In today’s class, we finished discussing Mannerist art and how it can be perceived as “weird.” We looked into Agnolo, Bronzino, and his Allegory with Venus and Cupid Piece. As Professor Plesch said, this artwork was created to be a “conversation piece.” People could sit down and discuss the many scenes occurring and why they might be added to this painting. Another portrait from Angnolo is the portrait of Eleonora and her son. We talked about the many things that stood out to us when looking at this piece, including her exquisite and expensive dress with pearls covering it and the vibrant blue background symbolizing the virgin.
We then moved into the High Renaissance in Northern Europe. Albrecht Bürer, a famous artist of this time, was born in Germany. He monogrammed every piece of art he created and had many influential pieces. We looked into his Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse woodcut piece made in 1498, which was meticulously carved out and detailed. Bürer also did a lot of sketches. His sketch and watercolor of the rabbit was one of my favorites since a lot of time and precision must have gone into his creating it.