RENAISSANCE ART

I really enjoyed this class because of our conversation on Michelangelo and his sculptures. We continued our conversation from the class on 12/7 about the sculptures in the plaza of Florence, and then spoke on the works of Michelangelo, his personality and how we still believe similar things we thought of him in artists today.

It was an interesting way to wrap up the course, especially with us coming full circle with Visari and his book, especially since he spoke of Michelangelo very highly. The topic of tormented geniuses came up and we looked at a bit of Michelangelo’s other works as well as his handiwork in the Sistine Chapel. To hear the type of personality he had, I could definitely understand the linkage to modern day artists or other “geniuses” that suffer from some vice or personal demon. We took a look at Raphael’s School of Athens to see how Michelangelo was rendered and it portrayed him as a depressed character, rather melancholic in particular. Lastly we spoke on the idea that these artists, like Michelangelo, were able to find and bring out the beauty in the raw material and substances they used in an almost ‘divine’ way. That concept was really beautiful to me and we saw the beginnings of that in the unfinished sculpture, Working Slave.

On the 7th, we had an interesting conversation about Florence and the works that came to represent the town and the people in it. The most interesting part of the conversation for me was the piece about the very consistent change in work in the plaza of Florence. It was fascinating because it ended up basically becoming an outdoor art museum. The sculptures told a lot about the character and storyline of those who elected for them to be placed there as well as spilling the beans on the struggles in the city of Florence with the changing hands of power. We also spoke on the different guilds that were in the city and the importance art played in the characterizing of those guilds. Specifically, how the guilds would recruit the best artists to create works for their purposes. The collection of guilds was really different from what I had originally imagined as well so it was a really fruitful conversation in the end.

Colby College’s campus is designed and physically composed in a classic New England fashion. When driving through, it can be easily seen how the buildings on campus radiate from the central Miller Library. Professor. Plesch pointed out that this was primarily due to the library being the first building to be built on Mayflower Hill. 

Coming from three sides of the library are three rows: Miller Lawn, Frat Row, and the Chapel. Miller Lawn is the largest out of these three and is home to many of the campus’s academic buildings. It intersects with a road and ends with the admission and alumni centers. The green space in this space is clearly designed for recreational use, with chairs and events being there. The paths throughout this region also intersect with another at angles, as opposed to a grid like system. 

A smaller “row” can be found parallel to the Miller Lawn. Recently renovated, this path runs by the Colby College Museum of Art and eventually meets Frat Row. Miller Lawn is to academics as Frat Row is to residential life. This green space between the buildings is less utilized and at the end of the row is Bobs, a dining hall and dormitory, popular to many. Behind Bobs, the Athletic Center can be found, removed from the rest of campus. I often found myself curious about its distance from the school, but I now suppose it’s due to the large amounts of space needed for athletic fields. 

Finally, in the other direction is the Chapel. While the previous two examples were a row of buildings with grassy areas in between, this direction does not have a large amount of buildings and the Chapel is the center of attention as it perches upon the side of a hill. Behind this region is a more chaotic alignment of buildings, mostly dorms. While the other buildings were in a row formation, these (maybe newer) ones create a quad, known as Dana Lawn. 

As for other details, directly behind the chapel is an area that is small out of necessity due to the presence of Johnson Pond. On the outskirts of campus, parking lots and fieldy areas fill the rest of the space. As I mentioned earlier, I believe this to be due to the large amount of space they take up. 

Today’s class was focused on the architectural makeup of both Colby’s campus and Italian cities. I enjoyed learning about the Florence Cathedral. When looking at and visiting Cathedrals, an important question to ask: is what makes this building holy? I oftentimes find the artistic elements to be a large contributor to religious awe of a space. For instance, the Florence Cathedral was designed in the 13th century and symbolized Giotto’s revival of the dome. This is a spectacular feat for the time period. The dome changes the architecture of the city, as this massive structure towers over Florence. Inside, the cathedral is equally breaktaking. While the ceilings are not filled with art, the scale of the building is very impressive. I intend to be more deliberate with my use of space in the upcoming exhibition.

One of the most interesting works that we looked at this semester was Giambologna (Giovanni Bologna), Rape of the Sabines, 1582, Florence. Giambologna was criticized in which observers said he was only able to do small scale sculptures. As a result, he created Rape of the Sabines, a complicated, large-scale sculpture with an old man, young man, and young woman, entangled in a complex manner. The sculpture is appealing from all angles, and Giambologna created the work for the sake of showing off. In fact, he did not have a name for it, however, after becoming recognized by many people, he chose Rape of the Sabines since he was all about virtuosity. He created this art for artsake in the sense that it was not about representing a story to convey a moral. Rather, he was motivated by making a cool sculpture to impress a large audience and demonstrate his skill in sculptures.

We began this class by looking at the map of Colby and examining the spatial organization. We spoke of the type of architecture that Colby consists of, and its importance given the time period it was built in. I especially enjoyed Donatello, Marzocco, c. 1418-20. Pietra serena which encapsulates a Hebrew princess chopping the head of her enemy as proof of the murder. The work was moved from the private sector onto the public stage changing its overall meaning. In the Medici garden, the sculpture stood for triumph of bad rulers over vice, however, after being moved, its underlying meaning changed since the Medici family was no longer in power. Additionally, I like this work because it was revolutionary for Women during the time period. This work reversed the norm since a women beheaded a man.

The first work we talked about was Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights, c. 1510-15. Oil on panel, 7’3” x 12’ 9”. Madrid: Prado. We have already seen this painting before, however, we discussed its purpose as a conversation piece. We can see hell on the right and the ability for religion to transform things (alchemy). We then observed works by Pieter Bruegel including The Blind Leading the Blind, and Hunters in the Snow. The Blind Leading the Blind is based on the Gospel of Matthew and has and underlying meaning that people shouldn’t follow one another if the leader doesn’t know where they are going. This relates to a main topic we spoke about in many classes, art that includes allusions.

In the last class of this semester, we learned a new notion that began to emerge in the late 15th century–the creation of art for only art’s sake. Giambologna’s Rape of the Sabines is one of the earliest examples. In order to show people that his skill and talent weren’t limited to small sculptures, Giambologna decided to create a complex life-size statue with three bodies twining with each other. The rape of the Sabines thus doesn’t contain any story or moral lesson. The artist creates it just for making an amazing sculpture–the “art’s sake”. What else stood out to me was Michelangelo’s Waking Slave, a sculpture that hasn’t been finished. It really gives me the idea that Michelangelo gives life to perfect figures coming out of stone. This unfinished artwork reminds people where his other great sculptures, such as David, come from, and thus people admire him more. At the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century, there was a prevailing tradition for artists to sign their name to their artwork, corresponding to the increasing emphasis on artists themselves. This is an important shift in the Renaissance as in the previous time people pay more attention to patrons and artworks themselves rather than the creators of art. There is also an emergence of “Mannerism”, and artworks in this style have somehow ambiguity in their content. One example is Jacopo da Pontormo’s Pietà, where we are unsure what the man at the lower middle is wearing.

During today’s class, there was an emphasis placed on Michelangelo and his works. One of the first things we talked about was his sculpture of David. This sculpture was originally going to be placed in a high up area and was meant to be looked up at which is why the head can look slightly disproportionate from a full on frontal view. However, it was due to its magnificence that it was instead placed in a spot of attention and replaced the statue of Judith. This switch itself was rather interesting because Michelangelo’s David and Judith were both depictions of triumph or success. The only difference was that David was about a man who defeated somebody in a straightforward manner while Judith was a woman that defeated a man through deception.

We also discussed Giambologna’s Rape of the Sabines which was an introduction to the idea of art for art’s sake. Giambologna wanted to prove that he was able to create life size sculptures so he decided to go the extra mile and create a sculpture that depicted three full size bodies of different types. He also placed them in an amazing composition that twisted up on top of each other. It was because this sculpture was made to prove his prowess that not much meaning went into the making of the sculpture and it was only after it got popular that it was given its meaning and name.

In this lesson, we talked about the layouts of towns, as well as the contributions to large, town buildings like the Florence Chapel. We started with our analyses of Colby’s campus.  During this, we talked about the ways the college chooses to present itself to the outside world, and the ways it is arranged in order to be convenient to the students who live there.  For one, athletics and the arts are presented at opposing entrances, and additionally, the central green is surrounded by academic buildings.  Around those buildings are academic buildings, and dining halls.  Next we talked about the Florentine Chapel, talking about the different guilds that were present in Florence at the time.  As we talked about secular art before this, we continued our discussion in this, talking about the methods in which different artists were commissioned to work on the Florentine Chapel.