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.