Bellini at the Academia

So, the trip is over and we're back in the United States, catching up on sleep :). But, seeing as how we had a lot to do in Italy, we're catching up on all the things we had to say too. Our last stop of the trip was in Venice, home of the Academia museum. Works by one of the artist's I had studied, Gentile Bellini, were located in the museum, but it was his brother's work that caught my attention. Seeing the work of Giovanni Bellini, the better known of the two brothers, though surpassed in some respects by the brother-in-law, Andrea Mantegna, was more impressive in person than reading about it in a textbook. Giovanni painted a considerable number of Madonnas with child (surprise, surprise), but his works exhibit a new focus on the background landscape. Often, the subject is slightly off-center, revealing the background landscape behind a curtain. His painting are colorful with rich blues, greens, and reds. I think it was actually the distinct coloring and the softness of the brushstrokes that caught my attention and made me recognize the works as distinctly Bellini without reading the name cards (I guess that studying paid off)! I even spent a little bit of time in the museum trying to spot a Bellini and then see if I was correct. After realizing I could recognize a work as similar to Giovanni Bellini's without necessarily having seen it before i started thinking about what it was that was so distinctive to catch my attention. I think it was the soft and gentle expressions on the figures combined with the rich coloring. Although I had read about his characteristic gentle quality in the textbook, it wasn't until I saw the works in person that I realized this was one of the uniting themes in his body of work; I previously mistook gentleness to mean weakness rather than the rich yet quiet emotion able to coexist with the rich colors and life-filled faces.  

-Abbie

Raphael's Stanzas (Rome)

In Rome, we got the opportunity to see some of the greatest art of history including one of my favorite artists Raphael Sanzio. We went into the room of Rafael's Stanzas painted on four walls. It was a medium sized room, that was slightly smaller than I had imagined. It was interesting to see the interplay between the paintings that we had studied and read about. The school of Athens and theology stanzas fill the walls across from each other. They seemed to steal the show compared to other two. The mountain of Parnassus, was darker than I anticipated. There is a big door rising up in the center of it which detracts from its visual emphasis compared to the other perpendicular walls. The ceiling was also integrated well with the walls, providing a unified decorative scheme. The overall effect of the room was very grand and impressive. Even with the grand scale of the multi-figured scenes they don't overwhelm the viewer, but rather they maintain rational groupings that function quite effectively.

-Kevin

Botticelli's madonna with Child and five angels (florence)

Looking through the artworks from the 1300-1500's its safe to say that the most commonly painted subject is the Madonna and child. Generally the artist seem to play it safe rather than innovating, with similar, straightforward compositions. Getting through the italio-byzantine and Gothic depictions before going to the Uffizi made Botticelli's Madonna and child seem a breath of fresh air. It keeps some of the traditional elements of gilding and the striated rays, but adds renaissance perspective and realism of the figures. I enjoy the brilliant colors the and the transparent draping banner. Though the composition is still focused on Mary and the child slightly to the right of the center, the use of line and the gesturing of the five angels keeps your eyes moving in a dynamic way. This piece was brighter in real life than most of the pictures I have seen of it, and thee details are definitely more impacting.

-Kevin

Florence vs Pisa

The statue of "Florence's Victory Over Piza" was the most memorable piece in the Vatican museum. This piticular piece was memorable to me because the statue intertwined with the history of Florence. I also found it interesting how Florence was portrayed as a woman capturing and defeating Piza who is depicted as a muscular man with a dog. Normally, Florence used the biblical character David to simblize the city, but instead of using a biblical character, they portrays a female dominating a male.

Mari

Tintoretto - 'Adam and Eve in Front of God'

For this response, I decided that I was going to do a painting which we hadn't previously studied. We had looked over some of Tintoretto's work but not the piece in which I'm going to discuss. 

This is from Tintoretto's Adam and Eve in Front of God which was painted in 1550-1553

It's incredible, the mannerist style of Tintoretto. I really appreciate how he starts from a background of black or dark color and from there works forward. The typical lack of focal point in mannerist painting is not found in this painting, as the character of God or the fruit is a stand out focal point. This is not, however in the center, which is very common of Renaissance art. The realism of the bodies and their reactions with light is breathtaking, particularly upon Adam. God is mostly cast in shadow, but the main light source is coming from behind Him, bringing a greater feeling of majesty and awe to God. The shame and guilt exist within the body and face of Adam and Eve, but almost a sense of explanation seems to be desired from Adam as he points to the fruit in hope that grace will be given to him and his counter at this time. God looks away from Adam and Even in sadness of what He must do in the future.

I was really really impressed with this painting which hung in the latter part of the Uffizi gallery in Florence.

I looked for a picture of this online, but wasn't successful. I'm sorry friends,

Ry

Vatican Museum: Raphael's 'Expulsion of Attila'

For me, the experience of seeing the piece I had studied in class up close was an amazing experience. As a few others have said, seeing the art piece up close in person has changed my views since only seeing it in our textbook. Raphael's large fresco 'Expulsion of Attila' captured my impression of the scene in an entirely different way. Seeing the scene and it's figures in detail allowed me to notice aspects of the fresco I had not seen before. In my initial research of this piece I had discovered a discrepancy in the portrayal of Pope Julius II. Claims in several of my sources stated that the pope had often grew out or shaved his beard, making it difficult to tell whether the figure was truly Julius or whether his face had been painted over with the portrait of Pope Leo X after Julius' passing. Seeing the fresco up close I realize the inclusion of both figures. Pope Leo X is on the left side as a larger figure and Pope Julius II appears to almost be hidden in the crowd on the right side. Now the question seems to be whether one of the figures was painted in later. Viewing this fresco in person allows me to see differently and ask different questions I wouldn't have necessarily formed from the textbook alone. A few other aspects I collected were the variety of colors used and the great sense of motion. Altogether I thoroughly enjoyed studying this piece and seeing it up close was an experience I will definitely remember.

Another piece I enjoyed seeing up close was the panels for the first set of doors in the Baptistry in Florence. I had read about the competition for the design panels between Brunelleschi and Ghiberti, but in person it was much easier to see the differences in rendering and design. The scene on the panel was meant to depict the sacrifice of Isaac.Ghiberti's design stood out from Brunelleschi's in it's greater sense of composition and motion throughout the scene. Although Brunelleschi's piece seemed to really push the boundaries of the panel in it's three dimensionality, it couldn't surmount the tactile flow and clarity of Ghiberti's portrayal.

The experience of seeing both these works has given me a new understanding of the idea the artist intended to get across and also gave me a new perspective on their work. Doing the studies and then seeing them in person connected my thoughts to physical facts.

Shannon Sutton

Finished? Not quite...

When at the Vatican Museum, there are quite a few paintings by Raphael. Quite a few rooms, actually...He is an impressive painter who is more well known as one of the teenage mutant turtles. However, seeing some of his paintings as we walked through the Vatican museum was really a cool experience. The Justice wall, which I discussed earlier in this blog is the piece in which I am going to be talking about on this fine evening in Venice. =]

As a lot of the paintings done at this time in Florence and Rome, Raphael used fresh plaster mixed with pigment as his form of art. As you walk into the room, the painting is at the far end of the room right next to the school of Athens. Even though the painting is very impressive, and the figures of the virtues are extremely beautiful and marvelous in person, the thing which I wanted to discuss is something else. As part of the law portion of the wall, there is an area in which Constantine is being depicted. In my earlier research I had found out that the painting was not finished, and as I looked at pictures, I wasn't really able to see this. However, when in front of the painting, it is extremely evident that it is not finished. The peoples don't have appropriate shadings and the chair in the bottom of the painting lack all form and shape.

As something that you read about, it is something that you can just jump over, which I definitely did in this case. Seeing it in person, however, and seeing many paintings in person really makes me have a greater appreciation for the artists and the amount of work they pour into the pieces.

I LOVE ITALY!!!!

ry=]

Botticelli Obsessed...

I, as I am pretty sure everyone in our little group has heard, am significantly impressed with Botticelli's, Primavera. I have been ranting about this piece for a couple weeks now and Prof isn't necessarily in agreement with me. :) But that's okay. Why...you might ask, am I so impressed with this piece? To me, I appreciate the risk. It was completely and utterly out of the norm to paint a fantastical piece about various mythological characters at that time. On top of that, Botticelli somewhat positioned these characters in a way that screamed "religious painting" (Venus=Virgin Mary, Cupid=Baby Jesus...etc). So, anyway, you can imagine my excitement seeing this piece in person at the Uffizi.

I am in complete agreement with Abbie who posted last... Seeing these works in person allows for so much more focus and attention on the possibly overlooked details of the piece. Some of the things I noticed when I sat down in from of this piece was that for one, it's A LOT darker in person than the online and textbook images I'm used to. Zephyr, the wind god on the right, blends a lot more into the forest than I remember. But, being up in front allows me to see more closely the details such as all the crazy amounts of individual flowers. Supposedly there's like 500 different kinds. Hwhaaat? Nuts. Also, seeing this up close allowed for me to see more closely the different expressions on their faces. Venus, for one, really does seem super motherly and tender. Flora, truly happy... Which is beautiful to me because despite the rape that she experienced from Zephyr on her right, she is completely content and confident-looking in what she has become, as opposed to her pre-transformed Chloris self who is timid, fearful and weak. The three Graces still look ethereal, playful and somewhat in their own world. Zephry and Cupid didn't change much. But Mercury, before seeing this, I thought portrayed manly, protective and masculine characteristics, but honestly, looking at it now, he just looks like a boy.

So, I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing these pieces in person and taking in all the wonderful culture and life around me as well. It's a beautiful time. :)

Kelsey Masuda

When in Rome...the Vatican

I can summarize the effect of seeing so many famous works of art up close and in person with one thought: very few of the works are what I would expect based on the pictures of a textbook. At the same time it's fun to recall information and apply it in person. Though we learned a great deal before seeing the works, the hallmark features I memorized are sometimes more prominent, often less, than I expected. For example, the detailed decoration and architectural elements that characteristically frame renaissance works were so much more interesting and a more important element than I expected. When we study works, it's usually the main figure or prominent character in the narrative that receives the focus; in person, the surrounding detail and extra painted sculpture becomes just as interesting as the focal point.

I began this train of thought while in the Vatican Museum, observing the walls painted by Raphael. Many of the works are beyond famous; The School of Athens comes to mind. This means that just a glance at the painting makes it instantly recognizable. But perhaps the familiarity of such paintings keeps us from noticing the elements which are not the aforementioned "hallmark" features that let us make such quick identifications. While staring up at The School of Athens (as well as the other Raphaels, including The Mass at Bolsena, one of the works I studied in depth during our class) the features I had dismissed when looking at a 4x6 illustration became equally if not more interesting than the representations of famous thinkers. The borders, decorated to blend in with and mimic architectural elements contain so many complex figures that they are paintings in their own rights! I can not imagine painting a masterpiece, and then painting life-size bodies, realistic looking stones, and complex figures in impressive perspective around the edges. All that to say, looking at the realistic looking "statues" painted as though holding up the "main" painting was just as impressive as the "main" painting itself.

Perhaps my interest in the detail has to do with its ability to allude to the time that must have been put into the works; seen in their original setting, the process and daily life associated with the works is in the forefront of your mind. In many of the places we've visited all over Rome and Florence, it's been the daily life, of historical characters captured in ancient ruins and of modern day citizens in the shops and subways that has most captured my attention.

-Abbie

School of Athens...in person

While the room was rather stuffy and crowded, it was well worth it to see Raphael's "School of Athens" (sometimes called "Philosophy.". The detail of the garmets and hair was incredible. In pictures and in textbooks, it looks rather dull, but up close on can see all the work put into each figure and their relationship to those surrounding. Even the books and papers in the fresco had distinct lettering to the extend, that at the right angle, those who can read Latin have the chance to read these clearly. At one point a lady came up to me to inform me that the artist painted himself into the painting to the right and Leonardo is in seen in the center. I laughed slightly at the irony, excited for the chance to share some more details I had discovered in my research, but she meandered off, audio tour pressed firmly to her ear, before I could talk further. It is nice to realize the opportunities have to not only learn about these famous artists but to actually see their work in person.

-Emily

Busy in the sun...

So why no updates, you ask? Well, the truth is that our schedule the first days was rather busy. Now that we are in Florence, however, we have slowed down some. I say "some" because today we are heading to the Bargello and Uffizi museums. But back to Rome...

After landing at 2:30 pm on our first day, we hiked from our hotel to S. Peter in Chains church, home to Michelangelo's famous Moses, part of his giant tomb for Pope Julius II, by all accunts a very scary man (and the father of Cesare Borgia, the "prince" of whom Machiavelli so famously writes). Other sites that day included the Coliseum and part of the Forum.

Day 2 on the ground was spent between St Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Museum, where we not only took in an incredible amount of Renaissance and Baroque art, but some religious art by famous 20th C painters, such as Chagall and Bacon and Dali. The emphasis, of course, was on Raphael and Michelangelo--namely, thie frescos in the Stanze and Sistine Chapel. We had studied these specifically in class, so it was great to be able to study these from only a few feet away. I also had the iPad there with me, opened up to our in-class PowerPoints, so the facts were there when we (the presenter, prof, and classmates) could not remember all the details. The remainder of the day was spent in the Piazza Novana area after visiting the Pantheon and S. Maria Della Sopra Minerva, home to a Michelangelo misnamed "The Risen Christ" (he is really shown as the Man of Sorrows, we discovered, after being detectives).

We left Rome the next morning, but not after rushing off to the Borghese to see the world's best collection of Bernini sculptures. Words almost fail here... But I can say that the trek to see his Baroque masterpieces--the David, Apollo and Daphne, Proserpine--was an intentional move on my part to help understand Michelangelo's work from a century earlier.

That brings us up to Florence, so we are almost current. But the rest will have to wait for a few hours. Ciao! (for now)