheric perspective is only used in furthest background, Leonardo covers the entire image in it making it sfumato
Sistine Chapel Ceiling
Michaelangelo, 16 c CE, High Renaissance -Fresco in Sistine chapel -Vatican: where pope lives (papel chapel) -Michaelangelo thought of himself as a sculptor -Old testament ancestors of Christ -Painting illusion of marble like projections as if 3D architectural framework -OT prophets that told coming of christ (sibyls) female prophets -Triangular sections: spandrels, curved triangular areas -Cornice: stone molding that is alluded in this case divides all scenes -Pilarsters look like carvings -Small naked boys: putti -Spandrels with ancestors of christ -Ignudi: Completely nude young men (no one had done them before) -Way to represent power of God and beauty of divine wisdom through body -Once pope saw how beautiful nudes were he accepted them -Alternates male female prophets -Large muscles and hands, masculinity and solidity, beauty and physical power, scroll of her prophecy -All nudes are male, idealized naturalism, conveying energy of divine wisdom, energy of the father -Ceiling is divided into architectural compartments, narrative sequence of the Creation, the Fall, the Flood (Genesis) -Classical monumental figures, heroic bodies, muscular figures, the power of human body, sculptural solidarity, clear, even light -Cornice -Giving Adam life and his soul -the spark of life -
Madonna in the Meadow
Raphael, 16th c. CE, natural, lively figures are more solid, form modeled with clear, even light movement -Diagonal recession -Light is more clear -Background is more direct -Panel painting -Monumental: figures take up most of the painting -Renaissance values of shape and geometry -Intertwines figures through gesture and expression creating a sense of liveliness -Connected to Jesus and John through the facial oppression -Conveys motherly role
Foreshortening
portray or show (an object or view) as closer than it is or as having less depth or distance, as an effect of perspective or the angle of vision.
