Donatello feast of herod analysis

Visual Analysis PowerPoint Project
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ART HISTORY 132

Italian High Renaissance:

Leonardo da Vinci

© Joel Hollander, Ph.D., 2020

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

biography: illegitimate son

significance: “Renaissance” man

talented in wide range of endeavors (e.g., art, engineering)

informal education in Latin, geometry and mathematics

training: under tutelage of Verrochio

contemporary in Florence w/ Botticelli, Perugino, & Ghirlandaio

patron: Duke of Milan; Francis I (FR)

style: “ disegno ” (vs. “ colore ”) tradition

defined as both “drawing” and “design”

draftsmanship regarded as prerequisite for good painting

establish basic artistic principles of anatomy and perspective (linear/aerial)

sketches, studies, and cartoons to aid execution of finished pictures

Leonardo da Vinci

Vitruvian Man (c. 1490)

medium: ink on paper

theme: Humanism (Vitruvius  Roman architect)

significance: form est. by mathematical proportions & geometric shapes

figure: idealized proportions

man in two superimposed positions w/ arms and legs apart

inscribed in circle and square

light/shadow: dramatic passages

Leonardo

Madonna of the Rocks (1483)

motif: cave (rock formations)

biography  as youth, discovered a cave; driven by curiosity to find out what inside

Humanism  Plato’s Republic “Allegory of the Cave”

figures: idealized quality of naturalism

composition: stable

CVA

implicit triangular format

color: muted

light/shadow: chiaroscuro

perspective:

forestortening

linear  no explicit use

aerial  view into deep space

vanishiing point  shifted to left

Leonardo

Madonna, St. Ann & Christ Child

date: c. 1505-1507

style: “disegno” tradition

technical skill of line & drawing

conception & intention of finished work

“external physical manifestation of an internal intellectual idea or design” (Zuccaro)

composition: centralized

light/shadow: “chiaroscuro”

chiaro  “clear” or “light”

oscuro  “obscure” or “dark”

strong contrasts between light and shadow

extraordinary sense of sculptural dimensionality

figures: massive

(Left) Classical Greek Three Goddesses from pediment atop Parthenon (c. 450 BCE) vs. (right) Leonardo’s Italian High Renaissance Madonna, St. Ann & Christ Child (c. 1500)

Leonardo’s Italian High Renaissance Last Supper (1495-1498)

(Left) Leonardo’s Italian High Renaissance Last Supper (c. 1500) vs. (right) Giotto’s Gothic Last Supper (c. 1300)

(Left) Leonardo’s Italian High Renaissance Last Supper (c. 1500) vs. (right) Castagno’s Italian Early Renaissance Last Supper (c. 1450)

(Left) Leonardo’s Italian High Renaissance Last Supper (c. 1500) vs. (right) Donatello’s Italian Early Renaissance Feast of Herod (c. 1450)

Leonardo

Mona Lisa (1503-1505)

patron: Francesco de Giocondo

wealthy Florentine merchant

narrative: commemorates birth of 2nd son

narrative tone: secular vs. religious

motif: head covering

figure: idealized

facial features (eyes, mouth)

hands/fingers

pose: seated, ¾ view (Classical)

composition: stable

central vertical axis

implicit triangular format

color: muted

light/shadow: chiaroscuro

perspective:

foreshortening  arm; shoulder

linear  balcony ledge; winding road

atmospheric (aerial)

vanishing point  shifted to right

“sfumato”  smoky, hazy effect

(Left) Leonardo’s Italian High Renaissance Mona Lisa (c. 1500 CE) vs. (right) Roman Republic Portrait of a Lady (c. 50 BCE)

(Left) Leonardo’s Italian High Renaissance Mona Lisa (c. 1500) vs. (right) van der Weyden’s Flemish Early Ren. Portrait of a Lady (c. 1450)

IMAGE INDEX

Slide 2: LEONARDO. Self-Portrait (c. 1515), Red chalk.

Slide 3: LEONARDO. Vitruvian Man (c. 1490), Ink, 13 1/2 x 9 5/8 in., Galleria dell’Accademia, Venice.

Slide 4: LEONARDO. Virgin of the Rocks (1483), Oil on panel, 6’3” x 3’7”, Musée du Louvre, Paris.

Slide 5: LEONARDO. Cartoon for Madonna and Child with Saint Anne and the Infant Saint John (c. 1505-07), Charcoal heightened with white on brown paper, 4’6” x 3’3”, National Gallery, London.

Slide 6: (Left) Classical Greek Three Goddesses from pediment atop Parthenon (c. 450 BCE); and (right) Leonardo’s Italian High Renaissance Madonna, St. Ann & Christ Child (c. 1500)

Slide 7: (Left) Picasso’s Ma Jolie (c. 1910); and (right) Leonardo’s Italian High Renaissance Madonna, St. Ann & Christ Child (c. 1500)

IMAGE INDEX

Slide 8: LEONARDO. The Last Supper (c. 1500), Fresco, 15’2” x 28’10”, Convent of Sta. Maria delle Grazie (Refectory), Milan.

Slide 9: (Left) LEONARDO’s High Renaissance The Last Supper (c. 1500); and (right) GIOTTO’s Gothic The Last Supper (c. 1300).

Slide 10: (Left) LEONARDO’s High Renaissance Last Supper (c. 1500); and (right) GIOTTO’s Donatello’s Early Renaissance Feast of Herod (c. 1450)

Slide 11: (Left) LEONARDO’s The Last Supper (c. 1500); and (right) CASTAGNO’s Early Renaissance The Last Supper (c. 1450).

Slide 12: (Left) Leonardo’s Italian High Renaissance Mona Lisa (c. 1500 CE); and (right) Roman Republic Portrait of a Lady (c. 50 BCE)

Slide 13: LEONARDO. Mona Lisa (c. 1505), Oil on panel, 30 x 21 in., Musée du Louvre, Paris.

Slide 14: (Left) LEONARDO’s Italian High Renaissance Mona Lisa (c. 1500); and (right) VAN DER WEYDEN’s Flemish Early Renaissance Portrait of a Lady (c. 1450)