Assignment in Mapeh
1.
Gothic Art
2. The Romanesque Art was characterized
by a very vigorous style in both sculpture
and painting. While the Gothic Art is often
introduced before much change is seen in
the style of figures or compositions
themselves. Then figures become more
animated in pose and facial expression,
tend to be smaller in relation to the
background of scenes, and are arranged
more freely in the pictorial space, where
there is room.
Romanesque Art
3. Leonardo da Vinci’s 3 Most Famous
Paintings:
1. Virgin of the Rocks:
In his Virgin of the Rocks, Leonardo works
with modeling his forms through light and
shadows. This particularly shows through
the dark and craggy setting of the rocks, in
which many details are revealed and
obscured by the mystical light in this
Leonardesque landscape.
This technique of blending and smudging
the edges of forms is known as “sfumato” in
Italian, which translates to “smoky”, and
Leonardo has become famous for these
types of landscapes. The landscape is
important, because it creates a deliberate
frame around the pyramidal figure setting,
consisting of the Madonna, Child, and Saint
John the Baptist.
2. Mona Lisa:
The painting of the Mona Lisa is probably
his most famous painting, well known for
her mysterious facial expression. In this
painting, Leonardo is well appreciated for
his innovative use of atmospheric
perspective, subtle modeling of forms, and
the feminine mystique it portrays. He
creates this effect through his stereotypical
Leonardesque landscape, again employing
the “sfumato” technique.
The Mona Lisa has survived 500 years,
including one theft in 1911, and numerous
attacks on the painting. Most recently, in
August 2009, a woman angry over being
denied French citizenship threw red paint
onto the case holding the painting.
3. Last Supper:
The Last Supper is one of Leonardo’s most
impressive works. The condition of this
painting is quite frail, as he experimented
quite drastically with the mediums he used.
Instead of painting onto a wet plaster wall
with tempera paint as in a true “fresco”,
Leonardo painted onto a dry wall. The
painting soon began to deteriorate just a
few years after he finished the painting.
The painting depicts the 12 disciples of
Jesus in a stark architectural setting, during
their “last supper” in which Jesus informs
them that one of them will soon betray him.
This painting was also the center of many
conspiracy theories, due its role in “The
DaVinci Code”, but these theories have
been invalidated by art historians.
Michelangelo‘s 3 Most Famous Paintings:
1. Creation of Adam
The Creation of Adam is a large scale fresco
in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.
Michelangelo created these frescoes by
painting on wet plaster, essentially locking
the pigment into the fabric of the wall itself
when the plaster dried.
The painting depicts a scene from the Book
of Genesis in which God creates Adam. He
is seen sending life into Adam through their
fingertips, which are stretching to reach
each other. It is interesting to note the
figure carrying God is in the shape of a
human brain.
This iconography was later seen in the
movie “ET”!
2. Holy Family
This Holy Family painting by Michelangelo is
often referred to as the Doni Tondo, named
for its patron. The painting was
commissioned by Agnolo Doni to
commemorate his marriage to Maddalena
Strozzi, and “tondo” refers to the round
frame. The painting was influenced by
Leonardo da Vinci's The Virgin and Child
with St. Anne.
The figures of the Holy Family foreshadow
the look of the Sistine Chapel frescoes;
Michelangelo employs the use of bright
colors and massive, sculptural figures
responsible for giving his paintings such
monumental qualities. This is true even for
Mary, yet is due to Michelangelo's use of
male models even for female figures.
Michelangelo also utilized “cangiante”, a
technique used for shading form through
using entirely different colors at times
instead of a lighter or darker shade of the
same color. By using this method,
Michelangelo could create darker shadows
and lighter highlights without being
constrained by the limits of a particular hue.
3. The Libyan Sibyl
The Libyan Sibyl is another fresco from the
Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo, and is part
of a series of Sibyls which depict famous
women that are said to have prophesied
the birth of Christ. The Libyan Sibyl is turned
away from the viewer, increasing even
further her sense of mystery and power.
Again, the Libyan Sibyl figure has large,
masculine muscles from the use of male
models. Also, there is the need for the
figure to look momentous from ground as
some impact of the painting is lost from the
distance. This is also the reason for the
particularly bright colors of the painting;
some impact and richness of the hues are
lost in the distance from the viewer on the
ground
Raphael’s 3 Most Famous Paintings:
1. Madonna of the Meadow
Raphael's Madonna of the Meadow shows
three figures; Mary, baby Jesus, and a baby
St. John in a traditional triangular
composition, and are linked through touch
and their gazes. It is important to note that
in this triangular composition, the three are
symbolically linked to the “Holy Trinity”.
Mary's pose is traditionally known as
“contrapposto”, which was an important
development in art during the Renaissance.
Essentially, it describes a body in a twisting
movement, or with the figure's weight
shifted.
The peaceful and hazy background
landscape shows the influence of Leonardo
da Vinci on Raphael, as this background
recalls landscapes such as that in the Mona
Lisa.
2. Marriage of the Virgin
Marriage of the Virgin, an influential
perspective painting by Raphael, shows
Mary and Joseph's marriage. Joseph is
placing a ring on Mary's finger, while Mary's
other suitors are shown breaking their
staffs (Joseph's staff is blossoming).
Directly behind the marriage scene is a
round temple centrally placed in the
background, with the tiles of the pavement
showing the receding perspective lines of
the painting. The viewer can see through
the open door of the temple to the open
landscape in the background.
The composition is reminiscent of
Perugino's Christ Delivering the Keys to St.
Peter, which was painted for the Sistine
Chapel in the Vatican to accompany
Michelangelo's series. However, critics have
argued that Raphael's technical skills in
portraying perspective exceed those of
Perugino, as Raphael effectively shows the
figures gradually diminshing in size to show
their distance. In his painting, Perugino
portrays the figures in limited planes of
distance.