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An Overview of
Art History
HU300
Unit 6
All Visual Art is Imitation
• Aristotle’s word for imitation is
“mimesis”; what the actor sought to
do; to reveal the truth of human
beings.
• Art as Imitation does this in two
essential ways:
– Art as Likeness:
• Rembrandt Van Rijn (top right)
– “The Jewish Bride,” 1667
– Art as Alteration:
• Wassily Kandinsky (bottom right)
– “Composition VIII,” 1923
• Within each essential form there
are any number of styles.
• Some seek to paint what is there to
be painted, while others seek to
paint what is in the artist’s mind
(and heart).
Classical Art: Art as Likeness
Temple of Artemis in Ephesus
Roman tile portrait
Grecian Urn
Sarcophagus of woman and dog;
Late Roman
Classical Art -- quick facts:
• Classical art is noted for its strong sense of form,
proportion and balance.
• Much of the art and architecture served the needs of the
state.
• Classical art at first sought to idealize the human form;
reaching for perfection (as the gods/goddesses were
perfect). Much of the art of the Greek period was
attributed to Phidias, a painter, sculptor and architect
greatly admired in the 5th cy B.C.E.
• In the late 4th cy B.C.E., the emphasis shifted towards
realism; with less depictions of idealized forms replaced
by more life-like human qualities. Note the sculpture on
p. 149 in TABH.
• Roman Art often depicted less serene, more dynamic
forms that appealed to human passions.
Euclid’s “Golden Section”
• This is a mathematical calculation of balance
that states the most pleasing relationship
between two connecting parts is such that the
smaller is to the larger as the larger is to the sum
of the two.
• It is expressed mathematically as a ratio of
1:1.68.
• The golden section finds its way into architecture
and painting in the classical and subsequent art
periods.
• Leonardo da Vinci was so impressed by this
principle that he called it the “Divine Proportion.”
The Parthenon, Acropolis, Greece
Euclid’s Golden Section in Architecture
A
B
C
The Golden Section: the smaller is to the larger as the larger is to the
sum of the two -- BC is to AB as AB is to AC.
Slide reference from
http://ccins.camosun.bc.ca/~jbritton/goldslide/jbgoldslide.htm
Leonardo’s “Annunciation of the Virgin”
•
•
•
•
Divide this painting into a square on
the left and another on the right. (If it is
a root-5 rectangle, these lines mark
out two golden-section rectangles as
the parts remaining after a square has
been removed).
Also mark in the lines across the
picture which are 0·618 of the way up
and 0·618 of the way down it.
Also mark in the vertical lines which
are 0·618 of the way along from both
ends. You will see that these lines
mark out significant parts of the picture
or go through important objects.
You can then try marking lines that
divide these parts into their golden
sections too.
Reference from -http://www.mcs.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/R.Knott/Fibonacci/fibInArt.html#daVinci
Byzantine Art
Icon of Madonna and Child
Bust of Emperor Constantine
Byzantine and Medieval Art
• For nearly a 1000 years, the art world came under the
influence of the Christian church. (5th cy C.E. to 15th cy
C.E.).
• Beginning with Emperor Constantine’s conversion to
Christianity, the church began a strong cultural mandate
in Western culture.
• The goal of art was to remind people of Jesus Christ, the
saints and apostles and the story contained in Holy
Scriptures.
• Depictions of Christ showed his wisdom and depth (a
more adult-like face even when showing him as a child.)
• The Pagan world of classical art was frowned upon.
Medieval Art
Detail of stained glass;
St. Peter with Keys
Cathedral Carving
Poitiers, France
From the cathedral at
Chartres, France
Medieval Art
Gargoyle; York Minster Cathedral
The Nave of York Minster
The Renaissance
“Mona Lisa” ( aka, La Gioconda) wood panel
Leonardo da Vinci; 1503-1506
“Renaissance” means “rebirth.” This period
was known for its flowering in the arts,
music and literature. Increasing emphasis
was placed on essential human qualities
and on freedom and individuality.
The three great art figures of this period
are Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and
Raphael.
Art and Patronage
• Italians were willing to spend a lot of
money on art.
– Art communicated social, political, and
spiritual values.
– Italian banking & international trade interests
had the money.
• Public art in Florence was organized and
supported by guilds.
Therefore, the consumption of art was used as a
form of competition for social & political status!
1. Realism & Expression
 Expulsion from
the Garden
 Masaccio
 1427
 First nudes since
classical times.
2. Perspective
The Trinity
Perspective!
Perspective!
Perspective!
Perspective!
Perspective!
Perspective!
Masaccio
1427
Perspective!
First use
of linear
perspective!
What you are,
I once was;
what I am,
you will
become.
Perspective
3. Classicism
Greco-Roman
influence.
Secularism.
Humanism.
Individualism  free
standing figures.
Symmetry/Balance
The “Classical Pose”
Medici “Venus” (1c)
4. Emphasis on Individualism
 Batista Sforza & Federico de Montefeltre: The
Duke & Dutchess of Urbino
 Piero della Francesca, 1465-1466.
Isabella d’Este – da Vinci, 1499
1474-1539
“First Lady of
the Italian
Renaissance.”
Great patroness
of the arts.
Known during her
time as “First
Lady of the
World!”
5. Geometrical Arrangement of
Figures
 The Dreyfus
Madonna
with the
Pomegranate
 Leonardo da
Vinci
 1469
 The figure as
architecture!
6. Light & Shadowing/Softening Edges
Sfumato
Chiaroscuro
7. Artists as Personalities/Celebrities
Lives of the Most
Excellent
Painters,
Sculptors, and
Architects
Giorgio Vasari
1550
Florence Under the Medici
Medici Chapel
The Medici Palace
Filippo Brunelleschi
• Commissioned to
build the cathedral
dome.
– Used unique
architectural
concepts.
• He studied the
ancient
Pantheon in Rome.
• Used ribs for
support.
Brunelleschi’s Dome
Comparing Domes
Other Famous Domes
Il Duomo
(Florence)
St. Peter’s
(Rome)
St. Paul’s
(London)
US capital
(Washington)
The Ideal City
Piero della Francesca, 1470
Ghiberti – Gates of Paradise
Baptistry Door, Florence – 1425 - 1452
The Winner!
The Liberation of
Sculpture
 David by Donatello
 1430
 First free-form bronze
since Roman times!
David
Verrocchio
1473 - 1475
The Baptism of Christ
Verrocchio, 1472 - 1475
Leonardo
da Vinci
 Vitruvian Man
 Leonardo da
Vinci
 1492
The
L’uomo
universale
The Renaissance “Man”
 Broad knowledge about many things in
different fields.
 Deep knowledge/skill in one area.
 Able to link information from different
areas/disciplines and create new
knowledge.
 The Greek ideal of the “well-rounded
man” was at the heart of Renaissance
education.
1. Self-Portrait -- da Vinci, 1512
 Artist
 Sculptor
 Architect
 Scientist
 Engineer
 Inventor
1452 - 1519
Leonardo, the Artist
 The Virgin of
the Rocks
 Leonardo da
Vinci
 1483-1486
Leonardo, the Artist:
From hisNotebooks of over 5000 pages (1508-1519)
Mona Lisa – da Vinci, 1503-4
ParodyThe Best Form of Flattery?
A Macaroni Mona
A Picasso Mona
An Andy Warhol Mona
A “Mona”ca Lewinsky
Mona Lisa OR da Vinci??