AGE OF EXPLORATION TO POSTMODERNITY

CLASS TWO

AZTEC ART

ART IN FIFTEENTH CENTURY NORTHERN EUROPE (LATE GOTHIC ART)

CHAPTERS 36 AND 20

VOCABULARY

Aztec - The Aztecs were an indigenous Mesoamerican culture, also known as the Mexica, who were the dominant power in what is now Mexico when the Spanish arrived in 1519. They were a Nahuatl-speaking people who rapidly rose from being migratory outcasts to masters of the Valley of Mexico.

Their magnificent capital, Tenochtitlan, founded in 1325 on an island in Lake Texcoco, was a sophisticated city with a population of over 150,000. The Aztecs were known as fierce warriors and practiced human sacrifice on a greater scale than previous cultures. Their empire was ultimately overthrown by Hernán Cortés in 1521.

Tenochtitlán - found between 2 rivers; very sophisticated civilization

Illuminated Manuscript - is an exquisitely refined manuscript or illustrated book produced by artists, especially during the 15th century in Northern Europe. These works often feature intricate paintings and designs, and some artists, like the Limbourg brothers, expanded the illusionistic capabilities of such "illumination," treating the pages of books as if they were "windows onto the world". Manuscript illuminators were essential for the production of illustrated books throughout the Late Middle Ages.

Late Gothic - The Late Gothic style was a prevalent art style in 15th-century Germany, particularly evident in large carved wood altarpieces. It is characterized by highly emotive figures and the use of intricate Gothic tracery and ornamental motifs to intensify emotion and glorify sacred events. Artists like Veit Stoss and Tilman Riemenschneider employed agitated forms, flowing draperies, and figures with "psychic strain" to enhance their spiritual appearance.

Altarpiece

  • Diptych - Means 2. Hinged and opens like a book. Small and easy to travel with.

  • Triptych - Most popular. 3 panels. Coming from the number 3.

  • Polyptych—Anything over 3. Can have numerous panels.

Intuitive Perspective—Attempting perspective without a concrete mathematical formula.

Disguised Symbolism - Everyday objects which have a higher meaning.

Donor - commissions an altarpiece and has their portrait included

Atmospheric (Aerial) Perspective—The illusion of distance by the lessening of local color toward a neutral blue and the blurring of contours as the intended distance between eye and object increases

Grisaille - Painting that looks as if it were made of stone.

Johann Gutenberg – The Printing Press: Invented the printing press c. 1435

Woodblock - Relief priniting, cut the negative space away, leaving the printed areas raised to accept ink. Use a block of wood.

Engraving - Intaglio printing. Use a metal plate (copper). Incising lines into the copper plate, creating grooves, which will be filled with ink for printing.

ARTISTS AND WORKS OF ART:

AZTEC ART

Unknown/Anonymous

  • Codex Mendoza

  • Cololxauhqui

  • Coatlicue

LATE GOTHIC ART

The Limbourg Brothers (Paul, Herman, and Jean)

  • Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (The Very Rich Hours of the Duke of Berry) – January

  • Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (The Very Rich Hours of the Duke of Berry) – July

Master of Flémalle (Robert Campin)

  • Mèrode Altarpiece

Jan van Eyck

  • Man in a Red Turban

  • The Arnolfini Portrait

  • Ghent Altarpiece

    • Closed View

    • Open View  

Rogier van der Weyden

  • Deposition

Hugo van der Goes

  • Portinari Altarpiece

Jean Fouquet

  • Étienne Chevalier and St. Stephen, Virgin and Child – The Melun Diptych

Anonymous

  • The Buxheim St. Christopher

Martin Schongauer

  • Demons Tormenting St. Anthony - The Temptation of St. Anthony

Important Points (Aztec Chapter)

  • Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico before the Spanish conquest

  • 1300 - 1521

  • extremely sophisticated society

  • Arts flourished (sculpture, architecture)

  • Known for human sacrifices made to various gods

Important Points (Late Gothic Art)

  • Analyze how Late Gothic painters gave scrupulous attention to describing the textures and luminosity of objects (detail!!!)

  • Oil painting (oil on panel)

  • The return to realistic human likenesses in portraiture

  • Uncover the complex symbolic meanings in Late Gothic paintings (Disguised Symbolism)

  • The birth of printmaking as a major pictorial medium

Momento mori - reminder of death

Nativity - birth of Jesus in a manger(barn)