donatello david medici commission first nude free standing statue since antiquity classical body –...
TRANSCRIPT
• Donatello• David• Medici Commission• First nude free
standing statue since antiquity
• Classical body –Praxiteles
• Contrapposto and S-curve
• Restrained pose --- not moving
• Verrochio’s David• Medici Commission• David is symbol of
Florence• He stands with jaunty
pride• Shows psychology of
young, brash men
• Donatello• Feast of Herod• Bronze relief• Early use of linear
perspective – vanishing point in center
• Figures decrease in size from foreground to background – recessional space
• Donatello• Saint Mark• Placed in niche in Or
San Michele Church – Florence
• Revival of classical contrapposto
• As his body moves, his drapery moves
• Donatello• Penitent Mary
Magdalene• Rare example of wood
sculpture• Deviates from
Renaissance ideals of beauty
• Spiritual and intended for devotion
• Botticelli’s Birth of Venus• Mythological and based on a Neo-Platonist Poem of
ideal beauty• First female nude since antiquity, modest Venus pose• Controversial because of nudity and pagan theme
(Savonarola condemned this type of work)
Botticelli – La Primavera
• Botticelli (Master of line)
• Portrait of a Youth• Almost full-face view
(influenced by northern Europe) which replaced the profile view popular in Florence until the 1470’s
• Reveals psychology of the sitter
• Pure outline with shading and graceful pose (graceful linearity)
• Donatello’s Equestrian Statue of Gattamelata
• First life-size equestrian statue since antiquity
• Gattamelata was a condotierri (military leader of a city-state)
• Orb under horse’s foot – ancient symbol of power over the earth
• Verrochio’s Equestrian Statue of Colleoni
• He was a condotierri (military commander) of Venice
• Taut muscles, rider has fierce erect body
• Demonstrates power
• Nanni di Banco• Four Crowned Saints• Or San Michele,
Florence• Note separation from
architecture• Note how characters
interact with gestures – will influence Leonardo
• Influenced by Roman portrait statues
• Pollaiuolo• Medici commission• Hercules and Antaeus• Mythological Battle• Interested in muscular
male form and movement
• Stress and strain of violent action
• Pollaiuolo• Hercules and Antaeus
(tempera painting)• Muscular male form• Violent action
• Ghiberti• Sacrifice of Isaac
(sample for competition for bronze doors of Florence baptistery)
• Gothic element --- Abraham S-curve pose
• Renaissance elements ---- Isaac first classicizing nude since antiquity
• Altar resembles Roman sarcophagi
• Ghiberti• Eastern doors of
Florence Baptistery• “Gates of Paradise”
• Ghiberti , Isaac and his sons Bronze relief panel
• Eastern doors of Florence Baptistery (10 panels altogether make up the doors)
• Medieval/Gothic element – rhythmic line and continuous narrative style
• Classical poses, motifs and architecture
• Linear perspective, changing relief (higher relief in foreground, lower in back), new realism in bodies
• Ghirlandaio
• Portrait of Giovanna Tornabouni
• Sensitive, beautiful, aristocratic young woman
• *Tells viewers about Florentine life such as value of cultivating beauty in life and art
• Also the breeding of courtly manners
• Reveals value of classical literature for humanists (quote from Roman poet in background)
GhirlandaioBirth of Virgin, Tornabuoni Chapel of Santa Maria Novella, FlorencePopular technique --- Secular figure shown in a sacred theme (Tornabuoni woman leading the procession) Medici commissioned similar works (Adoration of Magi)
• Fra Angelico “Annunciation” • Fresco, San Marco monastery, Florence• Not everyone was a humanist, he was a monk• Simple, serene style from humble monk• Devotional image
• Fra Angelico --- Annunciation scene• Simple, serene figures --- not fancy in secular
(worldly) sense• Interest in perspective and pictorial illusionism
• Luca Della Robbia
• Madonna and Child (Or San Michele, Florence)
• Terracotta reliefs for people of modest means
• Popular, became family business “della Robbia ware”
• Tondo (circular)
• Bright, colorful, Easter season (white lilies – Mary’s purity)
• Different from Byzantine style, people were able relate with this kind of art
• Lucca della Robbia• Madonna and Child• Glazed terracotta• Popular, less
expensive• “della Robbia ware”
• Gentile da Fabriano• Adoration of Magi• Altarpiece• International Gothic style
popular from 14th to 15th Century
• Typical sumptuous costumes and lavishly decorated
• Pomp and ceremony• Some radical naturalism
(foreshortened bodies, animal bodies shown from new angles)
• Blends some new naturalistic techniques in a traditional, conservative style
• Masaccio The Expulsion The Brancacci Chapel, Florence 1425
• Fresco
• Idealized nudes
• Eve --- pose based on classical statue of Venus
Massacio Tribute MoneyFrescoDemonstrates continuous narration, chiaroscuro, linear perspective, atmospheric/aerial perspectiveFigures are balanced and solid
UNSEEN LIGHT SOURCE TO THE RIGHT…WHAT EFFECT DOES THIS
CREATE?
• CHIAROSCURO• NOTE HOW THE
LIGHT-DARK CREATES A SCULPTURESQUE FORM
• Massacio
• Holy Trinity
• Medium is fresco
• Geometric composition --- uses balance symmetry
• Linear Perspective and recessional space
• Donors are the kneeling figures shown on bottom
• Classical Architecture
• Influenced by Giotto
• Skeleton on bottom is Adam and death reminder
• Mantegna• Saint James Led to
Martyrdom 1455• Fresco (largely
destroyed in WWII)• Interest in perspective• Antique Roman attire
on the soldiers (shows classical interest)
• Antique architecture (same point)
• Interest in body proportions
• Mantegna• Ceiling of Camera
degli Sposi• Fresco• Oculus• Trompe l’oeil
(deceives the eye) illusionism
• Foreshortened bodies• Putti (little cupids)• Influenced Baroque
ceilings
• Mantegna’s Dead Christ 1501
• Note foreshortening but not accurate
• Feet are small so they won’t cover the body of Christ
• Castagno’s Last Supper 1447• Monastery --- Sant’ Apollonia, Florence• Biblical narrative, shows Judas sitting alone
on outside of table• Interest in perspective but inaccurate
(reality--roof and ceiling can’t be seen at same time)
Perugino’s Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to Saint Peter
• Pietro Perugino, in Sistine Chapel (Vatican City, Rome), demonstrates power of the popes and the shift of the Renaissance from Florence to Rome
Piero della Francesca – Portrait Diptych of Duke and Duchess Montefeltro of Urbino
Piero della Francesca – Brera
Altarpiece• Where’s the
Duchess?• Her patron saint,
John the Baptist (her name was Battista) is pointing to her absence?
• Can you guess why she’s missing?
Uccello – Battle of San Romano
• Paolo Uccello loved perspective and chose to take on challenging perspective in his paintings. As a result, his human figures and horses are lacking; commissioned by Medici family. How to tell?
Uccello – The Hunt• Uccello loved perspective so much that, when he
didn’t want to come to bed when his wife asked him, she thought he was having an affair with a woman named Perspectiva! Human figures not detailed but interesting sense of depth
Fra Savonarola
• Florentine priest during late 15th century• Objected strongly to Florence’s humanist
tendencies (interest in mythology and inclusion of nudity in art)
• After Lorenzo de’ Medici died and the Medici's were driven from Florence, Savonarola became dictator for a short while.
• He held “bonfires of the vanities,” in which Florentines would throw worldly possessions, humanist literature and art into fires.
• Luca Signorelli
• Damned Cast into Hell
• Fresco, San Brizio Chapel, Orvieto, Italy
• Strong psychic impact (suffering and torment after living a sinful life)
• Savonarola would approve
• Influenced Michelangelo (Last Judgment)
• Lean muscular bodies, foreshortening, careful study of nudes
• Similar action to Pollaiuolo work
Luca Signorelli, Damned Cast into Hell