Art History Survey II Lecture Notes August 22 2013 The Middle Class is Always Rising Aristocrats Artists and Merchants in fifteenth century Northern Europe Aristocrat wealthy ruling class money comes from the family line have land and titles nobility top of hierarchy socially and economically close to the king Wealth that existed before currency based on bartering Whoever has the most land rules Aristocracy implodes during the fifteenth century Inherit Land Merchant a person who buys and sells Sells paintings furniture horses food lend money Middle Class Earn Money Artists employees of the time enlisted to do what they are told Given instructions by the patrons and worked to comply Craftsperson Skilled earned living didn t get rich work was painting Starving artists don t exist yet rock star artists begin to exist especially in Italy Michelangelo 15th Century late Medieval or renaissance rebirth of classic culture especially that of Greece and Rome Late middle ages Accelerated change having to do with shift in economy reduced power of aristocracy Very dirty time no one bathed surroundings were dirty and many people died of disease Netherlandish Art 15th 16th centuries The Low Countries Belgium Holland Northern France Called low because the lands are flat Lots of artistic change new media new ideas new concepts changes occurred that changed all of European art culture Northern artists were very concerned with texture Southern artists in Italy were much more concerned with space The Netherlands Holland North Very Rich Hours of the Duke of Berry Limbourge Brothers 1413 16 Group of people who worked to put together the manuscript Written by hand Manuscripts are expensive and more so is they are illustrated or illuminated Lavish illuminated manuscripts are far more expensive than an oil painting because many of them contain real gold Books are created only for the aristocracy Books are read aloud with the exception of prayer books The Book of Hours is a book that tells you what prayers to say at specific times during the day on specific days What saint is being celebrated today Signs of the Zodiac are shown at the top of the page to tell the month This book what commissioned to advertise the power and influence that the Duke of Berry had One of the last manuscripts written before the printing press Exploitative injustice of the peasants Artist was working under unconscious assumptions at the will of the patron possible that the mind works its way out into artwork January Page Duke shown on the Capricorn January page is the largest figure on the page dressed richly all guests are male homosocial God wants the aristocracy to be the aristocracy and He wants the poor people to be poor people believed that their path was chosen so they did not rebel Raunchy jokes Pages made of vellum stretched animal skin February Page bitterly cold barren aristocrats are not shown peasants are shown and they work the land that the duke owns A man is seen cutting wood one person is shown shivering a sheep stable is seen with a bad roof a woman is shown showing off her pantaloons and behind her a man is showing off his lack of pantaloons Dirty jokes the Duke who commissioned this is believed to have liked men Vertical perspective Why would the artists show a beautiful feast then jump to a peasant scene Body language is key to identify emotion The peasants have a warm place to stay however small people are well fed The duke saying I own this too Reality Effect the snow looks like snow the wood looks like wood and the people look like people but there is nothing really real about this image Beginning of fiction This fiction is saying that the duke is rich wealthy and live well and the peasants enjoy being peasants September Page shows the peasants working a castle that the duke owns Very Rich Hours aristocracy levels of ownership expiring old order Merode Triptych Campin c 1425 Triptych three paneled work of art opened and closed open for prayer painted on inside and outside often small and portable Oil on wood this is characteristic of Netherlandish art and oil paint was used for layers textures shiny and tactile This painting was created for a merchant extensive detail even into the background The painting s topic is The Annunciation of the Virgin Mary the event is depicted in a room typical of that of the Flemish home On the left panel the patrons are depicted kneeling and praying while having a holy vision of the Annunciation the painting describes the patrons as devout Christians who pray so much they have holy visions Symbols Lily Virginity Object near right round window middle panel the Holy Spirit carrying a cross who is going to impregnate the Virgin Three Lilies The father the son closed lily because he hasn t been born yet and the Holy Spirit Hebrew robing The Virgin was Jewish in faith Scroll underneath a Codex Hebrew scripture is written in scroll form Christian scripture is written in book form Extinguished Candle Divine Presence Mouse Trap trapping the Devil through Christ s salvation REMEMBER TO CHECK ART HISTORY SURVEY II MOODLE August 27 2013 Merode Triptych Continued Economic change painting that is custom made partially as well as partially off the rack Painters will paint popular images such as the Annunciation of the Virgin and then add to the painting in order to make a patron happy Such as the Annunciation may have been painted and the patron s self portraits may have been added later Allowing people to have more paintings Left Panel patrons Middle Panel The Annunciation The Virgin is more powerful than Christ Christ is viewed as a harsh judge that judges sins Mary is viewed as comforting and uplifting she is viewed as Mom people prayed to her According to tradition Mary was 14 and St Joseph was 112 years old when Christ was born The word virgin means young girl pure young girl Virgin Birth birth to a young woman rather than birth to one who had never had sex Divinities always have special births Right Panel St Joseph is in the panel He is seen making mouse traps mouse traps are a symbol of catching the devil He is removed from the main story because he is not as important to the story Scene out the window behind him shows that we are still on earth in 15 th century Flemish country Allusion of reality that is compelling These are religious subjects however they are not based upon the biblical stories This painting shows Cities Bourgeois patronage Display culture off the rack market