In this class, we looked at the Italian Baroque period and how it came about. The period began following the Counter-Reformation and reactions to the Mannerism period. It served as a counter to Mannerism, and a way to support the Catholic Church once more. One of the primary artists from this period that we looked at was Caravaggio, who was considered to be the next Michelangelo. Caravaggio’s oil painting, The Calling of Matthew, from 1600, uses light in order to control the narrative viewers follow. Similar to Masaccio’s The Tribute Money fresco, Jesus is depicted in toga-like garments, whereas Matthew and the others are in more contemporary garb. Finally, we looked at Artemisia Gentileschi, who painted in the style of Caravaggio. She expressed her own emotions through her artwork, and was able to draw the viewer in, as if they were in the scene of the painting.

We began class by finishing the topic of Mannerism and looked at Agnolo Bronzino work. Brozino’s work did a particularly good job of highlighting the complexity and bizarre nature of Mannerism. We also discussed the High Renaissance in the North of Europe. We focused primarily on the work of Albrecht Dürer. In his self portrait, Dürer depicts himself resembling Jesus. This portrays him as narcissistic, as he is also painted in a manner typically reserved for God. His work, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, was an incredibly detailed wood carving, which displayed his skill. With the development of printmaking, Dürer’s works were able to be spread throughout Europe.

We began by wrapping up our discussion of the Northern European High Renaissance with Pieter Bruegel. His painting The Blind Leading the Blind from 1568 is comedic with a religious undertone. The angled, downhill perspective makes it easy to see the blind men falling into a ditch, as based on a proverb. The inclusion of a church clearly visible in the background could hint at an obscured criticism of their teachings. However, most of Bruegel’s works were landscapes (influenced by his time in Italy) showing peasants going about their everyday lives. The small figures give his scenes an air of contentment and peace, depicting the world as it should be with its small joys. Consistent with other northerners, Bruegel painted to capture this real life in minute details.

We then transitioned to talk about the Italian Baroque period of the 17th century. Influenced by a backlash against Mannerism and the Counter Reformation of the Catholic Church, art became crucial in supporting the church again. Annibale’s Landscape with the Flight into Egypt is an extensive landscape filled with small details of nature and buildings, a composed landscape. His small figures of Mary and Jesus in the front add to the scene, but from their size and lower positioning, are not the focus. Ceiling frescos were also popular, with Annibale’s The Loves of the Gods commissioned for a wedding. Painted in quadro riportato, images are painted to appear separately framed on the ceiling instead of composing one image. Along with Agostino Tassi’s ceiling fresco of Aurora’s chariot, trompe l’oeiel (to trick the eye) was common. His quadratura continued the architecture of the walls into the ceiling. From a certain angle, this gave the impression of the ceiling opening up to reveal the scene.

Finally, Artemisia Gentileschi was an acclaimed artist of this time. Painting many heroines, she was influenced by the works of Caravaggio and often used tenebrism for an effect. Many of her paintings are moments of dramatic pauses, placing the viewer in anticipation of what will happen next.

This past Monday we focused on the High Renaissance in the North, beginning with Agnolo Bronzino’s Allegory with Venus and Cupid. Bronzino utilizes the mannerist style through much of the art composition of the work. Many of these characteristics include Father Time draping a rich blue cloak behind the figures of the painting, multiple unknown figures, and a French kiss occurring in the focal point of the work between Cupid and his mother, Venus. As we talked about in class, this French kiss perhaps alludes to eroticism. Perhaps, though, this French kiss also represents the meaning behind Cupid, the God of desire, and physical affection and admiration he holds for many to look up to. Not only do the main figures draw allusions and metaphors, but a figure in the foreground perhaps draws the most significant symbolism and mannerist style. A man, seeming to be in agony, grasps his head with a sense of anger or pain. Many speculations state this man represents jealousy, envy, or even syphilis (given Francis I was diagnosed with syphilis and this work was commissioned for him). The characteristics of this work are typical of Agnolo’s mannerist, intricate, and complicated style seen throughout his work.

Moving forward in class, we began discussing artistic aspects present in Northern Europe. Traditional styles continued, Italian influence increased, and lastly the protestant reform occurred, following Martin Luther’s criticism on the Church, which ultimately led Luther to be expelled from the Church. Focusing on German painter, Albrecht Dürer and his developments of goldsmith techniques from his father and learnings from being taught by the art and print workshop. We analyzed his The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Buxheum St. Christopher, and his Self Portrait, all sketches by Dürer, and lastly his Adam and Eve. Albrecht Dürer’s various works are incredible, but I am struck in particular by the multiple techniques and vast differences in technique and style between each of his works present. Each work is intricate and unique in detail, holds an allusion to religious concepts, and incorporates light versus dark colors.

In today’s class, we focused on the High Renaissance in the North, with particular emphasis on the work of Albrecht Düer. Düer was without a doubt the most famous and influential artist of this period for his developments in the art of printmaking. In training as a goldsmith, Düer learned many of the techniques he would use in his printmaking process. He began with the medium of woodcuts, which were a relief process that required carving very thin, even lines into a block of wood. This block would be then used as a stamp to mass-produce images of this design. Because these works could be mass-produced Düer ensured that all of his works contained his monogram, so that no matter how far they traveled whoever looked at his prints knew who made it. This new age of printmaking was very profitable, not just for Düer, but for all artist as it allowed them to mass produce their works and sell them in a open marker. Now, artist no longer relied solely on commission or having a court position.

Düer’s most famous work is his engraving Adam and Eve. He uses ideal vitruvian proportions for his figures, and they are also opposite compliments with Adam having wide shouders and a small wait and Eve having small sholders and a wide waist. Both figures are also molded of Roman statues that Düer would have seen during his travles to Italy. Düer’s includes are large amount of hidden symbolism, similar to early Northern art tradition. The image of a parrot is supposed to represent the Virgin and connect her with Eve. The seemingly random animals scattered around the scene are symbols of the tempterments from Galeninc medicine. Düer is trying to implay that in the Garden of Eden the temperments were balanced and there was no illness, and it is only after the fall that sickness effects humans.

Today we began class by discussing Agnolo Bronzino and the Allegory with Venus and Cupid. Here, we see Father Time depicted as an old guy with an hourglass. He appears to be unveiling the curtain of the work. We also the ways in which Mannerist art is “weird”. For example, the mom appears to be French kissing the kid in a display of erotic dimension. We also see a very sickly-looking figure on the opposite side of the work. These could be feelings of jealousy, envy or allegory for syphilis. This is ironic because Francis I, who was gifted this work, had syphilis. We then discussed another work by Bronizno, the Portrait of Elenora de Toledo and her son Giovanni de Meci. Elenora appears to be high up in the work, with a long neck and tall posture. In a sense she is looking down at us and appears unapproachable. There is lots of gold and her dress is so elaborate you can even tell what it is made of. This is a very accurate display of wealth. We also get a sense of this “virgin-like” blue background.

We then began our discussion on the High Renaissance in Northern Europe. We started with Albrecht Durer and the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse. Albrecht is referred to as the greatest German painter of the period. Some even deem him, the German Leonardo. This work is part of a series of prints and is based on the Book of Revelations,, which is, in a sense, “crazy.” It is carved incredibly. We compare this work to Buzheim’s St Christopher who is the traveling saint and is said to be a giant. Compared to Albrecht’s work, this is much simpler as it serves the purpose of a devotional image as opposed to a detailed artwork. Furthermore, we see Albrecht Durer’s Self Portrait. We describe him as a narcissist as he looks like Jesus, chooses a frontal portrait, which is often worshipped, and appears to adopt a blessing gesture. We also see him three times in this image. His likeness, monogram and his name. I found interest particularly in Albrecht’s Adam and Eve as it was a very interesting take on the scene. This work is often referred to as one of his master prints. Adam and Eve are in a forest; Adam has broad shoulders, while Eve has wide hips. We also see many unique figures/animals with different meanings. The parrot is a reference to Eve and the Virgin Mary. The cat is a reference to chloric temperament and the bile of the liver, while the Elk is a reference to the black gull of the liver and melancholic temperament. The Ox is a reference to the phlegm in the lungs and phlegmatic temperament, and the rabbit refers to blood and sanguine temperament. We concluded a discussion on Matthias Grunewald’s Isenheim Altarpiece, which was gigantic and opened three times. We see the depiction of ergotism.

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.

Today we continued our discussion of Mannerism and started talking about the Northern High Renaissance. Our first main work for discussion was Albrecht Durer’s The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, an incredibly well-done woodcut. Durer’s work was fascinating, as it was clear to see that he had immense skill in his craft, constructing the woodcut in ways that very few could replicate. We discussed his self-portrait, which amusingly showed his narcissistic tendencies, as he portrayed himself as looking very similar to Christ.

We discussed the Isenheim Altarpiece by Grunewald, which portrays a ghastly scene and gives references to a few works that we have previously discussed. Finally, we quickly looked at Jean de Dinteville and Georges de Selve by Holbein, which was a very interesting painting, mostly due to the way that the skull at the bottom was shown. Holbein made a very strange artistic choice by only making the skull look normal from an unnatural perspective, but it was interesting to see it done well.

On Tuesday we discussed the High Renaissance in northern Italy. We began by examining Agnolo Bronzino’s “Allegory with Venus and Cupid.” This is a mannerist painting, and some of the figures in the painting are open to interpretation. In the center, Venus and her son Cupid are posed incestuously. At the top of the painting is a figure often interpreted as father time, positioned next to an hourglass, holding up the blue cloth backdrop. A possible interpretation of the painting is that folly and pleasure blind a person to the jealousy and fraud of sensuous love, which is then revealed by time. No matter how one choses to interpret the work, it is meant to be a conversation piece.

We also discussed Albrecht Dürer’s “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” woodcut print. Woodcuts are carved in relief, which is incredibly challenging, and Dürer displays a clear talent for this medium in this work, as is evidenced by the delicate line hatching that he uses for shading. This print was produced approaching the turn of the century, a time in which there is often a resurgent fear in apocalyptic narratives.

With the rise of the Reformation movement, there was an apparent shift in the art industry, both in the portrayal of its subject matter and the process of artwork creation in and of itself. Martin Luther’s conflicting viewpoints regarding art as both a teaching tool and a vanity also helps define the polarity of arts of this era. One stand-out figure of Northern Europe in this time is Albrecht Dürer, the great painter/printmaker that has created some definitive artworks throughout his career.

One of these prints is The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, a wood-cut print based on the Book of Revelation, depicting four armored figures of Death, Famine, War and Conquest. With highly intricate rendering of the scene and its character, along with a great grasp of human expression and psychology, Dürer was able to capture the imminent wariness of a new century, the condition which had also popularized the rise in interest with apocalyptic themes. 

By examining Adam and Eve, his engraving print, we saw Dürer’s capacity for realism and exploration of familiar themes, in this case the moment before the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden. In the very choice of subject not being the expulsion itself, we could see somewhat the general overlapping themes with his previously mentioned woodcut, that being impending calamity. In this case, however, the artist chose to depicts some extra theme players, that being the representation of different human temperaments: that of the choleric (the cat), the phlegmatic (the ox), the sanguine (the rabbit) and the melancholic (the elk). This serves as proof of the artist’s capacity to discover the relationship between symbolism and abstract concepts, as well as an interest in the psychology underlying the depicted scene.

Along with his impressive catalogs of prints, the artist was also the creator of several influential portraits, including one of himself, which was loosely modeled after the image of Christ. This is partly due to his own growing ego, and the increasing awareness of artists of their own importance, paralleling God’s creation of the universe and the artists’ ability to create lives via depicting them with their virtuosity.