Art Flashcards
THE LAST SUPPER
Artist
Date
Period
Artist Age
Location
Significance
Artist: Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519
Date: 1498
Period: Renaissance
Artist Age: 46
Location: Milan
Significance: This is a fresco painting on the wall of a monastery in Milan, Italy, depicting Christ’s Last Supper with his disciples.
MONA LISA
Artist
Date
Period
Artist Age
Location
Significance
Artist. Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519
Date: 1503-1517
Period: Renaissance
Artist Age: 51-65
Location: Florence
Significance: The subject’s expression, which is frequently described as enigmatic, the monumentality of the composition, the subtle modelling of forms, and the atmospheric illusionism were novel qualities that have contributed to the continuing fascination and study of the work.
STATUE OF DAVID
Artist
Date
Period
Artist Age
Location
Significance
Artist: Michelangelo 1475-1564
Date: 1501-1504
Period: Renaissance
Artist Age: 26-29
Location: Florence. Originally outdoors in the Piazza, now in a gallery.
Significance: Michelangelo’s David has become one of the most recognized works of Renaissance sculpture, a symbol of strength and youthful beauty.
David was a figure in the Bible who, as a young boy, defeated a giant named Goliath with a slingshot. Because of the nature of the hero it represented, the statue soon came to symbolize the defense of civil liberties embodied in the Republic of Florence, an independent city-state threatened on all sides by more powerful rival states and by the hegemony of the Medici family. iI stood for the Republican government of the city and the eyes of David, with a warning glare, were turned towards Rome.
The statue appears to show David after he has made the decision to fight Goliath but before the battle has actually taken place, a moment between conscious choice and action. His brow is drawn, his neck tense and the veins bulge out of his lowered right hand. His left hand holds a sling that is draped over his shoulder and down to his right hand, which holds a rock. The twist of his body effectively conveys to the viewer the feeling that he is in motion.
Michelangelo’s contemporaries described David as surpassing “all ancient and modern statues, whether Greek or Latin, that have ever existed.”
17feet tall (5m)
THE SISTINE CHAPEL CEILING
Artist
Date
Period
Artist Age
Location
Significance
Artist: Michelangelo 1475-1564
Date: 1508-1512
Period: Renaissance
Artist Age: 33-37
Location: The Vatican.
Significance: A cornerstone work of High Renaissance art. Central to the ceiling decoration are nine scenes from the Book of Genesis of which The Creation of Adam is the best known, having an iconic standing equaled only by Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, the hands of God and Adam being reproduced in countless imitations. The complex design includes several sets of individual figures, both clothed and nude, which allowed Michelangelo to fully demonstrate his skill in creating a huge variety of poses for the human figure and which have provided an enormously influential pattern book of models for other artists ever since.
THE THINKER
Artist
Date
Period
Artist Age
Location
Significance
Artist: Auguste Rodin (1840-1917)
Date: 1904
Period: Modern?
Artist Age: 64
Location: Paris
Significance: Is often used as an image to represent philosophy. Rodin wanted a heroic figure in the tradition of Michelangelo, to represent intellect as well as poetry.
Originally named The Poet, The Thinker was initially a figure in a large commission, begun in 1880, for a doorway surround called The Gates of Hell. Rodin based this on The Divine Comedy of Dante, and most of the many figures in the work represented the main characters in the epic poem. Some critics believe The Thinker, at the centre of the composition over the doorway and at about 70 cm high larger than most other figures, was originally intended to depict Dante at the gates of Hell, pondering his great poem.
Rodin: His major works include The Gates of Hell, The Walking Man, The Burghers of Calais, and The Thinker.
NIGHT WATCH
Artist
Date
Period
Artist Age
Location
Significance
Artist: Rembrandt (1606-1669)
Date: 1642
Period: Baroque
Artist Age: 36
Location: Netherlands
Significance:
- Its large size (almost 12 feet by 15 feet)
- Its use of light and shadow to depict the important figures of the piece
- The atypical positions of the subjects. Typically, military paintings depicted subjects in a static pose, but Rembrandt paints them in a more dynamic way, as if they are in motion.
Rembrandt: Dutch painter and etcher of the 17th century, a prominent member of the Dutch Golden Age, and whose major works include Danae and Night Watch. He is best known for his portraits, self-portraits, and illustrations of scenes from the Bible.
Baroque dates
1600-1750
Neoclassicism dates
1750-1850
Romanticism dates
1780-1850
Impressionism dates
1865-1885
Realism dates
1848-1900
Post Impressionism dates
1885-1910
Expressionism dates
1900-1935
Cubism dates
1905-1920
Surrealism dates
1917-1950
