Author: Grace Yang (Page 2 of 3)

During today’s class we talked about the Portrait of the Artist and his Wife by the Master of Frankfurt. This painting depicted him and his wife but it was a self portrait. We discussed the different clues that help us realize this. The first is that his right hand is hidden but it looks like his left which shows that he was looking at a mirror while painting it. His eyes that also look directly at the viewer shows that he was looking at the mirror while painting, hence the direction of his eyes. What was most interesting though, were the flies that he included. These flies looked to be huge in comparison to everything else in the painting. However, when considering the size of the entire painting itself, it turns out that the flies are life size, creating an illusion and tricking the eye.

After this, we came upon the topic of Italy’s progression and how it was more of trying to be better or more natural, than the one before. Speaking of natural, we also discussed the value of observing nature and being able to draw it. For example, both Albrecht Durer and Leonardo da Vinci drew nature. However, the way they approached this topic was different. Durer tried to capture the way things are, drawing plants in their natural environment. Leonardo da Vinci, on the other hand, isolated the plants from their environments because he was trying to understand their systems like he did with much else. This showed the difference between Northern and Italian art to some respects because the North focused much more on detail while Italy tried more to understand the general idea, or system, and get a bigger picture idea of their subject.

We continued our discussion of the chapel from the last class today. More specifically, we discussed how the artist created a sense of connectivity throughout the pieces by accounting for left to right movement and similar or continuous backgrounds.

After this, we discussed the Life of St. Francis. In order to discuss this piece, we were first given more information on who St. Francis was. One of the prominent moments in his life was when his brotherhood was recognized by the pope in 1210 which allowed his followers to properly organize themselves. We also discussed The Lamentation Over The Dead Christ which was interesting because it is a work that was created using life size painted terracotta and placed a focus on the lamentation process of the death of Christ rather than depicting the actual death itself.

However, what truly caught my eye during this class was the discussion on The Garden of Earthly Desires. This painting stood out from the very beginning because it is a painting that depicts religious images yet is a work that will not be shown in churches. Looking at it in closer detail told us that the painting was modeled upon the alchemic process of distillation and purification but a part of this process was represented through copulating figures which was why it was not meant for churches. This work also had an interesting depiction of hell as it represented the putrefaction process which is why it showed burning objects and eternal fire.

Something that we talked about in class today was the Scrovegni Chapel and the art that adorns its walls. The chapel got covered in art thanks to Enrico degli Scrovegni who wanted to repent after hearing of the comments people would make about his father who was known as a terrible sinner. It was in his attempt to repent that he dedicated the chapel to the virgin. The blue ceiling was also a nod to this because while it was there to represent the sky, blue was also the color of the virgin and a color of wealth. What interested me the most about the chapel however, was The Last Judgement which you would see on your way out. This fresco included a depiction of a devilish figure eating human figures and other devils pushing down humans. This scene of hell also included images of contrapasso which was making you suffer by the area that made you commit the sin. When considering this, The Last Judgement is a daunting thing to look at, especially when it is at the exit of the chapel.

During class today, we learned about the Duke of Berry. He was a bibliophile that was interested in art and collecting and would often invite important writers and artists to his court. It was because of his interest that he was able to collect different prints, paintings, sculptures, gems, cameos, and manuscripts. In order to create his collection, he bought a lot of pieces and even stole when it came down to it. However, even with his large collection, he was conscious about it and kept inventories of his pieces so he would not get the same thing twice.

One group of artists that the Duke of Berry really liked was the Limbourg brothers. They used to work for the Duke of Burgundy and were important enough to him that the Duke was willing to a pay a bail for the brothers after they got in trouble. However, after the Duke of Burgundy died, the Duke of Berry snatched them up about a year after. They had a good relationship to the point that they could give each other gifts and together, they strived to create a Book of Hours only for it to be left incomplete as they died in the same year.

In this class we discussed prints. More specifically, we discussed prints that were done by carving wood blocks. Parts would be carved out and the lines left would create the image wanted. Although wood block was difficult due to the delicacy and difficulty in getting precise lines, it was a chosen method for some because it allowed artists to easily make multiple copies of a single image. This paired with his detailed images, are what allowed Albrecht Durer to reach the level of fame that he did. He was able to create a book with the images he created and copies of this book were easily made thanks to the images being prints and it was the distribution of this book that allowed his work to gain such popularity. More specifically, it was his use of crosshatching and timing that allowed him to reach such heights. This was because crosshatching was a difficult technique to do with prints because it would make the wood fragile in those areas. In terms of timing, Durer took advantage of the belief that the world would be ending soon and created an image of the Four Horsemen which quickly became something that everyone wanted to get, due to this belief.

During this class we discussed St. Ursula and how paintings depicting them often told a story or narrative. Oftentimes, these paintings would be painted for confraternities of St. Ursula. We also learned that it was because these paintings often depicted narratives that would progress across either horizontally or on panels, artists found ways on how to make characters recognizable. This was by dressing the characters, or people depicted in the painting, dress the same across the entire narrative. Clothes and the details of their outfits helped to make them stand out and be recognizable especially considering facial features were oftentimes too small to be used as a differentiating factor.

We also touched upon symbolism that is often used in painting of the time. For example, we were told that scorpions were a symbol of duplicity and were used as a symbol for the Jews. The predella we discussed during class also had many symbols that referenced “the others” and equated them to being bad. This to me was very interesting because it seems as if they used a lot of symbols and things would often haven more than one meaning.

During class today, we talked a bit more on the Isenheim Altarpiece and the inner panels that consisted of sculptures, a depiction of St. Anthony meeting Hermit Paul, and the Temptation of St. Anthony. The temptation was a fantastical scene with numerous hybrid creatures and had a note that could be read. All of this was for the patients at the monastery because they wanted to show that the devil will target people that are about to die and tempt them to commit sins since they won’t have time to redeem themselves but St. Anthony is a figure that can help in fighting temptations.

We also discussed the Altar of Holy Blood that was different from other altarpieces in the sense that it was completely carved as well as contain a relic. One interesting part of this altar was the carpenter that helped make the frame for this piece because he ended up getting paid more than the artist himself.

Another altarpiece we talked about was The Entombment by Raphael. This one in particular stood out because of the composition that allowed for a greater sense of movement to be felt. Having the composition he did helped his piece look more dramatic in both the expressions and the overall sense of motion which to me was a crucial part to what made his piece stand out.

In this class we discussed the Insenheim Altarpiece which was different from many others due to the practical use of it in the healing process at the monastery it was made for. It was because it was made for this process that there are multiple instances in the altarpiece in which the person looks as if they had ergotism which was called “St. Anthony’s fire” with St. Anthony being the patron of that particular monastery. This piece stood out because it did not focus on telling a narrative as much as some other altarpieces. Instead, it was more expressive and didn’t focus on making all of the expressions look natural. However what really stood out was the way the artist used representations of certain items and icons from other famous paintings that left their mark on the minds of the people. For example, he drew the lamb of God that was similar to the one on the Ghent altarpiece as well as using peacocks and elements of peacocks to decorate Lucifer because similar elements were used to decorate the serpent that tempted eve in a previous depiction of the scene.

On Thursday’s class, we talked about what made things stand out on certain pieces. One example was the emphasis some artists placed on emotions by focusing on the details and taking away the landscape. There was also more of a narrative that presented itself on the altarpiece compared to others.

More specifically, we talked about the Ghent altarpiece which represented the holy trinity in a unique way. It was also a piece that became more vibrant as you went towards the middle which was where the holy figures were. Something that really stood out to me about this piece was that it was specifically designed for the place it was in by painting it as if it was getting light from an actual window which just made it feel like it belonged and fit in its space.

Another piece we discussed was the Entombment. The artist took inspiration from a piece from Italy for this one but made some changes to make it more emotional and give it a narrative context which highlighted some of the differences between Northern and Italian art.

The Ghent Altarpiece was what was discussed in the lecture for Tuesday. This altarpiece initially stands out due to the material that is used and the proficiency at which it is used. As stated in the recorded lecture, Van Eyck used oil paints and he used them so well that people called him the creator of them even though he wasn’t. However, it is possible to see why people called him this when looking into the altarpiece closely and observing all the details. The details start with the light that all comes from a single source, drawing a connection between panels and connects the images. There was also a lot of detail placed on the clothes themselves from the pearls and beads on their clothes to the crown and scepter held by the judge. These were all rendered beautifully to give a realistic look to it. This realistic quality of the paintings stood out the most when looking at the people. For example, Adam and Eve were highly realistic to draw them into our world and even their footing and stature was taken into consideration to create this effect.

The video lecture also discussed the altarpiece called Entombment by Rogier van der Weyden who was famous because of his choices of making it large, lifelike, and presented bare figures without a landscape. He made these choices because they allowed him to place focus on the emotions and the details of the painting needed to showcase these emotions and show a range of emotions.

The comparison between Northern and Italian art was also touched upon through Rogier van der Weyden who took influence from Italian artists and drew the Entombment differently from how Northerners would. For example, instead of drawing the tomb as a sarcophagus, he draws it as a hole carved in rock and draws Christ being held horizontal and not being lowered.