From Mona Lisa to Modernism Exam III

Bernini, Piazza of Saint Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, Italy, 1656-1667

- Bernini's design had to incorporate two preexisting structures on the site—an obelisk the ancient Romans had brought from Egypt and a fountain Maderno had constructed in front of the church. - Bernini's solution was to co-opt these features to define the long axis of a vast oval embraced by two colonnades joined to Maderno's facade. - The colonnades extend a dramatic gesture of embrace to all who enter the piazza, symbolizing the welcome the Roman Catholic Church gave its members during the Counter-Reformation. -colonnades served visually to counteract the natural perspective and bring the facade closer to the viewer. - By its sheer scale and theatricality, the completed Saint Peter's fulfilled the desire of the Counter-Reformation Church to present an awe-inspiring and authoritative vision of itself.

Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Slaying Holofernes, ca. 1614-1620

- Gentileschi adopted the tenebrism and what might be called the "dark" subject matter that Caravaggio favored. - she chose a narrative involving a heroic woman, a favorite theme of hers - The story, from the book of Judith, relates the delivery of Israel from the Assyrians. Having succumbed to Judith's charms, the Assyrian general Holofernes invited her to his tent for the night, but having drunk too much, he soon fell asleep, whereupon Judith beheads him - Judith's maidservant helps hold down the awakened Holofernes, while Judith steadies his head as she wields a long sword. - Blood spurts everywhere, and the tension and strain are palpable. The controlled highlights on the action in the foreground recall Caravaggio's work and heighten the drama here as well.

Bernini, David, 1623

- He gave his works a marvelous softness . . . making the marble, so to say, flexible. -- Bernini's sculpture is expansive and theatrical, and the element of time usually plays an important role in it - Bernini chose to represent the combat itself and aimed to capture the split-second of maximum action. - Bernini selected the most dramatic of an implied sequence of poses, requiring the viewer to think simultaneously of the continuum and of this tiny fraction of it. - Its unrestrained action demands space around it. - the expression of intense concentration on David's face contrasts vividly with the classically placid visages of Donatello's and Verrocchio's versions and is more emotionally charged even than Michelangelo's.

Rachel Ruysch, Flower Still Life, late 17th century

- As living objects that soon die, flowers, particularly cut blossoms, appeared frequently in vanitas paintings. However, floral painting as a distinct genre also enjoyed great popularity in the Dutch Republic because the Dutch were the leading growers and exporters of flowers in 17th-century Europe. - the floral arrangement is so full, many of the blossoms seem to be spilling out of the vase. - However, Ruysch's floral still lifes are not pictures of real floral arrangements, but idealized groupings of individually studied flowers, often combining perfect specimens of flowers that bloomed at different times of the year and could never be placed on a table at the same time. - Her careful composition of the individual elements in the illustrated example is evident in her arrangement of the flowers to create a diagonal running from the lower left to the upper right corner of the canvas, offsetting the opposing diagonal of the table edge.

Velázquez, Las Meninas (The Maids of Honor), 1656

- What is the artist depicting on the huge canvas in front of him? He may be painting this very picture—an informal image of the infanta and her entourage - Alternately, Velázquez may be painting a portrait of King Philip IV and Queen Mariana, whose reflections appear in the mirror on the far wall. - Other scholars have proposed that the mirror image is not a reflection of the royal couple standing in Velázquez's studio but a reflection of the portrait that the artist is in the process of painting on the canvas before him. - Velázquez's attempt to elevate both himself and his profession. - Velázquez was conscious not only of the importance of his court office but also of the honor and dignity belonging to his profession as a painter. - In the painting, Velázquez wears the order's red cross on his doublet, painted there, legend says, by Philip IV. In all likelihood, Velázquez painted it - In the artist's mind, Las Meninas might have embodied the idea of the great king visiting his studio - The figures in the painting all appear to acknowledge the royal presence. Placed among them in equal dignity is Velázquez, face-to-face with his sovereign.

Caravaggio, Conversion of Saint Paul, ca. 1601

- a piercing ray of light illuminates a world of darkness and bears a spiritual message. - Caravaggio depicted the saint-to-be at the moment of his conversion, flat on his back with his arms thrown up. In the background, an old groom seems preoccupied with caring for the horse. - At first inspection, little in the canvas suggests the momentous significance of the unfolding spiritual event. - the eloquence and humanity with which he imbued his paintings impressed many others. - he used perspective and lighting to bring viewers as close as possible to the scene's space and action, almost as if they were participants. - Caravaggio designed Conversion of Saint Paul for its specific location on the chapel wall, positioned at the line of sight of an average-height person standing at the chapel entrance.

Artemisia Gentileschi, Susanna and the Elders, 1610

- artists first ever work - story from the old testement, susanna was a young modest wife, and while she was bathing, two elders came by, they tried to convince her to have sex with them but since she refused, they accused her of adultery and had her arrested - Daniel saved her and was released - very naturalistic representation of the human female nude - twisting of body, very vulnerable gesture - shows mastery of nude form, composition, and interpretation

Borromini, Façade of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Rome, Italy, 1665-1676

- breaks with the idea of classical church facade - creates undulating, sculpturesque facade - counterpoint of concave and convex elements - sense of movement - nothing classical or symmetrical - radical, breaks tradition - irregular in form, dynamic - had to fit in corner of street - greek cross and oval interior

Caravaggio, Death of the Virgin, 1605-1606

- great naturalism - radical breach with the iconography of the death of the virgin - commissioned as an altarpiece but the church didnt accept it - figure of the virgin so natralistic, bloated corpse - assumed he based after sketch of real corpse - horrified to see virgin portrayed as a corpse - grieving figures and Mary M over death - unheard of - carvaggio's unique vision - monochromatic almost

Velázquez, Venus at her Mirror (The Rokeby Venus), c. 1648-1651

- only nude the artist had done, very rare to see at the time - for a private patron - shows figure from behind, not showing typical attributes like chest, but instead shows backside - shes looking into a mirror, looks different than the average venus, looks as if she was based off a model - simplistic bedroom, leads eyes directly to reclining venus - was attacked with a knife by a suffragette

Caravaggio, Judith Beheading Holofernes, 1599

- shows Judith in the act of cutting off the head - he is crying out in shock and agony - can see the woman is cutting almost effortlessly, not very muscular, restrained look of concentration - use of tenebrism - almost classical looking

Rubens, Elevation of the Cross, 1610

- the altarpiece in the form of a triptych is one of numerous commissions for religious works that Rubens received at this time. - Rubens's interest in Italian art, especially the works of Michelangelo and Caravaggio, is evident in the Saint Walburga triptych. - choice of this episode from the passion cycle provided Rubens with the opportunity to depict heavily muscled men in unusual poses straining to lift the heavy cross with Christ's body nailed to it. - showed his prowess in representing foreshortened anatomy and the contortions of violent action - Rubens placed the body of Christ on the cross as a diagonal that cuts dynamically across the picture while inclining back into it. - he tension is emotional as well as physical, as reflected not only in Christ's face but also in the features of his followers. - Bright highlights and areas of deep shadow inspired by Caravaggio's tenebrism

Bernini, Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, 1645-1652

- the high drama, dynamic motion, and heightened emotionalism that are Baroque hallmarks are on full display. - To re-create Teresa's vision of an angel with a fire-tipped arrow instilling divine love in her heart, Bernini marshaled the full capabilities of architecture, sculpture, and painting - Bernini transformed the Cornaro chapel into a stage for the production of this mystical drama. - The niche in which it takes place appears as a shallow proscenium (the part of the stage in front of the curtain) crowned with a broken Baroque pediment and ornamented with polychrome marble. - Bernini's supreme technical virtuosity is evident in the visual differentiation in texture among clouds, rough cloth and gauzy material, smooth flesh, and feathery wings—all carved from the same white marble. - Ignatius argued that the re-creation of spiritual experiences in artworks would do much to increase devotion and piety. Thus theatricality and sensory impact were useful vehicles for achieving Counter-Reformation goals

Vermeer, Allegory of the Art of Painting, 1670-1675

- the work that Vermeer considered his most important (it is one of his largest and he never sold it, retaining it as a display piece in his studio) - the artist himself appears with his back to the viewer. Dressed in clothing reminiscent of historical Burgundian attire, he is hard at work on a painting of the model standing before him - She wears a laurel wreath and holds a trumpet and book, traditional attributes of Clio, the muse of history. - the viewer is outside the space of the action, looking in through the drawn curtain, which also separates the artist in his studio from the rest of the house. - art historians have suggested that the light radiating from an unseen window on the left, illuminating both the model and the canvas being painted, alludes to the light of artistic inspiration. - many scholars have interpreted this painting as an allegory—a reference to painting inspired by history. - the intended message is that art (and artists) transcend history and time. - That the painting is certainly an allegorical work and not a simple genre scene is confirmed by a legal claim to the painting filed by Vermeer's mother-in-law

Nicolas Poussin, Burial of Phocion, 1648

- was inspired by classical literature. - Poussin's source was Plutarch's Life of Phocion, a biography of the distinguished Athenian general whom his compatriots unjustly put to death for treason. - In the foreground, the hero's body is being taken away, his burial on Athenian soil initially forbidden. - The two massive bearers and the bier are starkly isolated in a great landscape that throws them into solitary relief, eloquently expressive of the hero abandoned in death. - The landscape's interlocking planes slope upward to the lighted sky at the left. Its carefully arranged terraces bear slowly moving streams, shepherds and their flocks, and, in the distance, whole assemblies of solid geometric structures - The trees are few and carefully arranged, like curtains lightly drawn back to expose a natural setting carefully cultivated for a single human action. - Poussin did not intend this scene to represent a particular place and time. It was the French artist's construction of an idea of a noble landscape to frame a noble theme - The Burial of Phocion landscape is nature subordinated to a rational plan.

The Scientific Revolution

A major change in European thought, starting in the mid-1500s, in which the study of the natural world began to be characterized by careful observation and the questioning of accepted beliefs.

Still-life

A picture depicting an arrangement of inanimate objects.

King Louis XIV

Absolute French monarch who reigned for seventy-two years.

Classicism

Deriving from the orderly qualities of ancient Greek and Roman culture; implies formality, objectivity, simplicity, and restraint.

Vanitas Still-life

Latin, "vanity." A term describing paintings (particularly 17th-century Dutch still lifes) that include references to death.

Jules Hardouin-Mansart and Charles Le Brun, Palace of Versailles, Versailles, France, begun 1669

- Le Brun and his team converted the remodeling of a simple hunting lodge into the greatest architectural project of the age—a defining statement of French Baroque style and a grandiose symbol of Louis XIV's power and ambition. - Although its geometric plan may appear stiff and formal, the park in fact offers an almost unlimited assortment of vistas - the French architect used not only the multiplicity of natural forms but also the terrain's slightly rolling contours with stunning effectiveness. - The formal gardens near the palace provide a transition from the frozen architectural forms to the natural living ones. - his vision of a grandiose palace worthy of a "Sun King, - the project called not only for a large palace flanking a vast park but also for the construction of a satellite city to house court and government officials, military and guard detachments, courtiers, and servants - The architects and decorators designed everything from wall paintings to doorknobs in order to reinforce the splendor of Versailles and to exhibit the very finest sense of artisanship. - as a symbol of absolute power, Versailles has no equal.

Rubens, Arrival of Marie de' Medici at Marseilles, 1622-1625

- Marie disembarks at that southern French port after her sea voyage from Italy. - a 13-foot-tall tableau that may be the best of the series of huge canvases memorializing and glorifying Marie de' Medici - An allegorical personification of France, draped in a cloak decorated with the fleur-de-lis (the floral symbol of French royalty welcomes her - The sea and sky rejoice at the queen's safe arrival. - Rubens enriched the surfaces with a decorative splendor that pulls the whole composition together. - The vigorous motion that customarily enlivens the painter's typically robust figures, beginning with the muscle-bound twisting sea creatures, vibrates through the entire design.

Rembrandt, Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp, 1632

- Rembrandt chose to portray the members of the surgeons' guild (who commissioned this group portrait) clustered on the painting's left side. - In the foreground appears the corpse that Dr. Tulp, a noted physician, is in the act of dissecting - Rembrandt diagonally placed and foreshortened the corpse, activating the space by disrupting the strict horizontal, planar orientation typical of traditional portraiture. - He depicted each of the "students" specifically, and although they wear virtually identical attire, their poses and facial expressions suggest the varying degrees of intensity with which they watch Dr. Tulp's demonstration - One, at the apex of Rembrandt's triangular composition of bodies, gazes at the viewer instead of at the operating table. Another directs his attention to the open book (an anatomy manual) at the cadaver's feet.

Rembrandt, Return of the Prodigal Son, ca. 1665

- Rembrandt's pictorial method involved refining light and shade into finer and finer nuances until they blended with one another. - Artists such as Rembrandt discovered gradations of light and dark as well as degrees of differences in pose, in the movements of facial features, and in psychic states. - Rembrandt found that by manipulating the direction, intensity, and distance of light and shadow, and by varying the surface texture with tactile brushstrokes, he could render subtle nuances of character and mood, in both individuals and whole scenes - He discovered for the modern world that variations of light and shade, subtly modulated, can be read as emotional differences - he recording of light in small gradations is closer to reality because the eye perceives light and dark not as static but as always subtly changing.

Tenebrism

Painting in the "shadowy manner," using violent contrasts of light and dark, as in the work of Caravaggio. The term derives from tenebroso.

Baroque

Uppercase Baroque refers to the art of this period, which features dramatic theatricality and elaborate ornamentation in contrast to the simplicity and orderly rationality of Renaissance art, and is most appropriately applied to Italian art.

Allegory

a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.

Naturalism/Realism

a style and theory of representation based on the accurate depiction of detail.

Historiated Landscape

decorated with animals and flowers