Download Renaissance Group Exercise

Renaissance Group Exercise 5
INSTRUCTIONS: Create a powerpoint presentation which addresses your
group’s questions. You should then upload the PPT by the deadline on the
schedule. You will then evaluate yourself and your group members on the
Self Evaluations and all groups other than your own on the Others
Evaluations. Each evaluation is worth up to 10 points. The instructor will
evaluate the group as a whole for another 10 points, thus 30 points total for
this exercise.
Group One: Technique, Style, Content
1. What was the subject matter of the Renaissance art and how did it differ from that
which
had preceded it in the middle ages? How is the rising philosophy of individualism
reflected in Renaissance art?
2. Who are the primary patrons of the arts during the early Renaissance? How is that
reflected in
the art produced? Show us examples. What difference does patronage make in
terms of
content of art?
3. How are views of the human body changing in the Renaissance? What difference
does this
make regarding the artistic depiction of the same? Point to examples in your text
and
explain them to the class.
4. What were the motivating reasons for painting a portrait? How do early Renaissance
portraits
change in the later High Renaissance?
5. Why would the discovery of perspective be seen as one of the singular most important
aspects of Renaissance thought? Explain thoroughly notions of linear
perspective,
one-point perspective, vanishing point and be able to demonstrate these ideas in
Figures 17.17, 17.20, 17.27 and 17.29.
Group Two: Sculpture
1. Give a little history of the life of Donatello. Then explain what he is doing in Fig. 17.1
Compare that to Michelangelo's sculpture of the same subject, Fig. 17.35.
2. How is Fig. 17.2 a good example of half of the Renaissance project? Which half?
Explain.
3. How is Fig. 17.3 a good example of the other half of the Renaissance project?
Explain.
4. What historical elements does the statue in Figure 17.15 demonstrate? (Think Middle
Ages)
How does it revive the Roman ideas of public sculpture? Compare to Fig. 6.23.
5. Briefly relate the life history of Michelangelo. Why is Michelangelo's sculpture some of
the
most beloved art in the world? Explain using Fig. 17.34 and Fig. 17.35. Where
have we
seen some of these ideas before?
Group Three: Architecture
1. Give a very brief historical overview of how the Florence Cathedral came to be built
and decorated.
2. The winner of the contest created the bronze doors for the Baptistery. Tell about the
contest, then tell about the doors themselves (fig. 17.22). Then explain the piece from
the panel below:
3. The loser of the contest may have gotten the better deal. What did he get to create?
Explain using Figs. 17.7 and 8.
4. What was the Pazzi Chapel? Why was it built? For whom? What significance does it
hold in
Renaissance architecture? Explain using Fig. 17.8 and 17.9.
5. What marks the work of Leon Battista Alberti? Explain using Figs. 17.10 and 17.11.
6. What marks the work of the High Renaissance architects? Explain using Fig. 17.31
and 17.32.
Where do we see Palladio's work today? (Hint: Look below)
Group Four: Painters of the Renaissance
1. Give a brief life history of Sandro Boticelli. Now, tell us what he is up to in Birth of
Venus,
Fig. 17.4. Comparing this to Medici Venus, Fig. 17.5, what does this tell us about
the
Renaissance project?
2. Give a brief life history of Raphael. What is unusual about his painting of the Virgin
Mary
in Fig. 17.28? Now, explain thoroughly The School of Athens, Fig. 17.29. What
do we
need to know (subtext and context) to understand this painting? Where do we
see
perspective here?
3. Who is Gentile Bellini? What is the subject of his work in Fig. 17.41?
4. Who was Titian? What changes in technique and subject matter are evident from the
earlier
Renaissance works in this High Renaissance artist's work? Explain using 17.42
and
17.43.
5. Explain briefly the map on p. 24. Now, what differences from the earlier Southern
Renaissance are notable about the Northern Renaissance art of Jan Van Eyck?
Use Figures 17.12 and 17.13 to explain.
Group Five: Two Masters of the Renaissance
1. Give a brief life history of Leonardo da Vinci and bring a picture of him to show the
class.
What made da Vinci different from other figures of this era? How might he be
seen as the
quintessential Renaissance man?
2. What do Leonardo's drawings in Figure 17.23 tell us about his studies and interests?
How might he have come to know how to draw this? What does Figure 17.24
tell us about da Vinci? If da Vinci were alive today, what would he do for a
living? Da Vinci's preference for sensory experience and observation over "book
learning" is the precursor for what major historical event? What does his
work in Fig. 17.25 tell us about da Vinci's interest and knowledge?
3. What is the subject of Leonardo da Vinci's work in Fig. 17.27? Where do we
see
perspective here? How do we see da Vinci's need for order and
proportionality?
How does this take on the Last Supper compare with earlier visions seen
below? What does this tell us about the relationship of art to context and
subtext?
Mosaic, Last Supper, Saint Apollinaire Church, Ravena, Italy 520 CE
Jacopo Tintoretto, Last Supper, oil on canvas, 1592-4, Venice, Italy.
Salvador Dali, Sacrament of the Last Supper, 1955.
4. Give a brief life history of Michelangelo. Bring a picture to show the class.
5. How did Michelangelo come to design and decorate the St. Peter's Basilica?
How did he come to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel? Explain
using Figs. 17.36 and 17.38. Read the poem on p. 71. What does this
tell us about that process?
Group Six: Music in the Renaissance
1. What does Lorenzo Costa's work in Fig. 17.44 tell us about music in the
Renaissance?
Explain. What does Hans Bugkmair's woodcut tell us about music in the
Renaissance?
(Fig. 17.45) Explain.
2. Tell us briefly about the life of composer Guillaume Dufay. What was his project?
What
was the relationship of his music to that of the medieval period? Play an example
of his work in class and explain it. (Number 17, "Missa L'Homme Arme," )
3. What was a madrigal? Where might we hear this form of music today? What was the
project
of Roland de Lassus? Play an example of his music and explain. (Number 18,
Matona
Mia Cara). What marked the work of Thomas Morley? Explain using the sample
of
his music. (Number 19, My Bonnie Lass She Smileth).
4. Who was Josquin de Prez? What was his project? Explain in particular the
developments of
word paintings and imitation. Then, play an example of his work in class and
explain it. (Number 20, Tulerunt Dominum Meum)