Megan Lowe-‐1862, New College Swindon Cri7cal and Contextual Studies. Unit 1. An Inves7ga7on into the Human Form Throughout the History of Art.
Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filieppi beLer known as Sandro BoOcelli was a painter in the early renaissance. Born in Italy 1445 and died in 1510 at age 65. By 1470 BoOcelli had his own work shop and he was known for the clear precise outlines which were full of energy and tension, he was also known for his concep7on of the figure as if seen in low relief. BoOcelli is perhaps most well known for “Primavera” in 1478 and “The Birth of Venus” in 1485 which both display his most well known traits.
As you can see here (in Portrait of a Youth, BoOcelli, 1482-‐85) the hands are clearly defined by BoOcelli’s famous outlines. Using this technique shows the movement and yet the rigid pose of the hands. We can see that BoL7celli u7lises this outlining technique in The Birth of Venus.
The Renaissance. In Florence c.1400 BoOcelli aLended the Floren7ne School and painted in the early renaissance. The renaissance that began in 1400 un7l around 1600, literally translates as “the rebirth” this was because during this 7me they were beginning to rediscover lost art work and sculptures from classical civiliza7on such as the ancient Greeks, this influenced art of that 7me par7cularly in the republic of Florence. The Renaissance emerged in Italy but par7cularly in the city Florence. We can see other examples of Floren7ne Renaissance art such as Brunelleschi’s Dome on the Duomo Florence.
This is the first 7me in the history of art that a dome like this had been created and several architects of the 7me had aLempted to “stand half an egg on marble” to create the dome and only Brunelleschi could complete it.
Less than a hundred years later Giorgio Vasari characterised the Renaissance as a “golden age” in art.
Florence was at the centre of the Renaissance and lead the way for other ci7es and countries. The Floren7ne Early Renaissance is typified by interest in rediscovery of classical learning and art. During this 7me Humanism was formed-‐this was a way of looking at the arts and looking at it from the human perspec7ve. The Renaissance was not just a rebirth of art it was the rebirth of culture including science, geometry and literature. There was an increase in wealth and trade which in turn caused fric7on and rivalry between ci7es. There was also a rise in the power of merchant families as patrons-‐this also meant an increase of guilds as patrons. A guild was a group of people that had the same occupa7on, they would put money into a fund and then contributed something to the community such as public art, sculptures and architecture. The rise in trade in Florence also had a profound affect on the arts and the rise of the Renaissance. Florence became a main trade route during this 7me period and allowed for a posi7ve mix of new ideas. Florence also received a lot of ideas from other cultures that other ci7es did not have the means to receive.
Many ar7sts of the past had observed that objects appear smaller in the distance, and that parallel lines of architecture seem to converge as they lead toward the background. The technique of imita7ng this recession into the distance is known as perspec7ve, all parallel lines in a picture converge at a single vanishing point. The architect Brunelleschi is credited with discovering the mathema7cal rules that govern how this works. Many ar7sts, such as Perio della Francesa applied them rigorously to their pain7ngs, some7mes allowing their obsession with this new found “science” to dominate their work.
BoOcelli The Birth of Venus 1485 Tempera on canvas 172.5 x 278.5 cm large scale
In Greek mythology, according to Hesiod, she was born when Uranus (the father of the gods) was castrated by his son Cronus. Cronus threw the severed genitals into the ocean which began to churn and foam about them. From the aphros ("sea foam") arose Aphrodite, and the sea carried her to either Cyprus or Cythera. The Birth of Venus seems to be an echo in Poliziano’s Stanze, a classical story.
Venus (the Roman alterna7ve to Aphrodite) did not have a childhood, she was born a fully mature female. Ager her birth her immense beauty and grace caused much anguish between the Gods.
Zephyrus-‐the west wind is the gentle breeze of spring that propels Venus to the shore. Here shown intertwined with the nymph Chloris
Here we can see BoOcelli demonstra7ng Poe7c Inven7o – this is where someone is telling the narra7ve through gestures, such as Zephyrus blowing his west winds.
Venus’s scared roses were said to have been created when Venus was born. The rose has exquisite beauty and fragrance like the goddess and is also a symbol of love like Venus. The rose thorns remind us that love can be painful too
The orange trees that are shown here are hung with white blossoms 7pped with gold (gold leaf) the leave, tree spines and the trunks also have gold showing the grove to be blessed with Venus’s divine presence.
As you can see BoOcelli’s Venus stands in a similar posi7on to this classical sculpture from Roman era known as “The Modest Venus” (Cosimio de’Medici in fact owned this Roman sculpture.) Both the sculpture and the copied pose by BoOcelli are stood In a contrapposto posi7on, this is when the body looks like its been caught mid-‐movement. ‘Contrapposto’ directly translates to ‘counter pose’ so even though the figure is stood s7ll posing, it looks like it has been moving. We see this in other sculptures such as Donatello’s David. We can also that Venus is stood in a pose known as the ‘Venus Pudica.’ This is where Venus strategically holds her hand to cover her modesty.
Venus is depicted here nude in BoOcelli’s pain7ng and this was the first 7me this had been done since an7quity. This made it radical, however ager this pain7ng was created many ar7sts followed ager and depicted their Venus’ in nude. As we can see here in Albert Joseph Moore in ‘A Venus’ in 1869 and even earlier in Francois Boucher’s ‘Birth of Venus’ in 1743-‐63.
We are unsure of who exactly commissioned his pain7ng, however we are lead to believe that it was either the a member Medici family or someone from the Medici court. It is expected that it was commissioned for the Medici’s country villa and used as a bed headpiece. We can guess this due to the ownership of “The Modest Venus.” Even though we suspect that a Medici rela7on had this commissioned, the face of Venus is personal to BoOcelli and whenever BoOcelli depicted Venus he always used the same face of the love of his life SimoneLa. Unfortunately when this depic7on was painted the beauty was in fact deceased. Here we can see the same face being repeated in two other depic7ons.
The composi7on of BoOcelli’s Birth of Venus is based on the account of the ar7st Apelles whose depic7on of Venus has been lost for centuries.
We can see here that the composi7on is a pyramidal shape with Venus’ head at the apex. This is fiOng as many described Venus’ head and face as the epitome of beauty and grace.
Here we can see some Roman 7me copies of The Modest Venus done earlier in Greek 7mes.
She holds her hands in the ‘Venus Pudica’ posi7on first used in the famous statue of Aphrodite of Cnidos by the Greek sculptor Praxiteles
The basic propor7ons of the figure of Venus come from the classical canon of beauty rediscovered during the Renaissance. This consisted of having an equal distance between the breasts, between the navel and breasts, navel and crotch. We can see this demonstrated in this classical sculpture.
Fibonacci’s number sequence Leonardo Pisano Fibonacci was a middle ages mathema7cian, he is best remembered for his problem regarding rabbits. The answer to his problem lead with the Fibonacci sequence, this sequence appears throughout nature. In 1202 he published his Liber Abaci with workings with decimal numbers. We use his theories in maths today. He theorised that ager one month a pair of rabbits would reproduce another pair. Each successive month, every new pair becomes an adult pair and itself reproduces a bay pair, while each mature pair con7nues to reproduce likewise.
This then made up the Fibonacci sequence: 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,24,55,89,144,233,377 The space between these two numbers have a ra7o of approximately 1:1.618
Using the Fibonacci sequence, 8,13,21 and 34cm, we can create an instrument of measurement called the Fibonacci Gauge. The Fibonacci Gauge is used in modern 7mes to measure many products nowadays. The Fibonacci gauge also helped to create A4 as we know it, the measurements make the ‘golden rectangle’ and this is the extra measurements of A4 paper.
As we can see above the composi7on of the Birth of Venus is based on Fibonacci’s spiral and matches the measurements of the ‘golden rectangle’ and the measurements of the Fibonacci gauge.
BoOcelli painted The Birth of Venus using egg tempera paint on Poplar wood. Acrylic paints weren’t readily available un7l the 1930’s and so ar7sts would use pigments mixed with egg yolk and water. The egg would set and the paint would stay durable for hundreds of years. BoOcelli and many other great masters used Poplar would as a base, although Poplar wood was full of knots and needed a lot of work in prepara7on to start pain7ng, it is also infamous for aLrac7ng woodworm and dry rot, despite this it was cheap and readily available. We use Poplar today to make match s7cks. Before an ar7st could work on the wood he would coat the wood with glue made primarily from dead animals. They would boil the carcass and create a jelly, this would in turn create a glue and that was pasted all over the wood board. The ar7st however would not work alone he would have a team of people with individual speciali7es-‐just as a chef in a kitchen would do-‐ therefore it is unlikely that BoOcelli did this on his own. Ager preparing the board they would then lay linen soaked in glue on the surface and apply gesso over the surface.
There are also hints of gold leaf in the top leg hand side of the pain7ng, this is would have been made using Florin the gold coin used in Florence, they would of hammered the coin into liLle pieces and then beat them pieces un7l it created paper like fragments of gold leaf. Gesso is applied to the board first and then coloured red to help the near transparent cold to appear warm and glowing. The gold leaf would show wealth and was usually used in religious pain7ng so when you would light a candle near or in front of it the reflec7on would give a magical superhuman feel to the pain7ng and the subject maLer. The paint they used was called tempera paint and it would be made mixing water egg yolk and pigment. The yolk would dry and harden and it gives the paint a shine and durability that we can see s7ll even now. The par7cular pigments in the paint would come from different source for example; • Earthy colour would come from soil and vegeta7on • Red came from dead beetles bodies dried and ground into powder • Blues were known as ultramarine and came from lapiz lazuli that was mined in Afghanistan (this was very expensive and tradi7onally only used for the Virgin Mary) During the Renaissance Florence was a hub of trade and communica7on therefore obtaining these pigments and techniques was rela7vely easier than other European countries.
Here is a digital drawing that I have made. I placed Venus, Zephyrus and the nymph in a local lake at Coate Water, Swindon. I wanted to make this using the digital sogware photoshop. I cut out Venus and Sephyrus and layered it over a pre exis7ng photo of Coate Water. I found this quite challenging to do as you have to cut around the figures and trying to not cut through the figures themselves. However, I am happy with the outcome of the image.
I took part in a workshop, where I was able to create this digital image. I enjoyed learning a new skill and I feel although this is how art will be created in the future and it was interes7ng to learn a completely contras7ng skill to pain7ng but with a similar goal but completely different outcome. Once I was taught the basic’s I found it fun to mess around with the different tools and effects but I knew that what I wanted was to put the figures into a local seOng. I found a picture of a local park (Coate water in Swindon) and then cut around the figures that I wanted. I only used Venus and then the two figures on the leg because in the picture I found, there is 2 people to the right and they were to replace the original two. I am happy with my final outcome.
I think that had it not been the Renaissance 7me then BoOcelli would have never produced this piece of work. The renaissance and re-‐discovering all the old art helped influenced BoOcelli and the Venus in this work would have not looked like this if the ancient Greek and Roman sculptured hadn’t been rediscovered during this 7me period.
Tommaso Guidi known as Masaccio was born in Arezzo near Florence, the son of a young notary. We have no evidence of any training that Masaccio did other than studying pain7ngs such as GioLo’s in the Church of Santa Croce in Florence. Massacio is known for leaving the elegant Gothic style behind him and concentra7ng on giving his figures weight and bulk within a coherent three dimensional space. The frescos he created in the Brancacci Chapel influenced some of the great masters we know today such as Leonardo Da Vinci. Unfortunately Massacio did not complete the fresco cycle-‐in 1428 Massaccio visited Rome where he suddenly died, it is rumoured today that he may have been poisoned. Massacio was a nicknamed that Tommaso adorned. Vasari said in his book ‘The Lives of Ar7sts’ that Massacio was obsessed with his art and imprac7cal affairs, hence the nickname, which is usually interpreted as “Clumsy Tom.” In 1422 Massacio became a member of the Floren7ne painters guild, which controlled and regulated the ac7vi7es of painters. Although he helped to develop a new intellectual atmosphere, ar7sts were s7ll ranked with cragsmen. Here is The Trinity, 1425, 264 x 124 inches, fresco from Santa Maria Novella, Florence.
We can see here Massacio uses foreshortening in this pain7ng. Vasari described the architecture as “a barrel vault drawn in perspec7ve, divided into squares with roseLes that diminish and which are foreshortened so well that there seems to be a hold in the wall.”
Massacio championed a new and vivid realism. A serious Virgin Mary looks down and gestures with he right hand to intercede between the human supplicant and the divine presence.
The architecture we see would have been based on a study of classical buildings such as the buildings see in Rome.
This altarpiece was commissioned by the Lenzi family and the kneeling figures either side of Christ are probably Lorenzo Lenzi and his wife. Although they are painted lower down and on another level to the other figures, they are painted at the same scale as the others. Their lifelike presence expresses the Renaissance view of “seeing is believing”
Massacio has modeled the donors robes with light to create solidity and weight rather than defining their shape with a flat outline. Gestures and facial expressions are also closely observed.
The illusion of a vaulted ceiling has been precisely calculated according to the new mathema7cal rules of perspec7ve invented by Brunelleschi-‐the incised grid lines under the plaster can s7ll be seen As an altarpiece we assume that the viewer would be knelt at eye level to the work. Therefore seeing this sign of death at eye level to them would act as a momento mori. Inscribed above the skeleton reads “I was that which you are. You will be that which I am.”
Many Renaissance ar7sts including Masaccio believed that geometry was the language of God. Whereas ar7sts previously believed this to be colours, the renaissance bought to light propor7on, geometry bought harmony to a pain7ng and bought you closer to God. We can see in almost every pre-‐ Renaissance depic7on that the virgin Mary was painted in Ultramarine colour, from lapiz lazuli (you got this from Afghanistan) this was thought to be Godly.
I think that this pain7ng is more powerful than a sculpture because Massacio has been able to include more detail and more of the important things in a pain7ng. For example he has been able to create enormous space and depth and despite a sculpture being 3D form there is limited ability to be able to lead the viewer into the work.
Plato was a philosopher, as well as a mathema7cian, said to have lived from around 428-‐427BC to 340-‐347BC. He was very influen7al in Western philosophy and had strong morals and opinions regarding democracy. Plato wrote many books and with Book VII of his republic we can learn his theory about what art is and how we can define beau7ful art. He used the famous allegory of a cave to describe hidden meanings. He said that there was a cave where people were siOng with their backs to the cave’s entrance, this would mean that all they can see is the cave wall in front of them. Their view of reality is based upon the shadows they can see-‐ therefore they can only see a poor copy of the real world. Plato said that art was just a. poor copy of the world also and art is just an imperfect copy. According to Plato art can only imitate real beauty. “Art is a false copy of the true beauty, and is therefore morally harmful to youth and it should be banned and subs7tuted with the beauty of geometrical forms based on harmonic propor7ons and a purely mathema7cal concept of the universe”
These people sat here will not be be able to see what is actually happening behind them only the shadows o the dancers. Therefore they are only seeing an imita7on of life.
Discus Thrower (Discobolus) 450BC was originally sculpted by Myron using bronze. Unfortunately the original bronze sculpture does not exist, this would have been because during the Roman period they would of have melted the original for its material and for the materials value. They would also use the bronze to make coins, however we do have this replica made from marble during the ancient Roman 7mes. The original would have been made using the lost wax process while the Roman 7me copy would have been made using the reduc7ve process. The Roman marble copy of the original is in Staatliche Antokensammulguen ung Glyptothek in Munich, Germany. The reason that Discobolus was originally made using Bronze was that it would have been easy to transport as it was a light material with a hollow centre, whereas the new marble would have been heavy and solid. Metal also increases the status of the sculpture and the subject maLer. The sculpture shows a nude man about to throw a discus as the name suggests. The man is highly idealised and we can see every aspect of the muscle tonality-‐the reflec7on of the shiny pa7na re-‐emphasises this. It appears as if the figure is moving. This is caused Rythmos. Ryhtmos refers to ac7on and sta7cness working in harmony. The Greeks strived to achieve this. The figure of the man and the muscle defini7on is anatomically correct as we can see from this graphic muscle diagram. This was something that the Greeks also enjoyed-‐ using science and being scien7fically correct in their art work.
Ancient discus throwers and athletes used to train and perform nude (hence the La7n transla7on of ‘gymnasium’ is to be ‘exercising nude’) this allowed ar7sts to portray the toned physique of the athletes. Here Myron depicts the moment when the figure is poised to throw the discus with convincing realism and mo7on (rythmos) He conveys the body’s taut vigour and delicate balance.
A discus thrower’s physique was admired because no single set of muscles was overdeveloped. The symmetry of the athletes propor7on is emphasised by the right angle made by the right angle made by the thigh and calf of the leg and that made by the torso and the outstretched right arm.
The discus thrower has a calm expression as he turns to look towards the discus. Some people would argue a severe expression that is typical of Greek art. To the modern viewer the athletes face may seem devoid of emo7on. For ancient sculptors it was important to represent the body as the aesthe7c epitome of the athle7c ideal, rather than focus on facial expression.
Scalpello Subbia
Gradina
The Roman replica is sculpted in marble and would have been made using the reduc7ve process. The reduc7ve process literally involves using a block of marble and slowly chiselling away un7l you have the main figure and then using liLler tools to define the figure and the details they have on them un7l eventually you will have created the figure you wanted to. There are several tools that would have been used, these include; •Subbia (the point) a pointed chisel or punch-‐ used to chisel ini7ally •Gradina (toothed chisel or claw with mul7ple teeth-‐mainly used to create the figure in a slightly more defined way •Scalpello (a flat chisel) much small that the others-‐used for the defini7on and the characteris7cs of the figure •Rasps are then used to smooth the chisel marks and create an even finish
This is the statue of Kouros which literally translates to the statue of the youth. Created in 590-‐580 BC and comes from a period of 7me known as the archaic period. This came before Plato but there were many others similar to Plato deba7ng beauty and naturalism in art. The sculpture illustrates how the Greek empire were interested in the human form and they wanted to celebrate the uniqueness of the human form and how far the body can be pushed. As we can see the sculpture has simplis7c forms and limited details, we can see this par7cularly in the face, it has a typical archaic smile and didalic eyes. We can iden7fy some of the known formal features such as the sculpture being free standing with ver7cal emphasis. The figure is nude and is shown idealised, however due to the low tensile strength of marble the statue have minimal projec7ons, a closed composi7on and a sta7c regular silhoueLe. The marble gives a smooth polished surface, yet the hardness of marble gives a contrasted appeal with the detail coarse area of hair. Like many statues there is only one fixed viewpoint.
I am pu'ng my weight on one leg. This is called contrapposto
We can see here the Warrior of Riace sculpture. The sculpture is made of Bronze and was made in c. 450 BC. It was found in 1972 in the sea near Italy. We can see that this had similar references to the discuss thrower. The sculpture is freestanding and not supported. The figure is nude and high idealised with almost unnatural muscle defini7on. The figure is stood in contrapposto which creates a regular silhoueLe. The bronze’s high tensile strength allows for complex nega7ve space a projec7ons (such as the arms and legs) The pa7na is smooth and highly finished. Ager spending all that 7me in the ocean the pa7na has obviously been weathered-‐which makes the deep brown colour. The pa7na adds to the overall beauty and classical feel of the sculpture. Such like the discuss thrower there is no fixed viewpoint and can be seen in the round.
The Lost Wax Process • • • • •
• • • • • • • •
STEP 1 Making the Mold: This step is by far the most cri7cal. All the detail which appears on the sculpture must be captured in the mold. The mold (depending on the size of the sculpture) is cut into sec7ons for cas7ng. STEP 2 Making the Wax CasCng: Molten wax is poured into the mold to form layers of wax. This wax model is an exact duplicate of the original cas7ng. STEP 3 Chasing the Wax: The wax is pulled from the mold and hand chased (re-‐detailed) by a skilled ar7san. Although the ar7st reproduces the original artwork, each piece may slightly differ from the next. STEP 4 Spruing: Wax rods (gates) and pouring cup are aLached to the wax cas7ng in just the right posi7ons. This will assure a full pour. STEP 5 CasCng the Ceramic Mold (Investment CasCng): In a temperature controlled climate of 72 degrees Fahrenheit, the wax cas7ng is dipped into Investment liquid several 7mes. On the first dip a fine powder is applied. On the next dip of course, ceramic sand will be applied. This step is repeated several 7mes, each increasing the coarseness of the material to create the ceramic mold. Between each dip, the ceramic layer must cure (dry) before another layer can be applied. STEP 6 Burn-‐Out: The ceramic shell is placed in a kiln and fired. The shell bakes and the wax is melted (lost) from the shell. This creates a hollow ceramic shell mold. Thus the term “Lost Wax.” STEP 7 CasCng: The ceramic shell (mold) is removed from the kiln and immediately the molten bronze is poured into the shell. At the 7me of pouring, the bronze is 2100 degrees Fahrenheit. STEP 8 Break-‐Out: Ager the cas7ng has cooled several hours, the shell is carefully broken away leaving the unfinished bronze. STEP 9 SandblasCng: Any fragments of the ceramic shell are removed by sandblas7ng. The sculpture is also carefully inspected at this point. STEP 10 Assembly: At this 7me all the pieces of the sculpture are welded together by our skilled cragsman. STEP 11 Chasing: All the weld marks are chased and re-‐detailed. STEP 12 Glass Beading: This is similar to sandblas7ng. The glass is extremely fine to ensure an even bronze finish. STEP 13 Polish: The raw bronze sculpture is now hand polished in prepara7on for the pa7na.
I do not think that Plato’s theory is relevant today, as art does not have such a potent influence on the public. For example, people learnt news and were re-‐ laid stories through the art work that they saw. Whereas we now have news stories and the internet, therefore we can see and interpret things of our own. However, this theory influenced the workings of Greek ar7sts and they understood the role that was upon them. They had to portray real life as art was the only way to learn and to tell stories of the past and it was also the main way people learnt about religion and mythology. Therefore Greek sculptors and ar7sts had to portray the world in a realis7c percep7on.
The High Renaissance was just a culmina7on of the earlier Floren7ne style, there were no 7me limits, however we ogen consider Leonardo’s Last Supper (1495-‐1498) as the beginning and the sack of Rome (1527) as the end. During the High Renaissance ar7sts developed more monumental forms. The ar7sts and sculptures demonstrated highly skilled and idealised forms as well as crea7ng more complex but harmonious composi7ons that rejected the decora7ve details of 15th century art. More classical balance started to be used in art as well as serene elevated concep7on, of great but controlled energy. There were a few major ar7sts we associate with the High Renaissance: • Leonardo da Vinci • Michelangelo • Raphael • Titan
Michelangelo, The Last Judgement,, 1535-‐1541
Annuncia7on, Leonardo Da Vinci depicts the moment when the angel Gabriel appears before Mary, they are sat in an idealised garden. The enclosed garden is said to symbolise her virginity and purity. Two versions of this pain7ng exist the one displayed in the Uffizi gallery in Florence is more likely to be the original Leonardo, however there is much s7pula7on about the origins of both the pain7ngs-‐although many of the experts believed that Da Vinci’s hand was turned on both of these works.. There are a few technical flaws in this pain7ng, however Leonardo was young even when this was completed-‐it is thought that this was Da Vinci’s first wholly finished work. We can see a flaw in the way Mary’s hands have been painted. We can see that her hands are res7ng on an altar, yet this has been drawn further in the foreground (closer to the viewer) that Mary is. We can see many aLributes that would lead us to believe that this is an original. The robes are discoloured by old retouching and thick varnish, and the en7re surface is extremely dirty. At some stage the angel’s wings have been severely retouched and crudely lengthened in the process. The original shortened wings are thought to have been painted directly from the wings of a bird.
The Annuncia7on also conforms perfectly to the Fibonacci sequence such as The Birth of Venus, BoOcelli.
Michelangelo was an Italian painter, sculptor and architect at trade. He was born Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarro7 Simoni in 1475 and died aged 88 in 1564 and lived in Florence. He produced some of the most iconic Renaissance style pieces and some argue he exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of western art. When you consider the sheer volume of correspondence, sketches and journals that survive today he is the best documented ar7st of the 16th century. Two of his most well known sculptures were sculpted before he turned thirty-‐they were Pieta (1489-‐1490, marble, life size) and David (1804, marble, larger than life). Despite his low op7on of pain7ng, Michelangelo also created two of the most universally known pieces in the Sis7ne Chapel in Rome-‐being the scenes of Genesis on the Ceiling (1508-‐1512) and The Last Judgment on the altar wall (1535-‐1541). He was also a successful architect succeeding Antonio da Sangallo the Younger as the architect of St. Peter Basilica (1506-‐1626) at the age of 74.
David and Goliath is a biblical story. In which a small town boy (David) defeated the giant Goliath ager all the soldiers and generals would not dare. The Pales7nes and Israelis were heading to the baLle field to fight against one and another. When the Israeli army turned up they were confronted by Goliath who every day for 40 days shouted “Who dare take me on will die” and “No one will dare take the risk of future imprisonment of their people” this in7midated the Israel generals and they did not fight back. Un7l David heard about the story, he knew that God would help protect him on the baLlefield. So David went and fought Goliath, just wearing his tunic and only with his sling shot and five rocks. When Goliath approached David he put a rock in his sling shot and spun it around and let it go to hit Goliath in the forehead. This shocked Goliath who then fell to the floor. David then took Gloiath’s own sword and beheaded him. As we can see here represented by Rubens in David Slays Goliath, 1577, oil on canvas.
Donatello depicted David in 1409. This sculpture stood 191cm in height which would make it life size. It is made using marble and the reduc7ve process. The reduc7ve process literally involves using a block of marble and slowly chiselling away un7l you have the main figure and then using liLler tools you define the figure and the details they have on them un7l eventually you will have created the figure you wanted to. There are several tools that Donatello would have used, these include; • Subbia (the point) a pointed chisel or punch-‐ used to chisel ini7ally • Gradina (toothed chisel or claw with mul7ple teeth-‐mainly used to create the figure in a slightly more defined way • Scalpello (a flat chisel) much small that the others-‐used for the defini7on and the characteris7cs of the figure • Rasps are then used to smooth the chisel marks and create an even finish We can see the limited detail here on Goliaths head. This was due to the reduc7ve process. Compared to using the lost wax process (LWP), this gave limited detail as the LWP used casts and could be manipula7ve more easily.
We can see David here ager the baLle with Goliath and stood on the head of Goliath. David is stood in a contrapposto pose and looks relaxed yet triumphant. Some say that David is stood in an elegant pose which would have previously been used for Gods and even Goddess’. He stands generally relaxed but the muscles on the leg arm are slightly tensed to show the power and strength of young David. He heroically looks directly out but slightly above the viewer’s eye-‐ line. David here is idealised yet naturalist with many classical references such as Goliaths head at the base of David’s feet. David here is depicted wearing a tunic and is fully clothed-‐although we can see the drapery hugs David’s youthful and athle7c body he is not shown in the nude like some of the later depic7ons are. We can see that there are clear influences from classical sculpture such as the Warrior of Riace, bronze, c. 450 BC. With the posi7oning of the figure (the contrapposto and weight on one leg) and the muscle toning (being relaxed yet slightly and unnaturally tensed) As we can see on the leg with both the images of David and The Warrior of Riace there is very liLle difference between the posi7on of both the figures.
Here is Donatello’s, David from c 1440. The sculpture is bronze and stands at 158cm tall. This piece was commissioned to stand on an ornamental pedestal in the centre of the newly built courtyard of the Medici. It has been suggested that the nudity and sensuousness of the boy David as well as some surprising details of his costume, none of which is derived from the biblical story, may be a result of a Neo-‐Platonic philosophical interpreta7on of David as an allegory of heavenly love. The figure is idealised-‐ yet naturalis7c with classical references (such as the elegant contrapposto pose) The figure has pe7te features and slim propor7ons. David stands generally relaxed but muscles on leg arm and on the hand are tensed, this draws aLen7on and shows the importance. David is unusually mostly nude other than his boots and hat yet he stands proud, confident and looks directly out in a heroic way. The nudity and pose show that David is youthful and athle7c. We also see that David is stood on the head of Goliath which adds to the feelings of being heroic and triumphant. We look up to meet David’s eye contact which gives a feeling of him being superior. Donatello has given David an excessively smooth pa7na and highly polished surface contributes to elegance and refinement and gives an almost “lickable” feel.
Sharp detail of the hair, facial features, decora7ve details on boots and hat and on Goliaths head adds to realism. When produced Donatello this he created separate cas7ng of Goliath’s head and sword. This tells us of the detail and precision that was used to create this realis7c depic7on.
The basic propor7ons of the figure come from the classical canon of beauty rediscovered during the Renaissance: equal distance between the breasts, between the navel and breasts, navel and crotch. We can see the theory used in The Birth of Venus, BoOcelli also.
Here I have found a website that uses art works and places modern day song lyrics that are well known in front of the art. The songs are relevant to what is happening in the pain7ngs and brings relevance to a younger audience.
These are all from chart rap songs, by ar7sts such as Beyonce, Jay-‐Z and Nicki Minaj. It shows a contrast of how art used to be and how the youth of today view art in music.
I then decided that I would make my own t-‐shirt following this theme. So to started by matching up some familiar songs to some well known art works. Here are two examples I came up with.
YOU BEEN ACTING KINDA SHADY AINT CALLING ME BABY
Here is William Holman Hunt, The Awakening Conscience with Des7ny Child’s song-‐ Say my name. The pain7ng shows the man who keeps a kept woman but the woman is having second thoughts and thinking of leaving. Therefore the lyrics become relevant to explaining the picture. Here is Van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait, with the lyrics from Mariah Carey’s Obsessed. It was said that Mr.Arnolfini had this painted posthumous, therefore it may seem that he was obsessed by keeping his wife alive. Therefore the lyrics again become relevant.
…AND I WAS LIKE WHY YOU SO OBSESSED WITH ME?
This was the design I choose
YOU BEEN ACTING KINDA SHADY AINT CALLING ME BABY
First off I had print the design in reverse as we can see, this way when I lead it down it would print in the right way. I also had to get a t-‐shirt with a polyester content of 100% that would make the colour stand out and with stand washing.
I then had to tape the design down to the t-‐shirt, that way the design would not move and stay straight.
Whilst I was taping down the design, I had to heat up the heat press up too 200 oc.
I had to lay the t-‐shirt on some sugar paper to stop the design transferring the whole way through. I then pressed the heat press onto the t-‐shirt for 150 seconds. The fibres of the polyester open up and the ink melts into the fibres, then when the t-‐shirt cools the fibres close up again and keep the ink within the fibres. This was my finished product.
The Northern Renaissance is the name given to a period in art when was dominated in the North of Europe, as we can see on the map below. During this 7me ar7sts had started using oil paints to depict real life and the world around them. During this 7me period they believed that if the image looked realis7c enough then it could come true. Therefore “seeing was believing” The patronage during this 7me had a significant role to play as many of the patrons were painted in the images.
There was much curiosity about the individual and the natural world meaning and the ar7sts had the chance to portray dis7nct personali7es within their art. As part of the realism there are many detailed and recognisable landscapes as backgrounds on the images. The ar7sts really started to appreciate the role of light and dark and started using visual vocabulary such as chiaroscuro. Many of the pain7ngs were on a small domes7c scale and many were non religious (unlike previous pain7ng.)
Dead Christ, Hans Holbein the Younger was an oil pain7ng from 1521-‐1522. It illustrates the Northern Renaissance pain7ng as seeing Jesus looking realis7cally dead was to imagine that he was really dead. Holbein has painted Christ with his wounds and all and all realis7cally depicted as if he had studied a dead body with similar wounds. There is a strong sense of chiaroscuro also especially around the drapery, that gives it an even realer feel. The oil paint gives a fleshy real feel as if you could touch the mans skin.
Applying oil paint can be a difficult and lengthy process. It begins by applying the paint in translucent thin glazes. Oil paint has a longer drying 7me, compared to most other paints especially the tempera paint (used previously) Once the glaze has dried ar7sts can then blend colours and achieve subtle varia7ons in lights and shade by adding more pigment or more oil. The use of light and tones heighten the illusion of three dimensional forms and creates a dis7nct fore, mid and background. As we can see to the right there are three main steps to making oil paint. Firstly you must select the correct amount of pigment and put in on to the mixing slab (either glass or marble) then add a small amount of linseed oil and then finally start mixing it in, only a small amount of pigment to begin with slowly adding more and add un7l you have the consistency that you are ager.