Northern Renaissance Art - Research Paper Example

? Metropolitan Museum of Art: Italian Renaissance Northern Renaissance Art 5 February, INTRODUCTION Renaissance art is defined as the Renaissance art is defined as the intense personal and passionate involvement of the artist in the subject of his work of art (Fritzgerald 7). The research focuses on one Italian renaissance painter. The research also delves into the wood cut art of the Northern Renaissance artist, Albrecht Durer. Art is beauty in whatever form or style presented. BODY Italian Renaissance painting (Metropolitan Museum) Metropolitan museum Italian renaissance Stroganoff Madonna and Child Renaissance means revival (Pater 3). The above painting was done by Duccio di Buoninsegna, a renaissance Italian artist. The painting shows an intensely personal touch done by the artist, Duccio, on the masterpiece entitled “the Madonna and Child”. The painting was done in tempera and gold on wood. The title of the painting is Stroganoff Madonna. The painting was bought by the Metropolitan Museum for an estimated $45 million. This is one of the main masterpiece attractions of the Metropolitan Museum. The painting was bought during November 2004 from a Christie’s auction sale held in London. The painting was done by the Italian Sienese Renaissance artist, Duccio di Buoninsegna. The painting is done on Tempera and Gold on wood with its original frame still intact. In addition, Duccio is one of the two originators of the Western European Paintings. This is one of the rare solo paintings of the Italian artist. This is one of the complete and independent works of the artist. The painting above shows telltale signs of the artist’s intensely personal painting style grounded on the Italian Renaissance trademarks of proportion, anatomy, and perspective. His masterpieces are filled with life fused with Byzantine culture. The painting is endowed with the Franciscan movement’s religious trimmings. In addition, the painting is sprinkled with touches of Dante’s poetic majesty. Further, Duccio treated his paintings, including the above painting, as religious masterpieces grounded his own personal experiences. The above painting clearly shows spatial drama on a cogent stage. The painting shows perceptual space instead of rational space. The painting shows Duccio’s admiration for a fresco done of the life of Saint Francis by another famous painter, Giotto. Giotto was an immediate fan of Giotto’s painting style. The Giotto fresco of Saint Francis was grounded on Byzantine and medieval culture. In response, Duccio created his own art culture. The new culture is known as the Renaissance. Duccio’s Renaissance painting style focused on human sentiment, emotional response, lyricism, as well as color sensitivity. This is very evident in the above painting, Stroganoff Madonna and Child. The painting was intended for private devotion; the small panel shows that it was meant for private viewing. Northern Renaissance Painting (Metropolitan Museum) The wood cut entitled “Rhinoceros” is one of the Northern Renaissance painting displayed in the Metropolitan Museum. The masterpiece was done by the renaissance artist, Albrecht Durer. The masterpiece was done during in 1515. The picture shows an Indian Rhinoceros. Durer painted the masterpiece based on his won written description as well as the discussion of another artist. The Rhinoceros By Albrecht Durer In terms of the above picture, the Rhinoceros is a wood cut art masterpiece; it is distinctly displayed in the Metropolitan Museum. The wood cut was created by Albrecht Durer to celebrate the arrival in Lisbon of the Indian Rhinoceros animal on 20 May 1515. The wood cut vividly incorporates the proportion, anatomy, and perspective essences of Northern Italian renaissance art, incorporated from the Italian masters when Albrecht Durer visited and studied the uniqueness and personal intensity of the Italian renaissance artists. Further, the painting is based on the rhinoceros story. The ruler of Gujarat, Sultan Muzafar II (1511 -1526) gave the rhinoceros to the governor of Portuguese Indian, Alfonso d’Albuquerque. The rhinoceros has been carried on a ship stacked with lots of spices bound for Lisbon. Upon arrival in Lisbon, Dom Manuel organized a fight between the rhinoceros and an elephant. The elephant fled in fright upon seeing the massive rhinoceros. Based on reports reaching Albrecht Durer, the artist made the woodcut of the rhinoceros. Albrecht Durer did not see any real life rhinoceros since the animal had not reached Germany or Europe during Albrecht Durer’s time. In response, all other artists imitate the wood cut of Albrecht Durer for the next 300 years despite their seeing live rhinoceros that had no metal plates and scales as depicted Albrecht Durer, one who never saw a real rhinoceros. Furthermore, the painter is a Northern Renaissance artist. The painting had some imperfections. However, the artist was able to include all the major parts of the massive animal. In response, Durer’s painting has been used by other painters and artists in the presentation of the Rhinoceros animal. Albrecht Durer was born in Germany in 1471. He worked as a goldsmith in his father’s house at an early age. The many years of hard work had been instrumental in his mastery of painting. He studied the arts under the tutelage of Michael Wolgemut. The teacher was a well known painter and artist during the student days of Albrecht Durer. Wolgemut taught Albrecht Durer the rudiments of religious painting. Wolgemut taught Albrecht Durer the art of altar pieces, and wooldblock prints. Mr. Michael Wolgemut was an expert in printmaking. The Wolgemut art pieces included woodcuts used as illustrations for book presses located in Nurenburg, Germany. Nurenburg was the publishing community in Germany during those times. Consequently, the Albrecht Durer‘s woodcut lessons expanded to include printmaking. Albrecht Durer focused on printmaking. Etching became one of Albrecht Durer’s artistic skills. Albrecht Durer learned to master the making of woodcut art pieces under the long years of tutelage under Michael Wolgemut. Albrecht Durer mastered both wood cutting arts and engraving. Albrecht Durer’s works of art were inspired by the Italian renaissance masters. Albrecht Durer Travelled to Italy from 1494 to 1995 and from 1505 to 1507 to study the renaissance masterpieces of the Italian artists. Albrecht Durer’s works were influenced by the Italian renaissance artists including Giovannni Bellini, Antonio Pollaiuolo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael da Vinci, Andrea Mantegna, and Lorenzo di Credi. The Italian renaissance artists infused Albrecht Durer’s renaissance masterpieces in the areas of proportion, anatomy, and perspective. Albrecht Durer continued to infuse his life long paintings and other art masterpieces with the inputs from the Italian renaissance artists. CONCLUSION: Based on the above discussion, art is beauty in whatever form or style presented. In terms of the main features of the Italian renaissance art, the research shows the intensely personal beauty of the proportion, anatomy, and perspective of Italian renaissance art as shown in the Madonna and Child masterpiece. In terms of the main features of the Northern Renaissance art, the research also shows the intensely personal artistry of the Northern Renaissance wood cut artist, Ardrecht Durer. Indeed, Renaissance art is defined as the intense personal and passionate involvement of the artist or painter in the subject of his work of art. CITED WORKS: Fritzgerald, Anne. The Renaissance. New York: Creative Press, 2005. Madonna and Child, retrieved 3 February, 2011 from < HYPERLINK "http://www.culturekiosque.com/art/news/duccio_di_buoninsegna.html" http://www.culturekiosque.com/art/news/duccio_di_buoninsegna.html > Pater, Walter. The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Poetry. New York: Elibron Press, 2000. Rhinoceros by Albrecht Durer, retrieved 3 February 2011 from Rhinoceros by Albrecht Durer, retrieved 3 February 2011, from < HYPERLINK "http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pd/a/albrecht_d%C3%BCrers_rhinoceros.aspx" http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pd/a/albrecht_d%C3%BCrers_rhinoceros.aspx> Read More