Homage to the Florentine Tondo
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The Brock Review Volume 10 (2008) © Brock University Greenscape as Screenscape: The Cinematic Urban Garden 1 Nina Gerlach Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg Abstract : The relationship between city and garden appears in many feature films in order to visualize narrative dualisms. In particular, the character of the boundary - as a fundamental medial characteristic of gardens - determines the meaning of the represented space. According to the Western representation of ideal places and the historically-developed antagonism of city and garden, the boundary defines the latter as the diametrically opposed utopian antithesis to urban life. This antagonism is used, for example, in The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1970) in the political context of World War II, or as in Being There (1979), embedded in a philosophical discourse centered on Voltaire and Sartre. The dystopian city of Los Angeles in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982) lacks space not only for gardens, but for any natural environment in general. The only garden that remains, exists as a kind of Paradise Lost , a placeless topos with a unicorn, banished into and limited by the world of imagination of the protagonist. As this example indicates, the cinematic garden and particularly the more specialized topic of the relationship between the garden and the city within cinema is still an under-examined realm of the research of garden history.2 In cinematic genres where the city is usually presented as the essential character -- such as in Neorealism, Film Noir, and dystopian science fiction -- garden space is hardly discovered. 3 These types of films frequently transport an extremely negative connotation of the city. -
The Master of the Unruly Children and His Artistic and Creative Identities
The Master of the Unruly Children and his Artistic and Creative Identities Hannah R. Higham A Thesis Submitted to The University of Birmingham For The Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Art History, Film and Visual Studies School of Languages, Art History and Music College of Arts and Law The University of Birmingham May 2015 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT This thesis examines a group of terracotta sculptures attributed to an artist known as the Master of the Unruly Children. The name of this artist was coined by Wilhelm von Bode, on the occasion of his first grouping seven works featuring animated infants in Berlin and London in 1890. Due to the distinctive characteristics of his work, this personality has become a mainstay of scholarship in Renaissance sculpture which has focused on identifying the anonymous artist, despite the physical evidence which suggests the involvement of several hands. Chapter One will examine the historiography in connoisseurship from the late nineteenth century to the present and will explore the idea of the scholarly “construction” of artistic identity and issues of value and innovation that are bound up with the attribution of these works. -
The Italian High Renaissance (Florence and Rome, 1495-1520)
The Italian High Renaissance (Florence and Rome, 1495-1520) The Artist as Universal Man and Individual Genius By Susan Behrends Frank, Ph.D. Associate Curator for Research The Phillips Collection What are the new ideas behind the Italian High Renaissance? • Commitment to monumental interpretation of form with the human figure at center stage • Integration of form and space; figures actually occupy space • New medium of oil allows for new concept of luminosity as light and shadow (chiaroscuro) in a manner that allows form to be constructed in space in a new way • Physiological aspect of man developed • Psychological aspect of man explored • Forms in action • Dynamic interrelationship of the parts to the whole • New conception of the artist as the universal man and individual genius who is creative in multiple disciplines Michelangelo The Artists of the Italian High Renaissance Considered Universal Men and Individual Geniuses Raphael- Self-Portrait Leonardo da Vinci- Self-Portrait Michelangelo- Pietà- 1498-1500 St. Peter’s, Rome Leonardo da Vinci- Mona Lisa (Lisa Gherardinidi Franceso del Giacondo) Raphael- Sistine Madonna- 1513 begun c. 1503 Gemäldegalerie, Dresden Louvre, Paris Leonardo’s Notebooks Sketches of Plants Sketches of Cats Leonardo’s Notebooks Bird’s Eye View of Chiana Valley, showing Arezzo, Cortona, Perugia, and Siena- c. 1502-1503 Storm Breaking Over a Valley- c. 1500 Sketch over the Arno Valley (Landscape with River/Paesaggio con fiume)- 1473 Leonardo’s Notebooks Studies of Water Drawing of a Man’s Head Deluge- c. 1511-12 Leonardo’s Notebooks Detail of Tank Sketches of Tanks and Chariots Leonardo’s Notebooks Flying Machine/Helicopter Miscellaneous studies of different gears and mechanisms Bat wing with proportions Leonardo’s Notebooks Vitruvian Man- c. -
The Medici Palace, Cosimo the Elder, and Michelozzo: a Historiographical Survey
chapter 11 The Medici Palace, Cosimo the Elder, and Michelozzo: A Historiographical Survey Emanuela Ferretti* The Medici Palace has long been recognized as an architectural icon of the Florentine Quattrocento. This imposing building, commissioned by Cosimo di Giovanni de’ Medici (1389–1464), is a palimpsest that reveals complex layers rooted in the city’s architectural, urban, economic, and social history. A symbol – just like its patron – of a formidable era of Italian art, the palace on the Via Larga represents a key moment in the development of the palace type and and influenced every other Italian centre. Indeed, it is this building that scholars have identified as the prototype for the urban residence of the nobility.1 The aim of this chapter, based on a great wealth of secondary literature, including articles, essays, and monographs, is to touch upon several themes and problems of relevance to the Medici Palace, some of which remain unresolved or are still debated in the current scholarship. After delineating the basic construction chronology, this chapter will turn to questions such as the patron’s role in the building of his family palace, the architecture itself with regards to its spatial, morphological, and linguistic characteristics, and finally the issue of author- ship. We can try to draw the state of the literature: this preliminary historio- graphical survey comes more than twenty years after the monograph edited by Cherubini and Fanelli (1990)2 and follows an extensive period of innovative study of the Florentine early Quattrocento,3 as well as the fundamental works * I would like to thank Nadja Naksamija who checked the English translation, showing many kindnesses. -
Michelangelo's Locations
1 3 4 He also adds the central balcony and the pope’s Michelangelo modifies the facades of Palazzo dei The project was completed by Tiberio Calcagni Cupola and Basilica di San Pietro Cappella Sistina Cappella Paolina crest, surmounted by the keys and tiara, on the Conservatori by adding a portico, and Palazzo and Giacomo Della Porta. The brothers Piazza San Pietro Musei Vaticani, Città del Vaticano Musei Vaticani, Città del Vaticano facade. Michelangelo also plans a bridge across Senatorio with a staircase leading straight to the Guido Ascanio and Alessandro Sforza, who the Tiber that connects the Palace with villa Chigi first floor. He then builds Palazzo Nuovo giving commissioned the work, are buried in the two The long lasting works to build Saint Peter’s Basilica The chapel, dedicated to the Assumption, was Few steps from the Sistine Chapel, in the heart of (Farnesina). The work was never completed due a slightly trapezoidal shape to the square and big side niches of the chapel. Its elliptical-shaped as we know it today, started at the beginning of built on the upper floor of a fortified area of the Apostolic Palaces, is the Chapel of Saints Peter to the high costs, only a first part remains, known plans the marble basement in the middle of it, space with its sail vaults and its domes supported the XVI century, at the behest of Julius II, whose Vatican Apostolic Palace, under pope Sixtus and Paul also known as Pauline Chapel, which is as Arco dei Farnesi, along the beautiful Via Giulia. -
Donatello's Terracotta Louvre Madonna
Donatello’s Terracotta Louvre Madonna: A Consideration of Structure and Meaning A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Fine Arts of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts Sandra E. Russell May 2015 © 2015 Sandra E. Russell. All Rights Reserved. 2 This thesis titled Donatello’s Terracotta Louvre Madonna: A Consideration of Structure and Meaning by SANDRA E. RUSSELL has been approved for the School of Art + Design and the College of Fine Arts by Marilyn Bradshaw Professor of Art History Margaret Kennedy-Dygas Dean, College of Fine Arts 3 Abstract RUSSELL, SANDRA E., M.A., May 2015, Art History Donatello’s Terracotta Louvre Madonna: A Consideration of Structure and Meaning Director of Thesis: Marilyn Bradshaw A large relief at the Musée du Louvre, Paris (R.F. 353), is one of several examples of the Madonna and Child in terracotta now widely accepted as by Donatello (c. 1386-1466). A medium commonly used in antiquity, terracotta fell out of favor until the Quattrocento, when central Italian artists became reacquainted with it. Terracotta was cheap and versatile, and sculptors discovered that it was useful for a range of purposes, including modeling larger works, making life casts, and molding. Reliefs of the half- length image of the Madonna and Child became a particularly popular theme in terracotta, suitable for domestic use or installation in small chapels. Donatello’s Louvre Madonna presents this theme in a variation unusual in both its form and its approach. In order to better understand the structure and the meaning of this work, I undertook to make some clay works similar to or suggestive of it. -
The Magic of Donatello Andrew Butterfield
The Magic of Donatello Andrew Butterfield Sculpture in the Age of Donatello: smith Lorenzo Ghiberti, and another Renaissance Masterpieces from young Florentine goldsmith, Filippo Florence Cathedral Brunelleschi—the future architect— an exhibition at the Museum of came in second. A new era in the his- Biblical Art, New York City, tory of art had begun. February 20–June 14, 2015. Like all revolutions, the transfor- Catalog of the exhibition edited by mation of the arts in early-fifteenth- Timothy Verdon and Daniel M. Zolli. century Florence can never be fully Museum of Biblical Art/Giles, explained; at best we can only identify 200 pp., $49.95 some contributing causes. Stimulated in part by the city’s soaring prosperity The Museum of Biblical Art, lodged and growing hegemony, around 1400 in a relatively small space on Broad- the wealthy merchants who ran Flor- way near Lincoln Center, is now show- ence began to pour unprecedented ing nine sculptures by Donatello, one amounts of cash into new buildings, of the greatest of all Renaissance art- paintings, and sculptures. They were ists. Never before have so many of his proud of the architectural splendor best works been shown together in the of Florence and saw it as a sign of the United States. Antonio Quattrone/Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence city’s manifest destiny. This attitude Among the works on view is Don- was given voice by Leonardo Bruni, atello’s large sculpture of the Old Tes- who wrote around 1403–1404 in his tament prophet Habakkuk. “Speak, Panegyric to the City of Florence: damn you, speak!” Donatello, we are told, repeatedly shouted at the statue As soon as [visitors] have seen . -
Leonardo in Verrocchio's Workshop
National Gallery Technical Bulletin volume 32 Leonardo da Vinci: Pupil, Painter and Master National Gallery Company London Distributed by Yale University Press TB32 prelims exLP 10.8.indd 1 12/08/2011 14:40 This edition of the Technical Bulletin has been funded by the American Friends of the National Gallery, London with a generous donation from Mrs Charles Wrightsman Series editor: Ashok Roy Photographic credits © National Gallery Company Limited 2011 All photographs reproduced in this Bulletin are © The National Gallery, London unless credited otherwise below. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including BRISTOL photocopy, recording, or any storage and retrieval system, without © Photo The National Gallery, London / By Permission of Bristol City prior permission in writing from the publisher. Museum & Art Gallery: fig. 1, p. 79. Articles published online on the National Gallery website FLORENCE may be downloaded for private study only. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence © Galleria deg li Uffizi, Florence / The Bridgeman Art Library: fig. 29, First published in Great Britain in 2011 by p. 100; fig. 32, p. 102. © Soprintendenza Speciale per il Polo Museale National Gallery Company Limited Fiorentino, Gabinetto Fotografico, Ministero per i Beni e le Attività St Vincent House, 30 Orange Street Culturali: fig. 1, p. 5; fig. 10, p. 11; fig. 13, p. 12; fig. 19, p. 14. © London WC2H 7HH Soprintendenza Speciale per il Polo Museale Fiorentino, Gabinetto Fotografico, Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali / Photo Scala, www.nationalgallery. org.uk Florence: fig. 7, p. -
The Della Robbia Frames in the Marche *
ZUZANNA SARNECKA University of Warsaw Institute of Art History ORCID: 0000-0002-7832-4350 Incorruptible Nature: The Della Robbia Frames in the Marche * Keywords: the Marche, Italian Renaissance, Sculpture, Della Robbia, Frames, Terracotta INTRODUCTION In the past the scholarly interest in the Italian Renaissance frames often focused on gilded wooden examples.1 Only more recently the analysis has expanded towards materials such as marble, cartapesta, stucco or glazed terracotta.2 In her recent and extensive monograph on Italian Renaissance frames, Alison Wright has argued that frames embellished and honoured the images they encompassed.3 Due to the markedly non-materialistic perspective, Wright has mentioned the Della Robbia work only in passim.4 Building on Wright’s theoretical framework, the present study discusses the Della Robbia frames in the Marche in terms of the artistic and cul- tural significance of tin-glazed fired clay for the practice of framing Renaissance images. In general, the renewed interest in the Della Robbia works is partially linked to the re-evaluation of terracotta as an independent sculptural medium, with import- ant contributions to the field made by Giancarlo Gentilini.5 Moreover, exhibitions such as La civiltà del cotto in Impruneta, Tuscany in 1980 or Earth and Fire. Italian Terracotta Sculpture from Donatello to Canova at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London in 2002 illustrated the significance of terracotta sculptures in the wider context of the early modern art and culture.6 Importantly for the present study, in 2014 Marchigian authorities and local historians organised an exhibition focused on the artworks of the Della Robbia family surviving in the territory. -
1 Cloisters As a Place of Spiritual Awakening
Cloisters as a Place of Spiritual Awakening | by Manolis Iliakis Workshop DAS | Dance Architecture Spatiality in Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert © Manolis Iliakis The crossroads of daily and spiritual life in medieval monasteries of the West The English word for enclosed garden (cloister) is derived from the Latin parent word claustrum, meaning a bolt which secured the door. The more recent latch is the contemporary version of this bolt. This seems to be symbolic of the monks' isolation from the outside world, facilitating contact with the inner consciousness. The word is also associated with the footpaths outside the monastery courtyard, which were often used by monks for a kind of walking meditation. The English words cloistered and claustral describe the monastic way of life. The metonymic name “Kloster” in German means monastery. The German word for enclosed garden is Kreuzgang (meaning crossroads). Around the perimeter of an outdoor garden, a roofed portico (porch-like gallery) was constructed, its columns terminating in arcades. In larger monasteries, a second-level perimetric portico was built. Often, there was a well, fountain or water basin. This element was not always placed at the centre, as for example at the monastery of Ganagobie Abbey1. The resulting asymmetry, emphasized by the placement of plants and trees, brought another architectural aspect to the typically square floor plan. This typology is a characteristic of most Western medieval monasteries, as well as cathedrals. These spaces were adjacent to the main church or a chapel and are the heart of the monastery. A gateway facilitated direct access from one space to another, the sense that one has in the closed space of the church being conveyed to the cloister and vice-versa. -
Spot the Giraffe: the Ma- Terial Culture of Animals Found, Lost and Painted
FRÜHE NEUZEIT GLOBAL KUNST VERFLECHTUNG Spot the Giraffe: The Ma- terial Culture of Animals Found, Lost and Painted Giorgio Riello 17.05.2021 The distracted tourist might be forgiven for not paying much attention to what is represented in The Adoration of the Magi, one of more than twenty large-scale frescos decorating the Tornabuoni Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. The famous Italian painter Domenico Ghirlandaio and his workshop worked tire- lessly between 1485 and 1490 to complete what is one of the largest renaissance works of art. Ghirlandaio was commissioned for the family chapel of the 55-year old Florentine merchant and banker Giovanni Tornabuoni, one of the richest and most powerful men in town. The passing of five centuries and the elements had harsh ef- fects on the frescos in the Tornabuoni Chapel. Yet, one can still see Giovanni Tornabuoni and many of his rela- tives and acolytes populating the scenes in the frescos. 1 Alas the Adoration is badly damaged having lost much of its central area. Fortunately, it is a detail in the undamaged upper right- hand corner that is of interest to us. In the distance, among Florentine hills and cypress trees one can spot a distinctive animal accompanied by a retinue of kee- pers dressed in oriental costumes and wearing turbans. Walking towards the city of Florence and the Church of Santa Maria Novella is a giraffe. We do not know why Fig. 1: The Adoration of the Ghirlandaio decided to insert it into the scene. Probably Magi by Domenico Ghirlandaio, it might have been considered a fitting addition to the Tornabuoni Chapel, Santa Maria three wise men traditionally deemed to have come from Novella, Florence, 1485–1490. -
Michelangelo Biography
Michelangelo Biography Michelangelo (1475 – 1564) Italian Renaissance sculptor, painter, poet and architect. One of the most influential Western artists of all time. “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. “ – Michelangelo Short biography of Michelangelo Michelangelo Buonarroti was born on 6 March 1475, in a Florentine village called Caprese. His father was a serving magistrate of the Florentine Republic and came from an important family. However, Michelangelo did not wish to imitate his father’s career, and was attracted by the artistic world. At the time, this was considered an inferior occupation for a family of his standing. But, aged 13, Michelangelo was apprenticed to Domenico Ghirlandaio, the leading fresco wall painter in Florence. Here Michelangelo learned some of the basic painting techniques, and also taught himself new skills such as sculpting. Madonna of the stairs – Michelangelo’s earliest works His talents were soon noticed by one of the most powerful families in Florence – Lorezo de’ Medici. Here, at de Medici’s court, Michelangelo was able to learn from the classic Masters and he became determined to improve upon the great classics of Greek and Latin art. Michelangelo, was born in the heart of the Renaissance movement, at exactly the right place – Florence. But, despite being at the heart of the Renaissance, Florence was undergoing tremendous political turmoil. His first patrons, the de Medici’s, lost power and Michelangelo was forced to look elsewhere for commissions. In 1496, he travelled to Rome where he began a long relationship of doing commissions for the Popes who were making St Peter’s Basilica a pinnacle of Western art.