Oua Italian Renaissance Art History Midterm Study Flash Cards

Front 1

Back 1

"Stefaneschi Triptych Altar Piece"
Artist: Giotto
Date: 1306-1307
Original Location: St. Peter’s Basilica, high altar
Current Location: the Vatican
Style: Gothic

Hint 1

Why is it important?
Commissioned by Cardinal Giacomo Stefaneschi
Depicts how the size of a figure determines its importance.
Isocephalic – having all the heads of the figures at the same level, typical of Medieval style.
Right side shows Peter being hung upside down. Center shows Christ the king (bigger than everyone else).
Left side shows Paul being beheaded. Center panels depict the perfect world. Side panels depict the natural world.
Leaning towards Renaissance, or the focus on the real world

Front 2

Back 2

"The Transfiguration of Christ"
Artist: Raphael
Date: 1517
Current Location: the Vatican
Style: High Renaissance

Hint 2

Why is it important?
Commissioned by Cardinal Giulio de Medici, later Pope Clement VII.
The painting is propagandistic, meant to depict that Christ was divine on earth no matter what Luther says.
Apostles below trying to perform a miracle.
Two men on the left show vintage Da Vinci qualities.
Small muscular boy in front show classic Michelangelo traits.
Raphael is inventive through combining messages to tell a story.
Raphael shows order by structuring his art for the eye.
Raphael depicts richness and beauty through the tactile and “perfect” quality.
All key characteristics of Raphael and high renaissance art.

Front 3

Back 3

"Laocoön and His Sons"
Artist: three Greek sculptors
Date: 1st century B.C.
Original Location: Ancient Greece
Current Location: the Vatican
Style:

Hint 3

Attributed by Pliny the Elder.
Message: no matter who you are, you can’t defeat the gods.
Michelangelo helped find the statue.

Front 4

Back 4

Stanza della Segnature
Artist: Raphael
Date: 1508 - 1511
Original Location: personal library of Julius II
Current Location: the Vatican
Style: Renaissance

Hint 4

Where all the papal edicts were signed.
Julius II was known as “Terribilità,” which means spirited, terrible, irascible, unwilling to bow to anyone’s genius but own.
Walls represent poetry, religion/theology, law, philosophy – the four bodies of knowledge.
Sense of grace and effortlessness in Raphael’s art.

Front 5

Back 5

"Pietá"
Artist: Michelangelo
Date: 1498
Original Location: Old. St. Peter’s Basilica
Current Location: St. Peter’s Basilica
Style: Renaissance

Hint 5

Commissioned by a French cardinal.
Altar piece dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
Became Michelangelo’s calling card.
His only signed piece.
Dead Christ on his mother’s lap.
Visual image of “transformation” – bread, blood, body of Christ.
Mary = church, Christ = salvation.

Front 6

Sistine Chapel - North Wall

Back 6

Scenes of the life and times of Jesus, the Christ (anointed). Such as "The Sermon on the Mount" by Rosselli and "The Baptism of Jesus" by Perugino.

Hint 6

Age of Grace

Front 7

Sistine Chapel - North Wall

Back 7

Frescoes in between windows: Pre-Constantinian sainted popes

Front 8

Sistine Chapel - South Wall

Back 8

The stories behind Moses, such as "The Ten Commandments" by Rosselli and "Moses’ Journey through Egypt" by Perugino.

Hint 8

Age of Law

Front 9

Sistine Chapel Ceiling

Back 9

9 Scenes from Genesis (R to L):
1-3: Creation of Matter by God
4-6: Creation of Man
7-9: Story of Noah

Front 10

Sistine Chapel - Ceiling

Back 10

Spandrels and Lunettes: Ancestors of Christ

Hint 10

List of names that begins with the Gospel of Matthew, the generations linking Christ with the tribe of David.

Front 11

Sistine Chapel - Ceiling

Back 11

Quattrocento frescoes: Hebrew Prophets and pagan Sibyls who foresaw the coming of the Messiah

Front 12

Sistine Chapel - Ceiling

Back 12

Double Corner Spandrels (Pendentives): Scenes of Old Testament Salvation -
Entrance (Tyrannicides):
1. David killing Goliath
2. Judith and Holofernes
Other end:
3. The Death of Haman
4. Moses and the Serpent of Brass

Front 13

Sistine Chapel - Ceiling

Back 13

Entrance: Prophet Zachariah - prophesied Christ as branch/tree and symbolic entry into Jerusalem

Other end: Prophet Jonah - belly of the fish - symbolizing Christ's burial and resurrection

Front 14

Back 14

Creation of Adam
Sistine Chapel

Hint 14

Much more painterly, than sculpturally. Physical to spiritual movement. Heavy emphasis on figural form. Perfection. Man is living, breathing image of God.

Adam, first Christ. Eve, First Mary.

Front 15

Sistine Chapel - East Wall

Back 15

"The Last Judgement"
c. 1535-1541
After the Sack of Rome. Depicts the second coming of Christ and the Apocalypse.

Front 16

Buon (True) Fresco

Back 16

Watercolor painted onto newly applied, damp plaster.

Hint 16

Michelangelo transferred his designs for the Sistine Chapel to the wet plaster by holding it up and following the lines with a stylus, making grooves that can still be seen.

Front 17

A Secco Fresco

Back 17

Watercolor painted onto dry plaster

Hint 17

Michelangelo used this technique to retouch the Sistine Chapel ceiling after it's completion.

Front 18

Sistine Chapel

Back 18

Artist: Michelangelo
Date: 1508-1512
Location: Vatican City

Hint 18

THEME: Redemption

Completed in Thirds: payments, scaffolding, painting.

Front 19

Michelangelo's assistants for Sistine Chapel

Back 19

Perugino
Signorelli
Botticello

Front 20

Back 20

"The Entombment of Christ"
Artist: Caravaggio
Date: 1602-1603
Current Location: the Vatican
Style: Late Renaissance (borderline Baroque)

Hint 20

Why is it important?
Most important artist to embody shift from Renaissance to Baroque.
Connects with the viewer formally and emotionally.
The ambiguity of the narrative creates multiple narratives.

Front 21

Back 21

Colors of stripes on arches representative of Dominican habits.
White - purity
Green - hope
Red - faith
B&W - Islamic Aesthetic

Hint 21

Dominican habits

Front 22

1453

Back 22

Constantinople Falls

Hint 22

Battle scenes depict the world of the militant Franciscan.
Eastern influence of the time – ideas, texts, fashion.
War is in the air through the 1450s.
“Saving the Holy Land”: Franciscan priest jumps in a suit of armor and joins the fight in 1456; Shows the militant nature of Franciscans.

Front 23

The Forum (def'n)

Back 23

Intersection of the Decumanus and Cardo.

Hint 23

Central point of commerce and philosophy in town.

Front 24

Renaissance (Def'n)

Back 24

"Rebirth"
Of Ancient Rome

Front 25

Qualities of the Renaissance

Back 25

1. Importance of Classical Rome
2. Importance of the Individual
3. Importance of a Common Language/Vernacular - Italian

Front 26

Uffizi

Back 26

"Offices"
Built by Giorgio Vasari from 1565-1570, who was considered the first art historian. Used to be connected to the town hall.

Hint 26

Wrote "The Lives of the Various Illustrious Artists," which is responsible for how we understand the progression of the Tuscan Renaissance. Viewpoint = anything after the 3 Greats are just wannabes.

Front 27

The 3 Greats

Back 27

Michelangelo
Rafael
Leonardo

Hint 27

Donatello was later, the 4th, but runner up for title "Great"

Front 28

One-Point Linear Perspective

Back 28

The use of a single vanishing point
with the combination of horizontal and vertical lines (orthogonal and transversals) which recede into background at vanishing point.

Front 29

Back 29

"Duke and Duchess of Urbino"
Artist: Piero della Francesca
Date: 1472-1475
Original Location: Duke of Urbino’s studio
Current Location: Uffizi
Style: Renaissance

Hint 29

Duke creates the town and earns all of his money by being
a “condottieri,” or mercenary.
He is the most important mercenary of the 15th century.
His profile depicts ancient Roman coinage.
Emphasis on man and his essence.
Captures him as an individual, rather than a “perfect” beauty.
Duchess is not that identifiable, looks like a typical woman with no definable features.

Front 30

Back 30

"Birth of Venus"
Artist: Botticelli
Date: 1484
Original Location: temporary canvas, for wedding
Current Location: Uffizi
Style: Renaissance

Hint 30

Introduces a new aspect of Renaissance; emphasis
on education, importance of intellect. Neo-platonic tradition; a new emphasis on Plato and Aristotle.
Duality of two worlds – the perfect world and the imperfect world.
1. Right side: world of man represented by “time,”
2. Left side: world of the gods represented by the god of wind,
3. Middle: Venus, the embodiment of beauty.

Front 31

Back 31

"Primavera"
Artist: Botticelli
Date: 1480s
Original Location: outside nuptial chamber, for wedding
Current Location: Uffizi
Style: Renaissance

Hint 31

Oil painting on panel, not meant to be seen.
Otherworldly; depicts the seasons:
March: Zephyr, god of wind
April: Clora, Zephyr’s concubine
May: Flora
Mercury on left
Venus in center: bride to be

Front 32

Back 32

"Annunciation"
Artist: Leonardo da Vinci
Date: 1473
Current Location: Uffizi
Style: Renaissance

Hint 32

Early Da Vinci. Imperfections.
Emphasis on the natural world.
ATMOSPHERIC PERSPECTIVE – sky lightens as it distances from foreground.
1. Foreground: very depicted colors and true lines
2. Midground: turns green with less defined lines
3. Background: emphasis on blue and has a misty quality

One-point perspective ends in the center of the painting. Da Vinci’s only attempt at one-point-linear perspective.

Front 33

Back 33

"Doni Tondo"
Artist: Michelangelo
Date: 1507
Original Location: gift for new mother
Current Location: Uffizi
Style: Renaissance

Hint 33

Only panel painting by Michelangelo.
The date is a “mystery” however, as well as the story of the pigment
Foreground: Mary, Joseph, and Jesus; holy family.
Mid ground: John the Baptist and nudes.
Background: landscape and atmospheric perspective.

Front 34

Back 34

Leo X
Artist: Rafael
Date: 1518
Current Location: Uffizi
Style: Renaissance

Hint 34

Show’s Raphael’s true artistry.
First Medici pope. Seems dislocated with reality; three figures who don’t seem to
be communicating.
Symbolizes Roman disconnect.
Raphael seems to know things are awkward and will eventually
change.
Beauty of Raphael is in his portraiture.

Front 35

Back 35

"Venus of Urbino"
Artist: Titian
Date: 1538
Original Location: Studio, covered up
Current Location: Uffizi
Style: Renaissance

Hint 35

Commissioned by the great-grandson of the Duke of Urbino, Guidobaldo II della Rovere.
Used to be known as "The Courtesan"
Epitome of a man’s perspective of beauty in the 16th century.
Sfumato: smoky, Da Vinci-esque;
o Dainty feet
o Smaller breasts
o Reddened knees
o Thighs larger
o Womb in center of painting
− Depiction of wealth:
o Country view means a second home
o Wedding chests - "cassone"
o Maids
o Dog - fidelity
o Tapestries