ACADEC Art-Resource-Guide 2024-2025 PDF

OUR CHANGING CLIMATE Alhambra High School - Alhambra, CA...

OUR CHANGING CLIMATE Alhambra High School - Alhambra, CA ART An Introduction to Environmental and Environmentalist Art Resource Guide 2 0 24 – 2 0 25 The vision of the United States Academic Decathlon® is to provide students the opportunity to excel academically through team competition. Toll Free: 866-511-USAD (8723) Direct: 712-326-9589 Fax: 712-366-3701 Email: [email protected] Website: www.usad.org This material may not be reproduced or transmitted, in whole or in part, by any means, including but not limited to photocopy, print, electronic, or internet display (public or private sites) or downloading, without prior written permission from USAD. Violators may be prosecuted. Copyright ® 2024 by United States Academic Decathlon®. All rights reserved.  Table of Contents INTRODUCTION.................. 4 Abstraction......................... 29 Pop Art, Minimalism, and SECTION I: ART FUNDAMENTALS... 6 Photorealism........................ 29 Earthworks, Installations, and Introduction to Art History.......... 6 Performance........................ 30 Methods and Inquiries of Art History.... 6 The Nature of Art Historical Inquiry..... 6 Brief Overview of Nonwestern Sources, Documents, and the Work of Art Historians.......................... 7 Art............................... 31 The Development of Art History........ 7 Asian Art............................ 31 Chinese Art.......................... 31 Alhambra High School - Alhambra, CA Brief Overview of the Art of the Indian Art............................ 32 Japanese Art......................... 32 Western World..................... 8 Ancient Civilizations.................. 9 African and Oceanic Art.............. 33 Art of the Old Stone Age.............. 9 Islamic Art..........................34 Art of the Middle Stone Age........... 9 The Americas....................... 34 Art of the New Stone Age............. 9 Ancient Mesopotamian Art............10 Elements of Art................... 35 Persian Art............................ 11 Formal Qualities of Art............... 35 Ancient Egyptian Art................. 12 Line................................. 35 Nubian Art........................... 12 Shape and Form...................... 36 Greek and Roman Art................. 13 Perspective........................... 36 Cycladic, Minoan, and Mycenaean Color................................. 37 Art................................... 13 Texture.............................. 38 Ancient Greek Art.................... 13 Composition......................... 38 Etruscan Art..........................14 Roman Art........................... 14 Processes and Techniques......... 40 Drawing............................ 40 Byzantine and Medieval Art........... 15 Printmaking.........................40 The Renaissance in Southern Europe... 17 Painting............................ 42 The Renaissance in Northern Europe... 20 Photography........................ 43 Baroque Art......................... 21 Sculpture...........................43 Rococo, Neoclassicism, and Mixed Media.........................44 Romanticism........................ 23 Realism and Impressionism.......... 25 Performance..................... 44 Post-Impressionism and Other Late Craft and Folk Art................ 44 Nineteenth-Century Developments.... 26 Architecture...................... 45 The Emergence of Modernism......... 27 Section I Summary............... 46 2024–2025 Art Resource Guide 2 SECTION II: LAND USE AND LAND SELECTED WORK: Mark Dion, A Meter RIGHTS........................ 48 of Jungle, 1992.................... 80 SELECTED WORK: Allora & Calzadilla, SELECTED WORK: Pierre Huyghe, Land Mark (Foot Prints), 2002....... 49 Untilled, 2011–12.................... 83 SELECTED WORK: Kent Monkman, The Section IV Summary............. 86 Fourth World, 2012................. 51 SELECTED WORK: Bonnie Devine, Battle SECTION V: THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE for the Woodlands, 2014–15......... 54 OF ENVIRONMENT.............. 88 SELECTED WORK: Will Wilson, Church SELECTED WORK: Alma Thomas, Rock Spill Evaporation Ponds, Church Snoopy–Early Sun Display On Earth, Rock, New Mexico, Dinétah, 2019... 56 1970............................. 89 Section II Summary............... 58 SELECTED WORK: Ana Mendieta, Untitled: Silueta Series, 1978........ 92 SECTION III: POLLUTION AND SELECTED WORK: Rebecca Belmore, EXTRACTION................... 60 Ayum-Ee-Aawach Oomama-Mowan: Alhambra High School - Alhambra, CA SELECTED WORK: Agnes Denes, Speaking To Their Mother, 1991..... 94 Wheatfield—A Confrontation: Battery SELECTED WORK: Mel Chin, Park Landfill, Downtown Manhattan— Unmoored, 2018................... 97 With Agnes Denes Standing in the SELECTED WORK: Latoya Ruby Frazier, Field, 1982......................... 61 Shea Cobb with Her Mother Ms. Reneé SELECTED WORK: Noah Purifoy, and Her Daughter Zion at Nephratiti’s Offshore Drilling, 1995............. 63 Wedding Reception, Standing Outside SELECTED WORK: Subhankar Banerjee, the Social Network Banquet Hall, Caribou Migration I, 2002.......... 66 Flint, Michigan, from the series Flint is SELECTED WORK: Vik Muniz, Marat Family: Act I, 2016–17.............. 99 (Sebastião), from Pictures of Garbage, Section V Summary.............. 102 2008............................. 68 Section III Summary............... 70 CONCLUSION.................... 105 SECTION IV: ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS TIMELINE........................ 106 OF KNOWLEDGE................ 72 SELECTED WORK: Helen and Newton GLOSSARY...................... 108 Harrison, Shrimp Farm, Survival Piece #2, 1971........................... 73 NOTES........................... 110 SELECTED WORK: Hans Haacke, Rhine BIBLIOGRAPHY................... 112 Water Purification Plant, 1972....... 76 SELECTED WORK: Nancy Holt, Sun Tunnels, 1973–76................... 78 2024–2025 Art Resource Guide 3  Introduction Visual art has been a means for humans to interpret their natural environment for thousands of years. Prehistorical cave paintings throughout the world, dating from tens of thousands of years ago, predominately feature animals; Roman mural paintings from the first century bce depict cultivated gardens; and Chinese ink paintings have presented towering mountains and forests for nearly two millennia while modern landscape paintings dating from the seventeenth century onward in Europe and across Alhambra High School - Alhambra, CA the world have become so prevalent that landscape paintings constitute their own artistic genre. Throughout the twentieth century, artists were interested in closing a perceived gap between art and everyday life. Marcel Duchamp, for instance, bought a snow shovel in 1915 while staying in New York City during the First World War and displayed it under the witty title In Advance of a Broken Arm. This and other works by Duchamp, which he called “readymades,” were objects appropriated from places like hardware stores and domestic homes. A decade later, after the Russian Revolution and the formation of a Communist government, artists in Russia who were associated with the Constructivist movement sought to further merge art and life by applying their abstract style of art to items like clothing fabric and kitchen tools. By the 1960s, artists located in New York were breaking away from traditional art mediums such as painting Don Qichang’s Landscapes after old masters, c. 1630. Chinese and sculpture to use their own bodies as a medium in ink paintings have presented towering mountains and forests performance art. These performances were inspired by for nearly two millennia. common activities, such as opening a door, suggesting that art should not only include specialized media like activities—including the first Earth Day—fused the oil paintings, but also should include the activities, continuing goal of merging art and human experience materials, and concerns of daily life. with an environmental consciousness. A new kind of artwork called Earthworks arose alongside this During the 1960s and 1970s, publications such as burgeoning environmental awareness. Earthworks Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, catastrophic events diverted from the earlier tradition of landscape painting like the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill, and galvanizing by directly altering the existing landscape, as opposed to 2024–2025 Art Resource Guide 4 depicting landscapes through traditional media such as oil on canvas. A couple notable examples of Earthworks are Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty, a giant coil of rock and dirt on the shore of the Great Salt Lake in Utah, and Michael Heizer’s Double Negative, two massive cuts made into a mesa in Nevada. Earthworks were unlike landscape paintings in that their interventions were only intended for the single place in which the work was made, an idea that came to be called “site-specificity.” Such site-specific works only exist as part of their chosen environment and cannot be moved and displayed in other environments in the same way a painting can. However, displaying President Nixon visits the beach following the 1969 Santa documentation, such as photographs or site diagrams Barbara oil spill. The spill helped galvanize the environmental among other forms, was one way that site-specific movement in the United States. Earthworks were seen by wider audiences in art galleries and museums. that merge the human experience of environment with goals directly tied to the climate crisis. Addressing Closing the gap between art and life, Earthworks climate in the visual arts has broadened considerably effectively bridged the difference between art and its Alhambra High School - Alhambra, CA to include a consideration of social and racial equity environment but did so through actions that significantly in relation to the effects of ecological change, histories altered and disrupted their environments. Many of the of settlement and colonization, and the role of new earliest Earthworks were in fact ecologically damaging. technologies in communicating climate science and Although these works were inspired by the period’s shaping the imagination of new generations. growing environmental consciousness, they did not always internalize its ethical values. The last four sections of the resource guide address four major themes in recent environmental art: land The discussion of environmental and environmentalist use and land rights, pollution and extraction, ecological art that is the focus of this resource guide begins in systems of knowledge, and the human experience of the historical period of the modern environmental environment. While not encompassing every topic or movement of the 1960s and 1970s and examines the issue, these themes collectively reveal ways in which emergence of a new relationship between visual art and visual art is being harnessed to better our understanding the environment that has taken shape in a movement of, and relationship to, living responsibly within our that we broadly call contemporary eco art, short for local and planetary environments. ecological art. No longer only a depiction of real or imagined places, as in the tradition of landscape, or unconcerned with environmental upheaval, as in many NOTE TO STUDENTS: Throughout the resource guide, early Earthworks, contemporary eco art aims to make you will notice that some terms have been boldfaced and positive change by actively addressing issues of climate underlined. These terms are included in the glossary at the and ecology. end of the resource guide. Also, students should be aware that dates in art history, especially early dates, frequently vary This body of contemporary artworks does not reject depending on the source and are often highly contested. The the art historical past, but instead draws on many of the dates presented in this resource guide are not necessarily earlier interests of landscape painting, performance art, definitive, but are those dates provided by the museums that Readymades, and Earthworks, while using strategies house the artworks or the sources consulted by the author in writing this guide. 2024–2025 Art Resource Guide 5  Section I Art Fundamentals INTRODUCTION TO ART HISTORY for example. Art historians also consider objects that Art history is an academic discipline dedicated to the might not be considered art by their intended audience, reconstruction of the social, cultural, and economic including mass-produced posters and advertisements contexts in which an artwork was created. The basic and even the design of ordinary household items like goal of this work is to arrive at an understanding of art telephones, forks, and the living room sofa. and its meaning in its historical moment, taking into Art historians acknowledge that the meaning of a work consideration the formal qualities of a work of art, the of art can shift over time, and that an artwork may function of a work of art in its original context, the goals be perceived differently by viewers who approach it and intentions of the artist and the patron of the work of from different perspectives. To give one hypothetical art, the social position and perspectives of the audience Alhambra High School - Alhambra, CA example, Michelangelo’s paintings on the ceiling of the in the work’s original time and place, and many other Sistine Chapel would have certainly been significant related questions. Art history is closely related to other in different ways in the eyes of 1) the Pope, who disciplines such as anthropology, history, and sociology. commissioned the work and who had sophisticated In addition, art history sometimes overlaps with the theological knowledge and nearly exclusive access to fields of aesthetics, or the philosophical inquiry into this private space within the Vatican and 2) a worker the nature and expression of beauty; and art criticism, who was charged with cleaning the floors of the chapel or the explanation of current art events to the general and whose level of literacy was probably quite low. public via the press. Differences such as social status, education, physical This brief introduction to the discipline of art history access to a work of art, religious background, race, will help you understand the kinds of questions that one and gender have an impact on the construction of the may ask in order to arrive at a deeper understanding of meaning of a work of art. Similarly, the paintings’ a work of art. We will put these ideas into practice as we meaning to a twenty-first-century Protestant, Muslim, proceed through case studies related to the specific topic or atheist is certainly different from the meaning they of the resource guide. had for a practicing Catholic in the sixteenth century, even though the works may be equally admired for Methods and Inquiries of Art History their aesthetic value by all of these viewers. In other Art historians today generally define “art” very words, the meaning of a work of art is not fixed; it is broadly and include in their inquiries almost any sometimes open to multiple interpretations taking into kind of visual material that is created by people and consideration factors such as historical context. invested with special meaning and/or valued for its aesthetic appeal. In the past, art historians often The Nature of Art Historical Inquiry Art historians generally analyze works of art in two limited their focus to what was called “fine art,” ways that are distinct from one another, but also which generally included paintings, prints, drawings, interrelated. These two modes of analysis are called sculpture, and architecture, usually produced formal analysis and contextual analysis. Formal specifically for appreciation by an audience who analysis focuses on the visual qualities of the work of also understood these objects as works of art. Today art itself. A basic assumption of formal analysis is that we define art much more broadly, also taking into the artist makes decisions related to the visual aspects consideration objects that in the past were dismissed as of the artwork that can reveal to us something about its “craft”: textiles, pottery, and body art such as tattoos, 2024–2025 Art Resource Guide 6 meaning. From this point of view, aspects of meaning lacking their subtle transitions from light to dark are intrinsic to the work of art. Terms associated with when seen reproduced in books. It is quite common, the formal qualities of works of art, or the “elements though, for art historians to settle for studying from of art,” are discussed in detail a bit later in this section reproductions due to practical constraints. In some of the guide. Formal analysis requires excellent skills cases, works of art might be damaged or even lost over in observation and description. Beginning our study time, and so art historians rely on earlier descriptions of an artwork with formal analysis keeps the focus on to aid in their formal and contextual analysis. In the object itself, which to the art historian is always addition to examining the work of art in question, art primary. historians will also seek to understand any associated studies (sketches, preparatory models, etc.) and other Contextual analysis involves looking outside of the works by the artist and their contemporaries. work of art in order to determine its meaning. This involves examining not only the context in which the Art historians also use many written sources in the work was created, but also later contexts in which the quest for contextual information about a work of art. work was and continues to be consumed. Contextual Often these texts are stored in archives or libraries. analysis focuses on the cultural, social, religious, and Archival sources may include items such as letters economic context in which the work was produced. Art between the artist and patron, or other documents historians may examine issues of patronage, viewer pertaining to the commission, and art criticism access to the work, the physical location of the work produced at the time the work of art was made. An art in its original context, the cost of the work of art, the historian might also search for written documentation Alhambra High School - Alhambra, CA subject matter in relation to other artworks of the time about the materials used to produce the work of art, period, and so on. such as their cost and source, and about the function of the artwork—how a particular sculpture was used in Art history often emphasizes a chronological ritual practice, for example. Art historians also seek to development with the assumption that within one situate the work in the context of the literature, music, cultural setting the work of one generation of artists theater, and history of the time period. will have an impact on following generations. Art historians often use comparative study. For example, Art historians may also rely on interviews with artists by contrasting a Gothic with a Renaissance artwork, and consumers of works of art. This is especially the we can understand more clearly the unique features of case in cultures that rely more on oral history than on each and the series of stylistic changes that led from written documents. Guided by the field of anthropology, one to the other. Then, we can seek to relate these some art historians also use methods such as participant changes to historical context. Art history provides observation to understand the context of a work of art. information and insights that add background to An art historian studying masquerade traditions in West the meaning and significance of the works of art we Africa, for example, may participate in a performance study. As we place these works of art in their cultural while carefully documenting the event in order to better and historical context, they are connected to the long understand art traditions. history of events that has led up to our present culture. The Development of Art History Sources, Documents, and the Work of Art As an academic discipline, art history arose in the Historians mid-eighteenth century. However, we can look at the Art historians often begin their analysis with a close work of much earlier writers to see how commentary examination of a work of art. Direct examination of on art has developed over time. The ancient Roman the work of art is ideal because much is lost when we historian Pliny the Elder (23–79 ce) sought to analyze look at a reproduction rather than an original object. In historical and contemporary art in his text Natural the case of sculpture, it is often difficult to get a proper History. During the Renaissance, the author and artist sense of the scale and the three-dimensional qualities Giorgio Vasari (1511–74) gathered the biographies of a piece from a photograph. We lose the texture and of great Italian artists, past and present, in The Lives some of the rich colors when we experience paintings of the Artists. Vasari’s text provides us with insights in reproduction. Even photographs can appear flatter, into the changing roles of artists in society during this 2024–2025 Art Resource Guide 7  a field that is broader, more international, more multicultural, and more inclusive than in the past, often involving Marxist, feminist, and psychoanalytic methods and viewpoints. Moreover, the concern with great artistic geniuses and masterpieces has lessened as the full range of “visual culture,” ranging from advertisement posters to film to photography and television imagery, has come to view. BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE ART OF THE WESTERN WORLD This brief overview of Western art is intended to provide you with a basic understanding of important art historical periods as they developed chronologically. This abbreviated discussion also covers some key artistic innovations that occurred over time, providing you with examples of artists and works in their historical contexts. This basic information will set the stage for our more in-depth discussion of our case study focusing on environmental and Alhambra High School - Alhambra, CA environmentalist art. Of course, a brief guide such as this only begins to touch upon the richness and power of the stories that comprise the history of art. You may also enjoy looking at other works from each of the periods discussed, beginning your own exploration of Giorgio Vasari, self-portrait c. 1567. these works in their historical contexts. period and the developing concept of artistic genius. Much of what we know of the earliest life on earth has been revealed through a study of the objects or artifacts Modern art history was strongly influenced by that remain from early cultures. In many cases, the eighteenth-century Enlightenment philosophy. Johann objects that remain are those made of enduring materials Joachim Winckelmann (1717–68) was a German such as stone, metal, or fired clay, as opposed to those scholar who shifted away from Vasari’s biographical made of perishable materials like wood or fibers. emphasis to a rigorous study of stylistic development Environmental conditions also have a major impact on as related to historical context. Through the nineteenth preservation. The hot dry climate of the desert in Egypt, and twentieth centuries, art historians continued to for example, enabled the preservation of even delicate develop approaches that placed increasing emphasis on materials like papyrus, and the sealed atmosphere of an understanding of the interrelationship between the Egyptian caves and tombs likewise helped to preserve formal qualities of a work of art and its context. the objects contained within them for our wonder and When considering contemporary views of art history enjoyment centuries later. In contrast, the humid climate as well as perspectives on art history from the past, of West Africa means that objects made of perishable it is important to keep in mind that all histories are materials have had little chance of survival over the individual stories and thus will inevitably reflect course of decades, not to mention centuries. certain biases. More recently, art history has been This is one reason that the history of art as a discipline revised, particularly by feminist historians, who have has placed greater emphasis on Western cultures, often noted that the traditional version of art history has neglecting to focus on developments in Nonwestern largely focused on white men, whether as artists or as cultures. It is important to recognize that the patrons. As a result of such revisions, art history has civilizations that are most often studied in art history expanded its scope in recent years and has become courses are not necessarily those where the most or the 2024–2025 Art Resource Guide 8 best art was made. Rather, they are the civilizations whose art has been preserved and whose art has been discovered. There are, for example, many sites of important civilizations in Central and South America that though known, remain yet unexplored. Too often the story at these sites has been one of exploitation and destruction, as people carelessly take artifacts to sell them on the international market in antiquities. Ancient Civilizations Art of the Old Stone Age Although older cave paintings have been discovered elsewhere, the oldest works of art that we will consider are the cave paintings found in Chauvet Cave in southeastern France. These paintings, discovered in 1994, date from c. 30,000 bce and thus are placed in the Old Stone Age (Upper Paleolithic Period). It should be noted that art historians use the best available information to date works of art from the distant past. Estimated dates are frequently contested and sometimes Painting found in Chauvet Cave. Alhambra High School - Alhambra, CA revised as new information becomes available. are barely visible, and the feet are missing. Scholars Except for a minimal use of yellow, the paintings and contend that these statues were fertility figures engravings in Chauvet Cave were created using red although it is not known precisely how they were used. ochre and black charcoal and depict animals such as horses, rhinoceros, lions, buffalos, and mammoths. Art of the Middle Stone Age Additional cave paintings have been discovered in other During the Middle Stone Age (Mesolithic Period) parts of France and in Spain, with those in Lascaux and the climate warmed, and a culture developed that Altamira being the most famous. The art in these caves produced art similar in some ways to the cave takes the form of large colored drawings of animals such paintings of the Paleolithic Period. With the warming as horses, bears, lions, bison, and mammoths, and the of temperatures during this era, cave dwellers moved paintings include several outlines of human hands. The out of their caves and began using rock shelters, as earliest scholarship on these drawings considered them evidenced by the various paintings that have been to be the spontaneous scribbling of primitive cavemen. discovered at such locations in eastern Spain. There However, with further study, it became apparent that has been much scholarly debate regarding the dating the various groups of drawings had been created by of these paintings, but it is generally estimated that skilled artists working within an established tradition. they were created from around 7000 bce until 4000 The artists used pigments of red and yellow ochre to add bce. The rock shelter paintings, like the cave paintings color to the elegant black outlines they had created using that preceded them, demonstrate the skill of their charcoal. Though we cannot be sure of their original creators in the depiction of animal figures. What sets function, it is possible that these works were created as a the rock shelter paintings apart from the cave paintings part of hunting ceremonies or other ritual behaviors. is their depiction of the human figure. Except for one Another well-known group of artworks from the human figure found in the paintings at Lascaux, cave Old Stone Age are small stone female figures that paintings did not include any human beings. The rock have exaggerated bellies, breasts, and pubic areas. shelter paintings, however, portray human beings, both The best known of these figures is the Venus (or alone and in groups, and there seems to be an emphasis Woman) of Willendorf (c. 28,000–25,000 bce), which on scenes in which human beings dominate animals. is about four and one-eighth inches high. In contrast Art of the New Stone Age to the exaggerated female features of the body, the The art forms most often linked with the New Stone facial features of the statue are undefined, the arms Age (Neolithic Period) are rings or rows of rough- 2024–2025 Art Resource Guide 9  Photograph of Stonehenge. Photo by Frédéric Vincent Alhambra High School - Alhambra, CA hewn stones located in Western Europe. These will consider next point to further conditions that allow formations have been dated as early as 4000 bce. The for the creation of artworks and enable their survival. stones used were often exceedingly large—as much Usually, art thrives in highly organized cultures with as seventeen feet in height and fifty tons in weight. stable population centers—usually great cities—that Indeed, the sheer size of these works led historians house ruling classes who in turn support the work of to call the stones megaliths, meaning “great stones,” artists. and the culture that created these works is often termed “megalithic.” The most well known of these Also, if a civilization has a tradition of protecting its rock arrangements is the one found at Stonehenge on art in locations that are largely inaccessible, it is more Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England. Stonehenge is likely that the works from that culture will survive believed to have been built in many phases around to a point where they are included in a study of art 2100 bce. Stonehenge features concentric rings made history. Many extant artifacts have come from burial with sarsen (a form of sandstone) stones and smaller chambers, caves, and tombs, where they have been “bluestones”—rocks indigenous to the region. The protected by being naturally concealed. outermost ring is comprised of huge sarsen stones Ancient Mesopotamian Art in post and lintel construction—two upright pieces The civilizations that arose in Mesopotamia in the topped with a crosspiece, or lintel. The next ring is valley between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers composed of bluestones, which encircle a horseshoe- developed writing and arts in parallel with Egypt shaped row of five lintel-topped sarsen stones—these (discussed later). Unfortunately, the Mesopotamian are the largest ones used at Stonehenge, with some civilizations formed in a valley that lacked the natural weighing as much as fifty tons. Outside the formation, barriers of deserts and mountains that protected Egypt. to the northeast, is the vertically placed “heel-stone.” If This left them vulnerable to invasion, and hence, the one stands in the center of the rings and looks outward, history of this ancient region is one of successive this “heel-stone” marks the point at which the sun rises conquest and destruction. Moreover, the use of more on the midsummer solstice. perishable materials by Mesopotamian civilizations The works of art and the ideas we have considered thus has left us with fewer examples of their arts. far have been isolated examples that have survived a From around 4000 bce, the Sumerians in Mesopotamia very long time. The works and civilizations that we created impressive sculptures and buildings. Religion 2024–2025 Art Resource Guide 10  The 4,100-year-old Great Ziggurat of Ur, near Nasiriyah, Iraq. Alhambra High School - Alhambra, CA was a central aspect of Sumerian life, and the Sumerians known artwork from this period, preserved in the built massive temples at the centers of their cities. Louvre Museum, is related to this code of law; it is a Less complex platform structures evolved over time stone stele onto which Hammurabi’s code is carved into the stepped pyramids called ziggurats. Around with a sculpture in high relief at the top that depicts 2334 bce, the cities of Sumer came under the rule of Hammurabi receiving inspiration for his code of law Sargon of Akkad. Although the Akkadians spoke a from the sun-god, Shamash. different language from the Sumerians, they assimilated Sumerian culture. With the Akkadian dynasty, loyalty While the Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian to the city-state was supplanted by loyalty to the king, cultures grew in southern Mesopotamia, the Assyrians and consequently the art of this period tends to reflect dominated in the north. From about 900 bce to around an emphasis on the monarchy, with Akkadian rulers 600 bce, the Assyrians were the most powerful depicted in freestanding and relief sculptures. Around civilization in the Near East. Among the most notable 2150 bce, Akkadian rule came to an end as the Guti, of Assyrian artworks are relief carvings, which often barbarous mountaineers, invaded and took control. depict battles, sieges, hunts, and other important About fifty years later, however, the cities of Sumer events. Throughout the seventh century bce, the were able to reassert control, and a Neo-Sumerian Assyrian hold on power weakened, and from c. 612– ruler was established as the King of Ur. Perhaps the 538 bce, Babylonia once again became the dominant greatest known works of this era were the ziggurats that force in the region. It was during this Neo-Babylonian were built at the city centers. The ziggurats functioned period that the famous hanging gardens of Babylon primarily as temples but also served as administrative were constructed. Another important construction and economic centers. at this time was the gateway to the great ziggurat of the temple of Bel, called the Ishtar Gate, which is The next important civilization in Mesopotamia was considered one of the greatest works of architecture that of the Babylonians. For centuries Mesopotamia in which figures—in this case animal figures—are had witnessed the coexistence of several independent superimposed on a walled surface. citystates, but around 1792 bce, Hammurabi, king of the city-state of Babylonia, was able to centralize Persian Art power. Hammurabi left an enduring legacy in that he The Persian Empire (c. 538 bce–330 bce) flourished in codified Babylonian law—the Code of Hammurabi is what is present-day Iran. The Persians were notable for the oldest legal code known in its entirety. The best- their impressive architectural achievements, the most 2024–2025 Art Resource Guide 11 important of which was the palace at Persepolis, which was constructed of stone, brick, and wood and reflects the influence of Egyptian architecture. Ancient Egyptian Art Ancient Egyptian civilization is generally dated from c. 3000 bce, following the predynastic period, through 332 bce, when Egypt was conquered by Alexander the Great. Recognizable works include the great monuments of ancient Egypt: the Sphinx, the great pyramids at Giza, the larger-than-life-sized statues of the pharaohs, and the portrait head of Queen Nefertiti. Much Egyptian art emphasizes a style called hierarchical scale, which uses the status of figures or objects to determine their relative sizes within an artwork. Hierarchical scale is exemplified in the Palette of King Narmer, a relic from the Old Kingdom. This slab of stone, which may have been used as a ceremonial palette for mixing cosmetics, presents King Narmer centrally, and he is depicted as being considerably larger Alhambra High School - Alhambra, CA than the other figures. In the main image on the palette, Narmer is seen holding the hair of a fallen enemy, with his arm raised in preparation for delivering a deathblow. In the lowest section of the palette, below the king and his enemy, are two smaller figures of defeated enemies. The organization of the figures, their relative sizes, and their poses recurred in most of the ancient Egyptian art Burial mask of King Tutankhamun. that followed. Figures are presented so that each part of the body is shown as clearly as possible, in a technique the excavators found a treasure-trove of objects, all known as “fractional representation.” The head is superbly made of rich materials. Among the most in profile with the eye in frontal view, the torso is in famous of the objects is Tutankhamun’s burial mask. full frontal view, and the lower body, legs, and feet are This mask, found in the innermost layer of the in profile. This formula became a standard style that king’s sarcophagus, rested on the mummy’s face and endured for centuries as the typical way of representing shoulders. It is made of gold and is decorated with blue people in Egyptian art. glass and semiprecious stones. The mask presents an We know a great deal about the art of Egypt because idealized portrait of the young king. excellent conditions for preservation were present in much of Egypt. In addition, the burial customs Nubian Art of the Egyptians, which decreed mummification The kingdom of Nubia lay to the south of Egypt and and entombment with lavish furnishings, symbolic covered a large area of Africa. As contemporary servants, and jewelry, resulted in rich stores of objects historians become increasingly interested in revising and images. The most famous of the Egyptian tombs and expanding art history, more knowledge about is that of the boy king, Tutankhamun. By the twentieth this great African civilization is being uncovered. century, most of the ancient Egyptian tombs of the Indeed, it is now known that there was a period in the Pharaohs had been broken into and robbed of the history of Egypt when Nubia ruled the area, and the materials inside. However, Tutankhamun’s tomb, Pharaohs of that era were Nubian. While there are few because it was cleverly hidden, remained almost collections that feature Nubian works, this may well completely intact until 1922. When it was opened, soon change as revisions to the story of art continue. 2024–2025 Art Resource Guide 12 Greek and Roman Art and Mesopotamia, created sculptures carved in marble Cycladic, Minoan, and Mycenaean Art and limestone. These freestanding figures borrowed The Aegean island cultures were very important as the frontal pose used in Egyptian art, but were more precursors of the Greeks in terms of art production. dynamic and placed greater emphasis on depicting Three major cultures flourished on the islands in realistic human features. Temples were also built during the Aegean Sea, on Crete, and along the Aegean this time period using columns in the early Doric and coast. The earliest of these cultures, the Cycladic Ionic decorative styles. Vase painting was another culture, flourished from about 3200 to 2000 bce notable art form and was done in many different styles. in the Cyclades, a group of islands in the Aegean. Some vases portrayed black silhouetted figures, while Archaeologists still have many unanswered questions those in the Corinthian style set figures against a floral, about Cycladic culture, but the simplified, geometric ornamented background. Athenian-style vases used nude female figures from this area are highly appealing black figures, but were more linear and larger in scale. to modern sensibilities. In addition to these sculptures, Red-figure vases, with red figures standing out against a the Cycladic culture produced decorated pieces of black background, were also common. pottery as well as marble bowls and jars. Eventually, The best-known ancient Greek art is that from the the Cycladic culture was supplanted by the Minoan city-state of Athens from the Classical Period. During culture, which developed on the island of Crete and the Early Classical Period, temples were typically reached its pinnacle in the second millennium bce. built with sturdy, Doric columns. Unfortunately, much The Minoan culture centered around the city of of the sculpture from this period has not survived, Alhambra High School - Alhambra, CA Knossos on Crete, where the legend of the Minotaur— but luckily Roman copies have provided us with a the creature believed to be half man and half bull who good deal of information on these ancient works. devoured those who entered his maze—is supposed The sculpture of the Early Classical Period was to have taken place. The maze was actually the royal characterized by its solemnity, strength, and simplicity palace, a sprawling complex that has since been of form and most often focused on a figure or scene excavated. The art of these island people depicts sea either in the moment before or the moment after an life and includes statues of a female snake goddess. important action. Significant advances were made in The Minoans created artworks that were characterized sculptural techniques, as the stiff frontal postures of by a naturalistic pictorial style. Their paintings took the Archaic Period were largely abandoned in favor of two major forms: frescoes painted on palace walls and more complex and life-like figures and positions. pottery designs. The architectural achievements of the Greek statuary evolved from a stiff, frontal presentation Minoans were also impressive, as they built four major like that of the Egyptians to an increasingly natural- palaces, all completely unfortified and designed in a looking figure. A pose called “contrapposto,” or light, flexible, and organic style. counter positioning, was invented to show the body to The collapse of the Minoan civilization coincided with its best advantage. In contrapposto, the standing figure the pinnacle of Mycenaean culture, and as a result, is posed with its weight shifted onto one leg, for a more many historians believe the Minoans were destroyed relaxed, naturalistic appearance. Greek sculpture set by the Mycenaeans. The Mycenaean culture was the model for thousands of years in Western art, and the centered around the city of Mycenae on the Greek Renaissance, Baroque, and Neoclassical artists of the mainland. The Mycenaeans built elaborate tombs, fifteenth through early nineteenth centuries aspired to and their burial practices allowed for a large number equal the perfection displayed by the surviving Greek of objects to be preserved. The objects that are best statues. known are made of gold and show astonishing levels of The Middle Classical Period witnessed important mastery in goldsmithing. Additionally, the Mycenaeans advances in architecture as is evident in the temples demonstrated much skill in their use of relief sculpture. of this time period. The temple called the Parthenon, restored in 447 bce after being destroyed by the Ancient Greek Art Persians in 480 bce, is one of the most admired works From around 660 to 475 bce, during the Archaic Period, of all ages, and the use of columns as exemplified in the Greeks, influenced by the stone sculptures of Egypt the Parthenon has been a principal feature of Western 2024–2025 Art Resource Guide 13  Alhambra High School - Alhambra, CA Diagram of Greek and Roman Orders. Classical Greek and Roman columns consist of a base, shaft, capital, and an entablature. Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders are differentiated by their degree of ornamentation. architecture for more than two thousand years. lids and other art forms made of baked clay, as well as objects that display the Etruscans’ talent in Architecture declined during the Late Classical Period bronze work. The only paintings that remain from as Athens was defeated in the Peloponnesian War. the Etruscan culture are those found on the walls Temples in this era were still built using simple Doric and ceilings of tombs. These were done in bright, columns, but the use of highly decorative Corinthian flat colors, and they show figures playing music and columns became more and more popular. The dancing as part of funeral celebrations. Hellenstic Period saw an increasing influence from Eastern civilizations as Greek styles blended with Roman Art those of Asia Minor. Notable works of this time period The story of Rome is one of conquest and empire include freestanding sculptures such as the Venus de building. Early Roman art reflected the influence of Milo and the Laocoön Group, which are masterworks Etruscan art. However, by the second century bce designed to present ideals of beauty. many Roman sculptures and other Roman artworks were variations of Greek works, and the standards Etruscan Art for idealized presentations of Roman rulers were The art of the Etruscan civilization is seen as a based on those of the Greeks. The Romans, however, transition from the ideals of Greece to the pragmatic made pioneering advancements in architecture and concerns of the Romans. Etruscan civilization arose engineering. The Roman discovery of the equivalent in what is now Italy in the first millennium bce. of modern concrete was a major contribution to Like other cultures we have examined, this one is architecture, as it enabled Roman builders to fill the known largely from the arts of tomb decoration. spaces between their stone walls with rocks and rubble Nothing remains of Etruscan buildings as these were bound together by the concrete mixture. With this constructed of brick and wood. However, ceramic strong material, the Romans were able to construct models depict temples with tiled, gabled roofs huge domed buildings. They also pioneered the use supported by columns in the fashion of the Greeks. of the curved arch, using this form to build bridges Extant Etruscan artifacts also include sarcophagus and aqueducts. These structures were part of a paved 2024–2025 Art Resource Guide 14  Alhambra High School - Alhambra, CA The Colosseum as depicted in a 1757 engraving by Giovanni Battista Piranesi. road system, making communication and control very a tremendous influence on the art of the Middle effective in the Empire. Two buildings that can still Ages, but also had a notable impact on the art of the be seen in Rome, the Colosseum (72–80 ce) and the Renaissance and much of the art that followed. Pantheon (c. 126 –128 ce), remain as monuments to the engineering genius of the Romans. Byzantine and Medieval Art With the fall of the Roman Empire, the connections The Romans created numerous sculptures. Often, between its parts disintegrated, and what was once a colossal triumphal arches would be topped with vast empire evolved into separate and often warring relief sculptures portraying Roman emperors or kingdoms. But even as the Empire collapsed in Roman military victories. The Romans also created Western Europe, it continued in Byzantium. The art relief sculptures for funerary purposes. Tombs and that is best known from this Eastern culture is mosaic sarcophagi were decorated with reliefs. Some of these work in which small ceramic tiles, pieces of stone, reliefs were simply decorative, but many others had or glass were set into a ground material to create narrative subject matter. The Romans also sculpted large murals. It is an art that is largely Christian in portraits, which ranged in size from tiny busts to content and can best be studied in the glimmering, huge statues. During the Roman Republic it became shining mosaic walls of the great churches of Ravenna. common for members of a funeral procession to carry Although Ravenna is in present-day Italy, it was small carved images of the deceased family member. then under Byzantine control. In terms of Byzantine Later, statues in memory of great statesmen or other architecture, the Hagia Sophia (532–537 ce), built in noble figures were erected in public areas. Both the Constantinople, is still considered one of the greatest funerary sculptures and the public statues did not architectural achievements in history. present naturalistic depictions of their subjects. Rather, the Romans favored an idealistic style that highlighted The medieval period witnessed a great deal of civil Roman ideals. The art of the Romans not only had strife, and consequently the art of this era was preserved 2024–2025 Art Resource Guide 15  Components of an arch, a barrel vault, and a groin vault. The Romans pioneered the use of the curved arch. largely by the Church. During these times, the majority In later medieval art, the architecture of churches of the population was illiterate; formal education was became a dominant art form. Every city, town, and Alhambra High School - Alhambra, CA largely limited to the noble class and the clergy. The village had a church at its center, and the largest of international language was Latin, and books were these are masterpieces of art that often took more than hand copied on vellum or parchment. The preservation a century to complete. The earliest churches of this and production of books was largely confined to period used a Roman arch as the basis of their design, monasteries, where the monks spent time copying and so the style used is called Romanesque. One and illustrating the books in their collections, which famous example is Saint-Sernin in Toulouse, France (c. were so valuable that they were chained to the tables 1070–1120). Romanesque churches were stone vaulted where they were read. These illuminated manuscripts buildings that often replaced earlier churches that had were remarkable works of art and helped facilitate highly flammable wooden roofs. Romanesque churches the exchange of artistic ideas between northern and are usually formed of a tunnel of arches called a barrel southern Europe. Among the many notable examples vault. A vault is an arch-shaped structure that is used are the Book of Kells (late eighth or early ninth century) as a ceiling or as a support to a roof. Massive walls and the Coronation Gospels (c. 800–810). had to be built to support the heavy stone arches of the Romanesque style. Consequently, window and door Notable from the early medieval period (c. 375–1025) openings were usually kept quite small and were often is the art of nomadic Germanic peoples, particularly decorated with carvings and relief sculpture. their metalwork. The metal arts of this time period were abstract, decorative, and geometric and often The Gothic style developed in the first half of the took the form of small-scale, portable jewelry or twelfth century and remained popular into the sixteenth ornaments made of bronze, silver, or gold and covered century. Though this style was used for some secular with patterns of jewels. Artifacts from this era also buildings, it was largely applied to the construction of exist from the seafaring culture of the Vikings in churches. One characteristic of the Gothic style was the Scandinavia. While metalwork was popular with the use of pointed arches, which gave an upward, soaring Germanic peoples, wood was the most important sense to Gothic interiors. Another important element medium to the Vikings, who carved artistic designs of the Gothic style was the addition of ribbed vaults, and sculptures on their wooden ships. As a result of a framework of thin stone ribs or arches built under Viking invasions, the artistic styles of the Vikings the intersection of the vaulted sections of the ceiling. A eventually merged with those found in Anglo-Saxon key innovation came in the early Gothic period when England and Celtic Ireland. The resultant style is often architects learned that the downward and outward termed Hiberno-Saxon. pressure created by the arches of the barrel vault could 2024–2025 Art Resource Guide 16 be counteracted by the use of flying buttresses— additional bracing material and arches placed on the exterior of the building. This advance allowed for larger windows, many of which were filled with beautiful stained glass, and higher ceilings. A classic example of a Gothic cathedral is Chartres Cathedral in France (begun c. 1145; rebuilt after 1194). Here the effect of the tall arches and the brightly colored light from the stained- glass windows directs attention heavenward. The Renaissance in Southern Europe Although we often tend to divide historical periods into a series of discrete and separate styles and events, in actuality, history is much more complicated and subtle. The transition from the later medieval period to the Renaissance provides a good example of this, as the styles from this period cannot be neatly identified as either Gothic or Renaissance, but rather involve a mix of the two. The artist most often mentioned in connection with this transitional time period is a Florentine named Alhambra High School - Alhambra, CA Giotto di Bondone (1267–1336/37), who is best known for his frescoes. A key advance visible in Giotto’s works is his use of a simple perspective, achieved in large part by overlapping and modeling his figures in the round. This technique created the illusion of a stage for his figures, giving the viewer a sense of looking into the event. Giotto’s works were different from many Gothic works as he gave his figures powerful gestures and emotional expressions. To our eyes, his paintings may View of the dome of Florence Cathedral. not look entirely naturalistic, but his artistic innovations must have had quite an impact on viewers at the time, in our discussion of earlier periods. In part, this can who were accustomed to the flat, unexpressive, and be attributed to a new emphasis on the individual and stylized figures of the Gothic style. the concept of individual genius that emerged during the Renaissance. Until the time of the Renaissance, Like the art of ancient Greece, the art of the Renaissance painters and sculptors were, in accordance with Greek continues to have an impact on art today. It is interesting traditions of art, considered artisans. That is, they to note that a change in the economy played a key part were people who were viewed as being of lesser status in triggering the Renaissance. It was in this time period because they worked with their hands. During the that paper money was first developed, and its use led, in Renaissance, the role of artists in society changed, part, to the vast fortunes accumulated by notables such as great artists came to be recognized as intellectual as the Medici family. These wealthy families were the figures. Consequently, artists were accorded a special major patrons of the arts during the Renaissance era. place in society. Another important factor was the fact that examples of Greek and Roman art were readily available in Italy, and An important event near the beginning of the these classical works of art had a tremendous impact on Renaissance was a competition held in the city of the art of the Renaissance. Florence in 1401 for the design of the doors for the city’s new baptistery. The winner of that competition As we discuss the art of this period and later, you will was Lorenzo Ghiberti (1381?–1455), who designed a observe that the lives and works of individual artists door panel that had figures harkening back to those of are often highlighted, while this has not been the case classical Greece. Ghiberti’s panel design depicts the 2024–2025 Art Resource Guide 17  (single vanishing point) perspective. Masaccio (1401–28), a Renaissance painter, is given credit for putting Brunelleschi’s theory into practice, as he used both linear and aerial perspective in his frescoes. The development of linear perspective had a tremendous and lasting influence on the world of art. Among the most remarkable of Renaissance artists was Donatello (1389?–1466), who is widely considered the founder of modern sculpture. The influence of classical antiquity on his sculpture was strong, as evidenced by his best-known work, a bronze statue of David (c. 1420s–60s). This work was the first known freestanding nude statue to have been cast since antiquity. Toward the end of his life, Donatello’s sculptures reflected a greater emphasis on naturalism and the expression of character and dramatic action. A generation later, the work of Botticelli (1444?–1510), particularly his best-known painting, The Birth of Venus (c. 1482), established an image of female beauty Alhambra High School - Alhambra, CA that has lasted through the centuries. His long-necked Venus with her languid pose and flowing hair was one of the first paintings of a full-length nude female since antiquity. The generation of artists that followed are often referred to as High Renaissance artists. Two well- known artists of this time period, Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. (1452–1519) and Michelangelo (1475–1564), are the models for the term “Renaissance Man.” Leonardo sacrifice of Isaac, in which Isaac appears as a classical da Vinci is well known as an inventor, but also is Greek figure. Soon after the doors were installed, recognized as an architect, engineer, painter, sculptor, Ghiberti was asked to make a second set for another scientist, and musician. His design for the locks entrance to the cathedral. This second set took more that control movements along canals from one level than twenty-five years to complete. The doors were so to another is still used today, and his drawings of magnificent that Michelangelo called them the “Gates of submarines and helicopters have been found to be Paradise,” and they have been referred to by that name viable models. Two of his paintings, The Last Supper ever since. (c. 1495–98) and the Mona Lisa (c.1503–05), have become so well known that they are now icons of The second-place winner in the competition was popular culture. Leonardo’s key innovation in painting, Filippo Brunelleschi (1377–1446). After losing the which is readily apparent in the Mona Lisa, is the use competition, he concentrated on architecture and won of sfumato. Sfumato, from the Italian word fumo, a competition to complete the dome of the cathedral meaning smoke, is the use of mellowed colors and a in Florence, which had remained unfinished for many blurred outline. Sfumato allows forms to blend subtly years because architects had not been able to construct into one another without perceptible transitions. the huge vault that was required to span the open space. Brunelleschi achieved this major engineering At the same time that Leonardo was working in feat with the help of a double-shelled dome design Florence, another artist, Michelangelo di Buonarotti, that has been imitated by many later architects. was at work on the piece that would establish his Brunelleschi is also credited with developing linear reputation as a sculptor. The city held a competition to 2024–2025 Art Resource Guide 18  Alhambra High School - Alhambra, CA A partial view of Matthias Grünewald’s Insenheim Altarpiece. have a statue created from a massive piece of marble Dying Slave (1513–16), and The Bound Slave (1513–16) that it had acquired, only to discover that the marble to be included in the Pope’s colossal tomb. However, was flawed. Taking this difficult piece, which had a in the midst of this commission, the Pope canceled large crack in the middle, Michelangelo turned it into the project for uncertain reasons. The cancellation of his vision of David (1504). The statue is larger than his work on the Pope’s tomb was one of the greatest life-sized, as it was originally meant to be placed disappointments of Michelangelo’s career, and he was high on the façade of the cathedral in Florence and bitter and hesitant when Pope Julius II gave him another would have been viewed from far below. The beautiful commission. This time, the artist was asked to decorate carving, the smooth texture of the finished marble, and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. It took Michelangelo the striking pose were seen as the very embodiment of four years, from 1508 to 1512, to cover the seven the spirit of Florence as a republic. hundred square yards of the ceiling, but the result was an astonishing tour de force. The great masterpiece of Throughout his stormy career, Michelangelo created the Sistine Ceiling has received renewed attention in a large number of other important sculptures, but it recent decades, as restorers set about cleaning the great is a painting that often comes to mind when people frescoes. The cleaning removed the collection of oil, hear his name. In 1505, Pope Julius II commissioned wax, and grime that had accumulated over the centuries, Michelangelo to design his tomb. Michelangelo began and the colors have returned to their original brightness. sculpting great statues such as Moses (c. 1513–15), The Not everyone was happy with the results of the cleaning, 2024–2025 Art Resource Guide 19 however, and a controversy about this restoration, as are also recognizable by their use of acidic colors and well as the restoration of artworks in general, continues the twisted positioning of their subjects. Although within the art world. Tintoretto used some Mannerist pictorial techniques, his color schemes differed from those of the Mannerists. One of the most influential painters of the High Tintoretto presented his figures from dramatic angles— Renaissance was Raphael Sanzio (1483–1520). When it is said that he used small figures as models and he was a young painter, Raphael was brought to Rome, arranged them and rearranged them until he had the where Julius II gave him several commissions. During most dramatic effect. He also used dramatic contrasts this period, Raphael learned much from Michelangelo, of light and dark, called chiaroscuro, to heighten the his older rival. Unlike Michelangelo, Raphael was emotional impact of his subjects. Tintoretto’s later works not a loner, but employed numerous assistants to help are marked by their spiritual subject matter, and his use him cover the Pope’s official chambers with large, of sharp perspectives and chiaroscuro anticipate the sumptuous frescoes, notably the School of Athens (c. Baroque era. 1508–11), an homage to the great Greek philosophers and scientists. Raphael is considered the most One of the most important events impacting the influential painter of the Madonna. His masterworks, history of sixteenth-century art was the Reformation. such as the Sistine Madonna (c. 1513–14), created an Protestants criticized the opulence and corruption of image of the Virgin Mary that has endured in religious the Catholic Church and called for its purification. For paintings throughout the centuries. art, this meant a move away from the richly decorated churches and religious imagery of the Renaissance. Rome and Florence were not the only locations to Alhambra High School - Alhambra, CA The Church reacted to the Protestant Reformation by witness an incredible flowering in the arts. Venice, launching a Counter-Reformation, which emphasized, too, became a center of artistic creativity. Giorgione even more than before, lavish church decoration and (1477/78–1510) is credited with making innovations in art of a highly dramatic and emotional nature. One of the subject matter of landscapes, as he painted scenes the artists most closely associated with the Counter- not taken from the Bible or from classical or allegorical Reformation is Dominikos Theotokopoulos, known stories. Prior to Giorgione’s painting The Tempest (c. as El Greco. El Greco was strongly influenced by 1508), artists had generally begun with the figures Tintoretto’s paintings, and he worked for a period of that were to be the subject matter of the painting and time in Titian’s workshop in Venice. In 1576, El Greco then added the background. However, in The Tempest left Italy for Toledo, Spain. El Greco is one of the most the landscape became the subject of the painting—the well known of the Mannerist painters, and his dramatic figures depicted are of lesser importance than the use of elongated figures captured the religious fervor storm that threatens them. of the Counter-Reformation. The works of both El Titian Vecelli (c. 1488–1576) was one of the most Greco and Tintoretto can be seen as transitional works prolific of the Venetian painters. Titian is well bridging the end of the Renaissance and the beginning known for his portraits of his patrons, and he is also of the Baroque period. recognized as having been the greatest colorist of the Renaissance artists. Titian was an innovative The Renaissance in Northern Europe During the fifteenth century, the artworks being portraitist. He used various elements of setting, such as produced in northern Europe were smaller in scale a column or a curtain, as the backdrop for his portraits than those of contemporaneous artists to the south. instead of an atmospheric neutral background, as had However, the work of northern artists displayed a been the custom. The influence of Titian’s use and degree of realistic detail beyond what can be seen in arrangement of background elements can be seen in works of the south, primarily due to their use of new portraiture up through the twenty-first century. oil paints. While the Renaissance was occurring in Tintoretto (1518–94), another great Venetian painter, is Italy, much of European art north of the Alps was still often linked with an artistic style called Mannerism Gothic in style. The influence of classical antiquity that grew in popularity in the late sixteenth century. was also much less of a factor in the north, as the Mannerist works are characterized by the distortion northerners did not share Italy’s cultural connection of certain elements such as perspective or scale and with ancient Rome, nor did they have the advantage of 2024–2025 Art Resource Guide 20 being in close proximity to ancient Roman works as Hans Holbein the Younger (1497–1543) is another did their Italian counterparts. important artist of this era, and he is considered one of the greatest Renaissance portraitists. Though born The art of northern Europe in the sixteenth century in Germany, Holbein is best known for his work in demonstrates a far greater awareness of the Italian England. He became court painter to King Henry VIII Renaissance than that of the fifteenth century. Many of England, and his portrait of Henry VIII shows not artists traveled to Italy to study the great works of the only his talent for presenting details, but also his ability Renaissance, and some Italian artists brought these ideas to capture the psychological character of his subjects. with them when they traveled to the north. Engravers Holbein’s works became the model and standard for copied some of the more notable Italian works, and these English painting up through the nineteenth century. engravings became available throughout Europe, thus spreading the ideas and styles of the Renaissance. Trade Baroque Art connections between upper-class German merchants The term “Baroque” is generally used to refer to and merchants in Venice, a center of trade and art, artworks produced from the late sixteenth century provided another avenue of influence. through the mid-eighteenth century. Baroque styles differed from those of the Renaissance in that Baroque Though the influence of the Italian masters was artworks tended to be less static than Renaissance notable, not all northern artists embraced the ideals examples; the Baroque is characterized by a greater and innovative techniques of the Renaissance, as many sense of movement and energy. The political structure maintained a more traditional approach. Moreover, of Europe during the Baroque era also differed from though linear perspective and the colors used farther Alhambra High School - Alhambra, CA that of the Renaissance. Whereas the Renaissance south did travel northward, the manner in which they witnessed wars between cities, the Baroque era saw were used in the northern countries was quite different. conflicts between empires. During this time, the During the fifteenth century and into the early decades Church was determined to preserve its dominance of the sixteenth century, areas of southern Germany in Spain and Italy, and orders like the Jesuits were witnessed a flowering of artistic production. Matthias founded to convert the peoples of other areas. Baroque Grünewald (1475?–1528) and Albrecht Dürer (1471– art appealed largely to the emotions, and thus, these 1528) are often considered the greatest artists of the artists, influenced by the Counter-Reformation, aimed Renaissance in northern Europe. Although only ten of at dramatic and moving appeals to faith. Grünewald’s works have survived, his influence has The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Europe nonetheless been notable. Grünewald is known for his were a time when society was governed by a ruling religious scenes and his depiction of Christ’s crucifixion. class that viewed its power as a divine right. Some of The Isenheim Altarpiece (c. 1510–15), a work consisting the most powerful sovereigns ever to rule are from of nine panels mounted on two sets of folding wings, is this period. Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, Peter considered to be his greatest masterpiece. the Great and Catherine the Great of Russia, and King Albrecht Dürer is perhaps the most famous artist of Louis XIV of France dominated the lives of the people Reformation Germany. Dürer’s early training was of their countries. It was a time that saw the ongoing largely influenced by late Gothic works, but as the concentration of power and wealth into the hands of ideas of the Italian Renaissance spread northward in a few, until the results eventually became intolerable the sixteenth century, Dürer’s work began to reflect for the majority of the people. While a small minority some of these new influences. Dürer aimed to achieve of the population lived in great luxury, the lives of a style that combined the naturalistic detail favored by ordinary people were generally quite difficult, and artists of the north with the theoretical ideas developed eventually this disparity gave rise to protests like those by Italian artists. He traveled to Italy, studied the found in the writings of Enlightenment authors, Jean- work of his Italian contemporaries, and brought his Jacques Rousseau in particular. Ironically, however, it new knowledge back to Germany. Dürer wrote about was the patronage of the wealthy ruling class that gave theories of art and published many series of woodcuts rise to the great works of art of the period. and copper engravings, such as The Four Horsemen of As we might expect, the art of the Baroque period the Apocalypse (c. 1498). moved away from the classic simplicity and calm that 2024–2025 Art Resource Guide 21  Alhambra High School - Alhambra, CA Rembrandt’s The Company of Frans Banning Cocq and Willem van Ruytenburch, known as The Night Watch. was so characteristic of Renaissance works. The word notable for its provocative degree of naturalism. For “baroque” has come to represent the richness of color example, Caravaggio portrayed the Virgin Mary and the and ornamentation that heightened the energy and apostles not as noble figures in classical garb as they had emotion that were characteristic of the great works of art traditionally been represented, but instead depicted them of this period. The emphasis was on dynamic works that as poor and simple folks in threadbare garments. His presented imagery in the most dramatic way possible. use of actual lower-class individuals as models for his work helped him achieve this effect. It is no wonder that Baroque painters made use of chiaroscuro, using several patrons of Caravaggio’s canvases rejected them exaggerated contrasts between light and dark to create a for this reason. theatrical kind of lighting that made the subject appear to be in a spotlight. Caravaggio (1571–1610), an Italian With recent revisions of art history, a woman named Baroque painter, was renowned for his dramatic use Artemisia Gentileschi (1593?–1652?) has also joined of light and dark, and his technique influenced many the ranks of important Baroque artists. Gentileschi, artists who followed. Caravaggio’s work is so important the daughter of a painter, had the unusual opportunity that artworks using extremes of dark and light are often to study in her father’s studio. She is particularly termed “caravaggesque.” Caravaggio’s work is also known for her remarkable adaptation of Carravaggio’s 2024–2025 Art Resource Guide 22 techniques. Her works include self-portraits and 1669. The palace and its grounds covered about two paintings of Old Testament women. thousand acres and included various grand chateaux and gardens. There was a stable, capable of housing The most important Baroque artist, Gianlorenzo hundreds of horses, and a grand orangerie, or Bernini (1598–1680), the son of a sculptor, was a child greenhouse, for the king’s orange trees. Eventually prodigy who received recognition from the Pope at there was also a zoo and a system of fountains and age seventeen. Bernini did his most significant work waterfalls that included a grand canal large enough in sculpture, but he was also a talented architect, for the staging of mock sea battles. The opulence painter, and draftsman. He worked as a designer in the and power of this “sun king,” around whom the theater, and many of his works reflect the influence world of the court revolved, became a model that of his theatrical background. His most important contemporaneous monarchs tried to emulate. masterpiece, the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa (1647–52), is set into the altar of the Cornaro Chapel. The space An important feature of Louis XIV’s court that was to includes a concealed stained-glass window that bathes influence art well into the nineteenth century was the the figure of the saint in dramatic gold lighting, as if system of choosing and supporting artists called the she were on a stage. Bernini treated his medium in Salon. This annual exhibition established a set of rules a new way as well. He did not adhere to the classical for judging art that is still influential in the art world calm and natural flow of drapery around the figure that today. It was also under the rule of Louis XIV that the had been used in the past. Instead, Bernini pushed the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, often use of marble to new limits and tried to make stone referred to simply as the “Academy,” was established, Alhambra High School - Alhambra, CA look like real fabric and even clouds. and it soon came to be a means for imposing aesthetic standards and principles of taste. The importance of the Baroque style extended beyond Italy. In Flanders, Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) To the south, the Spanish court of King Philip IV of established a huge workshop and produced works of Spain tried to emulate the court of France, and his great energy and color that became models for many court painter, Diego Velázquez (1599–1660), was artists. In the mid-seventeenth century, Rembrandt a contemporary of Bernini. Velázquez’s method of van Rijn (1606–69), a Dutch artist, created some building his figures from patches of color, rather than of the best-known works from the Baroque period. starting from a drawing, became a model for many Rembrandt is recognized not only as a painter and later artists. In fact, Velázquez’s work had an influence printmaker, b