Comparisons

Architecture Please compare each of the images represented in these pairs— you are being offered three different sets of buildings to consider. What is most significant? Think about the rationales (reasons) for the architect’s decisions.

Amiens Cathedral facade begun in 1220; almost “complete” by 1375

façade of Church of Sant’Andrea Leon Battista Alberti designed 1470

Amiens Cathedral Amiens, France floor plan

Palladio Villa Rotunda 1550 elevation

Abbey Church of Saint-Denis Saint-Denis, France Standing in the choir, looking northeast at about 1:30.

The Spedale degli Innocenti was a foundling children’s orphanage established in 1419 and designed by Filippo Brunelleschi.

Brunelleschi Dome of Florence Cathedral

Donato Bramante Tempietto

Perspective How does each artist attempt to represent a sense of depth (three-dimensional space) in his work of art? Please compare the works of art using the slides as your basis for discussion. You should discuss both the similarities you notice as well as the differences. An outstanding answer will use specific terms and will link assertions to specific visual evidence.

Lamentation (The Pieta) Giotto di Bondone Arena Chapel Padua, Italy for the Scrovegni family c

detail: Effects of Good Government in the Countryside Ambrogio Lorenzetti Allegory of the Good Government fresco Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

Paolo Uccello Bernardino della Ciarda Thrown Off His Horse from The Battle of San Romano 1450s tempera on wood, 182 x 220 cm Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Leonardo da Vinci Annunciation tempera on panel

Raphael The School of Athens 1509 fresco, width at the base 770 cm Stanza della Segnatura, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican

Hunters in the Snow (January) Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Mediums How does the medium which each artist used affect the final finished work of art? In other words, what do you notice about each work? How has the medium affected what the artist is able to do or not do? You should discuss both the similarities you notice as well as the differences. An outstanding answer will use specific terms and will link assertions to specific visual evidence.

Duccio Madonna and Child with Six Angels

Roger van der Weyden Portrait of a Lady 1460

Piero della Francesca Portrait of Battista Sforza

Leonardo da Vinci The Mona Lisa 1503

Michelangelo The Sistine Chapel (Capella Sistina), Vatican 1510 The Creation of Adam

Antonio del Pollaiuolo Battle of the Nudes

St Jerome in his Study Albrecht Dürer 1514 engraving

Patronage and Politics How does each work of art reflect or represent the patron’s desires or intentions?

Giotto di Bondone Arena Chapel Padua, Italy c Detail of Enrico Scrovegni from The Last Judgement fresco.

Ambrogio Lorenzetti Allegory of the Good Government Palazzo Pubblico, Siena fresco

Nanni di Banco Four Crowned Martyrs Church of Orsanmichele

Jan van Eyck Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife, Giovanna Cenami 1434

Hugo van der Goes Portinari Altarpiece 1476 Patron: Tommaso Portinari; he managed the Medici bank in Bruges. Eventually, Portinari took this eight-foot tall altarpiece back to Florence with him, where he installed the altarpiece in the family chapel in the Church of Sant’Egidio in Florence. This work has a tremendous impact on Florentine artists like Ghirlandaio.

Donatello Judith and Holofernes Bronze Palazzo Vecchio, Florence

Michelangelo David c marble

Raphael Pope Leo X with Cardinals Giulio de' Medici and Luigi de' Rossi oil on wood

The Four Apostles Albrecht Dürer 1526 oil on lindenwood This painting marks Durer’s conversion to Protestantism. Note in the foreground: Paul and John, who were the favorites of Martin Luther. Peter who holds a key and is considered the founder of the Catholic Church is situated behind John. John is holding a bible that is open to a passage that reads, “in the beginning was the word, and the word was God…” Paul in the foreground also holds a book. Mark is behind Paul; Mark looks over his shoulder suspiciously. Paul wrote, the just shall live by faith alone.” Note the monumentality—like Giotto… Who is taller? What does “height” argue? That the “book” is more important than key. Note, Paul stares directly at the viewer. This work was given to the town elders of Nuremburg—there was no patron. Durer chose to make these images.

The Human Form Please discuss what the human form is meant to argue or represent in each of these works. Please compare these two works of art using the slides as your basis for discussion. You should discuss both the similarities you notice as well as the differences. An outstanding answer will use specific terms and will link assertions to specific visual evidence.

Sandro Botticelli The Birth of Venus

Donatello St Mary Magdalen c wood

Jan van Eyck Adam and Eve from The Ghent Altarpiece 1432

Masaccio The Expulsion from Paradise fresco cycle in the Brancacci Chapel in the Church of Santa del Carmine in Florence

Rogier van der Weyden Deposition 1442

Matthias Grunewald Isenheim Altarpiece c oil on wood panel center panel

Lorenzo Ghiberti The Sacrifice of Isaac 1401 bronze doors for the Florence Cathedral Baptistery

Bronzino Portrait of a Young Man oil on wood panel

in situ Discuss how the context of these works affects these pieces. If appropriate, please consider how the context affects the actual object that was made, the argument that the work makes because of its context, and the problem that the context created as well as the solution that the artist created to this contextual challenge.

Hans Memling Martyrdom of Saint Ursula 1489

Domenico Ghirlandaio Sassetti Chapel Church of Santa Trinita Florence Resurrection of the Boy Adoration of the Magi Sassetti Patrons

Masaccio Trinity Fresco, 667 x 317 cm Santa Maria Novella, Florence

Fran Angelico view of a cell Annunciation Fresco, 190 x 164 cm Convento di San Marco, Florence

perspective Please discuss how the perspective is represented in these works. If appropriate, please discuss the development of perspective as evidenced by these three different representations of space; consider not only how perspective is rendered but also what the artist seemed to be privileging or using perspective to argue.

Giotto Virgin and Christ Enthroned 1310 for the main altar of the Church of the Ognissanti, Florence

Giotto The Lamentation (The Pieta) Arena Chapel Padua, Italy

Rogier van der Weyden Deposition 1442

October Limbourg Brothers (Paul, Herman, Jean) Tres Riches Heures

Paolo Uccello Bernardino della Ciarda Thrown Off His Horse 1450s Tempera on wood, 182 x 220 cm Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Donatello Herod's Banquet 1427 bronze Baptistry, Siena

Perugino Delivery of the Keys to Saint Peter 1481 fresco on the right wall of the Sistine Chapel, Vatican, Rome

light Please discuss what light is meant to argue, represent, or accomplish in each of these works.

Rheims Cathedral begun in 1211; almost “complete” by 1285

Robert Campin Merode Altarpiece central panel: Annunciation

detail: The Nativity Gentile da Fabriano Adoration of the Magi Santa Trinita, Florence 1423

Dream of Constantine Piero della Francesca fresco cycle The Legend of the True Cross Bacci Chapel, Church of San Francesco, Arezzo

The Temptation of Saint Anthony by Hieronymus Bosch

The Temptation of Saint Anthony Hieronymus Bosch detail of the central panel

Gothic versus early Renaissance Why can one piece be considered Gothic while the other definitely demonstrates the humanistic concerns and/or artistic developments of the Renaissance? In other words: what do you see? How can you use this visual evidence as a basis for categorization?

Gothic Sculptor, French figures on the north transept stone Cathedral, Chartres

Lorenzo Ghiberti Sacrifice of Isaac competition panel for the east doors of the Baptistery of Florence Cathedral

Giotto di Bondone Arena Chapel Padua, Italy for the Scrovegni family The Lamentation (The Pieta)

Rogier van der Weyden Deposition 1442

Matthias Grunewald Lamentation of Christ before 1523 oil on pine wood 36 x 136 cm

Lorenzo Ghiberti St John the Baptist bronze Church of Orsanmichele

Donatello St. Mark c marble Orsanmichele, Florence

Michelangelo Moses 1515 marble