Ceramics 1
Ceramics 1
Unity-Principle of Design
Unity-Principle of Design
Unity-Principle of Design
Unity-Principle of Design
Unity-Principle of Design
Unity-Principle of Design
Line- Element of Art
Line- Element of Art
Classwork & assignments
Presentation slideshow
Presentation slideshow
Classwork & assignments
Classwork & assignments
Lines are everywhere. You can see lines in the grain of a piece of wood or in the cracks on a sidewalk.
In art, Line is an element of art that is the path of a moving point through space.
Lines are used to:
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Create boundaries between shapes
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Create boundaries between colors, textures or values
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Lead the eye from one space to another
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Create textures
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Suggest emotional qualities
Lines are everywhere. You can see lines in the grain of a piece of wood or in the cracks on a sidewalk.
In art, Line is an element of art that is the path of a moving point through space.
Lines are used to:
-
Create boundaries between shapes
-
Create boundaries between colors, textures or values
-
Lead the eye from one space to another
-
Create textures
-
Suggest emotional qualities
Classwork & assignments
Grid drawing is a very old technique of transferring images (from sketches to a full size canvas or fresco, etc...)
Always make sure that the number of squares on the original picture and your working area are exactly the same (even if the size of the squares are bigger on the paper). This is because no matter how many times bigger (or smaller) you make the drawing, the proportions and dimensions can only stay the same if the number of boxes (squares) matches exactly.
Make sure you follow all steps below.
2.3.2 The Van Eycks and Rogier van der Weyden
4.1.2 Italian Mannerism
Italian Mannerism
By the end of the Renaissance, Italy was firmly established as the headquarters of European art.
The central dilemma for most artists at the end of the 16th century was how to improve upon the likes of Raphael and Michelangelo. Art seemed to have reached its height.
For a brief period, a small group of Italian artists consciously broke from the Renaissance principles of balance, unity, and proportion.
These artists were called Mannerists because of the affected manner and grace of their subjects. What else set them apart?
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Daring and unnatural color combinations
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Deliberately unbalanced compositions
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Visual distortion
You will now examine this early Baroque style in more detail.
Complete the questions on your study guide as you work through this activity. Reviewing your notes before quizzes and tests will help you succeed. You'll be able to check your answers once you've completed the study activity.
Parmigianino employed the technique of distortion to elongate several features in Madonna with the Long Neck. Look at this image. What do you think "distortion" means based on what you see?
A New Manner of Painting
Mannerism created a specific style in which being graceful was its own important goal. To create extreme grace and drama, Mannerist artists used a technique called distortion.
Look at the painting on this page. What do you see?
The Descent from the Cross by Jacopo da Pontormo shows the story of Jesus being lifted from the cross and taken to his tomb. What do you see that is different from how a Renaissance artist would have painted the same scene?
Bending the Renaissance Rules
Renaissance rules of art governed composition, color, perspective, and proportion. But these rules were bent or even ignored by the Mannerists in order to express emotion over logic and reason
In 20 words or fewer, what is different about this painting than other religious paintings you have studied so far?
An Unusual Descent
The Descent from the Cross, painted by the early Mannerist Jacopo da Pontormo, is unlike any other portrayal of Jesus's descent from the cross.
Rejecting the Renaissance Naturalism that artists commonly used to depict this powerful scene, Pontormo did not show the cross or any background at all. Instead, he created a contorted arrangement of figures to express the scene's power.
The elongated bodies, though realistically formed, twist and hunch over in unstable positions due to the use of distortion. The lighting comes from multiple angles instead of a single light source.
The pale but eye-catching blues and pinks also would have made the work stand out from the dark surroundings of the chapel for which it was commissioned.
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What Do You See?
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Do you notice the limp body of Jesus? Does it appear heavy? Is it in the center of the image?
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What is in the center of the composition?
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What emotion do you see in the Madonna's expression?
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What about the striking composition of figures? One man squats on tiptoe while holding up the weight of Jesus's legs. Other figures curve and bend toward Jesus.
The characters seem to perform a delicate dance clustered together within the painting. It is a ballet in paint — beautiful and highly composed.
On the Web...
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Click here to listen to a discussion of Pontormo's Mannerist painting The Descent from the Cross, also called Entombment. List the descriptive words used. Use your list to see if those words apply to other Mannerist paintings as you continue on.
The Descent from the Cross, ca. 1525, by early Italian Mannerist Jacopo da Pontormo. Untraditional composition, unusual colors, and distorted poses are the distinctive features of Pontormo's The Descent from the Cross, ca. 1525.
Parmigianino employed the technique of distortion to elongate several features in Madonna with the Long Neck. Look at this image. What do you think "distortion" means based on what you see?
Self-Distortion
Even in his self-portrait, Parmigianino used distortion to create a wholly new image of himself. Look at the picture of young Parmigianino. What do you notice?
A large hand reaches out in front of a small body and head, with windows and walls curving in the background.
Following a common artistic practice of the time, Parmigianino looked into a convex mirror to draw himself. "Convex" means that it curves outward, creating a zoomed-in effect.
He exaggerated the distortion even more by painting on a special convex panel so that the picture actually "mirrors" the mirror.
Long-Necked Woman
As you learned, one of the most distinctive traits of Mannerism is the use of distortion.
Madonna with the Long Neck was painted by another Italian Mannerist, Parmigianino.
In it, he accentuates the curve of the Madonna's neck and elongates the body of the baby Jesus. Look at Mary's hands and feet. How do they appear to you?
Parmigianino created this scene within an architectural setting, a common method used by Renaissance artists to create balance. But here, there is a sense of imbalance.
Almost all of the figures in the painting are clustered on the left, while there is a single, small figure on the other side. This displays a conscious rejection of Renaissance composition.
The Madonna's long neck emphasizes her courtly, high-class posture, and her elongated fingers highlight the delicacy of her touch.
All of these compositional decisions were made to illustrate a familiar religious scene with a newfound style, beauty, and grace.
With these innovations, Parmigianino overturned Renaissance notions of harmony in art.
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On the Web...
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Click here to listen to a discussion of Parmigianino's Madonna with the Long Neck. List three things you notice about the painting after looking at it more closely.
Using the same principle as a funhouse mirror, Parmigianino drew attention to himself by distorting his own features in Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror, painted ca. 1523.
Mannerism Versus Renaissance
Now you have seen some of the ways Mannerism was moving away from Renaissance traditions.
Can you identify the characteristics of each style?
Tintoretto's Last Supper
By the end of the 16th century, Mannerist artists had rejected the Renaissance idea of using architecture to center and frame the composition of a painting.
Look at the The Last Supper by Jacopo Tintoretto, painted in 1594, nearly a hundred years after The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci.
Click the icon to the right to compare these paintings. What's different?
The Last Supper, painted by Jacopo Tintoretto in 1594, was a fresh take on a familiar subject.
Compare the Last Suppers
As you may recall, Leonardo da Vinci had the ability to balance a room full of animated figures yet keep each one distinct and calm. This was part of what made his The Last Supper so important.
Its head-on view of the room with Jesus in the center was a typically Renaissance way of depicting the scene.
By the time Jacopo Tintoretto was painting, artists were looking for new ways and different angles for depicting this sacred event.
1) How can you tell who the important figures are in these paintings? To see the art in greater detail, click the icon to the right.
2) What do you notice about the lighting and color in each painting?
3) What else do you notice about each composition?
Check Your Understanding
Using distorted figures, unconventional colors, and unbalanced composition, El Greco was one of the most innovative artists of his time. The Vision of Saint John (1608 – 1614) is a powerful interpretation of a charged biblical event.
Extreme Mannerism
Look closely at The Vision of Saint John by El Greco. What do you see?
Think about each question carefully before you give your answer.
1) Look at The Vision of St. John by El Greco. To see the art in greater detail, click the icon to the right. What do you notice about the figures?
2) What do you notice about the composition?
3) What do you notice about the colors?
El Greco
The Greek artist El Greco took the Mannerist style even further, and was one of the most radical artists of his time.
El Greco moved from his native Greece to Italy, where he first encountered the expressive style of Mannerism. Inspired, he eventually settled in Spain, where he could work away from the constraints of "correct" perspective and Renaissance Naturalism.
Due to his radical paintings and controversial opinions (he once said that Michelangelo couldn't paint), El Greco had some enemies in Rome. But he also had a wide variety of supporters in the artistic world and in the church, so he was never at a loss for commissions or friends.
Unsteady on Their Feet
In El Greco's paintings, nothing is rigid. Wavy brushstrokes create elongated, unsteady figures filled with emotion and drama.
Look at The Vision of Saint John above. What do you see?
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On the Web...
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Click here to zoom in on the painting, now housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Museum Web sites are a great place to look at art online. They take care to create an accurate digital representation of each art object and often provide additional information.
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The city of Toledo was an important place for the artist El Greco. Not only was it his home for many years, but it is featured prominently in many of his works. Click the link above to learn more about El Greco's life in the city of Toledo.
Although he was originally from Crete, El Greco made the Spanish city of Toledo his home. His paintings, such as View of Toledo (ca. 1604), exhibit the Mannerist tendencies of extreme distortion and unconventional color. El Greco used these techniques in an utterly original way, giving his distinctive works an almost modern feel.
Modern Mannerism
Mannerism was a new style of expression that heightened the drama of painted figures and scenes.
But Mannerist artists did not limit their use of distortion to portraits and religious subject matter. They also recreated the landscape in a vision wholly their own.
In fact, Mannerist work was so new and different, it seems closer to 20th-century art than it does to the Renaissance art created just a few years earlier.
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The landscapes of El Greco are a good example of how Mannerist paintings can look and feel like modern art, even though they were painted centuries ago.
The vibrant greens and ominous blues of View of Toledo, painted circa 1604, create a sense of drama within the work.
Take another look. Did you notice that the scene is slightly distorted? This painting doesn't use aerial perspective, so the background is just as large, colorful, and impactful as the foreground.
In Review
Before moving on, review what you have learned in the study. Go over the notes you wrote on the study sheet. Ask your teacher any questions you might have.
If you have not filled out your study sheet, do it now before moving on to the next activity.
Study sheets are a very useful tool to help you study for quizzes and tests.
What Did You Learn?
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Artists like Jacopo Pontormo, Parmigianino, Jacopo Tintoretto, and El Greco pioneered a new style called Mannerism.
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The goal of Mannerism was to show elegance and to express emotion over logic and reason. It consciously departed from the principles of balance, proportion, and realism.
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The main characteristics of Mannerism are daring and unnatural color combinations, deliberately unbalanced compositions, and visual distortion.
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Pontormo's Descent from the Cross is typical of the elongated figures and unnatural poses of the Mannerist style.
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El Greco's figures were so unsteady and ungrounded that he became the most radical artist of his time, even for the Mannerists.
Take this opportunity to check your work.