Italian and Northern Renaissance HW.
1st-- classwork will probably run a little bit behind homeowkr until week 5, because we spend so much time on Art Historical Methods early on. We will catch up with ourselves and the syllabus!
Thusday, Sept 10 we will start with discussion on the two major Key Works from the Kingdom of Benin-- the Ivory Mask of an Iyoba and the so-called Benin Bronzes. I'd like you to think about how the multiple contexts (so far) for the bronzes add to and shift their meanings.
- Hung in chronological sequence in the the courtyard of the palace of the Oba (the King)
- Removed from the courtyard and preserved inside that palace by later rulers
- Distributed to global museums-- mainly the British Museum -- after the punitive looting of the palace in 1897 by British armed forces
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| Above, visitors consider some of the "Benin Bronzes" in the British Museum. Parts of this collection can also be seen all over the world, which is very important to what they have come to symbolize. Where can they be seen? In Nigeria objects from the Kingdom of Benin are housed in the collections of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM)(Opens in new window), and some are displayed in the national museums in Benin City, Lagos, Ibadan, Enugu, Kaduna and Jos. However, the majority of the objects are in institutions around the world with the British Museum and the Ethnologisches Museum(Opens in new window), Berlin, having the largest collections. The following European and UK museums also have important collections, some of which have now been legally transferred to Nigerian ownership, though most remain physically in Europe: Weltmuseum(Opens in new window), Vienna, Austria; Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology,(Opens in new window) Cambridge, UK; Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum(Opens in new window), Köln, Germany; Museum für Völkerkunde(Opens in new window), Dresden, Germany; Museum am Rothenbaum(Opens in new window), Hamburg, Germany; GRASSI Museum für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig(Opens in new window), Leipzig, Germany; Linden-Museum(Opens in new window), Stuttgart, Germany; Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen(Opens in new window), Netherlands; Pitt Rivers Museum(Opens in new window), Oxford, UK; National Museums Scotland(Opens in new window), UK; Statens museer för världskultur(Opens in new window), Stockholm, Sweden. In the USA there are significant collections in Chicago, Boston, New York, Washington and Philadelphia. (from the British Museum website) |
The Art and Artists of the Italian Renaissance 1400-1700
Next-- we dive into the Italian Rennaissance. It's impossible to know too much about this time because that time and place established:
- what art history is
Jacopo Zucci, Portrait of Giorgio Vasari, ~1572 Vasari was the author of the Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, considered the methodological and ideological foundation of much of Western and even global art-historical writing - the definitions of art, artists, modernism, and illusionism that we impact global art history today,
- classical compositional forms, which define the ways people study in conservatories,
- the foundations of how we look at and talk about painting, sculpture, and architecture,
- a set of works and ideas that govern many people's definition of excellence today, and more.
Three introductory essays that will set up our discussion of Renaissance Art in Italy
You might consider reading straight through them for the 10th, then go back to skim aspects parts you want to remember in preparation for the 14th and 17th.
Art of the Italian Renaissance Sovereign States
Important terms definitions:
Renaissance: a period of re-awakening in history, with the 14th-17th European Renaissance being a uniquely self-aware reinstitution of Greek and Roman arts, literature, and aesthetics emerging in Italy and spreading a studia humanitatis aimed at teaching the ethics and values that they believed would lead to a virtuous, active, civic life, work, and system of governance.
Renaissance Humanism: the educational, intellectual and more rarely spiritual program of the Renaissance Humanists believe in the value of classical learning and of individual humanity.
Patron
Connoisseur(ship)
Key Concepts regarding the Renaissance
Who: Humanists:
- turn to the scientific method when seeking understanding of how the earth and universe work
- make decisions based on reason and concern for humanity
- believe in the inherent value of humanity.
Artist/Artisan/Craftsperson
In Europe, until the time of the Renaissance, a career making visual art cast the makers in a lower class than, for example, poets, musicians, scientists, philosophers as well as the merchants and leisured aristocrats; art-makers made things with their hands, rather than their minds or pocketbooks, and thus were craftspeople. Our colleagues in D&P, say, in scene painting, might really understand this-- as surely do some parts of filmmaking.
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| Giovanni Bellini, San Zaccaria Altarpiece, 1505, oil on wood transferred to canvas, 16 feet 5–1/2 inches x 7 feet 9 inches |
What? painting, sculpture, architecture-
many artists did all three
what's missing from this list?
iconography- religious, secular (new genres, classical subjects, contemporary subjects)
style
interpretation
When
- 600 B.C.E.–400 C.E. Ancient Greece and Rome (also known as the classical past or classical antiquity, this 1,000 year span of time is itself broken by historians and art historians into smaller designations, such as archaic, high classical, hellenistic, etc.)
- 400–c. 1400 the Middle Ages (c. 1200–1400 is often called the Late Middle Ages)
- 1400–1600 the Renaissance
Where? Western Europe
TRANSITIONS
Byzantine in Ravenna
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The Hospitality of Abraham and the Sacrifice of Isaac
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Many formal values that-- whether we want them to or not-- govern the ways we look at art in the US emerged in the European Renaissance, and prove tricky to escape! For example, "Linear perspective, volumetric figures rendered with anatomical precision, emotionally charged expression, and visual naturalism are formal elements popularized in the Renaissance. This was especially true of art in Italy where ancient Roman art demonstrating many of these traits was abundant (such as Roman relief sculpture and architecture)." Smarthistory We are so familiar with these capacities defining what makes good art that it can be difficult to pick up different measuring sticks. Is this still true?
Qualities of Byzantine Art: brick or stone exteriors; Glittering, complicated, detailed, ornamental, fantastic, organic Interiors.
Qualities of Renaissance Art: Restraint, unity, balance, proportionality, illusionism, harmony, individuality, humanity
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Donato Bramante, Tempietto, c. 1502, San Pietro in Montorio, Rome |
Giotto-- Scrovegni Chapel, Arena Chapel
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| The Scrovegni Chapel also known as the Arena Chapel, is a small church in Padua, Northern Italy, commissioned by wealthy banker Ernesto Scrovegni in early 1300's proto-Renaissance |
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View towards the Apse and Altar, Scrovegni Chapel, frescos by Giotto.
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| Scrovegni Chapel, detail illustrating some of the 3-register frescos by Giotto di Bondone; top register showing The Life of the Virgin Mary, middle: Life of Christ; bottom: Passion (or the series leading up to the death and resurrection of Christ) and the 7 virtures. The total wall sequence is 38 fresco panels; the chapel interior is 68.5 ft long, 27.6 ft wide, and 41.5 ft high |
vocab:
- fresco,
- register,
- Giotto,
- Renaissance naming traditions;
- image naming standards (Artist or Author, Title, date, period, possibly location and materials)
- Byzantine,
- proto-Renaissance, Renaissance in European Art History,
- Linear perspective,
- volumetric figures rendered with anatomical precision,
- emotionally charged expression, and
- visual naturalism
- Renaissance generally,
- features of modern art already visible in European art, leading to it often being known as the beginning of the 'Early Modern Period' in global art history
Vasari, author of "Lives of the Artists", relates that when the Pope sent a messenger to Giotto, asking him to send a drawing to demonstrate his skill, Giotto drew a red circle so perfect that it seemed as though it was drawn using a pair of compasses and instructed the messenger to send it to the Pope. The messenger departed ill pleased, believing that he had been made a fool of. The messenger brought other artists' drawings back to the Pope in addition to Giotto's. When the messenger related how he had made the circle without moving his arm and without the aid of compasses the Pope and his courtiers were amazed at how Giotto's skill greatly surpassed all of his contemporaries
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| 9 ⁄ 75 More details Padua: Scrovegni Chapel. Giotto frescoes in 38 panels with stories of Mary and Christ. 1, Expulsion of Joachim from the temple; 2, St. Joachim shelters among the shepherds; 3, The angel announces to St. Anne that she will be a mother; 4, The angel announces to St. Joachim, the sacrificant, that his prayer will be answered (the composition repeats, placed outdoors with a shepherd replacing the maid); 5, St. Joachim's dream; 6, Meeting of Joachim and Anna at the Golden Gate of Jerusalem; 7, Nativity of Mary; 8, Presentation of Mary at the temple; 9, Delivery of rods to St. Simeon; 10, Prayer for the flowering of the rods; 11, Marriage of Mary; 12, Wedding procession of Mary; 13, God the Father entrusts the Annunciation to Mary to the Archangel Gabriel; 14, Annunciation; 15, Visitation; 16, Nativity of Jesus; 17, Adoration of the Magi; 18, Presentation of Jesus at the temple (on the left, Fanuel's daughter with prophecy scroll); 19, Flight into Egypt; 20, Massacre of the Innocents; 21, Jesus among the doctors; 22, Baptism of Jesus; 23, Wedding at Cana; 24, Resurrection of Lazarus; 25, Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem; 26, Expulsion of merchants from the temple; 27, Judas receives the price of betrayal; 28, Last Supper; 29, Washing of the feet; 30, Judas kiss; 31, Jesus before Caiaphas; 32, Coronation with thorns; 33, Ascent to Calvary; 34, Crucifixion; 35, Deposition; 36, Resurrection; 37, Ascension; 38, Pentecost. In Guida Rossa Veneto Touring Club Italiano |
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| Giotto di Bondone, Lamentation over the Dead Christ, 1305, fresco, Scrovegni Chapel, Padua, Italy |
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| Giotto di Bondone, Crucifixion, 1305, fresco, Scrovegni Chapel, Padua, Italy |
Betsy Giotto
Aiden Ghiberti
Sam Perugino
Bella Botticelli
Mercy Leonardo; Mercy Michelangelo
Akarsh Donatello & Michelangelo
Sam Raphael
Betsy Sistine Chapel
Kaitlin Raphael Galatea and popes
Betsy: Giotto, Scrovegni Chapel frescos Annunciation and Lamentation; Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel Ceiling1508-1512
Betsy: Giotto, Scrovegni Chapel frescos Annunciation and Lamentation; Michelangelo, Sisting Chapel Ceiling
Aidan Ghiberti, Gates of Paradise , 1425-1452 (Aidan you just get one work because it has so many elements to consider it should count as several! (web gallery of art- alternative reading)
Sam Raphael, School of Athens 1509-1511 and here& Perugino, Christ Giving the Keys of the Kingdom to St. Peter: (web gallery of art- alternative reading) 1481-2
Kaitlin Raphael, Galatea or here 1512 & Raphael, portraits of pope leo x or here and pope julius II or here
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| Raphael, School of Athens, fresco, 1509–11 (Stanza della Segnatura, Papal Palace, Vatican; photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) |
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| Michelangelo, Self Portrait as Heraclitus (the classical philosopher), 1508-12 |
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| Michelangelo, Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, 1508–12, fresco (Vatican City, Rome) |
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| Chapel Prior to painted ceiling. Google Maps Sistine Ceiling. |
![Diagram of the subjects of the Sistine Chapel [1] (photo: Begoon, CC BY-SA 3.0)](https://smarthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/1280px-Sistine_Chapel_ceiling_diagram.svg.png)
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| Michelangelo, The Creation of Adam, Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, 1508–12, fresco |
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| Michelangelo, Libyan Sibyl, c. 1511, fresco, part of the Sistine Chapel ceiling (Vatican Museums |
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| Michelangelo, Temptation and Expulsion, 1508-1512, sistine chapel ceiling. |
