Many scholars consider the Renaissance to be the cardinal point in Western Civilization. It looks back to the ancient world, to Greece and Rome, as it attempts to recover accurate texts of many long-lost works of Greek and Roman literature and philosophy. And it looks forward to the modern world as it develops new forms of government; new fields of study, such as political science; and new forms of art. And it began in Italy. This summer, we will offer a new version of the Art of the Italian Renaissance, with many of the greatest artists such as Giotto, Masaccio, Donatello, Botticelli, and Michelangelo. Besides the favorites, we also have some new artists and all new pictures for all the artists from the Institute's new digital image library.
Week 1: "Art in Italy Before Masaccio" Wednesday and Thursday, June 22 & 23, 2011
Art in Italy before Masaccio.
How did painting change in the one hundred years between Giotto and Masaccio?
Why was Italy the cradle of the new painting of Western Europe?
Giotto, Duccio, Bernardo Dadi, Taddeo Gaddi, the Lorenzetti brothers, and others.MATERIAL ON THE WEB:
RECOMMENDED READING:
If you would like to own one book for our whole summer course subject here it is:
Laura Schneider Adams,
Italian Reniassance Art (Icon Editions),
Westview Press (April 9, 2001),
ISBN 978081333691
From Booklist:
Adams has produced a near-perfect introduction to the people, places, and events of the Italian Renaissance. Beginning with late-Byzantine-era iconography, the text follows Italian art as it transforms from a highly religious activity into a very human one, and culminates with a focus on the multitalented genius of da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo. Unlike many overview books on the Italian Renaissance, which focus mainly on the well-known artists and centers of production, this book also includes discussion of influential yet lesser-known artists and cities of the period. Understandably, Adams places most of her attention on painting. Yet she gives a fair and thorough treatment of architecture and sculpture. The side boxes are helpful and provide further information about the religious figures, ideas, and historical events that directly influenced the era, such as Dante and the black death. Adams takes great care in explaining the architectural context of certain paintings. This, along with numerous superb photographs, adds incalculable value to the understanding of the Italian Renaissance. Jeff Snowbarger Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved.
Product Description:
Art historian Laurie Schneider Adams brings to students a vibrant and engaging presentation of Renaissance art history that is supported by up-to-date scholarship and methodology. The text opens with the late Byzantine work of Cimabue and concludes with the transition to Mannerism. The author’s focus is on the most important and innovative artists and their principal works, with a clear emphasis on selectivity and understanding. Italian Renaissance Art also focuses on style and iconography, and on art and artists, incorporating different methodological approaches to create a wider understanding and appreciation of the art.Distinguishing features of this text include: Over 400 illustrations, with 215 in full color, are integrated with the text, and large enough to properly view. In depth coverage on the most important and innovative artists and their principle works throughout Italy. Side boxes that provide additional material on techniques, biographical data, descriptions of artistic media, as well as necessary background information are used in every chapter. “Controversy” boxes introduce some of the ongoing scholarly quarrels among Renaissance art historians. Maps, plans, and diagrams are also included throughout. A historical chronology, a full glossary of art-historical terms, and a select bibliography are also included at the end of the text.RECOMMENDED READING:
If you would like to read the most basic book ever written about the Renaissance then Jacob Burkhardt's book is the one. But it is not an easy read. It was written in German in the nineteenth century and this English translation often seems complex. But it is still the most important portrait of the Renaissance ever written.
Burckhardt,
The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy,
Penguin Classics (December 4, 1990) ,
ISBN 014044534X
Week 2: "Masaccio" Wednesday and Thursday June 29 & 30, 2011
Tomaso di Ser Giovanni was born in San Giovanni Valdarno on December 21, 1401, and he died in Rome in the autumn of 1428 of the plague. Masaccio (a nickname for Tomaso) changed painting completely in his brief career of little more than ten years. He arrived in Florence at the moment of the new ideas about art that had already been explored by Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, and Donatello, all older artists. When Masaccio met these innovators he understood immediately what their ideas meant for painting. His first great triumph was the "Trinity" fresco in Santa Maria Novella in Florence. The other project we will want to study is his fresco cycle in the Brancacci Chapel at Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence.
MATERIAL ON WEBSITE:
RECOMMENDED READING:
I am recommending this one book on Masaccio's "Trinity" because it is one of the few books on Masaccio that is inexpensive and in print. It is one volume in a series on important paintings and therefore it is very useful. Amazon has it available.
Rona Geffen,
Masaccio's Trinity (Masterpieces of Western Painting),
Cambridge University Press (January 28, 1998),
ISBN 0521467098
Product Description: Masaccio's "Trinity" examines one of the most influential paintings of the Italian Renaissance. Renowned for the grandeur of its characterizations and for the perspectival illusion of its architectural setting, the fresco was famous from the time it was painted in the 1420s, and remembered despite its having been hidden from view for nearly two centuries. This volume considers the "Trinity" in its historical and spiritual contexts, and describes the significance of Masaccio's innovative depictions of time and space.
Masaccio's "Trinity" examines one of the most influential paintings of the Italian Renaissance. Renowned for the grandeur of its characterizations and for the perspectival illusion of its architectural setting, the fresco was famous from the time it was painted in the 1420s, and remembered despite its having been hidden from view for nearly two centuries. This volume considers the Trinity in its historical and spiritual contexts, and describes the significance of Massacio's innovative depictions of time and space.
Week 3: "Donatello" Wednesday and Thursday July 6 & 7, 2011
Donatello (1386-1466) was the son of Niccolò di Betto Bardi, who was a member of the Florentine Wool Combers Guild (the "Cimatori"), and was born in Florence, most likely in the year 1386. Donatello was educated in the house of the Martelli family. He apparently received his early artistic training in a goldsmith's workshop, and then worked in the studio of Lorenzo Ghiberti. In 1404 or 1405, Donatello and his friend Filippo Brunelleschi went to Rome to study ancient art. They spent several years living in Rome, working part time as goldsmiths in order to finance their research into ancient sculpture and ancient buildings. This trip is one of the best markers of the beginning of the Renaissance. It shows us young Florentines consciously attempting to regain the greatness of the Greek and Roman civilization, in this case, the art of the ancients. It can be cited as the "beginning of the Renaissance." The two Florentines returned to Florence about 1410 and now led the transformation of art in the fields of sculpture and architecture. The great project of the dome of the cathedral of Florence is one result of the trip. Another is visible in the long career of Donatello from 1410 to 1466.
RECOMMENDED READING:
This is a nice little volume on Donatello with lots of pictures. It is out of print but there are used copies (really new but from a used book dealer) at about $22.00.
Rolf Witz,
Donatello (Masters of Italian Art),
Konemann; illustrated edition edition (March 1998),
ISBN 3829002440
Week 4: "Leon Battista Alberti" Wednesday and Thursday July 13 & 14, 2011
Leon Battista Alberti was born on February 18, 1404 and died on April 20, 1472. He was an Italian author, artist, architect, poet, linguist, philosopher, and cryptographer, and general Renaissance humanist genius. Though he is often characterized as an "architect, " James Beck observes: " . . .to single out one of Leon Battista's 'fields' over others as somehow functionally independent and self-sufficient is of no help at all to any effort to characterize Alberti's extensive explorations in the fine arts." Alberti's life was described in Giorgio Vasari's Vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori, e architettori or 'Lives of the most excellent painters, sculptors and architects'. We know a lot about him. He was a part of the brilliant circle of writers and thinkers all gathered around the cathedral of Florence and Brunelleschi's project for the dome. Alberti was one of Brunelleschi's best friends, and when all of Brunelleschi's artistic associates begged him to write down his ideas about perspective, he said that he did not have time and so he asked Alberti to do it. That book is our reading this week in a beautiful edition from Yale University Press. (http://yalepress.yale.edu)
REQUIRED READING:
Disregard all the emails from Amazon about how it is out of stock since of course when our 100 orders come flooding in their computers will go nuts. But they will go out and get the books. If you want to avoid Amazon, you can go directly to Yale University Press. They have it.
Leon Battista Alberti,
On Painting (Revised edition),
Yale University Press; Revised edition (September 10, 1967),
ISBN 9780300000016
Week 5: "Alesssandro Botticelli" Wednesday and Thursday July 20 & 21, 2011
Alessandro Botticelli (1445-1510) was the most influential painter in Florence in the second half of the fifteenth century. He was Filippo Lippi's student, friend, and successor. He was a favorite of the Medici family right at the moment of the greatest power of the Florentine Medici. By 1480, when he had completed "Primavera" and "The Birth of Venus," Botticelli had achieved the kind of success and fame that artists rarely enjoy. And then he watched his career collapse in the chaos of the Savonarola episode. His story is one of the most touching and unforgettable in all of art history.
MATERIAL ON WEBSITE:
RECOMMENDED READING:
Here is a very basic introduction at an astounding price: $9.99.
Barbara Deimling,
Sandro Botticelli 1444/45-1510 (Basic Art),
Taschen; Revised edition (May 1, 2000),
ISBN 9783822859926
A reader review:
This review is from: Botticelli (Basic Art) (Paperback)
Three elements distinguish Barbara Deimling's outstanding introductory study of Botticelli, one of the High Kings of Western culture: 1. Her account of the artist's work, with detailed analyses of Botticelli's densely allegorical paintings (not just in his world-renowned mythological scenes 'Primavera' and 'Birth of Venus', but his more numerous religious works also); the influence on him of literature, from classical poetry to the Bible and theology to Dante (some of the famous sketches for whose 'Divine Comedy' are included here); and the development of his celebrated style, from the sumptouosness of his mid-period, with its graceful, idealised human figures and concern with architectural perspective, to the austere late works, marking a rejection of Renaissance 'realism', and a return to the stylisation and exagerration of the Gothic period, and a new emotional charge, particularly in some harrowing crucifixion and lamentation scenes. 2. The use of Botticelli as a model for the teaching of art history. Deimling is not content to treat Botticelli as a lone genius who transcended his time, and concentrating solely on his pictures' form and content. By placing Botticelli firmly in the historical realities of 15th century Florence (its economic worldliness giving onto religious hysteria and acopalyptic moods near its end), Deimling shows that every one of his paintings bears the imprint, not only of the period's aesthetic innovations, but of the patrons who commissioned him. Aesthetic choices - such as the use of gold-leaf paint - is decided not by inner imperative, but the desire of a patron to show off his wealth and status, or a merchants' guild to advertise their wares. Colours, motifs, even figures in the paintings, represent the important figures of the day, and the symbolism of their professions and families. The surprise is not that Botticelli was a unique genius, but that he managed to create works inspiring spiritual awe in such a mundane, compromised context. 3. The usual high Taschen quality of plates, admirably reproducing Botticelli's colours, especially the glowing reds that streak his work. Many Botticelli paintings are too big and long to be adequately reproduced, but there is an intelligent use of details to give the reader some idea of his art.
Week 6: "Piero della Francesca" Wednesday and Thursday July 27 & 28, 2011
Piero della Francesca was born in 1415 in Borgo Sansepolocro, a charming small town east of Arezzo in Tuscany. One of his greatest paintings, The Resurrection, is still in his native town on the same wall where he put it. As testified by Giorgio Vasari in his Lives of the Artists, to contemporaries he was also known as a mathematician and geometer. Piero's reputation has had an amazing trajectory. After his death he was forgotten for centuries. HIs eclipse was due to the fact that all his important work is in Tuscany and therefore it is very hard to appreciate him unless you go to Tuscany. In the late nineteenth century people like Cezanne rediscovered him and in the twentieth century he became one of the most favored artists of the world of art historians and critics. HIs greatest achievement is the beautiful cycle of frescoes on the walls of the church of San Francesco in Arezzo.
MATERIAL ON WEBSITE:
RECOMMENDED READING:
This is the best one-volume, inexpensive, general introduction to Piero. The Phaidon Art and Ideas series is good thoughout. I own many of the volumes and they are uniformly excellent. Some reviewers praise the illustrations others wanted more. But among all the books out there, this probably the best buy at $22.95.
Marilyn Aronberg Lavin,
Piero della Francesca (Art and Ideas Series),
Phaidon Press (March 19, 2002),
ISBN 9780714838526
From Library Journal:
Known for his sculptural use of light, Piero della Francesca created works that are a perfect confluence of the underpinnings of the Renaissance by someone who helped invent it. Calvesi presents up-to-date scholarship in the reassessment of Piero based on recent archive discoveries and restorations of paintings, including the Arezzo Frescoes. He provides careful descriptive analysis of the major works with attention to biography and development, achievement, historical circumstance, philosophy, and influences on and by the artist. The second section contains full color plates and is insightful for its portrayal of iconographic images in such works as the "Misericordia Polyptych," reproducing this important work in its entirety. The catalog of works preceding the final extensive bibliography illustrates each painting in black and white with references to previous scholarship and description of the condition of each piece. This beautiful, inviting book should appeal to Renaissance scholars and students of Italian art; recommended for special, research, and large public collections.AEllen Bates, New York Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.Product Description:
Piero della Francesca (c.1413-92) is one of the most intriguing artists of the early Italian Renaissance, known not only for the balance of his compositions and the emotional coolness of his style, but also for his outstanding talent as a mathematician. Taking advantage of documentary evidence that has emerged, particularly since the quincentenary of the artist's death in 1992, Piero scholar Marilyn Aronberg Lavin covers all aspects of the career of an artist who can justifiably be called a "Renaissance Man". Born in Sansepolcro, a small town on the border between Umbria and Tuscany, Piero della Francesca worked there periodically throughout his life. But he also travelled elsewhere in Italy - to Florence and Rome for brief periods, and to Urbino (the location of his famous "Flagellation"), Arezzo ("Legend of the True Cross" fresco cycle), Rimini and Ferrara. He was well respected and worked for the provincial rulers in these cities. However, his fame was not just due to his skill as a painter. Concurrently, he pursued his interest in mathematics and wrote three treatises on the subject. This work was linked to his artistic output - the application of the rules of perspective in his compositions, with their structured spaces and idealized shapes, are one of the reasons why he has become so universally admired and studied in the modern era.
Week 7: "Ghirlandaio" Wednesday and Thursday Aug 3 & 4, 2011
Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449 - January 11, 1494) was a renowned Florentine Renaissance painter, a contemporary of Botticelli and Filippino Lippi. His many apprentices included Michelangelo. Ghirlandaio's full name is given as Domenico di Tommaso Curradi di Doffo Bigordi. It appears, therefore, that his father's surname was Curradi and his grandfather's Bigordi. Domenico, the eldest of eight children, was at first apprenticed to a jeweller or a goldsmith, most likely his own father. The nickname "Il Ghirlandaio" (garland-maker) came to Domenico from his father, a goldsmith who was renowned for creating the metallic garland-like necklaces worn by Florentine women. In his father's shop, Domenico is said to have made portraits of the passers-by, and he was eventually apprenticed to Alessio Baldovinetti to study painting and mosaic. By the 1490's Ghirlandaio was the most successful painter in Florence. The young Michelangelo was brought to his shop by Michelangelo's friend Granacci and the master immediately recognized the talent of the teenager and took him in. It was here in the Ghirlandaio studio that Michelangelo learned to paint fresco.
MATERIAL ON WEBSITE:
RECOMMENDED READING:
There are no new inexpensive books on Ghirlandaio. This out-of-print volume in the Masters of Italian Art series is available in used copies from Amazon.
Andreas Quermann,
Ghirlandaio (Masters of Italian Art),
Konemann; illustrated edition edition (July 1998),
ISBN 3829002483
Week 8: "Michelangelo the Sculptor" Wednesday and Thursday Aug 10 & 11, 2011
As we approach the year 1500 we face an awesome task: which artists to spend our evenings studying? We all know that there are many brilliant geniuses working in the year 1500: Perugino, Raphael, MIchelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, Giorgione. And many more. I have chosen to devote two weeks to Michelangelo. His achievement divides easily into a night on sculpture and a night on painting. But what about the others? Well we have offered many nights in special lectures on Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael. And Titian will be in our Renaissance class this fall. But if you missed Leonardo in the past, we will offer new small sized seminar art history classes on Tuesday nights this summer. Leonardo will be presented in this series. And there may be other artists in that series that you want to see. Enrollment in that series of evenings is on an individual evening basis.
Wikipedia:
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer. Despite making few forays beyond the arts, his versatility in the disciplines he took up was of such a high order that he is often considered a contender for the title of the archetypal Renaissance man, along with fellow Italian Leonardo da Vinci. Michelangelo's output in every field during his long life was prodigious; when the sheer volume of correspondence, sketches, and reminiscences that survive is also taken into account, he is the best-documented artist of the 16th century. Two of his best-known works, the Pietà and David, were sculpted before he turned thirty. Despite his low opinion of painting, Michelangelo also created two of the most influential works in fresco in the history of Western art: the scenes from Genesis on the ceiling and The Last Judgment on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. As an architect, Michelangelo pioneered the Mannerist style at the Laurentian Library. At 74 he succeeded Antonio da Sangallo the Younger as the architect of St. Peter's Basilica. Michelangelo transformed the plan, the western end being finished to Michelangelo's design, the dome being completed after his death with some modification. In a demonstration of Michelangelo's unique standing, he was the first Western artist whose biography was published while he was alive. Two biographies were published of him during his lifetime; one of them, by Giorgio Vasari, proposed that he was the pinnacle of all artistic achievement since the beginning of the Renaissance, a viewpoint that continued to have currency in art history for centuries. In his lifetime he was also often called Il Divino ("the divine one"). One of the qualities most admired by his contemporaries was his terribilità, a sense of awe-inspiring grandeur, and it was the attempts of subsequent artists to imitate Michelangelo's impassioned and highly personal style that resulted in Mannerism, the next major movement in Western art after the High Renaissance.
MATERIAL ON WEBSITE:
RECOMMENDED READING:
This book is a great buy. It is complete. it is up to date, it is in print, it is in stock at Amazon. $23.28
Product Description:
Michelangelo - scuptor, architect, painter, poet and artist par excellence - was seen by his contemporaries as embodying the zenith of all artistic achievement. The book sets out to bring his genius closer and to make it more understandable. Here one can see details of his work in full-page pictures, many of which have been produced especially for the book. Michelangelo was the greatest sculptor who ever lived, recognised by his contemporaries as a genius and canonised even before his death. But this does help us either in understanding or approaching his work. Part of the difficulty lies in his complicated and demanding character which, after five centuries, is hard for the modern reader to penetrate. The grandeur of his oeuvre, its power, its uncompromising strength, often blinds the spectator to the details and the problems of the works themselves. Michelangelo was a perfectionist, and with every work he strove to solve artistic problems; however, when he arrived at the solution to that problem, he often lost interest. As a result, he left more sculptures unfinished than finished, as this book demonstrates. The rich world of Michelangelo becomes fresh and alive as we see the physical embodiment of the spirit struggling to escape from its marble prison. Some call this a 'romantic' concept. It is certainly a magnificent one - superbly displayed. About the Author Rupert Hodson studied at the University of London and at the British Institute of Florence.Reader Review:
Do not hesitate: buy this book., December 17, 2006 By Christopher Evans (Frankfurt am Main, Deutschland) Don't let the price deceive, this is one of the best books of photographic reproductions available documenting M's sculpture. I originally purchased this in 2000 when I was in Rome, and I couldn't find it anywhere else. I wanted to give some copies to friends, and I had to order then from Italy, but now anyone can have this book; and you should buy it. Enclosed are beautiful, full page prints, and many macros from interesting angles; so close you can see the chisel marks! The works photographed: Battle of Centaurs Madonna of the Steps Bacchus La Pieta David Bruges Madonna St. Matthew Moses The figures of the Medici Chapel Slaves and captives Brutus Palestrina Pieta Rondanini Pieta
Week 9: "Michelangelo, Painter" Wednesday and Thursday Aug 17 & 18, 2011
Michelangelo created a number of individual works of painting and two huge frescoes in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican: The Sistine Ceiling showing the Creation, and the front wall behind the altar showing the Last Judgement. In this our ninth week, I want to devote our evening to the story of the creation of the Sistine ceiling, to the relationship between Pope Julius and Michelangelo and to the fascinating story of its success. Today it is the number one requested Tourist location in the world.
Wikipedia: In 1505, Michelangelo was invited back to Rome by the newly elected Pope Julius II. He was commissioned to build the Pope's tomb. Under the patronage of the Pope, Michelangelo had to constantly stop work on the tomb in order to accomplish numerous other tasks. Because of these interruptions, Michelangelo worked on the tomb for 40 years. The tomb, of which the central feature is Michelangelo's statue of Moses, was never finished to Michelangelo's satisfaction. It is located in the Church of S. Pietro in Vincoli in Rome. During the same period, Michelangelo took the commission to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, which took approximately four years to complete (1508–1512). According to Michelangelo's account, Bramante and Raphael convinced the Pope to commission Michelangelo in a medium not familiar to the artist. This was done in order that he, Michelangelo, would suffer unfavorable comparisons with his rival Raphael, who at the time was at the peak of his own artistry as the primo fresco painter. However, this story is discounted by modern historians on the grounds of contemporary evidence, and may merely have been a reflection of the artist's own perspective. Michelangelo was originally commissioned to paint the 12 Apostles against a starry sky, but lobbied for a different and more complex scheme, representing creation, the Downfall of Man and the Promise of Salvation through the prophets and Genealogy of Christ. The work is part of a larger scheme of decoration within the chapel which represents much of the doctrine of the Catholic Church. The composition eventually contained over 300 figures and had at its center nine episodes from the Book of Genesis, divided into three groups: God's Creation of the Earth; God's Creation of Humankind and their fall from God's grace; and lastly, the state of Humanity as represented by Noah and his family. On the pendentives supporting the ceiling are painted twelve men and women who prophesied the coming of the Jesus. They are seven prophets of Israel and five Sibyls, prophetic women of the Classical world. Among the most famous paintings on the ceiling are The Creation of Adam, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the Great Flood, the Prophet Isaiah and the Cumaean Sibyl. Around the windows are painted the ancestors of Christ.Biography and Autobiography in the Renaissance.
Florence and Rome in the 16th century.
MATERIAL ON WEBSITE:
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED READING:
Ross King's Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling is the perfect book for us for this week's study. It is fun to read, it is available in an inexpensive paperback format (Amazon: $11.56) and it is in stock.
Ross King,
Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling,
Penguin (Non-Classics); 1st edition (November 25, 2003),
ISBN 9780142003695
Amazon.com Review:
Almost 500 years after Michelangelo Buonarroti frescoed the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, the site still attracts throngs of visitors and is considered one of the artistic masterpieces of the world. Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling unveils the story behind the art's making, a story rife with all the drama of a modern-day soap opera. The temperament of the day was dictated by the politics of the papal court, a corrupt and powerful office steeped in controversy; Pope Julius II even had a nickname, "Il Papa Terrible," to prove it. Along with his violent outbursts and warmongering, Pope Julius II took upon himself to restore the Sistine Chapel and pretty much intimidated Michelangelo into painting the ceiling even though the artist considered himself primarily a sculptor and was particularly unfamiliar with the temperamental art of fresco. Along with technical difficulties, personality conflicts, and money troubles, Michelangelo was plagued by health problems and competition in the form of the dashing and talented young painter Raphael. Author Ross King offers an in-depth analysis of the complex historical background that led to the magnificence that is the Sistine Chapel ceiling along with detailed discussion of some of the ceiling’s panels. King provides fabulous tidbits of information and weaves together a fascinating historical tale. --J.P. Cohen.
Publishers Weekly:
When Pope Julius II saw Michelangelo's Pieta, he determined to have his grand tomb made by the artist. Summoned from Florence to Rome in 1508, Michelangelo found himself on the losing side of a competition between architects and the victim of a plot "to force a hopeless task" upon him-frescoing the vault of the Sistine Chapel. How the sculptor met this painterly challenge is the matter of this popular account, which demythologizes and dramatizes without hectoring or debasing. Forget cinematic images of Charlton Heston flat on his back-Michelangelo's "head tipped back, his body bent like a bow, his beard and paintbrush pointing to heaven, and his face spattered with paint" is excruciating enough to sustain the legend. King (Brunelleschi's Dome) re-creates Michelangelo's day-to-day world: the assistants who worked directly on the Sistine Chapel, the continuing rivalry with Raphael and the figures who had much to do with his world if not his art (da Vinci, Savonarola, Ariosto, Machiavelli, Martin Luther, Erasmus), including the steely Julius II. King makes the familiar fresh, reminding the reader of the "novelty" of Michelangelo's image of God and how "completely unheard of in previous depictions of the ancestors of Christ" was his use of women. Technical matters (making pigments, foreshortening) are lucidly handled. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Week 10: "Art After the Renaissance" Wednesday and Thursday Aug 24 & 25, 2011
What happened to art in Italy after the titans died?
Why does it seem that there is a decline in the quality of art after the death of Michelangelo?
Who were the masters in the sixteenth century in Florence and Rome?
What is Mannerism?
When does the "Renaissance" end and why?
RECOMMENDED READING:
Stefano Zuffi,
European Art of the Sixteenth Century (Art Through the Centuries),
J. Paul Getty Museum; 1 edition (September 5, 2006),
ISBN 0892368462
Product Description:
In the sixteenth century the humanist values and admiration for classical antiquity that marked the early Renaissance spread from Italy throughout the rest of the continent, resulting in the development of a number of local artistic styles in other countries. Artists were highly valued and richly compensated during this period, with many receiving lucrative commissions from papal, royal, and private patrons. Among the sixty artists whose works are presented in this volume are towering figures of Western art such as Michelangelo, Raphael, El Greco, and Titian. Venetian painters led the way, as oil on canvas supplanted fresco as the most popular medium. Italian Mannerists, such as Pontormo, deviated from classical forms, creating figures with elongated proportions and exaggerated poses. In countries that experienced the Protestant Reformation, such as England, many artists turned to portraiture and other secular subjects. This second volume in the Art through the Centuries series is divided into three sections that discuss the important people, concepts, and artistic centers of this innovative period. Important facts are summarized in the margins of each entry, and key facets of the illustrations are identified and discussed.
About the Author:
Stefano Zuffi is a Milanese art historian who has written over forty books on European art.
