|
I. Religious and Mythological
Up until the Renaissance, most art had to do with religion. Architecture, sculpture, music and painting all centered around the scenes from the Bible, the lives of the saints, and portraits of Madonna and the Christ Child. But this changed as the Renaissance progressed. Greek and Roman gods reappeared everywhere. Sculptures imitated those of ancient Greece. ROMEO AND JULIET and most of Shakespeare's work are full of references to the ancient gods and their myths. A good example of this transition might be to view a strong Biblical theme from the early 1400's and then take a look at one artist's version of mythological subjects painted about 75 years later.
A. Religious: Lorenzo Ghiberti was a sculptor whose greatest work was the bronze doors he designed and completed for the Baptistry at Florence in the first half of the 15th Century.
1. Describe the panel of the Sacrifice of
Isaac. What
Bible scene is Ghiberti portraying?
2. Describe the detail in the Creation of Adam, a panel on
the Eastern door of the Baptistry. How does it differ
from Michelangelo's depiction of the ceiling of the
Sistine Chapel?
3. Choose one other famous Biblical scene and describe
Ghiberti's interpretation of it.
B. Mythological:
Now to the mythological - Botticelli painted religious scenes as well, but two of his most famous works deal with famous myths, stories which the ancient Greeks told to explain nature and the world around them. Using his Allegory of Spring or
Primavera, answer the following:
1. Name a major god and a major goddess in the painting.
2. What other minor gods or goddesses appear in the
painting?
3. This painting is considered an allegory as its title
suggests. What story might it be explaining?
4. Viewing Botticelli's Birth of Venus and reading the
text, answer the following:
a. Describe the scene, explaining the myth behind it.
b. Why do you think it was so important to have a
Venus of such grace and beauty?
c. According to the text, what imperfections are there
in Botticelli's model of Venus.
II. The Davids
Compare Donatello's and Michelangelo's Davids.
How are they different?
After consulting these web sites, answer the questions that follow.
A. Why is Donatello's David so "innovative" for its time?
B. Compare the two David's
1. height
2. composition (What is each made of?)
3. stance (What attitude does each statue convey to the
viewer?)
C. Where are the two statues today?
III.
High Renaissance
During the High Renaissance three brilliant artists emerged: Leonardo DaVinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti,
and Raphael (Raffaelo Sanzio).
A.
Leonardo DaVinci
- View the web site on the Mona Lisa for the following questions:
1. Why was Leonardo DaVinci called the original
Renaissance man?
2. Why is DaVinci's Mona Lisa so famous as
work
of art?
3. Why is the painting surrounded by mystery?
4. What technique does Leonardo use for the Mona
Lisa?
5. Where is the Mona Lisa today?
- View the web site on The Last Supper
for the following questions:
1.
What method did Leonardo use to paint The
Last
Supper? Explain.
2.
Explain why this painting is so important to the idea
of perspective in art.
3.
How does Leonardo convey the tension of what
Christ has just told the Apostles?
4.
Compare this painting to Ghirlandaio's Last Supper.
B. Michelangelo Buonarroti
- View the web site on Michelangelo for the following questions:
1. We have already seen Michelangelo's David when
we looked at it in comparison to Donatello's. One
of his even earlier sculptures was his Pietà.
a. How does Michelangelo portray Mary as she
holds her son?
b. How is Christ shown?
c. Why did critics of the time, such as Vasari,
think of his sculpture as "divine beauty"?
2. Shortly after finishing his David, Michelangelo was
recalled to Rome to work on the Sistine Chapel
ceiling, painting on a very grand scale. After having
viewed the Sistine Chapel ceiling,
Visit to the
Sistine Chapel
and the biography, answer the
following:
a. How did Michelangelo divide the scenes on
the ceiling?
b. How did the mixture of the Biblical
(religious) and mythological (pagan) themes
intermingle on the ceiling? (Click on Sibyls to
answer this.)
c. In what order did Michelangelo place the nine
scenes from the Book of Genesis?
d. Click on Michelangelo's most famous scene,
the Creation of Adam. What is this particular
scene so famous for? What does it suggest so
strongly to the viewer?
e. Click on the close ups of both Adam and God.
How are their faces so different? How does
this help Michelangelo convey this scene to
all who view it from the floor of the Sistine
Chapel?
f. Choose one other scene from the Genesis and
describe its significance.
3. Less than 25 years after the Sistine Chapel ceiling
was completed by Michelangelo, he was called upon
to paint what turned out to be the largest fresco of the
Renaissance, the Last Judgement, on the Chapel's
altar wall.
a. What is this fresco's subject?
b. Look at Michelangelo's self-portrait in the
flayed skin carried by St. Bartholomew. What
might it be
saying about his own life?
c. How did a later artist change Michelangelo's
original painting?
4. As Michelangelo grew older, he was asked to design
architectural plans. Obviously his genius helped him
devise a plan for the Dome of St. Peter's.
a. Why is this accomplishment so amazing given
Michelangelo's previous work?
5. Of all of Michelangelo's various accomplishments,
talents, masterpieces, describe which you like best
and why.
For extra credit, explore the background of the design / building of the Dome and its final outcome.
C. Raphael (Raffaelo Sanzio)
- View the web site on the Raphael for the following questions:
1. Describe Raphael's style and explain how he was
different from Leonardo and Michelangelo.
2. Compare Raphael's two paintings of St. George
Fighting the Dragon. Which do you like better?
Why?
3. At the same time Michelangelo was painting the
Sistine Chapel, Raphael was working on murals in
the Vatican Palace. Raphael's School of Athens is
such a vivid scene of classical ancient Greece that
this painting alone places him in the select ranks as
artist. Using the image map of the
School of Athens
and details
answer the following:
a. Identify 3 major Greek philosophers.
b. Identify 2 major mathematical figures.
c. Identify a religious philosopher.
d. Which philosopher was made to look like
Leonardo DaVinci?
e. Find Raphael in the picture. Where does he
place himself?
f. Given all the famous Greek scholars and the
painting's setting, how does Raphael' vision of
ancient Greece come across to the viewer?
| 
