Author: Faith Nkansah-Siriboe (Page 1 of 2)

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.

On Thursday’s class, we took a look at a number of different works that were specifically for the domestic sphere. They fell into a number of new genres and some of the genres we discussed were genre, landscape, and still life. Although the works were not all from the same time period, it shows the progression away from contracted artworks to the use of art dealers and clientele. There was much more freedom in the work that could be produced because the artist would be searched out for a specific style or niche they did very well. With the increased freedom, there was also increased competition and specialization because the artists had to set themselves apart in order to get attention on the scene. An interesting outcome was the collecting of a specific work for an artist instead of a scene or subject matter, like “A Monet” or “A Van Gogh”.

We looked at a number of Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s works. A good number of the works had to do with morals, so the paintings would have a hidden lesson behind them instead of just being a scene.

In yesterday’s class we spoke some more on what we read in Johnson’s work about objects and images in the domestic sphere. We looked at a number of works, of many different mediums, i.e, paintings, studiolos. It was very interesting because of the different meanings the objects took. Two main pieces we looked at were, Studiolo Palazzo ducale from Gubbio and Sandro Botticelli’s Primavera. A new term we learned concerning the studiolo was intarsia, which is the technique of woodworking that uses many different woods and extreme precision. The study’s objects looked as if they had been painted on but they were actually a form of woodworking, which I thought was spectacular. What I found most interesting about the study was the perspective used to craft the objects in the cabinets and especially, the shadows case on the objects in the cupboards.

We spent the first portion of class deconstructing our selfies and analyzing the choices we made, knowingly and unknowingly. After that we talked about some of the common practices with portraiture in the Renaissance. One really interesting note we made was the difference in portraits done by Italian and Northern artists. They were likened to the schools of Aristotle and Plato. The Platonic way of portraits were more airbrushed and ideal. Many noticeable flaws were hidden or simply left out. The Italians were more likely to take a platonic route for portraiture. However the Northerners took a more Aristotelean approach, keeping many of the imperfections of the sitters and accentuating the very human aspects of those sitting for a portrait.

In today’s class we picked up a where was left off in a conversation on perspective. Not being present in the class where the topic was first introduced, I found it really interesting the points that were made about the significance of vantage point and the different uses from both the Northern and Italian Renaissances. The Italians, which spearheaded the operation, were very meticulous in keeping to rules of perspective while the Northern artists were a bit more lax. This was also connected to the fact that of detail oriented-ness for the Northern artists while the Italians remained more “big picture” in many more of their works. We took a look at the Exeter Madonna painted by Petrus Christus to point out some of those trends. We also spent some time introducing portraiture and some common trends back when they first started coming on the scene.

In yesterday’s class we discussed the issue of mimesis in Renaissance art. It was a very interesting conversation and two influential figures were Leonardo and Albrecht Dürer. At this point in the Renaissance, we see the exploration of nature and accurate renderings of the objects that were being captured. The interesting point that was mentioned with Albrecht and Leonardo was that Albrecht, like many Northern artists, were interested in a correct rendering of the image, a realistic representation and that being it. However, with Leonardo, we see a more ‘scholarly’ way of examining nature. This is confirmed by the various different areas he did study in. He studied the human body, biology, botany and many other things that he showcased in his drawings.

Mimesis was a new topic for me and it was a very different shift from much of the work we had seen earlier in the class and semester. As well as that, the different understanding of progress, progress being the ability to be more mimetic in the works. That was very interesting as it was a shift in what progress looks like and it seemed a bit less biased because we all have the understanding of what these things are like in real life.

Today’s class gave some more attention the Arena Chapel and some of continuities among the scenes depicted. The parallels were very interesting to note, especially because most of them dealt with the composition of the work rather than a narrative element. In many of the scenes, the figures were mirrored or their postures were similar, but in all the background, although rather minimal and quiet, gave a lot of help in the flow of the eye. Specifically, with the Adoration of the Magi and the Washing of the Disciples’ Feet, it was really fascinating to see the same posturing and the landscaping work so seamlessly, along with the flow of the narrative, having Christ adored as King of kings first, then performing an act of utter humility, essentially the work of a servant, washing the feet of His disciples. We also got to talk about the life of St. Francis and some of the things he was most notable for.

In yesterday’s class, we looked at some works by the Limbourg Brothers and the story of the Scrovegni Chapel. Something that really did stand out for me in the class was way the culture and personal life influenced the works, especially those of the Limbourg Brothers. For example, in the Original Sin (before 1416), there was a fountain and a gate fully covered in gold. Professor Plesch brought to our remembrance the fact that the Brothers first worked under the watch of a goldsmith. That was very interesting to me and it brought to my mind, Raphael’s Entombment and how he included the woman who commissioned the piece. Culture also influenced the work, as seen in the body of Eve. She was painted with a body consistent with the ideal body of the time. This was very interesting to me and reminded me of many of the works we have seen where we see the hairstyles consistent of the era or incorporating the particular patrons included alongside historical characters.

Today we learned about some manuscripts and John, Duke of Berry, along with his dedicated collection. I found it super interesting to see the influence of secularism in the Renaissance. For example in the Book of Hours, we could see the zodiac signs in the top portions of the pages, whereas before there was never a mixing of those sort of ideas. As well we saw that with John, Duke of Berry, his collection of the book of hours was not necessarily for the religious reasons but for more of collection’s sake. However we saw John of Berry featuring himself so prominently and overtly in many of the scripts he got made for himself. It was definitely an interesting day for storytelling and I enjoyed it a lot.