Author: Olivia Tomlin (Page 1 of 2)

During class we discussed The Fall of Icarus by Bruegel who often depicts scenes of moral lessons, this one being the consequence of pride and too much ambition as it goes along with the mythical story of Icarus. During this time period, people started collecting art for the artist’s name rather than just for the subject matter. This was a big change as it shows the transformation of art becoming a business and having economic value rather than just religious value. Pieces were now being made depicting landscapes, a ‘genre pieces’ depicted regular people doing regular things, having little to do with religion at all. This change also shows artist’s newfound individualism and their ability to have artistic freedom and creating their own aesthetics for what they sell. They can target who they want and paint what they want. Mass production and copies of pieces were becoming more common too, adding the economy of art beginning to grow. Massys paints The Money changer and his Wife as a message that with the increasing mercantile society, people should not lose their religious values.

Bruegel also painted proverb pieces like The Blind leading the Blind and Netherlandish Proverbs, which contains 126 proverbs in one work. He also painted peasant life and more silly pieces like Land of Cockaigne, showing a utopia world where you don’t have to work and food is brought to you. We also discussed different death depictions in works that were usually alluded by a scull being either a reflection in a mirror or as a physical being. In Grien’s Three Ages of Women and Death, he paints a woman’s life as seen by three stages, birth, mid life and death.

During class we went over Botticelli’s Primavera. It is a lush scene containing many characters and symbols that each play a role in the cohesive depiction of springtime. The painting was to be displayed outside the bed chamber and showed a rounded landscape with orange blossoming trees. Venus is seen in the center, telling the viewer they are in the garden of Venus who is also the goddess of love and marriage. Her dress is decorated with flame like decorations, which connects to Saint Lawrence who was associated with fire. Cupid, her son, is also seen in the painting. To the left, the Three Graces are seen in the common way they are often depicted. They are three sister figures who are different but similar and represent harmony as they stand with their arms connected. Zephyr is also seen to the right and he represents a soft wind and is grabbing Chloris, in which flowers are coming out of her mouth. Mercury, the god of messengers and merchants is seen raising his staff.

In the recorded lecture we talked about many themes from women in the Renaissance, to devotion and how religious scenes were depicted idealized while others were naturalistic. We studied different Book of Hours, reaffirming the idea of these little books used for praying by many noble women. They weren’t flashy and contained dense scenes of many overlapping figures with drôleries, which are added details along scenes that add the the playfulness or can add to the storytelling. Many of the religious scenes were idealized, as seen in the Flight into Egypt in Grandes Heures of Anne of Brittany where the donkey does not resemble an actual donkey. Though, other pages could have fruits or plants acting as a border and they were drawn very realistically.

We also talked about women and their status in the Renaissance. Women were not able to carry much power, unless you were a nun where you lived in a society not dominated by male presense. Therefore, nuns were more likely to be artists, a male dominated occupation at the time. They owned dolls for their prayers which acted as objects of devotion. Lavinia Fontana was an example of a women, who wasn’t a nun surprisingly, and was a professional artist. She painted a self portrait that depicted her a professional as she was dressed nicely and had a maid.

During class we discussed technical aspects of portraits and the way different lighting, position of the figures and what the figures are wearing all effect the way the viewer views the portrait. Portraits that want to convey power and a high status can be conveyed by an upward view of the perspective of the viewer or by having the figure look directly at the viewer. We also discussed the modern day Time Magazine cover of Trump, and the way he is positioned with the chair and his facial expression and how they all influence the way the viewer perceives him.

We then transitioned into the condition of women in the Renaissance. Women did not have power unless they were widowed and inherited their husbands earnings. In art, women were often sexualized, as seen in Venus of Urbino by Titian. The sleeping dog can be interpreted as the lack of fidelity and it is believed the women was a mistress.

During the recorded lecture we discussed many iconic works by Van Eyck, Leonardo da Vinci and Holbein. Initially we talked about the Mona Lisa and how it represents the technicality of Leonardo’s portrait and his interest geometry and mathematics. I found it interesting how the Mona Lisa herself and the background of the portrait is the same color scheme, which adds a sense of unity and makes it look like she is a part of her environment. The light hits the central axis and her body follows the thirds rule, giving a balance to the portrait.

We also discussed Van Eyck’s Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife work and the many disguised symbols that represents the scene depicted in the piece-the joining of hands in marriage. There is a dog, representing fidelity and the peaches represent fertility. It is interesting how the man is on the side of the window, alluding to where he does his work and business while the women is on the side of the bed representing her domestic realm where she stays. There is also a candle burning on the chandelier representing the stage of marriage the two people are in the middle of. The candle goes out when the marriage is finalized, showing that the two are still in the process of marriage.

During class we solidified our knowledge on portraiture using class examples. We observed many different angles, backgrounds, and filters, all adding their own individuality to the image. I enjoyed the different ways we all interpreted the selfie assignment and discussing random moments in each of our lives.

After our class seflies, we went into Renaissance portraiture. We discussed Campin’s A Portrait of a Man and a Woman which displayed a true portrait. It is amorphous, meaning it has no background making the focus solely on the facial features of the figures. We also talked about silverpoint drawing which is a mode of painting where you use a pointy silver stylus of sorts and then draw on a parchment cured with a material that oxidizes. Van Eyck used this mode of painting though it creates a fragile piece that doesn’t store well . We also looked at Weyden’s take on portraiture. He wanted to capture the personality of the people he painted rather than just paint them, like van Eyck often did. Many times, Weyden’s figures don’t look straight on at the observer. He also takes advantage of what they are wearing and the perspective of the observer compared to the placement of the figure, all adding to the status of the figure.

During class we honed in on the idea of the horizon line, vanishing point and the way the Italians use the rules of perspective in their paintings. Specifically, in Exeter Madonna we observe an aerial view with the horizon line being distant and foggy. It includes the blurring of details the farther away things are from the perspective location and the alteration of the hue to being more blue.

We also discussed disguised symbolism which is when symbolistic objects are intentionally painted in the natural environment they belong in. In the Merode Triptych there are many examples of disguised symbolism. The towel is drawn to look like a tallit, the white lilies represent the Holy Trinity and there are two in bloom signifying Jesus yet to be born as human. The candle represents Christ’s human nature, soul and divinity and many speculate it is extinguished because he is giving up his divinity for the time being to be on Earth as a human. It also included the tiny man riding the cross on a ray of light through the window, going in the direction of Mary’s womb, referring to her virginity and the conception of Christ.

This class we discussed the Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci and its intricate details surrounding its composition. There are four groups of three apostles, where the numbers three and four are very symbolic. Three represents the Holy Trinity and the theological values (faith, hope and charity). Four represents the number of gospels and cardinal virtues and temperaments. When multiplied together, they equal 12, which represents the number of apostles and months in a year, hours of the day etc. When added together, they equal 7, which represents the seven sorrows and joys of the Virgin. Together, the work represents the passing of time in subtle ways.

We went more in depth of composition and rendering depth with the work of Alberti, On Painting, that talks about vanishing points, the horizon line and orthogonals. We saw depth in the work of The Holy Trinity and the Virgin where the tomb is seen projecting into our space that overall was a symbolic representation of the concept of the Trinity. It is important to note that mostly the Italians used these rules of rendering depth and northerners made the choice of tilting the perspective.

During class we discussed the Master of Frankfurt’s piece, Portrait of the Artist and his wife which was believed to be a self portrait. It was interesting how he chose to paint the fly on the women’s head as a way to show off his painting skills. It kind of looks like a fly landed on the image instead of being painted on. Then we talked about representation of art. We looked at different sculptures of the ideal body and how they change over time and how the Italians liked to improve their art over time, as seen by Giotto vs. Cimabue’s Enthroned Madonna. Giotto improved depth and made it more naturalistic.

We also started discussing Leonardo da Vinci and how he was a true renaissance man in the way that he was interested in many different subject matters such as nature, art, geometry and proportions. He made Vitruvios, the infamous image of the man inside the circle and square showing ideal proportions. He was also left handed, which caused him to have to write backwards as to not smudge the ink, which i found interesting.

This class we discussed St. Francis who left his family to spend time with beggars and preaches the importance of poverty in order to get closer with Christ. People soon follow and a brotherhood forms. Two years after he dies he is canonized as a saint. This led to the creation of the work the Life of Saint Francis. We also discussed the Lamentation over the Dead Christ, a lifesize sculpture of Christ’s death. It is highly emotional and the patron is seen in the scene praying. Finally we discussed the Garden of Earthy Delights, which was a very complicated work that had many tiny figures and mystical beings and structures that all represent a chemical process of distillation. I think it is interesting how the step of putrefaction (burning) is represented by Hell and the final step is depicted by the closed triptych.