Paloma Mendez
Professor Harmon
HUA- 101
Assignment #4

Renaissance and Baroque Styles

During the trip to The Metropolitan Museum I observed two different types of artwork, Renaissance and Baroque. Also I want to to explain in detail what is the Renaissance and Baroque syle.

 Renaissance artwork is the painting, sculpture and decorative art and Renaissance art is a kind of art that reflects the illusion of depth and space of that period of European history. Renaissance art, perceived as a royalty of ancient traditions, marks the transition of Europe from the medieval period to the early modern age. The Renaissance style emerged as a distinct style in Italy in about 1400, in parallel with developments which occurred in philosophy, literature, music and science.

 Baroque artwork is very ornate, done in a big scale with the colors chosen being very dark. Baroque art also describes a fairly complex idiom, originating in Rome, which flowered during the period c.1590-1720. This period embraced painting, and sculpture as well as architecture. Baroque painting illustrated key elements of Catholic dogma, either directly in Biblical works or indirectly in mythological and allegorical compositions.

This is a Baroque artwork. The title of this piece is The Denial of Saint Peter by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, who was an Italian painter and this artwork was created in the year 1610. Also in this artwork Caravaggio used oil on canvas and the scale of this art is 37 x 49 3/8 cm.

In my personal opinion I think Caravaggio used a dramatic effect of color and lighting with a dark background. We can also see in this painting that the people are pointing towards each other, with the soldier pointing a finger and the women pointing two fingers at the man on the far right.Caravaggio paints Peter denying Jesus after Jesus was arrested and is one of the last works he made. 

This is a Renaissance artwork. The title is Madonna and Child. The artist is Filippino Lippi, who was from Italy and created this piece in the year 1485.

In my personal opinion, through this artwork Filippino Lippi made it purposely rich with color and as detailed as possible with the landscape and still life portrayed. There is an emotional tenderness shown here between the mother and child.

 Renaissance and Baroque styles both are different, for that reason it is important to mention a few important points that mark the different between these artwork styles. Renaissance art began early in the 1400s, while the Baroque art style came later in the 1600s.

 Renaissance art works did not completely depict human emotion, while Baroque art focused more on showing them. Finally Baroque style is characterized by creating drama with its asymmetrical balance while realism is an important aspect of Baroque art. The lines help to convey movement and were often presented in baroque pieces. Drawing lines to create the illusion of extension in space contributes to the sense of movement of Baroque art whether asymmetric, vertical or horizontal, this technique can fool the eye and give space to the piece. Formally, Renaissance art is characterized by naturalism, the use of expressive gesture, linear perspective, atmospheric perspective, and chiaroscuro. In painting, figures are placed in a three-dimensional, believable space, and their posture and gesture is part of a complex formal arrangement.

The Girl with the Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer

Baroque Style

Venus Rising From the Sea by Tiziano Vecellio

Renaissance Style

Assignment #2

 1. Describe several ways that artists unify their artwork. 

Find an example and describe how it is unified. 

Artists unify their artwork by making certain elements bigger and larger, attracting more attention. Other ways to unify artwork is by using warm, geometric colors and repetition of colors and things in the artwork. Similar shapes and colors unify and create variety in art. Pattern also provides a unifying structure. When artists unify their artwork, they bring all the elements together. 

In this artwork, the artist uses a dark colored background to make the horse stand out more. The horse is also lightly colored, so there is more of a difference. The horse is also in the center, so your eyes pay attention to it. The horse is also painted big enough that it covers a lot of the artwork. 

2. Describe how an artist creates asymmetrical balance- post an artwork of your choice and explain how it is balanced asymmetrically. 

In an asymmetrical balance, the artists makes the left and the right not the same. An artist creates asymmetrical balance by balancing according to clothes and the size of forms. Large forms can be balanced by smaller forms, and a large form can be in the center. Warm colors are also heavier than cool colors. There is also a complex asymmetrical balance, with a strong sense of depth and space. Artists also use directional forces, where your eyes look at the center and then follow whatever figures are next to it.

In this artwork, the artist Van Gogh uses asymmetrical balance. It is balanced asymmetrically because the main objects in this art work are not centered. The sun is in the right corner, and a large black structure is on the left. And the starry night takes up a large part of the painting in the background, and it is the main thing you look at it. This painting is not centered at all.

3. How can scale change the meaning of an artwork? Use a visual example of your choice as an example and explain how the meaning is changed by scale.

Scale is the size relation of one thing to another. One of the most important decisions artists makes is how big things will be. We experience scale in comparison to our own size. Many artists distort scale for visual effect. It can be used as humorous or for different purposes. By making figures very large, it surprises people. By making figures very small, it makes people feel more powerful because they are bigger. In this artwork, the people are made very small and so are the trees. This meaning is changed by scale by making the people see something so small, they think it's funny. 

Online Assignment #1

Paloma Mendez

HUA 101

Professor Harmon

14 March 2015

Egyptian and Greek & Roman Art

In the online video at Youtube that is called HarmonIntroEgyptianGreek, we can get important infromation and knowledge about what is Egyptian, Greek and Roman art. In Egyptian art, gods like Ramses who were half-sheep and half-man were carved. They also used compact figures, with a frontal position for royal people. Besides Ramses, cats were worshipped as gods of happiness and the sky god was an eagle with a cobra on top meaning it was a pharoh. In a lot of Egyptian art, the ankh symbol was used to symbolize life. In Egyptian art, people were shown with their left foot in front of the other.

Greek art showed people in more relaxed poses, capable of movement. Artists did Greek art with actual observations and calculations. Goddesses were drawn nude and art was more sensual. Goddesses like Aphrodite, goddess of love and sexual repture, were drawn half nude. Greek art also emphasized restrained emotion.

Roman art reflects more of a pratical nature, it was less idealistic. Roman portraits showed imperfections and old age because they emphasized physical accuracy. In the video, one of the Roman pieces shown, they used pigment to paint it. However, Roman attitudes began to change, and artists started losing confidence in the material world and turned to spiritual values that religions like Christianity offered. A huge 8 foot portrait reflected the changing attitudes.

This is an example of Egyptian art, showing a scene from the Book of the Dead. The symbolism in this art is from Egyptian art facilitating human passage into the afterlife. The Book of the Dead was written in hieroglyphic script on a papyrus scroll. Almost every Book of the Dead was unique, with different spells and order. These were made in preparation for a person's death.

This is an example of Greek art. It's a figurine called the Bell Idol and was made of terracotta, since clay was used often in these statuettes. It was a small statue with mobile legs. Tombs known as "hero's" had thousands of these small figurines. 

This is an example of Roman art. In Roman art, portraits were common. This one is a portrait bust of an old man. The head is covered suggesting it could be a priest. This portrait bust was made of marble, mid-first century BC. Portraits were made like this to depict people accurately, wrinkles and all. 

Finally in this essay we have learned that each art style is from a different part of the world such as Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Also it is easier to find the differences between each kind of art in size, material, color, gesture and symbolism. Although they are different, they still share the similarities of worshipping gods and making portraits of others.