Exam 2 Art History

African Kingdoms: Ethiopia and Benin

Ethiopia

By the European Middle Ages, much of North Africa had become Christian and was now Islamic - it had been part of Rome

Spread South

(North) Ethiopia (and South Eretria) was the first official Christian kingdom outside of Europe - before Rome was declared Christian

Benin

Benin City: Large, elite within walls; Sprawling palace with a central courtyard

Looted by British in 1897, many artifacts stolen

Age of Exploration

Trade and travel reflected in art

Lost-wax (cire-perdue) bronze casting

A technique for casting a metal sculpture in which a model of the sculpture is first made from wax. The model is used to make a mold and the wax is melted out, leaving the mold ready for casting the sculture.

Oba

Sacred King

The traditional ruler and the custodian of the culture of the Edo people of the Kingdom of Benin

Iyoba

Queen Mother

An important female titleholder in the chieftaincy system of the Kingdom of Benin

Ikegobo

Altar to the hand - marker of accomplishment

Created to celebrate a person’s accomplishments and successes

Cylindrical

Garima Gospels

Portrait of St Mark

Manuscript

Ethiopia, Africa (4th-6th century, Aksumite Kingdom)

Earliest surviving illuminated Christian manuscript

Illumination - represents Mark the evangelist - author portrait

• Presentation of figure and drapery, halo

• Gesture of Blessing

• Leopard Throne - Christian Bishop of Alexandria sat on one; tie to their contemporary culture

Rock-cut church of St. George

Lalibela, Ethiopia, Africa (12th-14th century)

One of the buildings commissioned by King Lalibela to mirror a pilgrimage to Jerusalem

Still an important pilgrimage site - has not been preserved/forzen in time

Ivory waist pendant of Queen Mother Ida

Benin, Nigeria, Africa (16th century)

King Esigie’s mother helped him negotiate with the Portuguese

Crown and Collar: rectangle beards represent Portuguese traders; fish/mudfish are a symbol of prosperity

Forehead Bars: scars that were marks of great wisdom

Iron in her Eyes: authoritative gaze, inner strength

Elephant Ivory: material and symbolic value - ritual purity

First of Representations of Queen Mother

Naturalistic

Worn at ceremonies of spiritual renewal and purification

Seated figure

Tada, Nigeria, Africa (13th-14th centuries)

Copper, Tin, Arsenic

Tin from Nigeria, Copper from Europe

Lost wax casting

Ife culture

Naturalistic rather than stylized

Dressed and used in ceremony

Portuguese Soldier

Benin, Nigeria, Africa (16th century)

Bronze

Indicative of contact with Europe - how are they being represented?

Oba plaque

Benin, Nigeria, Africa (16th century)

Bronze

Sophisticated metalwork

Not naturalistic - more interested in representing an idea - medieval Europe

Figure riding side-saddle, coral beads representing significance, power, magic, very adorned

Background figurers carrying guns - interaction with Europeans

Looting in Benin City 1897

Many of these taken by the British - Benin Bronzes

Memorial head of an Oba

Benin, Nigeria, Africa (17th century)

Stacks of coral beads around his neck, coral beads in his hair, headdress of coral and gold beads

Would have been “glowing”

Wearing wealth

On Benin Royal Ancestral Altar of King Eweka II

Head is proportionally larger - head of government

Stylization - supposed to represent the person, family, and office simultaneously

Altar to the Hand - Ikegobo

Benin, Nigeria, Africa (18th century)

An altar to celebrate worldly accomplishments of an Oba

Bronze/Copper Alloy

Altar to the Hand of a Queen Mother

Female Figures

Gold and Coral beads, embroidered clothing

Altar Tusk

Benin, Nigeria, Africa (19th century)

On Benin Royal Ancestral Altar

Tusks carved with narrative image

Cities and Wealth in the Americas

South American cities: La Venta, Teotihuacan, Chichen Itza - full written language, Tenochtitlan - Aztec

Codex

A manuscript in the form of a bound book (as opposed to a scroll)

Mexica

aka Aztecs

A Mesoamerican civilization that flourished from 1300 to 1521

Founded the city-state of Tenochtitlan on small islands in Lake Texcoco in the Valley of Mexico

Superimposition

The placement of one thing over another, typically so that both are still evident

Lintel

In architecture a horizontal block that spans the space between two vertical supports (posts)

Olmec Colossal Head

La Venta, Mexico (1st millennium BCE)\

Olmec, Mesoamerica - Ceremonial center

Likely represent rulers

All individualized: facial features, helmets, possibly color

Found in city outskirts - protecting areas of ingress

Teotihuacan

Mexico (1st millennium)

Early Mesoamerica

pre-Aztecs, claimed as “the palace of the Gods” - one of the largest cities

Central axis, gird layout, large pyramids

Plazas with platforms off each

City Planning:

• about 2000 multistory apartments

• 200,000 people estimate

  • seasonal occupation (likely) or year-round

No written or pictural records

Shield Jaguar and Lady Xooc

Mexico (8th century)

Maya, Mesoamerica

Both dressed very ornamentally

Lady Xooc kneeling before him

• pulling rope to induce bloodletting

  • blood=precious substance, induce visions

  • celebrate the birth of a son from another wife

• Story told in writing

• Each about 4 feet tall, would have been painted

Mayans: earliest Mesoamericans to write everything down

El Castillo (Temple of Kukulkan)

Chichen Itza

Yucatan (800-900CE)

Maya, Mesoamerica

Stepped Pyramid, stairs on all 4 sides/cardinal directions, steps add to 365

Certain times of the day/year the sun creates a slithery shadow (from the stairs) down to a serpent’s head statue at the base of the steps

• Moving down the steps

• Brought out meaning of statue

• Liminal moment

Great Temple (Templo Mayor) of Tenochtitlan

Mexico City/Tenochtitlan (1400-1500)

Aztec, Mesoamerica

Coatlicue

Tenochtitlan, Mexico (1500)

Aztec, Mesoamerica

Female Figure

Depicted standing upright with hands curved

Skirt of rattle snakes, snakes sprouting from her neck

Large & frightening: 8 feet of solid tock

• recorded and reburied twice

Leaning forward slightly: looming presence

Carved on the bottom

• depiction of her son: earth and rain God

• would have only been seen by that god - not only human audience in Aztec art

Codex Zouche-Nuttall

Mixtec, Mesoamerica (13th-14th century)

Deer skin, 47 leaves

Ruler Eight Deer Jaguar-Claw sitting on a throne with his name next to him

2 stories: 1 side tells the history of important centers, the other contains genealogy, politics, military feats starting on the opposite end

Picture writing

Codex Borgia

(15th century)

Aztec, Mesoamerica

Screen fold manuscript

One of a massive 12 volume manuscript

New Spain

Images of the Gods

Color pallet: different from Europe, colors depend on location

• dye is a powerful export for Mesoamerica

Mesoamerican manuscripts are much more difficult to decipher

• no specific language between text and image

• all information presented graphically - assembled forms are their image vocabulary

Dense imagery, human and god figures dominate

May contain celestial, historical, ritual, mythological, and botanical info

Helped us understand Indiginous thought/culture

Codex Mendoza (frontispiece)

New Spain (16th century)

Commissioned by Antonio de Mendoza - 1st Viceroy of New Spain

• Worked with a “translator”

Intended as a gift for Roman Emperor Charles V

Huge source of information

Frontpeice:

• capital city divided into 4 parts - mirrors the organization of the universe (cardinal directions)

• Eagle and cactus: cities origin story

• Other symbols of foundation and early history

• Tenoch: 10 men who led Aztecs to this island location

Mach Picchu

Peru (15th century)

Inka, South America

“Country Villa” for some elite members

Terraced earth and massive rocks

NO mortar

Terraces: farming/ranching, plazas, apartments, temple complexes

Nobility/vacation lifestyle compared to Europe’s

Jaguar Gorget

Found in Benton Country, MO (1st millennium)

Woodland Culture, North America

Pendant

Connection between Mesoamerica and N America

Serpent Mound

Ohio (11th century)

Mississippian, North America

Largest surviving prehistoric effigy mound in the world

Serpent’s head and body curves align with major astronomical events

Monk’s Mound, Cahokia

Illinois (11th-14th century)

Mississippian, North America

Series of platforms raising the temple

More populated than London at the time

Trade nexus: evidence of wide trade networks

Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde

Colorado (12th-13th century)

Pueblan, North America

Largest cliff dwelling in North America

Advanced masonry

Communal organization

Eagle Transformation Mask

Canada (19th century)

Kwakwaka’wakw, North America

N American art not always recognizable to Europeans as “art”

Transforms: open vs closed

Face of a deity

Wearable art and religion

Blackware jar: Maria Montoya Martinez

New Mexico (1940)

Pueblo, North America

Redefinition of Native Arts

Created public interest in Pueblo art/pottery

Art and Illusion in Early Renaissance Europe

Trade networks booming, everywhere is connected

Warming climate leads to more food and more people

Money based economy taking root

As people become wealthier, individual faces/representation becomes more important- lots of portraits commissioned during this time

Age of renewal and rebirth

Art focuses on Illusion, texture

Depiction of the individual object (especially in the North

Oil paints: allow artists to deepen color, blend and layer, manipulate surface translucence

Emotion is the message: growing interest in art as emotional

Suffering of Christ

Development and manipulation of illusionistic techniques

Engaging with viewer’s emotion and intellect

Reflection of classical antiquity

Leveraging art to underline status

Development of print makes art more accessible and allows for a wider audience

Altarpiece

A work of painting or sculpture places on, above, or behind the altar in a Christian church

Wealthy people often pay for one for their church that somehow depicts themselves so everyone know and remembers who paid for it

Triptych

A picture made up of three panels. The outer panels are often hinged so they fold over the center panel like doors

Polyptych

A painting or other work consisting of four or more separate panels that are hinged or held together in a framework. Typically functioned as altarpieces.

Glazing

A technique used in oil painting in which thin, translucent layers of paint (glazes) are used to build depth of color in the painted surface.

Illusionism

the tradition of art that appears to share the physical space with the viewer or attempts to represent physical appearances precisely

Trompe l’oeil

French: fool the eye

A style of painting that imitates reality so closely that it might momentarily fool a viewer into thinking a painted object or scene is real

Extreme Illusion

Atmospheric Perspective

Also known as aerial perspective

A technique for creating the illusion of depth in a two-dimensional picture by gradually decreasing the color intensity, contrast, and texture in apparently distant objects

One-point Linear Perspective

A system used to create the illusion of three-dimensional depth on a flat, two-dimensional surface, where all parallel lines recede and meet at a single vanishing point located on the horizon line

Woodcut

Relief Printing

A print made by carving out a design on a block of wood, applying ink to the raised surfaces that remain, and transferring the inked image to paper

Engraving

Intaglio Printing

A print made by incising an image into a smooth copper plate. The image is then inked, a sheet of paper is placed on the plate, and it is run through a press to transfer the image to the paper.

Contrapposto

A way of representing the human body so that the weight appears to be supported on one leg

Foreshortening

A technique for creating the illusion of depth in a two-dimensional picture by distorting figures and objects so they appear to recede or project sharply into space

Ghent Altarpiece

Hubert and Jan van Eyck

Ghent, Belgium (15th century)

Renaissance

Folding Altarpiece

Outside-

• Top: Mary and the angel

• Bottom: Saints and donors

Inside

• Top: God the Father, Adam and Eve

• Bottom: Sacrifice of the holy lamb - allegory about Jesus

While this is 17 feet by 12 feet

The Arnolfini Double Portrait

Jan van Eyck, oil (on wood)

Belgium (15th century)

Renaissance

One of the most famous of this era

Man is likely and Italian banker

Once thought to represent a wedding: Iconographic analysis

• Left and Right hands

• Outside shoes are off

• Dog represents fidelity

• Sculpture of the Childbirth Saint

• Historians have since pulled back from this interpretation

Memorial Image

First artist to seems to have realized the potential of oil paints (Jan van Eyck)

Artist observing light, shadow, illusion, texture

Zoom in on the pin in the background (^)

• reflecting the scene

• extreme illusion - Tromp l’oeil

• signature above it

Extremely expensive and lavish clothing

Furnishing and details - fruit

Image of extreme wealth

Deposition

(Rogier van der Weyden)

Belgium (15th centruy)

Renaissance

Deposition iconography

Mary has fainted, John is supporting her: notice how her pose reflects Christ’s

8.5 feet wide

Crucifixion - outdoor scene

• Floor matches - grass, moss, bones

• Wall background creates a boxed-in scene/feeling

  • Creates a shallow space that compresses your view

  • Cannot look past the grief - keeps you focused on the details and pain

  • Intensifies emotional effect

“Frame” is painted: within the wood grain are tiny crossbows - reminds viewers it was commissioned by the crossbowman’s guild of Louvain

Avignon Pieta

(Enguerrand Quarton?)

France (15th century)

Renaissance

Dead Christ supported by his grieving mother (pieta)

Attention to the anatomy of the body: ribcage, ribs needs

Artists observe and study

Growing interest in emotion

Separation of the figures: slightly restrained

Realism of the face of the donor

City in the back: Islamic/Ottoman context

Composition and attention to detail

Buxheim Saint Christopher

Woodcut

Germany (1423)

Early Northern Renaissance

Earliest Dated European Woodblock Print

Using the stem of a date palm as a staff

Infant Christ on his shoulders: gesture of blessing

Landscape is diminutive in scale, hierarchy of scale

Hermit on the left is holding a lantern to guide the saint

Saint Anthony Tormented by Demons

(Martin Schonguar), engraving

Germany (15th century)

Renaissance

Saint Anthony: an Egyptian hermit know for establishing the ideal of monasticism, seclusion, and meditation in Christianity

Depicts him being assaulted by demons during his retread to the Easter Desert of Egypt

Composition of the monsters

Anthony is stiff and indifferent

Epitomizes the Christian’s struggle to resist evil temptations

Florence Baptistery, “Gates of Paradise”

(Lorenzo Ghiberti) (15th century)

Renaissance

Detail: Isaac and his sons

“Could be the doors of heaven itself”

Doors and sculptural attention

Bronze doors, classical antiquity

Depth of space, illusion

Transition from sculptural to drawing enforcing perspective/depth

Narrative

Contrapasso, arches - classical tradition with renaissance technique

Palazzo Medici

Michelozzo

Florence, Italy (15th century)

Renaissance

Designed to give impression of solidity, impermeability, stability - banker family

Home and place of business

Exterior is a block

Many courtyards: get natural light and air inside, filled with art- sculptures, frescos, reliefs

Each level has an increasingly smooth facade

Entry level: public/business

• rusticated stonework interrupted by obvious arches

Second level: family business

• Smooth stone, visible joints, family crest

Third level: family residence

• almost smooth stonework, barely visible arches, family crest

Top cornice is heavy, solid, impressionable

David

Donatello, Bronze

Florence, Italy (15th century)

Renaissance

Commissioned by the Medici family

In one of the Palazzo Medici courtyards

David and Goliath: shepherd boy uses a slingshot to defeat a giant

Standing on a pile of armor and the head of Goliath

Nude:

• refusal to take armor

• depicted very young

• skin- gleam and glow for bronze in the shifting light of the courtyard- illusionism

• Nude figure regains significance in Europe during the Renaissance- Classical antiquity (began depicting Gods and Goddesses)

David is a symbol of the city of Florence- fighting off larger political powers

Holy Trinity, Santa Maria Novella

Masaccio, fresco

Florence, Italy (15th century)

Renaissance

Patrons: Lorenzo Lenzi and wife

Commissioned for a church

Inside the niche/arch: Holy Trinity, Mary

Outside the arch: the patrons

Bottom portion:

• Inscription: “what you are, I once was, what I am, you will be”

• Skeleton

• We will all be bones

• Prompt viewers to think about the non-tangibles and getting into heaven

One-point perspective

Birth of Venus

Sandro Botticelli, tempera (on canvas)

Florence, Italy (15th century)

Renaissance

Commissioned by the Medici Family

Venus’s birth story: created from the sea/seafoam

• begin depicting classical Gods and Goddesses

First monumental depiction of a full-length nude goddess since antiquity

• begin to see female nudes depicted much more

Compare to classical Venus sculpture

Bits and pieces of ancient art turning up around this time: this is what people are surrounded by and drawing from

Foreshortened Christ

Andrea Mantegna, tempera (on wood)

Renaissance

Foreshortened/feet up view draws attention to his wounds

Details show the passage of time

• No bleeding signifies he has been dead for a while

• Skin has lost color and is peeling back around his wounds

Halo around his head

Human physicality of Jesus- simultaneously fully human and fully divine

Art and Status in the High Renaissance

16th century Europe

Transatlantic Influences

Trade and art signify wealth

Narrative tends to frame this era around Italy and artist’s lives

• Giorgio Vasari, “The Lives of the Most Excellent Italian Painters, Sculptures, and Architects

Perspective: viewers feel as though they could step into the painting

Search for perfection and meaning

Important for defining standards for subsequent Western art

Illusionistic methods used to create ideal, not necessarily illusionistic spaces, forms, architecture

Cartoon

A full scale drawing for a painting or tapestry, used to transfer the composition to the final medium

Chiaroscuro

Italian: Light-Dark

The skillful handling of value to create the illusion of three-dimensional forms in a drawing or painting

Sfumato

Italian: Smoky

A painting technique, largely developed by Leonardo da Vinci, in which the transitions from light to dark are so gradual that they are almost imperceptible.

Softens lines, creating a hazy or soft-focus effect

Putti

Chubby, naked, and often winged male infant figures frequently found in art

Iconoclasm

The intentional destruction of images, especially the religiously motivated destruction of sacred images

Last Supper

Leonardo da Vinci, fresco

Sta. Maria della Grazia

Milan, Italy (early 16th century)

High Renaissance

Patron: Ludovico Sforza

Illusionistic techniques but not at eye level

On the wall of a Monetary dining hall: watched over them as they sat in silence listening to readings

Ideal Illusion: not keyed to our eye level

• More typical of 16th century art and architecture

• Focuses on ideal

• Perspective used for focus rather than illusion

Mona Lisa

Leonardo da Vinci, Oil (on wood)

Italy (early 16th century)

Renaissance

Da Vinci used light glazes to unify his paintings and create a smokey look

Ambiguous smile

Portrait of the wife of a Florentine merchant

• Growth of the merchant class

Half length as opposed to bust, ¾ turn: new formula for the portrait

• Much more natural pose that becomes popular

Made for private use, but never delivered to commissioner

School of Athens

Raphael, fresco

Vatican, Rome, Italy (early 16th century)

Renaissance

“School” = Group of intellectuals

Inside the Stanza Della Signatura in the Vatican: a n important room the pope conducts important business in - signs things, etc

Figures represent the main characters of classical learning

• Center: Plato and Aristotle

• All the ancient intellectuals

• Portraits of people- Raphael, Michel-Angelo, etc

Ideal Space

David

Michelangelo, marble

Florence, Italy

Renaissance

Perfect geometry, idea figure

Lots of ancient sculptures are being found as Rome is being rebuilt

Created for a public exterior roofline: large, proportioned to be seen from the ground

Commissioned by the Florence government

Compare to bronze David: preparatory vs relaxed stance

The Tempietto

Donato Bramante

Rome, Italy (16th century)

Renaissance

Patrons: Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain

Central Plan

Lantern supported by the Dome supported by the Drum

Focuses on ideal forms

Villa Rotonda

Andrea Palladio

near Vicenza, Italy (early 16th century)

Renaissance

Patron: Paolo Almerico

Ideal forms in residential architecture

Inspired by the Pantheon

On top of a hill

45 degree angle: there will always be sunlight coming in somewhere

Windows along the dome

Compare w/ Machu Pichu

Perfect geometry

Venus of Urbino

Titian, oil (on canvas)

Italy (16th century)

Renaissance

Patron: Guidobaldo II of Urbino

Greek Goddesses reappearing in art, though we don’t know if this actually depicts Venus

One of the most influential nudes of later art

Ideal female body

Iconography:

• Dogs- loyalty and faith

• Peals- purity

• Rich fabrics, bouquet, bed curtain, hope/wedding chest

• Depicting marriage, ideal bride, goddess?

Looking straight at the viewer: engaging

Self-Portrait in a Mirror

Sofonisba Anguissola, watercolor (on parchment)

Italy (16th century)

Renaissance

Emphasize her literacy and social/intellectual connections

One of the most sought-after portrait makers

Came from a noble family, studied under other artists

Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror

Parmigianino, oil (on wood) (at age 21)

Renaissance

Base of the painting actually is convex

Early mannerist painting, leading into next era

Showing off technique

Foregrounding hand, his instrument

Details in background: door, frame of the painting

Observation

Isenheim Altarpiece

Matthias Grunewald, oil (on wood)

Isenheim, Germany (early 16th century)

Renaissance

Intended for a monastery

Grotesque, graphic exterior

Crucifixion: Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalen, John the Baptist pointing

Most horrific scene of the crucifixion

Opening the panel cuts off the arm of Jesus: amputation and sickness

Inside: beautiful scenes of the birth and resurrection

People suffering see this and know God understood: promise of salvation

Contrast of interior and exterior

Adam and Eve (the Fall of Man)

Albrecht Durer, engraving

Germany (early 16th century)

Renaissance

Adam and Eve eating the apple

Ideal proportions

Sign contains the artist’s name and date; telling us he is well traveled and reinforcing the classical influence

Portrait of Mary, Lady Guildford

Hans Holbein the Younger, oil (on wood)

England (16th century)

Renaissance

Holding her prayer book\

Facing the viewer

Matronly respectability, serious

Vines and Leaves: symbols of wealth

Beautiful background

Garden of Earthly Delights Triptych

Hieronymus Bosch, oil (on wood)

Netherlands (early 16th century)

Renaissance

Unconventional

Exterior:

• shades of gray

• eternal darkness

• crystalline globe=Earth

• upper corner: God the Father

  • holding a book

  • “for he spake and it was done”

  • “for he commanded and they were created”

  • when God separated the land and the sees

Interior:

• full of color

• Garden of Eden

  • God represented as Christ with Adam and Eve: Adam looking at Eve- desire, Eve does not return, Christ looks at us

  • we don’t see the actual temptation

  • fountain: growth and life, owl in the middle

• Garden of Earthly Delights

  • fore, middle, back ground

  • natural forms, animals, young healthy people

  • alternate story? if the temptation had not taken place

  • his society would have looked at this as extremely sinful

  • riotous, sensual pleasure

  • owls frame the panel: symbolize evil

  • viewers implicated in activities

• Hell

  • “tree man” - standing on boats, instability, pierced by its own branches, tavern scene

  • oversized musical instruments as instruments of torture

  • pleasures in life become instruments of suffering

• not what you would expect from an extremely religious artist

Intended to be seen in a domestic setting, very large

Elevate the visual arts to the level of creativity in literature

Follow gazes

Hunters in the Snow

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, oil (on wood)

Netherlands (16th century)

Renaissance

Patron: Nicolaes Jongelinck

Study of the labors of the months, one in a series

Details show the stresses of winder

Hunters: tired and unsuccessful

Background: playfulness and wonder of winter

Given meaning by the labors of the people in it

Draws the viewer into the painting- want to join it

Lots of details to discover- typical of Northern Europe

Different things happening and being represented simultaneous

Cold landscape warmed by human inhabitance

Expansion and Global Contacts in 17th Century Europe

The Baroque

Shift in religion post-reformation

Wider range of people and classes who could commission art and therefore wider interests

baroque vs Baroque

Wider range of style, not ALL Baroque is so dramatic

• spiritual and everyday reality

• expansiveness and expressiveness

• strong light and dark contrasts: draw focus

• lots of diagonals

The Reformation

• Protestants concerned with use of images in religion, period of iconoclasm

• Europe redrawn according to religious differences

• Counter-reformation: Catholics re-examine and re-affirm their won faith

  • Use of art, art as a bridge for faith

The art of persuasion: to instruct, to delight, to move

Ornate as a means of celebration

In N Europe: smaller scale art for private homes and contemplation

Baroque realism, Baroque classism, Theatrical Baroque

Dutch Republic becomes incredibly wealthy

Prosperous middle class, homes are decorated to impress

Late 16th-17th centuries, open art markets emerge

Competition, artists often specialized in one type of painting

Subjects from the world around them

Colonial Expansion: artists in Europe are very interested in what is going on in the rest of the world and vise versa

Naturalism

A style of art that seeks to represent objects or living beings as they appear to the eye

Tenebrism

Italian: “shadowy”

The extreme use of contrast of light and shadow to create a dramatic effect in a painting, drawing, or print

Genre Painting

Painting that depicts aspects of everyday life, such as domestic interiors, tavern scenes, and street scenes

Still Life

A category of subject matter in the arts consisting of arrangements of inanimate objects, such as glassware, food, fruit, or flowers

Etching

A printmaking process in which lines or areas are incised using acid into a metal plate in order to hold ink

Drypoint

A printmaking process in which a design is drawn directly on a soft metal plate with a sharp, needle-like tool. The plate is then inked and prints are pulled from it

Camera Obscura

Latin: “dark room”

An apparatus that enables an image to be projected onto a surface inside a light-sealed chamber and then traced

Precursor to the development of photography

St. Peter’s

Bramante (1506), Raphael (1513), Michelangelo (1547)

Vatican City (16th century)

Renaissance

Plan shifted from central to basilican

Very sculptural forms, many objections and recessions

Tall drum and dome

Took over 100 years to build - redesigned many times

Commissioned by Pope Julius II, demolished Old St Peter’s

Each artist took over after the last died

St Peter’s Piazza

Gianlorenzo Bernini

Vatican City (17th century)

Baroque

St Peter’s extended into the plaza

Basilican length expanded with a colonnades reaching around the plaza

Symbolizes the reach of the church

David

Gianlorenzo Bernini, marble

Italy (17th century)

Baroque

Patron: Cardinal Scipio Borghese

Created for a domestic setting, meant to be viewed in the round

Compare to Michelangelo’s

Moment of action, tension unleashed

Activates the space around the statue

Body crosses itself, forming a diagonal line

Facial expression

Sense of energy

Understanding of the human body

Baroque: Bring the bible into our would

Ecstasy of St. Teresa

Gianlorenzo Bernini, marble

Rome, Italy (17th century)

Baroque

When light comes in, it reflects down the metal bars creating a glow/beam of light

St Teresa: wrote of her visions

• being stabbed/pulling out her intestines by a high angel

• “utterly consumed by the great love of God”

• extreme sweetness caused by intense pain, spiritual pain

Different textures created by the marble

• Clouds are rough, figures are polished

• Light reflects of each differently

Religious art should convey emotion

Calling of St. Mathew

Caravaggio, oil (on canvas)

Rome, Italy (1600)

Baroque

Extreme light and dark creates a strong dramatic contrast and guides the eye

Moment of spiritual awakening

Only simplest implication of the spiritual: halo over Jesus

Figures identified by light and gesture

Figures dressed in contemporary clothing

Set in a tavern, a lowly place

Pay attention to what each figure is doing, pointing and attention - those who are aware and those who are not

Torn between money and Jesus

Judith Slaying Holofernes

Artemisia Gentileschi, oil (on canvas)

Italy (17th century)

Baroque

Gentileschi: famous for wining an SA trial, first woman admitted to academy of design in Florence

One of the artists credited for spreading the style of Caravaggio past Italy

This is one of her best known works

Caravaggesque, Tenebrism: EXTEME light and dark

Composition:

• Judith’s maid/lady helping her

• Facial expressions

• Spray of blood

• Emphasizes intersection of forms

  • Focalizes her grasp on the sword

• 6 ft tall: confronted with Holoferne’’s horrified face

Pulls viewer into the emotional moment

Glorification of St. Ignatius

Andrea Pozzo, fresco

Sant’Ignazio, Rome, Italy (17th century)

Baroque

Groups of figures represent the 4 main continents: represents global reach of the Catholic church

Great example of counter-reformation art

Ceiling painting of St. Ignatius ascending into heaven, angels taking him to Jesus

Architectural framework extends the church and disappears into the sky/heavens

Trompe L’oeil: perspective, foreshortening, creating a scene where there is no ceiling

Transport the viewer

Las Meninas

Diego Velazquez, oil (on canvas

Spain (17th century)

Baroque

“The Ladies in Wating”

Netherlands and Spain are very closely related; the King of Spain had many Flemish works

Interior from the palace that shows the princess surrounded by her ladies (caretaker, teachers, entertainers, nun, etc)

On the side, painting with the artist looking at us, self-portrait, shows himself in his finery - member of the court

Background

• doorway with someone entering or exiting

• mirror reflecting the audience: the king and queen of Spain

The way the paint is applied: objects not outlined and colored in, but rather represented by light

Whiteness emphasized in the princess

Compare to Arnolfini Portrait

Elevation of the Cross

Peter Paul Rubens, oil (on wood)

Antwerp, Flanders (17th century)

Baroque

Diagonal across and in depth, leaning away

Intended to involve the viewer

Details pull us into the image

Both baroque and Baroque

Self Portrait

Judith Leyster, oil (on wood)

Holland (17th century)

Baroque

Lavish clothing

Showing what a successful artist she is, how fun and approachable she is

Sense of spontaneity; look at her posing

Closeness, foreshortening

Breaking the barrier between audience and art

Painting the type of painting she was know for: selling herself and her work

Self Portrait

Rembrandt van Rijn, oil (on canvas)

Holland (17th century)

Baroque

Older in this portrait, late in his career

Pay attention to the way the paint is laid on and not smoothed out

• built up in heavy layers as opposed to light glazing

Holding a paint palette and brushes

Right edge of the painting reveals the edge of the painting the artist is working on

Thick paint and dark colors build up a complex and engaging piece

Light background emphasizes the circles on the “wall”

The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp

Rembrandt van Rijn, oil (on canvas)

Holland (17th century)

Baroque

Guild of surgeons, group portrait for their meeting space

Would have been a much more public event

Professional and middle class

Show off the brilliance of Dr. Tulp

Book at the feet of the cadaver: interest in anatomy

Sense of a shared moment, intimacy

Each figure doing something slightly different

Asymmetrical pyramid composition

Science has replaced the spiritual

Draws viewer’s eye intentionally