Transcription
Welcome to our second lecture on the early Renaissance, where we will be wrapping up the early Italian Renaissance and moving into northern Europe, particularly, um, the area of Flanders, modern-day Netherlands. So let's discuss Fra Filippo Lippi. But before we discuss the artwork, just some, you know, fun background information about him. Um, the "Fra" refers to his past as a friar, so he was living in this monastery as a friar, and he ended up having an affair with a young nun at the convent near him, and they both ran away and ended up getting married and leaving their positions as a nun and a friar in the church. And so then he becomes this artist. Um, so just a fun little, little background story. He's, he's a favorite of the, of the Medici, one of their favorite artists, as well as just almost like a friend and confidant. They had many, I could imagine, many discussions over dinner, etc. And so he's a really influential artist. Um, we're going to study Botticelli next. He's one of the major players of the Renaissance. When you see his artwork, you will likely recognize it, or at least recognize it many times in the future. He also influences Leonardo da Vinci and then a later movement of the 19th century.
So let's talk about, um, yeah, this idea of three-dimensionality. And we had already discussed linear perspective, which we don't really have here, but Filippi is playing with space here. So I want you to take a moment to run your eyes around this painting and see what's, what's interesting about it. Okay, so hopefully you notice that this frame is not the actual frame to the painting that he has painted it, because our Madonna, or Mary, Mother of Jesus, the stool, etc., are overlapping in front of it. This angel figure here is overlapping in front of it. So he's playing with this idea of space, um, not in the same way as linear perspective, but in terms of overlapping. Um, he also is creating, actually, before I go into that, let's continue talking about space. And so he's not using linear perspective, but he is using atmospheric perspective. We have this clear foreground of our figures close up to the edge of the picture plane, nearest to the viewer. Not so much a middle ground, but we do have this extensive background, which is quite hazy. And we're going to see this landscape component, this major landscape, and this atmospheric perspective really played out by Leonardo da Vinci. So what we see is that direct influence.
But let's, let's come back to this idea of creating three-dimensionality on a two-dimensional surface. So he's going to use light and dark for this. What do I mean by that? So let's consider when you were looking at this frame, you started to realize that the Madonna's in front of it, and you may have picked up on this shadow here. So there is this sense of light. And so our light source is in the upper right corner, and he is having the light come down. And then we have areas of her face that are highlighted, and her chest, and then other areas that would naturally be in shadow. So the, the formal element of light and dark, okay, and the shadow and highlighting are creating this sense of volume of these figures. When this is done on a figure with this highlighting and shadow, this is called modeling. Okay, so the faces, he's using modeling to create a sense of volume in all these figures, but we can especially see it with the Madonna, with this highlighting.
You should also note the medium, tempera on wood. Tempera is a paint where it's pigment mixed with egg yolk, okay, and it does darken over time. So these paintings that are made out of tempera, there are attempts at lightening it, but for the most part, they're darker than what they would have been originally, especially with the darker colors. And the common other medium is, it's on wood. Anyway, so we have the sense of volume through modeling, through highlighting and shadow. Here's a closeup of that. Um, what we also should note about this painting, and which he's so skilled at, is how he's able to depict different textures. Consider how realistic this lace looks, and how realistic these little pearls look across her head and in her headdress, and then the, the texture of of this velvet that she's wearing. I mean, it looks like velvet, you can imagine touching it, it's so tactile, it looks heavy. So he's just extremely skilled at creating different textures.
Now, the motivation behind that is because, remember, we're in an era where individuals outside of the church are, are commissioning these artworks. They're the patrons. So part of this is, if they're having, especially artworks of themselves or of their family, they want to show off their wealth, and they're going to do so by incorporating very expensive materials within what, what they're wearing, for example. So pearls are extremely, extremely expensive. So in order to gain commissions, artists had to be able to depict pearls very well to again show off the patron's wealth and their status, essentially. Same with lace. Lace was very expensive, and so to be able to depict that helps to show off their wealth. So as an artist, you would want to be very skilled at that. That's how you're going to gain those commissions. With this heavy velvet, you can imagine it being very expensive.
So another element that Filippi introduces is this idea of playful intimacy. And so what do I mean by that? When we're looking at these figures in their relationship to each other compared to the past. So here are some previous artworks from our Medieval Era, and consider how we have Mary, the Madonna, and Jesus, but they're not really interacting, and it's very formal and very rigid. And the idea of linear perspective has not been created yet, so space is awkward, the figures aren't interacting with one another. Now, many of these artists, I'm sure, could create realistic images, but that was not the priority at this time period. You don't want to create a realistic body, you don't want people lusting after it. Instead, you want to focus on the message behind it. So just for clarity, it's not that they weren't talented or skilled. Consider how realistic this drapery looks here. That just wasn't their priority. Now, we're prioritizing realism, or attempts at it, experimenting with it.
Here's some other examples. And so we have the similar gesture of Jesus reaching for Mary, and Mary looking serious throughout, but there's this added element of of intimacy. And that's done partially because of this baby Jesus reaching, grabbing her more realistic-looking claw, but also the playfulness of the angels. When you consider it, he's smiling here. So there's this element of more life, of vitality. Okay, I'm holding up this, this baby Jesus, and the relationship between them. So we have this realistic figure style, there's modeling, all these different details of creating different textures. We talked about the background. Don't really worry about sfumato, that's just like extremely hazy background. We'll see that with Leonardo da Vinci with the use of atmospheric perspective.
Now, let's, um, using prayer and contemplation of Christianity, of how to be a good mother, etc., of how to live out your, your best life, and this productive life, a rich, noble life. So she's showing her piousness, her devoutness, and how she's really considering that in this moment. There's your Christian version of the concept of humanism in the Renaissance. Okay, so here's Botticelli. So if you don't recognize this piece, you will see it many times from here on out. It's super popular in pop culture. So now you'll know what it's referencing. So this is Botticelli's *The Birth of Venus*. Now, remember, he was a student of Filippi, so we're going to see that influence here. Um, now, this is extremely, extremely important because here's our first female nude for about a thousand years. So remember how we talked about with Donatello's *David*, how it was the first male nude since classical antiquity? Same with this *Birth of Venus*, it's our first female nude since classical antiquity. So it's based off of, you need to know the *Aphrodite of Knidos* by Praxiteles. This was a 4th Century BCE, um, BC, uh, sculpture, and it was the first female nude in western civilization, in in ancient Greece. Before that, you wouldn't have shown a female nude. I mean, they'd had male nudes for, for centuries. And the way how Praxiteles was able to do this was under the excuse that, a, it's the goddess Aphrodite, okay? So the goddess of love, Venus over here is just the, the Roman version, same goddess, different name, pretty much. But anyway, so he's able to depict her emerging from her bath. So she always has this towel that she's grabbing, and it's as if someone walked in as she emerged from her bath, and then she modestly tries to cover herself up. So it's under that context that he was able to push that boundary and have the excuse for showing a female nude. Of course, he's also playing with us. He was playing with the original viewers because essentially the line of these arms, a line is used, but the arms actually draw your attention to her breast and to her genitals further, like showing off that she is nude, like it draws your attention to it. So there's that, that play with the viewer going on here. But he's able to depict a female nude in the context under the excuse of she's emerged from her bath, someone walked in, and she's trying to modestly cover herself. So she's still attempting to be modest.
And we're going to see a similar excuse with our Venus. So here's our Venus, and the story is this is, um, from Ovid's *Metamorphoses*. You don't necessarily need to know that, but it's the story of, of, of Venus and where she was born from the foam of the sea, essentially, okay, fully formed. And so she was born, of course, without clothes. Now, the, the name of this is wrong. Um, you're, she had actually already been born with, we would have seen foam if it was the birth of her, but the shell has picked her up and brought her to the shoreline. So it's actually after her birth. But anyway, she was born nude. So there's the excuse for this nudity. And just like our *Aphrodite of Knidos*, she is attempting to cover herself up in this gesture of modesty. And then over here, this handmaiden or personification of spring is just about to cover her up. So there's still, we're, we're pushing that, that boundary, but under the excuse of, well, she was just born, so she's nude, and she's about to, she's trying to be modest, she's about to be covered up. But of course, our eyes draw, or are drawn to these areas through her arms. You're going to watch a video about this just to highlight some other elements. Um, yeah, and there's roses scattered around her. And so roses are associated with her. A, think of how even today roses are associated with love, but also it's the idea that roses are beautiful, but they have thorns. Love is beautiful, but it's hard, it's difficult. Life is beautiful, but it's also difficult. And so we see that here. Over on the left is the personification of the West Wind, Zephyr. We see him blowing her to the shore safely with likely Chloris, this nymph goddess, um, sometimes this wife, anyway. And then over here, again, this handmaiden that is likely the personification of spring because of all the floral elements on her, this floral motif here, and even on the drapery she's about to wrap around Venus. And she's in this contrapposto pose. Now, Botticelli is not interested in realistic spaces. See, I mean, consider how awkward the ocean is, and these figures all seem to be like floating in space. We don't have like realistic shadows, etc. So that's not really his interest here. But his interest is on like the human body. And we'll, we'll see his eyes in a minute that are characteristic of him.
After recording this lecture, I realized I made numerous mistakes on the on the figures in this painting. So please read through the following slides and make corrections, particularly with the West Wind and the nymph Chloris. Close or zoomed in. Now, Botticelli is recognizable by his eyes, which should had it as a next picture. It's similar to how his teacher Filippi really emphasizes the eye. The eyes, look how much he's, you know, outlined it. So we see the similarity when we're looking at Botticelli. Here are other instances. Again, the eyes are what make him recognizable. And so there you have thoughts of Botticelli.
We're looking at Andrea Mantegna's foreshortening. Christ, only for the concept of foreshortening. And artists are trying to determine how to create realistic images, three-dimensionality on a two-dimensional surface. And so here we have this idea of foreshortening, where how do you create a sense of depth of this laying down figure on a flat surface, on this canvas? And so the, the body looks somewhat distorted and foreshortened in order to create this sense of depth of laying down. So you're looking at the weird, awkward angles and distortions that the eye perceives in creating space. Um, this one's a particularly dramatic perspective, but just highlights the idea of foreshortening, this awkward angle.
Okay, let's head up to the Northern Renaissance, where we will be looking at the area of Flanders, modern-day Netherlands. Now, notice how geographically we're very distant from Italy, where we just were. We were looking at Florence primarily, we saw Paris and Rome, but we are extremely far removed from this region. So consider how, a, we're far away from, from the Pope, from the central, from the church. So we'll see less of the emphasis or authority there. But also, this is not part of our ancient Rome, Greco-Roman classical antiquity area. The artists are not traveling all the way to Italy to study these artworks of classical antiquity. That's not their priority. That's not an influence in this region. Okay, so that's important to note. A big key difference between Northern Europe and Italy. Often called like Burgundy, it was under the Duchy. You don't really, really need to know that, just the region of Flanders, modern-day Netherlands. And we're going to start with the workshop of Robert Campin and the *Annunciation Triptych*, aka the *Mérode Altarpiece*, interchangeably. So this is a, well, actually, let's even talk about the workshop. So remember how we were talking about with the guilds and how you, you have to go through this process to become a master, and part of that is where you are an apprentice under a master. And so Robert Campin is a master, and so he has this workshop of artists that he's training. And so for a while, this painting was unknown, and then it was associated with Robert Campin, and then they, art historians noticed key elements that seemed to be different from his work, and they determined it was by his workshop, in other words, his apprenticeship, his apprentices, um, would be working on this artwork. So we have numerous artists, essentially, but it's from his workshop. Okay, so this is an altarpiece. It's called a triptych because it's a three-panel altarpiece. Try. So if you'll notice, here's on the left, this wood panel, the two hinges that attach it to our central panel, and then over on the right is our other panel. And so these altarpieces would close on, like, non-holy days, think like outside of Sundays or religious holidays, and it would be closed, and then opened up for contemplation on these religious days. We're going to go through each of these panels. So the argument is that the central panel had already been made, and then someone would come in and want to commission an artwork, and so the other ones would be added according to their specifications. And so the left, any ideas who this is depicting? The patrons of the work of art. So this gentleman here, and then it's argued that his wife was later added on.
Now, this is important because what also defines the, the North, well, specifically this region of modern-day Netherlands, from the rest of the world, essentially, is for the first time in history, we have the middle class. For all of history, across the globe, outside of prehistory, etc., there is a small upper class, and then we have the majority of the population, which is the lower class, really struggling. The middle class does not exist. Our area in Houston would not have existed up until the stat, or the creation of the merchant class within the Netherlands, essentially. If whatever class you were born into, be it the nobility or the poor, essentially living in poverty, that's where you pretty much stayed for life, and there's no growth. But now we have figures who are rising from the bottom up into this middle class as they're creating these businesses, they're creating these, they're becoming these merchant classes. So this is just so incredibly profound. And so this opens up this whole new class of patronage, um, with different priorities than the nobility, and different priorities than the clergy, etc. And so this is a big deal. And so we see one of these patrons here. Okay, there's some arguments about his identity, which is for the most part, with our Northern Renaissance, again, it's this new middle class, this rising merchant class. And so he depicts himself here. Later, his wife was added.
And so let's look at this scene a little in more detail. Oh, well, actually, first, as a whole, just consider, I'll give you a moment to consider how different the Northern Renaissance is from the Italian Renaissance. What are some key differences? We have many details, which we'll get into, but they're not concerned with creating a realistic sense of space, right? I mean, look how awkward the dimensions of this room are, and this sliding table. Um, it, that's just not a priority. It's not that they were likely incapable of that, it's just that that wasn't what they were prioritizing with artworks. These more rounded faces, etc., are really indicative of the, of Northern Europe for centuries. Um, and these are idealized versions of the human body for this region.
Now, to define the Northern Renaissance, and I want you to like, star and bold and highlight, is there is a meticulous attention to detail. Okay, meticulous attention to detail. So if you were thinking of an artwork and what has this patron who's commissioned it, you'd probably be putting most of your details in the patron to honor him. But with the Northern Renaissance, every area of these paintings are in, in such detail. So consider the details of these figures and the different textures here. Then look at this wood, at this door slightly ajar, and the metal elements. And look at all the, even floral motifs, the tiny, these are forget-me-not flowers, and the details of that. Let's move back and how this, this guard standing here, the straw hat, and the different textures of his body. And again, this clearly wooden door, and look at the shining metal. And then even in the background, there's such this meticulous attention to detail. From the figures sitting here, the clothes laying out to dry, houses are each separate, detailed. Every element across these paintings is given such attention in detail. This is what defines the Northern Renaissance compared to Italy. All around, every tiny element is detailed. So our patrons are hearing and witnessing this main panel, the Annunciation.
So it also defines the Northern Renaissance is this, this idea of symbols. And in art history, we call those iconography. So we're going to do a symbol analysis, our history, and iconographical analysis. And I'm only going to cover a few of many. So this is the scene of the Annunciation, where the angel Gabriel came and told Mary that she will become pregnant and give birth to Jesus Christ. And so consider how involved she is with these religious texts here, the Bible. This is actually a later book, the Book of Hours, but either way, she's so involved with this or with this religious contemplation and thought and reading. She hasn't even noticed the, this angel appear that has appeared. So she's extremely pious and holy, hence why she was chosen.
Now, let's talk about some of the symbolism here. So if you'll look up to these circular windows and coming down from it through these golden rays is this awkward, very haloed baby Jesus carrying the cross. Here's a closeup over here. So this is referring to, she will, um, she's about to become pregnant with Jesus Christ, and his death later will be by crucifixion, and then he'll rise again. But either way, the idea is she knows this from the beginning, foretold. But so this helps to tell the story. You don't really notice that at first, do you? We also have this cloth in the background that's emphasized. It's almost placed. It's white with these blue stripes. So this is a tallit cloth, which is used in Judaism. It's like a prayer shawl in which men in the synagogue would drape over their shoulders because remember, Christianity comes out of the Abrahamic religion. This was Jesus and Mary were, were Jewish. This is a Jewish foretelling of the Messiah. And so we have that clear indication here. Um, the Torah here, these lilies are associated specifically with Mary are because they're white and it's associated with purity. There's three of them, so an argument for the Holy Trinity, an important concept with Christianity. And also this recently extinguished candle with the smoke refers to the presence of the Holy Spirit. So that is just one of numerous symbols, okay, across this painting. So that is done.
Consider back to our new patronage of this middle class, and you want to keep these commissions coming in as an artist. So if you incorporate these almost hidden symbols throughout the painting, these patrons, these viewers are constantly re-engaged in the painting. Each time they open this altarpiece, they may notice a new symbol, like a Where's Waldo of finding these new symbols. So it helps to keep these commissions coming in because they make the paintings more interesting, essentially.
Now, let's look at all the different textures. I mean, from this vase here to look at how incredibly skilled he is at creating this metal pot back here, and the drapery. Yes, it's stiff, but gosh, the attention to detail is just extraordinary, versus this softer pillow here, the wood, the walls. I mean, this meticulous attention to detail is what defines the Northern Renaissance. Here's our right panel, where we're depicting Joseph. And again, look out that window. I mean, this in itself is a painting, is an incredible painting with all these extraordinary details and our sense of depth. So here he is being a carpenter. There's a mousetrap, which is arguably a symbol associated with Jesus. So St. Augustine, a writer, hermit, and he wrote about how the idea of Jesus dying on the cross was this attempt of Satan trapping him, but he comes back from the dead. Um, and so here's Joseph. So when I was saying that this area is far removed from the authority of the church, Joseph did not live with Mary before this. Um, he had already been previously married, he had like six or seven kids. They were foretold of each other separately. They weren't living together at the time, and then they got together and got married, etc. So depicting Joseph within the same household, wouldn't have been accurate within Italy. But they're able to do this because they're far removed. Also, fun little fact, just a side note, we often say or hear that Jesus and Joseph were carpenters. That's one of those mistranslations where it was actually originally builders. This area of Judea did not have trees. They weren't a plentiful resource. If you were using wood, you had shipped it in from Lebanon, and it was extremely expensive and rare. And they were actually builders, so they were stone masons. Even the manger was made of stone. So they were incredible stone masons, just fun fact.
Okay, so here is our *Mérode Altarpiece*. Here's Jan van Eyck. You're going to watch a video that I really like explaining this in more detail. But this is the *Arnolfini Portrait*, which this artist in this painting are so popular even still today, up for debate about the meaning of it. So first of all, we have our Northern Renaissance meticulous attention to detail by all these extraordinary different textures. I mean, consider the, the metal of this chandelier hanging down, the velvet and fur of his clothing, the thick velvet and fur of her clothing, or not necessarily velvet, but the drapery, the lace, the wood, the shoes, the dog, the, the oranges, the, the glass on the windows, etc., the mirror. He's just extraordinarily skilled. Now, notice our new medium, oil. So Jan van Eyck really utilized oil. He was one of the first. And so part of this, and actually, I should have mentioned that here with the, uh, *Mérode Altarpiece*, sorry, is the use of oil is picked up by these Northern Renaissance artists. Um, and that medium enables them to create this meticulous detail. So that's part of the reason for this meticulous detail. So yeah, there, there's so many different theories about this. This is one of those favorites by art historians because we're not sure about the exact message of it or meaning or context. But anyway, it's likely a depiction of of Arnolfini, this, this new merchant trying to show his wealth and make a name for himself. Here's Jan van Eyck, um, in his, his arguably new wife, but we'll get into some of the debate about this, and you'll watch a video about it. Yeah.
So here is Arnolfini and his wife within the context of their bedroom. Now, some will argue that this is a depiction of, of their marriage. Wasn't so common for, like, modern-day weddings, etc. It was more just like a little informal or a little small gathering of like a quick marriage type thing. So this could be a marriage ceremony. Could be. We have these rich colors, these rich tones. It's just really extraordinary. And so their hands are together, his hand is lifted, and almost this idea of this vow. Now, many will know, oh, she looks pregnant, but this was actually, so there's some arguments about this. Is a, she's holding it here. That's a popular gesture. But also, it's, some will argue it's a marriage scene because she's showing off her desire to become pregnant. Again, this fear of the woman at this time period, her role in this marriage. The dog down here, we're doing, I, iconographical analysis. Dogs represent loyalty. Okay, so there's another argument for why this is likely a marriage portrait is the idea of loyalty.
Here's why they think it's to Arnolfini. There's a closeup. So again, let's just appreciate for a moment just how incredibly skilled Jan van Eyck is at all these different textures. My goodness, from the gold bands, the rings, the belt, the cloth, the fur, the lace, etc. Over here on the left, again, look at this stained glass window above. Notice this orange here. This orange indicates wealth. These are not indigenous to the region of the Netherlands. He's a merchant, he's brought this in from elsewhere, the tropics. And so this attests to his wealth that he's able to have oranges, especially during a cold season. By their clothing, so consider the, the metal. And we have one candle here. Some argue that this one singular candle represents like the eye of God, that he's witnessing this. Some argue that because their shoes are removed, her shoes here, his shoes in front, that these sacred ceremonies, you take off your shoes. So there's another argument for it being a marriage portrait. Oh, I should note the, the rug in the background. This has been imported from the East. And so again, attesting to his wealth. That dog, loyalty. And then back here on the bedpost, so, a, we have a bed on which she's standing closer to, again, reiterating her role. And here is St. Margaret, and she is the saint for childbearing. Have our broom of tidying up the house, etc. Oh, and what do we have over here? Here's a mirror. And if you'll notice, look, there's a few, there's two figures who are witnessing this. Let's look up here real quick, and what's written says, "Jan van Eyck was here." So he signed his name. Have we seen that before? Nope. This attests to how prolific of an artist he is that he is signed at front and center. The status of the artist is so high right now, showing off these different textures. So around this mirror, we have scenes of stories of Jesus. But again, let's look at how we can see these two figures witnessing, perhaps this marriage ceremony. These prayer beads here. Say, meticulous attention to detail. Me, this in itself could be a painting, right? Close. There's a different light. So some will argue that this is post his wife's death. This is honoring, perhaps she died in childbearing. There's some other elements to make that argument. I watched a, a cool video about that. Uh, we don't really have time for to go into details of the Ghent Altarpiece because I want you to see that other video, and we're crunched with that ice stay. But just note that this is an extremely important art piece by Hubert van Eyck and Jan van Eyck. We see other artists later on painting this artwork, how important it is. I mean, it was even part of like treaties in World War II, like it was hidden, it was stolen, it was just, it's really important.
Consider, look at these details. It's 12 interior panels. It's a polyptych, so it folds up and was open on certain holy holidays, front and back. So you're piecing it back together. SK Altarpiece, bulletproof glass. All right, I said front and back, sorry, front and, but top and bottom, my bad. Here's what it looks like closed. Consider the, the realism, a lot going on. But here's the Virgin Mary, Jesus, the Almighty, John the Baptist. And just look at the details of how extraordinarily skilled he is at these different textures, the metal, those pearls, the jewels, gold thread, that meticulous attention to detail, and just how extraordinarily skilled they are. Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, possibly associated with Christ. And there we go, ending our on the early Renaissance.