Midterm+Review (1)

Midterm Review

• A review for a midterm exam covering various art historical periods and concepts.

Renaissance Overview

• Timeline: c. 1400-c.1600

• Key Aspects:

  • Assumptions:

    • Interest in antiquity

    • Secularism and Humanism

    • Perception as blissful age of arts and culture

  • Actual Transformations:

    • Introduction of mythological subjects in painting

    • Portrait painting of contemporary individuals as a focus

    • Emergence of a new class with access to commodities

    • Increased availability of ancient texts

    • Challenges to religious dominance (e.g., influence of Lorenzo Valla on the Donation of Constantine)

Renaissance Italy

• Factors Contributing to the Renaissance in Italy:

  • Rise of Mediterranean trade

  • Re-emergence of cities post-12th century

  • New bourgeois class challenging clergy and aristocracy, investing in the arts

  • Cultural exchanges with the Islamic world

Early Renaissance vs. High Renaissance

• Key Works:

  • Fra Angelico, Annunciation (1438-1447)

  • Raphael, School of Athens (1509-1510)

Significant Artworks and Artists

• Gentile da Fabriano, Adoration of the Magi (1423)

  • Characteristics of International Gothic Style

  • Continuous narrative technique

• Masaccio, Holy Trinity (c. 1427)

  • Memento mori theme highlighted

• Donatello, Feast of Herod (1423-1427)

  • Featuring Salome and John the Baptist

• Donatello, David (1430-1432)

  • Depicts biblical hero David defeating Goliath

• Filippo Brunelleschi, Florence Cathedral Dome

  • Dome construction period: 1420-1436

Treatises on Art

• Leon Battista Alberti:

  • On Sculpture: De Statua (1430)

  • On Painting: Della Pittura (1435)

  • On Architecture: De Re Aedificatoria (1443-1452)

Architectural Works

• St. Andrea, Mantua (1472-1490) by Alberti

• Temple of Vesta, Rome (c. 300 CE)

• *Donato Bramante's Tempietto, Rome (1503)

• Bramante's plans for St. Peter's Cathedral

  • Collaborative designs by Michelangelo and Carlo Maderno

Notable Renaissance Paintings and Artists

• Leonardo da Vinci:

  • Vitruvian Man (c. 1485)

  • Virgin of the Rocks (1483), showcasing chiaroscuro technique

• Raphael:

  • School of Athens (1509-1511) focusing on philosophy

• Michelangelo:

  • Pietà (1498)

  • David (1501-1504)

• Parmigianino:

  • Madonna with the Long Neck (1535-1540), signifying Mannerism

• Robert Campin:

  • Mérode Altarpiece (1425-1428)

Northern Renaissance

• Pieter Brueghel the Elder:

  • Hunters in the Snow (1565), example of genre painting

• Hans Holbein:

  • The Ambassadors (1533) featuring complex symbolism

• Albrecht Dürer:

  • Adam and Eve (1504)

• Lucas Cranach the Elder:

  • Portrait of Martin Luther (1529), pivotal in the Protestant Reformation

Baroque Art and Architecture

• Major Themes:

  • Re-establishment of Roman Catholic Church authority

  • Emotionally charged, opulent designs in interiors and exteriors

  • Dramatic contrasts of light and shadow (tenebrism)

  • Examples: Gianlorenzo Bernini, Ecstasy of St. Teresa (1645-1652)

Key Artists of the Baroque Period

• Caravaggio:

  • Conversion of Saint Paul (1601), demonstration of tenebrism

• Artemisia Gentileschi:

  • Judith Slaying Holofernes (1614-1620)

• Peter Paul Rubens:

  • Elevation of the Cross (1610)

Conclusion

• Importance of studying Renaissance and Baroque art for understanding cultural transformation in Europe.