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Combination of classical and gothic. Crowding of figures typical of earlier
styles. Distortion of figures.
Nicola Pisano
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Figures more slender. Elegance and space not found in earlier
styles. Intensity of feeling typical of
Northern late-gothic styles. Relief
tilted towards the viewer, for greater impact.
Giovanni Pisano
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Derived from the italo-byzantine tradition. Attempts at 3-D in the shading on the body.
Cimabue
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Use of architectural elements to give space. First signs of International gothic style.
Duccio
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Student of Cimabue. Most influential artist of his era, moving towards a Renaissance aesthetic. Solidity of figures, attempts at realism.
Giotto
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Rich colors, expressive style, typical of International Gothic.
Martini
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attempts at believable perspective in buildings
Ambrogio Lorenzetti
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Rise of Burgundy as an important cultural center. Focus on everyday subjects.
Limbourg brothers
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complexity of music typical of the ars nova. Emphasis in top voice. Use of the formes fixes. Messe de Notre Dame the first unified mass setting of the complete Mass Ordinary.
Guillaume de Machaut
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Emergence of a vernacular literary tradition in Italy. High-quality sonnets important for later madrigal composers.
Petrarch
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Documents the plague and its effects on society. Decameron a series of stories that provide entertainment, moral content, glimpses of late medieval life.
Boccaccio
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One of the most important writers in English. Canterbury Tales similar to Decameron in intent and organization. Focus on detail in the description of characters.
Chaucer
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late example of International Gothic style
da Fabriano
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Monumental, classical, symmetrical. Early manifestation of Renaissance ideals. Attempts a realism and perspective.
Masaccio
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symbolic painting: prosperity of Italian bankers. Exquisite detail and visual tricks (the mirror)
Jan van Eyck
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first free-standing nude sculpture since antiquity. Biblical scene rendered with classical influence. Classical reticence in face. Mary Magdalene statue very expressive.
Donatello
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Debt to Masaccio. Observation of the natural world, but some illogical aspects (proportions, lighting) that are not classical.
Fra Angelico
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Fascinated with perspective and foreshortening. Liked to include horses in his painting. Frozen quality to the compositions.
Uccello
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Classical scenes, lightness, airness. In Adoration of the Magi, the work praises the Medici more than the baby Jesus
Botticelli
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Wide-ranging genius. Studied anatomy to improve his figural painting. Classical/symmetrical arrangements.
Leonardo
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Transitional figure. Art tends to show (or imply) motion, not strictly static. Extraordinary technique (Pieta) and monumental style (David)
Michelangelo (early)
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claimed to have read every book in Italy. Synthesis of all learning. Places man as the loftiest creation.
Mirandola
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a pragmatist. Reputation not entirely deserved. The Prince gives instructions on how to retain political power, if that is the goal.
Machiavelli
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greatest Christian humanist of his era. Agreed with some aspects of the reformation but did not support the reformers. Cynical.
Erasmus
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Burgundian composer. Missa l'homme arme combines secular cantus firmus with sacred genre
Dufay
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Greatest Franco-Flemish composer. Allows music to influence text (text-painting). Wrote both sacred and secular music. Very influential on later composers.
Josquin
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Ordered space, classical inspiration, symmetrical arrangements, brilliant color and clarity.
Raphael
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"Terribilita" twisting figures, "Michelangelesque" (muscular forms, even for women). Considered himself a sculptor first, painter second.
Michelangelo
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oil paintings more suited to Venice's damp climate. Detailed classically arranged, allegorical works.
Giorgione
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student of Giorgione. Rich colors and lighting. Titian red (in Venus or Urbino) Dynamic painting.
Titian
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Mannerist, Perspective lines converge on darkness. Conflation of time periods in clothing. Christ difficult to locate in the scene. Uses classical techniques for non-classical ends.
Tintoretto
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Mannerist. Upturned pyramid shape. Ambiguous. Shocking colors. Void in the middle of the painting.
Pontormo
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Mannerist. Elongation of proportions, ambiguous scale, disturbing posing and color of baby combined with sensuality of left-hand side of painting.
Parmagianino
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unstable "inverted pyramid" organization, bright colors, twisting, and distortion of bodies.
Fontana
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fluid interchange between vocal and instrumental genres in the renaissance. Instrumental works in consorts (grouping of similar instruments)
Susato
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wrote music that conformed to characteristics suggested by the Vatican Council (clear text-setting, no secular influences). High-point of renaissance polyphony. Changes texture for emphasis (full chorus on most important words and phrases), homorhythmic text setting.
Palestrina
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worked at St. Mark's in Venice. Church design allowed for splitting of performers into smaller groups in different parts of church. Beginning of baroque musical ideal (the contrst between groups)
Gabrieli
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begins the Reform movement by publishing criticisms of the church. Never intended to form a different church, simply to reform the traditional church. Lutheran church still believed Mass was the most important part of the liturgy. Introduces congressional singing.
Luther
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first artist to recognize the commercial potential for art. Specialized in reproducible genres (woodcut, engraving, prints). Combines passionate religion with classical learning and tecniques.
Dürer
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reintroduced Medieval hierarchy of figures (more important figures are larger), combined with intense passion and drama. Rejects classical restraint in favor of dramatic, even violent images of contemplation.
Grunewald
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one of the first landscape painters. Focus on nature as important trait in the renaissance
Altdorfer
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religious artist, but paintings are often nightmarish. Surreal figures, garish colors.
Bosch
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peasant scenes, everyday people. Diagonal lines and composition show Italian influence, but scenes are Northern.
Brueghel
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One of the most important writers in any language,
and the most important in English.
Classical themes in his plays, but they introduce a baroque fascination
with the supernatural. Shakespeare
invented new words, plays are full of word-games. Role of iambic pentameter. Wrote so that all could understand.
Shakespeare
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hiaroscuro used to highlight drama of religious
scenes. Paintings tell a story,
including back story and future events.
Caravaggio
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violence of biblical (or apocryphal)
stories. Mastery of foreshortening. Influence of Caravaggio.
Gentileschi
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classical subject matter, but intensified
through repetition until it’s over the top.
But “Flight into Egypt” is restrained, understated – figures are not
seen until after the landscape has already been seen.
Carracci
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David is dynamic, in motion, and with a powerful facial
expression (self-portrait of the artist).
St. Teresa is a mixed-media work (the metal rods are part of the
sculpture), powerfully expressive of intense emotion.
Bernini
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Undulating façade makes the building front seem
like its moving. Introduction of the
curve (baroque) into a classical design (renaissance).
Borromini
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French baroque is more restrained than
Italian. Less violent, figures seem
polished, unreal. But still using
chiaroscuro.
de la Tour
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classical subject matter, tylized posing. Bright colors, but artificial arrangement.
Poussin
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gentle landscape artist, showing the effect of
diffuse light on the landscape. More
beautiful than nature itself.
Claude Lorrain
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aristocratic portraits.
Combines realism with symbols of power.
Rigaud
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first great baroque composer. Wrote madrigals in both old and new
styles. Wrote first great opera, Orfeo.
First composer to specify instruments in the orchestral score for
Orfeo. Word-painting in madrigals (madrigalisms).
Monteverdi
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worked in the generation after Shakespeare. Intellectual poetry that draws on myriad
resources, led to him being called “metaphysical poet.” Poetry about big themes: death, love.
Donne
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early in career was a fringe pamphleteer, but always wanted
to write epic poetry. Going blind help
focus his determination. Paradise Lost a great epic poem in blank
verse, though criticized for making Satan too heroic (he represents the loner
fighting against the establishment).
Milton
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works in Spain, but shows Italian (mannerist) influence in
distortion and choice of colors. Lots of
motion, dynamism in later paintings.
El Greco
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shows /religious violent scene, but presented
without judgment. Dispassionate and
passionate at the same time. Strong
J-line typical of baroque curvature.
Ribera
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raises the artist to more than simply an
employee. Ambiguity of
representation. Who is the painting
of? Who are we?
Velazquez
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known mainly for painting large naked women. Twisting figures in allegorical or classical
paintings. Importance of light and
color.
Rubens
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portrait artist, assistant to Rubens
Van Dyck
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Dutch artists had to rely on civic institutions
for patronage, since there was no church or court patronage. Scene combines individualized portraits with
group dynamic.
Hals
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paintings are intimate, static, domestic,
anonymous. Light is diffuse. Careful geometric arrangements.
Vermeer
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considered the biblical paintings his most
important works. Use of suggestion,
rough brush strokes, instead of detailed depiction (a baroque trait – invokes
the imagination). Strong chiaroscuro for
dramatic effect.
Rembrandt
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First composer to make a career selling printed
music. First composer to write only
instrumental music. First composer whose
works remain played and studied after his death. Importance of trio sonata genre. Great instruments helped improve
string-playing techniques in Italy.
Corelli
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one of the great composers of his era, and one
of the best English composers of all time.
Wrote for the court, but also stage works. Dido and Aeneas unusual because it is sung
all the way through. One of the first
important English operas. Ground bass
aria, but with unusual bass-pattern (5 measures long).
Purcell
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