Author: Spencer Krysinski (Page 3 of 3)

Today we started our discussion of the Renaissance’s beginnings. I thought we were gonna start the day off by talking a bit more about printmaking but maybe we’ll circle back to it later.

We first examined some important historical background stuff for Florence, specifically how the guilds leveraged their economic dominance of the region to fund the arts. We then talked a bit about the competition the Wool Merchants’ Guild held to determine who would get the contract for The Gates of Paradise and examined both Brunelleschi and Ghiberti’s entries. We learned how to properly compare and contrast two works of art on the same subject. I finally had my glasses today so I was actually able to see the pieces in some detail for the first time. It was nice, they’re a lot prettier when you can see them.

We then examined Brunelleschi’s dome, which he won the contract for after losing out on The Gates of Paradise. It is certainly an amazing architectural feat. I’ve been lucky enough to see it in person, and the way it shoots up into the sky when you’re looking at it from the ground is insane. When you go inside to, you can see the sheer size of the ribs and the double-rimmed construction of the dome. His drafts and models are insane, but to turn his ideas into the physical behemoth that is the dome is nothing else than genius.

Towards the end of class today we talked about the hospital loggia that Brunelleschi also worked on that displayed his deftness with mathematical proportions that the Romans pioneered and he made popular again. Continuing on this theme, we used Donatello’s The Feast of Herod to discuss the prominence of linear perspective and how Renaissance artists began to achieve accurate depictions of depth.

I like what we’re learning at the moment. We’re seeing artists apply antiquated understandings of form and proportions to various mediums to achieve the naturalistic end of realistically depicting our world. It’s a beautiful example of how the intellectual climate of an area affects its cultural output.

Today was a fun class, we saw some nice pieces from the early Flemish masters before touching a bit on printing.

We learned that the Dutch were the first to master oil painting. I wonder though, did Dutch painters’ obsession with detail and realism come before their breakthroughs in oil painting or after? Anyway, it was cool to see just how technically talented painters like Jan van Eyck and Hans Memling were, and how they packed so much information into tiny paintings made for domestic spaces.

I thought Rogier van der Weyden was alright, not quite as good as Memling or van Eyck. I noticed though that Rogier’s St. Luke was a mix of tempera and oil. Was that because it was a larger work meant to be publically displayed? Was oil reserved only for smaller paintings? How does one mix oil and tempera?

We also talked about Witz’s Draught of the Fishes, which I liked because it continued this idea of the altarpiece being a visual aid allowing the lay-people to better relate their lives to biblical stories.

Today we spent the first half of class discussing various representations of the Virgin Mary as a “Madonna Enthroned” and the regional/ideological differences in the production of biblical scenes in Italy, and the second half discussing the arts in Northern Europe.

It was cool to learn that Italian artists valued linear progress from generation to generation, and actively worked to improve upon the perceived shortcomings in their predecessors’ works (Cimabue and Giotto’s “Madonna Enthroned”). It was also interesting to see how regional rivalries impacted the creation of altarpieces. I don’t think this was mentioned, but Duccio’s “Madonna Enthroned” was far more grandiose and detailed than Giotto’s. I wonder if Duccio was aware of Giotto’s altarpiece and intentionally tried to one-up him given that Giotto was based in Florence, and he was in Siena. There could be a bit of campanilismo shining through, but that would be a question for Professor Plesch.

The second part of class was interesting. We started discussing 15th-century art in Burgundy but didn’t get very far. I don’t really know a lot about Gothic art. I assume it started in Germany, but the Well of Moses surely exemplifies the crazy details and intricate designs that I associate with Gothic-ness. I guess I’m still wondering though, what makes something Gothic? The book said that there was sort of an International Gothic style, but I’m not sure I really understand what qualifies a work as Gothic. Anyway, we also looked at the Duke of Berry’s prayer book (is this an illuminated text?) which had a lot of pretty landscape drawings that I found pretty. I think it exemplifies the Northern artistic ideal of “hidden symbolism,” as a lot of subliminal assertions about the Duke’s wealth shine through the simple landscapes. Overall very cool!

A few days ago I had my first art history class since 2020! It was a nice way to pick up right where I had left off. I was genuinely surprised when Professor Plesch said that we wouldn’t need to memorize pieces, but I feel that making flashcards for pieces and ideas won’t hurt for this course.

Anyway, I appreciated the pace and the depth of Professor Plesch’s lecture. It was electrifying, in a way, and I had never really considered the Renaissance to be a regional resurgence in appreciation and reverence for Roman material culture. From the reading in the book, I learned that the Renaissance, as we think of it today, occurred only in those city-states where the artistic influence of early Christian and Roman aesthetics could be co-opted and that Gothic influences were an important factor in Italian art in this time (especially in the north of Italy, around Milan).

I really liked learning about the campanilismo. I never really knew Italy to be a place where identity and unity with your birthplace was so important, and I never knew it would have pertained to staying within the sight-line of your town’s bell tower! I’m excited to continue learning about crucial pieces of art history, and the quirky contextual facts that go along with understanding the wider atmosphere in which a piece of art was created.