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The importance of religion to art in the Middle Ages
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Professed "painter of the Reformation," Lucas Cranach the Elder created many pieces of artwork during his career, but his work that sprouted from the end of the Renaissance and beginning of the Reformation was truly inspiring (Johnson). Judith with the Head of Holofernes, an inspiring oil on panel by Cranach, impacted society in multiple ways that would remain influential even after his death. Cranach's work played a critical role in the beginning of the Reformation and pleased the royal court in Germany during the mid 1500s, which allowed him to rise as an artist and support dangerous organizations in his spare time. This enthralling artist's specific piece was the beginning of a religious motif that would appear in his later works and inspire artists of all beliefs. Lucas Cranach the Elder impacted society through his painting Judith with the Head of Holofernes and helped shape Reformation artwork in Germany throughout his career.
Lucas Cranach the Elder had a thrilling and dangerous experience during his career as an artist, as he involved himself with risky religious organizations as well as his enemy, the royal court, and became one of the most influential artists of his time. Cranach was born into a family of painters, continuing the family legacy when he was elected Royal Painter for the Saxon Court and began to build his artistic career from this opportunity. In fact, Cranach's artwork was so favored in the court that he was elected three more times to stay and held the position for nearly five decades (Thöne and King). His success led to a large income and he became the richest man in his Lutheran stronghold (Kunz and Schmitt). As you can imagine, being such a wealthy citizen, Cranach's social status continued t...
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... Sound & Vision Publishers, n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
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Rogier van der Weyden painted his vision of the biblical Deposition before the year 1443, likely between 1435 and 1438. The painting is oil on wood panel and was an altarpiece commissioned by the crossbowmen’s guild in Louvain, Belgium. Jesus’s body is at the center of the scene, being carefully lifted down from his cross. He is surrounded by mourners, his mother, Mary, swooning in her grief as John the Evangelist reaches out to support her and Mary Magdalene wringing her hands, her head bowed in sorrow. The figures in the artwork do not fit completely within the frame of the altarpiece and the only the lower part of the cross is shown in full. In his Deposition, Rogier van der Weyden attempts to capture the extreme grief apparent at Christ’s death and reflect the emotion onto the observer, placing him/her within the narrative.
Franz Xaver Winterhalter was born of peasant stock, in Mensenschwad, a small village in Germany’s Black Forest. His early training, as an apprentice in a studio in Freiburg, began when he was thirteen. He learned engraving and he supported himself as a lithographer, while he studied painting in Munich (nga, par.1). Even though he is known to be an academic painter, this seems to be a contradiction, as Webster’s Dictionary states that an academic painter followed rules and conventions, while a painter from the Romantic Movement broke away from convention and painted more by feeling and freedom of form, which is what Winterhalter did.
Throughout history religion has been taught by art. The Christian religion especially, teaches about their religion through stories or parables. Some of these stories have been turned into art to further the understanding of the story. Many Christian artists have showed Christ’s life through paintings. Carl Bloch had the opportunity to paint the life of Christ for the Frederiksborg Castle church. They showed his birth to the Virgin Mary and his death on the cross. These paintings also show what he did on earth. Christ taught and healed many people. Some of his paintings are alter pieces for the church. The size of these paintings invites its viewers to experience the story in the painting and apply it to themselves. In the painting Christ Healing at the Pool of Bethesda by Carl Bloch, it is portrayed that even in times of darkness and despair Christ is there to help people.
In summary, Lucas Cranach the Elder's Virgin and Child represents everything that major artists and painters of that era stood for in their artwork; they thought highly of religion. Cranach the Elder's use of composition, light and dark shadows, and space are a few of the many elements that are incorporated by him flawlessly. This incorporation of formal elements correlates to the style of the Virgin and Child. Due in part to the Protestant Reformation's influence at the time, an audience can see that the painting Virgin and Child is product of that era. Lucas Cranach the Elder's Virgin and Child, while it may be an unorthodox depiction of biblical times, provides unprecedented use of oil paint on lime as a medium, as well as integrating formal and stylistic elements that artists still use to this day.
The two painters Jan Van Eyck (c.1390-1441) and Hans Memlinc (d.1494) are both considered great masters of Northern Art. Van Eyck is known for his execution of naturalistic detail and creating translucency in his panels. Memlinc is known for his financially minded cornucopia of work and for revolutionising the genre of portraiture. However, their differences are more pointed than there similarities. Both artists are mindful of the traditions of the Flemish school, such a the use of light to create a sense of the third dimension on the panel and the importance of landscape and background. Both artists worked in Bruges at some point; Van Eyck was an earlier master who moved to Bruges in 1430 until his death. Memlinc was German but settled there in 1465 until his death. The paintings by Van Eyck that shall be discussed are The Ghent Altarpiece, Madonna with Chancellor Rolin, Portrait of a Man and The Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife. The paintings by Memlinc that will be discussed are The Diptych of Maarten Nieuwenhove, Portrait of a Young Man Before a Landscape and The Donne Altarpiece.
Both Jan van Eyck and Fra Angelico were revered artists for the advances in art that they created and displayed for the world to see. Their renditions of the Annunciation were both very different, however unique and perfect display of the typical styles used during the Renaissance. Jan van Eyck’s panel painting Annunciation held all the characteristics of the Northern Renaissance with its overwhelming symbolism and detail. Fra Angelico’s fresco Annunciation grasped the key elements used in the Italian Renaissance with usage of perspective as well as displaying the interest and knowledge of the classical arts.
As the German painter and sculptor, Kathe Kollwitz conveyed in her statement that the art she created held the burden of transfiguration. The fixation of sorrow and hardship that occurred while she sat huddled with the children was the driving force of her drawings. Her realization that art could not only be an escape from the horror happenings in Germany such as the rationing of food and the starving-to-death children at that time was also a way to voice her opinion of change and revolution. It was the quest, in which she enamored in her drawings and it is this feeling that I value from it. I choose this artist because she delineated the various circumstances surrounding the human individual, she took into account perspectives that involved life with its tragedies, and the lives of little angel children. Her drawings and sculptures were prepared to emulate and capture what her eyes had seen while she was in Germany and this is why I had taken a likening to her drawings. The two artworks that I am specifying in this research paper is the drawing labeled “Germany's children starve!” and”Self-Portrait, Hand at the Forehead (Selbstbildnis mit der Hand an der Stirn)”.
One of the most noteworthy northern European writers of the Renaissance was the Flemish painter, Jan van Eyck. Although there are few records about his early life and rise to prominence, the Van Eyck family was well regarded within the Burgundian Netherlands which allowed historians to surmise that he was born in the 1380s. After years of travelling through various northern courts and gaining esteem, Jan van Eyck painted perhaps his most famous work, The Arnolfini Double Portrait. This work has been the subject of a great deal of critical analysis as a piece of Renaissance art. Some historians have found that the work is demonstrative of artistic and social ideals that were both ahead of its time and touted the line of controversy. However, taking into account the painting’s patronage, symbolism, artistic style, and function, it becomes clear that The Arnolfini Double Portrait is an exemplar of the Renaissance era artistic conventions and is not as difficult to parse as some critics would believe. In order to discuss the painting in its entirety, it is necessary to explore the context of the painting’s creation.
As the young boy grew, he began to have a love for art and wanted to become an artist, but his father, however, did not have a care of his son’s dreams, but instead wanted him to grow up, following in his footsteps; in which Adolf rebelled against.
Imagine pondering into a reconstruction of reality through only the visual sense. Without tasting, smelling, touching, or hearing, it may be hard to find oneself in an alternate universe through a piece of art work, which was the artist’s intended purpose. The eyes serve a much higher purpose than to view an object, the absorptions of electromagnetic waves allows for one to endeavor on a journey and enter a world of no limitation. During the 15th century, specifically the Early Renaissance, Flemish altarpieces swept Europe with their strong attention to details. Works of altarpieces were able to encompass significant details that the audience may typically only pay a cursory glance. The size of altarpieces was its most obvious feat but also its most important. Artists, such as Jan van Eyck, Melchior Broederlam, and Robert Campin, contributed to the vast growth of the Early Renaissance by enhancing visual effects with the use of pious symbols. Jan van Eyck embodied the “rebirth” later labeled as the Renaissance by employing his method of oils at such a level that he was once credited for being the inventor of oil painting. Although van Eyck, Broederlam, and Campin each contributed to the rise of the Early Renaissance, van Eyck’s altarpiece Adoration of the Mystic Lamb epitomized the artworks produced during this time period by vividly incorporating symbols to reconstruct the teachings of Christianity.
Koerner, Joseph L. The Moment of Self-Portraiture in German Renaissance Art. Chicago, Il: University of Chicago Press, 1993. 25-28.
Holofernes (Detroit Institute of Art). Painted by Artemisia Gentileschi in 1625, the painting depicts the story of Judith, who beheads Holofernes while he is passed out because he is about to destroy her home. Gentileschi paints Judith and her handmaiden in the moment after the beheading, stashing Holoferne’s head in a sack. I selected this work because of Gentileschi being a popular female artist, and being a female myself, there is importance in having female representation in a profession that has historically been predominantly male. Not only is Gentileschi a notable female artist, she is known for depicting female figures, especially ones in biblical stories as heroic, strong and realistic figures. This is visible from the softness of skin, to the clear knowledge of female anatomy depicted in detail, to the emphasis of strength and suffering or former suffering. This would interest someone who wants to know more about seventeenth century culture because of the notion of Pictorial Reform, when the Catholic Church wanted religious art to be simple, and to have a clear story or meaning. We can draw conclusions that Gentileschi uses a combination of the elements of light and dark, lines and shape to put a clear and easy to follow focus on the biblical story, strength and heroism of Judith.
As the seventeenth century began the Catholic Church was having a hard time bringing back the people who were swept away by the protestant reformation. The conflict between the protestant had a big influence on art. (Baroque Art) The church decided to appeal to the human emotion and feeling. They did so by introducing a style called Baroque. Baroque was first developed in Rome and it was dedicated to furthering the aims of Counter Reformation. Baroque was first used in Italy than later spread to the north. In this paper I will argue that the Italian Baroque pieces were more detailed and captured the personality of the figure, in contrast and comparison to Northern Baroque pieces that aimed to produce a sense of excitement and to move viewers in an emotional sense leaving them in awe. I will prove this by talking about the different artwork and pieces of Italian Baroque art versus Northern Baroque Art.
Popularised due to the increase of wealth in Italy during the Renaissance, Patronage played an important role in the development of individual geniuses in art. Many wealthy families of the aristocratic Italy contributed greatly to the success of many artists in this time. They did this by drawing attention to the arts and supporting the industry by commissioning visual propaganda, works of art for displays of prestige and memorials. Patronage involved the patron commissioning and specifying most of the aspects of an artwork to an artist. These aspects include size, medium, subject matter, and precious materials used within the artwork. Though the specificity of commissions seems to limit an artist greatly, artists were in high demand, and still, individual geniuses emerged over the masses. But to be considered a genius, an artist would have to have developed expertise in many areas and in a wide range of subj...
The “privileged minority” mystifies works of art in order to control people’s view. Berger explains how Hals becomes after he painted the two paintings. According to Berger, “he obtained three loads of peat on public charity, otherwise he would have frozen to death. Those who now sat for him were administrators of such public charity” (158).