16th-Century Italy: Vocab

Question 1

What is Chiaroscuro?

Answer 1

In two-dimensional artworks, the use of light and dark contacts to create the impression of volume in modeling three-dimensional objects and figures.

Question 1

What is Pudica? Please provide an example.

Answer 1

Latin for “bashful, shrinking or modest”; often used in art to refer to representations female figures such as Venusposed with a hand in front of her vulva simultaneously concealing and drawing attention to the area
EX: Tita, Venus of Urbino, c. 1538, Venetian Renaissance.

Question 2

What is Sfumato? Please provide an example.

Answer 2

Italian term meaning “smoky,” soft and mellow; in painting, the effect of haze in an image.
EX: Leonardo Da Vinci, Madonna of the Rocks, c. 1483-86, High Renaissance.

Question 3

What is Terribilita? Please provide an example.

Answer 3

Awesomeness or emotional intensity of conception and execution, often manifesting in works of art as physical power and dramatic excitement.
EX: Michelangelo, Last judgement, c. 1836- 41, Late Renaissance.