Author: Sofi Escobar (Page 3 of 3)

The Arnolfini Portrait is easily one of my favorite paintings ever. It is so interesting. I had a lovely time discussing it in class but I could talk about it for the next couple of lectures and have the absolute best time. There is so much to discuss that I don’t even know where to start.

I think there is something so eerie about the way Van Eyck treated the practice of painting. He really turned something that he got so good at into a game that he could enjoy beyond making beautiful art. There are layers to the way his paintings are supposed to be experienced. My favorite detail is by far the mirror and the inscription in the wall. Something I did not mention in class is the fact that the writing on the wall is done in such a style that it does not look like a signature in the middle of a painting but rather a scripture in the wall, as if he is not signing his work he is signing the room he is later painting, he is signing his participation in this act of marriage.

I think it is also important to note just how weird it is, and would have been at the time for an artist to include himself in a portrait he was making of someone else, I also wonder, at who the other witness was. I am pretty sure this

Today in class we discussed the idea of progress that has been consistently emphasized in Italian Art. I saw this most clearly when we looked at Cimabue vs Giotto’s Enthroned Madonna. This is where I really understand the rebirth aspect of the Italian Renaissance. It is a very Greek thing, for artists to look at each other’s work and attempt to improve it.

I tend to be of the belief that some personality can be lost when there is an overemphasis in naturalism. I like the gold foils of Cimabue’s Madonna, I resonate more with a rendering of Maria that is allegorical, and more figurative than naturalistic.

However, I also want to discuss The Lamentation, as it is one of my favorite Giotto’s. I think this painting is where I start to distinguish the body as a means of expression and sentimentality. He really captures grief as an activity of movement, in the arms, the wailing, even the movement of facial features to express profound sorrow. I also think the composition of this painting is important. H

For our first lecture in the art survey, we began discussing the Italy in the 13th Century. Although I had taken 111 over. A year ago, I recall that this is the same unit we finished the course with, so the more notes I took during the class the more I realized that there was overlap between the courses and I had in fact, already studied this material.

I only mention that because that Segway made it easier for me to find an appropriate transition between 111 and this course. I remember at the time when we looked at 13th Century art, I thought about it greatly in the context of what had come before. I recall discussing the PisaBaptistery in terms of how it was influenced by Gothic art in a lot more detail.

This time around, I caught interest in this idea of Campanilismo. I know we discussed it in regards of bell towers and town squares, but I want to relate it to the idea of a baptism as a ritual of community.