Art & society

Florentine Renaissance

Ideology: Greek values and knowledge (science, math, geometry, anatomy, optic). Rationalism, naturalism, individualism, unity of form, proportion, perceptive and sense of depth.

Art: More secular, for the church (God) and for the beauty itself. Characters are more important. The Humanists administrate art (approve what's good in art ~ critic + influence). A training court (Court of Lorenzo de Medici) is a school-like edifice for art training. Artists have high social statue, have close relationship with the Humanists (help each other to understand Greek art, music, mathematics...)

Economy: Stable. The Medici family was the richest - it's the banker of the pope - has force (dealing with the military). Florence was the richest city - called 'guild city' (like an association sharing the same interests, such as merchants or artisans: formed for mutual aid and protection and to maintain craft standards or pursue some other purpose such as communal worship ~ definition in TheFreeDictionary). Everything was planned, calculable.

Painting:
Adoration of the Magi (Adorazione dei Magi) by Sandro Botticelli
The master painted several Medici family members in this painting, in the House of Medici, emphasizing the importance of the Medici as patrons of the arts in Renaissance Italy.
Remarks: perspective of the building, the alignment of the characters - the symmetry, the balance, the position of each person - the pose, the emotion and the anatomy of the people.

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Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife by Jan van Eyck
A naturalism and realism - incredibly detailed (especially the convex mirror). The wife has big belly - a in fashion characteristic during that period. Dog represents fidelity and loyalty. Green of the dress symbolize hope. Single candle on the left may represent eye of God or Holy Spirit. And etc.
Remarks: Perceptive, optic (reflection of the mirror) - realism, naturalism - symmetry & balance of the objects and the characters.

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Sistine Chapel ceiling by Michelangelo
(Too complicate to describe XD) A painting forced my Pop Julius II (commission). Central to the ceiling decoration are nine scenes from the Book of Genesis of which the Creation of Adam, the hands of God and Adam. It's like the inverse of the story, God created Adam because Eve (who came before) asked for a man. Because Michelangelo was gay, he draw the women in male body (with muscles and small breasts). Also, some parts are still unfinished, but he leaved them that way because he was too busy. Considering that it was on a ceiling, it required him many techniques to make the adjust the perceptive so people could see it from the floor. BTW: During Classical antiquity, homosexuality had been something that was practiced regularly, and men believed that they could only achieve great love with other men. However, during the time of the Renaissance, when the statue was created, sodomy was illegal, and over 14,000 people had been tried in Florence for this crime. So this homosexual implication was very risky and dangerous. However, Michelangelo must been discreet.
Remarks: Realism & naturalism (well, expect the exaggeration of the female body) - proportion of space of each scene - anatomy, pose of the characters

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The virgin of the Rocks by Leonardo da Vinci
Two versions (they are almost the same, so it doesn't really matters). It's a triangle form - balanced. Leonardo's "sfumato" technique (the word "Sfumato" comes from the Italian sfumare, which means "to tone down" or "to evaporate like smoke") - it refers to da Vinci's fine shading and subtle transitions from light to dark giving his paintings an illusionistic atmosphere.

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The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci
Must famous one. Symmetric (left and right), balanced.

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Remarks for Leonardo's works: Realism, naturalism - perspective, depth, balance - pose of the characters. For the church. NB: You may hear many rumor about his painting, but they are all just rumors.

School of Athens by Raphael Sanzio
Even thought this was for the pope, the most important theme is intellectual side of humanity. The people representing in the painting are debating, discussing about science (for example). This is very different from the Medieval art, where people are small, under the inspection of God, and must believe all the crap that the bible says. We see Plato (or da Vinci - doesn't he looks more like da Vinci than Plato o_O) with Aristotle in the middle.
Remarks: Importance of human (equivalent than God) - perspective, symmetry, depth - realism

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Oh~~~ This post is damn long! I'll continue later.

Architecture:
Santa Maria del Fiore by Filippo Brunelleschi
Long after Santa Maria del Fiore was built, Brunelleschi came up with a brilliant idea which fulfilled certain people's desire for a dome on their Cathedral. He made in a shape of an octagon, an idea inspired from the Greek architecture. A cupola was added, symbolizing the importance of humanity.
Remark: Greek influence, mathematics, architecture - humanity over religion.

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Pazzi Chapel by Filippo Brunelleschi
Very Greek, with columns, pilasters, arches and vaults.
Remark: Greek influence, mathematics, architecture - symmetry, depth.

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Palazzo Medici Riccardi by Michelozzo di Bartolomeo
Don't just look at the exterior's ugliness, it's actually really fancy inside. Because the Medici family didn't want to make anyone too jealous, they decided to live in a rectangular, unattractive house. Also inspired from the Greeks. We can see that it has different brick for exterior wall of each floor.
Remark: Greek influence, mathematics, architecture - symmetry

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Sculpture:
Prophet by Donatello
It's not a very popular sculpture. It's Greek (cloth). Pose, emotion & body part determinate.

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David by Donatello
It's the first unsupported standing work in bronze cast during the Renaissance period, and the first freestanding nude male sculpture made since antiquity. It depicts the young David with an enigmatic smile, posed with his foot on Goliath's severed head just after killing the giant. The youth is standing naked, apart from a laurel-topped hat and boots, bearing the sword of Goliath (a story in the bible). Inspired from the Greek and Rome - Greco-Roman heroes were typically portrayed as nude males standing in contrapposto. But he's wearing a hat and boots, which makes no sense in the terms of either the Biblical narrative or the classical connection and tends to make his lack of clothing seem strange. Maybe that's way Michelangelo's David was more appreciates. Whatever...

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David by Michelangelo
David is depicted before his battle with Goliath. Instead of being shown victorious over a foe much larger than he, David looks tense and ready for combat. His veins bulge out of his lowered right hand and the twist of his body effectively conveys to the viewer the feeling that he is in motion, an impression heightened with contrapposto. The statue perhaps shows David after he has made the decision to fight Goliath but before the battle has actually taken place. It is a representation of the moment between conscious choice and conscious action. However, other experts (including Giuseppe Andreani, the current director of Accademia Gallery) consider the depiction to represent the moment immediately after battle, as David serenely contemplates his victory.

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Pieta by Michelangelo
This famous work of art depicts the body of Jesus on the lap of his mother Mary after the Crucifixion. It is an important work as it balances the Renaissance ideals of classical beauty with naturalism. The statue is one of the most highly finished works by Michelangelo. The statue was commissioned for the French cardinal Jean de Billheres, who was a representative in Rome. The statue was made for the cardinal's funeral monument.

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Remark for the sculptures: Anatomy, pose, emotion - influence from the Greek

Ideology in art: Renew of religious values (protestantism), bricking up of space (space more important than figures), subjectivism (feelings), naturalism become free play of imagination, crowded and contorded figures, symmetry and center figures become off-balanced figures, body proportion distorted by unnatural extension of the figures.

Two different type of art: Free mannerism (experimental, shock effect, break rules) and academic mannerism (follow the footsteps of the masters).

Paintings:
The Last Judgment by Michelangelo
Break up of space, no proportion, wild, after life theme. Jesus in the center, terrible judge face. Mary besides him.
Females have men body (as Spirit mentioned before). Michelangelo painted his skin in the hand of St Bartholomew.

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Tempest by Giorgione
Fantasy art about a man looking at a mom who's feeding her child. (perv?) Artwork without reason. Figure not as important as the background (landscape).

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Last Supper by Tintoretto
Jesus is still in the center. A mix of spiritual with domestic life. Exaggerated perspective, the table is in a sharp angle. Obscurity and light (light of the ceiling and Jesus aureola.

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Architecture:
Olympic Theatre by Andrea Palladio
It is the oldest surviving enclosed theater in the world. The trompe-l'œil onstage scenery, designed by Vincenzo Scamozzi, to give the appearance of long streets receding to a distant horizon, was installed in 1585 for the very first performance held in the theatre, and is the oldest surviving stage set still in existence.
Deep sense of space, extravagant, experimental.

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