Part 1
Lecture
Outside Video
Reading – Albrecht Durer Self Portrait
Let’s start with the Merode Altarpiece. by Robert Campin (or by the Master of Flemalle, depending on which source you are using). (1) Using your notes the lecture, examine the “iconography” of this altarpiece. What symbolic representations are in the paintings (choose 2-3)? How do these small details relate to the meaning of the work as a whole? How do they relate to trends in Northern European Renaissance art?
(2) Next, view the outside video. First off, what are Butchart’s interests in the painting? How do you think they might diverge from the “traditional” history of art? What is her conclusion about the intent of the painting? What challenges do the fabricators face in recreating the gown?
(3) What insights do you believe Amber Butchart’s recreation add to our interpretation of the painting?
(4) Next turn your attention to the short article on Albrecht Durer’s Self-Portrait. According to the author, Christopher Jones, who does Durer model himself after? Why was this not considered “blasphemous” during a highly religious period? What does Jones argue is the key to understanding the meaning of the painting (hint: look for Jones’s statement that “There is perhaps one further detail in the painting that is worth examining, to gain a fuller understanding of the work”)? Summarize his argument using one DIRECT QUOTE. Part 2
Lecture
Outside reading – Michelangelo.pdf
Please read the outside reading, a primary document from Giorgio Vasari’s Lives of the Artists, which describes the creation of Michelangelo’s David. (1) How does Vasari describe the challenges Michelangelo faced in creating the David? How does he describe the finished statue itself (use a direct quote)? What do you find most striking in this account? (2) Vasari (who worked for the Medici court in the 1550s), subtly criticizes the republican councilor of Florence (Piero Soderini). What incident does he use to demonstrate Michelangelo’s superiority over Soderini? Next, turn your attention to the description of Leonardo’s work in creating the Last Supper (this is in a lecture slide). (3) How does this account differ from the accounts of Michelangelo’s working process? What was the original context for Leonardo’s Last Supper (where was it located, what other works of art is it in dialogue with)? How does this inform the way we should read the work of art? (4) What is the original context for Raphael’s School of Athens? What did this work of art say about the patron who commissioned it?
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