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This quarter I particularly enjoyed the Mannerist style. I am drawn to the almost modern or abstract nature of the works. The uncomfortable and impossible poses of the subjects means that the artists have the artistic freedom to paint their figures in any way, not just in ways that humans can achieve. This is actually the way that I myself draw: figures out of proportion, strange angles, though I must admit, sometimes by accident. I am also intrigued by the aim to make the viewers uncomfortable on purpose like in An Allegory with Venus and Cupid. The subject matter takes the viewer aback almost immediately. During the time it was created, most people knew the figures of Greek and Roman mythology and so instantly recognized the inappropriate nature of the scene. Even without any knowledge of mythological beings, the viewer can be shocked just by looking at Cupid’s face, knowing he is very young. This piece is one of my favorites also because of the fact that the artist is not painting a religious scene or commissioned portrait. The fact that this piece may have been created as a secret joke or as a reason for men at court to oogle a naked woman is evidence that we, as humans, have always been smutty, and that is very amusing. Dirty jokes are not just a modern thing!

My other favorite artistic period is the Baroque era. The drama and emotion of the scenes are what I have also thought of when thinking of fine art. Portraits give good information and a historical reference point, but the action in Baroque art really makes you feel. Bernini’s David is an amazing example of movement that can be achieved in sculpture. While he still has an idealized form, so popular in the Renaissance, he is in action, something not portrayed in earlier sculpture. We can see in what moment this David is existing; the moment of battle. The viewer’s ability to walk around the piece and get all different views allows us to be part of the action. This period kept some similarities of the Mannerist style such as the diagonal, sharp, almost painful lines.
    This same feeling of being part of the scene is also achieved in Baroque painting. One interesting example is Rembrandt’s  The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp. We see the good doctor teaching students about the inner working of the human arm. He is in mid-lecture, in mid motion. All of the students are gathered at the head of the table leaving the end open. This allows the viewer to take the place of a student standing at the end of the cadaver and be part of the scene.

    One characteristic of Baroque art is the dramatic contrast between light and dark. This is very interesting for me as someone in the lighting department of theater. In Brugghen’s St. Sebastian Tended by St. Irene, there are portions of bright light combined with dark shadows. It is very clear in this piece that the light source is coming from our left side.  We see the wound in his side greatly illuminated while in contrast his face is in shadow against Irene, perhaps trying to mask his pain.

The two David's

     In the late 16th century and into the early 17th century, a new artistic style emerged. While the Baroque style was partially based on standards discussed at the Council of Trent, it also incorporated Renaissance ideals as well. To see some of these features, one can look at two statues of biblical figure David, one from the Renaissance and one from the Baroque period.
    Michelangelo’s David is perhaps the more well known of the two. David stands tall and proud, almost pensive, looking off into the distance. He is standing still, with no real hint of movement or action. This piece was finished in 1504, during the High Renaissance period. This David captures what the “rebirth” was all about. While he is a biblical figure, he is portrayed according to Greek classical form. This is an ideal man in all his glory. He also has a position similar to Greek and Roman statues, such as his bent left arm and left leg.
    During the early 17th century, there was a move to bring people back to the church. As such, it was mandated that art existed to give people knowledge of biblical acts and struggles. This also meant that a lot of commissioned art was for the church.
    In contrast to Michelangelo, Bernini’s David is in movement. He is twisting his body in preparation for action, giving some dramatic diagonals from his left leg going back and his arms reaching for his sling. This use of strong diagonals is meant to bring the viewer into the work of art, to become part of it. A significant difference between Renaissance and Baroque art is that the Baroque style emits a high amount of drama and emotion. We do not see the subjects in quiet contemplation, but rather in the midst of deed or struggle. Emotion is also seen on David’s face. He is grimacing, a look of concentration and battle.
     Another characteristic of Baroque art is dramatic contrasts of dark and light. In painting, this is achieved by showing a light source, either inside the painting itself, or by some outside source. This can also be noticed in Bernini’s David. The angles of the body project dark dramatic shadows onto the floor or pieces of the statue itself, and can change throughout the day depending on where the light is coming from. The movement portrayed in this piece also allows it to be viewed from many different sides and angles, something not really achieved by Michelangelo’s David. Viewing Bernini’s from different positions will also change light and dark contrasts the diagonals of the body give.
    While Bernini’s David is clearly a Baroque piece, there are some classical influences that still remain. For example, he is an idealized man, although perhaps not to the degree of Michelangelo’s David. There is also still some fascination with anatomy as show by the detail with which David’s body is sculpted. However, in accordance with the
Counter Reformation, there is a piece of drapery covering David’s groin area as during this time, art needed to be appropriate and modest.

Madonna with the Long Neck and Allegory with Venus and Cupid

The Late Renaissance began around 1520 with the death of the artist Raphael. It was during this period that the Mannerist style emerged and became popular. A Mannered piece of art can be defined as “having an artificial or stilted character”. Mannered art is more stylized with figures having unrealistic bodies or positions and compositions that feel unstable. Two famous paintings from this era are Madonna with the Long Neck and Allegory with Venus and Cupid.

Madonna with the Long Neck by Parmigianino is a beautiful example of Mannerist art, although it is unfinished due to the artist’s early death. The subject of the piece comes from Christianity; Mary holding a sleeping Christ. She has unnatural body proportions indicative of the Mannerist style. Her long neck (hence the name of the painting) matches the slenderness of her fingers trailing across her chest. She has a large lower body in contrast to a narrow upper body. This makes for Mary being a very large and dominant figure. In contrast to this, we can see a very small St. Jerome in the bottom right corner. Christ himself is also of a large nature in the painting.

In keeping with the “visual joke” aspect of Mannerism, Mary is in a position that gives the impression she is seated although there is no chair in the painting. Her right foot is resting atop two pillows in such a way that makes the position her body is in virtually impossible without some sort of sitting apparatus.

Allegory with Venus and Cupid by Bronzino is another example of Mannerist painting. Just like Parmigianino, Bronzino draws on religion for his subject matter, although in this case, it is Greek mythology that is portrayed. Also, like in Madonna with the Long Neck, this piece shows a mother with her child, although in a very different manner. In the previous painting, Mary lovingly holds her son while he sleeps, while in Bronzino’s painting, Venus is being kissed and caressed by her son.

The scene we see is uncomfortable owing to the seemingly passionate and inappropriate position we find Venus and Cupid in and perhaps being encouraged by the sauntering figure at the right who is getting ready to shower the couple in rose petals. This could have been some sort of joke that viewers understood when the piece was created that we don’t understand today.

 Cupid is in a strange half-standing, half-kneeling stance beside his mother. In my own opinion, Cupid’s face does not quite match his body. His face seems extremely youthful while his body looks more like that of a young man. There is another figure in the painting whose head doesn’t match the body, and that would be the strange serpent on the right. The body is scaly and reptilian while the face is that of a beautiful young girl. Her face is flatter and has less definition than the other figures in the composition.

Unlike Parmigianino’s piece with the large, deep background, Bronzino’s work is given a claustrophobic feeling with all the figures squished so close together and with the cloth held by Chronos and Night in the back pushing everything forward into the same plane instead of having a distinctive foreground and background.

Both of these painting are fantastic examples of the Mannerist style that broke away from the precision and perfection of the earlier Renaissance years.

The Birth of Venus

The Renaissance was a time of “rebirth” in western Europe. It was a time of learning, of a belief that each person was capable of great achievement. One of the many reasons for this change was the recovery of ancient Roman and Greek texts that had been previously held in Constantinople. The return of these texts sparked a new interest in classical Greek and Roman mythology and artistic ideals.

The Birth of Venus was created in the 1480’s by Sandro Botticelli. This particular painting is of tempera on canvas. In this work, we see Venus coming to life out of the ocean, being pushed by wind from Zephyr and greeted onshore by a worshipper. These figures come directly from Roman mythology (and as such, somewhat from Greek mythology). According to Art History: Fourteenth to Seventeenth Century Art , Venus could be seen as the Virgin Mary due to her representation of both human and divine love. This is could be one of the reasons for her modesty in the painting. This figure of Venus takes a stance seen in ancient Rome, known as the “modest Venus”. This was a way of making female nudity acceptable, she is making an effort to cover herself. On the other hand, in doing so, covering her genitals brings attention to that area. Using these ancient conventions of nudity, Botticelli created one of the first female nudes in Italian painting.

This piece has several very discernable qualities different from other early Italian Renaissance works. For instance, all of the figures are in the foreground and along the same horizontal plane. Many other Renaissance works have figures in the background either going about their own business or sometimes participating in the scene in the front. Such an example can be seen in Piero della Francesca’s Baptism of Christ where four robed men can be seen far in the background behind Christ. The position of the figures is reflective of the altarpieces being produced in the north at the same time, the subject being in the middle with people on each side participating along with the scene in the center. There is also not a busy background as can be seen in other paintings. Many pieces have bustling cities to add to the landscape and realism of the painting, while Botticelli has depicted a calm seaside scene instead.

There exists in Botticelli’s a wonderful sense of movement. There are very few harsh lines, a lot of blending taking their place. The blowing wind of the ocean is evident in the flowing lines of both the pink garment held by the worshipper and Zephyr’s throw. The wind is also felt in the women’s hair as well as the wafting roses.

The colors used by Botticelli are bright and used in a less saturate way than in many other Renaissance works, giving the painting an almost pastel look. In a lot of other works, dark colors are the scheme of the subjects clothing. One such piece is Nativity and Adoration of the Shepherds by Domenico Ghirlandaio. In that piece all of the prominent figures are clothed in dark fabrics with very little life or movement. By contrast, the Birth of Venus is alive with bright colors. The clothing, or lack thereof, is bright, begging to be noticed. The bright color of the covering, as well as her white dress brings our attention to the attendant on the right side of the piece. She, as a mortal worshipper, is completely clothed, while the mythical beings are allowed to remain without garments, perhaps of their elevated status. Botticelli has painted Venus’s skin a pale and bright white, making her stand out and the main focus of the piece.

There are some elements of the Birth of Venus that are not realistic in relation to the rest of the scene. For instance, the shell Venus is standing in has very little depth, giving the sense that she is standing on it rather than in it. Also, her neck is inexplicably long, a proportion not found in real women, although she is not a real woman, but a goddess.

With the Birth of Venus, Botticelli created a work that has remained one of the most recognizable paintings from the Italian Renaissance and captured many of the values of both the ancient world and the world in which he lived.

The Northern Renaissance

   When one thinks of the Renaissance, Italy is usually the first thing to come to mind. However, beginning in the early 15th century, there was a movement in the north, the Northern Renaissance.
   In the years preceding the birth of the northern Renaissance, tapestries were the dominant art form. Tapestries were reserved for the elite as they were made of luxurious fabrics and spoke to the lifestyle of whoever owned it. In the early 1400’s, the desired moved towards artwork that could be more easily accessed by the masses. This is where sculpture comes in.
    At this time, Flanders was flourishing as part of the realm of Burgundy. The Dukes of Burgundy were among the richest in Europe. They were immense patrons of the arts and honestly believed that their lavish spending would trickle down and help the entire economy and the greater good. As such, they commissioned magnificent works of art.
    The artist Claus Sluter went to Dijon and created the Well of Moses on commission from Philip the Bold. This sculpture, finished in about 1403, is a very early example of the style that came to be so popular and influential in the northern Renaissance. An element of the movement was realism. The figures of the well are three dimensional and thus have a presence that make them look like real people. The flowing garments, along with the positions of their bodies make them capable of the movement of living beings.
    As exemplified in Sluter’s sculpture, one of the style characteristics of the northern Renaissance is realism. At this time in history, religious imagery is still the dominant art form. According to the BBC documentary Northern Renaissance: The Supreme Art, one of the great desires of people was to physically see sacred persons such as the Madonna. There was a wide-held belief that an object had something of its substance, so there was thought to be a piece of the deity in each sacred image of it. Religious images were thought to be able to enter the soul through the eyes, so viewing an image of the lord would bring some of the lord into you. This could be one of the reasons that realism was so highly praised; it brought religious icons to life. It also allowed people to achieve their desire of actually viewing a deity by putting them in the painting, such as the painting of Nicolas Rolin with the Madonna.
    The veritable creator of this kind of realism is Flemish painter Jan van Eyck. His great masterpiece was created in 1432; the Ghent Altarpiece. This piece was created specifically for the church in which it now resides. Van Eyck even goes so far as to use the light in the room to influence the shadows in the piece. For example, the figure of Adam has highlights in his eyes coming from the window, while Eve, facing the opposite direction, has shadows across her face, corresponding with having her back to the window. Some of the jewels in the crowns on the angels in the piece are even reflecting the position and shape of the window in the room.
    How did van Eyck achieve this level of realism? The answer lies in his technique with both the paint and the glaze he applied to his works. According to the documentary, he built up many layers of paint to get the rich colors that we see in life. He purposefully put a lot of reflective surfaces in his pieces so he could use different glazes to reflect light. Van Eyck began doing portraits of his wealthy patrons, which began the love of having one’s portrait done. His likenesses were so real that they were equated with looking into a mirror.
    The northern Renaissance inspired many of the conventions that endured for centuries to come such as the focus on realism. According to the documentary, van Eyck created worlds that were perfectly consistent with optical reality. They allow us to see back in time to real people and real scenes of life such as the Amolfini Portrait of a man and his wife. These paintings “defeat death and time” and give viewers a “glimpse of paradise itself”.

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    The Renaissance, is the most interesting cultural movements of all. During this time there were great changes in art and science.
    One of the reasons for this change was the movement of ancient scholarly scrolls from the Middle East to Italy after the sacking of Constantinople. These scrolls brought ancient knowledge to Europe, bringing them out of the dark ages and inspiring new interest in art, science, and education. The Renaissance can be seen as the beginning of the love of innovation, learning and artistic expression that carried through to today in Western culture.
    Another reason for the artistic explosion, according to a history book in my collection, was the patronage of the Medici family. While not graced with a royal title early on, the family made their fortune through banking and trade. Much of this fortune went to supporting the arts. Later in the 16th century the family was given ducal lands and titles.
    Artists like da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael are focused on, in my opinion, because of the amount of work they produced in a variety of media such as paint, sculpture, architecture, and poetry. All three men were veritable “Jacks-of-all-trades”, motivating the phrase “Renaissance man”. All men loved learning, experimentation, and art. Actually, it is said that while they all had similar styles and interests, these three men greatly disliked each other.
    The return of the ancient Greek scrolls to Europe also brought Greek mythology and stories to those who previously had little or no knowledge of them. From looking at some of the paintings in the text, this inspired many works of art depicting these stories and a return to the love of the classical Greek ideal of beauty. Nude women in paintings were portrayed in a style similar to the Greek cannon of proportions. Returning to the Greek ideals was also a way of making nudity socially acceptable, just like in ancient times, by covering up the genital region of women and making them the "shy Venus"; their nudity being part of whatever they were doing, such as bathing or breast feeding. Portraits became popular, both of individuals and of families. Religious art was still popular, but now had a focus on realism and humanism, giving the paintings more movement and life.