Week 10

What types of art did you particularly enjoy studying during this quarter? Why were you drawn to these artistic periods? Were you intrigued by the visual details or the historical context for these artistic periods? Explain your reaction. Be sure to mention specific works of art (along with specific visual details and/or examples of historical context) in order to support your discussion.
I really enjoy the northern and southern renaissance. I enjoyed learning how a simple change of view in the portraits from side view to three quarter view changed the recording of emotion and depth. This continues on throughout the renaissance period and we are struck by how realistic the home scenes become.
In the images of Battista Sforza and Federico Da Montefeltro the man and woman in these frames are facing each other only allowing the viewer to have a flat view of the face. Their faces are very detailed and realistic in that if they were facing the viewer you would never know the destincive nose upon the gentlemans face. Their status is very evident exspecially embriodery on her sleeves, pearl necklace, and the fancy headress created in her hair. While the gentlemand is dressed richly in deap red and the frame speaks to their wealth in the world and to the was no expense spared.
Agnelo Doni and Maddalena Strozzi portraits were done by  Raphael. Their three quarter turn to the viewer does little to turn them entirely away from each other. The gentleman is dressed in the latest style. his deap red over shirt, darke apron and fine buttons. The woman sitting next to him like himself is painted to show all of their flaws along with fine riches. They are seated out of doors and the woman in the picture wears her finest jewels and richly ornimates on the blue and red dress.
Each of these portraites is an excellent example of how realism and point of view can be used to express wealth and status, however, they do not give us a more intimate view of home and family life. This i think is best expressed in the painting on the front of our text book Double Protrait of a Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife. It is not an exact replica of daily life but we begin to see people in their homes and we see additional forms of status being expressed.  Now it is about more than the elegant clothing and possibly realistic faces it is about how with wealth comes fine furnishings, animals with no real purpose, and ornimintation of the home.
Overall these portraits show us how people were precieved or wanted to be precieved. We see their status in society and how comfortablely they lived. I really enjoyed learning that there was more to the political and social adventations of these snapshots in time. I thought that it was interesting that changing something so small has how people are facing could add so much to the character of the work. The show how painting is changing continuously. I think that this is the time frame I enjoyed the most.

http://library.artstor.org.ezp.lib.cwu.edu/library/iv2.html?parent=true

Information obtained from Artstor archives.

http://books.google.com/books?id=AhQKAGt9sSsC&pg=PA45&lpg=PA45&dq=Erigone+clodion&source=bl&ots=u_nB_XA9QW&sig=5RY2lz67lEXypEQrgTcdesNPIfs&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5sROT6KEIc_MmAWcisWjCg&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Erigone%20clodion&f=false

http://www.art-directory.info/fine-art/claude-michel-clodion-1738/

This beautiful piece by artist, Claude Michel Clodion whom was born on December 20, 1738 is one of classical lines and renaissance ideals. A sculpture that is supposed to  represent the position of fall in the seasonal calendar. We come to understand this in the book written by Micheael Preston Worleys. It is entitled “Pierre Julien: sculptor to Queen Marie-Antoinette”

and was written in 2003. He makes the statement “Clodion’s Erigone exists in three verisions: terracottas in the Stockhom museum (1777) and the Petit palais, Paris, signed and dated 1783, as well as a life-size plaster version in the Chateau of Maisons-Laffitte., finished 1782.” He goes on to inform the reader that this in one of the four seasons and commonly known as autumn. It has reminders that hearken back to the renaissance piece the birth of Venus.

The symbolism of the shell in the background and the sea monsters in the upper corners of the piece bring the sea and its bounty as well as its dangers to life. This very classical beauty is carved from white marble in an alcove of a perfect archway. The architecture that this statue stands with is a minimalist work of art showing off our lovely Venus to her best light.  She seems to be holding back the potential disaster while offering the rewards to be had.

Anatomically correct and yet still a work of idealism. We seem to see a goddess that is both at rest while her face is showing worry and contemplation. The cloth that is being used to cover her innocence is fighting a losing battle. It appears tattered and tore as if the god’s demanded to know her intimately as she is both covered and yet revealing her underline form.

Clodion created this piece to be tucked away in “In a niche in the summer dining room of the Comte d'Arto”, according to the libraries information on this piece in their collection. I tried to find out more about this piece what I discovered is that this artist is very well known and traded. After his death on March 28^th, 1814 in Paris his use of rococo era while supported by the patronage of the King. This was a very interesting paper to write. I learned that Clodion worked in many satyrs in his work with beautiful nude female forms. He seems to be saying the female is delicate and should be treated as such. For without the strength of men she should be overcome by the evils of the world and cease to exist.

week 8 David

One of the most visually important differences between these two sculptures of David is in the face. Bernini’s David is a study of concentration. His is a stern and forceful personality with a face that shows how important the connection of his weapon to his enemy is. We see the look of near anger as he has already measured up his opponent and is now in the process of attack. Michelangelo’s David has the serene face of one that has nothing to worry about. Relaxed and at ease with his situation, perhaps we are seeing David before he even is aware that he will face the giant Goliath.

Another difference is in the attempt to give a sense of decency to the physical form of the two sculptures. Michelangelo’s David is seen in all of his glory. A youth with a healthy body beautiful in face and form. There is no attempt to cover up the genitalia of David here by his carver. Bernini’s David is blessed that a stray bit of cloth has come to his rescue to protect his dignity.

In addition there is the color of the marble used. Bernini has chosen a stone that seems dirty giving his statue more of the feeling of common men. This is no pristine youth he does not spend his time away from the sun and enjoying the pleasures of the baths. Michelangelo’s youth is nearly perfectly white as if to say that he is blameless and perfection before God. Obviously a vision of idealized perfection this David invites the stares of his admirers.

These differences combined with movement implied in Bernini’s statue are differences in how people in the baroque period were looking to make art and religion reflect the reality of life. Yes, artists still used idealized bodies and they still worked on items for the church however they also used movement among other things to get the viewer involved. Bernini’s David captures our attention and keeps it as we become invested in the unwinding of his body that will never come. In his work we are watching the past come to life.

Michelangelo’s David is a handsome youth created to stand on top of the cathedral. We admire the sheer size of the statue and the perfection of his smooth body. The very stance of this statue says I am in no hurry. He commands attention and it is hard as the viewer not to pay the attention demanded. The renaissance has been kind to this David as he is the perfect specimen of idealism.

Week 6 Protestant Reformation

As discussed during the lecture protestant reformation brought with it an ideal that no idol or image of the gods should be made. This caused the artist to turn to the everyday day lives of men and turning of the seasons to bring forth new portraits of daily life to the patron. We now see large scale paintings such as those created by Bruegel the Elder in his cycles of the Months for this blog let’s stick with "Return of The Hunters". Here there is no deliberate portrayal of God's person rather we are given the grand view of a snow covered landscape in which the humans are just actors in the scene. Here is God’s grandeur being harvested and consumed by men.

Instead of having iconic images of the bible displayed in churches and homes men began to fill their need for art with landscapes with men at work and play. In this painting we see the layout of a valley from the crest of a hill. We see hunters headed home with their bounty on their back with their faithful companions at hand. On the far left of the scene there are people tending to an outdoor fire where a pig is being prepared after being butchered and down in the valley there are children sledding the right hand lower corner. Our eyes are led by the row of trees down to the town and the lakes that have fishermen and skaters. The carriage is headed to the far side of town and from there we can see the road that if followed will led back into the wilderness. The birds in the sleeping trees, bright snow, and distance seem to say the road is long but the journey is worth it.

This painting also says a great deal about the gifts God has given without the iconic images that we have come to expect when Catholicism was the only religion. In that time period we would have seen images of the crucifixion, saints, the virgin, heaven, and the torments of hell. There are no angels. There is no hint that the worst is coming your way only a message that if you work hard you will be rewarded. The triumphant hunters seem to say we have persevered and have come away with the bounty due to us.

This is about the plight of man as well. It says if you live your life according to all that is right you will be blessed. Although this is winter it would seem from the animals and people involved in the landscape that this is a time of plenty. The stores have been laid in for the hard times and the harvesting that is done currently is for enjoyment and pleasure so long as we do not forget to be frugal the hard bite of winter can be overcome. We are seeing the lesson of moral behavior being connected with having all we need and being grateful for what we have. While leaving the idols and images of the goddesses/gods and saints behind.

Week 5 Mannerism Entombment and Madonna

For this blog I have chosen to analyze Pontormo’s Entombment and Parmigianino’s Madonna with the Long Neck. Both of these paintings express mannerism in the way that the people are manipulated to express human emotions.  The expression of the characters within the paintings along with little or no visual support gives the artist the ability to touch the soul of the viewer.

In Pontormo’s Entombment the face of Christ is smooth and at rest his hands are marked from the cross and yet the famed framed work is nowhere to be seen.  The weight of his body is supported by two men whom bear his weight in their faces that reveal shock and pain. The loss of her son is very evident on the face of Mother Mary. The surrounding figures show their sadness and concern for Mary as they attend to her and body of Christ. The presentation of his body to his mother is a strong scene of emotional distress. The only real support that we see given to the figures in the paintings come from the feet of the three figures in the foreground of the scene. In addition the two women shown with their backs to the viewer seem to say the dead are gone it is time to attend to the living.

While the Madonna with the Long Neck by Parmigianino shows a background that is set in a space that provides ground to stand on but little in the way of scenery. We see a column that does not belong and a representation of a man interrupted in reading from a scroll.  In the foreground we see Mary with the Christ child in her lap in a deep sleep. There is the look of adoration in the face of the young boy on the far left while gazing at the face of Mary. Her face shows a deep love for her son while she shows off the sleeping child. Mary’s body is out of proportion giving her the physical proportions of woman whom is larger on bottom than on top. We see a small boy in apparent contemplation. While the remaining children seem crammed in together and are looking out at the viewer and beyond.

Each of these paintings give the viewer the point of view of the artist and their impression of the scene they are painting. Human manners and the expression of the faces of the models cause the viewer to have a more visceral response to the paintings. In viewing the Entombment you can feel the loss of the son of Mary and the effect it had on his mother and her attendants. While in the Madonna we can see the adoration of the mother and the son. In addition we see the artists ability to create support where support does not exist. Mannerism is evident in how the artist manipulated the characters and their scenes to affect the emotional response of the viewer.

The female form in the high renaissance.

Realism is a bond that continues from the early renaissance to the high renaissance. In the early renaissance the paintings gain technologically in thin layers of oil paints and glazes which cause depth but they also start to have backgrounds that add space, form, line, texture, the start to become about men and who they are where they come from. We begin to chart our family’s heritage with a portrait of each important member back to the beginning of human history in the eyes of the church and men. In the High renaissance there is more than just a flat portrait of the world and side views of men. There is the gained knowledge of the actual physical appearance of the female form and men and women gain a three dimensional appearance. From a side view portrait to a three quarter pose the artists are becoming more exposed to the true carnal knowledge of who we are and they begin to have a greater understanding of the physical form. It is striking how much knowledge is gained about the human body and the visual aspect of the female form. Knowledge and experience begin to bring humans to a closer view of the world around them and the gestures of who we are.

We begin to see just how little the artists may have know about the female form in one of the works of Michelangelo’s Figures of Day and Night on the tomb of Giuliano De’Medici (pg. 648). Here the breasts of the female figure are hard round masses with disfigured nipples that have been carved over the pectoral muscle of a male form. This gives them the appearance of being more of a tumor than a soft round mass that many of us in current times know so well. While from this extremely muscular figure that is very obviously that of a male we may have to chalk that up to the inability to get the church to allow for female models, or perhaps as it has been hinted he was no so into the females. However considering that we as humans have always had issues with the exposure of the female body to the eyes of men this would be the most likely explanation. After all how many of us still have relations in the dark?

Also there are many other works with more physically corrected images of the female form is toward the end of this chapter shows in a truer form in the Allegory with Venus and Cupid. Here we see the soft gentle curves of their bodies of Venus and her lover in sensual contact. While in the background we are confronted with the turbulences of love in the wake of desire. This suggests that the artist Bronzino was more experienced with and knowledgeable about the female form.  His models seemed to have been more relaxed and willing to be portrayed in their most intimate moments of tenderness.  The female figure in this work is a more visually accurate representation.

Finally, while it can be argued that the use is grouping, depth of field, the golden triangle, and layers of paint that give paintings the realism of sculpture are the greatest advances of the renaissance period as a whole I think that the most important advancement may have been the realistic portrayal of the female form. For the first time in the history of art women’s bodies were no longer a representation based off of the male ideal and carved as perceived by the artist. Instead they were based off of real women whom were portrayed as either the goddess mother Mary or as the sensual temptation that is brought to mind by the goddess Venus. Soft yielding females in comparison with the solid masculine forms pieced together from the nude male forms with vague ideas of the forms that should be beneath the cloth that covers. 

Week 3 The Battle of the Nudes

Chapter 19 pages 608 + 609 The Battle of the Nudes

This work of art is all about the lines and strokes of the artists tools. This network of  lines are composed not just the outline form of the men and their surrounding but also the shading that is used to define the figures and create space within the work. Symbols tell us that the daily existence in this scene needs to be protected from outsiders. We have well developed men, grapes, corn, and weapons made from steel.  Every small stroke creates texture and detail from the looks of stress and anguish in the faces to the strain in the pose of the bodies. 

In the background we have a scene of plenty. The corn field and grape vines along with what appears to be olive trees speak of wealth and health in this place. Using the small overlapping strokes of the tool the artist creates the implication of darkness and depth. This depth of perception and extreme detail in the plants and trees of the background imply space and provide what appears as a good way to escape in the background. In and of itself it would be a print worth spending the time to enjoy based on the background alone. The shading and care taken in producing a nearly 3 dimensional landscape for our figures to wage their war against each other in allows for the eye to conceive a difference in this space before it. 

Speaking of this layered effect the three men occupying the middle ground of the work create an additional layer of space. Their battle is closest to the background and they work to have a very open stance. Two men working to overcome another serves to create a feeling that this is a battle of sides and the lines have been drawn. Their muscles are strained in the act of motion created by the lines of the arrow, ax and sword. You can see that each figure on either side of the central character in this group is prepared to bring about his death. These weapons serve also to move the eye back to the center of the engraving. The two figures to the left are slightly darker in shading than the one on the right and this also serves to give the impression that these men are closer to the background and the use of overlapping gives the figure on the left the appearance of being the furthest away from the viewer.

In the foreground of the work we see three groups of figures. On the left are two men in the struggle of hand to hand combat. The figure at the bottom of these two is serious about fighting for his very existence the other is serious about ending it. We see this in the grasp on the dagger by him and his attempt to wound his adversary first. They are darker shaded than the central characters framing them on one side. On the right hand side we are three men in battle with each other. The man laying upon the ground is being given a potentially mortal wound while his enemy is unaware of the fate awaiting him. Behind this man is another whose ax will soon cause his death. While not as dark as the figures on the left they are also given a shading that reminds the viewer these men are not the central characters in this play either.

At the center of the foreground space on this one dimensional surface is two men who are posed to begin a battle of swords and chains. Their bodies along with the right hand character in the center ground create the perfect triangle. Their swords point inward while their bodies are flexed away from each other. Faces tense bodies prepared we expect the movement to complete itself as we view it. All of the men and their weapons draw our eye through the work causing continuous movement within the work. 

This brings us back to the lines. All of the outlines of the forms, shading with small strokes, light and lack thereof, along with the detail of the work serve to keep the eye in constant motion. This engraving and the prints made from it relied on the small lines and the ink upon paper to bring this very moment to life. The struggle between life and death is played out by man. The grapes and corn in the print suggest a life of plenty being protected by the men of this place as they are willing to battle to the death. Working together line, shading, and movement create a 3 dimensional space that moves the viewer to expect action.