ART HISTORY II: Late Gothic-Mannerism

Cartoon

In painting, a full-size preliminary drawing from which a painting is made

Chiaroscuro

In drawing or painting, the treatment and use of light dark, especially the gradations of light that produce the effect of modeling

Doges

Italian (Venetian dialect), “duke”

Duomo

Italian for “cathedral”

Fresco

Painting on lime plaster, either dry or wet.

Fresco Secco

Dry Fresco

Buon Fresco

Wet, true Fresco

the pigments are mixed with water and become chemically bound to the freshly laid lime plaster

Giornato/a

Italian for “day” aka the section of plaster that a fresco painter expects to complete in one session

Grisaille

A monochrome painting done mainly in neutral grays to simulate sculpture

Humanism

In the renaissance, an emphasis on education and on expanding knowledge (especially of classical antiquity), the exploration of individual potential and a desire to excel, and a commitment to civic responsibility and moral duty

International gothic

A styled 14th and 15th century painting begun by Simone Martini, who fused the French Gothic manner with Sienese art. This style appealed to the aristocracy because of its brilliant color, lavish costumes, intricate ornamentation, and themes involving splendid processions of knights and ladies

maniera greca

Italian for “Greek manner” the Italo-Byzantine painting style of the 13th century

Predella

The narrow ledge on which an altarpiece rests on an alter/ Lower part of an altarpiece, decorated with small scenes relating to the main scene

Renaissance

French for “rebirth” the term used to describe the history, culture, and art of the 14th through 16th century Western Europe, during which artists consciously revived the classical style

Altarpiece

A panel, painted or sculpted, situated above and behind an alter

Retable

A frame or shelf the encloses an altarpiece

Contrapposto

The disposition of the human figure in which one part is turned in opposition to another part (usually hips and legs one way, shoulders and chest another), creating a counter positioning of the body about its central axis. Sometimes called “weight shift” because the weight of the body tends to be thrown to one foot, creating tension on one side and relaxation on the other

Diptych

A two paneled painting or altarpiece; also an ancient Roman, Early Christian, or Byzantine hinged writing tablet, often of ivory and carved on the external sides

Donor portraits

A portrait of the individuals who commission a religious work (ie an alter piece) as evidence of devotion

Perspective

A method presenting an illusion of the three-dimensional world on a two dimensional surface. In linear perspective, the most common type, all parallel lines or surface edges converge on one two, or three vanishing points located with reference to the eye level of the viewer (the horizon line of the picture), and associated objects are rendered smaller the farther from the viewer they are intended to seem. Atmospheric, or aerial, perspective creates the illusion of distance by the greater diminution of color intensity, the shift in color toward an almost neutral blue, and the blurring of contours as the intended distance between eye and object increases.

Polytychs

An altarpiece composed of more than three sections

Refectory

The dining hall of a Christian monastery

Sfumato

Italian for “smoky” a smoke like haziness that subtly softens outlines in painting; particularly applied to the paintings of Leonardo da Vinci and Correggio

Tondo

A circular painting or relief sculpture

Triptych

A three paneled painting, ivory plaque, or alter piece . Also, a small, portable shrine with hinged wings used for private devotion

Neo-Platonism

An ancient school of philosophy based on the ideas of Plato, revived during the Renaissance and modified by the teachings of Christianity

Ignudi

Idealized youths

Colorito

Color dominate

Disegno

Line dominate

Poesia

Painting meant to operate like a poem

ut pictura poesis

Poetic mood replaces narrative

Sleeping Ariadne gesture

Used in Venus of Urbino, sleeping Venus, and Assumption of the Virgin

mannerism

• 1520 - 1600

• A reaction against High Renaissance style (no longer painting a “window into world”)

• Elongated figures, ambiguous space, intentional departures from expected conventions

Mannerism Artists

Pontormo, Parmigianino, Bronzino, Tintoretto, Giambologna, Romano

Mannerism meaning?

Italian- “maniera” meaning “style” or “manner,” derives from Mano (“hand”)

Venetian Painting Artists (16th century)

Giorgione (master) and Titian (student)

Tempera

The basic technique of medieval panel painting, in which finely ground pigments were mixed with water-diluted egg yoke; often used in fresco and panel painting of the Renaissance

Gospel

From the Old English word meaning “good tidings”: one of the first four books of the New Testament in the Bible, telling of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Source most often used by artists to depict the life of Christ.

Chancel

Space around the alter

Patron

The person, group or institution that commissions a work of art from an artist

Loggia

Roofed gallery open on one or more sides, often with arches or columns

Orthogonals

Converging lines that meet at a vanishing point

Memento Mori

“Reminder of death” can either be text or image

Linear (scientific) Perspective

As used in painting and sculpture a mathematical system devised during the Renaissance to render accurately the illusion of three dimensional space on a flat surface through the use of straight lines converging toward a vanishing point

Aerial (atmospheric) perspective

Depicts near and far objects according to degrees of clarity

Engaged column

A column that is decorative in purpose which is attached to a supporting wall

Sibyl

Prophetess of the ancient, pre-Christian world

Condottiere

A Renaissance Italian private soldier of fortune or ruler

Lunette

Semicircular area formed by intersection of a vault and wall

Oculus

Round opening in a wall or in apex of a dome, EX Pantheon

Studiolo

Private study

Trefoil

Three-lobed architectural ornament

Peristyle

Colonnade surrounding a structure. In Roman houses the courtyard surrounded by columns

Balustrade

Series of balusters (upright pillars) supporting a horizontal rail

Putto/i

Chubby male infants, often naked and sometimes depicted as Cupid (Roman god of erotic love). A popular motif in Renaissance and Baroque art

Painterly effects

Using color, brushstroke, texture and tones rather than line to define form

Glaze

Translucent paint or varnish, oftentimes applied in numerous layers

Fête Champêtre

French for “outdoor feast” in art terms this usually refers to a scene of figures in an idealized outdoor setting, eating, dancing, flirting, or listening to music

Figura serpentinata

A pose showing a snakelike twisting of the body (exaggerated contrapposto) often found in Mannerist art

Rusticate

To give a rustic, unfinished appearance to a masonry block by leaving the block’s surface rough

High Italian Renaissance

• 1495- 1520

• Developed classical cultures, perspective, proportion, and human anatomy that had characterized quattrocento Italian art

High Renaissance and Venetian Artists

Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael. Michelangelo, Bramante, Giorgione, Titian

Northern Flemish Art

• 15th Century

• The product of political, religious, social, and economic changes

• Characterized by increased oil paints, illusionism in manuscript illumination, and the innovation of the printing press in Germany

Flemish / Fifteenth Century Painting in the Netherlands Artists

Robert Campin, Jan van Eyck, Roger van der Weyden, Limburg Brothers

Early Italian Renaissance

• 15th century

• Characterized by expanding interest in humanism, subjects from classical history and mythology, continued political instability

Early Italian Renaissance Artists (Proto- Renaissance)

Lorenzo Ghiberti, Filippo Brunelleschi, Donatello, Gentile da Fabriano, Masaccio, Fra Angelico, Fra Filippo Lippi, Sandro Botticelli, Antonio Pallaiuoulo, Leon Batista Alberti, Pergino, Piero Della Francesca

Late Gothic/Precursors to the Renaissance

• early 14th century

• Characterized by growing interest of the natural world (naturalism), greater illusionism, more emphatic pictorial solidity, spatial depth, stronger emotional demonstrations

• Revival veneration of classical cultures by humanists

Artists of Late Gothic/ Thirteenth and Early Fourteenth Cen. Italy

Nicole Pisano, Cimabue, Giotto, Duccio, Simone Martini, Ambroggio Lorenzetti