ART HISTORY FROM THE RENAISSANCE
Directions: Write essays on the following questions, being as thorough as possible. Please cite/refer to specific examples of art in your answers (and identify each by artist, title, date, style, and medium). Each essay should be at least 4 pages (and as long as needed to answer the questions thoroughly). Treat each question like a paper, and use standard paper formatting (12 point, Times New Roman font, 1" margins).
Make sure to pack your essays with detailed information, but also pay attention to organization, formatting, grammar, and proofreading.
You may use direct quotes from the textbook, but do so sparingly and use citations. You may use simple references for the text, like: Gardners, 244.
Use full citations for material outside of the text or lecture notes. Focus your answers on content covered in class - you may use outside information to support/develop your essays, but use it sparingly. For examples, use only the artworks from the slide list in the syllabus. Your end goal is to demonstrate that you thoroughly understand the concepts lists below, and that you provide information you would have included if you were taking the standard written examination.
1. Consider the development of art from the pre-Renaissance to the Early Renaissance in Italy. Starting with Byzantine art, delineate the progression of Italian art from Byzantine to Proto Renaissance and finally, to Early Renaissance.
Summarize the characteristics, goals, and influences of each style, then discuss the advancements from style to style. Make sure to emphasize the Early Renaissance, focusing on the work of Masaccio, Botticelli, Brunelleschi, and Perugino.
Also make sure to consider social/political/religious developments during the 1300s and 1400s. Who were the major art patrons of this period, and how did patronage effect the development of art? What is classicism and how did it affect Italian art? What is Humanism? Identity and discuss specific artworks in your answer.
2. Discuss the High Renaissance and the different approaches to High Renaissance art.
First, discuss the stylistic characteristics, advancements, goals, and influences of the three major High Renaissance artists - Da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo. What made the approach of these artists so progressive?
How was the High Renaissance more advanced than the Early Renaissance? Second, discuss the artists working in Venice (Giorgione and/or Titian). How were their approaches to art different? Similar? Why? Make sure to discuss/identify specific artworks.