Art History

Question 1:

During the Renaissance and Baroque periods the type of patron diversified beyond the church to include private individuals, city governments, and corporate commissions, sponsored by entities such as the Wool Guild. These patrons that were outside of the church were essential to artists to ensure their financial livelihood. Often artists, like Michelangelo, were forced to take commissions and complete works that they did not want to undertake. In 3 well developed paragraphs, discuss:

1. Michelangelo’s version of David was a public monument commissioned by the Florentine city council. How do you see the context of a city government as patron influencing how Michelangelo visualized the biblical hero David?
2. The biblical hero David was a popular subject for sculpture and painting throughout the Renaissance and into the Baroque period. By studying, comparing, and contrasting sculptures of David created in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries, you can begin to see the stylistic changes that occurred across these centuries. In 3 well-developed paragraphs, compare and contrast the following 3 sculptures of David:
   1. Early Renaissance: Donatello. David.1430s.
   2. High Renaissance: Michelangelo. David. 1504. (Note: Scroll down to image 20-10).
   3. Baroque. Gian Lorenzo Bernini. David. 1624–1624.

In your comparison, discuss:

• What specific visual similarities do you observe in these three sculptures?
• What specific differences do you see?
• How has the attitude of David changed between these three representations of David?

Be sure to explain your ideas clearly and support them by discussing specific works of art that you have read about this week, talking about how they illustrate and support your ideas.

Question 2:

In Northern Europe, the group portrait was a popular genre of painting in the Dutch Republic, and Rembrandt was in high demand as a portraitist. In 3 well developed paragraphs, discuss:

1. How did Rembrandt revolutionize the group portrait? Examine his worksThe Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes TulpandThe Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq (The Night Watch)?
2. Artists like Rembrandt and the other successful Dutch portrait artists laid the foundation for what today is seen as a proper or successful portrait. From the official portrait of Kate Middleton (2013) in England, to the portraits of US presidents, to those of CEOs in major corporations all owe a debt to the work of Rembrandt, Hals, and other seventeeth-century portrait painters. Locate 2 contemporary portraits and discuss the visual characteristics that are inspired by Rembrandt's style.

Be sure to explain your ideas clearly and support them by discussing specific works of art that you have read about this week, talking about how they illustrate and support your ideas.

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