Art History-Vocab-Art History

Picture plane:

Ex: The last Supper by Leonardo

Chiaroscuro: Italian for  "light dark"; figures w/ strongly contrasted light and shadow

Ex: Virgin and Saint Anne w/ the Christ Child and the Young John the Baptist by Leonardo

Cartoon: full-scale model

Ex: Virgin and Saint Anne w/ the Christ Child and the Young John the Baptist by Leonardo

Sfumato: a thin, lightly tinted varnish resulting in a smoky overall haze

Ex: Mona Lisa by Leonardo

Stanza: room in the papal office

Ex: Disputa by Raphael

Disputa: depicting the dispute over the true presence of Christ in the Communion bread

Ex: Disputa by Raphael; one of the four branches of knowledge

Pieta: works in which the Virgin supports and morns the dead Jesus

Ex: Pieta by Michelangelo

Cornice: uppermost section of a classical entablature

Ex: Sistine Chapel; ceiling

Putti: nude little boys

Ex: Sistine Chapel; used to decorate the short pilasters

Ignudi: nude young men

Ex: Sistine Chapel; theyre seated on the cornice projections

Motif: a repeated figure in a design

Ex: Sistine Chapel ceiling such as the bucranium of each spandrel-triangle

Nonfinite: unfinished

Ex: Pieta (a.k.a. Rondanini) by Michelangelo

Drum: wall that supports a dome

Ex: Chuch of San Pietro in Montorio

Cardinals: a senior ecclesiastical official, usually a bishop, of the Roman Catholic Church

Ex: Leo X w/ Cardinals Giulio de' Medici and Luigi de' Rossi by Raphael

Atrium: a walled fore-court

Ex: Old Saint Peter's Basilica; 4th century

Cartouche: frame for a hieroglyphic inscription formed b a rope design surrounding an oval space

Ex: Four Apostles by Albrecht Durer

Quoins: Stone, often large or decorated for emphasis, forming the corner of two walls ex: Palazzo Farnese, Rome ,

by Sangallo the younger and Michelangelo

Tempera: A painting medium made by mixing egg yolks, water, and pigments and some other materials like glue. It

was used for panel paintings and murals. Ex: "The Last Supper" by Leonardo Da Vinci

Pastoral: Set in the country side. Ex: "The Pastoral Concert" by Titian and Giorgione

Reformation: Returning to the early church. Began when Martin Luther split from the Catholic Church. Many

artworks were destroyed because they were considered icons

Hemicycles: Semicircular structures Ex: On Saint Peters Basilica

Blind window: Windows with no openings. Ex: Saint Peters Basilica

Colossal order: any order built on a large scale. Ex; Saint Peters Basilica

Mannerism: Extraordinary virtuosity, sophisticated, elegant compositions, and fearless manipulations or

distortions of accepted formal conventions. Ex: "Portrait of a Young Man" by Bronzino.

Chateaux: A French country house or castle or elegant rural palaces ex: Chateau of Fontaibloleau

Cycles: Series of Paintings on a single allegorical subject. Ex: "Return of the Hunters" by Brugel

Caduceus: The symbolic staff with two entwined snakes. Ex: "George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland " by Nicholas

Hilliard

 
 

 
 

 
 

Holy Roman Empire : The greatest power in Europe . Cities and territories in Central Europe acknowledged the

overlordship of the Holy Roman Empire . In 1519 Charles V added Spain , the Netherlands , and territories in the Americas to the Empire

Papal States :

Branacci Chapel: Florence , it was originally dedicated to Saint Peter so the paintings in the interior illustrates his

life. Masaccio's style in the frescoes influenced many Renaissance artists like Michelangelo.

Carrara : The place where Michelangelo would hand pick the marble from the quarries; David was made out of this

Marble.

Sistine Chapel: Vatican Rome . Builder was Pope Sixtus IV for who it was named after. The ceiling was painted by Michelangelo with scenes from the Old Testament like "the Creation of Adam"

Vatican: Smallest country where the pope resides

Venice: City in Northern Italy

 
 

 
 

 
 

Julius II: Patron of the Sisten Chapel, employed Raphael

Charles V: Holy Roman Emperor in 1519: Added Spain, the Netherlands, and the vast lands of America to his realm

Clement VII: Medici, clashed with Charles V, caused the Sack of Rome because of their rivalry

Giorgio Vasari: Wrote the 1st Art History book

Duke Ludovico Sforza: Patron of the Last Supper, ruled Milan, imprisoned and then killed in 1508

Leo X: Julius II's successor, continued to employ Raphael,

Savonarola: Friar who entranced Michelangelo, executed for heresy in 1498

Vitruvius: Wrote the book about architecture and art. Inspired Bramante

Gonzaga: Continued family tradition of art patronage, hired Romano to build a pleasure palace for him

St. Sebastian and Abbott: Saints associated with the plague (Isenheim Alterpiece)

Martin Luther: Nailed the 95 thesis onto the church doors, calling for church reform, first to deny the rights of the

church, Lutheran religion named for him. He was condemned in 1521

Ignatius Loyola: Founded Society of Jesus, a new religious order

Francis I: Greatest French patron of artists, as soon as he got the throne he showed interest in modifying the court

through the talents of DaVinci

Phillip II: Only son of Charles V and Isabella of Portugal, became King of Spain, serious art collector

Art History-Chap 18-Images-COMPLETE

18-49 Michelangelo. Pietá (Known as the Rondanini Pietá)

- 1555-64; Marble, height 5'3 3/8"; Castello Sforzesco, Milan

- Seems like she is carrying Jesus to heaven

- Was made at the end of Michelangelo's life, the stone was difficult to shape. It is and example of Michelangelo's nonfinito creations

- Names for the current owner

- Lost the Renaissance ideals of perfection to show the tension of Europe during that time

 
 

18-48 Michelangelo, Last Judgment

- Detail of fresco in the Sistine Chapel; 1536-41

- First major commission of Pope Paul III

- From the left the dead are rising out of their graves and going into a vortex around Christ, who is raising his hand in justice

- On the right the rejected souls are being rejected and trusted towards hell

- At Christ's felt Saint Bartholomew, who was martyred by being skinned alive, is holding out his skin

- Different from earlier pieces in that they were neat and orderly and a definition between the saved and the damned. Mary has also changed in that her size has decrease and no longer enthroned beside Christ

- At the bottom right is Charon the ferry man at the entrance of hell

- Conservative clergy criticized the nudity of the piece and after Michelangelo's death added drapery on the figures.

 
 

18-72 Hieronymus Bosch. Garden of Earthly Delights

- c. 1505-15. Oil on wood panel, center panel 7'2 ½" x 6'4 ¾", each wing 7'2 ½" x 3'2"

- Commissioned by an aristocrat for Brussels town house

- There is only a hell and not a heaven, this shows that all earthly pleasures would lead to damnation, the people are bound to pursue the pleasure of the flesh; gluttony, lust,  and sloth

- On the left are Adam and Eve brought by Christ and watched be the owl of perverted wisdom (the owl is shown repeatedly. He symbolizes wisdom and folly, from the northerners who believed in the power of wisdom

- In the central panel (earth) there are monstrous birds and fruits symbolizing fertility and sexual abandon

- The Pleasures in the center panel are turned into torture on the right panel

 
 

18-74 Pieter Brugel the Elder. Carrying of the cross

- 1564 Oil on wood panel, 4' ¾" x 5'7"

- The four larger figures, Saint John and the 3 Mary's, seem to be the primary subjects but they are secondary to Jesus in the center carrying the crass to Golgotha

- The piece is meant so that the viewer has to search through everything that is going on for the subject. This is pretty achieved by patches of red made by the soldier's coats

- On the hill in the distance captured by light in the dark sky people are gathering around the place where Jesus will be crucified, they surround is if to get a good spot

- The windmill on the exaggerated rock shows the Italian Mannerism

 
 

18-75 Pieter Brugel the Elder. Return of the Hunters

- 1565. Oil on wood panel, 3'10 1/2" x 5'3 ¾"

- Part of a cycle of six panels that represent the twelve months, each representing to shown here is the November-December scene

- Captures the cold damp atmosphere in the early night fall

- There is a sharp change near to far, shows the Mannerist style

- The view is slightly from above looking down on the hunters returning followed by the dogs then onto the town covered with snow and the frozen ponds

- On the side by the inn, workers are preparing to slaughter a pig

 
 

18-76 Hans Holbein the Younger. Henry VIII

- 1540, Oil on wood panel, 32 ½ x 29 ½"

- The artist used the kings size to his advantage and added jewelry, embroidered cloth and fur, the king is preparing for the marriage to his fourth wife Anne of Cleves, April5, 1540

- The king was 49 as said on the dark green background; it is based on an earlier prototype of the king's features.

- It is done to outdo Francis I; it imitates the French styles and the French King's beard. The king is shown in the latest style with a puffy sleeve coat of heavy brocade trimmed in dark fur, a narrow and stiff collar that fastens on the front and a doublet with gemstones and a gold braid

 
 

18.59 Feast in the House of Levi, from the refectory of the Dominican Monastery of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice. Veronese

-1573; oil on canvas, 18'3'' by 42'

-enormous loggia framed by a colossal triumphal arches and reached by balustraded stairs symbolizes Levi's house

-imaginary city in white marble

-includes anecdotal vignette: parrots, monkeys, and Germans

 
 

18.60 The Last Supper. Tintoretto "Little Dyer"

-1593-94; oil on canvas; 12' by 18'8

-Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice

-view is from a corner w/ a vanishing point on a high horizon line at the far right side

-table, coffered ceiling, and inlaid floor all plunge dramatically into the distance

-two light sources: one real (the oil lamp), the other supernatural (Jesus glowing)

-reflects both Byzantine art of Venice and the Mannerist aesthetic

-interpretation is about the institution of the Eucharist

 
 

18.61 Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice

-1565-80; campanile 1791

-a wide lower level fronting the nave and side aisles surmounted by a narrower front for the nave clerestory

-inspired by Alberti's solution for Sant' Andrea in Mantua; created the illusion of two temple fronts of different heights and widths

-Palladio retained Alberti's motif of the triumphal-arch entrance

 
 

18.63 Villa Rotunda (Villa Capra), Vicenza. Palladio

-Italy; 1560s

-designed as a retreat for relaxation; a party house

-ionic order porch

-main living quarters are on the second level (like Europeans palace architecture), and lower level is reserved for the kitchen, storage, and other utility rooms

-inspired by the Roman Pantheon

-later became known as the Villa Capra because the Capra family purchased it in 1591

-central plan

 
 

18.65 Francis I. Jean Clouet

-1525-30; oil and tempera on wood panel

-softened his features but did not completely idealize them

-thick neck w/ silk, satin, velvet, jewels, and gold embroidery

-sketched the subject then painted the prototype

-clothing and jewels could be painted separately; lent to the artists by the subjects, they were sometimes modeled by a servant

 
 

18.70 Burial of Count Orgaz. El Greco

-1586; oil on canvas; 16' by 11'10''; Church of Santo Tome, Toledo, Spain

-Orgaz family commissioned El Greco

-Augustine and Stephen lower Count Orgaz into his tomb; his soul ascend into heaven

-group portrait of the local aristocracy and religious notables

-El Greco's 8 year old son is at the lower left next to Saint Stephen

-put some of his own features on the man above the saint's head; the only one looking straight out at the viewer

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Pieta: Titian; 1570-76

• Oil on canvas
  
• Painted for his own tomb, not finished (he died)
  
• Virgin mourns her son in front of an arch niche
  
• Painted with freedom and confidence
  
• Figures emerge from the darkness, forms are defined by sweeping brush strokes
  

   
   

  Entombment: Pontormo; 1525-28
  

• Oil on wood
  
• Virgin accepts angel's message, but also has a vision of her future sorrow as she sees her son's body being lowered from the cross
  
• Ambiguous composition enhances the visionary of the painting
  
• Rocky ground and cloudy sky give little sense of location
  
• Some figures press into viewers space, while others levitate
  
• Emotional atmosphere is expressed in the odd poses, drastic shifts in scale, and use of secondary color
  

   
   

  Madonna with the Long Neck: Parmigiano; 1535
  

• Oil on wood panal
  
• Virgin is elongated, her large legs and lower torso contrasts with her narrow shoulders and long neck
  
• Neck echoes the column to the right
  
• Compares female body to the forms of classical pottery
  

   
   

  Portrait of a Young Man: Bronzino; 1540-45
  

• Shows artist's characteristic portrayal of his subjects as intelligent, aloof, elegant, and self-assured
  
• Toys with a book shows his scholarly interests
  
• Walleyed stare creates an unsettling effect and seems to associate portiat with the masks surrounding him
  

   
   

  Saltcellar of Francis I: Benvenuto Cellini; 1539-43
  

• Gold with enamel
  
• Table accessory
  
• Roman sea god, Neptune, sits next to a tiny boat-shaped container (hold salt) while the personifacation of the earth guards the pepper in the triumphant arch
  
• Poses mirror each other
  

   
   

  Noli Me Tangere: Lavina Fontana; 1581
  

• Biblical story of Chirst revealing himself before his assertion with Mary Magdalen
  
• Means "don't touch me"
  
• Oil on canvas
  
• Christ's costume refers to the passage in the Gospel of John when Mary first mistook Jesus for a gardener