Videos

The Drawings of Michealangelo
This video explores the sketches and "roughdrafts" of some of Michealangelo's best work. I chose this video because I thought it would be interesting to see the brainstorming of such an artistic genius.During the time of his masterpieces, he would have never wanted anyone looking at his sketches. Many of his drawings were destroyed because he did not want people to see his hesitations. By looking at his work, one can see that he seeks to find the core of the figure and the mass of the body. In doing this, he masters the human body. As a child he was very talented. He was the 12 year old talented apprentice of of Ghirlando. He became infatuated with the Roman and Greek sculptures and their depiction of the perfect man and for 60 years he used the male figure as his model. His sketching showed where there is pressure and mass by his extreme talent in hatching and dense cross hatching. (hatching and cross hatching as seen in the text) He made the body in poses that were actually impossible for the body to move into but because of the realness of the drawings it did not seem impossible. In his depiction of Christ's Risen Body, Jesus is weightless but dense at the same time. His most interesting sketch was of Adam from the Sistine Chapel. This was his depiction of the perfect man, Adam, before God gave him life. I found it very interesting that he focused on the male body instead of the female body. His technique of perfecting the males muscle mass became an obsession for him, such that he did not attempt to perfect drawing females.

Leonardo DiVinci-The Renaissance
I chose this video because I wanted to learn more about an artist that I only associate with the Mona Lisa. Leonardo DiVinci was born in Tuscany and was thought to be very intelligent at a very young age. As mentioned in the text, the Renaissance began in Italy,so DiVinci lived in the midst of the splendor of the arts. He proved his brilliance by mastering many arts and moving from one expertise to another. One interesting part of the video was the discussion of his homosexual tendencies. He was even accused of sodomy and used his accusers as the subjects of his work. He depicted their grotesque angry faces and made fun of them. He also became very isolated at this time. During this time, he also faced rejection over and over while Botticello was chosen to paint many famous paintings. As time progresses he becomes a master in his skill and focuses on color, distance and proximity. He became the official court painter. He also ventured into science and mechanics. He was one of the first to secretly carry out a dissection. He even studied artificial flight. His studies helped him to have a vast knowledge of proportions of man and other objects. This enhanced my knowledge of art because great art is created by creating realistic proportions. This is interesting because he approached this through a knowledge of many things, not just art.

Botticelli- La Primavera
I chose this video because the painting of The Birth of Venus on p 383 in the text caught my attention. I did not know much about Botticelli, but after watching the video I noticed that he used the Greek gods as his subject matter. La Primavera, which means Spring in Italian, is a picture that depicts the god Mecury (messenger to the gods), the three graces and cupid in a fertile garden. The garden also shows hundreds of different flowers that represent different species. It was said that the subject, Mercury, was a version of Lorenzo Magnificent. Lorenzo was a very wealthy and intelligent but was not very beautiful like Botticelli presents him in La Primavera. Botticelli was an artist during the 1480's, which was the peak of the Renaissance and perfect timing for his talents. There was a high demand religious imagery. Everyone owned religious paintings that could afford them. Botticelli took advantage of this and became an opportunist and artistic entreprenuer. What was interesting to me was how talented Bottecelli and DiVinci were equally talented but since Botticelli was more business savvy he was chosen to paint more.

Rembrant- the Night Watch
I chose this video because I am somewhat familiar with his work. The Night Watch is a massive (11ft by 14 ft) painting, which means it is not meant to be taken lightly. It is a piece of iconic Dutch art. Its viewers feel as if they are a part of the artwork because of the extreme detail and attempt to make the space seem 3 dimensional. X rays show where he worked and reworked the painting until it reached perfection. Rembrant painted action and drama in this painting. The painting has been slashed, splashed with acid and had water thrown on it. He painted during a time when the genre of group portraits were painted to depicted militias. He added addtional figures that gave the painting a story: a young boy, faces in the background and an unexpected small girl that seems to be supernatural. His use of lighting is magnificent and gives meaning and emphasis to certain parts of the painting. The most important part of the video was how the paintings massive size interfered with moving it and the trouble the Dutch went through to keep it secure. I have learned in many of the videos I have watched in this class that artists have to worry about preserving their art and traveling with their artwork. Some of the artwork that is hundreds of years old has to be carefully preserved and inspected. When the night watch was unrolled after five years, it was in remarkable condition.