Category: Uncategorized (Page 45 of 48)

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.

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.

In todays class, we discussed the affect of changing mediums, from tempura based painting to oil painting which started to gain popularity in  the Netherlands with artists like Jon Van Eyck who was something of a special artist. He was rumored to have invented oil paint however this is not true, but this show his masterful skill in the medium. As the excellent painter he was he was also part of the the court and was sent on missions by the duke of burgundy to look for a wife for him, among other things. 

Oil painting gave the painter more Tim etc work on the piece as it was slow drying. This allowed for immense detail. The paint also gave a more layered apparent with more vivid color compared to tempura. With more time to work on more detail in painting, symbolism in these paintings was disguised. This is somethings I found rally fun to think about, as it seemed artists where competing with each other to find more cleaver ways of disguising symbolism within their paintings.  In line with a similar idea is thinking about how the artist is including themself in their paintings as well. An example of this is jan van Eyck including what is though to be his reflection in a mirror. It has a very where’s Waldo-esque feeling about that’s very playful.

As we entered our second class on Monday, we continued our study on the art of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries in Italy. The themes for this class focused on the portrayal of convincing reality, discussion of “disguised symbolism” in relation to realism, and lastly, the rise of prominent artists, such as Giotto, Duccio, and Cimabue. We compared two renditions of the virgin Madonna. The first rendition consists of Italian painter Cimabue’s Enthroned Madonna and Child, and the second being Italian painter and architect Giotto’s Madonna Enthroned. The two artists took vastly different approaches to presenting the woman, child, throne, and angels. Most profoundly, though, Giotto’s work is known as a symbol of progression, stemming from his use of rendering space through a convincing manner. Continuing forward in class, we compared to works presenting the same scene, Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem and The Lamentation. These two works, again, are quite different, given Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem presents the details of the scene, while The Lamentation captures the feeling of the moment.

Toward the end of class, we discussed the quotation, “Without fear every man may travel freely, And each may till and sow, So long as this commune, Shall maintain this lady [Justice] sovereign, For she has stripped the wicked of all power” (Powerpoint 1). As we discussed in class, this quotation represents the latin term “securitas,” meaning the concepts of safety and security. Therefore, this quotation relates to the notion that the idea of fear and uncertainty has the ability to reign over humankind. This course, though, has been focused on religious, Italian art, leading me to think about how religion often provides order, ritual, and practice, ultimately relieving fear from the people of society.

Mary being declared Theotokos by the Council of Ephesus in 431 made way for the types of altarpieces we see in the 13th century. Cimabue’s altarpiece in particular emphasizes the importance of the Madonna to the church–positioning her both as the physical church, and as the representation of the church as an institution. She is so central because she is the queen of heaven, “Our lady,” a woman chosen by god. It is then practical to depict a woman chosen by god to represent the church–also chosen by god (hopefully).

Cimabue is followed by Giotto, who continues the tradition of the Madonna as the focus of the altarpiece. He pulls directly from Cimabue, but elevates his work, turning figures into 3D, realistic people, and bringing the gothic architecture into Mary’s throne. This type of work–realistic, elevating, is an important development of the 13th century. The Lamentation has so much expression, so much feeling tucked within it, that it poses a stark contrast to Cimabue just a generation before.

In today’s lecture we explored 15th-century Northern European art, a time period in which innovation, symbolism, and realism felt like the prominent themes. The comparison of Italian Renaissance ideals with the distinct Northern European sensibilities gives rise to a whole new brach of expressing. One of the defining features of this period is the emphasis on religious imagery, particularly in altarpieces. These works serve as visual aids, vividly illustrating the transformation of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. Mary, depicted as the queen of heaven symbolizes both maternal warmth and spiritual authority within the church given the way she is depicted.

A notable distinction between Italian and Northern European art lies in their concepts while creating art. While Cimabue’s altarpiece leans towards abstraction, conveying ideas rather than precise representations, Giotto’s works give a sense of tangible realism? His mastery of perspective, seen in the intricate interior of the Scrovegni chapel, immerses viewers in the depicted scenes, making them active participants rather than passive observers. Giotto’s “Lamentation” stands out as a great representation of emotional expression, with its dynamic composition evoking a sense of tension and anguish. From the contorted figures in the foreground to the barren landscape, every element contributes to the scene’s haunting power. In contrast, artists like Duccio offer a more detached perspective, meticulously detailing every aspect of the scene from a distant point of reference. Their works often included a lot of symbolism in the form of everyday objects.

The lecture also shed light on the collecting habits of prominent figures like John, Duke of Berry. His passion for illuminated manuscripts not only served as a status symbol but also provided valuable insights into the material culture of the time. The intricately illustrated calendars, known as “Books of Hours,” offered a glimpse into the duke’s lifestyle, with red-letter days marking significant events amidst a background of detailed realism. I am intrigued by the interplay of symbolism and realism and how art from this time period expresses the two. In the coming lecture, I look forward to delving deeper into these themes and exploring the diverse perspectives that shaped one of the most prominent periods in art history.

This class continued the lesson on art in Italy. We looked at more examples of Italian Art showcasing different styles of painting. Climabue’s painting is a more abstract as details of highlights and shadows are replaced with stylized designs. Giotto paints in a more realistic style utilizing perspective. One example of his work is the inside of the Scrovegni chapel. Here he depicts emotion through the hunched figures and the angles and disciples’ expressions. The slanting landmass creates an unbalanced and tense composition.

Next, we moved onto art in northern Europe where realism was more prevalent. Illuminated manuscripts were common items of prestige as shown by the duke of Berry, John. These books were illustrated in rising perspective. Regular perspective was ignored by increasing the size of things in the background to include more detail. Walls of houses would be removed to display what’s behind them. I think that this way of depicting a scene adds to the scenes where there is no overwhelming focal point this detail could draw away from.

As we continued looking at Italian liturgical artworks, we examined the resemblance, or rather, inspiration being taken by one artist of another – as in the case of Giotto’s and Cimabue’s Madonna Enthroned altarpieces, while also seeing the differentiation of these pieces, in terms of style and their different approach to telling a narrative. Cimabue aimed to represent the divine by referring to ideas and suggestions of reality, while still trying to bridge the ancient origin (the Hebrew text) and the new iteration of the text (by depicting the old prophets as pillars of the church itself. Giotto, however, went further into realism and created a sense of harmony through interaction of different players in the painting – the angels overlapping each other, looking at the Virgin… He also rendered the painting much more realistically, creating a sense of volume and weight to the fabric and the figures. In some sense, Giotto’s general stylistic approach seems more emotional, more grounded. This is proven even further by his Lamentation, in his creative usage of space and corner-heavy composition, Giotto pulled the viewers in and had them observe the emotional weight of the event.

Moving over to the 15th century in Europe, we looked at a few pieces in the Burgundy aristocrat’s collection, one of those being The Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (subtle), or the book of hours that belongs to the Duke of Berry – apparently one of the best art collector of all time (?). In many of these paintings, the ground was tilted up, allowing for more space to represent and depict more subjects. This emphasis on creating as many details of the story as possible is presented in the very way one of the walls is removed to show the viewers its inside – realism, then, is a hindrance to observation (even though the painters, Pol de Limbourg and his brothers, Herman and Jean, did still render the figures quite realistically). 

Today, we began by discussing the Virgin Mary and how she is often referred to as the queen of heaven. The altarpiece serves a specific purpose and is often where communion occurs. We then began to discuss Italian art in the 14th century. This was a sense of real progress and suggested superiority. We compared Giotto with Cimabue and found their artworks similar but different in a few key ways. First, you can notice that the robe was gold in Giotto, but in Cimabue, he used shadows and highlights to depict the waves in the robes. Cimabue also began using Gothic Style, which was very popular during the 14th century. In Cimabue’s piece, the faces were also more realistic, and space was rendered in a more believable way. We then dove into the Scrovegni Chapel, also known as the Arena Chapel and Giotto’s contributions to it. We discussed he had many paintings to decorate the chapel, and they fit so well that he may have even designed the building himself. The blue that was used to paint Christ entering Jerusalem was used a seco or after the paint before the blue dried. This often caused peeling. We also discussed a little about Duccio di Buoninsegna and his Madonna Enthroned. This was beautifully painted and included a lot of gold with a sense of richness that was heavenly. Duccio also painted Christ entering Jerusalem; his painting had more detail but was much smaller. There was also an emphasis on figure placement and perspective.

At the end of class, we began to discuss the 15th century art in Northern Europe. This included an interest in depicting a convincing reality. It was also the creation of a new symbolic system called disguised symbolism.