In Jean Pucelle. The Betrayal of Christ (folio 15 verso) and Annunciation (folio 16 recto), from the Hours of Jeanne d’Évreux. 1324–28. Grisaille and tempera on vellum, we learned that the manuscript was named after the artist, a rarity for the time. The images are extremely impressive due to the extreme details on such a small canvas. We learned about Droleries (“funny things”) and their entertainment properties. We also spoke about Virgin of Jeanne d’Évreux. 1339. Silver gilt and enamel, height 271/2” (68 cm), in which the baby is touching the virgins face. The virgin’s bodyweight is on her leg opposite the baby creating and “s” shape, which was typical for the time. There were scenes from the crucifixion, resurrection, and Christ diving into Limbo to rescue patriarchs.
Category: AR257 (Page 5 of 33)
In this class, we talked about the different things that can be manipulated in a portrait. This includes appearances, lighting, context, landscape, the viewer (in what they say), and the sitter based on how they want to be portrayed. This was evident in Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, King Charles X in Coronation Robes, 1829. Oil on canvas. Bayonne: Musee Bonnat in which the sitter wore regalia to give a powerful impression to the viewer. We also talked about the condition of women in the Renaissance. We learned about the difficulty of women having power and spoke about the Guerilla Girls.
Today, we discussed the Intarsia technique. Specifically, we focused on the studiolo Palazzo ducale from Gubbio, 1470s, located in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. Once again, the discussion centered around the role of perspective. For instance, the illusion of the room appearing larger than it is is a direct result of the artisit calculating a one-point perspective (for a 5’9″ person). The depth off the walls are accomplished through this technique. Furthermore, by looking at each part of the work individually, we noticed that all the objects are related to measurement. For the artists during this time period, mathematics and geometry was the center of attention. Thus, Gubbio incorporates mathematical tools into his work to show their significance in art. This is becoming a reoccuring theme–the use of math to understand a viewer’s perspective which makes the piece of art better.
At the beginning of class, we discussed the transition to artists selling their art on the open market. Now, art was not only made for a specific commissioner, but to be sold to anyone who wished to buy a work. This changed the subject matter and techniques in art considerably. Firstly, artists now had fewer constraints from their patrons, and could be more creative with their work. Because of this, artist’ names themselves became more important, as the artist was now more important than patron. This competitive art market led to virtuosity and specialization, as artists competed to sell their work.
We also dedicated a lot of class time to discussing the Dutch artist Peter Bruegel. One of his most notable works is the Netherlandish Proverbs. This painting embodies over a hundred proverbs. This allows it to serve as both a piece of art and a conversation piece. Bruegel’s landscapes and scenes of everyday people were truly a step away from traditional art of the time.
In this class we explored the ways in which art appears in domestic spaces and on household objects. The studioli of the palace of Gubbio and the Duke of Urbino display skillful use of intarsia for the purpose of making the room appear larger and conveying humanist messages. The spaces are inherently domestic, and the objects portrayed reflect the passions and roles of those who inhabited them. The level of detail achieved through woodwork in these panels is incredible and must have taken immense amounts of work and time. Perspective in every object within the panels makes the entire room feel as if it extends both away and towards the viewer, and helps the objects appear realistic. Botticelli’s Primavera interested me because of its intended location above a letuccio. The painting’s similarities to a tapestry reflect this positioning, and the figures within it display the importance of the commissioning family. I was also interested in how very domestic objects such as cassone used to store clothes and birth trays contained meaningful moral stories and depictions of desired futures.
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.
This week we learned about the Studiolo Palazzo ducale from Gubbio, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This is a room I remember being in a couple times, but when we saw it in class, it did not pop into my head right away. I think this primarily because I did not know/appreciate the artistic significance the room had in relation to the Renaissance. The paneled walls were created from wood cutting technique and required intense amounts of precision. While there was no paint involved, the viewer can clearly see a typical room represented in the wood. The diversity of colors comes from a diversity in the kinds of woods used. However, the most fascinating part of this room comes from the perspective it offers the viewer. This is very calculated and in fact, was designed to look like a normal room for 5 foot 9 inches tall people. All this history in a room I have seen many times surprised me, and I think goes into showing the painstakingly small details the Renaissance focused on.
In this class, we first took a look at the technic called Intarsia, which uses varied shapes, sizes, and species of wood fitted together to create a mosaic-like picture with an illusion of depth. By adding a sense of depth to the walls, the room is visually enlarged, and the application of lines in mathematical and geometric rules makes the scene looks real. Notice the objects inside the cabinet are all for measurement and are depicted proportionally following the mathematical truth. It is also interesting to learn that the scene is depicted from a perspective of a 175cm tall male–the height of the dude, which shows how the patron and the artwork are connected.
Then we moved to Sandro Botticelli’s Primavera. A pattern of fire is depicted both on the clothing of Venus and Mercury. Some domestic objects are also introduced, such as cassone, an elaborately decorated piece of furniture of the Renaissance, which appears in Titian’s Venus of Urbino. The birth trap is also an interesting domestic object, where people’s hope for a healthy male baby from the bride is embedded. In Bartolomeo di Fruosino’s Birth tray with seated nude boy, the baby depicted wears a coral necklace, a symbolic object to avoid the demo. That the boy is peeing reminds spectators of the narrative that “a child pees silver and gold” for a Renaissance family, as a newborn male child will continue the family line and inherit the family’s wealth. In Lorenzo Ghiberti’s Madonna and Child, the Virgin is depicted more and more like a mother with tenderness, and the Jesus Child also behaves like a normal cute babe, so that audiences will erose their emotion to connect with the sculpture. In short, from the study of Renaissance artworks so far, we learn that marriage in Renaissance is more like a business arrangement with a huge emphasis on reproduction. We see that social life and contemporary notions can be revealed by such an art study and investigation.
In our discussion today, we talked about the reoccurring theme in our course of citizens consuming luxury objects with the purpose of putting them on display to showcase their wealth and their taste for fine art. This reminded me of when we dissected the double portrait artwork that commemorated a marriage, since this artwork had symbols within the painting that showcased the couple’s wealth. This is also seen in the portrait of the female artist we examined as there were many symbols to point that she is wealthy and points to her artistic value. I also thought it was interesting to talk about the purpose of marriage at the time period because it adds a level of context that is vital to know while analyzing Renaissance artworks.
During today’s class, the first thing that we discussed was the Studio Palazzo ducale from Gubbio. This space was designed in a way that made it attractive in the eyes of humanists. For instance, they used intarsia to decorate the walls. Intarsia is when different colored or types of woods are cut with great precision and are then arranged in a seamless way. There are even words on top of the woodwork that there there to describe the Duke. You can also see that the letters mimicked ancient letters in the way that they use V for the letter u which adds to the idea that this space was for humanists. The room also appears larger than what it actually is because it adds depth to the walls by looking like cabinets that contains items. This type of illusion was possible thanks to perspective and works best when observed from a height of 175 cm because that is the height of the Duke that this space was personalized for. There were even cast shadows in the wood that were made after determining the light source. In addition to this, although all the objects look basic at first glance, when looked at closer, you can see that they are all tools of measurement.
We also looked at Sandro Botticelli’s Primavera today. This one was also interesting due to the meaning that each of the figures had. especially Mercury. Although he is not the center figure, Mercury plays an interesting role in this painting. The reason is because of his caduceus which is now the symbol of doctors. This can be connected to the Medici who commissioned this painting because Medici is plural for physician and their coat of arms even has round pills, creating an intriguing connection between the patron and the painting.