N Renaissance Painting Exam 2 Flashcards
Before Christ Herod
woodcut
ca. 1400
_____
- artist had to cut all of the white areas
- similar works are all very simple in detail and form due to the amount of cutting that had to be done
- no indication of setting
Master of the Playing Cards
King of the Wild Men
engraving
ca. 1440s
_____
- also popular, secular items that were made from prints
- uses more lines to define the image
- quite a variety of strokes
Master E.S.
Einsiedeln Madonna
engraving
1466
_____
- very elaborate image
- probably made to commemorate the 500th anniversary of a chapel dedicated to the virgin mary
Master E.S.
Samson and Delilah
engraving
ca. 1460
_____
- prints not generally commissioned by a patron
- printmakers had more artistic freedom
Martin Schongauer
Nativity
engraving
1470-75
_____
- quite a lot of detail in Mary’s drapery
- inspired by paintings of the subject, which Martin used for reference
Martin Schongauer
Flight into Egypt
engraving
ca. 1470-75
_____
- so detailed…showing bark in the trees, shadows giving depth from background to foreground
- achieved through an inventive approach to composition and his versatility as an artist
Martin Schongauer
Temptation of St. Anthony
engraving
ca. 1470-75
_____
- his most famous engraving
- he zeroes in on the figure, surrounding him with a variety of demons
- has incredible control of stroke
- varying weight, length and spacing of his lines in order to get his iconography across
Martin Schongauer
Death of the Virgin
engraving
ca. 1470-75
_____
- monogram is prominent at the bottom
- so complex, very elaborate candle stick in the foreground
- carefully included a variety of emotions and sense of perspective/space
Martin Schongauer
The Road to Calvary
engraving
ca. 1475
_____
- very ambitious in terms of scale and complexity
- variety of strokes to capture the essance of light
- great example of light lights and dark darks…depth
Israhel van Mekenem the Younger
Self-Portrait with his Wife Ida
engraving
ca. 1490
_____
- most prolific of all 15th century german engravers, clocking in at over 600 different engravings…very very active
- first engraver as we know to create a self portrait
- indication of print making moving up the ladder as something with more value
Israhel van Meckenem
Mismatched Lovers
engraving
_____
- shows a large age difference between the lovers, wouldn’t normally be acceptable in paintings, but is more common in engravings
Master of the Amsterdam Cabinet
Aristotle and Phyllis
drypoint
ca. 1480
_____
- example of a secular themed work
Tilman Riemenschneider
Passion Altarpiece
[details of mourning women, St. John, Caiaphas, and Soldiers]
painted limewood
Munich
1485-90
_____
- became an independent master
- important stylistic features: lots of emotion with faces and posing
- very detailed drapery on the clothing - you can tell there’s a body beneath the clothing
- complex arrangement of folds
Tilman Riemenschneider
Munnerstadt Altarpiece
[with details of the 4 Evangelists]
limewood
Munnerstadt, Church of Mary Magdalen
1492
_____
- all documents still survive
- a commission for the church of Mary Magdalen
- small but prosperous town
- built in a gothic church
- the iconography was supposed to center on Mary Magdalen, the patron saint of the church
- she is centered, flanked by two local saints
- four evangelists down below
- reliefs from her life are at the side
- she is ascending to heaven in this depiction, being carried up by all the little angels
Tilman Riemenschneider
Munnerstadt Altarpiece
[detail: Mary Magdalen]
1492
_____
- the iconography was supposed to center on Mary Magdalen, the patron saint of the church
- she is centered, flanked by two local saints
- four evangelists down below
- reliefs from her life are at the side
- she is ascending to heaven in this depiction, being carried up by all the little angels
Tilman Riemenschneider
Madonna and Child on a crescent moon
painted limewood
Vienna
ca. 1505-10
Tilman Riemenschneider
Holy Blood Altarpiece
limewood
1501-05
_____
- in the chapel of the Holy Blood, named for the most famous relic that the church owns, a drop of Christ’s blood
- the iconography is driven by the identity of the relic
- the central subject is the last supper, when Christ establishes the sacrament of the Eucharist
Tilman Riemenschneider
Holy Blood Altarpiece [detail]
limewood
1501-05
_____
- in the chapel of the Holy Blood, named for the most famous relic that the church owns, a drop of Christ’s blood
- the iconography is driven by the identity of the relic
- the central subject is the last supper, when Christ establishes the sacrament of the Eucharist
Albrecht Dürer
Self-Portrait Drawing at 13
silverpoint
1484
_____
- the earliest he created
- a silverpoint drawing
- first artist to sign and date many of his drawings
- went back through much later and inscribed his drawings
Albrecht Dürer
Self-Portrait with Eryngium
Louvre
1493
_____
- painted his portrait in the context of his marriage arrangement/engagement
- fancy clothing, looking his “best”
- holding a flower that was considered to be symbolic of “luck in love”
Albrecht Dürer
Dürer’s Mother
black chalk drawing
1514
_____
- black chalk drawing…single medium
- forehead wrinkles are really fine lines, with contrasting deep shadows
- very detailed, but unidealized portrait of an older woman
Albrecht Dürer
Self-Portrait
1498
_____
- here he is morphed into a total dandy
- beautiful curly hair, dressed in the italian style
- uses an italian format for the composition
Albrecht Dürer
Self-Portrait
1500
_____
- his last autonomous self portrait
- representing the artist as Christ
- rigidly frontal view, giving it an iconic quality to it
- hand is pointing back to himself, reminiscent of a gesture similar to one that means “Christ as judgment-er of the world”
- brilliantly illuminated figure against a really dark background - nothing is competing for our attention as the viewer
Albrecht Dürer
St. Jerome
woodcut
1492
Albrecht Dürer
Vision of the 7 Candlesticks, from the Apocalypse,
woodcut
1498
_____
- really big woodcut illustrating the book of Revelation
- lots of complexity and ambition never seen before
- marked with his monogram
- 7 is a popular number in this book because
- such great visual detail that had never been done before in a print
- all the subtle variations in line work
Albrecht Dürer
The Beast with Two Horns, from the Apocalypse
woodcut
1498
_____
- figured out how to crown a creature with horns
- new and revolutionary in this one: much more dimensionalized compared to flatter past depictions
- line is really important in this print, lots of variety
- using line to create lots of different texture…hatching, movement, etc.
- creates the feeling of a different texture or substance through his use of line throughout the print
Albrecht Dürer
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, from the Apocalypse
woodcut
1498
_____
- personifications of destructive forces that were very much a part of every day life
- there were actual outbreaks of plague, war, etc.
Albrecht Dürer
Madonna with a Dragonfly
engraving
ca. 1495
Albrecht Dürer
The Prodigal Son Amid the Swine
engraving
ca. 1496
_____
included a preparatory drawing
Albrecht Dürer
The Four Witches
engraving
1497
_____
- prime time for witch hunts in Germany
- mastering the female body form is hard, but Durer works on getting there
Albrecht Dürer
Hercules at the Crossroads/The Combat of Virtue
and Pleasure before Hercules
engraving
ca. 1498-99
Albrecht Dürer
Large Piece of Turf
watercolor drawing
1503
_____
- also focused on small natural elements to watercolor
- Durer is the first European artist to take an interest in watercolor and develops it as an art form in its own right
Albrecht Dürer
The Rabbit
watercolor drawing
1502
Albrecht Dürer
Left Wing of a Bird
watercolor drawing
1512
Albrecht Dürer
Blue Roller
watercolor and gouache drawing
1512
Albrecht Dürer
St. Eustace
engraving
ca. 1501
_____
- detailed naturalism
- breathtakingly detailed rendering of the landscape
- dozens of types of trees, grasses and shrubs
- little stone bridge over the river with reflections in the water!
- the horse and dogs were each studied in breathtaking detail
- you almost get to the iconography after observing the detail!
- a Christian subject…the story of a 3rd Century Roman soldier who was out hunting
- just before he goes to shoot the stag, a crucified Christ is in the stag’s antlers…drops to his knees and converts to Christianity after seeing this
Albrecht Dürer
The Fall of Humanity
engraving
1504
_____
- this is where we see Durer in his development stages
- detailed naturalism and concentrated line work
- inclusion of lots of animals in the background
- parrot above adam is a symbol of wisdom
- shows his study of human anatomy and proportions
- his signature and date is hanging on a tag off the branch
- it’s the last time he signs his name in a print rather than using his monogram
Albrecht Dürer
Feast of the Rose Garlands
1506
_____
- one of his most ambitious paintings from Italy
- commissioned for a church in Venice
- in very poor condition …the central figures have pretty much been completely repainted
- the virgin and child are flanked by the pope at the left and by the emperor at the right (each being crowned with rose garlands)
- St. Dominic crowns members of the clergy
- a celebration of the virgin mary (rose is a flower associated with her)
- bringing together the secular and religious realms
Albrecht Dürer
Adoration of the Magi
1504
_____
- right before his departure from Italy
- painted for Frederick the Wise
- pretty traditional subject
- ruined buildings in the background signifying the old order (no new innovative representation of theological ideas)
Albrecht Dürer
Adoration of the Trinity
1511
_____
- a few years after his departure from Italy
- colors are much more vivid than the above work
- much more spacial recession
- also includes a self portrait in the lower right corner
Albrecht Dürer
Life of the Virgin: Flight into Egypt
woodcut
ca. 1504
_____
20 woodcuts representing her life
Albrecht Dürer
Life of the Virgin: Nativity
woodcut
ca. 1504
_____
20 woodcuts representing her life
Albrecht Dürer
Engraved Passion: Lamentation
1507
_____
- a whole series on the passion of Christ
- shows lots of emotion
- made to be affordable to more ordinary people
Albrecht Dürer
Engraved Passion: Man of Sorrows by the Column
1509
_____
- a whole series on the passion of Christ
- shows lots of emotion
- made to be affordable to more ordinary people
Albrecht Dürer
St. Jerome by the Pollard Willow
drypoint
1512
_____
- Durer briefly did drypoint
Albrecht Dürer
Knight, Death, and the Devil
engraving
1513
_____
- he immerses himself in engraving after dabbling with drypoint
- he droops everything else…nothing but engraving for about 2 years
- during those 2 years, he produces his “three master prints”
- monogram is again incorporated into perspective
- the animals are ignoring the threats
Albrecht Dürer
St. Jerome in His Study
engraving
1514
_____
- lots of depth in this engraving
- skull is a reminder of human mortality
- kind of a cheery room despite the skull
- dog and lion sleeping in the sun that is illuminating his study
Albrecht Dürer
Melencolia I
1514
_____
- very original subjects
- the title is inscribed on the upper left with a shrieking bat
- a woman is seated (she’s winged, making her a superior) but she doesn’t look very happy
- her hands rest in her hands and her face rests in shadow
- she’s inactive, staring into space
- surrounded by disorder…lots of things scattered around her
- she’s not being productive at whatever job she’s supposed to be doing
- illustration of the melancholic temperament…she’s paralyzed by her melancholy
- perhaps a “creative block” of sorts
- sums up anxieties of the artist…he warned his pupil of the danger of too intensive thinking about art
Daniel Hopfer (ca. 1470-1536)
The Large Choir Stalls with Christ blessing the Virgin
etching (iron)
_____
- one of the first artists to experiment with etching
- from oxford, a printmaking hot spot in germany
- originally seen in armor decoration
- the lines that cut into the metal are the lines that print
- monogram included 3 times
Albrecht Dürer
Abduction of Proserpina on a Unicorn
etching
1516
Albrecht Dürer
St. Anthony Before a City
engraving
1519
Albrecht Dürer
Portrait of Erasmus
engraving
1527
_____
- one of his most important engraved portraits
Albrecht Dürer
St. Jerome
152
Albrecht Dürer
Preparatory Drawing
Albertina
Albrecht Dürer
The Four Apostles
1526
_____
- his last major painting
- unusualy hierarchy for the formation of the apostles
Matthias Grunewald
Isenhaim Altarpiece [Exterior]
1509-15
_____
- patron was Guido Guerci
- crucifixion as central scene
- entombment/lamentation below
- flanking central panel is St. Anthony and St. Sebastian (both are saints associated with hospitals)
- John the Baptist isn’t typically at the crucifixion scene…he’s here now because
- Mary unusually dressed in white…looks like she’s wrapped in what a dead person gets wrapped in, maybe her purity
- Christ is oversized, filling the height of the altarpiece… he looks horrifying, his body is covered in wounds and his lips are black in death
- Mary Magdalen
Matthias Grunewald
Isenhaim Altarpiece [Drawing of a Woman]
1509-15
_____
- patron was Guido Guerci
Matthias Grunewald
Isenhaim Altarpiece [Resurrection]
1509-15
_____
- patron was Guido Guerci
- Christ is absolutely no longer human, he’s dissolved in light and color, rises before us in this divine pose
Matthias Grunewald
Isenhaim Altarpiece [Annunciation]
1509-15
_____
- patron was Guido Guerci
- curtain is revealing the annunciation to us as if it were a theatrical production of some kind
Matthias Grunewald
Isenhaim Altarpiece [Angel Concert + Nativity]
1509-15
_____
- patron was Guido Guerci
- kind of a gothic church, organic quality to the construction, really inventive with color, supernatural light around Mary
- mary sits on the wall of a garden…traditional symbols like flowers, Christ-child inclusion of rosary.
Matthias Grunewald
Isenhaim Altarpiece [First Opening]
1509-15
_____
- Annunciation
- Ressurection
- Angel Concert
- Madonna + Child
Matthias Grunewald
Isenhaim Altarpiece [Second Opening]
1509-15
_____
- patron was Guido Guerci
- Central panels with sculpture showing St. Anthony between St. Augustine and Jerome SCULPTURES BY NICOLAS HAGENAU
- Meeting of Saints Paul and Anthony… gesturing towards each other, accepting life of the natural world
Matthias Grunewald
Isenhaim Altarpiece [Meeting of St. Paul + Anthony]
1509-15
_____
- patron was Guido Guerci
- gesturing towards each other, accepting life of the natural world
