Grade 11 Art History Questions: The Renaissance To Impressionism

Tommy Van Pham

Grade 11 Art History Questions – The Renaissance to Impressionism
1) Gutenberg’s printing press facilitated the spread of ideas such as religious books, volumes of poetry and the mass production capability gave thousands of readers’ access to knowledge that had to be recopied before the perfection of the printing press. People of the renaissance time were now knowledgeable and educated about current events, literature, science etc. It changed the way they viewed life because of the knowledge they gain from different countries and are not as isolated from the rest of the world.
2) An architect named Filippo Brunelleschi was credited for discovering linear perspective which is a graphic system that showed artists how to create
the illusion of depth and volume on a flat surface.
3) The Medici family controlled the banking empire, and became generous patrons of the fine arts. The Medici recognized fine artists and funded their work, encouraging them to study art. They influenced Renaissance art because they paid for art supplies for artists and commissioned art as merchants to distribute it as credible business people.
4) Leonardo studied many subjects including architecture, mathematics, sculpture, painting, anatomy, poetry, literature, music, geology, botany, and hydraulics.
5) Raphael was regarded as the most typical artist of the renaissance artists because he blended the ideas of those artists in his works, adding vitality to figures from Michelangelo and shading from Leonardo for example.
6) The Italian renaissance artists were interested in lights and value, being true to life whereas the Northern European artists during the 15th century were interested in tempera, paint made of dry pigments, gesso, a mixture of glue and white pigment. This produced a brilliant surface. They were also interested in oil paints and making the paintings detailed and precise.
7) Characteristics of international style included symbolism where many of the details included special meanings; the other characteristic was extreme detail such as the wrinkles on a face, leaves on a tree etc.
8) Two effects of Jan Van Eyck’s paintings include a mastery of detail in which his paintings were only done after long periods of study of the shape, texture and colour, and precise detail that could not be duplicated. Another effect would be the control of the flow of light which gave an atmospheric perspective; his style could be a kind of
realism.
9) Rogier van der Weyden influenced other painters in Europe by preserving the Gothic concerns for good design and vivid emotion instead of using Eyck’s oil painting to create detailed pictures. When he died, he was the most famous painter in Flanders and influenced many to keep the gothic characteristics.
10) Venetian painters were inspired by the Bryzantine art style of the East which gave birth to the Venetian’s pervading love of colour, light and texture. Venetians adapted the use of colour, light and texture into their painting. They also were inspired by the characteristics of renaissance art and eventually combining both renaissance and Bryzantine art and produced a new school where emphasis was placed on colour and painting technique.
11) Giorgione’s use of landscape differed from earlier paintings because he used the landscape to set the stage and create a mood in paintings whereas earlier paintings used the landscape to fill in the spaces around their figures.
12) The features of Titian’s work include using the landscape to set up a mood, the use of oil paints to make works that were rich in colour and texture. Also Titian’s figures were wide awake, alert active and more powerfully build with more expressive movements than Giorgione.
13) Mannerism is a deliberate revolt by artists against the goals of the renaissance. Mannerism was developed to turn against the art of the renaissance because the Christians who left the church led my Martin Luther had different ideas and as Italy got invaded the tension grew and the old Italy ways were not a seat of authority. This is when mannerism was created, in an era of disorder and chaos which was reflected in the art where everything was imbalanced and figures were doing impossible poses, a state of confusion.
14) The mannerist characteristic in the works of Parmigianino include the reflection of instability and tensions of European life, in his painting, Madonna and the baby are distorted as the baby looks like a man-child and the mothers’ limbs are disproportionate. In Tintoretto displayed imbalance of light and elongated figures for a dramatic look, and use of light. In El Greco also used light and dark to create a dramatic lighting and setting. The highly emotional religious pictures reflected the troubled period in Europe.
15) The church welcomed the highly emotional religious pictures created by mannerist artists because the church was placing a renewed emphasis on the spiritual in order to counter the Reformation. They used the paintings to remind people that heaven awaits the people who follow the church’s teachings.
16) Mannerist artists distorted reality in their works by having the figures being elongated and twisted in bizarre positions. There was a manipulation of body parts, subject matter varying from mythology, biblical references and abstract themes. Vibrant colours were used to enhance expressive qualities of the piece.
17) The painting styles of the sixteenth century that were favoured by northern European artists include the late gothic period and the Italian renaissance ideas. However eventually the renaissance point of view triumphed.
18) Matthias Grunewald rejected renaissance art and favoured the dreams and visions of Gothic art.
19) Albrecht Durer turned away from the gothic style to embrace the ideas of the Italian renaissance.
20) The paintings of Hieronymus Bosch were similar to Italian mannerists because they mirrored the growing fears and tensions of people during that uneasy period.
21) The paintings of Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Brueghel were meant to be viewed as a way people to view religion. Bosch used his symbols as stories and symbolic messages that focused on the subject of good and evil. Brueghel also used stories that contained symbolic messages.
22) The Counter Reformation was an effort by the Catholic Church to lure people back and to regain its former power. Art played a role in this movement by stamping out heresy and encourage people to return to the church by restoring spiritual spirit with paintings.
23) Qualities that baroque architects and sculptors sought for were the sculptured scrolls which were used to unite the side sections of the wide façade or front of the building to the central portion. The sculpture quality on the buildings was important as well as the emphasis on mood and drama in sculpture, the moment of highest drama and excitement. It also inhibited the exploration of light, form and shadow for dramatic intensity. It had a theatrical fashion to the buildings and figures in sculpture.
24) The styles and innovation in baroque art including Caravaggio showed the idea of making the human figure more real, light was important to illuminate figures and expose their imperfections which made them more human. Gentileschi used lifelike treatment of the subject matter, use of light and dark contrasts for dramatic effect and is skillful at storytelling through the painting. She captured the drama and excitement at the highest point. Rubens captured the dynamic spirit of the Baroque style that included rich colors, dramatic design, powerful twisting figures and Caravaggio’s illumination of figures. He also added realistic details that added to dramatic force.