In Tuesday’s class we began to discuss some works of sculpture. Professor Plesch introduced us to some examples of early Greek sculpture that represented the idea of a human more than a naturalistic person. We focused on the chiastic, static pose of the early Greek works, and contrasted that with the more dynamic pose of the contrapposto that came about within the Italian Peninsula later in history. This pose is characterized by all the weight being shifted onto one leg, which causes the hips to shift and the shoulders to shift in the opposite direction of the hips. This pose really is a balance between repose and the potential for activity. As time progressed, the sculptures became more naturalistic, but during the Middle Ages, this style of mimetic art was not important, since there were so many depictions of worlds that have only been imagined by people.
Author: Caroline Beecher (Page 2 of 3)
In Thursday’s class we discussed an extensive collection of Giotto’s work. We noticed that his paintings incorporated both fresco style and paint done a secco, which he did to bring greater pigmentation to the a secco colors. While I am sure all the works looked quite vivid when they were first done, the secco paint (often the strong blue) has chipped off with time. The blue was used in almost every one of these paintings to make up the entire background of the work. His backgrounds were simple and allowed the viewer to focus exclusively on the people, plants, and buildings in the foreground of the scene. Giotto also controls the gaze of the viewer by placing groups of figures or elements of nature that draw the eye to the focus of the scene. This is done expertly in his depiction of the Lamentation, where the composition of figures is quite lopsided and makes the viewer feel like they are falling into the grief at the bottom of the painting, where we see the Virgin, Mary Magdalene, and others cradling Christ’s dead body. The emotion in this work is powerfully portrayed—we see that Mary’s face has changed from earlier scenes as it is so contorted by her grief and that you can still feel the deep pain of the mourners whose backs are facing the viewers. The slumped shoulders and bowed heads are such a clear indication of grief and pain in body language that those figures are just as moving as Mary’s face, which is remarkable.
In Tuesday’s class we discussed the work Original Sin by the Limburg Brothers. We noted the continuous narrative of the painting and talked about how it is different from the cinematic progression of other artworks we have seen (cinematic progression is used for art that has multiple frames in it). In examining this painting, we also learned about the hierarchies of angels—archangels at the very top, followed closely by seraphims, who are represented as red angels because they are burning with the love of God. I also found it fascinating that the fountain and gates in the painting were in the gothic architectural style, and were gold. Both of these aspects of the fountain and gates grounded the painting in its time and to its artists. I also loved the detail of Adam and Eve walking through the gates into our world, bare and empty, which is represented as the white of the page.
In Thursday’s class we discussed Très Riches Heures, one of the Duke of Berry’s most extravagant book of hours. In talking about this, we learned about the Duke of Berry’s extensive collections of books, art, paintings, ancient art, books, buildings, miniature sculptures, and buildings. He was a dedicated collector who took multiple inventories of his collections throughout his life to be sure that he knew what was in his collections so that he could add to it most appropriately. Très Riches Heures was especially made for him and he is featured prominently in many of the works and is compared to a saint (both in size and allusion to the presence of a halo). The most pompous image from his collection is the painting by Boucicaut Master which depicts him being welcomed at the gates of heaven by St. Peter. This speaks volumes about the Duke of Berry’s position in feudal society and how he was regarded by the artists in his household/court/collection.
In Thursday’s class we began to talk about woodblock printing as we examined some of the scenes created using that medium. The first set of artwork we looked at using this method were the prints of Albrecht Dürer. I thought it was fascinating that Dürer took advantage of the public fears about an impending apocalypse ahead of the year 1500 to publish a book of his prints with print scenes from the apocalypse. These artworks are done in astounding detail and Dürer’s book began a trend of artists producing books about the apocalypse. These books were considered a luxury item, and went hand-in-hand with the books of hours that were beautiful works of art as well as status symbols.
In Tuesday’s class, we began to talk about pieces of art that have narrative elements and tell a story. We began by talking about Vittore Carpaccio’s Scenes from the Life of St. Ursula. As noted in our textbook, the painting has a cinematic progression to it, since Carpaccio takes advantage of viewers being used to reading from left to right, the narrative he is portraying progresses from left to right. We can confirm this because we see the king depicted twice in the painting—once when he is meeting St. Ursula with his son, and once when he is with the Virgin. This affirms that there are two moments in time being represented in this work. We discussed that this painting had been commissioned for the Confraternity of Sant’Orsola. Confraternities were a vitally important element of Medieval socialization, since they were community-centered places where lay people could get together to do regular community service or to have a mass and a banquet once a year. This work is yet another example of a piece of art which has additional meaning infused with the characteristics and desires of the patron.
In Thursday’s class we began by discussing Tilman Riemenschneider’s Altar of the Holy Blood. This was the first altarpiece we have covered that included 3-dimensional sculptures, and this one was carved out of limewood, and the accompanying frame was carved by a carpenter. Professor Plesch told us that the artist and the carpenter were paid the same amount for their work (and that the carpenter actually ended up making more than the artist from tips he received for the work), which made me think a lot about how different our society’s perception of artists’ work and time has changed since this altarpiece was made—artists can make mind-blowing amounts of money from individual pieces nowadays, which was clearly not the case in Riemenschneider’s time. The Altar of the Holy Blood also contains a drop of the blood of Jesus Christ, a relic, that drew lots of tourists (on pilgrimage or out of fascination) to the town, which was good for the local economy. I wonder if this was part of the motivation behind the iconoclasm during the Reformation—if Martin Luther (and the Protestants that began to follow him) viewed the relics and physical (artistic) appreciations of God in Catholic churches as “indulgences” then that would all be considered extraneous to the achievement of salvation through faith alone.
In Tuesday’s class we spent most of the class discussing Matthias Grünewald’s Isenheim Altarpiece. This piece was quite interesting because so many elements of the altarpiece were so tailored to the monastery where it would be placed. This piece was an essential element of the work that the Antonite monastery was doing for their patients with Ergotism (“St. Anthony’s fire”). The monks would bring their patients before the altarpiece to make sure that when they finally died, they would go to heaven. This was the first example I have seen of an altarpiece that was so integral to the function of a religious order—other altarpieces have felt more like additional decoration or adoration opportunity for members of the congregation, but this piece felt more interactive to me because it was so specific to the monastery it was placed in. The grotesque depiction of Christ’s infected skin and bloody wounds really ground Him as a human figure and remind the patients suffering from ergotism that Jesus suffered as they have and sacrificed himself so that they can go to heaven and have eternal life once they have died.
In Thursday’s class, we reviewed the works Professor Plesch discussed in the virtual lecture given on Tuesday and then we delved into Hugo van der Göes’ Portinari Altarpiece. This was our first introduction to a nativity scene, and it opened up a whole new set of symbolisms and artistic techniques. The nativity scene represents the encounter between the sacred and the secular. The birth of Christ encapsulates that encounter perfectly. The baby Jesus lies in a central part of the painting and is surrounded by human and animal figures adoring Him. We were introduced to the concept of people removing their shoes in the presence of religious figures (in art) because they are standing on holy ground, which we see occurring with one of the figures in the foreground of the painting. As we discussed this altarpiece, we also talked about the pattern of antisemitism in Christian religious iconography, which is disturbing and important to pay attention to as Christianity looks to gain power and assert dominance through art later in the Renaissance.
This virtual class was one of my favorites because of the level of extraordinary detail that Professor Plesch revealed about Jan van Eyck’s Ghent Altarpiece. One of the most initially striking elements of the altarpiece is the mobile nature of the piece—a characteristic of Northern altarpieces. When the piece is closed, it is relatively subdued in color, but when the piece opens the colors are explosive, which gives the viewers the experience of witnessing a heavenly vision. I was absolutely astounded by the detail of the clothing and accessories adorning the God figure (judge of the apocalypse) at the center of the inner panels. From the sheen on the pearls to the pelican images of sacrifice behind God, each minute detail brings greater texture and meaning to the painting. The detail that was achieved by van Eyck with his expert use of oil paint is incredible and makes each aspect of the painting feel extremely lifelike. I was absolutely fascinated by the intricacies of the Ghent Altarpiece and hope we have the opportunity to explore more works like this one later in the semester.