History of Western Art Ii

History of Art Final Paper I think the most important part of art is understanding how styles developed over the years and what influenced those developments. Some art movements develop based on political context, while others are created as a contrast to the current popular art movement. From a historical standpoint, I feel that portraiture is the best way to capture the essence of everything throughout the past. If I were an art director, I would choose to a portraiture display to show the progression of styles through time. Since my exhibition has to do with historical context, I would arrange my pieces in a very strict chronological order. The dates of the paintings themselves would not have to be in chronological order, but the order in which the different art styles came about would have to be followed exactly. My exhibit would start off with The Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci. This was painted c. 1503-1519 during the High Renaissance in Italy. It is considered to be one of the most popular and well-recognized examples of portraiture in the world, so it would only seem logical to include it in the exhibit. The High Renaissance’s main focus was returning to classical antiquity, such as the beauty of the art from ancient times and a rebirth of the classical culture. This spawning of new intellectual ideas came after the Middle Ages in Europe, which were generally considered a very dark time. The Renaissance evoked in people nostalgia for the culture of the classical ages. A focus of the Renaissance was the growing interest in humanism, as opposed to strictly religious works. The Mona Lisa is a perfect example of the encompassment of all of those ideals, as it reflects the beauty of a normal woman, as opposed to that of a religious figure. It also embodies the new Renaissance art discoveries, such as perspective and overall composition of the artwork. Mannerism came after the Renaissance. Because the Renaissance was considered the peak of artistic