Chapter 1: The Power of Art
Mona Lisa
- Lisa del Giocondo (24-year-old), the wife of an important Florentine merchant
- 1503-1505 oil on wood, in Louvre, Paris, France
- Painted by Leonardo Da Vinci in the height of the Italian Renaissance
- Stolen in 1911 by Vincenzo Peruggia, waited two years before he wrote to an antique dealer
in Florence, Italy
o Picasso became a suspect after 2 small statues from the Louvre were found in his
studio
- Leonardo used sfumato lighting (in Italian, the soft mist of a fountain), a soft light that
dissolved edges and made details unclear, for the eyes and mouth
o Our imagination fills the eyes and mouth in; the lips seem to move and give the
Mona Lisa life and eyes tend to follow you when you move side to side
- The grace and beauty of Mona Lisa reflects the value placed on these qualities during the Italian
renaissance
- Illustrates the highly prized attributes of aloofness (called sprezzatura in Italian), kind of aristocratic
refinement and calm
- Exemplifies individualism, a critical renaissance idea credited with giving birth to the modern age
- Leonardo died of a stroke in France, so it begins a part of the royal art collection
- Not only became a part of Italian culture but French culture as well
Amida Buddha
- Buddha of the west, Japanese national treasure
- Carved by Jocho in the 11th century (1053)
- Dominated by a ruling class that valued elegance and courtly manners above all
Venus of Willendorf
- earliest known artworks of the period (30,000 – 25,000 BCE.)
- Meaning of name: Venus because she is female and Willendorf after the town in Austria where
they found her.
- Fertility symbol, used as some kind of magical charm
- Was probably connected with rituals that associated human fertility with the survival of the IceAge clan or tribe
Tattoos
- Name originated in Polynesia and is form the Tahitian word tatau
- Sacred art for the Maori tribes of New Zealand
o Tattoo artist is considered a holy person
o Utilizes sharp bone chisels to cut lines into the skin
o Tattooing was a coming-of-age rite for young men and women that demonstrated an adolescent’s
strength and courage
o After tattoo, soothed by sweet flute music and numbing leaves applied to the swollen
skin
o Most important tattoo is the Ta-Moko (face tattoo)
 Marking is a coded map that can be understood by other Maori and plain the
status and genealogy of its wearer
 Sides of face reveal’s one ancestry
 Person’s rank can be read by reading the design on the forehead
Religious art
- Notre Dame, gothic cathedral in Paris is a visual expression of the Christian faith
of the medieval era
o The soaring vertical lines make it seem it lifting the soul heavenward,
toward God
o Becomes visual representation of spiritual existence beyond and above
the limitations of physical reality
Art of classical Greece
- Expresses the Greek’s cultural ideals of physical beauty and athletic strength
- Aspirated a balance between realism and idealism
Art as a declaration of power
- Pharoah of Egypt erected huge structures to declare their strength
- Roman emperors constructed triumphal arched in conquered territories
- Portraits of Henry VIII, seeming larger than life almost bursting the edges of the picture frame
o Purpose? To glorify a man who had supreme power
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Lecture 1 – Art and Visual Culture: An Intro to the Power of Images and their Uses
What do we mean by ‘art’ and ‘visual culture’?
- Not an exhaustive list:
o Painting, drawing, sculpture, prints, installations, public art, craft, design, zines, comics, fashion,
video, internet art, film, television, advertising, video games, memes, etc.
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