Art History 3.6: Examine the different values placed on art works
Resource reference: Adapted 3.6A and 3.6B
Resource title: Values in Renaissance Art
Credits: 4
Achievement
Examine the different values placed
on art works
Achievement with Merit
Examine in-depth, the different
values placed on art works.
Achievement with Excellence
Examine, perceptively, the different
values placed on art works
Student instructions
Introduction
This assessment activity requires you to produce a detailed guide booklet for interested readers. The focus
of the booklet is the different values placed on three Renaissance art works.
You will be assessed on the perceptiveness of your analysis and your integration of supporting evidence.
This is an individual task.
Your assessment takes place during one week of in-class time and four weeks of out-of-class time.
Task
The art works for this assessment are:

Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus, c.1485, Tempera on canvas, 175.5 x 278.5cm, OR

Botticelli’s Primavera, c. 1482, tempera on panel, 203 x 314cm

Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, c.1503 – 1515, oil on wood, 76.8 x 53.3cm

Michelangelo’s David, 1501 – 1504, marble, 5.22m high
Should you wish to choose a different art work from the above artists, check with me first.
Gather Evidence
Research the different values placed on each of the three art works. To do this you will need to trace their
history and their locations over time, e.g. who owned them, who moved them, why, how much were they
worth, were they written about by contemporaries, were they stolen, hijacked, vandalised, restored, mass
produced, purchased by a gallery, hidden away, politicised, argued over???? Were they considered
beautiful (at all times!!!), did they go out of fashion, were they influential to other artists, were they
technically superb, a feat of genius, a masterpiece, do tourists flock to see them, are they mocked, were
the materials expensive???? Did they have a talisman effect, promote ideals, create revenue, tourism,
rivalry, investment, status, public interest, able to ‘convey truths’, create an emotional response or civic
identity etc etc ????????
Compile the Booklet
Compile a booklet, preferably with pictures and diagrams, as they are relevant, that explains and analyses
the different values placed on these art works over time. Use the above paragraph as ideas for things you
could discuss.
Your booklet should include:

an introduction per art work describing the basic background and how the work came into
existence.

An analysis of the different values placed on each work at the time and over time where possible.
Support this analysis with evidence from the art work and other sources.

A conclusion with some insight perhaps into the changing value of art and what is precious over
time and why?
Resource requirements
Useful resources include (Some of which I will show in class or provide for you):
General
Robert Hughes, The Mona Lisa Curse
Laurie Schneider Adams (2012) Art Beginners Guides, One World Publications
Botticelli – Depending on which painting you do but all will be useful for either painting
Smarthistory.khanacademy.org/Botticelli.html
www.artble.com/artists/sandro-botticelli/paintings/birth-of-venus
DVD – ‘Every Picture Tells a Story’ The Birth of Venus by W. Januszcak
Art Sleuth www.googleartproject.com/collection/uffizi-gallery/artwork/the-birth-of-venus-botticelli-sandrobotticelli/331474/#details
Zuffi, S. Botticelli Birth of Venus, Art Mysteries
Botticelli: Masters of Art
Hagen, What Great Paintings Say Vol 1, p139 on
Sister Wendy Beckett, The Story of Painting
Strathern, The Medici – Godfathers of the Renaissance
Loren Partridge, Art of Renaissance Florence, p94 on
Schneider Adams, Italian Renaissance Art
www.theearthlyparadise.com/botticelli-and-the-pre-raphaelites
DVD - Private Life of a Masterpiece Primavera
Leonardo da Vinci
DVD – BBC Leonardo (part 3 on Mona Lisa)
DVD – Every Picture Tells A Story ‘Mona Lisa’ (start 13 mins in)
D, Sassoon (2001) Mona Lisa – The History of the World’s Most Famous Painting
Laurie Schneider Adams Italian Renaissance Art, pp308 – 9
Heaps on this – FIND IT YOURSELF
Michelangelo
DVD – BBC The Divine Michelangelo
DVD – The Private Life of a Masterpiece, Michelangelo’s David
Paoletti and Radke, Art In Renaissance Italy p387-89
Hartt p 476-77
Laurie Schneider Adams (2012) Art Beginners Guides, One World Publications pp122-124, 150-151
There are lots of others.
My thoughts at present about what to expect….
Botticelli (dependent on which
ptg)
Leonardo
Michelangelo
Beautiful, Neo-Platonic =
fashionable but quickly grew out
of fashion after Savonarola and
due to High Renaissance greats
stylistically. Penitence and
mediation in Florence for 6 years
“unseemly” lascivious works
burnt.
Sassoon book is brilliant and
traces all the ups and downs of
Mona Lisa…..
Block of marble lying abandoned.
Very expensive block of marble
but very difficult job too narrow.
Already a super feat before
started.
According to Ficino, classical
myths offered key to
understanding spiritual and moral
continuity between Plato and
Christianity
Radiant work, gilded highlights
Canvas for country house,
furniture? To be carried easily
from house to house therefore
valued as decorative?
Wedding commission possibly,
therefore value in fertility for
prospective couple. Lorenzo di
Pierfrancesco de’Medici married
Simonetta Vespucci’s niece.
Mala medica
Painted at the peak of his career
and of Florentine Neoplatonism
“One of the very few ptgs
immediately recog by the general
public.” A detail even appears on
the back of a 10 cent euro coin.
Mentioned by Giorgio Vasari in
Lives – 1550 (first time mentioned
in any literature 70years after its
creation). Been misnamed, not
actually birth
1502 reputation waning. Heavily
in debt and sodomy accusations
Pre-Raphaelite interest brings it
back. Infl on Burne Jones in
partic
Value of commissioner to record
pregnant wife. Never finished and
kept with Leonardo till death in
France. Francis puts in bathroom
= cracking. Various eye witness
accounts of the painting and price
recorded in Salai’s inventory at
death – price indicates considered
valuable. Status due to technique
and by Leo’s hand.
Hardly anyone sees ML for 300
years. Napoleon steals. Goes to
Louvre in Napoleon’s bedroom.
Still not many know of its
existence. French Revolution
makes its way into more public
arena in France. Lucky place to
be, next cultural hotspot.
Becomes a femme fatale with
Walter Pater etc. Mystery idea
created but not till 19th century
does interest in her revive. Then
she is stolen possibly for forgery
purposes or nationalistic. Hits
newspapers for weeks. Missing
for years = continued publicity.
Famous for being famous. JFK
visit etc etc Mass produced, bullet
proof glass, gallery revenue
Michelangelo works in secret
behind wooden structure.
Rumours of masterpiece well
before finished. Bridges pulled
down to bring through Florence.
Debate over where to go.
Technical feat, work of a genuis
Florentine govt hijacks the work
which orig for Church and it
becomes a political symbol.
Republican values. Moved from
orig. location.
Been vandalised, Vasari kept
arm. Left outside and weathered
for hundreds of years till began to
lean forward. Boxed up and put
away in courtyard for years where
developed purple mould. Copies
made. Restored
Arguments over ownership Italy
versus Florence. Revenue