Reflection

             During this quarter of art history, our class was exposed to many different artists, styles, and background information on a good number of famous works of art. Though I found many of these styles to be aesthetically pleasing and fascinating, the two periods of art that I found most intriguing were the Early Northern Renaissance and the Early Italian Renaissance. For both periods of art, it was the historical background and the aesthetic details of the artwork that I enjoyed learning about and viewing. In terms of historical background, the thing I found most interesting was the newfound drive in seemingly all of Europe to focus more on the individual than the group mentality. This force still kept with the heavy religious connotations throughout Europe, but it allowed for much more personal work, and a bigger emphasis on private patrons, both because the patrons were now wealthy enough to afford the commissions of these artworks, as well as the ability to have themselves depicted in holy scenarios, bringing them closer to God.

Art of the Early Northern Renaissance is fascinating because of the new emphasis on accurate and realistic lighting in paintings. Prior to this, artwork used the illusion of highlights and shadows to demonstrate a general light source. But in paintings such as the Ghent Altarpiece by Jan van Eyck, he created such detailed highlights and shadows that the light source is easy to identify. Van Eyck used the light source in the physical space of the painting, creating an even more identifiable and believable painting. This ties in greatly to the emphasis on details for which Northern artists of the time were known. Another appealing aspect of art of the Early Northern Renaissance was van Eyck’s and future artist’s use of oil paints. Van Eyck was often believed to be the creator of oil paint because of his extreme talents of manipulation of the medium, though we know that this practice came much earlier than van Eyck did. This technique allowed artists to emphasize many of the rich and luminous colors and textures involved in artwork concerned with religion.

In the Early Italian Renaissance, art upheld many of the same ideas, but along with the Early Northern Renaissance ideas and fascination with naturalism came the addition of idealism in art. Though not quite the classical perfection of the later High Renaissance, artists of the Early Italian Renaissance strove to create idealized versions of real people, bridging the gap between art styles. With this idealism came a slight case of unrealistic figures or situations, such as the body position of Venus in The Birth of Venus by Sandro Boticelli. The nude female figure’s stance would result in any normal person falling over, but in this perfect, ideal image, the woman is serenely held in this moment for all to admire her beauty. She looks like a real person, with curves and lines in all of the expected places, showing the continued interest in naturalism, but the entire composition is too perfect to not be an idealized version.