Homework for Week 4&5

Itanlian 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. 

1. Hung in chronological sequence in the the courtyard of the palace of the Oba (the King)
2. Removed from the courtyard and preserved inside that palace by later rulers
3. Distributed to global museums-- mainly the British Museum -- after the punitive looting of the palace in 1897 by British armed forces

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: 

1. what art history is
2. the definitions of art, artists, modernism, and illusionism  that we rely on today,
3. classical compositional forms, which define the ways people study in conservatories,
4. the foundations of how we look at and talk about painting, sculpture, and architecture, 
5. a set of works and ideas that govern many people's definition of excellence today, and more. 

There are three introductory essays that will set up our discussion of Renaissance Art in Italy on Sept. 10, 14, and 17. So you have a lot of reading for the 10th but very little for the 14th and 17th. 

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. 

A Primer for Italian Renaissance Art

Art of the Italian Renaissance Republics

Art of the Italian Renaissance Sovereign States

Then, I assign each of you two key works to study in preparation to share your learning about them on the 14th and 17th.  Please be ready with those on the 14th.  If Smarthistory links take you to a video, note that there are dropdown menus at the bottom of the post that offers a transcript, artwork facts, and lots of photos. You can choose to look for the works in museum sites, books in our library, art historical materials online, and more-- in other words you don't have to use the sites I suggest.  I will insert links for everyone later this weekend, but you're welcome to just go ahead and search on your own if you're ready to embark. 

Betsy: Giotto, Scrovegni Chapel frescos Annunciation and Lamentation; Michelangelo, Sisting Chapel Ceiling

Aidan Ghiberti, Gates of Paradise,  (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 & Perugino, Christ Giving the Keys of the Kingdom to St. Peter: (web gallery of art- alternative reading)

Bella Botticelli, Birth of Venus & Titian, Venus of Urbino

Mercy, Leonardo, Madonna of the Rocks & Michelangelo, Pieta

Akarsh Donatello, David  & Michelangelo, David 

Kaitlin  Raphael, Galatea & Raphael, portraits of pope leo x and pope julius II