Early Renaissance (1425-1485 CE)

Question 1

Annunciation triptych

Answer 1

Exploration of smooth vs. rough, hair vs. silk, etc.
Dexterity through patterns (windows, wings, clothing trims, carpet)
Mary’s purity (unbroke’n windows, copper kettle (vessel), white prayer shawl, white lilies)
Humanizes biblical figures
Contemporary, Flemish, middle class home
Gabriel telling Mary she’ll give birth Christ
Lions on bench (royalty)
Joseph in home workshop, working on a mousetrap (devil trap) (cross materials)
Portraits of patrons
Singular candle (all-seeing eye of god)

Question 2

Pazzi chapel

Answer 2

Rational, symmetrical, (Renaissance)
Romanesque elements (round + triumphal arches, Corinthian columns, oculus, dome (ribs, pendentives)
Modular space square, central to plan)
Muted color schemes (cream, grey, white, blue)
Monastery/basilian
Loja (covered gallery)
Bench by central area (where monks sit)
Centered around recreating ancient Roman architecture style

Question 3

Arnolfini portrait

Answer 3

Symbols of wealth (full length window,)
Either a wedding certificate or burial portrait
Demonstrates new middle class wealth
Entire space reflected in mirror
Signature
Fido (as in infidelity)
Christ is dead on her side, and alive on his
Orange-like fruit (medical, Medici family were in medical field before banking)
Shoes in the corner (something is sacred or on sacred ground)
Saint Margaret (patron saint of childbirth)

Question 4

David

Answer 4

Religious symbol for political purposes (humanism)
Expression (looking down, smirking)
Little boy (not buff)
Laurel crown (winner)
Heroic nudity (though nudity was frowned upon during Renaissance)
Requires movement
For Medici family

Question 5

Palazzo rucellai

Answer 5

References to the exterior to the colosseum (Tuscan → ionic → Corinthian columns)
Changes from Colosseum (flat exterior, mesh brick pattern that unifies levels)
Wall itself is important instead of just for support
Diamond pattern (inspired by Roman concrete techniques)
Wealthy person’s home (rucellai family)

Question 6

Madonna with child with two angels

Answer 6

Linear style (emphasizes contour, creates movement, curvy, sinuous)
No giant halos
Shows a real mother-child relationship
Model for Mary may have been his lover

Question 7

Birth of Venus

Answer 7

Figures are sculptural due to linear
Zephyr (wind) and Claris (nymph) sending her to shore
Pomona (spring) waiting to clothe her
Covering nudity (bringing more attention to it)
Retelling of Venus being born of sea foam

Question 8

Annunciation triptych IDs

Answer 8

Robert Campin
1427-1432 CE
Early Renaissance
Oil on wood

Question 9

Pazzi chapel IDs

Answer 9

Florence, Italy
Fillippo Brunelleschi
1429-1461
Early Renaissance
Masonry

Question 10

Arnolfini portrait IDs

Answer 10

Jan van Eyck
1434 CE
Early Renaissance
Oil on wood

Question 11

David IDs

Answer 11

Donatello
1440-1460 CE
Early Renaissance
Bronze

Question 12

Palazzo rucellai IDs

Answer 12

Florence, Italy
Leon Battista Alberti
1450 CE
Early Renaissance
Stone and masonry

Question 13

Madonna with child with two angels IDs

Answer 13

Fra Filippo Lippi
1465 CE
Early Renaissance
Tempera on wood

Question 14

Birth of Venus IDs

Answer 14

Sandro Botticelli
1484-1486 CE
Early Renaissance
Tempera on canvas

Question 15

Early Renaissance Style

Answer 15

Two-dimensional icons
Linear perspective
Atmospheric effect
Goes beyond religion
Humanizes the divine
Humanism!!