The European Renaissance

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The Last Judgment vs. St. George

When comparing Medieval art and Renaissance, the common distinction is the amount of shading and dimension that separate the pieces from one another. In these pieces we can see that Giotto's piece is huge and covers a lot of territory in terms of subject and content. but his composition, being from the late Medieval to early Renaissance era is almost non-existent. One sees a clear pattern of top to bottom showing a holy gradation of power, yet there is barely any negative space in the fresco. In contrast to this, we see a more experimental composition in the St. George piece, placing George on a horse in the middle of the work, but allowing for negative space in the upper corners and lower half of the piece between the horses legs, creating a continuity drawing the eyes from the bottom of the piece to the top. In terms of color, no doubt the fresco by Giotto would win, but Durer gets a break because his piece was done as a woodcut which severely restricts the use of color. Durer also gets a break for the fact that he was the first one to do art like this in the woodcut medium. When analyzing the shading in both pieces, it is clear to see that the shading on George is much more fleshed out showing dark hues on the horse's frontal region, to bright whites on the behind of the horse, giving a realistic shading to the piece. In Giotto's piece, most of the figures are fully colored, although their wraps are slightly shaded, there is not a clear origin point for the light that seems to fill up the entire space. Ultimately my preference is for the Durer woodcut, it generally has better composition and subject, while content is not quite as well defined, the name makes up for this being an obvious description of what the painting contains. While Giotto's piece is huge and masterful when considering the works of other artists of the period, Durer actually brought the art of woodcutting to light with his pieces, which I consider a higher achievement.

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Perraychudhan Saravanane 

Title: Vanity Sounds the horn and Ignorance Unleashes the Hounds of Overconfidence, Rashness, and Desire (from the hunt of the frail stag)

Region: South Netherlands

This tapestry has been done between 1500 A.D- 1525 A.D. It portrays man's life on Earth as a Stag hunt, and man is the "frail stag" running away from the hunters, running through the woods. The humans portrayed as the "stag" are being hunted by Desire, Rashness, and Overconfidence. They are hunting dogs let loose by an elegantly dressed lady at the bottom of the tapestry, by name Ignorance. On the right of the tapestry another elegant lady, named Vanity , sounds the hunting horn for the hunt to begin. This painting cleanly displays humans being "hunted" down by the sins of greed, desire, rashness, which all lead to our demise. The tapestry is an excellent representation of how we are literally chased down by the feelings of Vanity and Ignorance that hinders man's progress. The tapestry also cautions the vices that can threaten and ruin a man's growth in life and reminds us of human fragility. 

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Perraychudhan Saravanane

Artist: Unknown

These are the famous Gargoyles  of Notre Dame. They have been overlooking the city of Paris for over 600 years. The Gargoyles are a type of Medieval Grotesque, since the main purpose of the Gargoyles  are to carry out rainwater though their mouths. The Gargoyles are said to have protected the church from evil spirits  and frighten away evil deities. Medieval art took place around churches, thus the Gargoyles  are an excellent example of medieval art that captures its majestic beauty. The unknown sculptors had a lot of creativity and imagination to create all the different types of Gargoyles that exist at Notre Dame. The Gargoyles  are both human and animal shaped, that are half-man, half-beast, with eagle's beaks and wings, bird's talons, and serpent's tails. They are both frightening and grotesque, but at the same time fierce and awe-inducing. 

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The Unicorn Defends itself vs. The Creation of Adam

                Although the pieces being discussed were finished in a relatively similar time frame, many differences can be seen between the two simply due to the speed at which art was changing during the early 16th century and due to the differences between artists. In "The Unicorn Defends Itself" we see the entire seen laid out almost like the figures were all made 2 dimensional and laid down on their sides, they all seem to overlap and don't really create different areas, being all smashed together into  a mass of art right in the middle of the canvas. In "The Creation of Adam" one can see a more logically laid out painting that overall has more emotion and basically, shading. When placing the two side by side, it is quite obvious to see the almost two-dimensional feel of the Unicorn weaving versus the natural 3-dimensional feel that is presented through the Creation painting. While considering the artistic qualities of both paintings, one can see a much wider range of value in the Creation painting, as well as a more clear and thoughtful composition that leaves room for the viewer to actually focus on what is happening; versus the Unicorn weaving where it seems like they tried to get as much content into the weaving as they could. Both pieces are considered work of highly skilled artisans, yet the work of Michaelangelo in the Creation painting trumps the Unicorn weaving in almost every way imaginable and truly showcases the advances that were made in the period between Medieval and Renaissance art.

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Jimmy Howerton Medieval Art - 2

Giotto - The Last Judgment

Giotto di Bondone (1267 - 1337) was an Italian architect and painter from Florence who made a decisive break from the Byzantine style by starting the practice of painting and drawing accurately from life. His master work, the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, was completed around 1305 with frescoes throughout depicting the life of the virgin and the passion of Christ. The fact that Giotto painted the chapel is one of the few certainties in Giotto's life, many of the basic facts of his existence are up for debate. 

His believed birthplace is in Colle di Romagnano, his father's name was probably Bondone, and his time of death is only estimated. The only way that we really know how old he was when he died is through a poem written by a town crier. Early in his life he was apprenticed to Cimabue, and many legends surround his skill as a painter of strict realism. One goes that when Cimabue was absent from his office, Giotto painted a perfect fly on the face of one of his paintings, so perfect that Cimabue tried several times to brush it off of the painting. At the age of about 20, he married Ricevuta di Lap del Pela, known as "Ciuta" and had possibly eight children, one of whom became a painter. Afterward, Giotto worked in Rome for 3 years, although his presence there is no longer substantial. From 1303-1310 he worked on the Arena Chapel, his most famous work (he actually signed it), a very plain building from the outside, yet it was filled with frescoes by Giotto. The chapel is divided into 37 scenes, focusing on religious imagery, with the west wall being dominated by the Last Judgment, as is common in the medieval period.

This is where Giotto differs from most medieval artists; his figures are actually semi-realistic. They draw the viewer in and give them a position and almost a concrete place in the scene. Being surrounded by the frescoes in a chapel must be simply amazing.  Giotto's artwork after the chapel extended for many years until his death in January of 1337. He was apparently buried in Santa Maria del Flore, although his actual burial location is debated. Excavations have been done of the area, and if the bones prove to be Giotto's, he would be a very short man who may have suffered from sort of dwarfism, which would fit with other painters descriptions of him but would rival supposed paintings of Giotto from earlier times.

Forensic reconstruction showed a short man with a very large head and hooked nose with one eye more prominent than the other. His neck bones would show that his head was commonly tilted backwards, while the wearing on his front teeth would only come from a man who usually holds a painting brush in his mouth. Italian researchers are convinced that the body belongs to Giotto but others have been highly skeptical, nonetheless, we know that he was a great painter and artist in general; a fact that wouldn't change if we never found traces of his bones.

In terms of the actual painting, it is the largest in the Arena Chapel, showing heaven at the top, Jesus and his disciples in the middle, and the denizens of earth who will either be chosen to enter heaven or cursed to live in hell forever. Apparently Dante was actually inspired by this painting when he wrote Inferno. Being such a large fresco it must have taken very long to create and thus shows Giotto's willingness to take on a huge task and finish it just like his other, smaller works.

Bibliography: 

http://www.artbible.info/art/large/398.html

http://www.italiamia.com/art_giotto.php

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This sculpture, by an unknown artist, does an excellent job of showing how medieval art was primarily religious in nature. The purpose of this artwork is quite clearly to promote piety, likely as part of a crucifix in a church. As for its quality, while the face looks very good, and quite human, the chest and abs look far from it. It is quite apparent that little anatomical knowledge went into producing this piece, unlike paintings and sculptures from the Renaissance. And while the face does look better than many other medieval art pieces, especially paintings, it doesn't look entirely right, and seems to be more focused on encouraging piety and conveying emotion that accurately showing the human form.

Brennan

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The Mona Lisa is an extremely famous portrait by renowned artist Leonardo Da Vinci. It is an excellent example of the Renaissance concept of sfumato and atmospheric perspective, with the background slowly becoming more obscured as though there is a fog. The subject herself is also extremely realistic, another feature of Renaissance art. And the artist, Leonardo Da Vinci was the classic Renaissance man, someone who was skilled in a variety of techniques. In addition to being a painter, Da Vinci was also known as an inventor, with some of his more ludicrous ideas never being created during his lifetime, although others were used. He also painted other very famous paintings, such as The Last Supper.

-Brennan

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Perraychudhan Saravanane- The Birth of Venus

Artist: Sandro Botticelli (Painted:1486)

This painting depicts the Roman goddess, Venus, having emerged from the bubbles in the sea as a fully grown woman. It interprets divine love in the form of a nude Venus, the goddess of love. It depicts the perfect woman, with curly hair, and beautiful curves. The theme is taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses. She is portrayed nude on a shell on the seashore, as the winds make her hair flow, her handmaid is trying to dress Venus's body. The work displays the birth of love and beauty as a driving force of life.

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Jimmy Howerton Renaissance Art 1

Albrecht Durer 

St. George

1505-1508 engraving

Albrecht Durer (1471-1528) was a German painter, printmaker, and philosopher from Nuremberg with many famous works that have been analyzed and reanalyzed over the years. Some of his most famous works include The Knight Death and Devil (1513), Melencolia I(1514), and Saint Jerome in His Study(1514). His work in woodcutting revolutionized the medium during the Renaissance period. He is recognized as one of the most important figures of the Northern Renaissance for his major amount of works along with his theoretical treatise including theories about mathematics, perspective, and ideal proportion. His mass amount of prints established his fame in his twenties. Later on in his life, he became the official court artist to Holy Roman Emperors Maximilian I and his successor Charles V. 

Sources: http://www.albrecht-durer.org/

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/durr/hd_durr.htm

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Maesta with Saint Francis and Dominic by Cimabue

This painting is an excellent example of the religious nature of medieval art. As a Madonna painting, the subject of the painting is the holy mother Mary and the baby Jesus, in addition to four angels adoring them while four prophets sit below. The painting also isn't very anatomically correct, with Mary looking off and the baby Jesus looking more like a very tiny man than a baby. The faces of the angels and Mary also seem to be the exact same face painted multiple times, with small changes. The angel's hands are also far from anatomically correct. The lack of perspective also makes this painting look very flat, especially the prophets below the Madonna.

Cimabue trained under masters connected to Byzantine art, and the relative flat style of the Byzantines can still be seen in this work. However, compared to Byzantine work, progress towards realism has been made, with the dress of the Madonna and Jesus' face looking much more realistic.

Brennan

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Jimmy Howerton Renaissance 2

Artist-michaelangelo

The creation of Adam is a fresco created by Michelangelo in the Sistine chapel. It was created in the years 1511-1512, being the fourth of four genesis frescoes done by M. in the Sistine chapel and the most famous; its' fame is only rivaled by that of the Mona Lisa. It is one of the most imitated paintings of all time, the other most imitated being Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper". The contact between Adam and God's hands is the focal point of the fresco; with God being supported in a mantle by angels and Adam on a cliff of Earth. Some people think that the mantle that God is held within is purposely shaped like that of a brain, as most of these old masters studied anatomy and would know what a brain's structure looked like. 

source:http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/x-Schede/CSNs/CSNs_V_StCentr_06.html

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The Unicorn Defends Itself

Jimmy Howerton

Medieval Art 1 "The Unicorn at Bay" (South Netherlands)   ca:1495-1505

The seven works known as the unicorn tapestries are highly regarded as the most beautiful and complex works of art from the late Middle Ages still surviving. In this depiction, the unicorn is being held at bay by three hunters going in for the kill. In retaliation the unicorn jumps up attempting to kick the man behind him and simultaneously stabbing the dog in front of him, pinning it to the ground. The warrior at the bottom left is thought to represent the archangel Gabriel who told Mary that she was to give birth to Jesus. Being tapestries, it is easy to see the mastery of the weavers; they accurately portray various fabrics including brocade, velvet, leather, and fur. The piece is made primarily from wool yarns, using weld, madder, and woad for dyes, all of which grow in the Bonnefont Cloister Garden. With the mixture of these colors, a spectrum of hues are created, along with the use of metallic threads for highlighting.

http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/467640

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School of Athens by Raphael

School of Athens is an excellent example of Renaissance classicism, as well as other aspects of the artistic Renaissance. Every figure in this painting represents an ancient Greek or Roman figure, typically involved in either philosophy, mathematics, or science. This shows the amount of respect Renaissance thinkers had for these ancients, although the models for these figures were typically other figures of the Renaissance. Perspective is also used, which makes the painting seem much more realistic, with additional depth compared to Medieval art, which tended to be extremely flat. The many figures in this painting also look very realistic, they look like actual humans compared to Medieval art, which tended to mess up the human body due to a lack of knowledge about proportions and anatomy.

Brennan