Arthi 6B Week 8 1 Leonardo da Vinci s Mona Lisa 1503 Portrait in profile Enigmatic gaze is created by painting technique o Oil paint o Use a dry brush to blur sharp lines while paint is still wet o This creates the smoky atmosphere sfumato smoky quality Fantastic strange background made up Canon group of art that constitutes the most important works o Arbitrary o Can t explain why it is more famous than any other artwork o But Mona Lisa is one there are songs about it people make pilgrimages to it etc o Power of images also iconoclasm Compare with Flora in Botticelli s Primavera o Sharp clear lines in Flora s face and eyes o Clear distinction between hair and face o Mona Lisa s face has very soft lines Leonardo da Vinci Last Supper 1495 98 First Mass Windows frame Christ Perspective scenery point to Christ s face Christ s gesture gesture of demonstration look at what is happening at the table institution of Mass have a meal in memory of Me Insitu in the original place in which it is made as in made for a refectory and painted there not somewhere else and put there The monks cut through the wall and the painting to put a door in that is that weird thing on the middle bottom Fresco Image is in terrible condition virtually since creation o Leonardo experimented with different fresco binding methods o Also used fresco seco o Binding technique he used kind of sucked o Continuous restoration efforts some argue it will stop being a Leonardo if we keep changing it o Continues to deteriorate c Compare to Castagno s Last Supper o Both in a refectory o Judas is not on the other side of the table in Leonardo s o Leonardo animates the image and each figure is in action no one is paying attention to the viewer o Leonardo groups the disciples into 3 s not 2 s each group gestures to each other Raphael s Madonna of the Meadow 1505 Sketches of Madonna of the Meadow and other Madonna images by Raphael o Working out compositions of figures o Disegno Florentine artists process of designing and way in which designing happens o In this case the disegno is drawing o Paintings look flawless because all the work has already been done in sketches o Mental work of artists with the sketches and such people stopped thinking of artists as laborers more like scholars o Both Leonardo and Raphael made sketches on paper first Cartoon mockup of finished work of art in drawing o Can be transferred on surface you will paint on o Punch holes in cartoon and pound chalk into them outline of cartoon will be on the new surface o Can be used over and over again Mary baby Christ and baby John the Baptist Minute movements of face hands and feet show interactions of figures Pyramidal shape of figures pyramidal not triangular because 3D effect Secondary triangle of the babies and the stick Stick is an attribute of John the Baptist and reminding us that Christ was born to die and be resurrected Eye movement o Mary and Christ are looking at John the Baptist who is looking back at them o Stick is pointing up at Mary o Mary is holding Christ Cult of Mary being o Love of Mary for her children o Feelings for her baby Christ is shown through her hands holding Him up from falling o But she s not looking at Him showing this is an instinctive move an innate aspect of her Compare to Gerard David s Rest on the Flight to Egypt 1500 10 o David devotional work continuous narrative but scene is not a narrative o David demonstration of Christ s humanity o 16th century Italian artists such as Raphael liked 15th century Netherlandish artists for Oil paint landscapes and ability to create strong emotional responses Raphael s Galatea 1513 Galatea sea nymph Galatea is riding on a shell pulled by dolphins Sea centaurs mermaids and putti singular putto not angels Galatea is going to be shot by love arrows of the putti Galatea s head is turned back arms facing forward and legs facing us o Body is in 3D o Pushes boundary of anatomy o But seems effortless for the figure Compare to Botticelli s Birth of Venus o All figures in the front singular plane o Raphael animates his image like Leonardo s Last Supper more so than Botticelli s o Produced for private home patron o We don t see this twisting of bodies in Botticelli s image o Body movements in Botticelli s looks more strained like Botticelli is unable to draw it as well and effortlessly as Raphael see Vasari Vasari student of Michelangelo Made a history of art by writing biographies of other artists Giotto is 1st generation revival of art first artist Vasari wrote about also why we began with Separated into 3 generations Giotto but lack of necessary tools Botticelli is 2nd generation mastery of skills such as perspective shadows anatomy etc 3rd generation of artists 16th century artists Mastered skills of 2nd generation so well that it is easy perfect art Leonardo Michelangelo Raphael Arthi 6B Week 8 2 Paper 2 Images All images depict proverbs Pieter Bruegel The Blind Leading the Blind 1568 o Biblical proverb if the blind lead the blind they will end up in the ditch o Dangers of blindly following someone s lead o Dangers of leading people when you don t know what you re doing o Church and someone watching a cow in background Jan Steen Wine is a Mocker 1665 o Dangers of using alcohol o Woman on left has fallen asleep while drunk children surround her setting a bad example for kids o Woman on right is also a child teenager o Couple in right background Jan Steen Easy Come Easy Go 1661 last o Take advantage of things when you can also a warning never know when your luck will o Proverb written on the mantelpiece o People in bg are playing a board game o Boy is pouring alcohol more alcohol and wine glasses to his left o Grisaille figure painting is of Fortuna goddess of luck and fate o Salt cellar made from pewter on the table salt is what you have with good meals o Oysters to the left of salt bread to the right Pueter Bruegel Land of Cockaigne 1567 o Land of plenty don t have to work o You eat your way here through 10 miles of porridge which is shown on the right o Men surrounding table soldier farmer scholar o Separate proverb on left in that place roof is tiled with pies but also a reference to not working in a land of plenty Raphael School of Athens Stanze della Segnatura 1508 9 Produced for the pope Based on Ancient architecture arches pseudo classical sculptures etc Collection of famous philosophers historians and poets of Ancient world and Raphael s times 2 figures in middle are singled out framed