Adoration of the Magi-Alessandro Botticelli

Style emphasized contour and line in complex compositions
Recognized as one of the greats of perspective
Gentile depictions that portray dramatic scenes

Guasparre del Lama was a merchant who wanted to convey an attachment to the Medici family-had Medici family portraits incorporated into piece

Patron=white haired man in the upper right facing the observer

Botticelli=stands in front on right side
In a more prominent position than the patron
Invites the observer to participate

Giuliano Medici also depicted on this side of the painting as the man in dark clothing looking down

Cosimo Medici is the oldest magi
Actions mimic those performed by a priest at the benediction of sacrament

Holy Family is further back in frame
Invites viewer to participate in the scene
More realistic size

Lorenzo Medici=youth at left

Giovanni and Piero are the other magi

Faces have sculptural contours
Crowd in contemporary dress-inspired by the dress during the Epiphany (celebration in Florence commemorating the Wise men)
Peacock=immortality offered  by Christianity
Ruins=new life offered from a commitment to a life with Christ and the Church
Pomegranate=numerous seeds represent the Church bringing together many souls
Dark grass with bright flowers:glories of Paradise to come

-Emily

Procession of the Relic of the True Cross, Gentile Bellini

A Family Business - Jacopo Bellini

• Father of Gentile (oldest brother), Giovanni, and father-in-law of Andrea Mantegna
• Studied under Gentile da Fabriano
• Highly regarded by contemporary Northern Italian poets and writers
• "Extraordinary compositional imagination"
• Drawings bound into books which were probably intended to be used as workshop models
• Books inherited by Gentile, consulted by Mantegna, Giovanni, and others
• Incorporates Albertian perspective with Northern Italian interest in panoramic nature

Gentile Bellini's Procession of the Relic of the True Cross

• Gentile painted for the same merchant, practical public that Ghirlandaio did in Florence, with the same patriotism applied to Venice 
• Procession (1496) painted for the Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista
• Sculoa were sort of middle class brotherhoods that gathered for religious ceremonies, good works, and had a meeting hall - a club of sorts
• Depicts the procession involving the relic in the possession of the Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista 
• Shows 1444 Piazza San Marco on the Feast Day of San Mark
• Contains contemporary portraits and representations of Venetian life
• Basilica San Marco and Doge's Palace seen in the background, with great detail

-Abbie

The Annunciation and Two Saints

Painted for Siena Cathedral in 1333
by Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi

Earliest known example of an altarpiece with the focus on the annuciation
Gold background involves raised gesso (pastiglia) words in Gothic lettering
Ave gratia plena dominus tecum-"Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee (Luke 1:28)

Highly expressive-Mary's brow is furrowed and her lips are pursed
Heavenly messenger shows movement-cloak billows out behind
Virgins body contrasts with more dimensional Angel's body
Communicates tension

Angel=symbol of peace (olive branches)
Vase of lilies=Mary's purity
Raised words=message given to Mary (Word of God)-conception

-Emily

Palazzo dei Priori (Vecchio)-Anold di Cambio

Florence 1299  

Priori are the principal governing body of Florence
Palace built to house the signoria (Florence's ruling council)
Built in Pietra Forte (local limestone)
Roughness of material highlights the power of the massive building
Represents victory of civic harmony over internal struggles
Fronts a piazza produced by the destruction of the Uberti family house:power of priori

Interior remodeled by Medici family as personal residence 1540
Dominates whole section of Florence
Remains symbol of local government
Now houses a museum
Essentially a town hall

-Emily

Raphael's "Expulsion of Attila"

1. Date: 1513; Location: Stanza d’Eliodoro, Vatican, Rome; Commission: by Pope Julius II
2. Style: classicism/Roman style;piece is described as vigorous, and having the most dramatic climax in his paintings (also Mass of Bolsena)
3. Attila: Ruler of the Hunnic empire (434-death in 453); one of the most fearsome enemies of the eastern/western roman empire during his rule
4. Appearance (left) of Saints Peter and Paul armed with swords caused the king of the Huns to desist from invading Italy and marching on Rome.
5. Raphael situates the scene at the gates of Rome, identified by the Colosseum, by an aqueduct, an obelisk and other buildings, even if the event actually took place in the north of Italy, near Mantua.
6. There is a discrepancy  in the way that Pope Julius II is depicted—with or without his beard.
7. Purpose: grown and retained for specific purposes relating to Julius’s political parties, which are shown in Raphael’s other frescoes.
8. Leo I may have initially been depicted with the face of the Pope (Julius II) but after his death painted over it with the portrait of Pope Leo X

-Shannon Sutton

St. Ursula Cycle-Carpaccio

Owes idea of crowded anecdotal narrative to Gentile
Narrative engages witty observation (hidden symbols)
Preference of triangular areas
Colors subdued by an all-over golden tone:unity and cohesiveness
Faces are delicately lit and lack emotion

Ursula, the daughter of a Christian king, was asked in marriage by the son of a great pagan king. Desiring to remain a virgin, she obtained a delay of three years. At her request she was given as companions ten young women of noble birth, and she and each of the ten were accompanied by a thousand virgins, and the whole company, embarking in eleven ships sailed for three years. When the appointed time was come, and Ursula's betrothed was about to claim her, a gale of wind carried the eleven thousand virgins far from the shores of England, and they went first by water to Cologne and thence to Basle, then by land from Basle to Rome. They finally returned to Cologne, where they were slain by the Huns in hatred of the Faith.

In 1488 the Confraternity of St Ursula in Venice commission a series of large canvases recounting the story of St Ursula, commissioning Vittore Carpaccio

Legend of St. Ursula was popular in the Middle Ages

Carpaccio drew from "The Lives of the Saints" (Legenda Aurea)

Arrival of English Ambassadors

Departure of English Ambassadors

Return of the Ambassadors

Meeting of Etherius and Ursula and the Departure of the Pilgrims

The Pilgrims meet the Pope

Dream of St Ursula

Arrival of Pilgrims in Cologne

Martyrdom of Pilgrims and Funeral of St. Ursula

Apothesis of St Ursula

-Emily

Botticelli's "Punishment of Korah"

1. In his art he  withdrew from the world around him and moved away from the physical vitality found in the works of Pollaiuolo & Verrocchio
2. Style: emphasizes contour and line in complex compositions; dramatic intensity as opposed to the gentleness of his other pieces
3.  Date: 1481-82; Sistine Chapel, Vatican, Rome; Commissioned by Pope Sixtus IV della Rovere
4.  This piece narrates how these three men challenged Aaron’s right to the high priesthood; when they assumed his role by offering incense to the Lord, they were swallowed up by the earth (Numbers 16:1-40)
5. This unusual subject would appeal to patron interested in asserting his power (papal authority); The fresco carries stories concerning Moses from left to right; Opposite of Perugino’s “Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter”
6. Left: the earth opens up; only 2 figures are shown; one must have already vanished? And flames are arising to consume them; Center: 6 figures offering false fire to the Lord are consumed by fire from heaven; Right: Moses seeks refuge from the seditious Israelites that tried to stone him
7. Inscription: from St. Paul to his representation of the Arch of Constantine in Rome “And no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron” (Hebrews 5:4)
8. Narrative: prefigures the mission of the Roman Church, esp. as Aaron wears a papal tiara in reference to the patron

-Shannon Sutton

The Dome of Florence Cathedral-Filippo Brunelleschi

Dominates the city of Florence
Consists of rectangular and circular elements
Simplicity and order
1420-1436

Relates more to Gothic vault than hemispherical shape of dome of the Pantheon
Dome is 1/2 as wide as it is tall
4 semicircular exedrae function as buttresses (combination of Gothic buttresses and circular Roman temples)
Columns paired alternate with shell headed niches-ancient architectural membering


Largest dome constructed since Roman Pantheon
Exterior of dome is divided into 8 segments-ribs that articulate cross vaults of traditional Gothic interior
Ribs structurally extend from exterior to interior and provide the basic skeletal structure and stability



-Emily

School of Athens-Raphael

Fresco in Julis's new apartments-project turned over to Raphael and work of artists previously commissioned removed
Becomes a game to locate and identify portraits of Raphael's contemporaries disguised as historical personages

Setting is spacious and monumental to balance out the history represented
Architecture includes massive vaults with hexagonal coffering based on the Basilica of Maxentius
Architectural clarity and depth of space
Based on architecture of Bramante

Statues of Appollo and Minerva-ancient gods of wisdom

Plato-holds Timaeus:origin of nature and the universe is the realm of the mind
Some believe Plato =representation of Leonardo daVinci

Aristotle holds Nichomachean Ethics:rational of humanity and need for moral behavior (earth=source)

Socrates-counts off points on his fingers:Socratic method
Surrounded by young men: Alcibiades (pupil of Socrates and trained in art of Rhetoric)

Epicurus-vine wreathed and rotund:purpose of philosophy is to attain a happy and tranquil life, characterized by ataraxia, peace and freedom from fear, and pain, and by living a self-sufficient life surrounded by friends

Pythagoras-shown calculating:Pythagorean theorem

Dogenes-isolated but commented upon, compositional punctuation (all other figures radiate around):made virtue of poverty and looked for "honest man,"modeled himself after Hercules with virtue revealed in actions not theory

Euclid-bent over calculating:"father" of geometry, work with perspective
Portrait of Bramante-Bramante's concern with geometry and centrally planned dome architecture
Homage to lessons Raphael received from Bramante
RVSM-only instance of artist signing name on other artist's portrait

Zoroaster-holding celestial sphere:purpose of humankind is to sustain asa (truth)

Ptolemy-holding Earthly sphere:horoscopic astrology, positioning of sun, moon and planets

Raphael-observer of Zoroaster and Ptolemy in black cap looking out to viewer:inviting viewer to take part in his work (find the hidden portraits)

Heraclitus-self-taught and pioneer of wisdom, "the obscure," the "weeping philosopher"
Painted as an afterthought-upon completion of the Sistine Chapel
portrait of Michelangelo
Psychologically isolated though surrounded by a society of great men
compare to Michelangelo's "Jeremiah" and Albrecht Durer's "Melencolia"
Meant to show how Michelangelo is an artistic genius who is isolated from the public and incredibly secretive-also indicates his reservations and withdrawal keep him from completing his work

     

-Emily

Last Supper by Castagno

Depictions of the Last Supper are often chosen for representation in refectories (dinning room)
The Tuscan Visual Tradition features Judas on the observer's side of the table
Most depictions of the Last Supper are based on the accounts of Matthew and Mark


Castagno: one of the first Renaissance artists to capture movement
Differs from Domenico by expressing human dilemma in work

"Last Supper"
Based on the John account-shows Judas after devil has entered him
Judas has a hooked nose, jutting beard and a darker complexion: diabolical
Judas was also the last figure painted, setting him apart from the remainder of the fresco
Indicates fate of the disciples (Peter, Andrew and Bartholomew, Thomas and James)
Light seems to come from two windows on the right which corresponds with location of windows in the refectory
Marble panels strengthen narrative and direct focus

INFLUENCES:
Sculptural treatment of figures-Massacio
Expressive realism-Donatello
Style of room-Alberti
Linear perspective and ornate forms-Early Renaissance

Castagno used color highlights in hair, and has the halos recede in perspective

"Famous Men and Women Cycle"

 

             

Intended to awaken emotions-civic pride and delight in figures
3 Florentine military leaders, 3 legendary women, and literary figures
Grandeur and solemnity of figures inspired by Massacio
More diffused light and intricate details (individual hairs in beard and eyelashes) than "The Last Supper"
Figures are strong and wiry-intended to be seen from below
Castagno tried to make his figures more palpable with feet overlapping the edges, folds of garments recede into distance, and no unified perspective

-Emily

Masolino

The Brancacci Chapel, Sta. Maria Del Carmine, Florence
Masolino drew from Gentile de Fabriano's innovations
Created an artificial world of refined shapes, with flowerlike colors and unreal distances
Work is absent of Masaccio's brutal realism
Models round forms in light and shade

"Healing of the Lame Man and the Raising of Tabitha"
Fresco depicting the miracles performed by St. Peter
Same perspective scheme and vanishing point as Masaccio
City of Florence depicted between two cities
Drapery lacks fullness
No sense of urgency in painting
Faces are impassive
Delicate but intense colors
Textures are dense in shade but soft and blurred in light areas
Rocks and figures cast shadows-corresponding to the location of the window in the chapel
-Rocks symbolize Peter as the foundation of the Church

"Temptation"
Gentile Adam and Mild Eve
Serpent features a human head-women are seen at the time to be the root of all evil
Soft appearance to flesh
Feet hang instead of support and Adam and Eve appear separate from the background
Courtly features for Adam and Eve















-Emily

Giovanni Bellini Devotional Paintings

•Bellini's birth is usually placed in the 1430’s

•Recorded as a painter before 1460 and painted until his death in 1516

•Earliest independent works are mostly small scale panels used for private devotion

•calm dignity and spiritual depth

•Early works used pearly pale flesh tones, gray-blues, and shades of rose

•Color warms and deepens with the use of oil in later work and the sea light effect increases

•The Venetian school of painting gained international significance in the later 15th century

Madonna and Child

•C. 1460-65, panel, 28 ½” x 18 ¼”

•Grave, pensive- typical of early Madonnas

•Sleeping Christ meant as a reminder of his crucifixion

•Sea light of Venice used to, reflected from canals and palaces

Pieta

•C.1467-70, panel, 33 ¼” x 42”

•Mary and John the Evangelist hold up the dead Christ for meditation

•Intense drama and emotion

•Blood in Jesus’ wounds is most intense color

•Bottom inscription: “When these swelling eyes evoke groans, this work of Giovanni Bellini could shed tears”

-Allie

Baptism of Christ, Verrocchio

•Andrea del Verrocchio

•Verrocchio- “true eye” not referring to exceptional vision but a Florentine family were his early patrons

•Piece begun in 1468 or 1471

•70 in x 59 in

•First time this scene was portrayed in an altarpiece

•John the Baptist is the patron saint of Florence

•Bony figures, emphasized muscles and tendons

•Traditionally balanced composition

•Figures of Christ and John the Baptist self absorbed and self contained

•Areas including the angel seen in profile, part of the landscape, and Christ’s face, were repainted or added by the young Leonardo da Vinci

•Beams of the white dove symbolize Jesus’ divinity

The Liberation of St. Peter from Prison, Raphael

•Commissioned in August 1511

•Story coming from Acts 12

•Lunette- half moon shape

•Stanza de Eliodoro, audience chamber of Julius II

•Stories of aggression against the church, God’s protection of the Church

•Peter is a portrait of Julius II

•Peter’s salvation is a reference to the deliverance of the papacy from the French

•Prison built of rusticated blocks like Bramante was using for new palaces

•Grate taken from earlier representations of John the Baptist in prison

•Investigation in light

•Clouds in front of moon

•Torches against the armor of the guards

•Light from the Angelo  

Masaccio, Brancacci Family Chapel Frescoes

•Influenced by the world of space, emotion, and action of contemporary sculptors

•Didn’t value material things but was “on fire with ‘le cose dell arte,’ (literally ‘the things of art’)

•Colaborated with Mosolino on the Frescoes for The Brancacci Family Chapel

•Brunelleschi also played a role in designing the frescoes, framed with pilasters and entablatures

•Mosolino and Masaccio left for Rome in the spring of 1428 and it is unclear how much was left unfinished. Filippino Lippi was brought in to finish the Frescoes in the early 1480’s

•Tribute Money, 1420’s Frescoe, 8’1” x 19’7”

•One of the most problematic in terms of theme because of the uncommon subject (Matthew 17:24-27)

• He revised the biblical story, the tax collectors

•Adopted Donatello’s low point of view and atmospheric distance 

• Realistic landscape

•Expulsion, 1420’s, 7’ x 2’ 11”

•Painted in 4 days

•Leaves were later added to cover genitals and then removed during restoration

•May have been influenced by Jacopo della Quercia’s relief on the Fonte Gaia

•Mosaccio does not include physical struggle between the angel and Adam

•Adam driven by shame, Eve aware of her nakedness

Titian: Sacred and Profane Love

Titian: Sacred and Profane Love, 1513-14

• Probably commissioned by Niccolo Aurelio celebrating the wedding to Laura Bagarotto in 1514. 
• Niccolo is the vice Chancelor of the Venetian Republic (his coat of arms appears on the fountain relief) 
• Two woman look like sisters with almost identical complexions, hair color, similar red and white garments; They both are seated on a fountain resembling a sarcophagus. 
• The title of Sacred and Profane Love was given later on and is discredited as a good title by modern historians
• Triangles, simple composition, harmonious
• Warm feel, rich color characteristic of Titian’s oil glazing techniques

Bride (earthly venus):

• Could be the bride Laura or an idealized bride
• Clothed in white (silvery-bluish tint) Locked belt girdle
• Gloved, one hand on a closed jar, one hand playing with a cut rose
• Fortified hill, huntsman returning
• Country-side with two rabbits: Symbolizing love
• Gazing out past the viewer 
• Crowned with the myrtle; sacred to Venus and Laura (laurel plant)
• Closed jar of jewels symbolic of "fleeting happiness on earth" 

Venus (celestial):

• Probably represents the Venus, her celestial nature
• Nude with small white scarf, and rose colored cloak
• Left hand holding up an urn that has a flame in it (burning flame is symbolic of of divine love)
• Open landscape, with a lake (spacious = a place to go beyond earth) 
• Huntsman catching a rabbit
• Shepherds tending a flock
• Church steeple on the horizon (heavenly)
• Symbolic of neoplatonist view of divine love and “eternal happiness in heaven”

Fountain imagery:

• The Fountain with a lid symbolic of the human soul trapped in material world; (Plato's cave)
• Cupid Stirring the water- (force of love, binding or harmonizing the area between the two loves
• A golden bowl half filled with clear water is on the edge
• The Fountain depicts scenes of earthly passion/violence (chaotic love)
• A man attempting rape 
• Unbridled horse
• A man being beaten 
• A guy and a girl by a tree (adam and eve?)

Interpretations:

• Runs deeper than just sacred love vs profane love
• Neoplatonic exaltation of both earthly and heavenly love; (double nature of Venus)
• Two powers of the soul: (both honorable and praiseworthy) 
• The power to contemplate beauty
• The power to propagate (spread or promote) beauty

*Meant to inspire the viewer to contemplate the mystery of love, beauty, and marriage 

• The hierarchal progression from chaotic love to divine transcendent love

St. Lucy Altarpiece

•Domenico Veneziano (c.1410-1461)

•Painted about 1445-47

•Square format instead of polyptychs

•Gothic arches frame the throne

•Unusual color, thought to be painted with oil

•Red, green and white

•Colors of the Medici Family

•Traditional colors of Florentine Marble

•Scientific perspective in rendering of the floor

•Halos no longer perfect circles

Duomo

  

•Largest dome constructed since the Roman Pantheon

•No higher dome had ever been built

•Designed by Brunelleschi, exact time unknown

•Construction began in 1420 and was completed in 1436

•Temporary octagonal oculus until the lantern could be completed, Brunelleschi died before the lantern was begun

•Masons worked from movable scaffolding supported by recently completed sections of the dome

•Constructed without “centering” or a great quantity of wood

•Brunelleschi invented the “Great Hoist”

•Traditionally masons had to carry the building materials up on their shoulders

•Mathematical order, dome is exactly half as wide as it is tall (approx. 138’x 276’)

•Constructed using inner and outer shells

•Made the dome lighter

•Created a protective barrier

•Eight segments, divided by external ribs, contained two hidden ribs each joined by short horizontal ribs

•Outer surface covered in roof tiles

•Inside of the ceiling was frescoed in the 16th century

•Outward thrust partly constrained by a series of encircling “chains” hidden in the structure

•Four stone, One wood

•Held together by iron links

•Lower levels of the dome are constructed in stone

•Upper levels made of brick

•Lighter

•Laid in a herringbone pattern for strength