Art History Final Exam

Leonardo da Vinci’s Adoration of the Magi, late 15th, Florence, Uffizi

• COMPARE TO Leonardo’s Architectural perspective for the Adoration of the Magi, late 15th, Florence Uffizi

• coloring technique (sfumato)

Leonardo da Vinci’s Virgin of the Rocks, late 15th, Paris, Louvre

• SFORZA COMMISIONED

Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper, Refectory of S. Maria delle Grazie, Milan

Giovanni Donato Montorfano’s Crucifixion, late 15th, Refectory of S. Maria delle Grazie, Milan

Donato Bromante’s S. Maria presso S. Satiro, late 15th, Milan

• illusion/impression of depth on a completely flat wall

• compare to the last supper

Leonardo da Vinci’s Burlington House Cartoon, late 15th, London National Gallery

• compare to Michelangelo’s Doni Tondo

Leonardo da Vinci’s Madonna and Child with St. Anne, early 16th, Paris, Louvre

Michelangelo’s Doni Tondo, early 16th, Florence, Uffizi

• commissioned for their wedding

• Michelangelo is PAINTING like it is a SCULPTURE

• compare to Leonardo’s Burlington House Cartoon

Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, early 16th, Paris, Louvre

• example of SFUMATO (earthy colors used to blend and create a softer visual more appealing to the eye)

Raphael’s Portrait of Maddalena Doni, early 16th, Florence, Galleria Palatina

Raphael’s Marriage of the Virgin, early 16th, Milan, Pinacoteca di Brera

• SPRIZZATURA EXAMPLE

• put his signature above the priest on the temple, shows his perception of himself as an artist

• mastery of compostion

• studied under Perugino, builds off of Perugino’s to bring you into the action throught eh semi circle the people are standing

• references Donato Bramante’s S. Pietro in Montorio, early 16th, Rome

• compare to Perugino’s Marriage of the Virgin

Perugino’s Marriage of the Virgin, early 16th, Caen, Musée des Beaux-Arts

• flat, no depth

• not nearly as much movement as Raphael’s (Raphael studied under Perugino)

• compare to Raphael’s Marriage of the Virgin

Raphael’s The Entombment, early 16th, Rome, Galleria Borghese

• altarpiece at the Baglioni Chapel

• divinity of Raphael

• importance: he was born and died on good friday, further connecting him to catholicism

• compare to Michelangelo’s Doni Tondo

Michelangelo’s Pietà, late 15th, Vatican, Basicila of S. Pietro

• made in just one block of marble

• left arm is free and pointing to viewers

• Michelangelo signs band across the Madonna

Raphael’s Portrait of Julius II, early 16th, London, The National Galley

• Julius II commissioned this piece

• considered himself a warrior, however his eyes are sunken in and he looks exhausted in his portrait as it was done a year before he passed

• introduces the psychological aspect as it shows the tension between his powerful image and physical decline as he reflects on his life

Raphael’s Portrait of Leo X with cardinals Giulio de’Medici and Luigi de’Rossi, early 16th Florence, Uffizi

• Leo X commissioned this piece

• he has a face of “power” in his portrait, closely backed by the cardinals

• seems more powerful with the two men behind him

Raphael’s Theology, early 16th, Florence, Vatican Museum, Stanza della Segnatura

• monstrance with wafer as focal point

• people are seen arguing over the transubstantiation (body of christ as wafer)

• across from the philosophy wall

• divinity of raphael

• importance: he was born and died on good friday, further connecting him to catholicism

Raphael’s Philosophy, early 16th, Florence, Vatican Museum, Stanza della Segnatura

• the basilica is reminiscent of Alberti’s work in Rome

• across from the theology wall

• 2 figures in the center: Plato and Aristotle

• Plato is pointing up (grounded in higher vision) and Aristotle is pointing down (empiricist, based on real life)

• features Raphael, Bramante-Euclid, and Michelangelo-Heractidus

• Michelangelo was a late addition to the work

• divinity of raphael

• importance: Raphael was born and died on good friday, further connecting him to catholicism

Stanza di Eliodoro, Vatican

Commissioned Raphael’s workshop in Stanza dell’Incendio

Pope Leo

Raphael’s Fire in the Borgo, early 16th

• copying Michelangelo

• action is in the foreground (movement, panic, anatomically correct)

• studying antique art (vases) to study women

• quotation of the Burning of Troy

• strong yellow vs. pale blue —> very different from his usual colors (used Michelangelo’s typical coloration

Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel

• Julius II commissioned this

• acorns, oak trees everywhere to remind us of Julius II

• Old Testament scenes related to the lives of Genesis

Villa Farnesina/Villa Chigi, Rome, owned by Agostine Chigi, who commissioned Raphael

• palace vs villa

• city vs country

Raphael’s The Loggia of Cupid and Psyche, early 16th, Villa Farnesina, Rome

• Venus = boy mom who disliked Psyche for her beauty

• Psyche endures trials

• Chigi was one of the patrons

• painted on tapestries inside and painted sky behind it so that there is a soft passage from the inside to the outside

Raphael’s Transfiguration, early 16th, Rome, Vatican museums

• his last altarpiece for Giulio di Medici (future Pope Clement VII)

• pure white used

• possessed boy and Christ as 2 subjects

• serpentina

• sprezzatura

• female figure in the front gives way to the maniera

• divinity of raphael

• importance: he was born and died on good friday, further connecting him to catholicism

Sebastiano del Piombo, Raising of Lazarus, London, National Gallery

• not as sophisticated or graceful

Michelangelo’s Battle of the Centaurs and Lapiths, late 15th, Cosa Buonnarroti, Florence

• “serpentina”, no space or background, lots of chaos, seems unfinished

Michelangelo’s St. Matthew, early 16th, Florence’s Galleria dell’Academia

• Plato is grounded in higher vision/preparation for theology

• seen in sculpture

• major ties to theology

Raphael’s Ecstasy of S. Cecilia, early 16th, Bologna, National Gallery (formerly in the church of S. Giovanni in Monte in Bologna, Beata Elena Duglioli Dall’Olio chapel)

• the voices of singing angels

• saints are all posed differently to give movement

• instruments broken on ground because no noise could compare to the sound of the angels

• St. Paul (the thinker) —> all the saints have charity and visions in common

• sacred conversation behind her

• different theological meanings

• divinity of raphael

• importance: he was born and died on good friday, further connecting him to catholicism

Michelangelo’s The Last Judgment, early 16th, Vatican, Sistine chapel detail

• commissioned by Paul III Farnese —> started the Council of Trent, Pope of the Counter reformation

Michelangelo’s Victory (1530 ca.), Florence, Palazzo Vecchio

• FIGURA SERPENTINA

• Mannerism —> Parigianino, Madonna with the Long Neck

• skill and virtuosity of artists is more important than the subject

Rosso Fiorentino’s Dead Christ with angels, early 16th, Boston, Museum of Fine Arts

Michelangelo’s Pietà, late 15th, Vatican, Basilica of S. Pietro

Parmigianino’s Mystic Marriage of St. Margareth, early 16th, Bologna, National Gallery

Parmigianino’s Madonna with the long neck, early 16th, Florence, Uffizi

Parmigianino’s Self-portrait in a Convex Mirror, early 16th, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum

Agnolo Bronzino’s Deposition of Christ, early 16th, Besançon, Musée des Beaux-Arts

Tommaso Laureti and Giambologna’s Neptune Fountain, late 16th, Bologna, Piazza Maggiore

• Neptune is in an evolved contrapposto position from the front, and is in figura serpentina if you look at him from the sides

• Neptune is entirely FREE. You can walk around it, and you are actually invited in

  • Syrens invite you to walk around

• THE ELEMENT OF FREEDOM LEADS TO THE BAROQUE

Titian’s Assumption of the Virgin, early 16th, Venice, Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari

• Compare to Theology

Titian’s Madonna with saints and members of the Pesaro family, early 16th, Venice, Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari

Sala dell’Albergo, Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice

Tintoretto’s Crucifixion, late 16th, Sala dell’Albergo, Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice

Venice, Scuola di San Rocco, Sala Superiore, late 16th

Tintoretto’s The Gathering of the Manna, late 16th, Sala Superiore, Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice

Tintoretto’s Last Supper, late 16th, San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice

Andrea Palladio’s façade of S. Giorgio Maggiore, late 16th, Venice

Leon Battista Alberti’s Church of Sant’Andrea, late 15th, Mantua

Pellegrino Tibaldi (attr.), Courtyard, mid 16th, Bologna, Poggi Palace

Pellegrino Tibaldi, Ulysses Room, late 16th, Bologna, Poggi Palace

Pellegrino Tibaldi, The blinding of Polyphemus and Neptune and the ship of Odysseus, late 16th, Bologna, Poggi Palace 

Pellegrino Tibaldi, The blinding of Polyphemus and Neptune and the ship of Odysseus, late 16th, Bologna, Poggi Palace 

Pellegrino Tibaldi, Odysseus and Circe and Ignudo, late 16th, Bologna, Poggi Palace 

Pellegrino Tibaldi, Odysseus and Circe and Ignudo, late 16th, Bologna, Poggi Palace 

Michelangelo, Ignudo, early 16th, Vatican, Sistine Chapel, detail from the vault 

Pellegrino Tibaldi, Saletta di Ulisse, late 16th, Bologna, Poggi Palace

Pellegrino Tibaldi, Theft of the cattle of Helios and Odysseus and Ino Leucothea, late 16th, Bologna, Poggi Palace 

Pellegrino Tibaldi, Theft of the cattle of Helios and Odysseus and Ino Leucothea, late 16th, Bologna, Poggi Palace 

Correggio, Assumption of Virgin Mary, early 16th, Parma, Cathedral 

• meticulous foreshortening

• accentuating the octagon (8 religious number)

Pellegrino Tibaldi, Ulysses Room, late 16th, Bologna, Poggi Palace 

Annibale Carracci, Butcher’s shop, late 16th, Fort Worth, Kimbell Art Museum

• painting ordinary people in a noble manor (left guy is holding knife like a sword, right guy is showing the meat in a noble manor)

Ludovico Carracci, Vision of St. Francis, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, late 16th

Giovanni Battista Moroni’s Last Supper, late 16th, Romano di Lombardia (Bergamo), Church of S. Maria Assunta e S. Giacomo 

Giovan Battista Moroni’s Don Leone Cucchi with Saint Martin and the beggar, and the Madonna and Child, late 16th, Cenate Sotto (Bergamo), Church of St. Martino

Gaudenzio Ferrari and workshop’s Annunciation, late 16th, Varallo, Holy Mountain

Lavinia Fontana’s Annunciation, late 16th, Baltimore, The Walters Art Museum

Bartolomeo Passerotti, Anatomy Lecture, Paris, Musée du Louvre

Annibale Carracci, The Beaneater, late 16th, Rome, Galleria Colonna

Jason Room, late 16th, Bologna, Fava Palace 

• typical wooden ceiling separated by sculptures between the narratives

  • common Carracci theme because the same thing was done in Palazzo Magnani

Raphael’s Galatea, early 16th, Rome, Villa Farnesina

Giotto (late 13th to early 14th) - Proto-Renaissance

Major fresco work: Arena (Scrovegni) Chapel, Padua

Importance:

• Broke away from Byzantine flatness

• Introduced naturalistic figures, emotional expression, and believable space

• Established fresco as a narrative, human-centered medium

Why he matters: The Foundation of Renaissance painting in Italy

Masaccio (early 15th) - Early Renaissance

Major fresco work: Brancacci Chapel, Florence (The Tribute Money, Expulsion from Eden)

Importance:

• First consistent use of linear perspective in fresco

• Realistic anatomy and light modeling

• Figures occupy rational, measurable space

Why he matters: Transformed fresco into a scientifically grounded art form

Fra Angelico (late 14th to mid 15th) - Early Renaissance

Major fresco work: San Marco Monastery, Florence

Importance:

• Combined Renaissance realism with spiritual clarity

• Calm compositions designed for meditation

Why he matters: Demonstrated fresco’s role in devotional and monastic settings

Piero della Francesca (early 15th to late 15th) - Early Renaissance

Major fresco work: Legend of the True Cross, Arezzo

Importance:

• Mastery of geometry, light, and perspective

• Quiet monumentality and balance

Why he matters: Advanced the intellectual and mathematical approach to fresco

Michelangelo (late 15th to late 16th) - High Renaissance

Major fresco works: Sistine Chapel Ceiling, Last Judgment

Importance:

• Monumental, sculptural figures

• Intense physical and emotional power

Why he matters: Elevated fresco to a heroic, expressive peak

Raphael (late 15th to early 16th) - High Renaissance

Major fresco work: School of Athens, Vatican Stanze

Importance:

• Harmonious composition

• Balance of philosophy, theology, and classical learning

Why he matters: Perfected the fresco as a vehicle for Renaissance humanism

Parmigianino (16th) - Mannerism

Major fresco work: Santa Maria della Steccata

Importance:

• Elongated figures

• Artificial color and complex poses

Why he matters: Marked a shift away from High Renaissance balance toward expressive tension

Annibale Carracci (late 16th to early 17th) - Baroque

Major fresco work: Farnese Gallery Ceiling, Rome

Importance:

• Revived classical balance and clarity within Baroque decoration

• Combined Renaissance ideals with dynamic movement

Why he matters: Laid the foundation for Baroque ceiling fresco painting

Fresco decoration evolution

Giotto’s human realism, through Renaissance perspective and harmony, to Baroque illusion and drama

Difference between fresco and canvas painting

fresco is a wall-based, architectural painting technique that becomes part of the building, while canvas painting is a flexible, portable format

Most important commissioners for Julius II and Leo X

Julius II and Leo X

Commissioner of Leonardo’s works

Sforza family in Milan (Last Supper, Virgin of the Rocks)

Figura serpentina

a compositional technique used by Renaissance artists characterized by a spiral or twisting pose that creates a dynamic sense of movement

Sprizzatura

painting with “ease”, Baldassar Castiglione comes up with the term

Sfumato

earthy colors used to blend and create a softer visual more appealing to the eye, the opposite of Michelangelo, Da Vinci especially uses it

Raphael and Michelangelo’s Rivalry

• competing for prestigious commissions from Pope Julius II and Leo X, clashing personalities (charming Raphael vs. gruff Michelangelo)

• Michelangelo: focus on form and struggle, beauty trapped within the material (like marble creating a sculpture)

• Raphael: focus on harmony and ease (ex. School of Athens

Michelangelo’s Tomb of Julius II, early 16th, Rome, S. Pietro in Vincoli

Caravaggio’s Crucifixion of St. Peter, early 17th, Rome, S. Maria del Popolo, Cerasi chapel

Annibale Carracci’s Assumption of the Virgin, late 16th, Bologna, National Gallery

Rome, S. Maria del Popolo, Cerasi Chapel

Annibale Carracci, Diana and Endymion, late 16th, Rome, Farnese Gallery 

Annibale Carracci’s Europa and the Bull, late 16th, Rome, Farnese Gallery

Villa Farnesina

Rome, Farnese Palace

Agostino Carracci’s Asylum at the Capitoline Hill, late 16th, Bologna, Magnani Palace

Ludovico Carracci’s The Death of Amulius, late 16th, Bologna, Magnani Palace

Annibale Carracci’s Romulus marking the boundaries of Rome, late 16th, Bologna, Magnani Palace

Bologna’s Palazzo Magnani (begun in late 16th)

Paolo Veronese’s Sts Mark and Marcellinus being led to martyrdom, late 16th, Venice, San Sebastiano 

Paolo Veronese’s Esther Crowned by Ahasuerus, late 16th, Venice, San Sebastiano