Early Modern Art: Naturalism, Portraiture, and Subjectivity

Vocabulary flashcards defining core artistic terms, concepts, and techniques from early modern art criticism, portraiture, and naturalism across Lombardy, Venice, and broader Europe.

Genre scenes

A picture depicting mundane activities (related to labor or leisure) and ordinary people (e.g., children, peasants).

Still lifes

A painting whose primary subject is a range of inanimate objects.

The Council of Trent

A series of meetings held in the mid-to-late sixteenth century in Trento, Italy, where leaders of the Catholic Church developed institutional and doctrinal reforms in response to the challenges of the Protestant Reformation. These reforms were strictly enforced in Lombardy by Carlo Borromeo.

Carlo Borromeo

Catholic Church leader who strictly enforced the institutional and doctrinal reforms of the Council of Trent in Lombardy.

Illusionism

A mode of representation that gives rise to images which blur the lines between art and reality, ultimately “deceiving the eye.”

Sprezzatura

An Italian word referring to a quality of deceptive grace and nonchalance that conceals one’s effort in the face of difficult actions.

Sfumato

An Italian adjective derived from the verb sfumare (“to tone down”; “to evaporate like smoke”); refers to a technique of fine shading in painting or drawing which produces soft, practically imperceptible transitions between hues, as well as light and shadow.

Pittoresco

An Italian term which came into use in early modern art theory that roughly translates to “painterly”; refers to a style of painting forged in Venice characterized by visible, open brushwork.

Bravura

A mode of making art and/or performing which intentionally calls attention to the skill or technique of the artist.

Figura serpentinata

An Italian phrase that translates to “serpentine figure.” Often used to describe a figure who spirals around a central axis, so that the limbs and torso face in opposite directions; these figures can look graceful or, at times, strained and contorted.

Sforzo

A cognate of the Italian verb sforzare, meaning to force or strain; refers to a posture which appears overly tense, effortful, even artificial; in the opinion of some early modern critics, too many sforzi in a painting could be the result of an artist’s compulsiveness or lack of control.

Portrait

A representation (in sculpture or painting) of a specific individual; meant to offer a vivid sense of a person's real presence.

Self-portrait

A portrait made by an artist of themselves; could provide a means of self-fashioning with possible professional consequences.

Portrait medal

A double-sided portrait featuring a figure in profile on the front (obverse) and an emblematic image on the back, usually with inscriptions; inspired by the format of ancient coins.

Obverse

The front side of a portrait medal, featuring a figure depicted in profile.

Profile

A portrait format where the subject is seen from the side.

Three-quarter view

A portrait format where the subject turns their face slightly toward the viewer, often looking them in the eye.

Paragone

An Italian word meaning “comparison”; often used to refer to comparisons that appeared in early modern European art and art theory between different aesthetic qualities, styles, and artistic mediums (i.e., painting and sculpture).

Piero della Francesca, double portrait of the duke and duchess of Urbino, c. 1473–75.

Oil on wood. Probably made for the Medici, Florence.

Domenico Ghirlandaio, portrait of Giovanna Tornabuoni, c. 1488. Tempera on panel.

Made in Florence.

Sandro Botticelli, portrait of a young man with a medal, c. 1475. Tempera on wood with

gilded stucco. Made in Florence.

Fra Filippo Lippi, Portrait of a Woman at a Casement, c. 1440. Tempera on wood.

Made in Florence.

Leonardo da Vinci, portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci, c. 1474–78. Oil on panel. Made in

Florence.

Giovanni Battista Moroni, portrait of a tailor, c. 1565–70. Original location: probably

Venice.

Sofonisba Anguissola, self-portrait at an easel, c. 1556. Oil on canvas. Made in

Cremona.

Sofonisba Anguissola, Family Scene, c. 1558–59. Oil on canvas. Made in Cremona

Sofonisba Anguissola, The Chess Game, c. 1555. Oil on canvas. Made in Cremona.

Sofonisba Anguissola, self-portrait with a medallion, c. 1556. Oil on parchment. Made

in Cremona.

Sofonisba Anguissola, Bernardino Campi painting Sofonisba Anguissola, c. 1559. Oil on

canvas. Made in Cremona.

Lavinia Fontana, self-portrait at a spinet, c. 1577. Oil on canvas. Made in Bologna

Lavinia Fontana, Minerva Dressing, c. 1613. Oil on canvas. Made in Rome

Caravaggio, Bacchus, 1596. Oil on canvas. Made in Rome

Giovanni Battista Moroni, portrait of the Abbess Lucrezia Agliardi Vertova, c. 1556. Oil

on canvas. Made in Bergamo.

Giovanni Battista Moroni, The Baptism of Christ with a Donor, c. 1550s. Oil on canvas.

Made in Bergamo.

Antonio da Correggio, Assumption of the Virgin, c. 1526–30. Fresco. In the cupola of

the Cathedral of Parma.

Titian, Assumption of the Virgin, c. 1516–18. Oil on canvas. Basilica di Santa Maria

Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice.

Giovanni Bellini, St. Francis in Ecstasy, c. 1480. Oil on panel. Made in Venice.

Giorgione, The Pastoral Concert, c. 1509–10. Oil on canvas. Made in Venice.

Tintoretto, The Holy Family with the Young Saint John the Baptist, ca. 1547. Made in

Venice.

Giorgione, Old Woman, c. 1508. Oil on canvas. Made in Venice.

Titian, The Flaying of Marsyas, c. 1576. Oil on canvas. Made in Venice

Tintoretto, The Baptism of Christ, c. 1579–81. Oil on canvas. Scuola Grande di San

Rocco, Sala Superiore, Venice.