Midterm Exam Flashcards
When/what was the Renaissance?
The historic period between the late 14th century and the second half of the 16th century, which was characterized by the rebirth of the cultural and artistic life. Its roots originated in early Florentine Humanism. This movement meant a complete release of thought and action from the strict theological and very limited dogmas of the Middle Ages.
What is naturalism?
The study of man and the universe with an open mind (without the use of metaphysics). Man is the centre and measure of all things.
How was religion viewed during the Renaissance?
The religious vision of life disintegrated from the divine to human. In earlier times, God was above everything, but in Renaissance times, God was in everything (Example: “Neoplatanism” - seeing the presence of God in nature). In short, religion was still very present, but the attitudes surrounding it became less negative.
What role did the classics play in the Renaissance?
The Renaissance began to utilize the classical ideas and forms again in the arts, following cultural ideals of continuation with the ancient world.
How did the meaning of art change during the Renaissance?
Art was no longer a “mechanical activity,” or a sort of handcraft (think artisans vs. artist), but a “liberalis,”or rather, an intellectual exercise. Art became an instrument of knowledge and research into reality.
When did Florence first become a destination for the rest of the Western World?
In 1200 merchants put Florence on the map.
Example: wool merchants
What important events occurred in the year 1348?
- Gigantic bankruptcy in Florence.
This is significant because at the time, Florentines were the bankers of Popes and Kings.
- The Black Death (“the plague”).
It wiped out 1/3 the population of Florence, but the city recovered quickly. The best minds in the world were in Florence around this time; people thought deeper about life, death, and nature. This eventually sparked the Renaissance.
What is the importance of the Medici family in relation to Renaissance art?
They arrived in Florence as a new banking family with Cosimo I. He believed he could “wash his soul” by investing the money he made in art, which led to the restoration and construction of buildings, as well as generous funding for artists and writers.
What is the Pazzi family famous for?
Their assassination attempt of the 1470’s. They succeeded in killing Giuliani, Lorenzo the Magnificent’s brother, but failed to kill him. “Pazzi” means mad.
What important event occurred in 1993?
The mafia put a bomb under the Uffizi Gallery that killed a family and destroyed an entire wing of artwork.
What important event occurred in 1966?
The Arno River flooded, destroying and damaging bridges, as well as numerous important paintings and manuscripts in the library.
What are some key characteristics of the Byzantine style?
- Static figures
- All faces look alike
- Gold background
What are some key characteristics of Romanesque style churches?
- Simple, geometric style
- Mosaics in gold
- Absence of chapels
- Central nave, two aisles
- Crypt is present
- Earthbound, heavy style
Examples: San Miniato, Baptistery in Florence
What are some key characteristics of Gothic style churches?
- Tall designs that sweep upward (everything is a progression to God above)
- Pointed arches
- Vaulted ceilings
- Presence of light symbolizes presence of the divine
- Emphasis on decorative and ornate style
- Presence of chapels
Examples: Santa Croce, Santa Maria Novella, Body of Duomo, Palazzo Vecchio
What are some key characteristics of Renaissance style architecture?
- Rejection of tall/intricate Gothic style for a more simple and balanced style based on classicism.
- Rounded domes, arches, and classical orders were revived.
- The walls served as a flat canvas for a classical veneer.
Examples: San Marco, Dome of Duomo, facade of S.M. Novella and Santa Croce (mid 1400’s)
What was the function of Florentine guilds during the Renaissance?
To protect the rights of workers, similar to unions nowadays. However, unlike unions, membership in a guild was required in order to do business. They also regulated market, and set prices. Artists and artisans had to pass an exam to be accepted into their guild.
How did Dante Alighieri’s “Inferno” affect Florentine art around the time of the Renaissance?
His invention of Purgatory sparked interest in judgement day, which can be seen through art like the frescoes in San Miniata, as well as the fresco of the nine levels of hell inside Santa Maria Novella.
artist, title, date, medium, location
Cimabue, Madonna, late 1200’s, tempera on wood, Uffizi Gallery Florence
- optic perspective
- Byzantine style: gold everywhere = divinity; figure of Mary is static; children are small adults
artist, title, date, medium, location
Giotto, Madonna, early 1300’s, tempera on wood, Uffizi Gallery Florence
Comparison to Cimabue’s Madonna:
- Giotto created a revolution in art with the element of humanism
- background is still gold (Byz), but pointy arch is gothic
- optic perspective, but with a more realistic distribution
ex: 2 angels kneeling in front of throne - Element of naturalism is present:
ex: the shape of Mary’s body beneath robes
artist, title, date, medium, location
Giotto, Crucifixion, late 1200’s, tempera on wood, Santa Maria Novella
- traditional iconography, but this looks like a real body for the first time
- the representation of the human body was one of Giotto’s strengths
artist, title, date, location
Andrea Pisano, south doors of the Baptistery, 1330’s, Florence
- scenes from the story of John the baptist
- sense of rigidity overall
artist, title, date, medium, location
Masaccio, Trinity, early 1400’s, fresco, Santa Maria Novella
- Masaccio was a key artist of the fresco style
- Subject matter: Jesus being crucified with God in the background and a dove of peace
- more advance sense of perspective than previous artists’ attempts
- Roman columns allude to classical and ancient world
artist, title, date, medium, location
Beato (Fra) Angelico, Deposition, early 1400’s, tempera on panel, San Marco
- Beato Angelico was a prolific monk painter that used both old (tempera) and new (fresco) style
- still uses gold
- natural, but no perfect sense of proportion
artist, title, date, medium, location
Beato (Fra) Angelico, The Mocking of Christ with the Virgin and Saint Dominic, mid 1400’s, fresco, San Marco
- fresco that has a sense of harmony and balance
- newer, more Renaissance style
- scene of the mocking of Christ (crown of thorns, beating spitting at him)
- symbolic work overall
artist, title, date, medium, location
Gentile da Fabriano, Adoration of the Magi, 1423, tempera, Uffizi Gallery
- completely different technique than “Trinity”
- gold (gothic, romanesque, byzantine)
- tempera
- frame = original
- artist was comissioned by a family to make this, he wanted new style, they wanted old. To spite the patrons and show his true interests, Da Fabriano incorporated the faces of the wild crowd of people he saw walking around Florence, along with a few animals he sketched at the Medici zoo.
artist, title, date, medium, location
Filippo Lippi, Madonna, mid 1400’s, tempera on wood, Uffizi Gallery.
- We know she’s the virgin because she’s beautiful/has child
- Virgin Mary = symbol of motherly, unconditional love
- Not many years before, people were still using gold backgrounds and dwarf-looking children in this composition
- angel is turning toward us; opens space up
artist, title, date, medium, location
Ghiberti, The Sacrifice of Isaac, 1425-1452, bronze, Bargello Museum
- Ghiberti’s piece for the Baptistery door competition (against Brunelleschi)
- He was also asked to provide a model for the Duomo, but he lost it
artist, title, date, location
Brunelleschi, Ospedale degli Innocenti, early 1400’s, Florence
- Brunelleschi = most famous Renaissance architect
- he was a fan of the Romanesque and simple style
- this building is still use as a kindergarten
- used to be an orphanage where you could leave your baby
artist, title, date, location
Brunelleschi, San Lorenzo, early 1400’s, Florence
- one of the oldest churches in Florence is buried underneath this church (San Lorenzo built on top)
- Cosimo Medici wanted to be buried underneath the alter
- Michelangelo was later asked to add on to this church (dome in back)
- Interior: flat ceiling, simple, homey
artist, title, date, location
Brunelleschi and his student, Santo Spirito, mid 1400’s, Florence
- Brunelleschi wanted to experiment more with this church
- well known “simple facade” was his idea
- he said, “let’s knock down all the palaces between the convent and the river!” to make more room for his creation
- no one liked this idea, so little progress was made on the church before Brunelleschi died
- his student took over after he died
artist, title, date, medium, location
Della Robbia, Madonna, second half 1400’s, glazed terracotta, Bargello Museum
- 3 brothers who invented technique of glazed terracotta
- using this technique, artists could make very large pieces of art for cheap
- this art was in turn affordable for the people of Florence
***The picture on the front may not be correct, but as long as you can recognize mother/child figures made of glazed terracotta, you’ll be able to recognize whatever she shows us
artist, title, date, medium, location
Donatello, St. George, early 1400’s, marble, original: Bargello Museum, replica: Orsanmichele
- Donatello made this sculpture for the ironmaker’s guild’s niche in Orsanmichele
- these niches belonged to the guilds of Florence
- each guild had a patron saint statue in their niche
artist, title, date, medium, location
Donatello, David, 1440, bronze, Bargello Museum
- know the difference between this David and his earlier David (also in the Bargello)
- Donatello was more experimental with materials than many other sculptors of his time
- he studied Roman sculpture and Etruscan art (bronze technique especially)
- this particular version of David is younger than usually portrayed, and reminds us a bit of a greek god (shoes etc.)
artist, title, date, medium, location
Donatello, David, early 1400’s, marble, Bargello Museum
- Donatello’s earlier David
- portrayed as older, wiser
artist, title, date, medium, location
Donatello, Mary Magdalene, mid 1400’s, wood, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo (Florence)
- Until now, Mary Magdalene had been represented as beautiful
- Donatello’s version is creepier, but is also probably a more realistic explanation
- use of wood demonstrates his experimentation with materials
artist, title, date, location
Donatello, Pulpit, mid 1400’s, San Lorenzo
- pulpit = special place where Priest speaks
- Donatello treated pulpit as a sort of sarcophagus
- eerie
artist, title, date, medium, location
Paolo Uccello, Battle of San Romano, first half 1400’s, tempera on wood, Uffizi Gallery
- extremely active painter in Florence
- painted series of battle paintings for bedroom of Cosimo I
- in this painting, action is created by diagonal lines of weapons
- flat background
artist, title, date, medium, location
Paolo Uccello, Noah, mid 1400’s, fresco, Santa Maria Novella
-interpretation of biblical story of Noah
artist, title, date, medium, location
Verrocchio, Portrait of a Woman, late 1400’s, marble, Bargello Museum
- Verrocchio helped design some things in the Duomo
- he was a goldsmith, sculptor and painter
- this sculpture is the representation of an unknown local woman
- usually these types of sculptures were cut at the bust; this is unusually long
- hands shown holding bouquet, showing Verrocchio’s desire to present something through the naturalism of her body
artist, title, date, medium, location
Ghirlandaio, Stories from the Life of the Virgin Mary, 1480’s, fresco, Santa Maria Novella
- detail from fresco
- gentleness in representation of human figures
- in chapel of family with marriage connections to the Medici; many of these family members are pictured in the fresco
artist, title, date, medium, location
Boticelli, Adoration of the Magi, 1475, tempera on wood, Uffizi Gallery
- 3 kings with Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, and baby Jesus = typical “adoration of the magi” painting composition
- Something unique about Boticelli’s version: Roman ruins in the background (Renaissance interest in ancient/classical)
- Lorenzo the magnificent and Boticelli himself are both pictured in this painting (political function)
artist, title, date, medium, location
Boticelli, Spring, late 1400’s, tempera on wood, Uffizi Gallery
- something new: subject matter isn’t very religious
- Neoplatanism represented: “to see the presence of God in the natural world”
- women all look alike; based on a woman who Boticelli called “the most beautiful woman in Florence”
- the focal point is the allegorical woman, Spring
- based on poem written by Puliziamo (ref. to Roman lit.)
- the overall message is of bountiness; God is good
artist, title, date, medium, location
Boticelli, Birth of Venus, late 1400’s, tempera on canvas, Uffizi Gallery
- first nude woman in a long time
- Boticelli later burned many of his nude paintings after following Savanarola (thought he’d go to hell)
- Venus = symbol of perfect beauty, peculiar new subject
artist, title, date, medium, location
Leonardo, Annunciation, late 1400’s, oil on panel, Uffizi Gallery
- There aren’t many works by Da Vinci in Florence
- background of painting = late Renaissance setting
- girl (virgin) is reading on top of a sarcophagus
- Da Vinci was a scientist fond of botany, which he shows off in the background of this painting
- sfumato technique
artist, title, date, medium, location
Leonardo, St. John the Baptist, early 1500’s, oil on wood, Louvre, Paris
- half figure coming out of darkness
- vaguely erotic element
- finger pointing up (truth = up there)
artist, title, date, medium, location
Verrocchio, David, mid 1400’s, bronze, Bargello Museum
- young prince
- holding sword
- pride in self
- Goliath’s head beneath feet
artist, title, date, medium, location
Boticelli, Lamentation Over the Body of Christ, late 1400’s, tempera on wood, Alte Pinakothek (Munich)
- attitude changed completely
- central figure arching/strain on figures to hold body
- natural portrayal, overall
