LESSON #44: Brunelleschi and Ghiberti
AGENDA
Brunelleschi
Time: 56:01
Ghiberti
Donatello
Video: Bill Moyers Florence
Review of the ISMs
*****
Segment 1: INTRO (2:07)
IN: Opening Credits/―Hello, I’m glad you’re back….‖
A. Opening Credits
B. Agenda
OUT: ―…Let’s go to Ms. Jewell right now.‖
Segment 2: FLORENCE
(4:40)
IN: ―Okay. Let’s start class today by just….‖
A. Setting/Introduction
B. Bill Moyers clip – The Power of the Past
OUT: Music out
Segment 3: GHIBERTI vs BRUNELLESCHI
(11:53)
IN: ―So you’ve got the setting….‖
A. Great rivals of the early Renaissance
1. Brunelleschi
2. Ghiberti
B. Competition
1. Design doors to the baptistery
2. Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, and five other artists chosen to compete
3. Subject: Sacrifice of Isaac
C. Brunelleschi’s design
1. Harsh & jagged
2. Naturalistic detail, not graceful
D. Ghiberti’s design
1. Still partly Gothic
2. Linear, easier to understand, more subtle
3. Boy looks upward, Abraham’s left hand is poised but not touching his son
4. Eye contact, Ram rests quietly
E. Both Ghiberti and Brunelleschi given award
1. Ghiberti said nothing
2. Brunelleschi said NO and left town (went to Rome)
F. Contract signed Nov 23, 1403, took Ghiberti 20 years to complete, until 1424
G. Doors highly successful, much beloved (even by Michelangelo)
H. Modern: employed assistants, worked to deadlines
I. RECAP: CULTURE OF RENAISSANCE
1. They wanted Beauty in their city & were willing to pay for it.
2. Always warring factions vying for power.
3. Didn’t want to just copy Roman art; wanted to understand it mathematically.
4. Had arrogant, egotistical artists who wanted Fame and Recognition.
OUT: ―…just didn’t count—all that much.‖
Segment 4: MOYERS/GHIBERTI
(16:24)
IN: ―Okay, I’d like for us to go back to another section….‖
A. Sydney Alexander introduction
B. Bill Moyers clip
OUT: ―…Florence should be at the top of your list.‖
Segment 5: DONATELLO
(4:04)
IN: ―Okay, for your notes, let’s move on….‖
A. Dates: 1386-1466
B. Sculpture of David
1. First life-size nude since classical times
2. Balance of old & new
3. Combined classical nude figure with the realism of an Italian peasant boy
4. Not especially idealized
C. Sculpture of Prophet
1. Not idealized
2. One of the first sculptors to combine classicism with realism
D. Mary Magdeline
1. 1455
2. Wood
3. Ravaged figure
4. Further from earlier classicism, but perhaps a more profound experience
OUT: ―… and, finally, the Mary Magdalene.‖
Segment 6: MOYERS/DONATELLO
(6:25)
IN: ―Let’s go back to Bill Moyers’ Florence….‖
A. Introduction
B. Bill Moyers clip
OUT: ―…very thankful to be able to show this to you.‖
Segment 7: REVIEW OF THE ISMS (10:28)
IN: ―Hey, glad to have you. Glad you came back….‖
A. Classicism
1. Order, reason, clarity of form
2. Logical
3. Reasonable
1. Examples
a. Ingres
b. J.L. David ―Death of Marat‖
B. Romanticism
1. Emphasis on freedom
2. Emotional rather than logical
3. Examples
a. Delacroix: ―Liberty Leaving the People‖
b. Constable: landscape, clouds
c. Goya: ―The Third of May‖
C. Realism
1. Seeks the truth
2. Finds beauty in the commonplace
3. Examples
a. Courbet: ―Stonebreakers‖
b. Manet: ―The Fifer‖
D. Impressionism and Post impressionism
1. Light and atmosphere
2. Captures a moment in time
3. Reality of the senses
4. Examples
a. Monet: ―Water Lilies‖
b. Van Gogh: ―Wheat Field with Cypress‖ (Post Impressionism)
c. Cassatt:
E. Modernism
1. Breaks or redefines conventions of the past
2. Examples
a. Picasso
b. Warhol: Pop Art
c. O’Keeffe
d. Dali
e. Lange
f. Jacob Lawrence
OUT: ―…I’ll see you next time.‖ / Closing Credits