HUM202’ 2020 Fall

Week1 The Role of Art: Vision and Visuality

-Q1:What is art?/ What is the purpose of art?
-Art is not always considered as art. Looked from different angles, it can be functional and
utilitarian.
-Cave is France, 5000BCDrawings in the caves(before the common era), mostly animals
not art!!
-Caveman, tribes, people who are constantly on the move so they are not artists. Mostly they
were hunters and gatherers so that’s why they drew animals on the walls. It was some kind of
a ritual, matter of survival. It was also a functional thing. About survival.
-Zambele Guru Mask, 19th century. a painting to secure the people of the tribe. It is not
art it has a function of protecting people from demons.
-King Khafre, 2500BC,Egypt  A sculpture which was made out of a specific stone for it to
last for a very long time and not meant to be seen by humans. It was placed in the king’s
toumb. It is not art. It is a “function,survival”
-Egyptians believed in after life and they spend most of their real lifetime for preparing for
that life. They would make mummy’s to preserve the dead and make them last forever so that
they could keep on living on the after life. They would put many things on these toumbs and
seal them close.
-What happens to the spirit if the body is destroyed?
-Figure of Woman, 24000BC, Venus of Wilendorf Venus is known as the goddess of
love and it is believed that this sculpture is a representative for that. But that is not true, it is
not art its some kind of a totem, symbols of fertility
-Benefits to community (all in common)
-Q2:What is represented?
-Art do not need to represent beautiful and pleasant things, it should leave an impact and be
memorable.
-Q3:How things are represented?
-realistic & traditional approaches, realism
-painting by raffaello, virgin marry an baby jesus more about beauty, shadowing, catholics,
making it almost touchable, very pretty
-a mozaic, virgin marry an baby jesus byzantines, orthodox, a matter of symbols
-two different flower painting, one of them was painted with more emotion, has nothing to do
with realism and the other one was for people hung to their homes, more realistic.
-we don’t know what is reality so art should be about imagination and dreams.
Week2 Classical Antiquity: Ancient Greek Art

-Ancient Greece as ‘the Cradle(beşik) of Western Civilization’

-**The Parthenon, in the center of Athens, 432 BC**
-The Greece Temple has a great influence on western architecture. Ex: Brandenburg Gate,
Berlin, 18th c., Parliament Building in Vienna, Supreme court in Washington D.C. Inspired
by Greek temple.
-Greek culture is seen as a part of their heritage, so that’s why it has such a big impact on us.
-Why not Egypt? What is the difference between Greece and Egypt?
-We do not see any Egyptian influence in western civilizations, it is distant us.
-Temple of Ramses, 1200 BC: carved into the mountain, huge sculptures, kings represented
at the entrance, overwhelming feelings while entering inside.
-Gods are reflection of society. Afterlife is very important to the Egyptians. Greeks do not
look forward to afterlife(they believe in it), they believed that this life is more important and
is a better place.
-ANUBIS: God of mummification and the afterlife, looks like a hybrid, partly human,
HORUS: God of kingship and the sky, looks like a hybrid, partly human  there is no such
things in western culture.
-Apollo and Aphrodite: More idealised than humans, more similar to western culture.
-The Parthenon and ideals of Rhythmos and Symmetria (two Greek canons)
-Perfectly balanced pieces, preciesly put together buildings, it looks perfect from wherever
you stand, divine creation, dedicated to the gods  Greek art
-The Parthenon: Optical refinements in Greek architecture
-They created these adjustments, departing from perfection: on the Parthenon, platform is not
horizontal but it is convex. By making these adjustments and getting far away from the
perfection to something that is less perfect Bec. They wanted to create perfection on our eyes
not in reality. They wanted to get far away from optical illusions that human eyes catch while
looking. The most important thing was what the audience were seeing.
- The Parthenon and the design of Greek Temples
-Parthenon is one of the largest temples. Athens was the most famous and culturally powerful
city state of Greece. Ancient Greece was a huge land a big civilization, not a nation. From
Anatolia to south of Italy. Greek society was not connected politically, culture was in
common. They spoke the same language and believed in the same gods. These two made
people tink that they have something in common.
-Most temples looks similar, ancient greeks were not innovative. They cared about perfection.
-Most greek temples: Naos(inner chamber of the temple) at the inside, Colonnade (columns)
carrying the roof. A huge statue of the god whom the temple is dedicated to. Nothing else
inside. In Ancient Greece sacrifices were given outside of the temple.
-Columns=shaft+capital/pediment= triangular roof when looking at front
-Sculptural Decoration of Greek temples
-The three orders of Greek Architecture  Doric, Ionic, Corinthian
-The Acropolis of Athens, the sacred hill of Athens
-Doric: the main land style ,the oldest
-Ionic: Aegian style
-Corinthian: realistic, mostly popular amonng the Romans (this won’t be the focus)
-We will only be looking at the doric and the ionic order of the temples. Doric is much
more massive and used for larger temples(mascular). Ionic is more slender. These two were
seem as masculine & feminine.
-There is one exception where neither of these two orders were used. The temple of Maidens
in Athens.
-

700BC 480BC 323BC Helenistic AD

Archaic Age Classical Age Age
Realism to
naturalism

-Development of Greek art & architecture from archaic to classical age

-Temple of Athena in Italy,550BC  it looks like the Parthenon
-Greeks didn’t invent anything new, they just changed the proportions, balanced it and made
it more pleasing to the eye. This way it became more sophisticated. Same thing implies when
looking at the sculptures.Realism and Idealism coming forward in art and sculpture.
-The Ancient Greek Canon: based on truthfulness to nature(realism) & idealism
(perfection)
-Back in the archaic times, sculptures always had the same look  sculpture in the
round( 360 derece görünüm) one leg put at front, wide shoulders, faint smile,nude, realistic
knees, braided hair and no particular feautures of the face Kouros figures(males),there are
hundres of them. Kore figures(females) braided hair, all dressed and colored.(590-580 BC)
-These are the primitive(not so sophisticated) sculptures carved by archaic people. Were these
the first carved stones? Yes, they learned carving from the Egyptians.
-King Menkaura and his wife,2500BC faint smile, same kind of body with Greeks
sculpture, one foot forward, realistic knees, high relief( heykellerin arkası yok sadece önden
carved),
-Kritios Boy, 480 BC  no braided hair, skeleton is well, he is standing in the way all the
humans stand (contrapposto)
-The Classical Age: the contrapposto (the natural posture of the human body)/wet
drapery (invention of texture in sculpture)
-Contrapposto: we never stand on one leg. One rests while the other carries the body.
-Three goddesses of the parthenon example for wet drapery.
-Classical realism and idealism: classical art is realistic in details but idealized in content
-Ancient Greeks never depicted anything that is on real life, they idealized and made
perfection. Why do you want to present something that is noot real? Nothing is perfect in real
life that’s why they always represent things from another more idealized world. Realism vs.
idealism.
-Dying Niobid, 450 BC  one of the first nude woman sculptures. She was hit by an arrow
in the back. She tries to reach to the arrow but she has a plain face with showing no emotion.
No imperfection is there. No tears, no cry, no sadness. Pathos faces: emotionless faces.
-The Helenistic Age: from realism to naturalism
-The Ludovisi Gaul 220BC  blood dripping, faces showing emotion
- A helenistic sculpture: emotions can be shown, artists are more free to experiment, different
hairstyles, different features, they look more like humans, artists depicted real life for the first
time.

Week3 Classical Antiquity: The Art of the Roman Empire

-The ancient Greece left us a lot of notions. Notions of Republic, democracy, philosophy
-Ancient rome and ancient greece form the concept of classical antiquity
-rome is very different from greece
-governence, state, the law established by the romans form today’s modern governence states.
-Rome becomes after Greece. A big centralized empire. unified state.
-Pax romana Roman peace
-Roman Architecture: continuity and change
-Romans conquered Greece but they were conquered by the Greek culture.
-the Greece temple spread throughout the world and romans also adopted this concept.
-Le Temple de la Fortuna Virilis,2nd century  Imitations of columns, a different version
of a Greece temple, the purpose of the colonnade is to hide the blank walls of the naos but the
Romans actually expose the naos and destroy the colonnade at the same time. Corruption of
the Greece canon. Romans were more practical.
-For the Greece’s a temple was a place to communicate with the gods and goddesses.
-Romans ideal was not like the Greece. They were more militaristic compared to the Greek’s.
- Romans took what they saw from Greece and changed it. They were more pragmatic and
practical thats why there were more innovation in roman architecture than the Greek
architecture.
-Roman architecture and innovation:
-New components: arch, vault, dome/New materials: concrete
-Greek’s architecture’s structurel system was based on the columns(vertically). These
columns were carrying an architrave also known as ‘post and lintel’. On the other hand
romans had a different system. They invented the arches. Their structural system was based
on these arches and there were piers carrying those arches. Piers are carved out of stone and
they are thicker than a column.
-Aqueduct pont du gard, France,1st century it looks like a bridge but it is not.It was for
providing water for a big state, there is a function among this bridge which shows a big
difference in Greek and Roman architecture. It is possible to see functionality.
-Alcantara Bridge, Spain,104-106 AD  romans connected their cities by building bridges
and roads. These bridges still stand. Empires which came after them still use these buildings.
-Arch of Constantine, Rome,312-315AD a triumphal arch, to show their political victories
and to glorify themselves. about a military conquest. Army were passing through these arches.
There are also columns at this buildings. These columns has no function, they are just for
decoration.
-Monumental Arch,Syria  combinining arches in Greek style, asthetically and an example
of how they spreaded everywhere.
-Colleseum, Rome, 72-80AD Sequences of arches in between semi-columns. There were
sculptures but they didn’t remain until today. It can contaion over 50.000+ people. Can be
covered from sun and rain. It can actually be closed from sides and it was possible to watch a
naval fight.
-Hippodrome in Rome spine: people race around the spine. Popular conquest and
control over people. A good example to show how Roman empire controlled masses of
people and to see how much they spend on engineering.
-In Greece games were dedicated to gods and godesses but in Rome it was more about
personal gain and glorifying emperors.
-Quadriga of Factio Russata,3rd century AD a mosaic of four horses and soldiers.
-A vault:extended series of arches/Barrel Vault: looks
like a cave or tunnel/ Groin vault: has four sides or
entrence
- there is barrel vault in colleseum.
-the dome: kubbe/symbolises heaven
-the Pantheon, Rome, 118-125 AD  from outside it looks like a Greek temple,there is a
huge dome. A temple dedictaed to all planetary gods that is unusual because mostly temples
are dedicated to only one god or a goddess. This is the only surviving dome from ancient
Rome and it is so influential for byzantine and anatolian architecture. There were restrictions
on building a dome(until new techniques were found). The building cannot be bigger than the
dome since the walls carry it, it is expensive, there are no windows because walls are to thick
so it makes people feel oppressed. But there are fake windows at the pantheon which makes
people to feel that they are opening up to new spaces. There is a window at the top (oculus). It
is not possible to build other windows to the walls because they carry the big dome otherwise
it would collapse.
-Roman Architecture and uniformity:
-Roman empire was a huge state which spread from
anatolia to Italy. There were several different
cultures, languages and people. They were all
gathered around or uniformed by the same
architectural systems. Showed examples from
anatolia and France, same type of theatres.
-Control of crowd**
-Roman Architecture and variety:
-Market Gate from Miletus,160 AD:
traders would come and sell their products.
Lack of tradition: ionic capitals and pushed
in pediments. Architect took ancient forms
and played with them.
-Palace of Diocletian, Croatia,300 AD  a
greek pediment and roman arches.
Combining two things. A bold architecture
who is open to new things. Greek’s were not
like that they would not try new things
instead they woulds focus on what they
already know and idealise it.
-Roman sculpture original vs. copies:
-Two copies made by romans looking at Greek originals because the admired the Greek art.
But none of the Roman artist names was preserved. Greek’s wrote about their own. Romans
admired gladiators and know the names of the greek artists.
-Roman Sculpture: politics and public monuments:
-Romans invented the public monuments.
-A sculpture of Augustus, the emperor: he came after Caesar and he expanded the lands.
An idealised visual of the emperor, contrapposto, he is bare foot as the gods were while
stepping on the holy ground
-Greeks never used art to symbolize power, they used it to reach perfection but Romans did
use it to represent power.
-Column of Trajan, Rome, 113 AD  a visualisation of a conquest made for bureaucratic
purposes,showing power and victory.
-Roman Sculpture: private purposes:
-a man of roman patrician
- Roman Sculpture:realism, idealism and
naturalism(bunlar önemliymiş):
-romans conquered realism.
-Philip the Arab,249 AD: yandaki resimde soldaki. Not naturalism
idealised. Naturalistic/realistic  augustusla karşılaştırdı.
-Naturalistic in content/idealistic in content mi

Week4 Medieval Art East and West

11/4/20
Romans were traditional, idealized and care about function. After the collapse of
Roman Empire, Medieval World starts. New monotheism religions (Christianity, Islam)
emerge. Monotheism become the standard and the beginning of the Middle Ages. Middle
Ages was a new world order built on the ruins of the Roman Empire.

a) The Byzantine Empire (the domed church)

Anthemius and Isıdorus, Saint Sophia, Istanbul, 532-537.

This was made by two engineers. If artists were made this, this could not be like this.
Engineers invented the new architectural structures. This building includes dome, lower half
dome, and semi domes. This challenges the Pantheon. Pantheon was huge, massive, and
conquered structure. It has massive thick walls with no windows. It has the oculus (eye)
which was the only source of light. However, in Saint Sophia, even the dome has windows
and bigger and brighter than pantheon it still here. The secret is that the pendentive (concave
triangular). Contrary to the Pantheon, walls of the outside carry the dome, but in Saint Sophia,
the walls carry nothing. They can be anywhere and in any size. Advantage of that is, the
building can be bigger than dome. It filled with light. Thanks to that, buildings now could
have amazing domes and semi-domes. Building now can spread.
Saint Sophia was the foundation of monumental architecture, church architecture, and
musk architecture.
 We do not have domes in Western Europe at that time. The only domes are in
Mediterranean in Byzantine. Domes was adopted after Renaissance in Wester Europe.

Mosaics are typical of Byzantine art.

Byzantine civilization included mosaic not only on the floors but also on the walls. This
mosaics were made of semi-precious stones, silver and gold.

Week5 The Italian Renaissance

11/11/20
Italian Renaissance started at 1400 and goes on until 1600. Medieval art was about
reality however Renaissance artists invented techniques to show not only realism of detail, but
also convincing illusion of space, depth, and scale.
Renaissance means rebirth of the arts and culture of classical antiquity. Renaissance
art would be rational, but not be anymore spiritual and disconnected from reality as Medieval
art.
Renaissance artists were rational thinkers. They wanted to rationalize the world. They
wanted to discover the world. They wanted to be able to represent precisely.

Masaccio, Tribute money, fresco in the Brancacci Chapel, Florence, 1427.

This was the first Renaissance painting. It was a window onto the world. It was a
closed form painting which means that we do not understand exactly what is going on. We
engaged what we see. It was in a private space in church which called chapel. The painting
has linear perspective. Artist managed to make this painting real. It had a rational space,
where all figures communicate. Visual aspects were real. It had realistic depiction of space.
The building is big. People could identify the relation to each other like from standing people
at right, the scale could understand. There was no connection between the figures. Painting
has illusionist space. Masaccio’s main goal was to create a new art based on the art of
classical antiquity so, he achieved this illusionist spaced.
He used atmospheric perspective in this painting. He adds to the illusion of distance in
landscapes. This is achieved through the effect of fading colors in the distance. Moreover, he
used single source of light. It could see from the front man’s leg. Artist created the illusion of
realistic modeling of bodies in space. This effect is achieved through shading.

Renaissance paintings had three elements:

1- Linear perspective
 2- Atmospheric perspective
3- Single source of light
Linear perspective: Linear perspective is a system for creating an illusion of depth on a flat
surface. All parallel lines in a painting or drawing using this system converge in a single
vanishing point on the compositions horizon line. When you put objects inside these grids,
these objects will become rationally connected.
It was invented by Brunelleschi; however, Masaccio was the first one who used this
technique in paintings. Before Renaissance, no one thought linear perspective was important.
So, they did not know how to represent linear perspective.

Single source of light: Masaccio invented the light coming from one source (shadows).
Single source of light creates the illusion of realistic modelling of bodies in space. This
creates an effective volume. This effect is achieved through shading. Shading used to create
volume.

Atmospheric perspective: If an artist used atmospheric perspective in his/her art, you would
notice the objects like mountains, hills, islands, ships in far distance and you will also notice
the horizon. Colors diminishing further they are. Colors went blueish and greyish. Add to the
illusion of distance in landscapes, this is achieved through the effect of fading colors in the
distance.

Donatello, David, bronze, 1425-1430.

This was the first sculpture of Renaissance. David was the boy king, who is chosen by
God because of his pureness, described in Bible. This sculpture was the first full-scale, nude,
realistic in a thousand years. Heroic nude reflects nudity perfection of human body and spirit.
Donatello was looking at the ancient sculptures, created his own perfect harmony.
Competing the Ancient Greek and Roman sculptures. He rewiden the art of sculpture after
thousand years.
The sculpture, David, was standing here with perfect contrapposto. He had unusual
hat. This was not a typical thing.

Filippo Brunelleschi, Foundling Hospital, courtyard, Florence, 1419.

Brunelleschi was the inventor of the linear perspective. He was inspired by the
proportions of Romans and created his own.

Filippo Brunelleschi, Dome of the Cathedral of Florence, 1420-1434.

 Brunelleschi was an architect and engineer who created his own techniques. He made
this Dome of the Cathedral of Florence. It was a high dome. The white things on the dome
was decorative. No one knew how to make the dome so big in small places.
This dome was the model for all the domes in Western Europe in the following
centuries. In gothic times there was no dome. They loved towers. After the Renaissance,
domes became popular in England, France, … Those domes were based on Brunelleschi’s
domes.

The Patrons of the Renaissance.

The ones who paid for the artist. Those people were from famous, rich, powerful,
mercantile families. That is one of the main factors why Renaissance happened in Italy.

Michelozzo, Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, façade, Florence, 1444.

Medici family was the patron of this place. Michelozzo was the architect. This place
was an example of how Medici or such families communicated and function within this place.
For instance, ground floor is much thicker and there were no windows. That is because rich
families like Medici’s had enemies. So, they had to protect themselves. Renaissance was
filled with violence but also with beauty and creativity.
When you go inside, you will see a courtyard. Courtyard is a central place where you
enter with your horse or carriage or just by walking. From there you can enter, there are
various rooms and from those rooms, you can walk up into upper doors. This lower area is
where their business was run (banks, merchandise…)
This was a typical Renaissance palace. A large squarish, rectangular building with a
central courtyard which you enter the building.
Florence was a democrat, elective republic, where people were elected. Still those with
the money would have more power. If you have connections, you live the way of promoting
yourself.

Chateau de Saumur, exterior view, France, 12th century.

It was a kingdom of Aristocrats. They own their own places. They did not live in a
urban setting. In hereditary aristocracy, they had peasants who had to work for them.
However, Italians make their own money, and productive.

Revival of the Classical Canon: Realism of form and idealism of content.

Andrea Mantegna, Saint Sebastian, tempera on wood panel, 1457-1458.
He was a Christian Saint. He died because they were followers of Jesus. That was why
they became canonized. Artist like Donatello because he was looking up at an ancient statue.
Artist wanted to create beautiful figure in contrapposto (technically). In this painting, Saint
Sebastian had realistically depicted body, but he was also idealized. That is because he had
arrow in his face, but he did not look like he was in much pain.

Tiziano (Titian), Venus of Urbino, oil on canvas, 1538.

In this painting, Titian was an idealized figure of a real person. In the backside, people
packing her staff. There was a specific moment in a idealized way.

Revival of the Classical Cannon: proportion, balance, and symmetry.

Rafaello Sanzio (Raphael), The School of Athens, fresco, Vatican, 1509.

In this painting, we could see Plato and Aristotle in the center. There can seen a linear
perspective grid. This painting had realistic setting, because all figures were realistically
depicted (shading, volume, single source of light, etc.). They were not completely idealized
because they were people from different times but also because they were represented in a
idealized setting as a symbol of Western philosophy.

Beauty and Poetry.

Sandro Botticelli, The birth of Venus, tempera on canvas, 1509.

In this painting, Venus was a symbolic figure of nature. Most artists tried to do
realistic work, but Botticelli did not care about them. He painted a dream. He celebrated
beauty so he was a Renaissance artist however he did not follow the rules. He is a
Renaissance spirit.

Artist and Artisan the notion of “genius”.

Artists were no better than Artisan except for ancient Greece. Artist were producing
objects and were paid as artisans who were also producing objects seen same as beautiful
painting. Work of art did not exist that we know in today. In Ancient Greece, we had
something like this perception of genius, brilliance, extraordinary talent that is unique. That is
the one that creates the work of art and the artist who was like no other, who is exceptional,
who creates the work that is much more valuable than the material. We called it talent today
but, in that times, it was genius. They almost like God’s in a sense.

The divine artist: Michelangelo.

People thought that Michelangelo was an influential artist.

Michelangelo Buonarotti, Pieta, marble, 1498-1500.

This sculpture is idealized. Michelangelo created the combination of dead son and his
young mother. The mother, who is virgin Mary, was young and beautiful in this sculpture,
however, the boy, who was Jesus, was old. The mother has huge body. Michelangelo did this
sculpture like that because, he wanted to create a perfect balance by making the mother big
enough to holding her child. He created a foundation of which the body lies.

Michelangelo Buonarotti, David, marble, 1504.

This sculpture was idealized completely. There was no sense of sweat or movement.
He was standing in neutral time. He was the symbol, the divine figure. He had no expression
in his face. His face looks powerful and calm. His hands were bigger than normal which
represents the power. He was a symbol of victory and freedom. He has a perfect spirit in a
perfect body but also seem like dangerous when he gets angry.

Michelangelo Buonarotti, The Creation of Adam, fresco, Vatican, 1508-1512.

In the painting, the right man who represent the God, was an old man but in a
powerful body. They are flying through the sky. They are super powerful. God created Adam
like himself. Adam had a will of his own before God gave him. They are not received the life
of touch. We have no will on our own. That is why Michelangelo was called genius, talented
and gifted.

The Universal genius: Leonardo da Vinci.

Leonardo was a scientist, engineer, and painter.
Leonardo da Vinci, The Vitruvian Man, drawing, 1490.
Artist draw this in a perfect proportion and harmony. He used too basic geometry. He
draw a humanistic vision. He created his own density.
Leonardo da Vinci, Study of birds’ flight, 1500.
The artist was a careful observer of nature. He wanted to know how earth works.
Leonardo da Vinci, Anatomical Studies of Shoulder, 1510-1511.
He was a careful and great observer. This work was based on illegal things. He did this
work at night with a candlelight.

Leonardo da Vinci, the Virgin and Child with Saint Anne, oil on wood panel, 1510.
In this painting, artist used atmospheric perspective. It was a realistic painting. The
painting has poetic movement. Painting was unrealistic in content. The faces in the painting
was extraordinary. Leonardo has a characteristic technique.

Leonardo’s painting techniques:

1- Sfumato: It was used to soften the edges of depicted forms.
2- Chiaro-scuro: It was used to create a sense of volume with contrasting patches of
dark and light.

Leonardo da Vinci, Portrait of Lisa Gherardini (Mona Lisa), oil on wood, 1503-1506.
Artist used both techniques (chiaro-scuro, sfumato) of himself in this painting. We do
not know if Mona Lisa is smiling or not. He painted this and he had to give it to the owner of
the portrait, but he carried this painting until his death. Perhaps he changed the face. In
Leonardo’s paintings, all faces look alike include Mona Lisa.

Mannerism: when something belongs to somebody else.

Mannerism rejecting the Renaissance Canon. (the artists after Leonardo, started to say that
they are going to follow their own style).

Rosso Fiorentino, Descent from the Cross, oil on wood, 1521.

Jesus was in a green body. Saint John has a big, huge body. Artist used extraordinary
colors in this painting. The painting does not have Renaissance esthetic.

Parmigianino, self-portrait, oil on wood, 1524.

He painted himself without correcting deformation. He painted this on a convex wood
like mirror.

Agnolo Bronzino, Portrait of Andrea Doria, oil on wood, 1550.

 The painting was realistic but idealized.

Tintoretto, The Last Supper, oil on canvas, 1592-1594.

In the painting, we see an unusual setting. There was a deep space and strange angels.
It was diagonal like Jesus meeting.

El Greco, The Annunciation, oil on canvas, 1595-1600.

When you see so much dense in a painting, you understood it is El Graco’s. In this
painting, Gabriel came to virgin Mary to tell her that she going to give a birth to Jesus. Artist
creates massive things. Everything in the painting seems flowing. Artist is not Italian, but he
is still a Renaissance artist. He came to Italy to learn the painting art and then he went back to
Spain. He has his own style and became famous.

week6 Renaissance Art in Northern Europe

11/18/20
Renaissance art is the rebirth of their heritage, rediscovery of the world. It was an
Italian phenomenon, but it affected rest of the Europe (across the Alp’s, France, Germany…).
This was a breakthrough.
Netherlandish Art
Fundamentally different than Italian art. In Netherlandish art, artist not only concerned
about heritage but also, they did not know about perspective. However, the paintings include
too much detail and that is because of the oil paintings. In the painting, we can see symbolic
meanings like holy ghost. In the Italian art, artist did not care about symbolism, it was more
about creating poetic setting. Realistic in proportion without going into too details. However,
Netherland art was about detail.
Netherlandish art include lots of details, lots of symbolism, pedantically painting
details of objects, thanks to oil painting. It was more realistic in details.
During the Renaissance, Italians will learn oil paintings later, likewise Netherland
artists will learn linear perspective later.
Robert Campin, The Annunciation, oil on wood, 1427.
It was a triptych painting. It has one center and two side panels. This painting has very
creative, realistic details. This painting is depicted as the holy image of Christmas. At the
center we can see that the moment of the angel came to virgin Mary to tell her she was going
to give a birth to Jesus. The painting is located inside the private rooms. That is because
people wanted to show others that, they paid for this painting and, they wanted to be in the
painting too. So, we can see them in the left side panel of the painting who were from the
middle classes. In the right side, we can see Mary’s husband. He is in his carpenter workshop.
We can see the mouse traps at the floor.
There is no rational perspective. Mary is too big for the house. There is no geometric
matrix. That means the artist never heard about perspective. The painting is realistic in detail
but not look convincing. There is no single source of light. In painting, symbolic details refers
to Mary’s purity and this holy moment.
Hieronymus Bosch, Triptych of the Garden of Earth Delights, oil on wood, 1500.
Hieronymus Bosch was the master of details. He used linear perspective in his
paintings.
We do not know much about what is going on in the center panel, but left panel was
heaven, and the right panel was hell. The left panel represent the divine of the God’s creation.
We see Adam, Eve and the God. The God introduce Adam and Eve the heaven. There were
cats, birds, elephants, giraffes and so on. Things are not ideal or perfect in this painting
because God created immortal and perfect world in heaven but in the painting, we could see
some animals eating others. Moreover, some of the creations were not supposed to be there.
In the center panel, there was wonderful details and extraordinary techniques were
used. Realistic birds can be seen in an unrealistic setting. We can say that due to the size of
men and bird in the painting. Birds were bigger than man. The artist combined organic life
with fantasy.
The right side, which is represented as Hell, we see a strange, fantastic world. Life and
torture in the hell goes on forever. There is no end and no time (folklore). Musicians were
tortured with musical instruments. You will be punished in accordance with your sense.
Folklore means the common people beliefs. Not the ones that church told but the other things
that people believe.
Artist main concern was not the create a realism of detail or setting as much as a
fantasy world but based on the popular beliefs. Bosch represented very realistically the non-
realistic. Things were depicted realistic but there was also the fantasy of common people.
When we close this painting, we can see a quite unusual and unique universe and
cosmos. We see a flat earth in a sphere which is again folklore. Painting was a realistic
representation of a fantasy. Monochrome technique which means using one color in a painting
was used in the closed form of the painting.
Netherlandish art depicting the life of the common people
Peter Bruegel the elder, The Peasant Wedding, oil on wood, 1568.
In this painting, there seen a common people doing ordinary things. Before that times,
peasants were never represented in art. People could see a barn, musicians, child, food carried
by servants which were not look very tasty. Moreover, the color of wine shows that there is
water in wine. Furthermore, the child at the left bottom looks like she had not eaten a good
meal in a long time. This wedding could not be a rich people’s wedding.
 This artist is documenting what he sees. His experience, his knowledge of common
people and their lives. Northern phenomenon artists are more connected to real life than they
are in Italy. Unlike the Northern artists, Italians did not waste time on depicting common
people. The Italian Renaissance is basically painting in a realistic way and a idealized world.

Peter Bruegel the elder, The Parable of the Blind, oil on canvas, 1568.
In this painting, we can see blind, disabled people who can not be able to work for
living. They also need to eat (because they are still human). So, when there were no
institutions, they would have to get together and travel from one place to another, where they
would beg and live with what others gave them. They were joined by their common misery,
disability, and tragic destiny. When they walk, they hold on to each other. When the front
person falls, the others follow him. Jesus were told the same. This means that, if you blindly
follow someone without questioning you are going to get into trouble. This painting probably
refers to the bible but even it does, it still a very realistic depiction of generic portraits, types
based on observation. Artists sit somewhere and watching people and sketches and create
facial types. These generic types based on these real individuals.
The rise of the portraits:
1- Rulers, Kings, emperors.
2- Aristocracy.
3- The middle classes (merchants).
People who could pay the artist to paint them and people who had reasons to be painted.
Hans Holbein the younger, Portrait of King Henry VIII, oil on wood, 1540.
Hans Holbein the younger was a German, traveler artist. King Henry VIII was the English
king. He was cruel, powerful. By looking at this portrait, we could understand that artist spend
his most of the time on painting Kings dress. King has gloves in his hands.

Jan Clouet, Portrait of King François I, oil on wood, 1525-1530.

In this painting, a French king also holding his gloves. His face is quite realistic. The artist
still not learn enough from Italians, but he is still a talented artist.

Master of the Fontainebleau School, Gabrielle d’Estree and her sister Duchess Villars,
oil on wood, 1595.
The artist was an unknown master. Artist was not very competent of in the sense of careful
depiction. Both women were painted with Leonardo’s quara-scuro and sfumato technique.
This painting shows us that, Leonardo Da Vinci influenced many artists like this one.
Hans Holbein the younger, The Ambassadors, oil on wood, 1533.
In this painting, we see two individuals. Left man is a powerful aristocrat. The right man is
priest. Normally, two individual who is not related did not paint together but here it is. It is a
portrait of Aristocracy. This painting is more detailed and elaborate compare to the French
paintings. This artist took from both Italy and Netherlands and created a high realism style of
his own. Both man in the painting are wealthy, powerful, and educated. People could
understand it by seeing some geometry, music, geography subjects in the painting. The earth
sphere is like the real one even the old times. Artist likes to show off his knowledge of optical
illusion, texture, shortening. In this painting, artist paint an unusual object at the bottom. It is a
skull. He painted this to create an optical illusion and to mean that, however rich, powerful,
handsome, or etc. you are, you will end up dead. That is the great equalizer. Memento mori.

Jan Van Eyck, The Arnolfini Wedding, oil on wood, 1434.

Jan Van Eyck was a Dutch artist. The left man in the painting has a huge hat. Both
man and women have expensive clothes. They are in bedroom. In the back there was a mirror.
In the mirror we see them from back, their guests in the room which represent the audience
and the rest of the room. The chandelier has one lighted candle which represent the presence
of holy ghost. This is called symbolism. There is a written name at the wall which is the
artists’ name. In the corner of bed, we see the saint Margaret who is the protector of pregnant
women. This is where their marriage is consumed. There was a little dog in the front. The
artist paint that dog to symbolize fidelity, protection, and holiness.
Italian Arnolfini lives in Netherlands. People who looked at this painting have some
questions like “Is this a wedding portrait or not?”. They have questions like this in their minds
because, according to documents they are not married. People do not know what to believe.
This shows that art is not only about beauty, pretty, realism, and interesting but also how art
can be mysterious, need detective skills to understand.
The women in the painting, could not be pregnant because it is doubtful that they
would be represented as being married while she was pregnant. It was not a conventional
thing. Why to show this to everyone she got pregnant before the marriage, but these are just
suggestions. Moreover, she could just hold her dress because it is very long. During that
times, women were not be able to walk with these long dresses, so they hold up their dress,
rolling up to their fingers, and pull it up to walk. Mystery of art.
Furthermore, we do not know the answers of why the man in the painting holding the
women’s hand or why he is looking at somewhere. This is again showing the mystery of art,
and the symbolic things in art.

Quentin Massys, The moneychanger and his wife, oil on wood, 1514.
 This painting belongs to the upper- and middle-class paintings, the time of portraits.
We see a convex mirror. From that mirror, we see the gothic belt tower and windows with
nice vitrail. Moreover, we see a merchant house.

Albrecht Dürer, Self-portrait with gloves, oil on wood, 1498.

He was a great German Renaissance artist. He has his gloves on. He has fantastic hair
and expensive clothes. He is most famous for his prince. Graphics and printed images.

Albrecht Dürer, Rhinoceros, woodcut, 1515.

Woodcut is a kind of printing technique. Thanks to this technique there is no need for
reproduction. This woodcut is a drawing and at the top the artist explain what this animal is.
Moreover, the artist drew this animal based on the description. Woodcut techniques help
artists to hear from other artists in other places. This was the only way that artist could
reproduce his work and send it over and have it seen by hundreds of people in different
countries. Woodcut is the most primitive printing technique.

Week7 Baroque Art

11/25/20
Baroque art is a period in art that follows the Renaissance. It starts around 1600 in
Rome and goes on for several hundred years. Baroque art was unlike the Renaissance which
was at first a local phenomenon. Renaissance was a revival or a rebirth of a classical antiquity
of ancient Rome by the Italians then it spread gradually to other countries in different ways.
Baroque art started in Rome and spread. Baroque art covered not only catholic Europe from
where it started but also protestant countries like Germany and then it went across the ocean
into the America then it went to the other European colonies like Russia, Asia, Ottoman
Empire. We see the baroque as a huge international phenomenon not as a local Italian one. It
covers not only the visual arts and architecture but also the literature and music. Theatre and
opera were invented. Baroque was also the opposite of Renaissance. Something is massively
complex and ornamental in Baroque unlike the calm Renaissance.
Renaissance art was composition of horizontal and vertical, proportion and symmetry.
Everything is nicely balanced, and in closed form. Everything happens in inside and
everything was idealized. Highly realistic form but also idealized.
Renaissance art
- horizontal-vertical composition
- proportion and symmetry
- closed form
Braque art
-diagonal composition
-depth and dynamic recession
-in an open form
Pieter Paul Rubens, the raising of the cross, oil on wood, 1610
It is a tryptic painting. In the central panel, we see very dramatic moment that raising
of the cross. Jesus and his executors can be seen in a diagonal way. Painting has many
powerful man figures. One strong man pulling the Jesus in the right side. Main diagonal part
is that the propensity of falling and the support of the left side. Sense of balance can be seen.
Painting has optical and psychological effect.
In Renaissance figures taken place in left and right, but in here, figures received. The
scene was mostly dark and light in Baroque art. Moreover, there are lots of objects. For
instance, in the left side there seen a dog even there is no narrative reason of the dog. Central
panel filled with heath side, dog, executors. There is no empty space like Renaissance. In
Baroque art, there is a tendency to fill the empty places. The painting is intense, diagonal and,
has dramatic motion. Renaissance art is calm and silent in expression. Baroque art follows
many expressional things from the Renaissance, and it brings emotion into the art.

Michelangelo Buonarotti, David, marble, 1501-1504.

People could see the perfect contrapposto in Renaissance David which is made by
Michelangelo. There is no expression or the emotion in the face. People do not know about
the David. The marble is in closed form.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, David, marble, 1623.
This sculpture represented a part of the story. He took a sling which is a weapon to
throw into walls. David is about to throw his sling and kill the enemy. If he misses, he will
die. His face look focusing. People could see the matter of life and death. His body is ideal,
but his face has expressions. People could see real person here.
-What kind of technique?
In this sculpture, Bernini used the balance of diagonals. Bernini’s David, which is
belong to the Baroque art talk with people, they know the story behind the sculpture. It is not
in closed form like in Renaissance. The invisible barrier between the artist and audience has
been broken with the Baroque art.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, St. Longinus, marble, 1629-1638.

In this sculpture, St. Longinus looking upward and connecting with god. There is so
much action. Everything is in motion. Drapery is so big. But he has life of his own. His beard
and his hair. 

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Portrait bust of Louis XIV, marble, 1665.

Drapery. Motion
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Ecstasy of St. Theresa, Cornaro Chapel Church of S. Maria della
Vittoria, Rome, 1645-1652.
In this sculpture, people see a woman who recently die. This woman is St. Theresa.
Bernini take Theresa’s story and put it into art. Teresa had a supernatural vision. She
contacted with God. That is why there is an angel near Theresa in the sculpture. Even she is
dead, her face seems relieved, that is because she thought that she is safe with the angel.
Moreover, the angel is also looking satisfy and self-assured. During the times that Bernini has
been making this sculpture, protestant church steel away from the catholic church. Martin
Luther divide church into two. Catholic church wanted people to see emotion in art. So, in this
sculpture people seen a holy moment. In Baroque art artist introduce real saints and emotions
to art. Before that emotion was a mystery.
This is Bernini’s visionary moment and transposing it into the sculpture. Everything is
in turmoil. Baroque art is about drama. 

Michelangelo Buonarotti, Pieta, marble, 1500. 

Michelangelo’s pieta is huge. It does not show any emotion. Artist adjusting two
proportion. There can see the calmness. 

However, Baroque art is like a theatre.

Bernini’s sculpture is in a dark church with yellowish light. Before the electricity, this
was a phenomenon. That is because when people look at the sculpture, the lights and the
upper golden parts creates a magical moment.
The sculpture stayed in a part of a chapel which belongs to Cornaro family. At the
right side of the sculpture people could see the members of family. This creates a theatrical
mood. Before the Baroque art, nothing like this has been see. It was an extraordinary
phenomenon. The lighting effects, the stage and the actors (sculpture of Theresa and the
angel) and the audience (Cornaro family).
At the upper side of the sculpture, people could see the Fresco fainting. In Baroque art,
artists create art that tell stories with it. So, when people stand in front of the art, the barrier
between the artist and the audience has been broken. This kind of new approach in art called
multimedia. Moreover, Fresco painting called illusionism. Illusionism means trick the eye in
French and from below to above in Italian. 

Andrea Pozzo, Triumph of St. Ignatius, fresco, Church of San Ignazio, Rome, 1688-
1690. 
Baroque artists specialized in illusionist paintings. It became a Braque phenomenon. In
this painting, church looks like there is no ceiling and the skies are opening. There are many
angels in skies. Walls of the church is not there, it is painted. That was also the illusionism. In
Baroque art, painted architecture begins. Curved ceiling seems to open.

Andrea Pozzo, Illusionist ceiling with painted dome, fresco painting, Jesuit Church,
Vienna, 1703.
Fake dome painting. Again, the painted architecture.
Guercino, Aurora in her Chariot, fresco painting, Rome 1621-1623.
Baroque art introduces below to above. This painting pained below to above. That
means, artist made this painting by the audience perspective from where they stand.
Renaissance artist do not want to interfere the space. Baroque art is always paint from below
to looking upward. They break down the barrier between artist and the audience and connect
them. Renaissance artist paint from their perspective. They do not try to create a connection
they only worry about the beauty of the painting.

Idealism and naturalism in baroque art Rubens and Caravaggio but they are worlds apart.

Peter Paul Rubens, The four continents, oil on canvas, 1615.

Rubens was paint fantasy. He wants to create beautiful pictures. His paintings are an
explosion of color and form. People are idealized. He painted like a story of ancient times. In
this painting people could see many idealized people, some babies, crocodile and a tiger. In
Baroque art, there are no empty spaces like in Renaissance art. There is a tendency to fill the
blank spaces. That is why in some paintings, there are nonsense things in the painting.

Peter Paul Rubens, Abduction of the Daughters of Leucippus by Castor and Pollux, oil
on canvas, 1617-1718.
In this painting people see a story of ancient times. There is two women and two men
in a dramatic moment. People feel the drama and the connection between bodies. 

Peter Paul Rubens, Tiger, Lion and Leopard Hunt, oil on canvas, 1616.
There are some exotic animals with an extraordinary balance. People do not
understand who is hunting who? The goal is to create drama.
Peter Paul Rubens, The Three Graces, oil on wood, 1638.
Everything is connected. Three female figures. Naked. Their dresses are top of
the tree. The artist paint this painting due to his view of ideal female form. Light
massive balancing colors. Game. A ballet. Wonderful forms and colors.
Caravaggio, The Calling Saint Matthew, oil on canvas, 1599-1602.
In this painting people see the moment, when the Jesus point the man, who is
Matthew, to be his follower. Matthew is the one that looks like to say are you talking to me.
We feel emotions and the painting is talking with us. Jesus chose him because he was a
character. During that times, people ask Jesus why are you choosing such evil people? He said
that it is the sick who need to heal. In the painting there are two boys in front, who are there to
protect Matthew. One of them counting the coins and other one makes sure he did not steal
any of the money. A very realistic light come from right side in the painting. In the painting,
the view and the walls are disgusting. This is naturalism.
Renaissance and Rubens would not paint like that. They idealized people. However,
Caravaggio use real people in his paintings. Before Caravaggio, artist did not use real people
in paintings which are not portraits. Caravaggio should be pay people to paint them. It should
take months and months to paint something like that. No one ever paint Jesus with a real
person’s face before. People, who had seen this painting, they shocked. That is because they
know the people in the painting. Moreover, they thought that if the people in the painting is
not idealized, the art is not beautiful.

Caravaggio, David and Goliath, oil on canvas, 1601-1602.

Caravaggio’s paintings are always dark. Here is another painting. He pushes his
paintings to the side which is extraordinary. Giant goliath and the boy are real people. We can
see naturalism in this painting. The boy, whose big toe is bleeding. During that times in
Rome, young kids run around barefoot. Most likely that is why the model boy has a bleeding
toe. Some people liked Caravaggio’s paintings and others hate. People who hate thought that
artists should paint beautiful things. Like not the bleeding toe. 

Caravaggio, Bacchus, oil on canvas, 1597-1598.

This painting is a portrait of an individual. It is not known that this id Bacchus or he
pretend like Bacchus. Most likely he pretends to be Bacchus but Caravaggio paint him
anyway. Also, he painted some fruits which were rotten. Is this an intentional thing or he had
these fruits and paint them? Again, most likely he had these fruits. That is naturalism.

Caravaggio, Judith Beheading Holofernes, oil on canvas, 1598.

In this painting there is an old woman who is servant, young lady who is Judith and
the Holofernes. Caravaggio used real people in his paintings and that is why the young lady
seems disgusted. Awkward and poetic moment.
Her whole body is going this way. Set of horizontal composition. 

Caravaggio’s influence
Caravaggio change art. Many artists influenced by him. He also had direct followers.
His influence expands by years. 

Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith beheading Holofernes, oil on canvas, 1611-1612. 

Influenced by Caravaggio. Tried to make the same scene as Caravaggio’s painting.
Also used dark lights and real people.

Jusepe Ribera, Martyrdom of St. Philip, oil on canvas, 1639.

Ordinary and real people who play this moment. 

Rembrandt Van Rijn, The blinding of Samson, oil on canvas, 1636.

Giant attacked. Golden light. Use of darkness like Caravaggio. 

Georges De La Tour, the Penitent Magdalen, oil on canvas, 1640.

One source of light. Affected by Caravaggio. Use of real people and real settings.
Calm moment of her. 

Renaissance and Baroque architecture. 

Horizontal vertical Renaissance
Borromini dynamism. Flowing. Concave convex. 
Compare to the calm Renaissance and empty spaces. Otherwise, there is no empty space in
baroque. Dynamism movement