Review 1 Flashcards
Book of Hours
Private prayer book used to recite prayers at certain times during the day; contains calendars
Grisaille
Painting that imitates a sculpture and material like stone
Altarpiece
Decorative piece of art usually placed behind the altar in a church. Can have multiple panels (diptych, triptych, polyptych) and sits on a base called Predella
Fresco
A form of mural painting using water-based paint directly onto wet plaster.
International (Late) Gothic
A type of painting developed in the 15th century in European courts. Characterized by figures, miniature, patterns, tiny detail, slender people, lots of gold, bright colors, expensive colors, and often don’t show logical depiction of space. Instead of accurately representing reality, artists focus on more symbolic meaning for religious purposes.
Role of art in 14th century
art and private devotion, art and public religion, naturalistic and stylistic changes (from Byzantine to Gothic), political and personal wealth
Annunciation
Angel Gabriel telling Mary she will conceive baby Jesus
Visitation
Mary traveling to see Elizabeth to tell her about the conception
Nativity
Jesus’ birth
Lamentation
Mourning of Christ’s body after crucifixion
fleur de lis
symbol of the French kingdom
Deposition
descent from the cross
Early Renaissance
The spiritual world and a microscopic view of the real world. Uses lots of elongated bodies.
Italy 14th century
The Black Death and other hardships inspired more altarpieces
Northern Renaissance
Secularizing biblical scenes using contemporary settings or objects, layers of symbolism, attention to minute details
Early 15th century France
100 years war continued and destroyed economy yet patrons continued to commission art
oil paint vs tempera
oil paint was discovered in the 15th century - it produced seamless blending and richness compared to tempera, which was water-based paint with egg yolk to bind the pigment.
horizon line
boundary where sky separates from the land or water
picture plane
the actual surface of the painting. Manipulating the picture plane includes having objects look like they’re “piercing” the plane coming out towards the audience. It is an illusionistic technique to bring the audience in; fictional world to realistic world.
printing press and printmaking techniques
Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1448, which allowed more people access to art. Two techniques include woodcut (woodblock printing) and engraving (etching).
Early Italian Renaissance
Italy painted a more realistic adaptation of biblical stories. Art and humanism - people can achieve success through knowledge and education.
Pietra serena
grey stone made from Tuscany
One-point linear perspective
Illusion of creating a 2d space into a 3d piece using a horizon line. The vanishing point should be on the same line as the horizontal line, and the orthogonals span from the foreground towards the vanishing point. It determines the scale of objects.
Memento mori
A visual trope that is a reminder of death, that our life on earth is short, and everyone should be prepared for salvation
Contrapposto
A comfortable position where the weight is placed on one leg with the other leg relaxed, creating a natural S-curve to the body.
Atmospheric perspective
objects closer to the picture plane have more clarity and sharpness, where objects further away become hazy and lose their shape and clarity, which creates depth and distance.
Trompe l’oeil
An artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional surface. Tricks us to think the space is real.
