finals

Question 1

Name: Hunt of The Unicorn Tapestries
(Unicorn is Found scene)
year: 1500
medium: tapestry (wool warp with wool, silver, silk, and gilt wefts)
author: professional tapestry guild/ workshop
object: tapestry

Answer 1

thesis: religious symbolism, a blending of reality and fantasy, demonstration of naturalism, and trade.
1. height of tapestry; involves a whole team of artists; expensive: feudal lords invite guests and his followers to his castle ~shows off his wealth; mobility
2. describe the painting
1. unicorn = the pure and innocent animal who died as a Passion of Christ; can only be obtained by a virgin; purifies the water in the stream
2. nature of lowers and fantasy of blooming together
3. some animals are more realistic than the others (blend of imaginations and knowledge)
4. The orange tree is actually a new sweet orange type first introduced to Europe –> accurate depiction shows high naturalism.
4. narrative style: expensive so we want to admire it as much as possible

Question 2

Name: Isenheim Altarpiece

year: 1510
medium: triptych made of wood with metal decorations
author: Matthias Grunewald

Answer 2

thesis: complex style, vivid depiction, religious symbolism, emotionally evoking, fits the background
1. huge triptych with a predella (bottom part) made with paintings and statues
2. religious allegories: left-St Sebastian killed by 7 arrows; right-St. Anthony killed by healing
3. crucifixion: 3D presence cross; INRI=Jesus is the king of Jews
- limbs distended +shoulder off socket –>torture
- Madeline’s hand mirror with Jesus’ hand ~echoing
- lamb bleeding into challace: Eucharist
- predella: lamentation

2. Jesus appears from the light
   - patrons = monks in the hospital that suffer Anthony’s fire (a skin disease that can cause amputation)
   - this altarpiece mirrors patients to create relief: as the predella splits apart; Jesus’s feet also moved apart
   - when predella opens, Annunciation scene –> Jesus appears to light; devotional tradition to escape from physical pain and medical conditions

Question 3

Name: Isenheim Altarpiece (Outer wing of Resurrection)

year: 1510
medium: triptych made of wood with metal decorations
author: Matthias Grunewald

Answer 3

1. clothes: orange, red, and yellow; fireball after combating the evils; waking up and rising from groups of sleeping soldiers
2. echoes with Lamentation in the altarpiece, second assurance of resurrection

Question 4

Name: Adam and Eve

year: 1504
medium: oil on panel engraving
author: Durer

Answer 4

1. material: uses bren to engrave on copper; popular means to spread images and literature
2. techniques: fine, distinct lines that differentiate light and shadow; details: human vs. snakeskin
3. religious: 1st humans created by God; flawless live with animals and plants; depicts the moment before Eve eats the apple (female sexuality leads to the downfall of men)
4. symbolisms: parrot = false wisdom; 4 humors that a person should keep a balance of: elk (melancholy), ox(apathy); cat(anger_; rabbit(optimism); a moment before the turmoil all animals coexist
5. italian burrowing: ideal proportions on bodies; rationalize human body as an effort to reinvent Roman art（contraposto)

Question 5

Name: Self Portrait

year: 1500
medium: oil on wood panel
author: Durer

Answer 5

1. looks like Christ and share correlations: direct gaze; symmetrical; hand posture looks like blessing; face exists outside time (transcendent)
2. background: moment of the last judgment; painting himself out of time; fully, completely mature
3. why:
   - artist = God; has the power to create world
   - reversals of where art comes from (invention of Gods vs. created out of human experience)

Question 6

Name: The Battle f Issos

year: 1529
medium: oil on wood panel
author: Albrecht Altdorfer

Answer 6

1. background: major battle btw. Alexandra The Great vs. Persian Empire - Alex wins by using geography
2. suggests European identity with the Greek; Persian = Turks; Ottoman empire starts to expand in 1451-1566
3. religious warfare: unite European forces to fight against Persians
4. flatters the patron (Duke)’s responsibilities and sensitivities
5. omniscient viewpoint (Egypt vs Constinapole; Patron fights against Turks as Alexandar –> flattering; banners directly point at Alexandra the Great)

Question 7

Name: The Ambassadors

year: 1533
medium: oil on wood
author: Hans Holbein the Younger

Answer 7

1. clash 1: earthly vs spiritual:
   - French Ambassador Jean de Dinteville (wealthy, shining silk (Northern Renaissance), dagger = age, madalian = order of Micheal Knights)
   - English George de Selve (contemplative, muted and reversed, armrests on book)
   - spiritual: heavenly tools (celestial globe) vs earthly tools (math book)
   - overall divide in the middle represented by each figure
2. skull
   - stretched in anamorphic perspective (needs to be looked from some perspective)
   - death is coming, echoes with small crucifixion in the left corner
   - heavenly objects –> distorted way –> seen in the infinite angle
   - earthly –> natural –> finite angle
   - God sees everything

Question 8

Name: The Meat Stall

year: 1550
medium: oil on panel
author: Pieter Aertsen

Answer 8

1. development of still life –> foreground
2. middle ground: tavern
3. inverted perspective: main images in middle ground and background
4. oyster shells = poor people food
5. background: mary fleeting to Egypt; gives out bread along the way
6. moral choice: deviltry vs. piety
7. Christian symbolism: fish = Christianity; pretzel = avoidance of luxury in festival
8. temptations

Question 9

Name: The Return of Hunters

year: 1565
medium: oil on panel
author: Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Answer 9

1. Northern Renaissance culture
2. calm, cold (chilly blue/gray; white smokes)
3. strong contrasts of black and white
4. hunters (returning with only one fox; unfruitfulness echo with the color choice and mood)
5. composition
   - vertical tree trunks vs horizontal pools (skating)
   - Rocky mountain forebodes the feeling
6. diagonal and lines across the landscape
7. atmospheric perspective of diminishing blue and gray

Question 10

Name: Michelangelo’s plan for the new St. Peter’s centrally planned
year: 1565

Answer 10

1. difficulties to continue Bramante’s design; appreciated and agreed to central planning is ideal
2. symmetric design (sculptor perspective; arms relate to the body or eyes to the nose through unique axis)
3. . geometric designs (squares and circles) –> unified and cohesive
4. incorporated the colossal order, the two-story pilasters first seen in reserved fashion in Mantua Church of St. Andrea –> confines movement without interrupting it
5. architecture is the original beauty of the human form
6. problems
   - important graves are out of the church
   - smaller total space for worshippers

Question 11

Name: Baldachin of St. Peter’s

year: 1625
medium: sculpture
author: Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Answer 11

1. canopy directly above the grave
2. spotlight and protection –> marks the grave
3. relatable height of the canopy –> makes the height of the dome more accessible
4. borrows from Corinthian columns with spiral new design
5. the fluidity of the flags show various textures
6. 4 prospective angles at the top
7. uses light: when light hits the dome, shines; theatrical design
8. architecture vs. sculpture: the line is blurry

Question 12

Name: Cathedra Petri

year: 1650
medium: guilt bronze
author: Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Answer 12

1. saints supporting the church –> seems like the chair is in space
2. golden window above chair: dove (holy spirit); God coming to earth
3. explosion of light + raise of light and cloud
4. stucco = made out of aggregate mixed with a binder; dries to be white then often gilded with gold
5. theatrical movement created by canopy and background, cathedra.

Question 13

Name: St. Peter’s square and colonnade

year: 1656
author: Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Answer 13

1. oral: baroque; perfect circle = Renaissance
2. the radius of the nave is the same as the length of the nave (635 ft).
3. counter-reformation architecture (art can be used to reimburse faith)
4. the oval shape (more complex and diverse) is like the motherly arm that reunites and embraces returned Protestants with the Chruch
5. activates the church: the path goes through the city, which connects the secular space and the spiritual space formed by the Piazza
6. Tuscan order of the columns in the colonnade: simple and unfluted without decorations; keeps the audience’s eye on the Basilica and the Palazzo
7. ancient Greek temple styled entrance of the colonnade; columns, frieze, pediment

Question 14

Name: David

year: 1623
author: Gian Lorenzo Bernini
medium: sculpture

Answer 14

1. depicts the moment when he’s about the swing rock
   - a sense of continuation of twisting motion
   - reminds of photography
   - motion felt in the body (dramatic distortion/ twists –> baroque; face aiming at the target; intense concentration on the face)
2. Renaissance vs Baroque David
   - Renaissance (perfect anatomy; deep thinking; more composed and nude; perfect hair curls; controls –> celebrates the mind and rationality)
   - Baroque (more motion; less formal/more expressive faces; more physicality (motion of muscles); feel the art and the action; swirling drapery (heightens motions and dynamics); animate and messy hair –> celebrates emotion and body)
   - the shared interest in anatomy
3. counter-reformation: direct appeals to worshippers to bring them back to church

Question 15

Name: St. Theresa in Ecstasy, Cornaro Chapel,

year: 1650
author: Gian Lorenzo Bernini
medium: sculpture

Answer 15

1. st. Teresa
   - mystical saint of counter-reformation saint
   - wrote radioautography Interior castles to depict the God’s love
   - no major dedications –> no model and intangible vision
2. balance between physical and mystical
   - pose: falling back + personal,internal motion
   - a body experiencing the moment
   - angel barely touches her
   - the flowy drapery demonstrates her excitement of her vision
3. texture:
   - angel’s linen vs Teresa’s wools
   - bones in hands and feet

Question 16

Name: Calling of St. Matthew

year: 1600
author: Caravaggio
medium: oil on canvas

Answer 16

1. divided scene depending on the light source
2. tax collector Matthew –> asked to follow Jesus
3. tax collectors are rich, shown with fabrics, hats and swords; negative implications of the temptations of the material world
4. puts Jesus behind peter to create space
5. st. Matthew points to himself
6. asks patrons to leave behind the material to follow Jesus
7. diagonal: Michelangelo’s creation gesture in pointing
8. exaggerated chiaroscuro* = emerging from the dark; strong usage of light

Question 17

Name: Judith Slaying Holofernes

year: 1614
author: Artemesia, Gentileschi
medium: oil on canvas

Answer 17

1. female artist (women are excluded from training and guilds; prohibited from apprenticeship; trained by father; 1st woman to be joined in the professional guild)
2. Judit seduced Syrian General –> killed him –> female version of David; this depicts the moment before Judith escaped
3. posture & facial expression shows complete control of the situation
4. female filled with determination and persistence leadership –> heightens the tension of the story
5. no barriers btw. the painted and the audience
6. curtain, diagonal, makes the audience feel in the tent
7. vs Caravaggio
   - Artemesia( in control of situation; shared usage of curtain. spotlight effect; high naturalism)
   - caravaggio (lack of determination in Judith; less mentally in charge; old mate (prostitution))

Question 18

Name: Burial of the count orgaz

year: 1586
author: El Greco
medium: oil on canvas (large)

Answer 18

1. the count died 250 years before the painting
2. 16th-century noblemen in the background
3. included El Greco and his son in the painting
4. miracle
   - St. Steven (left) + St. Augustine (right) (scene of stone to the death on his fabric; youth; appears noble; modern outfit and haircut –> play with contemporary)
5. saints lower the body to the grave where the grave is placed below the painting (real world and the painting world)
6. divide of heavenly (top) earthly (bottom):
   - connection = angels carry Orgaz’s soul lands in Christ’s lap)
7. heavenly: extremely elongated bodies; hierarchical poses (Mary & Peter); gathering saints in the background; light highlight (diaphanous feeling and appearance); bodies themselves are shining
8. space: comes from bodies themselves (standing to the back); not linear perspective
9. spiritual vision > earthly vision

Question 19

Name: The Maids of Honor

year: 1656
author: Diego Velázquez
medium: oil on canvas (large)

Answer 19

1. create environment beyond the space (inviting audience to join the scene)
2. spontaneity (moment of stillness)
3. less formal: life inside the palace vs. portrait
4. prince surrounded by maids of honor
5. artist’s self-portrait (projects himself into the royal court)
6. mirror hanging I the back wall reflects queen and king
   - appears as a painting
   - 2 interpretations (reflecting what’s on the canvas vs. everyone looks up) –> audience becomes the interpretation
   - king defines the painting
7. by incorporating himself in the painting, the artist shows his skills, values, and worths
8. portrait of king and daughters; respect to the king
9. painting hung in the King’s studies -> increase in status
10. hands and mind are what transform materials into art
    - holding a brush -assures of the lightning speed of brush; reminds people f his talent and imagination
11. mirror of the consciousness = take viewers into his mind

Question 20

Name: Elevation of the Christ

year: 1610
author: Peter Paul Rubens
medium: oil on canvas (large)

Answer 20

1. triptych
2. outgrowth counter-reformation: power and spiritual devotion
3. muscles and dramatic shortenings: Michelangelo
4. diagonal and pyramidal composition: Titian
5. strong spotlight effect = Caravaggio
6. body twist: Benini
7. moment before Christ’s death
8. symbolism (Northern Renaissance):
   - lifting wood cross by 9 strong men = heavy spiritual weight of the event
   - dog = smell of blood = Northern

Question 21

Name: Arrival of Marie de Medici

year: 1625
author: Peter Paul Rubens
medium: oil on canvas (large)

Answer 21

1. Marie de Medici: grand-daughter of Holy Roman Empire; refuses to leave power; ambitious; influential (acumen and power that flourished the king)
2. grand moment of her life
3. victory and fame at the top (turns into angels)
4. country of France kneels in front of Marie
5. Neptune emerges from the sea (Greek mythology)
6. drops of water down hips of Nymph: detailed borrow from Jan van Eyck

Question 22

Name: Married Couple in a Garden

year: 1622
author: Frans Hals
medium: oil on canvas (large)

Answer 22

1. couples on the same canvas (whereas other couples are separated)
2. leaning into each other + man’s arm points to his heart –> shows their relationship +emotional appeal from the body gesture
3. people wear black most of the time (Reformation)
4. ivy = persistent plant –> love
5. peacocks = roman goddess Junos church
6. atmospheric perspective = haziness in the background and clarity in the foreground
7. fragmentation and specialization (Hals only completed the foreground)
8. composition
   - a center of the gesture
   - leaning sideway - spontaneity
   - white highlights (beautiful face, a bride in the middle (focal point)
9. quick, clean strokes of paint (lace at the cuff, intricacy at the tip)

Question 23

Name: Self Portrait

year: 1633
author: Judith Leyster
medium: oil on canvas (large)

Answer 23

1. follower of Hals; one of the 2 women accepted into the guild
2. specializes in the painting of musicians; this portrait is the masterpiece to join the guild
3. one hand clutching palette and one holding the canvas:
   - breaking down the barrier by direct gaze and cropped furniture
   - suggests the world is continued
4. similarities with Hals: shadow; similar facial expression (pleasant); brushwork
5. Leyster vs Gentileschy:
   - both doing their work
   - moment of actually practicing skills

Question 24

Name: Self-portrait

year: 1658
author: Rembrandt van Rijn (Netherland)
- big thick loose brushstrokes
- mixed paint with glass to produce the heavy effect
- intense psychological insights
- emotional connection with the audience
medium: oil on canvas (large)

Answer 24

1. big loose brushstrokes create foreshortening of the arm
2. chose to show himself in costumes (rich fabric –> relating to an aristocrat); painting himself as a king
3. stick = Mahl stick (painting tool) ~ septor in a king
4. quietness and sadness and introspection in the face
5. he lost everything in 1658, experienced a sadness under the rich, wealthy costumes

Question 25

Name: Night Watch

year: 1642
author: Rembrandt van Rijn
- big thick loose brushstrokes
- mixed paint with glass to produce the heavy effect
- intense psychological insights
- emotional connection with the audience
medium: oil on canvas (large)

Answer 25

1. military group assembling parade for Marie de Medici
2. everyone paid the same to be included in the portrait
3. commander = opera singer
4. using spotlight effect: captain fluctuations of light and dark –> Baroque; girl = military victory
5. use self-portrait as promotion
6. the portrait function is lowered ~ actual theatrical scene –> caring about the story more than people in the story
7. the spear –> diagonal

Question 26

Name: Bleaching Ground near Harlem

year: 1670 (the era of landscape 1600-)
- specific and idealized and emotional attachment
- invention involved
- painted without a patron in mind
author: Jacob van Ruisdael
medium: oil on canvas (large)

Answer 26

1. distant, identifiable city view
2. audience standing on dooms and looking down at the city
3. Harlem
   - well known for pure water
   - lines are bleached –> white, horizontal, diagonal lines
4. filled with clouds: representation of feelings –> romanticized and peaceful
5. a flat composition that maintains clarity
6. light: highlighted and shadow in clouds –> creates depth
7. appreciation of nature

Question 27

Name: Woman holding a balance

year: 1664
- genre scene (scene of everyday life)
author: Jan Vermeer
- serenity !!!
- smooth continuous brushstroke
medium: oil on canvas

Answer 27

1. places window on the left = light source –> deepens chiaroscuro throughout the painting
2. woman waiting for the balance to balance
3. last judgment in the background –> Catholic Vermeer
4. mirror on the left (in front of the woman)
5. temporary vs eternity
   - woman facing valuable objects (pearls), a reminder of temptations = material world vs. last judgment in the background
   - woman looking in the mirror –> waiting for the material and spiritual world to balance
6. linear perspective: vanishing point at the balance
7. light
   - deep, soft, rich (words used to describe color)
   - an empty wall filled with light (orange light that touches the curtain, hits the wall, gradual increasing shadows)
8. color
   - blue cloth vs blue coat
   - yellow curtain; yellow table; yellow fabric –> diagonal

Question 28

Name: Joseph the Carpenter

year: 1642
- genre scene (scene of everyday life) + storytelling
author: George de la Tour
medium: oil on canvas

Answer 28

1. all about chiaroscuro
2. naturalism
   - wrinkles on the forehand + muscles and veins
3. kid = Jesus (only fully lighted face and holding a candle in the center)
4. Joseph
   - elderly, humble, fatherlike figure;
   - kneeling; raising his hand to shield handle –> blessing
   - christ is the light of the world = boy holding the world
5. candle
   - hand shielding candle = transparency of the hand shows skills; face of the boy –> new light source

Question 29

Name: The abduction of Sabine women

year: 1633
author: Nicolas Poussin
- spent time in Rome
- mathematical
- Renaissance emphasis (formal)
medium: oil on canvas

Answer 29

1. ancient Greek vs. Roman
2. Phrygian* mode: violent and vigilant; violent scene, Roman killed the men and children to rape women
   - moment of Romulus raised a hand to signal
3. fighting scene, diagonal lines
4. structures
   - Romulus vs. Lieutenant (full of motion, depictions of muscles ~ painting of ancient sculptures)
   - christ crossing diagonals –> classic battle scene
   - the woman in green: Giambologna’s sculpture
5. complex composition shows careful planning
   - stage ~ theatrical aspect (Roman temples in the background + actions in the front)
6. constantly being copied by future artists
7. touchstone of French painting

Question 30

Name: Landscape with St. John on Patmos

year: 1640
author: Nicolas Poussin
- spent time in Rome
- mathematical
- Renaissance emphasis (formal)
medium: oil on canvas

Answer 30

1. St John lived at Patmos & described the last judgment
2. classical idealized landscape; pastoral life
3. an ovolus in the background (Egyptian column)
4. inspired by the pastoral poet (Virgil)
5. reading ancient books
6. show ruins (narratives regarding fall of ancient religion and wise of Christianity)
7. consistent geometric shapes (stacked ruins + pyramidal position in John)
8. pope wants Poussin’s painting
9. puts religious subjects in the larger picture
   - hierarchy paintings (landscape < religious) ~ infusion

Question 31

Name: The Expressions

year: 1660
author: Charles Le Brun
- dictator of arts under Louis XIV
- head of royal academy
- create the perfect artist in a specific order
medium: drawing

Answer 31

1. ask students to copy these expressions –> identical faces in 1700’s
2. facial expresses the soul – De Carte
3. create rules and definition of emotions –> moves away from Renaissance
   - less freedom for innovation and artistic expression
4. paintings become more academic

Question 32

Name: Portrait of Louis XIV
year: 1700
author: Hyacinthe Rigaud
Medium: oil on canvas

Answer 32

1. life-size king
2. ceremonial –> treat the portrait as if the king was present (construction of presentation)
3. ‘the state is me’ –> absolute monarchy
4. clothing
   - blue rope (Herman fur only allowed for the royal)
   - a septor (force to acknowledge the ground)
   - sword of Charlemain (always used for coronation ceremony)
   - wig (height and fashion)
5. 4th position –> ballet ( aristocratic culture)
6. shoes: high heels; red heels (aristocrat only) +height = power and sovereignty)
7. divine of all kings

Question 33

Name: Hall of Mirrors, Versailles, 1678

Answer 33

1. connects king and queen’s bedrooms
2. parquetry = wood inlay floors (patterns)
3. Roman triumphal arch across the wall
4. covered in customized mirrors on the other wall to reflect light: Venetian artists; made out of silver and glass
5. ceilings:
   - scenes of military victory Louis XIV
   - war –> peace
   - oil on canvas attached to the wall
   - assertions of naturalism and patriotism
6. center: king governs fro himself (1661)
   - encasing present events
   - allegory (king = body of France; youthful and strong; Apollo ~ symbol of sun king)
   - Jupiter fights with French king
   - directing warriors with Roman Armour

Question 34

Rococo fantasy

Answer 34

1. loose feathery brushstrokes
2. pastel color
3. fun, diverting, light; nothing heavy
4. for aristocrats

Question 35

Name: Pilgrimage to Cynthera 
year: 1717 
author: Jean Watteau 
 -influence of Rubens, Velaquez and Le Brun
 -Ruben's loose, soft brushstrokes
Medium: oil on canvas

Answer 35

1. reception piece into the French Academy
2. finely dressed aristocrats resting near water, waiting for boat to the island of Aphrodite
3. cupids flying in air
   - magical mythical place
   - aphrodite landed and birthplace
4. statue of Venus in the right lower corner
5. flirtatious first meeting in the lower right corner –> development of love across the panel
6. composition
   - rhythm in left vs right; foreground vs. background
   - repetitive elements that bring the audience to space
   - continuity of rhythm
7. colors (determines romantic mood, green and blue)
8. invented a separate category called Fete Galante
9. Rococo connection (ornament itself is the painting)
10. 3 chalk technique

Question 36

Name: Gersaint's Signboard
year: 1721 
author: Jean Watteau 
 -influence of Rubens, Velaquez and Le Brun
 -Ruben's loose, soft brushstrokes
Medium: oil on canvas

Answer 36

1. last painting made by Watteau for his beloved friend
2. a scene of painting shop & relationship btw. characters
3. placing each part at an angle as if walking into the shop
4. lady stepping into the store
   - guide to follow
   - the gracefulness of position of a man behind her
   - breaking the barrier btw. viewers and painting
5. composition
   - lack of hierarchy
   - dance like rhythm (move to the left and right; pause in the middle)
   - creating fantasy
6. people in the painting look more than art
   - companionship
   - dance partners
   - reflection in a flattering way
7. why do people buy art anyway?

Question 37

Name: The Swing
year: 1767
author: Jean Fragonard
Medium: oil on canvas

Answer 37

1. lady
   - focal point
   - pink fabric
   - red velvet shoes
2. diagonals draw attention to the man in lower left
3. cupids = keeping us quiet to stop secret
4. barking dog –> fidelity
5. shoes flying off + man the hat
   - private parts are revealed as the hat is off
   - loss of virginity
6. swing ~ climax
7. composition
   - swing creates 2 triangles making the woman the focal point

Question 38

Name: Portrait of Madame Pompadour
year: 1756
author: Francoise Boucher
Medium: oil on canvas

Answer 38

1. Madame Pompadour
   - king’s mistress
   - live in the palace + advisor after their romantic relationship ended
   - made into an aristocrat
   - the face appears in numerous Boucher’s paintings
2. fantasy
3. book and pen: well-dressed, smart woman
4. wealthy ~ luxurious fabric
5. reclining pose: the identity of Pompadour (mistress) +Venus in Titian
6. gaze: not immediately accessible; aloofness gives her the power
7. roses and pearls ~ Venus
8. crossed feet to match with crossed roses (minute details, ornaments that take into Rococo)