Michelangelo and the Mystique of the Artist

Excerpt from Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Artists:
Michelangelo Buonarotti of Florence, Painter, Sculptor and Architect (1475-1564)

note... most Italian Renaissance artists are known by their first names... Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael... though not always... many also go by nicknames, such as Botticelli (the little Barrel), Masaccio (clumsy Tom) or Masolino (little Tom). Seldom do historians refer to them by their last name, which usually just comes from their town of origin.

Daniele da Volterra, Portrait of Michelangelo, early 1500's

WHILE industrious and choice spirits, aided by the light afforded by Giotto and his followers, strove to show the world the talent with which their happy stars and well-balanced humours had endowed them, and endeavoured to attain to the height of knowledge by imitating the greatness of Nature in all things, the great Ruler of Heaven looked down and, seeing these vain and fruitless efforts and the presumptuous opinion of man more removed from truth than light from darkness, resolved, in order to rid him of these errors, to send to earth a genius universal in each art, to show single-handed the perfection of line and shadow, and who should give relief to his paintings, show a sound judgment in sculpture, and in architecture should render habitations convenient, safe, healthy, pleasant, well-proportioned, and enriched with various ornaments. He further endowed him with true moral philosophy and a sweet poetic spirit, so that the world should marvel at the singular eminence of his life and works and all his actions, seeming rather divine than earthy.

Michelangelo's painting of the Head of Holofernes. A self-portrait?

In the arts of painting, sculpture and architecture the Tuscans have always been among the best, and Florence was the city in Italy most worthy to be the birthplace of such a citizen to crown her perfections. Thus in 1474 the true and noble wife of Ludovico di Lionardo Buonarotti Simone, said to be of the ancient and noble family of the Counts of Canossa, gave birth to a son in the Casentino, under a lucky star. The son was born on Sunday, 6 March, at eight in the evening, and was called Michelangelo, as being of a divine nature, for Mercury and Venus were in the house of Jove at his birth, showing that his works of art would be stupendous.

Andreas Cellarius (c. 1596-1665)

Ludovico at the time was podesta at Chiusi and Caprese near the Sasso della Vernia, where St. Francis received the stigmata, in the diocese of Arezzo.

El Greco, St Francis Receiving the Stigmata, ~1590

On laying down his office Ludovico returned to Florence, to the villa of Settignano, three miles from the city, where he had a property inherited from his ancestors, a place full of rocks and quarries of macigno which are constantly worked by stonecutters and sculptors who are mostly natives. There Michelangelo was put to nurse with a stonecutter's wife.

Unknown Artist, Future Louis XIV with Wet Nurse, ~1640

Thus he once said jestingly to Vasari: "What good I have comes from the pure air of your native Arezzo, and also because I sucked in chisels and hammers with my nurse's milk."

What Michelangelo would do with the hammers and chisels he drank. Moses, ~1515

In time Ludovico had several children, and not being well off, he put them in the arts of wool and silk. Michelangelo, who was older, he placed with Maestro Francesco da Urbino to school. But the boy devoted all the time he could to drawing secretly, for which his father and seniors scolded and sometimes beat him, thinking that such things were base and unworthy of their noble house.

About this time Michelangelo made friends with Francesco Granacci, who though quite young had placed himself with Domenico del Ghirlandaio to learn painting. Granacci perceived Michelangelo's aptitude for design, and supplied him daily with drawings of Ghirlandaio, then reputed to be one of the best masters not only in Florence but throughout Italy.
Ghirlandaio (Michelangelo's Master) Old Man and His Grandson, ~ 1490

Michelangelo's desire to achieve thus increased daily, and Ludovico perceiving that he could not prevent the boy from studying design, resolved to derive some profit from it, and by the advice of friends put him with Domenico Ghirlandaio that he might learn the profession. At that time Michelangelo was fourteen years old. The author of his Life, written after 1550 when I first published this work, has stated that some through not knowing him have omitted things worthy of note and stated others that are not true, and in particular he taxes Domenico with envy, saying that he never assisted Michelangelo.

This is clearly false, as may be seen by a writing in the hand of Ludovico written in the books of Domenico now in the possession of his heirs. It runs thus: "1488. now this 1st April that I Ludovico di Lionardo Buonarroto apprentice my son Michelangelo to Domenico and David di Tommaso di Currado for the next three years, with the following agreements: that the said Michelangelo shall remain‚ with them that time to learn to paint and practise that art and shall do what they bid him, and they shall give him 24 florins in the three years, 6 in the first, 8 in the second and 10 in the third, in all 96 lire". Below this Ludovico has written: "Michelangelo has received 2 gold florins this 16th April, and I Ludovico di Lionardo, his father, have received 12 lire 12 soldi." I have copied this from the book to show that I have written the truth, and I do not think that there is anyone who has seen more of Michelangelo, who has been a greater and more faithful friend to him, or who can show a larger number of autograph letters than I. I have made this digression in the interests of truth, and let this suffice for the rest of the life. We will now return to the story.

Michelangelo's progress amazed Domenico when he saw him doing things beyond a boy, for he seemed likely not only to surpass the other pupils, of whom there were a great number, but would also frequently equal the master's own works.- One of the youths happened one day to have made a pen sketch of draped women by his master, Michelangelo took the sheet, and with a thicker pen made a new outline for one of the women, representing her as she should be and making her perfect. The difference between the two styles is as marvellous as the audacity of the youth whose good judgment led him to correct his master. The sheet is now in my possession, treasured as a relic. I had it from Granaccio with others of Michelangelo, to place in the Book of Designs. In 1550, when Giorgio showed it to Michelangelo at Rome, he recognised it with pleasure, and modestly said that he knew more of that art when a child than later on in life.

One day, while Domenico was engaged upon the large chapel of S. Maria Novella, Michelangelo drew the scaffolding and all the materials with some of the apprentices at work. When Domenico returned and saw it, he said, "He knows more than I do," and remained amazed at the new style produced by the judgment of so young a boy, which was equal to that of an artist of many years' experience. To this Michelangelo added study and diligence so that he made progress daily, as we see by a copy of a print engraved by Martin the German [Martin Schongauer], which brought him great renown

Schongauer, St Anthony Beaten by Devils, 1470's

When a copper engraving by Martin of St. Anthony beaten by the devils reached Florence, Michelangelo made a pen drawing and then painted it.

Michelangelo . The Torment of Saint Anthony, ca. 1487. Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas. more

To counterfeit some strange forms of devils he bought fish with curiously coloured scales, and showed such ability that he won much credit and reputation. He also made perfect copies of various old masks, making them look old with smoke and other things so that they could not be distinguished from the originals. He did this to obtain the originals in exchange for the copies, as he wanted the former and sought to surpass them, thereby acquiring a great name .

At this time Lorenzo de' Medici the Magnificent kept Bertoldo the sculptor in his garden on the piazza of S. Marco, not so much the custodian of the numerous collections of beautiful antiquities there, as because he wished to create a school of great painters and sculptors with Bertoldo as the head, who had been pupil of Donato [Donatello]. Although old and unable to work, he was a master of skill and repute, having diligently finished Donato's pulpits and cast many bronze reliefs of battles and other small things, so that no one then in Florence could surpass him in such things. Lorenzo, who loved painting and sculpture, was grieved that no famous sculptors lived in his day to equal the great painters who then flourished, and so he resolved to found a school.

Donatello, Magdalen in Penitence, 1400's

Accordingly he asked Domenico Ghirlandaio that if he had any youths in his shop inclined to this he should send them to the garden, where he would have them instructed so as to do honour to him and to the city. Domenico elected among others Michelangelo and Francesco Granaccio as being the best. At the garden they found that Torrigiano was modelling clay figures given to him by Bertoldo. Seeing that in addition the boy had opened its mouth and made the tongue and all the teeth, Lorenzo jestingly said, for he was a pleasant man, "You ought to know that the old never have all their teeth, and always lack some." Michelangelo, who loved and respected his patron, took him seriously in his simplicity, and so soon as he was gone he broke out a tooth and made the gum look as if it had fallen out. He anxiously awaited the return of Lorenzo, who, when he saw Michelangelo's simplicity and excellence, laughed more than once, and related the matter to his friends as a marvel. He returned to help and favour the youth, and sending for his father, Ludovico, asked him to allow him to treat the boy as his own son, a request that was readily granted. Accordingly Lorenzo gave Michelangelo. a room in the palace, and he ate regularly at table with the family and other nobles staying there. This was the year after he had gone to Domenico, when he was fifteen or sixteen, and he remained in the house for four years until after the death of Lorenzo in 1492. I hear that he received a provision at this time from Lorenzo and five ducats a month to help his father. The Magnificent also gave him a violet mantle, and conferred an office in the customs upon his father. Indeed all the youths in the garden received a greater or less salary from that noble citizen, as well as rewards.
Michelangelo cartoons himself cartooning God.

The sketch above accompanied a poem in a letter to a friend describing the discomforts of painting the Sistine Ceiling. You can find them also detailed in video in this experiment.

Here like a cat in a Lombardy sewer! Swelter and toil!
With my neck puffed out like a pigeon,
belly hanging like an empty sack,
beard pointing at the ceiling, and my brain
fallen backwards in my head!
Breastbone bulging like a harpy’s
and my face, from drips and droplets,
patterned like a marble pavement.
Ribs are poking in my guts; the only way
to counterweight my shoulders is to stick
my butt out. Don’t know where my feet are-
they’re just dancing by themselves!
In front I’ve sagged and stretched; behind,
my back is tauter than an archer’s bow!

The Sistine Chapel before cleaning

Sistine After Cleaning

Michelangelo painted the Ceiling from 1508-1512, the last judgement on the far wall in 15 . Several artists painted the story cycles on the walls prior to Michelangelo's work, including Perugino and Botticelli.

here's a good video that describes the experience of the sistine chapel.and here's a link to the Vatican Museum collections site, which has a good interactive Sistine Ceiling narrative.

Prior to 1700, most painters painted as part of decorative schemas for specific places, rather than making portable easel paintings. Prior to Michelangelo's work on the Sistine Ceiling, the chapel had painted decoration on the walls, tile work on the floors, and painted niches between the ceiling and walls. Michelangelo's task in creating a unified ceiling in a space with much existing decoration, some architectural molding work, and a curved vault awes me more the more I know.


Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel Ceiling, 1508-1512

plan of the iconography of the ceiling

And a bunch of details




Barbara Kruger, You invest in the divinity of the Masterpiece, 1982

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Michelangelo, The Delphic Sibyl (or prophet), 1510, fresco. please note that Michelangelo painted all elements you can see in this image -- there is no sculpture or 3-d molding.

one of many ignudi, male nudes in athletic, twisted poses, who flank the main panels.

see many more details from the framing elements of the sistine ceiling here.
see many details of the central panels, as well as the last judgment wall fresco, here.

The Couple Made of Clay, for Tuesday.

Read this passage below from Genesis in the Bible carefully for class Tuesday. I included many images to interest you and invite your thinking as you read. I noted "Key Work" on those works that are listed as such on the syllabus, and included a second picture of key works at the bottom of this entry, to make it easier to access those.

As you read make notes in your notebook about moments in the text where you can see specific images from the story that you could imagine as artworks. In other words: this is a highly visual tale. Describe a few points where the reading gives you a visual image that you could imagine making into a work of art of your own, or where you understand why artists would be inspired to make work about that passage.

Albrecht Dürer, Adam and Eve, 1504

Note: I've included the full text of the reading here, so we can look at it projected together.

Links to ways to enhance the reading:
1. Listen to it on youtube, Chapters 1 & 2 here, read by Alexander Scourby (together with lowbrow images) Chapter 3, same reader, no pictures here Chapter 4, here
2. you could also read it on youtube together with highbrow paintings: Chapter 1 here. Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4

plus, here are some funny, strange, unexpected links about adam and eve:
from The Adventures of Mark Twain.
from an inexplicable ad for insurance. Plus a link that begins to explain it, but not its offensiveness.
here, you can look inside R. Crumb's illustrated Genesis.
John Houston's Bible, the trailer.
and etc.

The Book of Genesis
King James Version

The title page to the 1611 first edition of the Authorized Version Bible by Cornelius Boel shows the Apostles Peter and Paul seated centrally above the central text, which is flanked by Moses and Aaron. In the four corners sit Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, authors of the four gospels, with their symbolic animals. The rest of the Apostles stand around Peter and Paul. (from Wikipedia)

001:001 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Hieronymous Bosch, Creation of Earth, outer doors of of The Garden of Earthly Delights Triptych, 1504 (715) Key Work

001:002 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

God the Geometer, Bible Moralisé of Blanche of Castile, 1220 ce, 10" x 13" Gothic (579)Key Work

001:003 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

001:004 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

Michelangelo, God divided the light from the darkness, Sistine Chapel Ceiling, 1508-1512

001:005 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

001:006 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

Michelangelo, God divided the waters from Firmament, Sistine Chapel Ceiling, 1508-1512

001:007 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the
firmament: and it was so.

001:008 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

001:009 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

001:010 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

001:011 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

001:012 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

001:013 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

MICHELANGELO. Creation of the Sun and Moon, Sistine Chapel. 1508-1512. Fresco. Sistine Chapel, the Vatican, Rome.

001:014 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

001:015 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

001:016 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

001:017 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

001:018 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

001:019 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

001:020 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

Melchior d’Hondecoeter, The Menagerie, 1600's

001:021 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

001:022 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

001:023 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

001:024 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

Edward Hicks, Noah's Ark, 1800's (you can go see a nice Hicks painting similar to this one at Reynolda house.)

001:025 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

001:026 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Hieronymous Bosch, Eden, from left panel of The Garden of Earthly Delights Triptych, 1504 (715) Key Work

001:027 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

001:028 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

001:029 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

001:030 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

001:031 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

002:001 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

002:002 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

Giovanni di Paolo, The Creation of the World and the Expulsion from Paradise, 1445

002:003 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

002:004 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,

002:005 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.

002:006 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

002:007 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Wenzel Peter(Karlsbad 1745 - Rome 1829), Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, ~1830

002:008 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

002:009 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Thomas Cole, The Garden of Eden, 1828

002:010 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.

002:011 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;

Girona Tapestry or Creation Tapestry, wool and linen, ~12' x 15'5", 1075, Spain (526) KEY WORK

002:012 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.

002:013 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.

002:014 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

002:015 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

002:016 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

002:017 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Hieronymous Bosch, Tree of Knowledge from left panel of The Garden of Earthly Delights Triptych, 1504

002:018 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

002:019 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

Adam Naming the Animals, early 5th century, from a diptych, ivory. Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence

002:020 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

002:021 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

002:022 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

002:023 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

William Blake, The Creation of Eve, illustration for BOOK IV of Paradise Lost, pen and watercolour on paper, 1808.

002:024 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

002:025 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

003:001 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

003:002 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

Wiligelmus, Creation and Fall, 1110 Romanesque art, Italy, (537)KEY WORK

003:003 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.


003:004 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

003:005 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Hugo van der Goes, The Fall of Adam and Eve, c.1470

003:006 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and

gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Michelangelo, Adam and Eve in the Garden with the Serpent, c. 1508-1512

003:007 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

Lucas Cranach, Adam and Eve, 1528

003:008 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

003:009 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

003:010 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

003:011 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

003:012 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

Passing the Blame. Bishop Bernward, Adam and Eve Cast out, ~1000 ce Key Work, not it textbook.

003:013 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

003:014 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

003:015 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

003:016 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

Hieronymous Bosch, Garden of Earthly Delights Triptych, Early Netherlandish Painting, 1502, ~7' x 12'9"

003:017 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

003:018 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

003:019 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

003:020 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

003:021 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

003:022 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

003:023 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

003:024 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

004:001 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.

004:002 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

004:003 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.

004:004 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

004:005 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

004:006 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

004:007 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

004:008 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

Titian, Cain and Abel, 1570

004:009 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?

004:010 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.

004:011 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;

004:012 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.

004:013 And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear.

004:014 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.

004:015 And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

004:016 And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.

004:017 And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.

004:018 And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech.

004:019 And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.

004:020 And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle.

004:021 And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.

004:022 And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah.

004:023 And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.

004:024 If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.

004:025 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.

004:026 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.

Girona Tapestry or Creation Tapestry, wool and linen, ~12' x 15'5", 1075, Spain (526) KEY WORK

Passing the Blame. Bishop Bernward, Adam and Eve Cast out, ~1000 ce Key Work, not it textbook.

Wiligelmus, Creation and Fall, 1110 Romanesque art, Italy, (537)KEY WORK

God the Geometer, Bible Moralisé of Blanche of Castile, 1220 ce, 10" x 13" Gothic (579)Key Work

Hieronymous Bosch, Garden of Earthly Delights Triptych, Early Netherlandish Painting, 1502, ~7' x 12'9"

Hieronymous Bosch, Eden, from left panel of The Garden of Earthly Delights Triptych, 1504 (715) Key Work


Hieronymous Bosch, Creation of Earth, outer doors of of The Garden of Earthly Delights Triptych, 1504 (715) Key Work

G is for Gothic

Goth


American Gothic


Grant Wood, American Gothic, 1930

Gothic


Gothic Revival

Ralph Adams Cram, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Winston-Salem, 1928

Gothic


Gothic
Goth·ic (gthk)

adj.

1.

a. Of or relating to the Goths or their language.

b. Germanic; Teutonic.

2. Of or relating to the Middle Ages; medieval.

3.

a. Of or relating to an architectural style prevalent in western Europe from the 12th through the 15th century and characterized by pointed arches, rib vaulting, and a developing emphasis on verticality and the impression of height.

b. Of or relating to an architectural style derived from medieval Gothic.

4. Of or relating to painting, sculpture, or other art forms prevalent in northern Europe from the 12th through the 15th century.

5. often gothic Of or relating to a style of fiction that emphasizes the grotesque, mysterious, and desolate.

6. gothic Barbarous; crude.

Barbarous; crude? Gothic Painting (1280-1515)

Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi, Annunciation and Two Saints, 1333
Tempera on wood, 6'4" x 10' Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence (625)










Lippo Memmi, Madonna of the Recommended, 1350s
Fresco, Chapel of the Corporal, Duomo, Orvieto

Gothic Painting

Theodoric (attributed), St. Luke, 1362, 'soft style' Gothic painting, tempera and gold leaf on panel. (643)

Gothic Painting

Artist Unknown, Wilton Diptych , egg tempera and gilding on panel, 1'10" x 11", 1396(650)

An unknown artist painted this Diptych as a portable altarpiece for King Richard II. The first side shows John the Baptist and Saints presenting Richard to the Virgin, Child, and angels.

Dutch Renaissance Painting

Rogier Van der Weyden, Descent from the Cross, 1435, 7'2"x8'7"(672)










Gothic Painting

Lucas Cranach, Salome with the head of john the baptist, 1532 (731)


Lucas Cranach, Judith Victorious, c. 1530

Lucas Cranach, Judith Victorious, c. 1530

Gothic Painting

Jan Van Eyck, Arnolfini Wedding Portrait, 1434 (668)

Midterm Exam

Art History 12-18th centuries
The time for me to evaluate your learning has nearly arrived. Next Monday, bring your notebook, full of careful responses to daily assignments and your meticulously crafted take-home piece to class, ready to identify five key works as to artist, title, date, location (or period) and significance.
I will collect notebooks, essays, id's, and spend a week evaluating them. Your notebook comprises 25% of your final grade, your midterm 25%. ID's are 25% of your midterm grade. Them's the facts. Here's the assignment for the take-home portion.

ARH 102-01 &02
Midterm Exam Assignment
First Paper: 25% of your final grade Due: Feb 4, 2010

Loren Munk, Artists_Target_Artists, (2007) oil on linen, 10 x 12 inches
Instructions: Write a 3-5 page paper (or its equivalent in your Journal). You must write very legibly or type, editing with great care and attention to the craft, style, and sophistication of your writing in regards to both form and content. Write a piece that you would like to read, and that you would like to share with people you admire and respect.

Please.
• I do not wish to read writing that you did not wish to write. Challenge yourself to find a topic, a style, a question, an angle, a comparison, a connection, a bit of love … that makes you want to make work worth working on and worth reading.

• You may work in your notebook, on your blog, on your computer. Choose the form that fits the content, and push it to a high degree of excellence.

•You may write a traditional essay. If you do, follow the rules of traditional essays, including organizing your ideas around a thesis and arranging paragraphs around solidly stated topics. –OR— you may choose to write in a different way: graph, chart, map, story, graphic novel, documentary video, or other carefully written and intelligently designed response to the images and texts of the class.

•DESCRIBE the artworks that you analyze. Tell me what people are doing, what expressions you see, what compositional choices the artist made. How does contrast (or color, repetition, line, movement…) serve meaning?

Grading:
25% close description and analysis of the pertinent question
25% close description and analysis of the artworks
25% engagement with written materials from class
25% devoted attention to craft of expressing ideas.



Option One: The Metacognitive Option
Reflect in a coherent way on the process you use when approaching a work of visual art.
How do you read a painting? (or sculpture, building, or collection of works) What do you look for or focus on? What questions do you ask or expect to be answered? (I’ve pointed you to traditional ones online (especially here: http://www.wesleyan.edu/writing/workshop/departments/arha.html), and asked you to think about and react to many more theoretical, philosophical, playful and comparative ones in class.
Here are some questions to guide your pre-writing:
• How do you understand the work? Do you judge the work, or compare it to others?
How do you determine what is important? How do you determine meaning?
Do you draw on outside sources for clarity or explanation?
• How did you develop your process? You may discuss your education and experiences. (Weirdly enough, I have no problem with the word “I” appearing in a piece of formal writing, short word as it is.)

Choose about 3 works that we have considered in class, and walk us through the process of looking at them and reading them. How did they challenge, engage, captivate, frustrate, startle you or make you think? Demonstrate that you have read the texts associated with the narratives told in these artworks. You may do this by quoting the story and analyzing the passage you quote, by showing in your description that you have familiarized yourself with the story, or by analyzing differences in the ways the artists make different choices with the stories at hand.

This is a personal essay, but try to unravel the personal from the self-indulgent. Work here to allow the personal to unveil something about you, but also to offer something universal to your intelligent audience, and very importantly, to offer understanding of the works themselves.

Option 2: how do pictures narrate stories?
Choose one of the stories we have dealt with in class: William the Conqueror, a scene from the life of Jesus, the monk illuminating a manuscript in the monastery, Adam and Eve, Michelangelo, the Sistine Ceiling. Reread the associated texts as you reread the associated pictures. Describe the way three different images help you to understand the text anew. Compare and contrast the way the artists tell stories differently through the use of different style, tone, or detail, or through the moment in the story they focus on, the characters or relationships they focus on. Are the artists telling the same story, or are they telling a story of their own? What elements of their own time, biography, culture, geography, etc, have they used to color the tale?

Option 3: Learn from Loren Munk

Loren Munk, Historic Fields and Lines…(Study), (2007) oil on linen, 10 x 12 inches

Learn from Loren Munk. His exuberantly playful, meticulously crafted, approximately three foot by three foot oil paintings on canvas map the timeline of the history of art, the dualistic nature of aesthetics, the relationship between artist and critic, for example. How could you demonstrate the web of relationships in regarding a certain artwork, narrative, history? Warning: I expect you to work as hard as Loren Munk.

Option 4: Learn from Loren Monk's alter ego, James Kalm, who creates film and writing documentation of his 'art interventions' I will call them. Perform and create a record of your own intervention on a work from this class. Make sure that your work deals with ideas from the class and that you are showing what you have learned about the art from 100-1500 ce.

Option 5: Learn from Dinty Moore's "Mr. Plimpton's Revenge." Create your own essay in google maps or another unexpected technology documenting the provenance of a painting, the travels of Caravaggio, the way images of Christ have changed since the first known…. Find a way to tell a story that we’ve considered geographically. Is the garden of eden on google maps? I’m gonna go look.


Garden of Eden, IL 60954

Option6: Generate your own way to show me that you have been and continue to work closely with the materials from class. Modify and Flesh these out on your own.

* Respond to a work of art personally, theoretically, creatively... demonstrating that you have absorbed ideas and insights from class discussion, readings, and your own close looking. follow the directives at the top as appropriate.

* Compare and contrast and image from Renaissance and Byzantine periods. (or insert other periods.)

* Are theological images of Jesus inevitably anachronistic? Elaborate on the differences btw the historical and religious Jesus in image and text.

* Choose a work of art that we’ve studied this term and create a separate narrative based on the artwork, demonstrating that you’ve absorbed material from the class, text, and image.


What stories does this tell? Michelangelo's Noah.

* Investigate the history of the Sistine chapel in books, academic journals, and possibly online. Evaluate the pros and cons of the restoration of the Sistine chapel Ceiling. You must look at writings by James Beck, among other voices (and be careful, he’s very convincing). Be sure to comment on Vasari’s original description of the chapel after reading it carefully.

* Choose a work of art. Describe the representation of the story (Adam and Eve, for example). Take the position either of someone from the church criticizing the artists representation of the work, based on its divergence from the original story, or that you speak for the artist and praise the interpretation

• Video interview with random people about a particular work. note: prepare your interiew questions carefully so that you don't get hollow answers. edit your video carefully so that each moment has depth of substance to demonstrate that you value your viewers' time.

• Using film or animation to spin out the scene of the painting over time…. Using the style of the work you choose to create a scene that precedes or follows the painted scene in an informative or otherwise compelling way.

• Recreate a painting as a photomosaic or collage using forms and colors taken from other sources. refuse to use any materials that dont FIT the ideas, contexts, content that you seek to explain.

• Strip out the essential ideas behind a work of art, explore and explain them in writing, and reposition them in a contemporary context. What do you learn about the work and its context and the world you live in?

• Investigate the possibilities of negative space, empty space, infinite space in 2-3 paintings. look to the readings and writings to relate the formal investigations to the stories or histories.

• Create a graphic novel where characters travel between different dimensions where the style of the place looks like the Byzantine style, for example, with the stiff, codified hand gestures, wooden drapery, plate-like halos, etc. What would happen here. how would characters act? how does the government work, the relationships between people, etc. Describe what you've learned about the period by imitating its art.

• Make a piece in the style of a period of art we've studied. Either in an essay, letter, or other written form, dig into the style, how you made decisions, what process you used, and what you came to understand about that style and its roots in its own time or relevance for our time, for example.

• Make a journal in the character of an artist that we’ve studied with sketches, contracts, ideas, plans, biographic information, letters, self-critiques, etc. Research the artist in the library, in journals at jstor, in academic sites online prior to creating this work.

Byzantine class

Almanac:
you might enjoy this blog that demonstrates art historical and other unexpected trends in fashion design.
on this day (1/25) in 1961 - Walt Disney's 101 Dalmations released
ub 1964, Beatles 1st US #1, I Want to Hold your Hand

Berlinghiero, Madonna and Child,

from the Web Gallery of Art, a definition of Byzantine art:

The art of the Byzantine Empire, which had its capital in Constantinople (Byzantium), from the 5th century to the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453. Based largely on Roman and Greek art, Byzantine art also absorbed a wide of influences, notable from Syria and Egypt. Byzantine art was essentially a spiritual and religious art, its forms highly stylized, hieratic and unchanging (central images were thought to derive from original portraits). It also served to glorify the emperor. Among its most distinctive products were icons, mosaics, manuscript illuminations, and work in precious metals. The strong influence of the Byzantine style on medieval Italian painting can be seen in the works of Cimabue, Duccio, and Giotto.

I recommend that you look at this more detailed definition

The Father of Art History, Giorgio Vasari, of whom you have not heard the last, thought little of Byzantine art, or the 'Greek Manner.' By Greek, he meant not the art of classical greece, which he admired greatly, but of recent Greek Empire, that is, the Byzantine Empire and Byzantine style, where such strict adherence to tradition prevailed that it seemed art could not move in any new direction. He saw evidence that this manner might disappear in the Italian painter of Icons Cimabue, about whom he wrote:

CIMABUE (circa 1240-circa 1302)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists

THE GREAT FLOOD of misfortunes, by which poor Italy had been afflicted and overwhelmed, had not only reduced to ruins all buildings of note throughout the land, but what was of far more importance, had caused an utter lack of the very artists themselves. At this time, when the supply seemed entirely exhausted, in the year 1240, by the will of God, there was born in the city of Florence, Giovanni, surnamed Cimabue, of the noble family of that name, who was to shed the first light on the art of painting. He, as he grew, being judged by his father and others to possess a fine acute intellect, was sent to Santa Maria Novella to be instructed in letters by a relative of his who taught grammar to the novices of that convent.

But instead of attending to his lessons, Cimabue spent all the day in painting on his books and papers,men, horses, houses, and such things. To this natural inclination fortune was favorable, for certain painters of Greece, who had been summoned by the rulers of Florence to restore the almost forgotten art of painting in the city, began at this time to work in the chapel of the Gondi in Santa Maria Novella; and Cimabue would often escape from school and stand all day watching them, until his father and the painters themselves judging that he was apt for painting, he was placed under their instruction. Nature, however, aided by constant practice, enabled him greatly to surpass both in design and coloring the masters who had taught him. For they, never caring to advance in their art, did everything not in the good manner of ancient Greece, but after the rude manner of those times

.

But in the shepherd-turned-painter Giotto di Bondone, Vasari found the first artist to shake off the 'rude Greek Manner' (the Byzantine style.) He writes:

GIOTTO (1267-1337)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists

Giotto, Lamentation, 1304, Scrovegni Chapel (Arena Chapel) (good pictures here)

NOW IN THE YEAR 1276, in the country of Florence, about fourteen miles from the city, in the village of Vespignano, there was born to a simple peasant named Bondone a son, to whom he gave the name of Giotto, and whom he brought up according to his station. And when he had reached the age of ten years, showing in all his ways though still childish an extraordinary vivacity and quickness of mind, which made him beloved not only by his father but by all who knew him, Bondone gave him the care of some sheep. And he leading them for pasture, now to one spot and now to another,was constantly driven by his natural inclination to draw on the stones or the ground some object in nature, or something that came into his mind. One day Cimabue, going on business from Florence to Vespignano, found Giotto, while his sheep were feeding, drawing a sheep from nature upon a smooth and solid rock with a pointed stone, having never learnt from any one but nature. Cimabue, marvelling at him, stopped and asked him if he would go and be with him. And the boy answered that if his father were content he would gladly go. Then Cimabue asked Bondone for him, and he gave him up to him, and was content that he should take him to Florence.

There in a little time, by the aid of nature and the teaching of Cimabue, the boy not only equalled his master, but freed himself from the rude manner ofthe Greeks, and brought back to life the true art of painting, introducing the drawing from nature of living persons, which had not been practised for two hundred years; or at least if some had tried it, they had not succeeded very happily. Giotto painted among others, as may be seen to this day in the chapel of the Podestà's Palace at Florence, Dante Alighieri, his contemporary and great friend, and no less famous a poet than Giotto was a painter.

More Definitions
So, now you have a good historical definition of Byzantine, from the top. Then you have a good impression of the Renaissance opinion of the Byzantine Period from Vasari's point of view. Make sure you feel comfortable restating those in a phrase or two.

now, more to opacify on the road to perfect clarity.

A different definition governs the use of byzantine in popular conversation, that is, complicated to the point of deceptive or at least confusing. You can see how it would come out of the Renaissance distaste for Byzantine art.

byzantine
a. Of, relating to, or characterized by intrigue; scheming or devious: "a fine hand for Byzantine deals and cozy arrangements" (New York).
b. Highly complicated; intricate and involved: a bill to simplify the byzantine tax structure.

Then, some terms important to understanding Byzantine Art.

Words associated with the Byzantine that you should know.
Icon:
a. An image; a representation.
b. A representation or picture of a sacred or sanctified Christian personage, traditionally used and venerated in the Eastern Church.

Iconography
a. Pictorial illustration of a subject.
b. The collected representations illustrating a subject.

Iconoclasm

1. the practice of destroying images, especially those created for religious veneration.
2. the practice of opposing cherished beliefs or traditional institutions as being founded on error or superstition.
3. the doctrines underlying these practices. — iconoclast, n. — iconoclastic, adj.

Orthodoxy
the condition, quality, or practice of conforming, especially in religious belief.

Then, let's get even more confusing, for matters of taste prove fickle. By the late 19th century, the Byzantine Art had swung back into favor, not with all but with many. So much so that William Butler Yeats used the style to express Beauty, Permanence, Imagination, an Ideal of Art, Monument to unageing intellect in his poem "Sailing to Byzantium."

Ceiling of the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna

Sailing to Byzantium
That is no country for old men. The young
In one another's arms, birds in the trees
- Those dying generations - at their song,
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,
Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long
Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
Monuments of unageing intellect.

An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
For every tatter in its mortal dress,
Nor is there singing school but studying
Monuments of its own magnificence;
And therefore I have sailed the seas and come
To the holy city of Byzantium.

Baptism of Christ Mosaic, Arian Monastery, Ravenna, 550 ce

O sages standing in God's holy fire
As in the gold mosaic of a wall,
Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre,
And be the singing-masters of my soul.
Consume my heart away; sick with desire
And fastened to a dying animal
It knows not what it is; and gather me
Into the artifice of eternity.

Dome Mosaic, Detail, Battistero Neoniano (Orthodox Baptistery), Ravenna, 451-75 ce

Once out of nature I shall never take
My bodily form from any natural thing,
But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make
Of hammered gold and gold enamelling
To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;
Or set upon a golden bough to sing
To lords and ladies of Byzantium
Of what is past, or passing, or to come.

William Butler Yeats, 1928
here's a straightforward page for help with the poem, but make sure you draw your own conclusions, too.
and, just for good measure, another baptism Mosaic.


This one is from Daphni, Greece, 11th c.

And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, He took Peter and John and James, and went into a mountain to pray. And as He prayed, the fashion of His countenance was altered, and His raiment was white and glistening. And, behold, there talked with Him two men, which were Moses and Elias: Who appeared in glory, and spake of His decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem. But Peter and they that were with Him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with Him. And it came to pass, as they departed from Him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for Moses, and one for Elias, for he knew not what he said. While he thus spoke, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them; and they feared as they entered into the cloud . And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is My beloved Son: hear Him" (KJV, Luke 9:28-35).


Works from the text:

Virgin and Child with Saints and Angels, St Catherine's Monastery, Turkey, 550


Empress Theodora and her Attendants, Apse Mosaic, San Vitale, Ravenna, 550 ce. (399)




Theodora's complement, Justinian and his Retinue, San Vitale


Transfiguration of Christ, St Catherine's Monastery, Egypt, 550 ce, (401)


Rossano Gospels, Manuscript Illumination, Byzantine, 590 ce


Theophanes the Greek, Transfiguration, 1403


Andy Warhol, Marilyn Diptych, detail, 1962, silkscreen on canvas


St. John Chrysostom
Russian orthodox church in Pennsylvania that Andy Warhol's family attended.

St Sava Serbian Eastern Orthodox Church NYC

Sailing to Byzantium

Almanac:
you might enjoy this blog that demonstrates art historical and other unexpected trends in fashion design.
on this day (1/25) in 1961 - Walt Disney's 101 Dalmations released
ub 1964, Beatles 1st US #1, I Want to Hold your Hand

Berlinghiero, Madonna and Child,

from the Web Gallery of Art, a definition of Byzantine art:

The art of the Byzantine Empire, which had its capital in Constantinople (Byzantium), from the 5th century to the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453. Based largely on Roman and Greek art, Byzantine art also absorbed a wide of influences, notable from Syria and Egypt. Byzantine art was essentially a spiritual and religious art, its forms highly stylized, hieratic and unchanging (central images were thought to derive from original portraits). It also served to glorify the emperor. Among its most distinctive products were icons, mosaics, manuscript illuminations, and work in precious metals. The strong influence of the Byzantine style on medieval Italian painting can be seen in the works of Cimabue, Duccio, and Giotto.

I recommend that you look at this more detailed definition

The Father of Art History, Giorgio Vasari, of whom you have not heard the last, thought little of Byzantine art, or the 'Greek Manner.' By Greek, he meant not the art of classical greece, which he admired greatly, but of recent Greek Empire, that is, the Byzantine Empire and Byzantine style, where such strict adherence to tradition prevailed that it seemed art could not move in any new direction. He saw evidence that this manner might disappear in the Italian painter of Icons Cimabue, about whom he wrote:

CIMABUE (circa 1240-circa 1302)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists

THE GREAT FLOOD of misfortunes, by which poor Italy had been afflicted and overwhelmed, had not only reduced to ruins all buildings of note throughout the land, but what was of far more importance, had caused an utter lack of the very artists themselves. At this time, when the supply seemed entirely exhausted, in the year 1240, by the will of God, there was born in the city of Florence, Giovanni, surnamed Cimabue, of the noble family of that name, who was to shed the first light on the art of painting. He, as he grew, being judged by his father and others to possess a fine acute intellect, was sent to Santa Maria Novella to be instructed in letters by a relative of his who taught grammar to the novices of that convent.

But instead of attending to his lessons, Cimabue spent all the day in painting on his books and papers,men, horses, houses, and such things. To this natural inclination fortune was favorable, for certain painters of Greece, who had been summoned by the rulers of Florence to restore the almost forgotten art of painting in the city, began at this time to work in the chapel of the Gondi in Santa Maria Novella; and Cimabue would often escape from school and stand all day watching them, until his father and the painters themselves judging that he was apt for painting, he was placed under their instruction. Nature, however, aided by constant practice, enabled him greatly to surpass both in design and coloring the masters who had taught him. For they, never caring to advance in their art, did everything not in the good manner of ancient Greece, but after the rude manner of those times

.

Cimabue, Crucifixion, Santa Croce, Florence, Vasari and others cited this crucifixion as an example for Cimabue's innovation: for breaking away from the Byzantine style and achieving a powerful new connection to Christ's humanity and emotion. Time damaged the piece badly, and a flood invaded Santa Croce in 1966 and removed much of the paint. Above you see the work after restoration, below before.

But in the shepherd-turned-painter Giotto di Bondone, Vasari found the first artist to shake off the 'rude Greek Manner' (the Byzantine style.) He writes:

GIOTTO (1267-1337)
Vasari's Lives of the Artists

Giotto, Lamentation, 1304, Scrovegni Chapel (Arena Chapel) (good pictures here)

NOW IN THE YEAR 1276, in the country of Florence, about fourteen miles from the city, in the village of Vespignano, there was born to a simple peasant named Bondone a son, to whom he gave the name of Giotto, and whom he brought up according to his station. And when he had reached the age of ten years, showing in all his ways though still childish an extraordinary vivacity and quickness of mind, which made him beloved not only by his father but by all who knew him, Bondone gave him the care of some sheep. And he leading them for pasture, now to one spot and now to another,was constantly driven by his natural inclination to draw on the stones or the ground some object in nature, or something that came into his mind. One day Cimabue, going on business from Florence to Vespignano, found Giotto, while his sheep were feeding, drawing a sheep from nature upon a smooth and solid rock with a pointed stone, having never learnt from any one but nature. Cimabue, marvelling at him, stopped and asked him if he would go and be with him. And the boy answered that if his father were content he would gladly go. Then Cimabue asked Bondone for him, and he gave him up to him, and was content that he should take him to Florence.

There in a little time, by the aid of nature and the teaching of Cimabue, the boy not only equalled his master, but freed himself from the rude manner ofthe Greeks, and brought back to life the true art of painting, introducing the drawing from nature of living persons, which had not been practised for two hundred years; or at least if some had tried it, they had not succeeded very happily. Giotto painted among others, as may be seen to this day in the chapel of the Podestà's Palace at Florence, Dante Alighieri, his contemporary and great friend, and no less famous a poet than Giotto was a painter.

More Definitions
So, now you have a good historical definition of Byzantine, from the top. Then you have a good impression of the Renaissance opinion of the Byzantine Period from Vasari's point of view. Make sure you feel comfortable restating those in a phrase or two.

now, more to opacify on the road to perfect clarity.

A different definition governs the use of byzantine in popular conversation, that is, complicated to the point of deceptive or at least confusing. You can see how it would come out of the Renaissance distaste for Byzantine art.

byzantine
a. Of, relating to, or characterized by intrigue; scheming or devious: "a fine hand for Byzantine deals and cozy arrangements" (New York).
b. Highly complicated; intricate and involved: a bill to simplify the byzantine tax structure.

Then, some terms important to understanding Byzantine Art.

Words associated with the Byzantine that you should know.
Icon:
a. An image; a representation.
b. A representation or picture of a sacred or sanctified Christian personage, traditionally used and venerated in the Eastern Church.

Iconography
a. Pictorial illustration of a subject.
b. The collected representations illustrating a subject.

Iconoclasm

1. the practice of destroying images, especially those created for religious veneration.
2. the practice of opposing cherished beliefs or traditional institutions as being founded on error or superstition.
3. the doctrines underlying these practices. — iconoclast, n. — iconoclastic, adj.

Orthodoxy
the condition, quality, or practice of conforming, especially in religious belief.

Then, let's get even more confusing, for matters of taste prove fickle. By the late 19th century, the Byzantine Art had swung back into favor, not with all but with many. So much so that William Butler Yeats used the style to express Beauty, Permanence, Imagination, an Ideal of Art, Monument to unageing intellect in his poem "Sailing to Byzantium."

Ceiling of the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna

Sailing to Byzantium
That is no country for old men. The young
In one another's arms, birds in the trees
- Those dying generations - at their song,
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,
Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long
Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
Monuments of unageing intellect.

An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
For every tatter in its mortal dress,
Nor is there singing school but studying
Monuments of its own magnificence;
And therefore I have sailed the seas and come
To the holy city of Byzantium.

Baptism of Christ Mosaic, Arian Monastery, Ravenna, 550 ce

O sages standing in God's holy fire
As in the gold mosaic of a wall,
Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre,
And be the singing-masters of my soul.
Consume my heart away; sick with desire
And fastened to a dying animal
It knows not what it is; and gather me
Into the artifice of eternity.

Dome Mosaic, Detail, Battistero Neoniano (Orthodox Baptistery), Ravenna, 451-75 ce

Once out of nature I shall never take
My bodily form from any natural thing,
But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make
Of hammered gold and gold enamelling
To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;
Or set upon a golden bough to sing
To lords and ladies of Byzantium
Of what is past, or passing, or to come.

William Butler Yeats, 1928
here's a straightforward page for help with the poem, but make sure you draw your own conclusions, too.
and, just for good measure, another baptism Mosaic.


This one is from Daphni, Greece, 11th c.

And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, He took Peter and John and James, and went into a mountain to pray. And as He prayed, the fashion of His countenance was altered, and His raiment was white and glistening. And, behold, there talked with Him two men, which were Moses and Elias: Who appeared in glory, and spake of His decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem. But Peter and they that were with Him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with Him. And it came to pass, as they departed from Him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for Moses, and one for Elias, for he knew not what he said. While he thus spoke, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them; and they feared as they entered into the cloud . And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is My beloved Son: hear Him" (KJV, Luke 9:28-35).


Works from the text:

Virgin and Child with Saints and Angels, St Catherine's Monastery, Turkey, 550


Empress Theodora and her Attendants, Apse Mosaic, San Vitale, Ravenna, 550 ce. (399)




Theodora's complement, Justinian and his Retinue, San Vitale


Transfiguration of Christ, St Catherine's Monastery, Egypt, 550 ce, (401)


Rossano Gospels, Manuscript Illumination, Byzantine, 590 ce


Theophanes the Greek, Transfiguration, 1403


Andy Warhol, Marilyn Diptych, detail, 1962, silkscreen on canvas


St. John Chrysostom
Russian orthodox church in Pennsylvania that Andy Warhol's family attended.

St Sava Serbian Eastern Orthodox Church NYC

Chinese Painting

Han Huang, Five Oxen, 770 ce, ink and slight color on paper, 8" x 4'7" (448) (Han Huang is the first of today's painter/politicians.)



Sun Wei, Hermits, 890 ce, detail of painting shown on 472 of the text, ink on silk, 1'5" x 5'6"

How can you describe this painting in relationship to our study of Manuscript Illumination on Tuesday?

Huang Quan, Study of Wonderful Birds and other Living Creatures, 940 ce, 1'4" x 2'4"ink and color on silk (480)

Painted in the Xiesheng style, in making this study of birds and other creatures Huang Quan sought to draw life directly.

Cui Bo, Hare and Jays, 1061 ce, ink and colors on silk. 6'4" x3'4" (522)

How can you discuss these two paintings in terms of realism?

Guo Xi, Early Spring, 1072 (523)

"Through its mixture of the solid and the intangible, the visible and the hidden, Guo Xi recreated a sense of the complexity and depth of nature that he loved and of which he was in awe. Using no more than brush, ink and water, he conjured up pine needles of the deepest black and pale grey, drifting mist. Human beings and their artefacts take up their insignificant places amid the enormity of mountains, waterfalls, boulders and tall trees." (30,000 Years of art, 523)

Emperor Song Huizong, 1112 ce, Auspicious Cranes (537)

"Zhao Ji (赵佶 October 1082 - ca. 1135) was the eighth emperor of Song Dynasty of China, aka Song Huizong. He was captured by the Jurchen invasion, taken to their capital Shangjing (Huining) in Manchuria, and died there. He was not a good emperor but a celebrated painter and calligrapher." (another painter/politician)

Wang Ximeng, A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains, ink and colors on silk, 1113 ce, 20" x 39' (539)


Wang Ximeng, A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains,detail, ink and colors on silk, 1113 ce, 20" x 39' (539)

What effects do the colors have on you as viewer?

Xia Gui, Pure Distance of Mountains and Streams, details, 1205, ink on paper, 18" x 29' 2"(574)


Liang Kai, Chan Sage, 1240, 1'7" x 11" (590)




Wang Hui, Viewacross Streams and Mountains, 1'7" x 39'9" (799)

"Scholar-artists of this period drew their inspiration from the earlier masters rather than from nature itself... If this apparent promotion of conservatism discouraged originality, it still brought forth top-class work,, and the mature Wang Hui developed an outstanding style of his own." (30,000 Years of Art, 799) The Metropolitan Museum confirms this assessment, concluding, "Wang's landscape art was not based on direct encounters with nature; rather, he sought to achieve a spiritual resonance with an orthodox lineage of great masters while creatively transforming their styles. Engaging in an inventive dialogue with the past, Wang evoked the stylistic personas of earlier masters while making works that were distinctly his own. Wang's paintings not only pay homage to his gifted predecessors but demand to be judged in comparison to them." (Metropolitan Art History) What other cultures have we looked at that share this reliance on the past as teacher? What do you know about apprenticeship practices?

Artist Unknown, Kangzi Emperor, 4' 6" x 3'6", 1700(803)

Kangzi ruled for 61 years, longer than any other emperor, and painting, writings, vases, and all manner of court documents record his achievements. His official 24 sons and 12 daughters (many more likely died in infancy) offer a further form of immortality. He rose early and went to bed late, the records state, and in addition to achieving the status of a great emperor, he also practiced calligraphy, reading, writing, and hunting. (another artist/politician)