Author: Amani Tran (Page 2 of 3)

In France, the ruler structure was an absolute monarchy where the King has complete control. The King Luis had a palace that contained many artistic elements. There were the French Gardens containing water features and sculptures. Inside the palace there was the hall of mirrors which contained mirrors which created a large space. Zooming out to the overall grand plan, the palace and outlying features are set up to follow the suns path from the east to west. This palace does not feature one specific element that makes it important artistically, but the wide range of elements all combine to make it spectacular.

Lorrain came from a poor family in Rome, in which he stayed in his whole life. He only painted landscapes, one being A Pastoral Landscape. It was known for its perfect composition. The ratios of each element are perfect.

During the Baroque Art period in Flanders and Holand, each country was choosing sides with the reformation or the counter reformation. The Netherlands was intensely Catholic and showed this through the creating of many churches. Peter Paul Rubens came from a rich family. He grew up to learn many different languages and achieved great success in his lifetime. He eventually had his own sort of company with many people working for him. His work, Elevation of the Cross, depicted Christ nailed to the cross being hoisted up by a group of people. On the left frame his followers are looking onto the scene with fear and sadness while on the right soldiers are looking with satisfaction. The musculature of the people hosting the cross is similar to Michaelangelo’s depiction of people in the Last Judgment. Throughout this work there are diagonals created through the contrast of light and dark. The work is an old-fashioned type of work showing an allegiance to tradition.

The next group of works we looked at showed a continuation of many of the artistic qualities of Elevation of the Cross, such as works by Anthony Van Dyck, who was a student of Rubin who started by working in his studio painting portraits. His style was very similar because of this. Also, Rembrandt van Rijin’s use of light and dark contrast.

Lastly the little masters were artists who focused on a singular subject. This helped build their brand leading to a more profitable Carrer. This seems to still be a pattern in the artwork today as artist who stick to a certain niche have more success than those who bounce around.

Bernini was one of the best sculptures but also was Renaissance man in he pursued many different mediums and interests. During his lifetime he finished the Basilica of St. Peter as well as putting up statues in Rome. His sculpture, David was commissioned by a member if the Borghese family. He completed it within 7 months, which is impressive considering the detail and medium. It parallels the action of a discus thrower statue in motion but does so better. It was representative of Baroque Art in terms of its illusion of reality.

The Ecstasy of St. Teresa is a work combining a multitude of elements in the Cornaro Chapel. There is a central work portraying a St having a vision which puts her in a state of ecstasy. This is illuminated by a hidden window. Also, the figures are made out of a very white stone. On both sides are carvings of balconies with people sitting in them. All of these elements are a part of a coextensive space which connects the spacial area of the depiction to the viewer. This gives the illusion that this work is real and makes the viewer part of the work. Works like these were a sort of counter to Protestantism as they allowed no images in churches. This idea came from the book Spatial Exercises by Ignatius of Loyola. Bernini was known to have practiced these exercises.

During the Italian Baroque art period, the counter reformations was happening. The Jesuits were created to help fight the progress of the reformation. Most countries took a side in this, choosing to either declare as a catholic or protestant country. Carracci was a prominit artist of the time who founded an art school. He and this school had a problem with the lack of drawing in mannerism, so they increased the amount of it in art. Here we start to see works of art that are just drawings.

In the work Landscape with the Flight into Egypt, the emphasis on artistic renderings of the natural work art apparent. Also, the newfound appreciation for sketches combines to create many of the elements in this work. It is a Paysage Compose where the images in many different drawings are combined together into this work. It is apparent when looking at the building which is out of place in this natural setting.

The Allegory with Venus and Cupid is a busy and confusing work as the viewer doesn’t know exactly what is happening. It was commissioned by the Medici Ruler who gave it to the King of France. Overarching the whole composition is Father Time, seemingly laying out the scene as he drops the cloth which is the background. Below this is Cupid and Venus intertwined in a romantic pose. The other figures are not known for sure but are hypothesized to be Fraud, Folly and a character representing Jealousy or Syphellis. There are many other intricacies in this work such as hands swapped sides or curious objects held by a person that turns into a snake. It is effectively creating a conversational piece which it was used for.

In the High Renaissance in Northern Europe Albrecht Durer was the most important artist of the time. He was considered the Leonardo of Germany as he had many interests and creative pesuits. During the time period, the fear of the turn of the century was in a lot of peoples minds which Durer took advantage of with his work The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse. The relevant subject matter and embracing prints allowed this work to be mass produced and spread out. It is a work that showcases Durer’s mastery of printmaking with a large amount of detail shown all throughout the work. This detail was could have been a reason why it was so successful, it brought peoples fears into reality.

In finishing up our last section we talked about Michelangelo. His image was one of the tortured artist. Many of the artists of the time worked with and around other artists while Michelangelo worked alone. His medium of choice was stone. This was in line with the nonplatonic ideology that the world is imperfect and therefor people can extract things from this imperfect world. In comparing his depiction of Mary and Jesus against an older version, there are many obvious differences. His is serine with a younger Christ while the other shows a Grotesk depiction that features an older Christ.

The Sistine Chapple an important building where the catholic church choses a new pope. Throughout the walls and ceilings there are many different paintings showing the history of humanity. On the top the images go from the original sin onward. These were done by Michaelangelo who had made these frescos imperfectly leading to a large amount of degradation of the years.

Michaelangelo’s painting shifts to go against the high renaissance standards. He goes from using simple primary colors to more complex ones. In one of his works, it is chaotic with the weight resting only on an individual’s toes. He uses his complex color palate as well as mannerism.

Today in class we finished up our last lecture by looking at the birth of Venus. In this work Zephir, the god of wind, is shown pushing Venus ashore. There are orange trees in the background with its flowers blowing around. Throughout we see gold highlights. Venus as the main entity in this work is shown completly nude, however this is not errotic or an imorral depiction.

In the high renascence in Italy, Leonardo da Vinci was creating a lot from a wide variety of disciplines, while also studying. He creates Anatomical sketches with the help of texts by Galen, a Greek Physician. I believe this helps Leonardo with his depictions of Humans as studying artistic anatomy is part of the process of learning how to depict figures. He creates a lot of sketches and journals which are written backward due to his left-handedness.

The Last Supper is in bad condition due to his experimentation with fresco techniques that failed. This depiction of the last supper shows the moment after Christ reveals one of the apostles will betray him. This allows for him to add more complexity as each of the apostles are shown to react creating varying poses. There is a lot of symbolic references from the windows and panels each referencing to the trinity and four gospels respectively.

Going back into Fifteenth-Century Italian art we went through the bunch of church paintings. This was done for someone who was named after St. Peter leading to many of the works depicting his life. The first was a depiction of a tax collector collecting money form Jesus and his followers. This continuous narrative shows three scenes. One of Jesus telling St. Peter to go to the river, St. Peter retrieving the money from the fish’s mouth, and giving the money to the collector. The gesture form Christ helps guide the viewer through the scenes. This work uses perspective through the buildings and trees following one point perspective. Also, the warmer colors are shown closer in the garments worn. Lastly, atmospheric perspective is used as shown by the blue mountains.

Another work in this church is the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise. Both Adam and Eve are shown feeling different specific emotions which can be related to by the viewer. Eve is based off of a Greek sculpture which shows eve noticing and attempting to hide her nudity.

The last work in this church we talked about was a depiction of the trinity. It is distinctly different than depictions of the Crucifixion as it is not showing that event. It shows the holy trinity overtop a grave with a warning. Point perspective brings you to the point a viewer would stand if they were there.

During the Early renaissance of the 15th century in Italy, there was an increase in the development of the mechanical and liberal arts. There was also a spread of knowledge due to in part by the printing press. In Florance during this time, the bankers and merchants controlled the government. Here there was a competition for the door of the Baptistry. Brunelleschi and Ghiberti both made entries. Each one depicted the sacrifice of Issac and where similar in many aspects. They both depicted an angle, knife, Abraham, Issac, and a goat. Some differences include the greater dramatization in Ghibertis work due to the different moment he depicts. Also, Ghiberti’s work is casted in one piece. This led to Ghiberti winning this competition.

Brunelleschi went on to work on the Dome of Santa Monica del Fiore. The dome was built with a double shell. On top are a lot of significant details including a sphere that represents the world. On top the sphere is a cross signifying the church’s power and presence. This building also includes other symbolic details such as the rectangles decorating the sides which have a 2 to 1 ratio of high to width. These symbolize relationships. This makes me curious about what Ghiberti would have created if he had lost and had not then dedicated a significant portion of his life to that project. For instance, how would he have created the Dome of Santa Monica del Fiore differently than Brunelleschi.

The Arnolfini portrait was a good example of art in Northern Europe. The artist Jan Van Eyck was considered the greatest artist of his time, and it is apart in comparisons between his work and others representing the northern style. It depicts a couple standing in their bedroom. His use of disguised symbolism seamlessly integrates symbols into his work. The dog represents loyalty and fidelity while also being a status symbol because of the expensive breed. Also, the peaches on the table represent fertility which aligns with the positive and important qualities of a wife in this time period. He does this with so many of the objects in this work creating so much deeper meaning behind the painting without ruining the work.

Rogier van der Weyden was another oil painter who was the official painter of Brussels. His painting of “St. Luke Drawing the Virgin” depicts that moment. St. Luke is drawing in silver tip which alludes to the usage of this depiction as only a reference for another work. He also includes disguised symbolism. In the corner behind a door frame there is an ox which is the symbol of St. Luke. This symbolism is random unlike van Eyck’s. Also, this work was a much larger and didn’t showcase the extremely small details that was in the Arnolfini portrait. Overall, these differences show how Van Eyck was correctly regarded as the best of his time.

The first portrait of a place was done in Northern Europe by Conrad Wits. His work “The Miraculous Draught of Fishes” depicts a location in Geneva. Seeing St. Peter twice shows the multiple events that are taking place. The depiction of him in the water showing him sinking and needing help makes the political statement that the bishops should have more power.