MToday’s lecture delved deeper into the captivating world of 15th-century Italian Renaissance art. We looked at several masterpieces from Botticelli’s ethereal “Birth of Venus” to Leonardo da Vinci’s enigmatic “Mona Lisa,” each work offering insight into the various techniques from that time and why they were constructed.

I really liked the symbolism in Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus.” The central figure of Venus, positioned at the center of the canvas and emerging from the sea foam, embodies the ideal of divine perfection, her nudity devoid of any hint of eroticism or moral judgment. It symbolizes purity and transcendence, inviting us to understand the eternal beauty of the soul. The presence of orange trees, associated with the Medici family, serves as a subtle nod to the patronage that underpinned the Renaissance, while references to Greek myth hint at the relevance of classical ideals in Renaissance art. In contrast to the former piece, when we discussed Raphael’s “The School of Athens” the discussion was centered more around the exploration of philosophy and human knowledge. Through a clever collection of ancient Greek philosophers and contemporary artists, Raphael creates something that celebrates the pursuit of truth and wisdom. The juxtaposition of Plato and Aristotle, with their contrasting gestures symbolizing the philosophical divide between idealism and empiricism, underscores the intellectual dynamism of Renaissance Italy.

Leonardo da Vinci (definitely NOT Da Vinci) iconic works, such as “Madonna of the Rocks” and “The Last Supper” were also brought up as they epitomize his quest for visual harmony and scientific inquiry. I was intrigued by his innovative techniques like sfumato and pyramidal composition and the way they emphasize a sense of depth and emotional resonance in his works.

In today’s class we focused primarily on the High Renaissance in Italy. We first wrapped up our discussion of Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, before shifting gears to look at the works of Leonardo da Vinci. We covered Leonardo’s interest in a vast number of topics, focusing on the relationship between the macrocosm and the microcosm. Leonardo seemed to follow a funny trend of getting bored of a lot of the work he started, and moving on to projects he found more interesting.

We looked at a few of Leonardo’s paintings, such as Madonna on the Rocks and we took a while to study The Last Supper, where Leonardo unsurprisingly experimented, leading the painting to be in a lot of disrepair. We touched briefly on the Mona Lisa, and why it is so famous, then closed with a look at some of the architecture of the time. This class provided a fascinating insight into some of the most popular works of art ever, and it was incredibly interesting to learn more about the process behind Leonardo’s creations.

In this class, we started off finishing the material from the previous class by discussing Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus. The painting, however, actually depicts the aftermath of Venus’s birth. Commission by the Medici family, the painting contains several references to the family. The orange trees references the mela medica from the Medici coat of arms, and Venus’s pose resembles the pose of The Medici Venus. Additionally, the depiction of a woman in nude with no moral or erotic undertones, simply existing in her own perfection, displays the neoplatonic philosophy that was developing at the time.

We then moved on to the High Renaissance in Italy. We began this discussion by talking about Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo was focused on solving problems with his art and finding patterns or systems. We looked at three of his paintings, Madonna of the Rocks, The Last Supper, and The Mona Lisa. These painting demonstrate Leonardo’s ability to incorporate his subjects within the landscape of the painting. Additionally, his use of pyramidal symmetry is shown in these paintings.

Today’s class delved into the High Renaissance period, a time of great cultural and artistic flourishing in Europe. Leonardo da Vinci, born in Vinci, was a pivotal figure of this era. His influence extended beyond art, encompassing fields such as science, math, engineering, and anatomy. Some of his most renowned works, including The Vitruvian Man, The Last Summer, and The Mona Lisa, are a testament to his diverse skills and insatiable curiosity about the world around him.

As we explored the Mona Lisa, a masterpiece created by Leonardo between 1503 and 13 and now housed in the Louvre, I couldn’t help but share my personal experience. I had the opportunity to visit the Mona Lisa last fall, and I was struck by its small size, considering its global fame. However, this aspect also added to its allure, making it more intriguing. The woman’s enigmatic smile in the portrait, a hallmark of this artwork, is what sets it apart from others, and it was a surreal experience to see it up close.
The Last Supper, another masterpiece by Leonardo, is a prime example of his meticulous approach to art. He employed math and symmetry to convey profound themes in the painting. For instance, the three windows in the background symbolize the halo of Christ, while the four panels on each side of the wall represent the seven sorrows, vices, and virtues of the virgin. The multiplication of 4 and 3 to get 12, corresponding to the 12 months in a year and 12 hours in a day, further demonstrates his mathematical precision and ability to infuse deeper meanings into his art.

Today’s class we mainly focused on the high renaissance in Italy, although we started class with a brief discussion of Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus.” We made the important distinction that this scene is not actually how Venus is born since she is already born in the portrait. We discussed last class the actual birth of Venus. Botticelli’s painting is depicted in his naturalistic style and shows Venus being pushed to shore by Zephyr, the God of the West wind. The flowers in the air represent the flowers of Venus. Venus is the goddess of spring so there is a lot of floral and spring-like surroundings.  

Our discussion then shifted to the High Renaissance beginning with Leonardo Da Vinci. Leonardo was a painter, architect, sculptor, engineer. Leonardoa’s work was all about problem solving, and I find it super interesting the true breadth of his work since the majority of people only know him as a painter. He developed the relationship between patterns in small parts of something and the connection to the overall larger part, the concept of macrocosm and microcosm. We then discussed “Madonna of the Rocks” which is pictorial, graphic, and speculative. Within this scene, baby Jesus, St. John the Baptist, Mary, and the angel are all connected with one another. He presents these four figures in a pyramidal shape, which is much more stable than a symmetrical work. We also viewed a few more world in the triangular nature which showcased the balance more so than the rigidness of symmetrical pieces. 

In today’s class we began by discussing Botticelli’s “The Birth of the Venus” which was created in 1485. It’s important to note that the scene does not actually depict how Venus was born, but it was given this name. Botticelli had a quest for naturalism. He adopted a slightly different approach to depictions of life and presented a very mythological scene in this painting. The painting is based on a Roman copy of a Greek Hellenistic original know as “Medici Venus.” Within the scene, Venus is being pushed to the shore by Zephyr, who is the God of the West wind, and is hugging Chloris. There are also roses flying in the air, which represent the “flowers of Venus.” Venus is known as the “Hour of Spring,” and thus the painting is filled with spring-like flora such as the roses and blooming orange trees in the background.

We then shifted our focus to the High Renaissance in Italy. The main start of this era was Leonardo da Vinci who was born in Vinci in 1452. Leonardo was more than just a painter, he was also a well-renowned sculptor, architect, and worked as a military engineer, creating many sketches and graphical representations for military items. Leonardo is widely known for the relationship between macrocosm and microcosm. He tried to find patterns and systems between small parts and the overall large part of something. We then focused on one of Leonardo’s works, “Madonna of the Rocks,” which is a painting that was divided into three aspects: pictorial, graphic, and speculative parts. Leonardo’s artwork is all about problem solving, and he is always searching for new ideas. Within this scene, baby Jesus, his cousin St. John the Baptist, the Virgin, and the angel are all connected with one another. He presents these four figures in a pyramidal shape, which is much more stable than a symmetrical work. Overall, it was fascinating studying some of Leonardo da Vinci’s works during the High Renaissance era.

In today’s class, we discussed the artist Masaccio. He was an Italian painter from the early Renaissance. He was born in 1401 and died in 1428 due to malaria. He was an influential artist because of how young he was when he created such magnificent pieces of art. One of his more famous pieces was “Tribute Money,” a scene made in 1425. This fresco painting is located in the Brancacci Chapel of the Santa Maria del Carmine church in Florence. Masaccio illustrates many diffrent scenes in the painting including St. Peter being painted 4 separate times. The painting tells a story of tax collectors approaching Peter and asking Christ if he pays the tax. In the left of the painting, Masaccio draws St. Peter catching a fish and opening its mouth to find the coin to pay the tax.

In Masaccio’s painting, he uses techniques similar to Giotto’s. The bright colors of the people make them stand out with the dull background while also incorporating highlights and warm colors to feel the depth of the painting.

A lot of Masaccio’s paintings portray different scenes. In his artwork of “The Holy Trinity with the Virgin, St. John, and Donors,” it is a trinity. This artwork represents the father, son, and holy spirit, which symbolize the Christian concept of god. Mosaccio was one of a few who incorporated a vanishing point into his artworks, and in this painting, he placed it at the eye level of the viewer, which helps with the realistic depiction of space.

Class today began with concluding our investigation of Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus. Compositionally, we remarked on Venus occupying much of the central space in the classic contrapposto pose, framed by darker elements to help her stand out. Little details like the gold highlighting, roses falling (the flower of Venus), and the blooming orange trees added context and complexity to the image. Additionally, the representation of a naked woman for beauty, not for a moral or erotic meaning, brought to the discussion Neoplatonic Philosophy. Derived from the philosopher Plato, it emphasized an idealized thinking without focusing too much on real-world issues or constraints.

This philosopher segued into discussing the fascinating contributions of Leonardo da Vinci. Born in 1452, he wasn’t just a painter but also an architect, engineer, and sculptor. His notebook contained many sketches of machines and anatomical drawings as he attempted to find the patterns and systems in life. His paintings included sfumato to unify the subjects and backgrounds and he pioneered the pyramidal composition to create dynamic but stable characters. The Last Supper shows off Leonardo’s mathematical thinking and The Mona Lisa employs the pyramid, sfumato, chiaroscuro, and an interesting lack of status symbols to create the iconic painting.

In class, we resumed our study of Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. I really enjoyed our breakdown of all the elements within this painting, especially since it was a work I saw it in person when I visited Florence last spring. It is one of the iconic works of art that is very recognizable, so I feel it is often considered for its presence in its entirety. I liked how we paused and took the time to not only on the composition as a whole but each individual element, from the trees in the background to the floral designs of the dress and cape that the Horae holds. I liked the idea that the painting was a representation of spring, and that immediately made me associate the work with the sensations of a spring day. Moving on to the next chapter we began our discussion of some of the great artists of the High Renaissance, such as Leonardo da Vinci. Through Leonardo’s works, across both works of art and architecture, we see him return to the goal of understanding structure. Leonardo was constantly seeking to understand and solve problems through his art. I was particularly fascinated with the mathematics and order behind The Last Supper, as Leonardo expertly arranged characters and elements into groupings of 3 and 4, while still directly attention to Christ in the middle of the scene. We ended class by looking at some of the frescoes of the Stanzadella Signatura in the Vatican, specifically the School of Athens scene. I hope we can continue to discuss this work in our next class, as I find it to be such an interesting work of art that signifies the new status of artists in the renaissance.

Class six-21-feb

In class today we started with breaking down the birth of Venus. And how packed with different actions of Botticelli and from the less naturalistic approach in the the paintings by introducing patterns such as in the ocean or in the organic trees that also alluded to the Medici Family. 

Leonardo looked at the macro or wide angle of the world and the micro or the close up. And looked for patterns with these differing areas of the world.  Leonardo thought if earth was one working organism or being we were small little cogs or parts of it. An idea was wondering where we belonged in the world… and woking off of that. From reading Galen’s anatomical books to Vitruvius the architect who inspired the drawing by Leonardo, “the Vitruvian man” based on the proportions of the human body to create the “perfect” square and circle. He also made advancements in painting, creating a pyramid shaped composition that remained interesting while also stable and not stagnant. He also used sfumato to create haze in the backgrounds of painting to create unity from the foreground to the background. A swell as the extremely fine laying of glazes to create the affect of glowing skin adding emphasis in a subtle way.