Author: Spencer Cohen (Page 3 of 3)

Today in class we began discussing 15th-century Italian art, known as the Early Renaissance. We began with a discussion of the context of the time period, learning about the various guilds that controlled Florence and how the republic of Florence was attempting to emulate that of Ancient Rome. We then moved to the most interesting part of class, which was the competition for the bronze doors of the baptistery of St John, owned by the wool guild. We analyzed the submissions of the finalists, Ghiberti and Brunelleschi, each of whom used slightly different techniques to portray the sacrifice of Isaac. Ultimately, Ghiberti was determined to have the better submission, and won the competition. Funnily enough, as was mentioned in class, this led to Ghiberti being tied up with the doors for two decades while Brunelleschi went on to be more famous with the production of his dome.

As we learned, Brunelleschi switched from artist to architect, and created a few important works in Florence, mainly the dome of the Florence cathedral. The dome is an architectural marvel, being the largest ever created up to that point. it is quite impressive that Brunelleschi could change professions and remain at the top of his game.

Today we continued our focus on the Northern Renaissance and focused on a few artists, most prominently Jan Van Eyck and his painting “The Arnolfini Portrait.” This painting was used to highlight the idea of disguised symbolism, an important topic that often goes unnoticed. The fact that Van Eyck can hide so much commentary inside one painting is awe-inspiring, and it has opened my eyes to the fact that he is certainly not alone in this.

Van Eyck expertly crafted “The Arnolfini Portrait,” and I was fascinated by the mirror that he puts in the background of the painting. Several other symbols, such as the dog, make the painting mean so much more than it seems at face value. I find such artistry incredibly impressive, and am fascinated to dive deeper into a painting than I would originally interpret.

Today was the introduction to our class. I am excited to take this class, as I have never taken a survey on art history before. I am interested to learn more about the art that we will focus on, as it should help to broaden my understanding of art periods from Renaissance art all the way to modern art.

An interesting part of class today was learning about each respective city-state’s individuality in Italy in this period. Each city-state strived to convey its power and grandeur, often competing with the surrounding city-states. This seems to be an important aspect of the culture at the time, and it most likely allowed for production of many more important works of art.

The importance of the church was one part of the lecture that stood out to me. Much of the architecture of the time was done in churches, and this also allowed for the invention of altarpieces and other works in that vein. I am interested to see how the influence of the church affects the creation of new works of art and architecture in the following centuries.