Medieval & Renaissance Flashcards
Antonio Canaletto, Basin of San Marco from San Giorgio Maggiore, ca 1740
Venice Veduta
- Canaletto used a camera obscura to make his on-site drawings true to life
- his paintings were popular with foreign tourists; Documentation of particular places became popular, in part due to growing travel opportunities and expanding colonial imperative- era of the “grand tour”
- A veduta (Italian for “view”; plural vedute) is a highly detailed, usually large-scale painting or, actually more often print, of a cityscape or some other vista.
- While the painting gives an appearance of having no editing, Canaletto actually edited his images and subscribed to Renaissance perspectival rules
Mosaic of Theodora and the Attendants, San Vitale, 547 (Byzantine)
- on the South wall of San Vitale
- Theodora stands behind a fluted shell canopy and singled out by a gold halolike disk and elaborate crown, carries a huge golden chalice studded with jewels
- She presents the chalice as an offering for Mass and as a gift of great value for Christ
- With it she emulates the magi, depicted in embroidery at the bottom of her purple cloak who brought valuable gifts to the infant Jesus
- a courtyard fountain stands to the left of the panel and patterned draperies adorn the openings at left and right
- combination of imperial ritual, Old Testament narrative and Christian liturgical symbolism
- the setting around Theodora- shell form, fluted pedestal, open door, and swagged draperies are classical illusionistic devices
- the mosaicists avoided making space-creating elements, no longer conceived pictorial space the way the Roman artists had it
- highly stylized forms bear little resemblance to nature
Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Allegory of Good Government in the Country, Siena, Palazzo Pubblico, 1338-39
Sienese Renaissance
- Lorenzetti continued to develop illusionistic representation and perspective in his frescoes.
- The subject of the frescoes is appropriate given the turbulent politics in Italy during that time.
- Shows illusionistic representation (innovative), allegorical representation (Greek), shows knowledge of perspective and close observation of Sienese architecture and customs, treats the landscape like a portrait showing great detail.
- Student of Duccio
- One of the first appearances of landscape in Western art since antiquity
Vermeer, Allegory of the Art of Painting, c. 1670-75
Dutch Baroque/ Golden Age
- This is the largest and most complex of Vermeer’s works. The model in the painting represents the muse of history, Clio, evidenced by the laurel wreath and the trumpet. The map on the back wall has a rip that divides the Netherlands between north and south.
- Vermeer’s use of window lighting, not spiritual light. Although allegorical representations are present, the interior evokes a middle class Dutch interior and all its morals and values. Example of Dutch genre painting.
- Used camera obscura – ancestor of modern camera
- Shadows are not colorless and dark, adjoining colors affect each other, light is composed of colors!!!
Archangel Michael, ivory diptych, early 6th c. (Byzantine)
- diptych- two carved panels hinged together- originated with Roman politicians elected to the post of consul
- Christians adapted the practice for religious use, inscribing a diptych with the names of people to be remembered in prayer during Mass
- panel depicting the archangel Michael was half of a diptych.
- His relation to the architectural space and the frame around him is new; his heel rests on the top step of a stair that clearly lies behind the columns and pedestals but the rest of his body projects in front of them
- the angel is shown here as a divine messenger, holding the staff of authority in his left hand and a sphere symbolizing worldly power in his right
- the lost half of the diptych would have completed the Greek inscription across the top, which reads “Receive these gifts, and having learned the cause…”
- It is possible the other panel contained a portrait of the emperor or another high official
Giotto di Bondone, Arena Chapel, Padua, c. 1305-06, interior
Italo-Byzantine/Proto-Renaissance
- Also known as the Scrovengi Chapel, commissioned by a local banker
- it is also called the Arena Chapel because it and the family palace were built on the ruins of a Roman arena
- building is a simple barrel vaulted room; as viewers look towards the altar they see the story of Mary and Jesus unfolding before them in a series of rectangular panels
- on the entrance wall Giotto painted the Last Judgment
- a base of faux marble and allegorical grisaille (gray monochrome) paintings of the virtues and vices
Inigo Jones, Banqueting House, Whitehall Palace, London, 1619-22
Neoclassical/ Neopalladian
- Jones interprets Palladian design by placing superimposed ionic and composite orders on the two upper stories over a plain basement level. A rhythmic effect is created from the alternating window treatments - triangular and segmental pediments on the first level. The sculpted garlands create a decorative touch.
- Architect to King James I and Charles I
- A version of Renaissance classicism
- Balustraded roofline, predated Louvre’s façade by more than 40 years
- Jones was an authoritative influence in English architecture for 2 centuries
- Exterior shows 2 stories, but actually one large hall divided by a balcony
Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy, 526-547 (Byzantine)
- Byzantine forces captured Ravenna from the Arian Christian Visigoths; Justinian established Ravenna as administrative capital of Byzantine Italy
- a central domed octagon extended by exedralike semicircular bays, surrounded by an ambulatory, all covered by vaults
- design has distinct rootsin Roman buildings such as Santa Costanza
- eight large piers frame the exedrae and the sanctuary
- the round dome is hidden in the exterior by an octagonal shell and a tile covered roof is a light strong structure ingeniously created out of interlocking ceramic tubes mortared together
- Justinian and Theodora did not attend the dedication ceremony for the church of San Vitale, conducted by Archbishop Maximianus in 547 but two large panel mosaics make their presence known
Bayeux Tapestry (The Battle of Hastings detail), c. 1066-83
Norman Romanesque
- October 14, 1066- William takes over England
- Bayeux Tapestry is really embroidery not tapestry- they are stitches applied to woven ground
- Embroiderers, probably Anglo-Saxon women, worked in tightly twisted wool that was dyed in eight colors and used only two types of stitches
- skin and other light toned areas were represented by the bare linen of the cloth
- the embroiderers of the Bayeux Tapestry probably followed drawings provided by a Norman, who may have been an eyewitness to the events depicted
- embroidered linen that tells the history of the Norman conquest of England
- the story is a straightforward justification of the action, told with the intensity of an eyewitness account
- the Anglo-Saxon Harold initially swears his alliegance to William, but later betraying his feudal vows, he accepts the crown of England for himself. Unworthy to be king, he dies in battle
- At the beginning of the Bayeux, Harold is a heroic figure then events overtake him
- the designer was a skillful storyteller who used a staggering number of image
- fifty surviving scenes are more than 600 human figures
- figural are romanesque
John Smibert, Bermuda Entourage, 1729
American Baroque
- This painting is a group portrait reminiscent of Dutch Baroque group portraits.
- Smibert’s debt to Flemish painting is obvious in the balanced but asymmetrical arrangement of figures and great attention to textures and costumes.
- Smibert – 1st artist of stature to arrive in America
Sandro Botticelli, Birth of Venus, c. 1482
Italian Renaissance
- “modest” Venus who covers her sexuality with her hand and hair, averting her gaze. She is blown by the wind - Zephr with his love the nympth Chloris.
- NO real depth of space - linear flattened space
- Secular paintings of mythological subjects inspired by ancient works and by contemporary Neoplatonic thought
- Assistant to Filippino Lippi and in studio of Verrocchio
- Venus based on Praxiteles, Aphrodite of Knidos (480 BCE)
- In contrast to his contemporary Masaccio, Boticelli ignores scientific knowledge of perspective and anatomy
William Hogarth, Breakfast Scene, from Marriage a la Mode, 1745
English Rationalism/Enlightenment
- This series of satirical paintings is inspired by a 1712 essay promoting the concept of marriage based on love rather than politics
- Hogarth portray the sordid story and sad end of an arranged marriage between the children of an impoverished aristocrat and a social-climbing member of the newly wealthy merchant class. This installment shows shortly after the marriage where the couple are uninterested in each other and the household deteriorates.
- With Hogarth, a truly English style of painting emerged
- Despite this, his painting drew from the French Rococo artists but subject matter was distinctly English
*
El Greco, Burial of Count Orgaz, 1586, Church of Santo Tomé, Toledo, Spain
Spanish Renaissance/ Mannerist
- This painting was commissioned by the Orgaz family as an altarpiece honoring an illustrious 14th cen. ancestor.
- He used mannerist devices such as packing the pictorial field with figures.
- Blend of late Byzantine and late Italian Mannerism, intense emotionalism appealed to the pious fervor of the Spanish during the Counter Reformation. Dematerialization of form along with great reliance on color makes him Venetian and Mannerist, however his strong sense of movement and use of light makes him Baroque.
- Worked under Titian in Venice
- Based on legend that count of Orgaz was buried in church by Saints Stephen and Augustine, who miraculously descend from heaven to lower body into its sepulcher
- Figures in background are portraits
Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Carceri 14, ca 1750
Venetian Romanticism
- Piranesi was trained in Venice as an architect but moved to Rome to study etching and established a publishing house making popular prints.
- He produced a series of prisons (carceri). These views show dark and labyrinthian spaces with huge vaults and stairs winding up. This influenced romanticism and much later surrealism.
- Visual illustration of Edward Burke’s sublime
- Complicated architectural mass
Titian, Assumption of the Virgin, c. 1516-18, Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice
High Italian Renaissance
- This was Titian’s first major commission in Venice, for the Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari and the largest altarpiece in the city. The dramatic gestures of the figures marked a new turn in Italian painting.
- Supreme colorist; Conveys light through color
- During Titian’s time the canvas was nearly universally adopted as the painting’s surface
- 1516 – appointed official painter of the Republic of Venice
Cathedral Complex at Pisa, (Cathedral begun 1063), Baptistry and Campanile (mid-12th century)
Tuscan Romanesque
- Pisa was a maritime power, competing with muslims for control over trade in Western Mediterranean
- created a new cathedral dedicated to the Virgin Mary after a decisive victory against the Muslims
- complex included cathedral, campanile (now known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa), a baptistry and later a gothic Campo Santo, a walled burial ground
- cathedral is a cruciform basilica, a long nave with double side aisles, builders added a dome over the crossing; interior was richly deocrated with marble
- baptistry begun in 1153, has arcading on lower level to match cathedral (its present dome and ornate upper levels were built later)
- the campanile (bell tower) was begun in 1174, built on inadequate foundations it began to lean almost immediately; tower is encased in marble columns
- creative reuse of ancient, classical theme of colonnade, turning it into a decorative arcasde is characteristic of Tuscan Romanesque art
Cathedral Of Notre-Dame, Reims, France, c. 1225-1290
Michelangelo, Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, 1508-12, Vatican, Rome
High Italian Renaissance
- Michelangelo considered himself a sculptor not a painter, nevertheless the pope Julius II ordered him to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
- Michelangelo’s design is an illusionistic marble architecture to support the figures. The pilasters are decorated with sculptural putti. The ceiling is divided into compartments containing biblical stories.
- Old Testament scenes: theme is the creation, fall and redemption of man (something he was personally interested in).
- As one enters chapel and walks toward altar, they view in reverse order the history of the fall of humankind
- Painted as if they were sculptures
Peter Paul Rubens, Arrival of Marie de’ Medici at Marseilles, 1622-25
Flemish Baroque
- This was one of 24 paintings commissioned by Marie de’ Medici depicting the events of her life, overseen by ancient gods of Greece and Rome
- Example of Rubens unfailing sense of the dramatic transforms a rather dull and uneventful life into an adventure story
- Standard Rubens vigorous and plump figural compositions.
- Rubens interaction with royalty gave him understanding of spectacle of Baroque art that appealed to wealthy
- Marie de’ Medici, member of famous Florentine Medici and widow of Henry IV, the first of the Bourbon Kings of France
- Welcomed by allegorical personification of France, draped in cloak decorated with fleur-de-lis
West Facade, Chartres Cathedral, France, 1194-1220 (1145-55?)
High Gothic
- A fire in 1194 destroyed most of the church but spared the royal portal and its windows and the crypt with its relic of Mary’s tunic
- Vast resources were used to erect such an enormous building- raised money through unconventional means, even putting Mary’s tunic on “tour” across England and France
- transition from early to high Gothic is most eloquently expressed; near perfect embodiment of Gothic spirit in stone and glass
- Constructed in several stanges beginning in the mid-12th century and extending into the mid-13th, with additions such as the north spire as late as the 16th century, the cathedral reflects the transition from experimental 12th century architecture to a mature 13th century style
- main treasure was a piece of linen believed to have been worn by Mary when she gave birth to Jesus
- its most striking feature is its prominent rose window- a huge circle of stained glass- and two towers with their spires
Nave of Chartres Cathedral, France, 1194-1220
High Gothic
- A fire in 1194 destroyed most of the church but spared the royal portal and its windows and the crypt with its relic of Mary’s tunic
- Vast resources were used to erect such an enormous building- raised money through unconventional means, even putting Mary’s tunic on “tour” across England and France
- vaults soar approximately 120 feet above the ground and church is 75 feet wide
- the cross section of the nave is an equilateral triangle measured from the outer line of buttresses to the keystone of the vault
- by making the open nave arcade and glowing clerestory nearly equal in height, the architect creates a harmonious elevation
- relatively little interior decoration interrupts the visual rhythm of compound piers with their engaged shafts supporting pointed arches
- four-point vaulting has been replaced with more complex systems found in Durham or Caen
- the luminous clerestory is formed by windows whose paired lancets are surmounted by small circular windows or oculi (bull’s eye windows); glass fills nearly half of the wall’s surface made possible by the system of flying buttresses on the exterior
Stained Glass (Tree of Jesse), Chartres Cathedral, France, 1194-1220 (or 1150-1170
High Gothic
- Chartres is unique among French gothic buildings in that most of its stained glass windows have survived
- Chartres was famous for its glassmaking workshops, most of the glass dates between about 1210 to 1250
- This is an image of the Tree of Jesse Window; it was apparently inspired by a similar window at Saint Denis and dated from the 12th century
- Jesse is the father of King David and an ancestor of Mary, lies at the base of the tree whose trunk grows out of his body as described by the prophet Isiah; this family tree connects Jesus with the house of David
- window is set within an iron framework visible as a rectilinear pattern of black lines
- vivid color “Chartres” blue was formulated specifically for the church
Chartres Cathedral, France, 1194-1220 (1145-55?): portal sculpt.
Gothic
- so-called “royal portal” inspired by the portal of the church at Saint Denis
- in the central tympaneum, Christ is enthroned in royal majesty with the four evangelists. He appears imposing but more benign than with Gislebertus’ sculpture at Autun
- the apostles are in four groups of three, fill the lintel, and the 24 elders of the Apocalypse line the archivolts
- the portal on Christ’s left is dedicated to Mary and the early life of Christ from the Anunciation to the Presentation in the Temple
- the portal on Christ’s right, he ascends to heaven in a cloud supported by angels
- running across all three portals, storied captions depict his earthly activities
West portal sculpture, Chartres Cathedral, France, c. 1145-1155
Gothic
- Flanking the doorways are monumental jamb figures depicting old testament kings and queens, the precursors of Christ
- these figures convey an important message- just as the old testament supports and leads to the new testament, so too these biblical kings and queens support Mary and Christ in the tympana above
- the depiction of old testament kings and queens is meant to remind people of the close ties between the Church and the French royal house
- Jamb figures became standard elements of Gothic church portals
- At Chartres, the sculptors sought to pose their figures naturally and comfortably in their architectural settings; not painfully elongated as in earlier Gothic churches
- their slender proportions and vertical drapery echo the cylindrical shafts from which they seem to emerge
- calm and order prevails among these figures in contrast to the crowded compositions of Romanesque sculpture
Chi-Rho-Iota page from Book of Kells, c. 800
Celtic Christian
- probably made in monastery at Iona, island off of western coast of Scotland
- Celtic monks were as famous for writing and copying books as for the missionary fervor
- took refuge at Kells on the Irish mainland away from Viking raids, where they brought Gospel book called the Book of Kells
- lavish expenditure: four monks worked on it and 185 calves were slaughtered to make its vellum
- monasteries were centers for art and learning in the middle ages
- human and animal forms appear in dense thicket of spiral and interlace patterns derived from metalwork
- reaffirms Celtic style that is combined with Germanic animal interlaces to embellish the monogram of Christ
- XPI (Chi Rho Iota) in Greek
- number of pictoral and symbolic references to Christ: his initials, a fish, moths, a cross-inscribed wafer, chalices and goblets
Christ as the Good Shepherd, mosaic, Ravenna, c. 425-450 (early Christian/Rome)
- At the masoleum of Galla Placida, built when Ravenna was the seat of the western Roman empire
- Galla Placidia ruled western Rome as a regent for her son, named as such because it was once believed that she and her family were buried there
- the building is cruciform or cross-shaped and barrel vaults cover each of its arms and a pendentive dome- a dome continuous with its pendentives- covers the space at the intersection of the arms
- exterior is plain; interior covered with mosaics
- in a lunette over the entrance portal is a mosaic of the Good Shepard
- contains many classical elements such as shading suggesting a single light source acting on solid forms, cast shadows and a hint of landscape in the rocks and foliage
- Jesus is a young adult with a golden halo, wearing imperial robes of gold and purple and holding a long staff that ends in a cross instead of a Sheperd’s hook
- this contrasts with earlier depictions of Christ as the Good Sheperd where he is portrayed as a boy holding a lamb across his shoulders
- the stylized elements are also more rigid than before; plants fill spaces at regular intervals
- the rocky band at the bottom resembling a cliff riddled with clefts separates the divine image from worshippers
Rembrandt, Hundred Guilder Print (Christ Healing the Sick), etching, c.1649
Dutch Baroque
- Rembrandt was an avid printmaker. he focused on etching which uses acid to inscribe a design on metal plates. He also made additions to his compositions using the drypoint technique to scratch lines in the plate. In this one, his use of light in the etching is remarkable.
- Dutch art market was in great demand of engravings and etchings, since one copper plate could produce hundreds of impressions.
- Rembrandt most renowned for his prints, a major source of income
- Hundred Guilder Print – refers to the high price of this work
- Rembrandt: great versatility, master of light and shadow, unique interpreter of Protestant conception of Scripture
Donato Bramante, Tempietto, Church of San Pietro, Rome, 1502
Italian Renaissance
- Built on the spot were the apostle Peter was believed to have been crucified
- Bramante combined an interpretation of Vitruvius and Alberti from the stepped base to the Doric columns and frieze. The centralized plan recalled Early Christian shrines built over martyrs relics and ancient Roman circular temples
- No ornamentation, the building relies on the sculptural treatment of the exterior that creates a sense of volume in movement. The play of light and shade around the columns enhances the experience of the building as a sculptural mass.
- Trained in Urbino by Piero della Francesca
- Tempietto – named “Little Temple” because looked like small pagan temple from antiquity
- Severe Doric order of colonnade
- Main difference between Early and High Renaissance Architecture: Early emphasized details on flat walls; High emphasized sculptural handling of architectural masses
Francesco Borromini, Church of Santa Carlo, alle Quattro Fontane, Rome, 1636-64
Italian Baroque (?)
- Borromini created an elongated central-plan interior space. This design was audacious in that it abandoned the modular, additive system of planning. He worked from an overriding geometrial scheme, as a Gothic architect might do, subdividing modular units to obtain more complex, rational shapes. The chapel is dominated by Classical entablature. He treated the architectural elements as if they were malleable.
- The plastic handling of the building, façade set in serpentine motion, concave and convex niches create sculptured effect, no longer flat traditional frontispiece but is a physically pulsating member. Interior also flows without segmentation because of the oval dome, light, circular motifs, etc. Building has two façades, creates easy transition from exterior to interior.
- Façade – pulsating, engaging component between interior and exterior space, does not separate, but is a transition between the two
- Interrelation of building and environment
- 2 facades – 2nd turns away from front and follows street of intersection
Church of St. Denis, ambulatory, Paris, France, 1140-44
Gothic
- Commissioned by Abbot Suger of Saint-Denis, trusted adviser to the kings of France; determined to replace old Carolingian church
- Suger had traveled widely and was aware of architecture and sculpture of Romanesque Europe
- adapted concept of divine luminosity into the resdesign of the church dedicated to Saint Denis; his innovation led to the widespread use of large stain-glass windows
Church of St.-Etienne at Caen, France, begun 1064
Norman Romanesque
- Benedictine church of Saint-Etienne in Caen
- William the Conquerer had founded the monastery while still the Duke of Normandy and begun the construction of the church (which was in wood) around 1064; he was buried there in 1084
- William’s original church is the core of the building seen today
- three part elevation: nave arcade, gallery, and clerestory with exceptionally wide arches
- on each pier, engaged columns alternate with columns backed by pilasters. They run unbroken to the full height of the nave, emphasizing its height
- sometime after 1120 the original timber roof was replaced by masonry vault
- six part vault combines two systems-transverse ribs crossing the space at every pier and ribbed groin vaults springing from the heavy piers
- soaring heights was a Norman architectural goal and facade towers continue tradition of church towers begun by Carolingian builders
- preference for verticality is seen in west facade; facade is divided into three vertical sections corresponding to the nave and side isles in church
- narrow stringcourses (unbroken horizontal moldings) at each window level suggest the three stories of the building’s nave elevation- this concept of reflecting the plan and elevation of the church in the design of the facade was later adopted by Gothic builders
- Norman builders prepared the way for architectural feats accomplished by Gothic architects in the 12th and 13th centuries
- elegant spires topping the tall towers are examples of Norman Gothic style
Lord Burlington and William Kent, Chiswick House, near London, begun 1725
Neo-Palladian Classicism
- Burlington had visited several of Palladio’s country houses in Italy and was particularly struck by the Villa Rotonda. The plan is similar to that building only the central core is octagonal rather than round and there are two entrances. A Roman temple front was also included.
- Shares bilateral symmetry and elevation of Palladio’s villa, Kent designed the landscape that later become known as the English landscape garden which featured winding paths and irregular planting of shrubs.
- Appeal due to clarity and simplicity; Stark contrast to complexity and opulence of Baroque art associated with monarchy
*
Balthasar Neumann, Church of Vierzehnheiligen (Fourteen Saints), near Staffelstein, Germany, 1743-72
German Rococo
- The plan is based on six interpenetrating oval spaces of varying sizes around a vaulted ovoid center, recalling that of Borromini’s Baroque church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane in Rome.
- In the nave, the Rococo love of undulating surfaces with overalys of decoration creates a world where flat surfaces rarely exist.
- Rounded corners and undulating center of façade recall Borromini without the drama. Interior replicates similar Rococo fantasy, fluency of line and floating spaces create harmony. Its plan shows complexity in that there is no straight line, the composition is made up of ovals and circles, undulating space creating surprise effects. Rococo ceiling fresco.
*
David Composing the Psalms, Paris Psalter, c. 900
Early Christian
- Paris Psalter was a luxurious publication with fourteen full page paintings
- according to tradition, the author of the Psalms was Israel’s King David; in Christian times the Psalms were copied into a book called the Psalter, used for private reading
- the artist framed his scenes on pages without text
- scene depicts David seated in a landscape playing his harp; the massive idealized figures occupy a spacious landscape filled with lush folliage
- the image could have been taken directly from a Roman wall painting; the memorial column (with ribbon) is a convention in Greek and Roman funerary art
- Melody, a female figure, leans casually on David’s shoulder while another female figure, perhaps the nymph Eco, peeks from behind the column
- the reclining youth in the background is a personification of Mt. Bethlehem
- modeling of forms, integration of figures into illusion of three dimensional space and atmospheric perspective enhance classical flavor of painting
Gianlorenzo Bernini, Cornaro Chapel, Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome, 1645-52
Italian Baroque
- The center piece is St Teresa of Avila in Ecstasy, representing a vision by the Spanish mystic where an angel pierced her body repeatedly with an arrow, transporting her to a state of pain and religious ecstasy. Bernini shows his skill here in the various textures of the fabrics and skin.
- The chapel becomes a theatre for the production of this mystical drama, polychrome marble, baroque pediment, sculptured opera boxes.
- Used knowledge of theater – he wrote plays and produced stage designs
- Proscenium – part of stage in front of curtain; place where sculpture is installed
- Counter-Reformation – used theatricality and sensory impact as vehicles of goals
Gianlorenzo Bernini, David, 1623, Galleria Borghese, Rome
Italian Baroque
- This version of David introduced a new type of three-dimensional composition that intrudes into the viewer’s space. Bernini’s David is more mature, his muscles clenched and body in movement. The implication is that the adversary is somewhere behind the viewer, thus the viewer becomes part of the action.
- Bernini aims at catching the split-second of action, very Baroque attribute, the moment of suspense and the most dramatic.
- Very different from restful figures of David by Donatello and Michelangelo Muscular legs widely and firmly planted
- Expression of concentration on face if very different from those of previous Davids
Donatello, David, c. 1428-32, Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence
Italian Renaissance
- lost wax bronze
- This was the first life-sized male nude produced since antiquity. Not much is known about the circumstances of its creation. Although the statue draws on Classical heroic nudity, the meaning is still in question. Some art historians see it as homoerotic in nature with the feminine boy and the feather caressing his thigh. Another theory is that David was a potent political image in Florence, a symbol of the citizen’s resolve to oppose tyrants regardless of their power and strength - an inscription on the base where the sculpture once stood suggests it celebrated the triumph of Florence of Milan in 1425.
- the psychological drama is new since David looks at himself and becomes self-aware of his own beauty
*
Rogier van der Weyden, Deposition, 1435
Northern Renaissance
- The deposition was a popular theme in the 15th century because of its potential for drama. The ten figures are near life-size renderings of naturalistic people. They are dressed in contemporary dress and filled with grief. Jesus’ corpse at the center of the composition droops as he’s removed from the cross, echoed in the swooning Virgin Mary at his side.
- The deposition was a popular theme in the 15th century because of its potential for drama. The ten figures are near life-size renderings of naturalistic people. They are dressed in contemporary dress and filled with grief. Jesus’ corpse at the center of the composition droops as he’s removed from the cross, echoed in the swooning Virgin Mary at his side.
- Stress emotions, feeling
- No landscape, but staged in a shallow niche. Heightens effect of tragic event and Focuses viewer’s attention on foreground and enables figures to be a coherent group
- Expressiveness and modeling taken from sculptured shrines that were popular in 15th c.Germany
Piero della Francesca, Duke and Duchess of Urbino, 1472
Italian Renaissance
- Geometric outlook, heads and arms are variations of spheres and cylinders
- The first of its kind - Wrote a mathematical treatise and showed how math was applied to bodies and architectural shapes
- This is a portrait of the Duke of Urbino and his recently deceased wife. The small panels resemble Flemish paintings, but in traditional Italian fashion the figures are in profile, disengaged from the viewer. The profile view also hides Federico’s disfiguring scars - the loss of his right eye through a sword blow and his broken nose. He would have had contact with Flemish painters in Urbino.
- Reveals that the artist could paint exact and unflattering likenesses of human subjects, shows realism, descriptive landscape, perspective, proportionality and light and color.
- He believed perspective was the basis of painting (masaccio)
*
Michelangelo, David, 1501
High Italian Renaissance
- First monumental statue of the High Renaissance
- The statue was originally meant for one of the high buttresses of the cathedral in FLorence but was so admired when it was finished that it was placed in the principle city square, next to the Palzzo della Signoria.
- This statue embodies the antique ideal of athletic male nude but the power of its expression and gaze are new. He stands for the supremacy of right over might - a perfect emblem for Florence who faced political and military pressure at the time.
- Characteristic of Michelangelo’s psychology where the figure shows energy in reserve that gives the tension of the coiled spring, attention to musculature through anatomy, the muscles all evoke the tension of David, his own personal torments are evoked in the figure’s tension. Referencing the Dorphyhorous for the heroic physique and proportions.
- NOT SELF CONTAINED because David’s head turns toward adversary, connected to an unseen presence beyond the statue
Jean-Antoine Watteau, Embarkation from Cythera, 1717
French Rococo
- Watteau signals decisive shift in French art to the Rococo
- Watteau had a graceful style of fluent brushwork and rich colors. He painted for the new urban aristocrats. In this painting Watteau portrayed an imaginary idyllic and sensual life of Rococo aristocrats.
- Cythera – Island of eternal youth and love, sacred to Aphrodite
- Watteau applied with this painting to the Royal Academy and the academicians were so impressed they created a new category, the fête galante, elegant outdoor entertainment.
- The mythological theme of love is appropriate with Rococo’s superficiality and gaiety. Watteau achieves exquisite shades of color (borrowed from the Venetians and Rubens). The air of suave gentility and the frivolity of the image characterize the Rococo and its difference from Baroque.
French Royal Academy divided into 2 doctrines
o “Poussinistes” Those who followed Poussin in that form was most important element of painting and color was just an addition for effect and not essential
o “Rubenistes” Those who followed Rubens, proclaimed the natural supremacy of color and coloristic style was proper guide
* Watteau was Rubeniste
Caravaggio, Entombment, 1603
Baroque
- This painting shows a diagonal composition, directed by the hands of the mourners. This very naturalistic paintings is cast in Caravaggio’s typical chiaroscuro lighting.
- Includes all hallmarks of Caravaggio’s distinctive style: plebeian figures (scruffy face of Nicodemus – a Pharisee who Christ taught and holds Christ’s legs)
- Tenebrism (Stark use of light and dark)
- Invitation for viewer to participate via perspective, Chiaroscuro, low horizon line; Action in foreground
Donatello, Equestrian Monument of Gattamelata, 1445-50, Piazza del Santo, Padua, Italy
High Italian Renaissance
Veronese, Feast in the House of Levi, 1573, Galleria dell’Accademia, Venice
Nicolas Poussin, Et in Arcadio ego, ca. 1655, Musée du Louvre, Paris
Filippo Brunelleschi, Florence Cathedral, dome, 1419-36
Italian Renaissance
- defining civic project of the early years of the 15th century
- Brunelleschi solved problem of filling the dome which had been planned since the middle of the 14th century
- studied ancient sculpture and architecture in Rome
- the dome was built up using temporary wooden supports and had vertical marble ribs interlocking with horizontal rings, connected and reinforced with iron rods and oak beams - the inner and out shells were linked with arches, making it a self-buttressed unit with no need for external support.
- Discarded traditional building methods, invented much of the machinery necessary for the job
- Lantern added more weight but also stabilized the dome because of the ribs not moving outward (engineering innovation).
- Double shell cathedral dome with, two separate shells
Hieronymus Bosch, Garden of Earthly Delights, 1505-10, Museo del Prado, Madrid
Lorenzo Ghiberti, Gates of Paradise, 1425-52, Baptistry of S. Giovanni, Florence, Italy
Italian Renaissance
organized into 10 square reliefs by a system of linear perspective with orthogonal lines
They depicts scenes from the Hebrew Bible beginning with Creation in the upper left
Ghiberti uses graceful, idealized figures and pays careful attention to one-point perspective in laying out the architectural settings.
Mathematical, linear, or one-point perspective – 1st done by Brunelleschi around 1420
Medieval narrative method of presenting several episodes within a single frame
Gero Crucifix, Cathedral, Cologne, Germany c. 970-1000
Ottonian
- Ottonian artists prefered to work in ivory, bronze, wood and other materials rather than stone
- focused on portable art rather than architectural sculpture
- Gero Crucifix is one of the few large works of carved wood to survive from the early Middle Ages
- Archbishop Gero of Cologne commissioned this for his cathedral; Christ is over 6 feet tall and made of painted and gilded oak
- following Byzantine model, Christ’s pain is the focus; he is shown as tortured martyr
- straight, linear fall of golden drapery heightens the impact of his drawn face
Jan van Eyck, Ghent Altarpiece, 1432
Northern (Flemish) Renaissance
- worked as a painter but also a diplomat for Duke Philip the Good
- special technique of painting oil glazes on wood panel; almost invisible brushstrokes
- not clear if brother Hubert was co-author (he died in 1426)
- God is wearing papal crown and has another at his feet; virgin mary and john the baptist on either side of him
- 3-dimensional mass of figures and extreme detail suggest Jan’s mastery and unique contribution to this piece
Jan van Eyck, Giovanni Arnolfini and his wife, 1434
Northern (Flemish) Renaissance
- formerly called the Arnolfini Wedding portrait, but this has been disputed in recent years by art historians
- van Eyck’s dated signature above mirror does suggest this painting may have marked some occassion and witnesses or visitors are reflected in the mirror
- full of symbolism and layers of meaning both secular and religious (oranges on table to the left of Arnolfini would suggest wealth and also that he may have been a merchant/his goods, and also a symbol of fertility, and fall of Adam and Eve)
- roundels that frame the mirror depict Christ’s passion
*
Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Good Government in the City, frescos in the Salla della Pace Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, 1338-39
Jean-Baptiste Siméon Chardin, Grace at Table, 1740, Museé du Louvre, Paris
Grape Mosaic, Church of Santa Costanza, Rome, 338-350
Isidorus and Anthemius, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, 532-537 (Early Byzantine)
- Part of a large-scale plan by Emperor Justinian to restore Constantinople after destruction by rioters in 532; replaced by an existing church which had been set on fire
- means “Holy Wisdom”
- wanted to build a church that represented imperial authority and power; Justinian commissioned Anthemius of Tralles (geometry specialist) and Isidorus of Miletus (physics/vaulting); employed skilled master masons
- main dome of Hagia Sophia is supported on pendentives, triangular curving vault sections built between four huge arches that spring from piers at the corners of the dome’s square base
- Hagia Sophia represents the early use of the dome on pendentives in a major building
- Unlike the Pantheon, the Hagia Sophia’s dome has a band of forty windows around its base; created an important circle of light that makes the dome appear to float
- dome fell in 558 and needed to be rebuilt and exterior buttressing was added
Jean Pucelle, Hours of Jeanne d’ Evreux, Annunciation, 1325-28
French Illuminated Manuscript
- Paris was a center of book production
- By late 13th c. literacy began to spread among laypeople and private prayerbooks became popular
- This book was given as a gift from King Charles IV to his queen Jeanne d’Evreux.
- The book was painted in grisaille - monochromatic paint - and then touched up with color. The book is significant for the artist’s concept of space and the figures placed within coherent, discrete architectural settings. The Queen appears in the letter D below the Annunciation, praying.
- Technique called grisaille, monochromatic painting in shades of gray with faint touches of color. The inclusion of the patron in the scene, a practice that continued in the Renaissance, conveyed the idea that the scenes were visions inspired by meditation rather than records of historical events. Foreshadowing of torture and death – somber atmosphere
Hans Holbein the Younger, Henry VIII, 1540, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica, Rome
Masaccio, Holy Trinity, S. Maria Novella, Florence, c. 1425
Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Hunters in the Snow, 1565, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Grünewald, Isenheim Altarpiece, 1510-15, Musée Unterlinden, Colmar, France
Northern Renaissance
- done around the time of reformation
- done around the same time as Bosch
- Placed in house of the sick, where it may have admonished the infirm that another had suffered more. Portrays the dreadful ugliness of pain, use of sharp and angular shapes suspended by a flaring light that holds the figures in a tableau of awful impact.
- Created for monastic hospital order, Saint Anthony of Isenheim
- Emphasize suffering of patron saint, Anthony
Artemesia Gentileschi, Judith and Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes, c. 1625, Detroit Institute of Arts
Gislebertus, Last Judgement, main portal of St. Lazare, Autun, France,1120-1135
Norman Romanesque
- Christ has returned to judge mankind; the damned writhe in torment while the saved enjoy serene bliss
- a lengthy inscription identifies the Autun tympanum as the work of Gislebertus, who oversaw the sculpture and probably did much of the work himself
- less consciously balances than other friezes at the time; less regular and less compartmentalized (such as the composition at Moissac)
- figures are stylized and highly expressive; delicate weblike engraving on robes seems inspired by metalwork or manuscript illumination
- Archangel Michael competes with the devils for souls being weighed on scale; pilgrims depicted beneath; screaming demons pushing down souls
Giotto di Bondone, Lamentation from the Arena Chapel, Padua, c. 1305-06
Diego Velazquez, Las Meninas, 1656, Museo del Prado, Madrid
Giotto, Last Judgment, Arena Chapel, Padua, Italy, c. 1305
Michelangelo, Last Judgment, Sistine Chapel, 1536-1541, Vatican, Rome
Lindau Gospels Cover, c.870
Carolingian
- probably made at one of the monastic workshops of Charlemagne’s grandson, Charles the Bald
- sometime before the 16th century it became the cover of the Lindau gospels, prepared at the monastery of St. Gall
- Cross and crucifixion were common themes of medieval book covers
- made of gold with figures in low relief (made by pounding in the back), surrounded by heavily jeweled frames
- by raising the jewels the artist allowed reflected light to enter the gemstones from beneath, imparting a lustruous glow
- angels hover above cross and over Jesus’ head are figures representing the sun and the moon
- Jesus’ mourners- Mary, Mary Magdalene, John and Mary Cleophas are at the bottom
- smaller figures more expressive, Jesus is modeled in rounded, naturalistic style suggesting influence of classical sculpture
Leonardo da Vinci, Last Supper, 1495-98, Monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan,
Cimabue, Madonna Enthroned, from S. Trinita, c. 1280-90, Gallerie degli Uffizi, Florence
Italo-Byzantine
- enormous panel painting set a precedent for monumental altarpieces
- uses traditional Byzantine iconography of the “virgin pointing the way” in which Mary holds Jesus in her lap and points to him as the path to salvation
- Mother and child are surrounded by saints, angels and old testament prophets
- Cimabue used Byzantine proportions in determining the size of figures, placement of their features and even the tilt of their halos
- Mary’s huge throne presents an architectural framework
- highlighted drapery with gold to indicate divinity
- subtle asymmetries within the centralized compositions enliven the picture and depart from Byzantine tradition
- Cimabue’s concern for spatial volumes, solid forms delicately modeled in light and shade and warmly naturalistic human figures contributed to the course of later Italian painting
Hyacinthe Rigaud, Louis XIV, 1701, Musée du Louvre, Paris
Limbourg Brothers, May from Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, 1413-1416
International Gothic Style
- “very sumptuous book of hours” for the Duke of Berry, one of the dukes of Burgundy
- Limbourgs created full page illustrations for the calendar in the International Gothic Style
- style comes from papal court in Avignon, where artists from Italy, France and Flanders worked side by side; epitomized by slender, gracefully posed figures whose delicate features are framed by masses of curling hair and complex headdresses
- this is colors and ink on parchment
- Illusionistic scene rather than simply images on a surface
- Calendar pictures are the most famous in history of manuscript illumination; represent the 12 months
- The range of subject matter (especially prominence of genre subjects in a religious book) reflect increasing integration of religious and secular concerns in art and life at time; Visually captured relationship: power of duke and relationship to the peasants
Duccio, Madonna Enthroned, center of the Maesta altarpiece, 1308-11, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Siena, Italy
Giotto, Madonna Enthroned, from the church of Ognissanti, c. 1310
Italo-Byzantine/proto-Renaissance
- exhibits groundbreaking spatial consistency and sculptural solidity while retaining some of Cimabue’s conventions from thirty years prior.
- the central and overtly symmetrical composition and the position of the figures reflect Cimabue’s influence
- Gone, however, are Mary’s modestly inclined head and the delicate folds of her drapery; instead, her face is individualized and her action of holding her child’s leg rather than pointing to him seems entirely natural
- she is still too large for her gothic tabernacle, formal enthroned image with gold background
- despite this, Giotto’s play of light and shadow suggests that these are real people; details of the virgin’s torso can be glimpsed under her tunic and Giotto’s angels have wings that are folded into resting position
Matthew the Evangelist page from the Ebbo Gospels, c. 816-35
Carolingian
- Louis the Pious (Charlemagne’s son) appointed Ebbo to be archbishop of Reims, who became important patron of the arts
- this is a portrait of Matthew made for the archbishop either in Reims or a nearby scriptorium
- artist interprets author’s portrait with frenetic intensity that turns the face, drapery, and ladscape into swirling expressive colored lines
- angelic inspiration is tiny figure in the right corner
- everything appears windblown
- the artist is focusing less on Matthew’s appearance than his inner, spiritual excitement as he transcribes the word of God coming to him from a distant angel
- there is an interest in mimicking classical drapery in the folds of Matthew’s clothing
Parmigianino, Madonna of the Long Neck, 1535, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
Albrect Dürer, Melencolia I, 1514, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, 1503-1505, Musée du Louvre, Paris
Mosaic of Emperor Justinian and His Attendants, S. Vitale, 547, Ravenna, Italy
- On north wall of San Vitale
- He is carrying a large gold paten for the Host and stands next to Archbishop Maximianus who holds a golden jewel encrusted cross
- the priests on the right carry the gospels, encased in a jeweled book cover, symbolizing the coming of the Word and a censer containing burning incense to purify the altar prior to mass
Robert Campin, Mérode Altarpiece, 1425-28
Flemish (Northern) Renaissance
- preferred painting in oil rather tempera preferred in Italy; slower to dry and has luminous quality to capture jewel like colors
- panel paintings provided a window onto a scene, which Flemish Renaissance painters rendered with keen attention to individual features
- depicted Annunciation inside a Flemish home, rendering the domestic religious
- symbolism became important; the flowers on the table in the central panel, for instance, symbolize Mary’s virginity
- Mary’s position is submission to God’s will
- Complex treatment of light is another Flemish innovation (both natural and “supernatural” light)
- lack of naturalistic perspective shows remaining effect of international gothic style; is it a conscious remnant of medieval style?
Nave of Durham Cathedral, 1093-1133, Northumberland, England
Norman Romanesque
- Experimentation with masonry in Durham; appreciated the relationship to power and glory of ancient Rome/Charlemagne and appreciated its durability
- Durham Cathedral has been rebuilt/added to several times but the nave retains its Norman characteristics
- the huge circular window highlighting the choir is a Gothic addition
- enormous compound piers alternating with robust columns form the nave arcade
- alternating circular and clustered piers establish typical alternating rhythm
- columns are carved with chevrons, spiral fluting and diamond patterns and some have scalloped, cushion shaped capitals
- carved ornamentation was originally painted
- above the cathedral’s massive piers and walls rise a new system of ribbed vaults and buttresses; creates a unified, well-lit space- they divided each bay with two pairs of diagonal crisscrossing ribs and so kept the crowns of the vaults close in height to the keystones of the transverse arches
- the eye runs smoothly down the length of the vault
Sir Joshua Reynolds, Mrs. Siddons as the Tragic Muse, 1784, Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery, San Marino, California
Reims Cathedral, France, c. 1225-1290: Annunciation and Visitation
High Gothic
- Both Mary and Elizabeth pregnant with Christ and John the Baptist, respectively
- Greek contrapposto pose, swaying of hips
- “elegant style” – soon became standard of High Gothic Sculpture
- This statue decoration of Reims Cathedral features statues liberated from their architectural setting. The products of different workshops, the angel Gabriel has a different appearance to the other figures. Gabriel, the latest of the four statues has an elongated body and is more animated, showing the elegant style of the Paris court in the middle of the 13th century. Mary, in contrast, is serious and introspective.
- in a departure from tradition, Mary rather than Christ dominates the central portal, a reflection of the popularity of her cult; Christ crowns her Queen of Heaven in the central gable
- The coronation church of the kings of France and like Saint Denis had been a cultural and educational center since Carolingian times
- A fire destroyed the building in 1210 and the cornerstone was laid in 1211; facade begun in 1225; a series of revolts over the expenses of the project halted construction several times
- considered one of the best of the Gothic facades
- most of this building must have been finished before the inauguration of Philip the Fair in 1286
Notre-Dame Cathedral, Paris, c. 1163-1250
Gothic
- Represents a bridge in style between Abbot Suger’s renovation of Saint Denis and the high Gothic cathedrals of the 13th century
- Build to accommodate larger urban population in Paris
- The nave, with its massive walls and buttresses and six part vaults adopted from Norman Romanesque; the nave has four stories surmounted by a gallery and two levels of small windows, including lancets and “bull’s eye” windows
- to increase window size and secure the vault, the builders built the first true flying buttresses- gracefully arched, skeletal exterior support counters the outward thrust of the nave vault by carrying the weight over the side aisles to the ground
Notre-Dame Cathedral, Reims, c. 1225-1290
High Gothic
- The coronation church of the kings of France and like Saint Denis had been a cultural and educational center since Carolingian times
- A fire destroyed the building in 1210 and the cornerstone was laid in 1211; facade begun in 1225; a series of revolts over the expenses of the project halted construction several times
- considered one of the best of the Gothic facades
- most of this building must have been finished before the inauguration of Philip the Fair in 1286
- its tall, gabled portraits form a broad horizontal base and project forward to display an expanse of sculpture; their soaring peaks unify the facade vertically
- large windows will the tympana instead of sculpture which would have been found in earlier buildings
- in a departure from tradition, Mary rather than Christ dominates the central portal, a reflection of the popularity of her cult; Christ crowns her Queen of Heaven in the central gable
- the rose window is focus point of the facade and towers were later additions as were the row of carved figures that runs from the base of one tower to the other above the rose window; this “gallery of kings” is the only strictly horizontal element of the facade
Old St. Peter’s, Rome, begun c. 320
Sebastian Salcedo, Our Lady of Guadalupe, 1779, Denver Art Museum
Mexican Devotional
Juan Diego was told to build church on site of Aztec goddess temple
She is the patron saint of the Americas
Guadalupe personifies an Indian version of a Spanish (Westernized) saint, helps in conversion process.
Louis Le-Vau, Jules Hardouin-Mansart, and Charles Le Brun, Palais de Versailles, Hall of Mirrors 1668-85
Palatine Chapel of Charlemagne, Aachen, 792-805
Carolingian
- Charlemagne imposed Christianity throughout his vast territory (present day France, western Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands and northern Italy); Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne the holy Roman emperor
- Court at Aachen became one of the leading intellectual centers of Western Europe
- synthesis of Roman, early Christian and northern styles
- this was Charlemagne’s private chapel, the church of his imperial court, a place for relics and an imperial masoleum after the emperor’s death
- large, central plan similar to San Vitale
- two levels: bottom for commoners and top for emperor and his guests (throne room)
- room also opened outside to large walled forecourt where emperor could make public appearances
- relics were housed above throne room; spiral stairs joined the three levels
- the core of the chapel is an octagon surrounded by an ambulatory in alternating square and triangular bays
- central octagon rises to a clerestory above and culminates in eight triangular that form an octagonal dome
- two tiers of Corinthian columns in the arched openings create a fictive wall that enhances the clarity of geometric space
- built from rich materials and with mosaics, some imported from Italy
- rich materials shows emphasis on Byzantine art but vertical orientation and clear division of larger forms into separate parts are hallmarks of the Carolingian style
Leon Battista Alberti, Palazzo Rucellai, Florence 1446-51
Italian Renaissance
- designed facade as unifying front for planned merger of eight adjacent houses in Florence acquired by Giovanni Rucellai
- house was never finished
- influenced in its basic approach by the palazzo medici, was a simple rectangular front suggesting a coherent, cubical three story building capped with an overhanging cornice along with double windows
- entirely new was: ne of the first to implement new ideas in Renaissance architecture that used pilasters and entablatures in proportional relationship to each other. The three stores of the facade have different classical orders like the Colosseum
- Represents a scholarly application of classical elements to contemporary buildings, suggestion that the structure becomes lighter towards the top is implied by the orders (like Romans in Colosseum)- Doric, Composite (Ionic and Corinthian) and Corinthian, emphasizes the flat two-dimensional qualities of the wall while at the same time uniting the façade.
- Said an arch is merely a wall opening and should thus be supported bypart of the wall – a pier – not by a column; Thus Alberti disposed the medieval arcade that had persisted for centuries
Anon., Parson Capen House, Topsfield, MA, 1683
Filippo Brunelleschi, Pazzi Chapel, Santa Croce, Florence c. 1440
Italian Renaissance
- In Renaissance Italy, families regularly endowed chapels in or adjacent to major churches
- One of first independent Renaissance buildings conceived as a central-plan structure; Similar to Roman Pantheon in its central-plan and compact/self-contained quality
- The portico as it currently stands was added later to Brunelleschi’s design and disrupts the entrance of light and the view of the dome and arches of Brunelleschi’s original plan. Inside the chapel are two barrel vaults on either side with a dome on pendentives.
- Façade design with flat entablature and central arch perhaps inspired by St. Peters, height of wall is equal to width of intercolumniations (ratio), central plan structure, interior geometrical patterns unites the interior space and enhances the effect of compact self-sufficiency.
*
Gianlorenzo Bernini, Piazza of St. Peter’s, Rome, 1656-67
Michelangelo, Pietà, c. 1498-1500, Saint Peter’s, Vatican, Rome
Plan of Monastery of St. Gall, Switzerland, original c. 820
Carolingian
- Abbot Haito of Reichenau developed an ideal plan for the construction of monasteries for his colleague Abbot Gozbert of Saint Gall
- Haito laid out the plan on a square grid, with an ancient Roman army camp and indicated the size and position of the buildings and their uses
- Benedictine monks celebrate mass as well as the eight canonical hours everyday, they need a church building with ample space for many altars
- north of the church were public buildings such as the abbot’s house, the school and guest house
- the south side was private and consisted of the cloister and complex of monastic buildings
- dormitory was on east side of the cloister and for night services, the monks entered the church directly from their dormitory
- indicates plans for housing 77 monks in dormitory and 33 elsewhere; 100 total
- Saint Benedict had directed that monks extend hospitality to all visitors and the large building in the upper left may indicate a guest house
- the monastery was self-supporting with barns and kitchen gardens and a cemetary
- often monasteries were larger than local villages
Hugo van der Goes, Portinari Altarpiece, c. 1476, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
Northern (Flemish) Renaissance
- Dean of the painter’s guild of Ghent; second generation of northern Renaissance artists
- made for the head of the Medici bank in Bruges, then sent to Florence where it had a noticeable impact on Florentine painters such as Ghirlandaio
- the family flanks the sides (with Saints Thomas and Anthony) and the nativity scene in the middle
- like other N. Renaissance artists while the subject is spiritual the style is definitely phyiscal and of the world (color, detail, use of complex symbolism) but the size shifts in figures are a signature style of van der Goes
Raphael, Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione, c. 1514, Musée du Louvre, Paris
Priestess of Bacchus, ivory diptych, c.390-400, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Roman
Close relationship between two Roman patricians in Augustan style
Priestess wear incense/Tree evocative of Jupiter
Sandro Botticelli, Primavera, c. 1475, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
Purse cover from Sutton Hoo, c. 615-633
Hiberno-Saxon/early Medieval
- a burial site with a hoard of treasure in a grave mound by the North Sea (like in Beowulf)
- hoo means hill or headland
- the grave’s occupant had been buried in a ship whose traces in the earth were recovered by excavators
- his identity is disputed but his treasures confirm that he was a wealthy and powerful man
- ship was 90 feet long
- the artist used cloisonné technique (cells formed from gold wire to hold shaped pieces of garnet or glass, frequently seen in Byzantine enamels
- pictures two men flanked by beasts (this is a motif common to art from the Near East and Rome) and above purely geometric figures
- use of bright color- especially red and gold- reflects an Eastern European tradition
Peter Paul Rubens, Raising of the Cross, 1609-10, from the Church of Saint Walpurga, Antwerp, Belgium
Thomas Gainsborough, Robert Andrews and His Wife, c. 1748-50, The National Gallery, London
Grand Manner Portraiture
Rottgen Pieta, Germany, c. 1300-1325 (“Vesperbild”)
German Gothic (?)
- This portable wooden sculpture is a work that represents a trend in art towards mystical religiosity in face of instabilities of 14th century (famine, plague, wars, etc)
- Devotional Images: Andachtsbilder
- evening prayers were vespers; Vesperbild is image of Mary morning her son (Pieta)
- blood gushes from the rosettes on Jesus’s wounds
- faces convey the intensity of their ordeal
Bramante, Michelangelo, and others, Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome, begun 1506
Sainte-Chapelle, Paris, 1243-1248, interior
High Gothic/Rayonnant Style
- Masterpiece of the Rayonnant
- ordered by Louis IX to house his collection of relics of Christ’s passion sold to him by his cousin who was ruling Constantinople after the last crusade
- Sainte-Chapelle resembles a giant reliquary, one made of stone and glass
- Built in two stories, the ground level chapel is accessible by from a courtyard and a private upper chapel is entered from a royal residence
- exterior had gables and wall buttresses framing huge windows
- walls have been reduced to clusters of slender colonnettes framing tall windows filled with shimmering glass
- Bar tracery in the windows is echoed in the blind arcading and tracery decorating the lower walls
- stone surfaces are painted and gilded in red, blue and gold o that stone and glass seem to merge in the multicolored light
- painted statues of the 12 apostles stand between window sections
- windows contain narrative and symbolic scenes, including the nativity, passion of the christ, tree of Jesse and life of Saint John the Baptist as well as Louis’ acquisition of his relics
Sainte-Chapelle, Paris, 1243-1248
High Gothic/Rayonnant Style
- The walls are dissolved and filled completely with stained glass - covering more than 3/4 of the structure. The supporting elements are very light vertical stone bars.
- Masterpiece of the Rayonnant
- ordered by Louis IX to house his collection of relics of Christ’s passion sold to him by his cousin who was ruling Constantinople after the last crusade
- Sainte-Chapelle resembles a giant reliquary, one made of stone and glass
- Built in two stories, the ground level chapel is accessible by from a courtyard and a private upper chapel is entered from a royal residence
- exterior had gables and wall buttresses framing huge windows
- walls have been reduced to clusters of slender colonnettes framing tall windows filled with shimmering glass
- Bar tracery in the windows is echoed in the blind arcading and tracery decorating the lower walls
- stone surfaces are painted and gilded in red, blue and gold o that stone and glass seem to merge in the multicolored light
- painted statues of the 12 apostles stand between window sections
- windows contain narrative and symbolic scenes, including the nativity, passion of the christ, tree of Jesse and life of Saint John the Baptist as well as Louis’ acquisition of his relics
Germaine Boffrand, Salon de la Princesse, Hôtel de Soubise, Paris, 1737-1740
Versus Versailles, the strong architectural lines are softened into flexible sinuous curves, asymmetrically and irregularities are emphasize as seen in the cornices. Use of shells “rocailles” recall the origins of rococo as literally a pebble. Coming together of painting, architecture and sculpture (like Baroque) but in a different manner.
Benvenuto Cellini, Saltcellar of Francis I, 1540s, Stolen from Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Leon Battista Alberti, Sant Andrea, Mantua, ca. 1470, facade
Italian Renaissance
- Superimposed a triumphal-arch motif, in place of a colonnade upon a classical temple front
- Combines two Roman architectural motifs already a feature of classical architecture
- This church was built on the themes of triumphal arches such as the ancient Arch of Titus. The facade was built abutting a pre-existing bell tower. The design integrated lower order columns with a giant order unfluted pilasters. The facade combines triumphal arches and temple design.
- Adjustment of classical order to façade occupied Alberti, uses Roman temple front and Roman triumphal arch together (innovative), shows concern for proportion since he equalizes the verticals and horizontals. Visual proportionality in the façade is specifically Renaissance
Leon Battista Alberti, Sant Andrea, Mantua, ca. 1470, interior
Italian Renaissance
- Alberti removed the colonnade
o In his treatise he said colonnades conceal ceremonies from the faithful in the aisles
• This break with tradition influenced later Renaissance and Baroque church planning
- Superimposed a triumphal-arch motif, in place of a colonnade upon a classical temple front
- Combines two Roman architectural motifs already a feature of classical architecture
- This church was built on the themes of triumphal arches such as the ancient Arch of Titus.
- The facade was built abutting a pre-existing bell tower. The design integrated lower order columns with a giant order unfluted pilasters. The facade combines triumphal arches and temple design.
- Adjustment of classical order to façade occupied Alberti, uses Roman temple front and Roman triumphal arch together (innovative), shows concern for proportion since he equalizes the verticals and horizontals. Visual proportionality in the façade is specifically Renaissance
Santa Costanza, Rome, 338-350: int.,ext., grape mosaic
- mausoleum of Costantina, Constantine’s daughter
- consecrated as a church in 1256
- tholos: round structure with central plan and vertical axis; building consists of a tall rotunda with a tangle of grapevines filled with putti- naked male child angels
- the technique, subject and style are Roman but the meaning has been altered; scene would have been familiar to followers of Bacchus but now refers to the Eucharist
Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, c. 359, Vatican Grottoes, Rome (early Christian)
- Christians adapted Roman forms to suit their needs
- Junius Bassus was a Roman official who was “newly baptized” when he died in 359
- columns and entablatures divide the space into individual scenes
- Scenes of Christ appear in the center of both registers; on top he is the philosopher-teacher to Saint Peter and Paul; he rests his foot Aeoulus, the classical god of the winds- signified that he was in heaven to the Romans
- both Old and New testament scenes are depicted; Old testament scences such as Abraham sacrificing Isaac and New Testament such as the Passion
Raphael, School of Athens, Vatican, Rome, 1509-11
Albrecht Dürer, Self-Portrait, 1500 (Salvator mundi), Alte Pinakothek, Munich
Judith Leyster, Self-Portrait, ca. 1630-35, The National Gallery, Washington, D.C.
Rembrandt, Self-Portrait, 1659, The National Gallery, Washington, D.C.
St. Mark’s, Venice (begun 1063)
Sir. Christopher Wren, St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, 1675-1710
Baroque/Classical
After the fire of 1666 destroyed most of the city, Wren was busy rebuilding many parts of it, including the St Pauls. Wren’s background as a mathematician shows in the precise engineering and ingenuity of the design. On the facade, two levels of Corinthian columns support a carved pediment.
Two towers act as foil to the great dome (perhaps borrowed from Italian architects
Wren’s eclecticism borrows from Italian and French.
Wren’s skillful eclectism brought all these foreign features into a monumental unity
Built more than 50 Baroque churches
St. Sernin, Toulouse, 1070-1120
Romanesque
This church was one of the earliest examples of Romaneque stone vaulting. Toulouse was an important stop on the pilgrimage road to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. The designer increased the length of the nave, doubled the side aisles and added a transept, ambulatory and radiating chapels to provide additional room. The plan is extremely regular and geometrical. Another feature of the church is the insertion of tribunes over the inner aisle, opening onto the nave which buttress the barrel vault overing the nave. Groin vaults in the tribunes absorbed the pressure exerted by the barrel vault along the entire length of the nave and transferred to the thick outer walls.
Toulouse important stop on pilgrimage road through France to Santiago de Compostela in Northwestern Spain
Willem Claesz. Heda, Still Life with Oysters, c. 1648, Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Martin Schongauer, Temptation of St. Anthony, engraving, 1480-90
German Engraving/Northern Renaissance
- idea of temptation as physical assault rather than subtle inducement
- engraver intensified horror of the moment by condensing the action into a swirling vortex of figures
- Engravings may have originated with goldsmiths and armorers, recording their work by rubbing lampblack into the engraved lines and pressing paper over the plate. German artist Marin Schongauer learned engraving from his goldsmith father.
- Europe began to mass manufacture paper in late 14th c.
- Raise in literacy and improved economy necessitated production of illustrated books on a grand scale
Caravaggio, The Calling of Saint Matthew, 1599-1600, Contarelli Chapel, Church of San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome
Jacob van Ruisdael, The Jewish Cemetery, 1655-60, The Detroit Insitute of Arts
Rembrandt, The Night Watch (The Company of Captian Frans Banning Cocq), 1642, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Jean-Antoine Watteau, The Signboard of Gersaint, c. 1721
French Rococo
Gerstaint was a gallerist
filled with paintings of Venetian and Dutch schools that Watteau admired
Jean-Honoré Fragonard, The Swing, 1766, The Wallace Collection, London
Giorgione, The Tempest, c. 1510, Galleria dell’Accademia, Venice
François Boucher, The Toilet of Venus, 1751, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
Masaccio, Tribute Money, Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, c. 1427
Baciccio (Giovanni Battista Gaulli), Triumph of the Name of Jesus, Church of the Gesu, Rome, 1676
Italian Baroque
This illusionistic Baroque ceiling was painted during a renovation by the Jesuits. Baciccio fused sculpture and painting to eliminate any architectural division. This was new in that it unified architecture, sculpture and painting. This has all the hallmarks of the Baroque - appealing to the viewers emotions, the total unity of visuals and the sweeping expanse of the work.
Such paintings high above ground offered perfect opportunity to impress viewers of glory and power of Catholic Church
Theatricality of frescos created spiritual environment well suited to Counter-Reformation of Church
Titian, Venus of Urbino, 1538, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
Louis Le Vau and Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Versailles, 1668-85: exterior
French Classicist
Palace build by Louis XIV around chateau built by his father, Louis XIII;A royal hunting lodge converted into great palace
Glorification of Apollo the Sun God with whom Louis identified
The three story façade has a lightly rusticated ground floor, a main floor lined with enormous arched windows separated by Ionic columns or pilasters and a flat, terraced roof. The design is sensitive balance of horizontals and verticals.
Strong axial compositions like Bernini, however in this example integrated with landscaping.
Louis Le Vau – designed first additions, old Versailles chateau left standing, did the central Block, designed the elevation of the Garden Front, died within a year
Jules Hardouin-Mansart – after Le Vau’s death took over, completed garden façade of palace, added long lateral wings, renovated Le Vau’s central block on garden side to match the wings; enclosed an open gallery that became Hall of Mirrors
Charles Le Brun – general manager of army of architects, decorators, painters, sculptors, etc.
Palladio, Villa Rotonda (Villa Capra), Vicenza, Italy, 1567-70
Italian Renaissance
Although villas were usually working farms, Palladio designed this one as a retreat. This was nicknamed the Villa Rotonda because it was ispried by teh Roman Pantheon. The use of a central dome on a domestic building was an innovation that secularized the dome and initiated a long tradition of domed houses in England and the US.
Building whose parts are functional and systematically related to one another in terms of mathematical relationships (influenced by Alberti and Bramante) because of the central domed rotunda. Embodies the self-sufficiency and formal completeness of the Renaissance
Chief architect of Venetian Republic
Wrote The Four Books of Architecture – his treatise on architecture, published 1570
Declining fortunes and limited space urged citizens to become aristocratic farmers
Virgin and Child Enthroned Between Saints and Angels, icon, late 6th c., Monastery of St. Catherine, Mount Sinai, Egypt (Byzantine)
- icons used aids for meditation and prayer, not to be worshipped in and of themselves
- a period of iconoclasm in the 8th and 9th centuries destroyed most early icons, this is a rare well-preserved example of early icon
- Mary was considered an intercessor, appealing to her divine son for mercy on behalf repentant worshippers
- suggests she represents the throne of Solomon
- warrior-saints Theodore and George who were both said to have slain dragons, flank her on either side
- Mary, child and angels are more classical; saints more stylized- their richly patterned cloaks barely hint at bodies underneath
Diego Velazquez, Water Seller of Seville, c. 1619, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Henry VII Chapel, Westminster Abbey, London, 1503-1519
Perpendicular Style
