Author: Gwendolen Huo (Page 2 of 2)

In class on Tuesday, we discussed two pieces Scenes from the Life of St. Ursula: Arrival of the English Ambassadors and St. Ursula with her Father and The Communion of the Apostles + Miracle of the Profaned Host. Both of these artworks find ways to bring the viewer closer to the composition compared to earlier Northern and Italian Renaissance works. In Carpaccio’s piece, he positions the viewers close by railings and places other spectators on the other side of the railing, mirroring each other. This gives viewers a clearly defined place in the painting. Viewers are also placed closer to the subjects in Paolo Uccello’s Miracle of the Profaned Host where he incorporated a predella, a painting on the bottom of the altarpiece. In both of these pieces, we see a move towards artwork becoming closer and approachable to the viewer. Both of these artworks also depict the movement of time taking place in the scenes through a left to right progression of the scenes and the same subject is wearing the same outfit to show continuity. 

Finally, I also felt the difference in the main focus between the two latter artworks to be interesting. Carpaccio’s piece includes two scenes with one scene taking up the majority of the panel. On the other hand, Memlinc’s piece includes many smaller scenes; however, it tells a  more complete narrative.

A piece of work I found fascinating was the Altar of the Holy Blood by Tilman Riemenschneider. I found the combination of carvings both reliefs and in the round to be an effective choice in making the altar seem life-like. Additionally, the carpenter’s choice to carve out completely the area behind the apostles (of the altar) to be “see-through” was a smart decision because the church windows in the background are able to fit perfectly into the arches carved in the altarpiece. Thus Riemenschneider is able to cleverly use the overall church to create a mini-church in the scene.

Furthermore, I found the fact that many artists drew inspiration from prior art pieces also fascinating. Although it makes a lot of sense that artists created works inspired by earlier pieces, I’ve always been surprised because I wasn’t sure how accessible art was centuries ago. Unlike today where we can just google pieces of art, the process was definitely much laborious in the 16th century. This is why it peaked my interest when I discovered one of the relief carvings on the Altar of the Holy Blood, a Northern Renaissance work, was similar to Entry to Jerusalem by Duccio di Buonisegna, an Italian artist from two centuries earlier.

The Ghent Altarpiece is impressive in so many ways, but what stood out to me the most was Van Eyck’s usage of the church where the altarpiece would’ve been placed as part of the viewer’s experience. I find this to be a very crafty method by Jan Van Eyck because I think this is a great way to illuminate the painting while maintaining a sense of naturalism. While Jan Van Eyck uses a golden semicircle placed behind the three largest figures on the front of the altarpiece to show their divinity. This is a step ahead from the entirely gilded backgrounds seen in works such as Rogier van der Weyden, Entombment where the background is unnaturally gold. In contrast, light from the windows hit the Ghent’s Altarpiece at the center which illuminates the center figures so there isn’t a need for an overwhelming amount of gold.

Furthermore, Jan Van Eyck’s careful placement of Adam and Eve where they’re placed on the panels flanking the central panels creates a natural darkening because the figures are turned away from the natural light. I find it incredible how Van Eyck is able to use light and shade to illuminate and darken figures based on their biblical stories.

What stood out to me in this lecture was the art technique of grisaille. I find it very interesting how Renaissance artists almost made it possible to create a multi-media-like artwork that incorporates so many elements of antiquity. Additionally, by adding sculptures to the painting, Jan Van Eyck adds another layer of naturalism to the piece by incorporating something that adds depth to the painting and plays with the viewer’s perception of whether this is an altarpiece or something from real life.

Furthermore, something else that I found interesting about Jan Van Eyck is his rendering of Eve in the painting. I was surprised to learn that Eve’s more plump belly was in tune with the beauty standard of the time. However, I find it interesting that this misconception happens more than once in Jan Van Eyck’s paintings. I first encountered this misconception in his painting, The Arnolfini Portrait where the female also looks pregnant. This makes me wonder if this was Van Eyck’s preferred way of depicting female subjects or the desires of his patrons? I haven’t encountered this misconception with other artists, so I’d be interested in learning if this is specific to Jan Van Eyck.

Just as Giorgio Vasari believed art from Firenze is above art created from all other city-states of “Italy” and beyond, I’ve always appreciated oil paintings more than other mediums of artwork. That’s why when I came across Columbus Circle at Night by Richard Estes, I was instantly drawn to look more. At first glance, I didn’t even think it was oil on canvas, but instead a photograph. This was due to Estes’s ability to paint the reflections of the street and building in striking, if not, perfect mirroring on the glass windows close to the viewers. Estes’s ability to paint the window’s reflection in such a realistic manner is something I greatly admire. I can imagine it must take such detailed skill to paint objects in mirrored reflections considering Estes would have had to take into account scale, color, and detail for all of the mirrored people/objects. Furthermore, coming from New York City, I really enjoy Estes’s ability to paint Columbus Circle (a very chaotic part of the city) into a very still and candid scene.

A sculpture by John Bradley Storrs also caught my eye during my visit. The sculpture made of travertine definitely would require a different type of craftsmanship. Since limestone is a very hard material, I would imagine Storrs would have needed the skill/tool to work with this type of material. However, I wouldn’t necessarily say this work depicts bad craftsmanship, but instead very different craftsmanship.