In Tuesday’s class, we continued our discussion on narratives in Renaissance art. We defined continuous narratives as we’ve seen with the painting of St. Ursula and the Portinari altarpiece with our examination of Original Sin. I found the Limbourg brothers’ choice to reflect Eve’s features in the serpent quite fascinating, specifically when juxtaposed with the decision to still depict her within the beauty standards of the time. I was particularly interested in the adoption of the familiar Greek/Roman pose of defeat in Adam, as I am currently studying Roman sculpture in AR111, and just finished with the Greek unit. More interestingly in this piece was the metaphor implied by the border of the painting, which Adam and Eve cross in the last part of the narrative, walking out into the empty page. Thus, the implication is that they step from the domain of the heavenly Garden of Eden to the world of the viewer, which cleverly plays with the narrative from the Bible. Additionally, we explored the function of art through our discussion of the sermon of Micheal da Carcano in 1492. The functions, as deemed by Micheal and later defined in more modern terms, are Didactic Function, in which they teach you something, Emotional Function, in that they are meant to inspire emotion, and Mnemonic Function, in that they help to commit certain facts or scenes into the memory of the viewer.
Author: jcdext23 (Page 2 of 3)
In this class, we further explored the topic of narratives in Renaissance art, while examining the ways in which print-making and the mass-production of art (with their own narratives) changed art in the Renaissance. One of the particularly interesting and more specific ways in which this now available way of mass-producing art changed art was through the emphasis that was now placed on the artist. With the pieces, we have seen before the prints, artists worked with patrons to craft pieces specifically to the patron’s request, and while the artist certainly was still able to make decisions on their own behalf, the emphasis was not usually placed on the artist or the artist’s name. With the creation of prints, we saw how artists now were able to reach much larger audiences, and we examined the decision of some artists to include a signature of sorts in order to add value to their works, as they were now able to gain large followings. Specifically, we noted this with Dürer, and it was interesting to learn that his works. although initially lucrative because of their apocalyptic relevance, soon became valuable an d sought-after because of his name alone.
In this class, we talked about Vittore Carpaccio’s scenes from the Life of St. Ursula: Arrival of the English Ambassadors and St. Ursula with her Father. Although we have talked about the interaction between the viewer and the painting before, I was interested in the unique ways the painting invited the viewer to gaze into the scene and become a part of it. The way the subjects in the painting lean into the railing, combined with the openings in the railing, allow the viewer to perceive it intimately. This, combined with the depth in the painting, and the opening on the other side of the painted building continues this illusion, showing the ship and other civilians in the backdrop. Additionally, we talked about Joos van Ghent’s The Communion of the Apostles. The painting, which presents an impossible situation of Christ giving communion before or not during the Last Supper, is paired with a predella by Paolo Ucello. The collaboration was interesting to me, but I’m curious to see how the antisemitic imagery functions with the piece. Typically, we discussed that predellas were meant to give context to a piece, but besides adding antisemitism themes to a piece that otherwise didn’t feel like it had a message that was antisemitic – although it may help to facilitate our discussion into the shift into this kind of imagery. The last concept that I’m excited to explore further was our discussion of Johnson’s opinion that altarpieces like Raphael’s painting were both secular and not, as they were painted for Churches, but contained messages and themes exclusive to the patron’s experience and specifications.
In this class, we started by talking about the final two layers of the Insenheim Altarpiece and how the context it was intended for shaped the scenes depicted in the piece. My question from my previous post where I questioned the point of representing the skin diseases as evil (with Lucifer) began to make more sense with the revelation of the depiction of St. Anthony’s Temptation. In the inscription on the piece, which included more depictions of skin diseases with one of the hybrids attacking St. Anthony, the statement “Where were you, why did you not appear at once to spare me these moments?” reflected what those in the monastery might be feeling. Additionally, we talked about the belief that people would be tempted by the devil to sin or forsake God in their final moments. With this context, Lucifer’s decaying skin makes more sense, as it could be a reference to this sort of questioning or criticism of God, and a deterrent to do so in the same way as the depiction of St. Anthony’s Temptation. We also talked about relics, which, when given more context about the tourism and very shady side of the relic industry, was a very good lead in to talking about the Protestant Reformation.
In Tuesday’s class, we finished our discussion on the Portinari Altarpiece and began our discussion on the many layers of the Insenheim Altarpiece. I found the Insenheim Altarpiece to be refreshing because although Grünewald echoed some of the iconography and style choices of some of the more typical Italian Renaissance art we have seen, his style, as we discussed, is mostly Germanic. I was particularly interested in this aspect of the art considering its place of origin in Alsace, which historically has had a mixture of French and German cultures/languages. One of the parts of our discussion that particularly struck my interest was the portrayal of skin disease and decomposing flesh in the painting, specifically because it was shown in both Jesus’ flesh wounds, and Lucifer’s rotting hands and green skin. Jesus’ suffering is portrayed as a skin disease, which makes sense to me, as the patrons of the monastery could be comforted by Jesus’ sacrifice and his eventual “pain-free” rebirth. However, juxtaposing it is Lucifer’s decomposition, which my only guess would be based on the belief that disease came to those who had sinned as a punishment, much like the plague.
During our discussion on the 30th, we talked about many of the altarpieces covered on the video lecture on the 28th, while also discussing and observing the emergence of emotions being depicted in altarpieces in the late 15th century. One of the more interesting pieces of symbolism we talked about, although I’ve seen it before (just without its title) is the Arma Christi. I thought it was an interesting title for the crown of thrones, the nails of the cross, the spear that pierced his side, and the sponge of vinegar Jesus was tricked into drinking. As was with our video lecture, we talked about the Ghent altarpiece, and how it creates a tension between realism (naturalism) and symbolism. I found the consideration of the opened/closed altarpiece especially interesting, as the portrayal of heaven (still naturalistic but with much more vivid colors) would only be visible on certain days of celebration, thus making it more of a spectacle. Although altarpieces were yet to be considered art in the modern sense, the skill of the painter, and the intention put into how it was portrayed (although also due to the patron’s wises) are just as relevant. One of my favorite pieces from this class was Deposition (1434), as the depiction of the scene, contained within what is painted to look like a golden box, bears a striking resemblance to the sculptures, carvings, and other three dimensional mediums found in churches throughout history. Although I personally prefer his earlier depiction of Jesus’ entombment, it was particularly interesting to see what concepts and ideas van der Weyden took from Northern artists to synthesize his second Entombment, which he painted in 1450. The new material from the lecture on the 30th, the Portinari altarpiece (c 1474-76) showed a continuation of major iconography, complete with plenty of symbolism, combined with the idea of the same narrative across a continuous landscape that we talked about at the beginning of our discussion.
In this class, we talked more about the context which shaped the images and iconography of altarpieces. Interestingly, despite having gone to a Catholic school for middle school, the thought of the altarpieces calling attention to the Transubstantiation hadn’t occurred to me. The framing of the Enthroned Madonna altarpieces generally have a focal point in the depiction of Christ, while also calling attention to the “Body of Christ” that in transubstantiation is the centerpiece to the altar that they generally stood at the front of. Furthermore, we were able to take a closer look at the evolution of altarpieces throughout time and across different artists through varying interpretations of the Enthroned Madonna. Although the iconography had consistent symbols across it, (a gesturing Mary, surrounded by worshippers, with a young Jesus on her lap), the ways in which artists depicted the scene differed over time. As Johnson mentioned, the use of gold generally shifted out of the paintings over time and was replaced with more detailed backgrounds that relied on the (mostly) intricate work of the artist to create perspective.
In this class, we explored iconography, investigating the greek roots of the word, and examining the similarities in which iconic scenes such as the Annunciation were often produced with repeating symbols or scene details. We also continued our discussion on altarpieces, and I was particularly interested in the transition that led to them being placed on the wall. In my opinion, it explains a small step of the shift in context that led to them being considered as artwork (although this was obviously still far off in the future). Furthermore, we discussed how, although we consider altarpiece artists’ talents to be great (and expertise-wise, it was), much of their vision came from the patron, who had their own beliefs depending on their religion and story. This was made ever apparent with the Enguerrand Quarton, which also led to our discussion on the choices of depicting the Holy Trinity, and more interestingly, the conference in which the current depiction was set in stone.
This class, we once again examined the language used by Vasari to define the art styles the art periods he saw. The period between Classical art and the Renaissance he deemed the Middle Ages. The wording, as we discussed in class, gives little credit to the artists of the period, instead positioning the time as more of a filler between the two ages he saw as having more significant advancements for art. We further examined how word choice reflected Vasari’s own opinions through his use of the word Gothic to define the style of art commonly associated with cathedrals. The Goths were one of the tribes of barbarians that brought the end to the Western Roman Empire, which, as you can imagine, comes with its own negative connotations. Palmieri mimics Vasari’s disregard of other art of the century, similarly believing that humans were “lost for 800 years”. Rather than understanding that people had other focuses and other values of what made “good art”, both men choose to place credibility in what they see as the aspects of good art. Lastly, we examined how the context in which art is placed, or the lack of context, can also have an influence on a culture. The example of the legend of Saint Wilgefortis, which was created context was needed for a piece mimicking an 800 year old piece of art. As we learn about Renaissance art, context and word choice continue to be important themes.
When I first walked into the museum, I ran into the Bob Thompson exhibit. Thompson was a prominent artist in the 50s and 60s. They were presented with introduction cards to give context for each piece, and although it was grouped by artist, the works were still thematically organized; Thompson’s works mostly captured themes about the experience of Black Americans. The exhibit had multiple types of media, with many paintings on linen, oil paintings on wood, and a projector showing the work of the filmmaker Dorothy Levitt Basking showing his work in the studio. Next to the Thompson exhibit, was the works of Mary Cassatt, which contained a short bio detailing her life, and once again, there were consistent themes she explored about her work. Downstairs, the Sam L. Cohen gallery demonstrated how art is grouped more thematically. The Multiple Modernism exhibit demonstrated cultural trade-offs between American artists who were inspired by European artists and aspects of their American experience. Although many of the pieces are nearly photorealistic, the addition of photography as a medium led to the development of pieces like Music Hall (Stuart Davis), and to a greater degree, Space Motion (Dorothy Morang) demonstrates how these artists also learned to use abstract qualities. Although there are cohesive themes throughout the downstairs gallery, the different techniques and approaches to the abstractness of each artist still can be identified. Even in the section devoted to Modern and Contemporary art exhibits, many of the pieces were grouped by themes. With our original discussion on museums and the changing context of art, I found the works that were not grouped by artist to be a more interesting choice of organization, because they relied on the perception of modern art historians to be grouped into collections.