Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
David
When I saw the David in Italy, it was like an incredible experience and exactly the type of experience a sculptor would want. You walk down a long hallway and there it is, in the middle of the room (sort of).
The Last Supper...
Well, there is a lot to talk about here but what about this.. what if you knew you were about to have your last supper tonight?
Birth of Venus
- Botticelli was good at showing his light source.
- Putting a lot of saints and angels in his portraits.
- He worked in Florence, often for the Medici, then was called to Roman in 1481 by Pope Sixtus IV to help decorate the new sistine chapel along with other artists
-Botticelli returned to Florence that same year and entered a new phase of his career
-For the Medici, Botticelli produced secular paintings of mythological subjects inspired by ancient works and by contemporary Neoplatonic thought.
- Venus was the classical equivalent of the virgin mary
-Primavera was painted at the time of the wedding of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici and Semiramide d'Appiano in 1482.
-Several years later, some of the myth creatures appeared in Botticelli's Birth of Venus
-Botticelli's classical goddess of love and beauty, born of sea foam, averts her eyes from our gaze as she floats ashore on a scallop shell, gracefully aranging her hands and hair to hide-but actually drawing attention to her sexuality instead.
-Botticelli was later impacted by a spiritual crisis
-Many Florentines reacted with orgies of self-recrimination, and processions of weeping penitents wound through the streets
The Expulsion of Adam and Eve Paradise
Now here is something to talk about. As described, this italian painting (which amazingly only took 4 days!) Masaccio painted Adam and eve with the intent to portray the light source and the body's form with regards to the bone structure underneath not the muscle structure (flemish). It shows how these two have been thrown out into the world without being able to go back to paradise. This is just a scene out of two: this and The Tribute Money. It is interesting to discuss how Masaccio portrayed Eve with her hands covering her genitalia as well as breasts when he didn't depict Adam doing the same. He had Adam covering, with both hands, his eyes instead. It sends a message in a few ways. One could be that men can be seen as powerful and they can do anything they want, while woman cannot.
WOMAN: In different generations woman have been portrayed many different ways. You can see through the art history of the American painting of Madame X by John singer sargen, how her strap was falling and it was a huge controversy in c.1880. It was such an uproar that it had to be fixed. Then you see in woman portrayed in Italian art naked, without harsh criticism. Another way we can view woman is now woman can be completely nude and no one will say anything, it will finally be considered "art". Just like so many artists and photographers today.
The battle of the nudes- Antonio del Pollaiuolo
- it's an engraving
-reflects interest of Renaissance scholars
-a study in composition with the figure
-figure in action
-the background with the men seem to be from one man with many poses and a fake background
-depicts muscles from human body
-Italian patrons commissioned murals and large alterpieces for their local churches and smaller panel paintings for their houses and private chapels
The Four Crowned Martyrs
- According to tradition, these third century Christian martyrs were sculptors, exeuted for refusing to make an image of a pagan Roman god for Emperor Diocletian.
- Although the architectural setting is Gothic in style, Nanni's figures-with their solid bodies, heavy form-revealing togas, noble hair and beards, and portraitlike features- reveal his interest in ancient Roman sculpture, particularly portraiture.
-Standing as a testimony to this sculptor's role in the Florentine revival of interest in antiquity.
-They stand in a semicircle with feet and drapery protruding beyond the floor of the niche and into the viewer's space.
- The relief panel below the niche shows the four sculptors at work, embodied with a similar solid vigor.
-Donatello also received three commissions for the niches at Orsanmichele during the first quarter of the century.
- Although the architectural setting is Gothic in style, Nanni's figures-with their solid bodies, heavy form-revealing togas, noble hair and beards, and portraitlike features- reveal his interest in ancient Roman sculpture, particularly portraiture.
-Standing as a testimony to this sculptor's role in the Florentine revival of interest in antiquity.
-They stand in a semicircle with feet and drapery protruding beyond the floor of the niche and into the viewer's space.
- The relief panel below the niche shows the four sculptors at work, embodied with a similar solid vigor.
-Donatello also received three commissions for the niches at Orsanmichele during the first quarter of the century.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
The Architect...
- He was born in 1377 and died in 1446
- His father was involved for the original plans for the cathedral dome in 1367 and achieved what was considered impossible.
- Solved the "dome" problem
- Brunelleschi was originally a goldsmith turned sculptor architect
- Brunelleschi devised a system in which temporary wooden supports were cantilevered out from the drum
- After Brunelleschi's death, this crowning structure, made up of Roman architectural forms, was completed by another Forentine architect, Michelozzo di Bartolomeo. The final touch- a gilt bronzed ball-was added in 1468 until 1471.
- His father was involved for the original plans for the cathedral dome in 1367 and achieved what was considered impossible.
- Solved the "dome" problem
- Brunelleschi was originally a goldsmith turned sculptor architect
- Brunelleschi devised a system in which temporary wooden supports were cantilevered out from the drum
- After Brunelleschi's death, this crowning structure, made up of Roman architectural forms, was completed by another Forentine architect, Michelozzo di Bartolomeo. The final touch- a gilt bronzed ball-was added in 1468 until 1471.
Chapter 19
Dome of Florence: The separate, central-plan building in front of the facade is the Baptistery. Adjacent to the facade is a tall tower designed by Giotto in 1334.
The defining civic project of the early years of the fifteenth century was the completion of Florence Cathedral with a magnificent dome over a high alter. The construction of the cathedral had begun in the late thirteenth century and had continued intermittently during the fourteenth century. As early as 1367, builders had envisioned a very tall dome to span the huge interior space of the crossing, but they lacked the engineering know-how to construct it. When interest in completing the cathedral revived, around 1407, the technical solution was proposed by a young sculptor-turned-architect, Filippo Brunelleschi.
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