Final Exam Pics Flashcards
1
Q
Baroque
1590-1720
A
- characterized in the visual arts by dramatic light and shade, turbulent composition, and exaggerated emotional expression
- exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, architecture, literature, dance and music
- counter reformation
- action
- gold
- over the top/theatrical
- attrack people back to church
- The style began around 1600 in Rome, Italy and spread to most of Europe.
- After the idealism of the Renaissance (c.1400-1530), and the slightly ‘forced’ nature of Mannerism (c.1530-1600), Baroque art above all reflected the religious tensions of the age - notably the desire of the Catholic Church in Rome (as annunciated at the Council of Trent, 1545-63) to reassert itself in the wake of the Protestant Reformation.
- Thus it is almost synonymous with Catholic Counter-Reformation Art of the period.
- a large number of architectural designs, paintings and sculptures were commissioned by the Royal Courts of Spain, France, and elsewhere - in parallel to the overall campaign of Catholic Christian art, pursued by the Vatican - in order to glorify their own divine grandeur, and in the process strengthen their political position
- By comparison, Baroque art in Protestant areas like Holland had far less religious content, and instead was designed essentially to appeal to the growing aspirations of the merchant and middle classes
- Baroque painting illustrated key elements of Catholic dogma, either directly in Biblical works or indirectly in mythological or allegorical compositions.
- Along with this monumental, high-minded approach, painters typically portrayed a strong sense of movement, using swirling spirals and upward diagonals, and strong sumptuous colour schemes, in order to dazzle and surprise.
- New techniques of tenebrism and chiaroscuro were developed to enhance atmosphere.
- Brushwork is creamy and broad, often resulting in thick impasto.
- Baroque sculpture, typically larger-than-life size, is marked by a similar sense of dynamic movement, along with an active use of space.
- Baroque architecture was designed to create spectacle and illusion
- straight lines of the Renaissance were replaced with flowing curves, while domes/roofs were enlarged, and interiors carefully constructed to produce spectacular effects of light and shade
- Its designer, Bernini, one of the greatest Baroque architects, ringed the St. Perter’s square with colonnades, to convey the impression to visitors that they are being embraced by the arms of the Catholic Church.
- *(1) Religious Grandeur**
- A triumphant, extravagant, almost theatrical (and at times) melodramatic style of religious art, commissioned by the Catholic Counter Reformation and the courts of the absolute monarchies of Europe.
- This type of Baroque art is exemplified by the bold visionary sculpture and architecture of Bernini (1598-1680) and by the grandiose set-piece paintings of the Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)
- *(2) Greater Realism**
- A new more life-like or naturalist style of figurative composition
- This new approach was championed by Carravaggio (1571-1610) and Velazquez (1599-1660)
2
Q
Baroque in Italy and Spain
A
1599-1600
Caravaggio
The Calling of Saint Matthew
- overdressed
- more relatetable for people
- tells story directly
- Jesus is ot the center of the image (NEW)
- doesn’t look like people from bible (contemporary)
- “gangster” setting
- tenebrism = extreme chiariscuro
- dramatic illumination (harsh and dark shadows, highlights)
- in your face
- baroque opposite of mannerism
- as real as possible (relatable)
- references Michealangelo with pointing gesture
- uses light to spotlight Christ’s presence
- tenebrism effect (contrast of light and dark)
- use of extreme realism , simple settings
- contemporary characters
- designed for church, meant to be religious subject
- Christ is far right of the picture, very faint halo
- Placed in what was then present times
- Many people think he was making religious subjects more relevant to contemporary audiences
- Uses dramatic spotlight effects, light/dark contrasts(common to Baroque art; Chiaroscuro technique, means light/dark)
- Light follows arm gesture of Christ, acting almost as god’s spotlight onto Matthew
- tenebrism- form of light and dark - rep. of dramatic lighting; strong highlights, dark shadows; adds drama and mystery
- chiaroscuro - light and shadow, especially gradation
- Christ arm is similar to Creation of Adam
- severe diagonal highlights Christ and points to Matthew
3
Q
Baroque in Italy and Spain
A
1645-1652
Bernini
The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa
- angel and arrow all on fire
- angel’s fabric look lighter and longer than Teresa’s
- dynamic (folds in clothing,…)
- motion and emotion
- architecture, sculpture and painting
- theatrical
- the entire chapel is a peasce of art and works as a theater
- Teresa: mingling of spiritual an physical passion
- passionate drama
- Multiple mediums (paint, marble)
- movement in the architecture
- illusion of floating on a cloud
- intense color palette, lots of texture and detail
- nowhere for the eyes to rest.
- fusion of architecture and sculpture
- makes viewer experience own vision of levitation
- The group is illuminated by natural light which filters through a hidden window in the dome of the surrounding aedicule, and underscored by gilded stucco rays
- Teresa is shown lying on a cloud indicating that this is intended to be a divine apparition we are witnessing
- entire chapel is the art of work
- St. Theresa is having vision of an angel and the dove of the Holy Spirit is descending upon her - describes in her autobiography; pierces her soul w/ a spear/arrow - says an angel in her vision waws on fire; drapery looks flamelike
- colorful marble
- coextensive - once you enter, you’re standing in the work of art
- family in little boxes on sides - look like they’re watching
- St. Teresa explains to the people of the church her spiritual encounter in terms everyday people can understand - sex
- Her drapery is heavy and rep. of earth - angel is light and heavenly
- Significance: sensual interaction between St. Teresa and the angel, theatrical lighting inspired by the Pantheon - pieces build together to highlight each other, adopted sexual pieces of antiquity for a biblical scene, Cornaro family carved on the side reacting to the scene
- Ecstasy=simultaneously combo of extreme emotions pain and pleasure
- Bernini gave voice of ecstasy in the face
- It appears to float
4
Q
Baroque in Italy and Spain
A
1614-1620
Artemisia Gentileschi
Judith Slaying Holofernes
- exhibits the Baroque taste for violence, illustrating an event from the Old Testament
- he violence is enhanced by dramatic shifts of light and dark and by the energetic draperies
- Artemisia is known for her pictures of heroic women and of violent scenes
- Gentileschi- one of the most renown woman painter in Europe during the first half of the 17th century
- Narratives involving heroic women were a favorite theme of Gentileschi
- In this image, the controlled highlights on the aciton in the foreground recall Caravaggio’s paintings and heighten the drama
- inluenced by Caravaggio “tenebrismo”
- Significance: places viewer insider the tent as a participant, dramatic and intense, disturbance outside of the tent? hushed, question of intersection of bio and painting because the artist was raped - still likely a painting for mass consumption
5
Q
Baroque in Italy and Spain
A
1623
Bernini
David
- movement from Hellenistic Greece
- appearing into a more bodily way
- dynamic
- action (typical baroque)
- face like a lion/a warrior
- head smaller than body
- coming nto our space
- designed to make you have to walk around it to get the full impact and appreciation (3D)
- Energy, movement, transitory facial expression and pose
- multiview sculpture; make you feel like he is moving.
- Strong Baroque Diagonal, puts you into the middle of the action, life sized, less idealized, contorted expression
- Marble, lifesize
- most important sculpture of the Baroque style in Rome
- All trace of mannerism has disappeared
- He represents a narrative moment in the midst of action
- theatrical, and the element of time plays an important role in them. His emotion-packed David seems to be moving through both time and space.
- revolutionary in its implied movement (not obvious in earlier statues of David) and it’s psychological depth
- Bernini’s David is a three-dimensional work that needs space around it and challenges the viewer to walk around it
- facial expression - studied his own face in mirror to find the appropriate expression
- looks at ancient sculptors and the painted polyphemus
- sense of movement, dynamic pose
- engages the viewer
- Goliath’s presence is implied - coexstensive space
6
Q
Baroque in Italy and Spain
A
1656
Velázquez
Las Meninas
- he is raising the painting up showing that he belongs in it with the royal family
- the girl is not the real topic
- mirror maybe idea from Arnolfini Portrait by van Eyck
- paintings by Rubens
- in artist’s studio
- painting about painting (reality. illusion,…)
- everyone is looking at us
- loose paintr with long brushes
- loose brush strokes (becomes obvious the closer you are o the painting)
- Velasquez intended this huge and visually complex work, with its cunning contrasts of true spaces, mirrored spaces, and picture spaces, to elevate both himself and the profession of painting.
- Portrait painter for Spanish royal family
- Maids of honor, focus is young women in front. Focal point in princess in front in white. All of her ladies in waiting are tending to her. Face painted with a lot of care, given more attention than her dress. King and Queen in square in the back, looks as though there is a mirror and they are the ones being painted on the large canvas in the left. Distinctive red cross is symbol of knightly order in Spain, very prestigious, appointed by king or queen. Valasquez wasn’t a member in life, but was posthumously made a member, cross wasn’t originally there, another artist was hired to paint it in.
- End of Baroque Spain
- self portrait - see him painting; important bcs he’s standing very close to Princess (royal); mirror in back shows king and queen - standing close to them too
- tribute to Rubens in paintings in room
- Margarita - optical natural - focus of painting; she’s the most distinctly painted figure
- Velazquez was painting the king and queen portrait until margarita comes in and all attention goes to her; see image thru king and queen’s point of view
7
Q
Baroque in Northern Europe
A
1664
Vermeer
Woman Holding a Balance
- mirror (self-reflection, vanity) but not looking into mirror
- balance (souls are weight)
- The Last Judgement scene in background
- example of vanitas painting hidden in genre painting
- vibrant yellows and golds
- she is balancing her values (soul, wealth,…)
- sometimes read as woman being Mary (when you see Mary right before you, you are being judged - maybe she is weighing souls for her son)
- vp is the woman’s fingers
- scales are in perfect balance (she is doing it right)
- pictorial light
- reflections affected by colors around the object (the first to do that)
- Interest in textures, scene of every day life, geometric, simple, contemplative.
- Possibly talking about the last judgement: scale and poster behind her.
- painting is actually tiny in scale
- very detailed
- image of last judgement in back
- depicts source of light penetrating into room
- balance theme is a moralizing messege
- subtle facial expression, ambigious
- uses vanishing point to the left of the right pinky finger holding the balance.
- Noble simplicity.
- Every detail is important.
- Figure, mood and delicate action create mood.
- The very center of the composition is her hand holding the balance.
- Natural cool greys.
Significance: genre picture? - no real subject, Last Judgment on the wall behind her reflecting her action of weighing, vanitas picture? - transience of life as our souls will be weighed, ambiguous
8
Q
Baroque in Northern Europe
A
1610-1611
Rubens
The Raising of the Cross
- as accurate as possible to bible
- very catholic
- novel composition (like Caravaggio)
- was looking at Michelangelo (body, wild movement)
- bulky, muscular bodies
- looking at Caravaggio (dark, light, painting coming into our space)
- triptych
- he loved Titian (brushy background and color-bright red and blue)
- texture (armour, dog,…)
- churches needed new art
- new rules of catholism (art should follow bible exactly)
- Mary not falling apart like before (strong, stoic)
- Use of diagonal line to create drama
- triptych
- idealized physicality
- emphasis on textural realism-Northern European influence
- Dramatic lightening and dramatic faces inspired by Carrivagio
- Individualized expressions
- Painting very much affected by Counter-Reformation concerns
- Viewers drawn into painting and identify with Jesus’ suffering
- A touch of realism is introduced with the dog
- Jesus form is the most extended highlight in the painting which is a Jesus as the Light of the World.
- Rubens explored foreshortened anatomy and violent action
- The composition seethes with a power that comes from heroic exertion
- the tension is emotional as well as physical.
- Sharp diagonal of the cross
- Body of Christ has lighting of Caravaggio
- Loves fleshy women, full figured women, considered to be ideal women
- uses diagonals in space
- depicts tension and struggle
- uses space of viewer illusion (Jesus Crucified in our space and time)
- Jesus looks up to heaven in peace
- Composition has the strong diagonal line of Christ, the line to the left, and the opposing diagonal to the left
- Strong emphasis on the anatomy and strength of men
- Using shadow to Highlight the musculature of the men
- Activation of the muscles, by putting the figures in positions of action
- Contortions of figures
- Drama/ theatricality
- The base of the cross is implied to sit inside the church itself, pushing the Christ out into the church
- often called eclectic - borrowed elements from past and present artists
- lighting and naturalism similar to Caravaggio
- similar interest to Michelangelo in anatomy
- colors remind of Venetians
- shows extreme emotions
- Struggling to raise cross because sins are heavy
- Red is a symbol of Christ’s blood
- Style: Caravaggio’s chiaroscuro, Venetian color, and Michelangelo’s majestic figures
- Light is used to bring attention to Christ as well as the faces and body positions of various figures
9
Q
Baroque in Northern Europe
A
1642
Rembrandt
The Night Watch
- a lot of foreshortening (coming into our space)
- compositional patterns
- new way of doing group portrait
- brings in lesson of Caravaggio and Italian Baroque
- perfect details
- Baroque lighting
- larger than life
- made normal line up portrait into a story (movement, action, noise)
- theatrical lighting
- use of tenebrism and diagonals
- makes the picture a virtouso perfomance filled with movement and lighting and help capture excitement of moment and provides unique sense of drama
- Focus is on Cpt. Banning Cocq.
- Significance: portrait for a shooting company done in an entirely different way
- created a history painting of the men marching out of a building
- viewer engulfed as they march to us
- use of red and yellow to guide the viewer’s eye, three stages of shooting a musket represented
10
Q
Baroque in Northern Europe
A
1701
Rigaud
Louis XIV
- Large paining, portrayed over life size
- We know he’s important because…
Sword: military background
Blue: royalty, expensive pigment
Gold: expensive
Crown, throne, cape
Tights: muscular shapely legs
Shoes: heels
Building: relief in background, large column
Pose: emphasis on dance and courtship
- Calls himself the sun king
- Fancy carpet
Painting puts us below him (important in all paintings)
- Looking down at us
- Viewpoint is in his center
- depicts fiction of rule and power
- absolutism
- feminine but grand and imposing confident pose
- painting expresses Louis’s dominance and unequaled stature as the center of the French State.
- Example of absolute monarchy (one man who sees himself as divinely appointed, he can do no wrong, no one questions him.) Sees himself as France. Able to suppress all who opposed him.
- Symbolism in powerful posture, staring at viewer
- Curtains in background are bunched up, gives impression that curtain has been opened and the king is the show
- In the latest fashions, likes his legs, heels make him look taller, but were also part of a group he started, given to special individuals. High status symbol.
11
Q
High Renaissance and Mannerism in Northern Europe and Spain
A
1529
Lucas Cranach
The Law and the Gospel
- the single most influential image of the Lutheran Reformation
- The Reformation, initiated by Martin Luther in 1517, was originally an attempt to reform the Catholic Church
- However, reform quickly became rebellion, as people began to question the power and practices of the Catholic Church, which had been the only church in western Europe up until Luther
- A decisive difference between Catholics and followers of Luther was the question of how to get to heaven, and what role, if any, religious art could play
- The Catholic Church insisted that believers could take action to vouchsafe their salvation by doing good deeds, including making financial donations and paying for elaborate art to decorate Christian churches.
- Luther, however, insisted that salvation was in God’s hands, and all the believer had to do was to open up and have faith.
- As people became disillusioned with Catholic teaching, they grew angry about the ways the Catholic Church became rich in money, art, and power.
- When reform became impossible and rebellion the only course of action, furious, frustrated believers directed their anger at works of art, an easy and powerful target
- The Law and the Gospel explains Luther’s ideas in visual form, most basically the notion that heaven is reached through faith and God’s grace.
- Luther despised and rejected the Catholic idea that good deeds, what he called “good works,” could play any role in salvation
- In The Law and the Gospel, two nude male figures appear on either side of a tree that is green and living on the “Gospel” side to the viewer’s right, but barren and dying on the “law” side to the viewer’s left
- Six columns of Bible citations appear at the bottom of the panel.
Right (“gospel”) side
- On the “gospel” side of the image (the right side), John the Baptist directs a naked man to both Christ on the cross in front of the tomb and to the risen Christ who appears on top of the tomb
- The risen Christ stands triumphant above the empty tomb, acting out the miracle of the Resurrection
- This nude figure is not vainly hoping to follow the law or to present a tally of his good deeds on the judgment day
- He stands passively, stripped down to his soul, submitting to God’s mercy.
Left (“law”) side
- In the left foreground a skeleton and a demon force a frightened naked man into hell, as a group of prophets, including Moses, point to the tablets of the law
- The motifs on the left side of the composition are meant to exemplify the idea that law alone, without gospel, can never get you to heaven
- Christ sits in Judgment as Adam and Eve (in the background) eat the fruit and fall from grace
- Moses beholds these events from his vantage point toward the center of the picture, his white tablets standing out against the saturated orange robe and the deep green tree behind him, literally highlighting the association of law, death, and damnation.
- Taken together, these motifs demonstrate that law leads inescapably to hell when mistaken for a path to salvation, as the damned naked man demonstrates.
God judges and God shows mercy
- The Law and the Gospel is concerned with two roles that God plays, to judge and to show mercy
- On the one hand, God judges and condemns human sin; but on the other hand, God also shows mercy and forgiveness, granting unearned salvation to sinful believers
- The Law and Gospel concerns two aspects of the relationship between humanity and God, a relationship based on human action on the one hand, and divine power on the other
- The Law and Gospel describes events throughout the Bible which reveal the dual aspect of God’s relationship to people
The Law and the Gospel is Lutheran because it represents Cranach’s pictorial translation of Luther’s unique understanding of salvation
- The painting interprets the roles of law, good works, faith, and grace in the human relationship to God
- This image depicts one of the most pivotal elements of Luther’s theology
- On the left is the Law and judgment symbolized by a man being forced into hell by Death and Satan, Moses delivering the Ten Commandments, Christ sitting in judgment, and Adam and Even partaking of the forbidden fruit
- On the right is Grace and the Gospel with Christ’s cross crushing Death and Satan and the blood of Christ covering those near the cross
- The tree that divides the painting is dead on the side of the Law but vibrant on the side of the Gospel
- Luther and Cranach are not here depicting a radical break between Law and Gospel, the theologies of the Old Testament versus that of the New
- Rather, as Noble demonstrates, “The painting draws a boundary between the dynamics of Law and Gospel (Lutheran theology) on the one hand, and law on its own (Catholicism or Judaism) on the other.”
- Luther is not antithetical toward the Law as a guide in Sanctification, rather he castigates the Law seen as an agent of Justification
12
Q
High Renaissance and Mannerism in Northern Europe and Spain
A
1533
Hans Holbein the Younger
The French Ambassadors
- great details
- anatomy and linear perspective
- they recognize that humanity is limited
- crucifix, they answer to a higher power
- strong sense of composition
- subtle linear pattering
- gift for portraiture
- sensitivity to color
- oriental rug
- interest in learning and the arts
- Regardless of what things/ knowledge you have you are not immune to death
- clothings suggests occupation (priest & ambassador)
- shows skull from side to show how skilled he is
- MOMENTO Mori- reminder of death
- meant to make audiece move around image
- lutheran hymn in open book
- By the churchman there is a lute with a broken string next to a hymnal showing that there was disharmony in the church (protestant reform)
- Hidden disfigured skull that could be seen with a convex mirror, skull meaning death (Vanitas) - A reminder of mortality.
- Hidden crucifix to remind viewers to ponder death and resurrection.
- The floor detail is the same as the Westminster abbey.
- All the details to show the mens worldliness and education
13
Q
High Renaissance and Mannerism in Northern Europe and Spain
A
1505-1510
Bosch
The Garden of Earthly Delights
- triptych
- enigmatic (difficult to interpret or understand; mysterious) painting
- theme of sex and procreation
- image portrays a visionary world of fantasy and intrigue
- Left pannel: God (in the form of Christ) presents Eve to Adam in a landscape (Garden of Eden?)
- Central pannel: continuation of paradise, nude people in prime of youth, bizarre creatures, unidentifiable objects, fruits and birds (fertility symbols) suggest procretion (couples)
- Right pannel: terrifying image of hell (consequence of behavior), viewers must search through the darkness to find all the fascinationg but repulsive detail, beastly creatures devour people, torture while alive,
14
Q
High Renaissance and Mannerism in Northern Europe and Spain
A
1523-26
Dürer
The Four Apostles
- protestants trying to figure out how to do art
- just have faith in god, nothing else matters
- two-panel oil painting
- mastery of oil technique and brilliant use of color and light and shade
- 4 apostles have individual personalities and e in portraiture-like features
- St Peter secondary role (behind St John)
- St Peter and St John both read from te bible, the single authoritative source of religious truth ( ACCORDING to LUTHER)
- St John (open book) and St Peter (key) on left panel and St Mark (scroll) and St Paul (sword and closed book) on the right
- disguised symbolism-the four humors: melancholy, sanguine, legmatic, cholerate
- high renaissance bodies with Northern Renaissance faces
- Martin Luther’s Favorite Apostles featured in front (St. Paul & St. John)
- right front: light in eye, vein in head, wrinkles, flesh looks oily
- St. Peter was the 1st Pope and is stuck in background; St. John kinda took over in Lutheran Doctrine; St. Paul writes about being saved by faith alone in front
- piece is in point of view of Martin Luther
15
Q
High Renaissance and Mannerism in Northern Europe and Spain
A
1586
El Greco
The Burial of Count Orgaz
- stable equilateral triangle on top
- primary colors
- dramatic chiascuro
- energetic curving lines
- elongated figure types
- looks medieval
- careful distinction between terrestrial (relating to or occurring on the earth) and celestial (belonging or relating to heaven) spheres
- the brilliant Heaven that opens above irradiates (illuminate (something) by or as if by shining light on it) the earthly scene
- represented the terrestrial realm with a firm realism and depicts the celestial with elongated figures, distortion, fluttering draperies, and a visionary swirling cloud
- the upward glances of some figures below and the flight of an angel (drapes) above link the painting’s lower and upper spheres
- Orgaz was very religious and charitable
- St. Stephen and Augustine miraculously appeared from heaven to help bury Count Orgaz
- his soul is being accepted by Heaven/God
- loose application of the paint
- supposed self portrait of him and his son; paper in son’s pocket w/ El Greco’s signature and date, refers to sons birthday
- top: anger and figure in angel’s hand - pushing his soul thru opening to Heaven; death - born into eternal life
bottom - venetian
top - mannerist - long arm, some bright colors
16
Q
Impressionism
1870-1890
A
- Time: interested in capturing the exact, the fleeting moment
- Brush Strokes: Finial brush strokes
- Color: ,Light as divided into transient patches of color patches of light
- painted freely, outdoors
- originated in France
- Pure Impressionism was outdoor plein-air painting, characterized by rapid, spontaneous and loose brushstrokes
- Its guiding principle was the realistic depiction of light
- Loose brushwork, coupled with a non-naturalist use of colour, gave the movement a revolutionary edge, and opened the way for movements such as Expressionism and Fauvism
- The Impressionists’ main priorities included: (1) the immediate and optically accurate depiction of a momentary scene; (2) the execution of the whole work in the open air (no more preparatory sketches and careful completion in the studio); (3) the use of pure colour on the canvas, rather than being first mixed on the palette; (4) the use of small strokes and dabs of brightly-coloured paint; and (5) the use of light and colour to unify a picture, instead of the traditional method of gradually building up a painting by outline and modelling with light and shade
- Characteristics: relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subject matter, inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception and experience, and unusual visual angles.
- render in paint an instanteous impression of a fleeting moment
- direct response to photography and its abiltiy to describe “reality” so well
- paint was applied in loose, identifiable brushstrokes
- open compositions
- very bright color palette
- subject matter is usually of everyday
- Paintings of casual subjects, executed outdoors, using divided brush strokes to capture the mood of a particular moment as defined by the transitory effects of light and color
17
Q
Impressionism: Europe and America, 1870 to 1900
A
1880
Renoir
Luncheon of the Boating Party
- COMPOSITION:
Both still life, group portrait (several) and landscape
Grouped, natural Interacting- (from seamstress to
mayor)
Emotional- joy of life for French bourgeoisie
- SUBJECT: mixing of CLASSES gaily in modern life
- open compositions
- bright color palette
- subject matter is usually of everyday
- Paintings of casual subjects, executed outdoors, using divided brush strokes to capture the mood of a particular moment as defined by the transitory effects of light and color
- the use of light and colour to unify a picture, instead of the traditional method of gradually building up a painting by outline and modelling with light and shade
- the immediate and optically accurate depiction of a momentary scene
- more stable groupings then just a fleeting glance at subject matter
- still uses lush color and sensual brush work
- Academic modeling, middle class pleasure, color: light, bright, contemporary, moving away from impressionism
- interested in people’s interactions and the intertwining of looks, not an aristocratic group
- high key color and apparent brush strokes
18
Q
Mannerism
1510 - 1590
A
- Mannerism acts as a bridge between the idealized style of Renaissance art and the dramatic theatricality of the Baroque.
- The Mannerist style originated in Florence and Rome and spread to northern Italy and, ultimately, to much of central and northern Europe
- Mannerism originated as a reaction to the harmonious classicism and the idealized naturalism of High Renaissance art
- In the portrayal of the human nude, the standards of formal complexity had been set by Michelangelo, and the norm of idealized beauty by Raphael.
- An obsession with style and technique in figural composition often outweighed the importance and meaning of the subject matter.
- The highest value was instead placed upon the apparently effortless solution of intricate artistic problems, such as the portrayal of the nude in complex and artificial poses.
- Mannerist artists evolved a style that is characterized by artificiality and artiness, by a thoroughly self-conscious cultivation of elegance and technical facility, and by a sophisticated indulgence in the bizarre.
- The figures in Mannerist works frequently have graceful but queerly elongated limbs, small heads, and stylized facial features, while their poses seem difficult or contrived.
- The deep, linear perspectival space of High Renaissance painting is flattened and obscured so that the figures appear as a decorative arrangement of forms in front of a flat background of indeterminate dimensions.
- Mannerists sought a continuous refinement of form and concept, pushing exaggeration and contrast to great limits.
- The results included strange and constricting spatial relationships, jarring juxtapositions of intense and unnatural colours, an emphasis on abnormalities of scale, a sometimes totally irrational mix of classical motifs and other visual references to the antique, and inventive and grotesque pictorial fantasies.
20
Q
Natural Art (Moral): The 18th Century in Europe and America
A
1745
Hogarth
The Breakfast Scene from Marriage à la Mode
- He is English
- 1/6 paintings (series)
- satirizing the marital immoralities of the moneyed classes in England
- new printing technology
- Morals
- Values don’t reflect their life
- Technically more sophisticated than Hogarth’s other progresses, Marriage à la Mode was aimed at the upper middle class and the aristocracy, a smaller, more select audience than the artist usually addressed in this genre.
- The subject of his work, according to his advertisement, is the “Modern Occurrences in High-Life.”
- It tells the story of two young people ill-suited to each other who are forced into a marriage ordained to failure.
- Serving only the vanity and avarice of their parents, the union drives the couple to destroy each other and wreck their families.
- Hogarth wanted to draw attention to the morals – or lack of morals – in English society in his time
- The picture is balanced even though there are two figures to the right and one on the left. This is achieved by having depth with the usage of a back room with lighter coloured walls which subtly draw the eye toward the brighter shade. As well there is an overturned chair and violin case which mimics the size of a human figure complementing the debt collector. The overall feeling in this picture is one of tiredness and lethargy and shows Hogarth had a keen eye for society in his era as he recorded the overt and reckless behaviour of the upper middle-class who were often living beyond their means in their pursuit of pleasure.
- Satirized contemporary life with comic zest
- True English style after years of importation of painters
- Favorite device - series of narratives, which follows a group of people in encounters with social evil
- Satirized immoralities within an upper class marriage that is beginning
- Husband and wife tired after a night apart
- Wife = night of cards and music
- Husband = night of suspicious business
- Depicts the carefree life of aristocriticy of empty marriages and art collection
- Comical and theatrical facial reactions and gestures
- Criticizes those who foolishly spend their money and lesiure time by partying all the time.
- the husband and wife are tired from a night of separate pursuits. she stayed home for music and cards, he went out for shady business
- Woman’s cap in his pocket
- Steward has handful of unpaid bills, raises eyes to heavens in despair
- Row of pictures shows saints with one curtained picture, of an erotic subject
21
Q
Natural Art: The 18th Century in Europe and America
A
1787
Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Lebrun
Marie Antoinette and Her Children
- Queen used portraiture to make herself look better to the people
- less over the top fancy (than usual)
- no jewelry
- taking care of her own children (unusual for aristocrates)
- portrayed like normal middle class parent
- more modest
- At first glance, the resulting picture presents a happy image
Madame Royale gazes lovingly up at her mother, the infant Duc de Normandie bounces on her lap, and the Dauphin looks every inch the angelic heir to the throne of France.
- This is an image of the family Marie Antoinette always longed for, and a vision of the Queen as she wished herself to be seen
- But look closer and all is not quite as it should be
- The young dauphin points so proudly and so invitingly, but leads our eye to a gaping hole at the centre of the picture
- When the portrait was first painted, the crib was occupied by another baby, Marie Antoinette’s most recent child, Madame Sophie. Less than a year later, Madame Sophie was dead, and thoughts of her wretched life and early death caused Marie Antoinette so much pain that Sophie was painted out of the picture
- The image that was left is a haunting and somehow apt visual metaphor for Marie Antoinette’s deeply troubled relationship with children
- From the first days of her own childhood to her execution, and even beyond in the murky waters of her reputation, children – both absent and present, real and imagined – seem peculiarly to have defined Marie Antoinette
22
Q
Natural Art (Moral): The 18th Century in Europe and America
A
1740
Chardin
Saying Grace
- Genre painting - good middle class people
- Diderot (art critic influenced the Enlightenment- Encyclopedia) was against Rococo and all for Natural Art, that’s why he liked Chardin
- teaching manners and saing grace
- kids well behaved
- hushed lighting and mellow colors
- still-life accessories
- moment of social instruction
- simple composition (charming)
- Shows a mother and her two young daughters about to sit down for a meal
- The older daughter and the mother are about to teach the younger daughter the ritual of saying grace before a meal
- Subdued charm reinforced by simplicity of the composition, while the dark background brings the light characters to the forefront
- Return to “ignorance, innocence, and happiness” of nature
- Elevation of feelings above reason
- Elevation of peasant life- perceived as possessing simple, honest and unblemished emotions
- Earthly tones, natural, untouched feel
- Bareness of the surroundings
- began to paint peasants and middle class people
- simple clothes, simple colors, furnishings
- genre painting of normal people, w/ no myth. or any other reference
- moral tale, emphasis on the quiet dignity
- clothes aren’t torn or anything - can’t push reality too far
24
Q
Neoclassicism (Enlightenment): The 18th Century in Europe and America
A
1793
David
The Death of Marat
- wounds like jesus
- looks vulnerable
- looks like a Christ or Saint (wounds, naked)
- most important painting of the Revolution
- Marat is dying: his eyelids droop, his head weighs heavily on his shoulder, his right arm slides to the ground
- His body, as painted by David, is that of a healthy man, still young
- The scene inevitably calls to mind a rendering of the “Descent from the Cross.” The face is marked by suffering, but is also gentle and suffused by a growing peacefulness as the pangs of death loosen their grip
- David has surrounded Marat with a number of details borrowed from his subject’s world, including the knife and Charlotte Corday’s petition, attempting to suggest through these objects both the victim’s simplicity and grandeur, and the perfidy of the assassin. The petition (“My great unhappiness gives me a right to your kindness”), the assignat Marat was preparing for some poor unfortunate (“you will give this assignat to that mother of five children whose husband died in the defense of his country”), the makeshift writing-table and the mended sheet are the means by which David discreetly bears witness to his admiration and indignation
- The face, the body, and the objects are suffused with a clear light, which is softer as it falls on the victim’s features and harsher as it illuminates the assassin’s petition
- David leaves the rest of his model in shadow
- In this sober and subtle interplay of elements can be seen, in perfect harmony with the drawing, the blend of compassion and outrage David felt at the sight of the victim
- Commisioned during the Reign of Terror, David used the principles of Neoclassical style in the service of contemporary political events
- painting represents intellectual and political enlightenment.
- Portrait of the journalist for revolution
- He idealizes a real life scene, doesn’t show his skin disease and makes him look ageless
- Portrays him as a timeless marytr.
- Uses tenebrism and highlights the figure.
- used as political propaganda references
- compared to Pieta
- idealization of Murat
- sharp lighting used
- Marat, friend of David, was assassinated in the bathtub because of his revolutionary thoughts
- Painting included the knife, blood, and letter the assassin used to get in
- Based on Christ in Michelangelo’s painting.
- he takes grusome murder into propaganda
- light coming from unknown source above
- Limited color palette, emphasis on line, idealized figure, shallow space, moral: died for country, similar to Pieta
- contemporary
- Significance: piece of propaganda, violence removed - very peaceful still shot, glorified, includes the quill with which he wrote to defend the French republic, murder weapon close to the viewer, Christ-like, large black space with gradation from dark to light
25
Q
Neoclassicism (Enlightenment): The 18th Century in Europe and America
A
1784
David
Oath of the Horatii
- 1st painter to Napoleon
- ancient Roman, simple architecture
- Roman clothing
- triangles
- shallow space (like a stage)
- about life-size
- primary colors (blue, red and yellow)
- important painting to the Revolutionaries
- becomes official painter for the Revolution (posters,…)
- Moral: country over anything (family, love, etc)
- David was the Neoclassical painter-ideologist of the French Revolution
- This huge canvas celebrating ancient Roman patriotism and sacrifice features statuesque figures and classical architecture
- Painter-ideologist of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Empire
- Studied in Roman, embraced classical art traditions. Rebelled against artificial Rococo
- Subject matter should have a moral
- Depicts story from pre-Republican Rome, shown as a play, shows the Horatii swearing to win or die for Rome
- Shallow space, statuesque figures and classical architecture
- In a scene from the history of Rome, three brothers pledge to defend the city’s honor against the Curatius family of a neighboring town, the Horatian women grieve because one is sister to the opposing family and the other is engaged to a Curatius
- painting embodied the leading principles of neoclassicism: didactic purpose, purity of form, and deep passion restrained by good taste
- in it’s simplicity and rigor, it was a declaration of neoclassicism’s revolt against the whimsical style of the rococo
reaction against Rococo and the Nightmare
- swearing on swords to defend fatherland
- women weak vs men strong
- uses harsh light that cast precise shadows (Caravaggio)
- Painting was representative of the French Revolution.
- Favored classical tradition and “perfect form” of greek art
- The arches roughly frame each group
- the men are hard, aggressive, strong, angular, stable, arms out,
- the women are weak, drapped, soft in every sense, shrieked down and into themselves
- the rational vs emotional
- figures are set in a stage like space/box
- wanted to make timeless statements - political etc.
- story: shallow stage, 4 men 4 women, framed by 3 arches, checkered floor emphasizes the focal pt. (swords and hand); strong light, everything is clear; male strength and female emotion; younger men taking oath to their father to fight for family and nation, sisters are sad/emotional, soft;
- men - stiff, hard, strong
- sister is engaged to boys’ enemy
- only one brother returns tells sister that her fiance is dead, sister cries, brother kills her bcs she’s putting love, personal feelings,and loss before family and state
- large painting in public places to teach lessons
- Moral:country before family, idealized figures, reduced color palette, dramatic lighting, shallow space, figures parallel to figure plane, story from classical antiquity
Significance: story of the past relevant to the present revolution, harsh geometry
26
Q
Neoclassicism (Glorification): Europe and America, 1800 to 1870
A
1800-1801
David
Napoleon Crossing the Saint-Bernard Pass
- The strong use of diagonals gives the painting a sense of dynamism, the highest point of the red cape propelling the eye forward, mirroring the gesture of the mounted soldier and suggesting the direction and momentum of the attack
- Wind rakes the horse’s mane and tail and sends the dark clouds sliding across the sky, suggesting the dynamic forces of nature harnessed by the invading army
- Horse and rider are illuminated as if in divine affirmation of Napoleon’s power
- Amid the wind and movement, Napoleon’s expression is steady, his eyes focused and intense
- The painting’s red, white and blue – the colours of the Republic – lend boldness to the image and mirror the tricolour flag that waves in the corner of the composition, emphasising the force of the nation personified in the heroic figure
- depicts Napolean crossing the Alps which is clearly in the tradition of Roman equestrian portraits.
- David glorifies his patron
27
Q
Romanticism (Gloryfication): Europe and America, 1800 to 1870
A
1804
Gros
Napoleon at the Pesthouse at Jaffa
- sublime sky
- emotions
- The arches are reminiscent of the Oath of Horatii
- People doctors, troops, and sick people in groups
- People taken care of by Islamic doctors are in the darkness while people taken care of by those in enlightenment are in the light
- France powering over- French flag
- Napoleon fearless with ego- touching wound, like Jesus healing wound
- Nude bodies are neoclassical
- Unlike neoclassical this is to promote government rather then go against it
The picture is neoclassical in its subject matter - the depiction of an example of virtue - and in certain formal aspects
- The scene is depicted against a stage-like backdrop of arcades reminiscent of David’s The Oath of the Horatii
- The painter has given great importance to the center of the painting, where he has placed Bonaparte, and has also included several heroic nudes
- But aspects of Gros’s treatment in this work have broken with the art of his teacher David and herald Romanticism
- The painter emphasizes the suffering of the plague-stricken, instilling a feeling of horror and the sublime in the viewer
- The composition is divided into contrasting areas of light and shade
- The light and colors are warm and recall those of the Venetian masters and Rubens
- Gros, a precursor of the Orientalists, also took pains to depict oriental facial types, dress, and architecture
- Realistic: real-life event, realistic architecture and costuming
- Emotional: dying of the plague
- Intellectual: linear composition, parallel to picture, moral: Napoleon is brave, demonstrating “divine right”
28
Q
Post- Impressionism: Europe and America, 1870 to 1900
A
1884
Seurat
Sunday on la Grande Jatte
- Brush Strokes: points.
- Color: Interested in psychological effects of complimentary and analogous colors
- Time: eternal
- painted indoors from studies outside
- Did not break light into transient patches of color
- Broke color into systems of light dots complimentary and analogous colors
COMPOSITION
MONUMENTAL, CHOREOGRAPHED, ISOLATED
The social group breaks up into isolated spectators who do not communicate with each other, or consist of mechanically repeated dances with little spontaneity. Finely dressed
They lack emotion, but still have a psychic, almost totemic quality (as in spiritual figures)
Also speak to isolation and social choreography of urban life
SUBJECT:
Psychological solitude, social choreography and dance in the midst of urban life ? Etc.
- Seurat’s color system–pointillism–involved dividing colors into their component parts and applying those colors to the canvas in tiny dots
- The forms become comprehensible only from a distance
- small dots [points] of pure color when ‘mixed in the eye’ makes color more luminous
- study of the way that light falls on people and the landscape
- mixture of horizontals and verticals receeding into the background
- rich warm colors
- Significance: trying to locate the scientific component of painting, dividing colors into their primary colors - fragmentation, simplified and abstracted people/images, use of complimentary colors, individual color moments blend together optically, isolated figures in a well composed painting
- scene of leisure with rigid iconic forms
- motion created by contrast of color, repitition, silhouettes rather than figures
30
Q
Renaissance and Mannerism in Cinquecento Italy
A
1573
Veronese
Feast in the House of Levi
- single light in upper left corner
- shimmering halos = biblical nature
- drama
- includes mannerism (imbalanced composition and vidual complexity)
- one of the largest canvases of the 16th century
- to replace an earlier work by Titian destroyed in the fire
- Originally named the painting the Lord’s Last Supper, meaning the last meal that Christ had shared with the apostles
- This connotation was seen as derogatory towards The Last Supper story of the Bible - Veronese however was not charged but was forced to rename the painting as The Feast in the House of Levi.
- The work did not show enough respect for its sacred subject, it was argued, with its midgets, drunks and fools. There is even a dog in the place traditionally reserved for Mary Magdalene, and people dressed as Germans!
31
Q
Renaissance and Mannerism in Cinquecento Italy
A
1535
Parmigianino
The Madonna with the Long Neck
- Mannerism
- tiny shoulders
- huge baby
- Piéta resemble
- Elongated figure types; unstable positions- Baby Jesus is about to fall off her lap; unusal composition: figures crammed in corner and abrubt change to background; flat columns, old baby, sexualized virgin
- Mannerists disregarded rules of composition and perspective - wanted to be inventinve & playful
- Figures crowded to one side
- the Virgin exhibits enormous hips and a sort of airy and boneless hand
- clingy and transparent dress on the Virgin
- the position of the Virgin and Child are reminiscent of the position in the Pieta
32
Q
Renaissance and Mannerism in Cinquecento Italy
A
1538
Titian
Venus of Urbino
- First nude in a bedroom (popular in Venice)*; marriage painting or stimulating love making; attention drawn to her groin; symbolism with dog/color
- Titian has domesticated Venus by moving her to an indoor setting, engaging her with the viewer, and making her sensuality explicit
- Cut into foreground/ background
- The reds balance the painting
- Underlying geometric shapes
- looking right back at us
- It depicts a nude young woman, identified with the goddess Venus, reclining on a couch or bed in the sumptuous surroundings of a Renaissance palace
- Venus displays none of the attributes of the goddess she is supposed to represent- the painting is unapologetically erotic
- painting that appealed to the senses
- painting may have been intended for a wedding
- use of color records the various textures of the woman’s skin
- dog symbol of loyalty
33
Q
Renaissance and Mannerism in Cinquecento Italy
A
1546
Bronzino
Allegory of Venus
- ALLEGORY = a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one
- father time = time reveals all
- cold skin
- deceiving
- strange allegory of forbidden love
- witch = outcome of love that shouldn’t be
- Idealized figures with exaggerated anatomy; elongated figure types; things aren’t what they seem: love appears to be sweet but has a stinger; scandalous subject matter
- hard, sharp, and linear painting
- very allegorical and mythical painting
- incentuous relationship between Mother (Venus) and son (Cupid)
- Pleasure (half girl, half serpent) handing honeycomb
- Father time pulls back the curtain - suggest you know it all in time
34
Q
Renaissance and Mannerism in Cinquecento Italy
A
1534-1541
Michelangelo
The Last Judgement
- Mannerism
- Sistine Chapel
- A depiction of the second coming of Christ and the apocalypse
- The souls of humans rise and descend to their fates, as judged by Christ surrounded by his saints
- Christ and Mary are in the center
- angels of the apocalypse are awakening the dead for judgement
- Mostly noted for its radical departure from standard depictions of the scene
- The layout is swirled rather than layerd, Christ is beardless and muscular, all naked
- was accused of flaunting style over content
- Michelangelo overhauled the traditional image of the Last Judgment in keeping with the late Renaissance art of the Mannerist movement
- Michelangelo divided the composition into two tiers: In the celestial zone, Christ the Judge was flanked by the choirs of Apostles, angels, saints, martyrs and Patriarchs. In the terrestrial zone below, the Resurrection of the Dead was laid out on the left, while the Damned’s descent into Hell appeared on the right
- Each obedient population, assembled in its designated place, performed its role with predictable emotion: the Elect joyful, the Damed in torment
- Michelangelo conceived his Last Judgment as a swirl of bodies - male and female nudes, in keeping with his humanist philosophy - around the dynamic centre of Christ, with every figure either in motion or tense with emotion
- The predictability has been swept away, replaced by anxious uncertainity whereas the traditional iconography was static and hierarchical, Michelangelo’s vision is of a dynamic explosive event.
- Flowing robes have been put aside, for in Michelangelo’s view we will all meet the Lord stripped of all rank and emblems of our earthly status
- Although Michelangelo avoided the sharply divided sections of earlier artists’ versions, he introduced zones that correspond to the divisions of the sidewall frescoes
- The area of the lunettes at the top is filled with the angels and the implements of the Passion (the Cross and Pillar)
- Underneath, we see the densely massed ranks of the Elect
- Further down, a zone marks the transition between those who are already among the Elect surrounding Christ and those who are rising or descending
- The line continues across the fresco, where there is suddenly an unimpeded glimpse of blue sky
- The bottom zone of the wall features (on the left) graves being opened to release their occupants upwards towards Christ, and (on the right) Hell
- Overall, The Last Judgment exemplifies the triumph of design over colour/paint
- Instead of using linear perspective, Michelangelo resorted to overlapping his figures in densely packed groups, forming chains to indicate the current of movement
- As figures moved back in space they lose acuity, sometimes painted very thinly.
- One of Michelangelo’s most remarkable innovations is his elimination of a frame
- Figures are cut off at the edges, as if to imply that we are seeing only a portion, and the scene continues in all directions, laterally and also below
- Instead of giving a sense that all have their places here and know what they are, Michelangelo portrays the uncertainity of men and women being moved by a force outside of their control to a fate still unknown to them. When they discover their destinations, he shows their demonstrations of surprise, joy, or horror.
- Features of the Painting
The Lunettes
The two Lunettes at the top of The Last Judgment feature the symbols of Christ’s Passion, the Cross, the Pillar against which he was scourged, the Ladder, the Sponge, and the Crown of Thorns - all carried by wingless angels. They are given unaccustomed prominence because their inclusion makes clear that the final Resurrection shown lower down was made possible only by the sacrificial death of Christ and his Resurrection.
Christ and the Virgin
The commanding figure of Christ dominates The Last Judgment fresco. He is set against a golden aureole, which also includes his mother who cleaves to his side. In earlier sketches Michelangelo had drawn Christ seated in the traditional manner, but in the painting he seems to be striding forward, perhaps rising to his feet.
His stance reminds us of images of Christ at his Resurrection, bursting from the tomb. The 16th century art writers Giorgio Vasari and Ascanio Condivi described Christ’s gesture with his right arm as angry, but his impassive face contradicts this interpretation. His raised arm should be understood rather as a gesture of command, setting in motion the events we see unfolding before us - the angels sound the trumpets, the dead are raised, after which they proceed to their appointed places, either rising to join Christ in Heaven or falling into the abyss of Hell. He displays the wounds on his hands and feet and side, reminding us that he is the Resurrected Christ and also of his suffering and at what cost this eternal life was won for us.
The Virgin turns her head aside and folds her arms, as if to say that the time for her merciful intercession has passed. The golden light behind Christ, which Michelangelo went to the trouble of painting a secco in brilliant yellow pigments that he used nowhere else in the fresco, becomes the sun around which the whole event moves in an inevitable rotation. This visual feature has given rise to statements about Christ’s resemblance to Apollo, the God of the Sun, around which all the planets revolve.
The Elect
Surrounding Christ and the Virgin are crowds of saints, martyrs and others who have risen to paradise. A few have attributes from which we can identify them but most have not. We recognize St Lawrence with his grate and St Bartholomew with his knife and flayed skin, St Peter holding the keys of the Kingdom, St Andrew with his cross, St Sebastian holding up the arrows with which he was shot, St Blaise with his wool combs and St Catherine with her wheel. Two figures from the Crucifixion - the Good Thief, Dismas, and Simon of Cyrene, who carried Christ’s cross for him - remind us again of the significance of Christ’s sacrificial death and resurrection as the necessary precursor to the event represented.
The Ascending
From the lower left where the graves are giving up the dead, bodies are rising towards the elect. Some are taking flight, some are carried by angels, one pair grasping hold of a rosary is being hoisted by a muscular angel, apparently in a demonstration of the power of Faith. Further cardinal Virtues may be recognized in other figures.
The Damned
Opposite those on the left who are rising towards the Elect, are those on the right who are descending into Hell. Some are being battered down by angels thwarting their frantic attempts to ascend; some are cast down headlong while others are dragged by demons. According to Condivi, sinners are hauled down by the part of the body with which they sinned; the proud by their hair, the lascivious by their pudenda. In fact, many figures seem to be allegories of the Vices, some even with attributes, like the money purse signifyingavarice.
The Cave
At the foot of The Last Judgment in the centre of the painting is the Cave, a black cavern filled with demons. Another figure is silhouetted by a fiery glow. It is unclear exactly what this cavern represents, although experts now believe it signifies Purgatory. It is only from Purgatory that one can escape, and the priest at the altar would know that his celebration of Mass was helping souls suffering in Purgatory. The Post-Reformation Council of Trent was quick to confirm the existance of Purgatory in the face of the Protestant claim that it was a cynical fraud designed to enrich the Church through the sale of indulgences.
Hell
In the lower right corner the tonality shifts abruptly. In Dante’s Inferno, the light is so dim it is hard to make out the forms. Thus the painter, following Dante, when he came to grapple with the demons and Damned at the entrance to Hell, needed a deeper palette than fresco can provide, with its technique of applying semi-transparent tones over a white ground. The untramarine sky does not penetrate here; instead we see the murky waters of the River Styx and dingy figures barely distinguishable in the forbidden gloom. To obtain the sombre effect he sought, Michelangelo covered the white intonaco with a reddish-brown umber, then painted the mid-tones and lights on top. In a few passages in this zone where he wanted to use certain green and blue metallic pigments that are not compatible with fresco, he used oil as his medium, following Sebastanio del Piombo’s successful murals in the Chapel in San Pietro. In one light-hearted aspect of Michelangelo’s portrayal of Hell, as reported by the biographer Giorgio Vasari, the artist painted Minos (the Judge of the Souls) with the ears of an ass and the face of the Papal Master of Ceremonies, Biagio da Cesena, who had frequently objected to His Holiness about the nudity of Michelangelo’s figures. When Cesena hysterically complained to the Pope about this effrontery, the Pope is alleged to have replied that his hands were tied as his jurisdiction did not extend to Hell!
35
Q
Renaissance and Mannerism in Cinquecento Italy
A
1509-1510
Titian
Pastoral Concert
- The men are turned toward each other as they engage in conversation and seem oblivious to the other conspicuous figures in the scene – two plump, nude women
- While the one on the left is in the process of pouring water from a glass pitcher into a well, the one of the right has just paused her activity of playing a flute while sitting right in front of the men
- The fact that the females are not noticed, and are rather comfortable in their lack of clothing, suggests that they are no ordinary women but instead supernatural persons
- The use of these kinds of figures – whether they be specific deities or general personifications of ideas or places – originated in the classical world and was commonplace in ancient Roman art
- Here, the immortal females seem to be present yet invisible in the presence of the men at the particular moment being portrayed
- The bodies of the females may be considered overly plump by modern-day conceptions of ideal body form, but they would have been considered ideal for Titian’s time
- he seems to have emphasized their curvy bodies by using curvy forms in the billowing trees and hills in the landscape
- He also painted the females so that the viewer not only sees one from the front, but also from the back
- The viewer therefore gets a glimpse of the nude female form from different perspectives, rather than just from the front
- This was a new contribution to painting by Titian, as he was the first painter to depict a nude figure from her backside in such a prominent manner
- painting seems to have been an original idea
- one interpretation given to the female figures is that they are muses, the divine figures who inspire mortals, and the instruments that are being played allude to poetry
- The music that is by the figures creates a type of harmony in this setting that echoes the larger harmony found in the universe, thereby linking the activiteis in this scene to the cosmos
- This interpretation, however, is complicated by the arrival of the shepherd off in the distance, which interrupts the harmony of the music
- It may be the case that the shepherd symbolizes the person of lesser learning or class, who is unable to appreciate the sophistication of the music enjoyed by the two main figures
- Thus, according to this view, the Pastoral Concert provides not only a glimpse into a peaceful, utopian activity incorporating a classical understanding, but also perhaps a lesson on the means by which one may arrive at this world – through scholarship and understanding, something which the uneducated man does not possess
- The rougher texture created by this technique endows the forms in the Pastoral Concert (see the nude at the left for example) with a certain haziness or sfumato which has the effect of softening forms and thus effectively conveying both the tactile softness of the nudes’ flesh and the ephemeral, soft light of late afternoon
- The Pastoral Concert exemplifies a distinctly Venetian invention focused on the idyllic landscape populated by gods and goddess, nymphs and satyrs, shepherds and peasants - Introduced by Giorgione and developed in the works of Titian and other Venetian artists, this genre became one of the most important artistic contributions of Renaissance Venice
37
Q
Rococo: The 18th Century in Europe and America
A
1717
Watteau
Return from Cythera
- artificial
- 1st Rococo painting
- aristocrats
- light
- airy
- pretty
- people in love
- brushyness (loves Ruben)
- lots of pastel colors
- sfumato
- Cythera: mythical home of Venus, the goddess of love
Young couples
• Paired off
• Closeness between each pair, touching - Cupid in lower right-hand corner
• Aphrodite’s son - Nature is presented as a playground
- Shiny fabric, details of fashion
- Fantasy of love
- Function of marriages is to produce male heirs
- People would “look the other way” if one had an affair
• Subject is often aristocratic leisure, fantasy, celebrates pleasure
• Saloniéres (educated aristocratic women) were center of intellectual and political life - Fete Galante- Outdoor paintings featuring the upper-class playing
- Rococo influenced by interior decorating- pastels, women in government, danity, fluffy
- Symbols of love- cupids flying around, Venus’ satute covered in flowers
- setting is island of Cythera, aka island of love, greek myth of birth of Venus
- delicate colors suggest gentle nature of the lovers’ relationships
- figures are slim, graceful, and small in scale
- creates sense of nostalgia, with implications of longing and unrealized passion
- In the fete galante (amorous festival) genre, it shows the outdoor activities of the French elite
- Portrays luxuriously costumed lovers making a pilgrimage to Cythera, the island of love and eternal youth, sacred to Aphrodite
- used warm, rich tones; light figures, graceful, self conscious, postured, almost dancing
- fete gallante - myth scene, but ppl are in contemporary clothes
- Rococo painting depicting the island rumored to be Venus’ birthplace, hence the flirty romatic couples
- right: venus statue with flowers, love and fertility, enduring character of Classical tradition (in comparison to the travellers)
- emphasis on silk textures, reflection of light
38
Q
Rococo: The 18th Century in Europe and America
A
1766
Fragonard
The Swing
- artificial
- aristocrats
- frilly patterns
- about infedelity
- fuffles on the dress of girl are repeated in the leaves, twisting branches and fluffy clouds
- enclosed yet open garden, where games are played
- cupid on left represents secrecy, other two cupids hug a dolphin (Classical imagery)
- Large garden, probably belongs to husband
Looking at man in bushes, flirting with her lover
• Lover commissioned the painting
- Big pink “flower” in the middle of blue/green composition
- Tighter style than Watteau
• Public v. private paintings reflective of how they want to be seen - mystic bright atmosphere
- Typical “intrigue” picture
- Bishop pushing girl while lover, patrons, watches in admiration.
- Young lady flirtatiously kicks off shoe towards cupid
- Cupid holds holds finger to lips (secrecy)
- Glowing pastel colors and soft light = sensuality
- In this painting epitomizing Rococo style, pastel colors and soft light complement a sensuous scene in which a young lady flirtatiously kicks off her shoe at a statue of Cupid while her lover watches
- A soft and sensuous painting
- The painting depicts a young man hidden in the bushes, watching a woman on a swing, being pushed by her elderly husband, almost hidden in the shadows, and unaware of the lover
- As the lady goes high on the swing, she lets the young man take a furtive peep under her dress, all while flicking her own shoe off in the direction of a Cupid and turning her back to two angelic cherubim on the side of her husband
- She is wearing a shepard’s hat, which is ironic because shepards are usually associated with virtue
- naughty secrets, sexy, desire
- abandonment of civilization and into fantasy, etc.
40
Q
Romanticism: Europe and America, 1800 to 1870
A
1818-1819
Géricault
Raft of the Medusa
- weather romantic
- emotions
- nice triangle
- drama
- sublime
- The pallid bodies are given cruel emphasis by a Caravaggio-style chiaroscuro; some writhe in the elation of hope, while others are unaware of the passing ship
- The latter include two figures of despair and solitude: one mourning his son, the other bewailing his own fate
- These figures reflect the Romantic inspiration that fueled the work of both Géricault and Gros, and the former’s admiration for the latter (see The Plague-Stricken in Jaffa).
- In this gigantic history painting, Gericault rejected Neoclassical compositional principles and, in the Romantic spirit, presented a jumble of writhing bodies in every attitude of suffering, despair, and death
- This was an event from everyday life.
- Reminiscent of Baroque- strong diagonals, emotion, busy and aggressive
- Use of triangle and forshortening
- Used imagery based on neo-classical style - the buff bodies
- Kept them from being classical by leaving on pieces of clothing to keep them grounded in the period and for suffering to be seen.
- highlights the faces of annonomyous ppl
- injustice by corrupt state; dark sky and ocean (sublime)
- strong diagonals
- very realistic, interviewed survivors, visited morgues, made wax models
Significance: scandal in France after a shipwreck, historical painting of contemporary event, specific subject made universal, historical approach to creating this painting (interviewed survivors, built replicas), viewer thrown in with the victims, huge paintings so the figures are life size, touches of red keep the eye moving along the canvas, poses inspired by classical antiquity, figures slipping and bloodless
- commitment to social justice
- disaster at sea compare to neoclassical depiction of a hero
- struggle of humanity against the elements
- writhing form of figures echoes the sea
