ART 482 Quiz 2

Content

This involves the source of the subject (such as the Old or New Testament, mythology, or classical history), the meaning or message of the work, and any associated symbolism or subtext.

Form

This refers to the style or period of the work, the medium and technique used, the organization of the composition, and how the work exemplifies the style of the artist or period.

Context

This covers the historical, cultural, religious, or political background associated with the work, specific events or historical figures, important details about the artist, and what the artwork demonstrates about the art of its era.

Lorenzo Ghiberti, Sacrifice of Isaac, 1402

This work is a gilt bronze relief created as a panel for the Florence Cathedral Baptistery doors, originally commissioned by the Arte di Calimala (Cloth Merchants' Guild). The composition features figures engaged in a dynamic, physical struggle that projects outward from the flat background panel.

Filippo Brunelleschi, Hospital of the Innocents, c. 1421

The medium of this work is architectural masonry, plaster, and stone, commissioned by the Arte della Seta (Silk Guild) for the city of Florence. The composition consists of a highly ordered, classical facade featuring a continuous loggia of rounded arches.

Filippo Brunelleschi, Old Sacristy, San Lorenzo, begun 1418

This is an architectural structure constructed with stone and plaster for the Church of San Lorenzo, heavily funded by patron Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici. The interior composition is heavily geometric, utilizing a central dome resting on pendentives with dark decorative stone outlining the proportions against lighter walls.

Donatello, St. Mark, Or San Michele, 1413

This is a freestanding carved sculpture commissioned by the Arte dei Linaiuoli (Linen Weavers' Guild) for an exterior niche of the Or San Michele church. The composition features a single figure utilizing a contrapposto stance, housed within a highly decorated architectural framing.

Donatello, Feast of Herod, c. 1425

This is a metal sculptural relief panel commissioned by the Opera del Duomo of Siena for the Siena Cathedral Baptistery font. The composition utilizes varying depths of carving to push the central narrative to the foreground while creating a deeply receding architectural illusion in the background.

Masaccio, Tribute Money, Brancacci Chapel, 1420s

This narrative work was executed in the fresco medium for the Brancacci Chapel within the church of Santa Maria del Carmine, commissioned by Felice Brancacci. The composition groups monumental figures in the foreground while utilizing atmospheric perspective to establish a distant, hazy landscape in the background.

Masaccio, Holy Trinity, Santa Maria Novella, c. 1428

This artwork is a large-scale fresco located in the Dominican church of Santa Maria Novella, likely commissioned by the local Lenzi family. The composition uses strict linear perspective to frame the figures inside a painted, three-dimensional barrel vault, placing a skeleton at the base as a memento mori.

Fra Angelico, Annunciation, c. 1432

The medium of this piece is tempera and gold on panel, originally created as an altarpiece for the convent of San Domenico in Cortona. The composition places the primary interacting figures inside a columned portico, balanced by an enclosed garden space on the left.

Fra Angelico, San Marco Altarpiece, c. 1440

This is a painted altarpiece commissioned by Cosimo de' Medici for the high altar of the San Marco church. The composition centrally grounds the Virgin and Child, surrounding them symmetrically with grouped figures to create a unified, earthly architectural space.

Quattrocento

The 15th century (the 1400s) in Italian art and culture.

Guilds

Associations of artisans or merchants who controlled the practice of their craft in a particular town.

Evangelists

The authors of the four Gospel accounts in the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John).

Relief sculpture

A sculpted artwork where figures project from a flat background surface.

Tondo/tondi

A circular painting or a circular relief sculpture.

Cornice

The decorated, projecting horizontal molding at the very top of a building or wall.

Entablature

A horizontal, continuous lintel on a classical building supported by columns or a wall.

Column

An upright pillar, typically cylindrical, supporting an arch or structure.

Shaft

The main, elongated body of a column located between the capital and the base.

Corinthian

An architectural order characterized by slender columns and elaborate capitals decorated with acanthus leaves.

Doric

A classical architectural order characterized by a sturdy column and a plain, unadorned capital.

Ionic

A classical architectural order characterized by volutes (scroll-like ornaments) in its capital.

Pediment

The triangular upper part of the front of a building in classical style.

Colonnade

A row of columns supporting a roof, entablature, or arcade.

Loggia

A gallery or corridor at ground level, with one or more open sides supported by columns.

Arcade

A succession of contiguous arches, with each arch supported by columns or piers.

Keystone

The wedge-shaped central stone at the very summit of an arch that locks the structure together.

Frieze

A broad horizontal band of sculpted or painted decoration, typically found on an entablature.

Dome

A rounded vault forming the roof of a building or structure.

Ribs

Structural bands of masonry that support or decorate a vault or dome.

Drum

A circular or polygonal wall that directly supports a dome.

Pendentive

A curved triangle of vaulting formed by the intersection of a dome with its supporting square base.

Pietra serena

A gray Tuscan sandstone used heavily in Florentine Renaissance architecture for decorative outlines.

Flutes/fluted

Shallow vertical grooves running along the surface of a column shaft.

Pilaster

A rectangular, flattened column that projects slightly from a wall.

Oculus

A round opening or circular window, typically at the center of a dome.

Contrapposto

An asymmetrical stance where a figure's weight rests on one leg, creating a natural shift in the hips and shoulders.

Saints

Holy figures recognized by the Christian church for their exceptional holiness.

Martyrs

Individuals who are killed because of their religious beliefs.

Linear / One-point perspective

A mathematical drawing method creating the illusion of deep space by converging all receding parallel lines to a single point.

Schiacciato

An extremely shallow, flattened relief carving technique developed to create atmospheric depth.

Horizon line

The eye level of the viewer in a painting where the sky and ground appear to meet.

Vanishing point

The single point on the horizon line to which all orthogonals converge in one-point perspective.

Orthogonals

Diagonal receding lines in a perspective drawing that point directly to the vanishing point.

Atmospheric perspective

Creating the illusion of depth by depicting distant objects as paler, bluer, and less detailed.

Holy Trinity

The Christian doctrine representing the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Memento mori

An artistic object or symbol serving as a stark reminder of human mortality and death.

Palla Strozzi

A wealthy Florentine banker and prominent patron of the arts during the early Renaissance.

Manuscript illuminator

An artist who decorates handwritten texts with complex designs and lavish materials like gold leaf.

Scriptorium

A room in a monastery specifically set apart for the copying and illuminating of manuscripts.

Hortus conclusus

An enclosed garden, used in art as a visual symbol for the Virgin Mary's purity.