Art History - Contrapposto, Ignudi, Sfumato - Essay Example

Leonardo’s painting, the Mona Lisa is a good example of a painting that utilizes the sfumato technique.
Central plan for churches refers to a church plan that consists of a main central space bounded by symmetrical areas on each side.
Single-point perspective is a drawing technique of presenting objects as they appear as the eyes move further away whereby the lines end up at one vanishing point. This makes the object appear more realistic with the receding lines extending and meeting at one point.

The pyramidal composition consists of the arrangement of art objects where the bigger objects occupy the center, while the smaller objects are arranged on the sides. Introduced by Leonardo da Vinci, the term became a trademark of the High Renaissance
A vanishing point is a point in a perspective painting where the receding lines seem to meet and diminish into the horizon. One-perspective painting has one vanishing point, two perspectives two vanishing points, and so on.

Part II: Essay
Condottiere was the name given to the captain or leader who commanded a mercenary in the 14th and 15th centuries in Italy. The leader together with his mercenary engaged in fights in the Italian city-states on behalf of the contracting Papacy and the city-states. Thus, the word condottiere originated from condottiere meaning contractor. The mercenary worked with states directly fighting for them, and a fighting contract was signed with the highest bidder. Nevertheless, the contract bound them to a certain city or state with whom the contract was signed, but they moved from one lord or city to another, a game that was fatal for both parties. Additionally, some condottiere had their small towns acquired through inheritance of conquer, for example, Attendolos who founded the Sforza family (Lenman and Anderson 56).

In Renaissance society, the military skill was very expensive, but a wealthy city such as Venice was in a position to afford the services of a condottiere and his mercenary. Therefore, such wealthy cities hired military services only when needed, and this provided a way for them to spare their citizens from the horror and the rigors of war, and save on the cost of maintaining a standing military. Furthermore, the condottiere played a significant role in influencing the field of art as some of the greatest statues of all time in Italy were of the condottiere.

An example of a work of art that demonstrates the role of condottiere is Denatello’s Equestrian Statue of Erasmo da Narni, referred to as Gattamelata (Lenman and Anderson 57). This statue is a powerful illustration of Erasmo da Narni whose military prowess was well known in the entire states and cities of Italy. Denatello commenced working on the statue following the death of his subject in 1443, and finished it in 1453, after ten years. This statue commemorates the fame and victory that da Narni achieved during his life as a condottiere. An important significance of this statue is that it marked a shift in traditional equestrian statues, which were only reserved for kings among other rulers as the subjects. Read More