Survey 1 - New Late Gothic & Early Renaissance Flashcards
What did Thomas Gainsborough do when Joshua Reynolds said that the colour blue should not be put in the foreground of paintings but only in the distant background? What does this tell us?
He painted the Blue Boy. That it’s impossible to lay down rules in art as one cannot know in advance the effect that the artist wishes to achieve. Pg 35-36
Who was the artist that would translate the figurative sculptures of the Gothic period into painting? What does this mean in the history of painting?
Giotto de Bondone. He represents, for the first time in art history, the realization of actual people inhabiting real landscapes which broke away from the flat and lifeless figures of the Byzantine and Early Gothic periods which can be seen in the comparison of figures 130 & 135. Pg 202
What specific art form as developed in the 14th century and what was its significance?
Portraiture. Before artists were content to simply represent simple figures on panels and write on them the names they intended to represent. In other words, the figures of Giotto, Duccio, and Cimabue are representations of real people. Pg 214
These new ideas in the Late Gothic period traveled freely throughout Europe. What was the name of the style that arose out of this mutual give and takes?
The International Style. Not to be confused with The International Style in architecture and typography from the 20th century.
What was one of the most important discoveries in the early Renaissance in Florence and who was the one who solved it?
The idea of perspective was solved by Filippo Brunelleschi. Pg 229
Who painted the famous Ghent altarpiece and what was one of the most striking and unique qualities of this piece that shocked viewers when it was first unveiled in 1432?
Jan van Eyck. When the altarpiece has unveiled the reality of the figures, especially the nudes of Adam and Eve, which were real and un-idealized people, flew in the face of more idealized nudes in Italian painting.
What artist and painting represents one of the first and most interesting uses of perspective and
Foreshortening with figures, horses, and lances? Describe some of the characteristics of this painting and what were some of the reasons for this?
Paolo Uccello’s The Battle of San Romano. The painting looks staged and less like a battle than a puppet show with toy-like soldiers sitting on rocking horses where they looked more carved than painted. Uccello was more interested in the problem and science of perspective than the actual reality of the scene and had not mastered the use of light and shade to give the scene a reality like the artists of the north had accomplished. Pg 254-256
Rogier van der Weyden painted the altarpiece The Descent from the Cross against a neutral
background because?
The painting had to be seen from afar and display the sacred theme to all the faithful in the church. It had to be clear in outline and satisfying as a pattern. Pg 276
Who were the three great masters of the Late Gothic Period?
Cimabue, Duccio, & Giotto
What is Giotto’s most lasting and important work?
The Scrovegni or Arena Chapel in Padua, Italy
Filippo Brunelleschi helped solve the problem of perspective in painting. Who was the first artist to use the mathematical laws and what was the painting he created and what was the reaction?
The artist was Masaccio and the painting was The Trinity fresco in Santa Maria Novella Cathedral in Florence and it caused such a stir that people thought there was a large hole carved in the wall into which they could view the burial chamber.
Who painted these in which Florence monastery, who was the patron, and what can you tell us about them?
The Monastery was San Marco and the artist was Fra Angelico. Cosimo de Medici was the patron who could afford the more lavish decorations in the cells, the church, and the surrounding grounds.
Who is this rather arrogant artist and what was one of his most famous paintings which included a giant scallop shell?
The Birth of Venus was painted by Sandro Botticelli and it was painted on canvas which was less expensive and a more easily obtained material than wood panel.
Who was the artist that painted this and what was his most enduring contribution to art history?
The artist was Jan van Eyck and he was the innovator who, along with his lesser-known brother Hubert, helped to developed the technique of oil painting.
Cimabue
The first painter to break away from the flatness of medieval paintings.
Flat figures - lifeless naturalism using Tempra. All biblical work.
Famous works - Measta - considered one of the big three that started change in the art world
