polyphonic:

referring to music, having 2 or more voices or parts, each with an independent melody, but all harmonizing; contrapuntal (opposed to homophonic).

 

tones:

in pictorial art- a quality of colour with reference to the degree of absorption or reflection of light; a tint or shade; value; the distinctive quality by which colours differ from one another in addition to their differences indicated by chroma, tint, shade; a slight modification of a given colour; hue

 

Leonardo (Impressionism):

Leonardo, a High Renaissance artist,  is not strictly an Impressionist & not normally associated with this school which was a 19th-century art movement.  It originated with a group of Paris-based artists; it is characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), use of ordinary subject matter (e.g. not historical or religious), inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception & experience, and unusual visual angles.  Spengler does not dispute this of course, but says he (along with Giorgione) “begins Impressionism”.  In other words Leonardo is a pioneer, whose path eventually leads towards Impressionism.  Spengler would emphasize Leonardo’s development of the refined chiaroscuro called sfumato—the delicate use of shades of colour to depict light and perspective.  His delicate colour modulations result from the tiny disconnected spots of paint that he probably derived from Illuminated manuscript techniques and first brought into oil painting. It is this interest in depicting light that prompts Spengler’s assertion.

and see above page 236

​

Giorgione(Impressionism): * see endnote<A>

1477-1510, Italian painter, born near Venice, died young age 30; famous for the elusive poetic quality of his work, though only 6 known paintings are attributed to him.  This uncertainty has made him one of the most mysterious figures in European art.  With Titian, he founded the Venetian school which achieves much of its effect through colour and mood & is traditionally contrasted with Florentine painting, which relies on a more linear disegno-led style.  A painter of the High Renaissance, like Leonardo, he is normally NOT categorized as an Impressionist.

 

transvaluation:

a new evaluation or estimation of value, especially on a basis differing from accepted standards; reappraise; re-evaluate.  The re-valuation is a concept from Nietzsche.  In The Antichrist he asserts that Christianity, not merely as a religion but also as the predominant moral system of the Western world, inverts nature & is "hostile to life".  As "the religion of pity", it elevates the weak over the strong, exalting that which is "ill-constituted and weak" at the expense of that which is full of life and vitality.

 

delineating styles:

an artistic style that represents accurately or precisely; outline, summarizes or detail

 

kinesis:

the movement of an organism in response to a stimulus, as light.

 

Mantegna (plane layers): * see endnote<B>

Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective (e.g. by lowering the horizon  to create a sense of greater monumentality).  His flinty, metallic landscapes & stony figures reflect his fundamentally sculptural approach to painting.  His main legacy was the introduction of spatial illusionism, both in frescoes & in sacra conversazione paintings.  In addition to this focus, he was closely allied with the humanist movement flourishing in Padua, where university professors & scholars from all over Europe arrived to study the works of ancient Greek & Roman authors.  Mantegna studied Roman ruins & literature & consciously incorporated elements of the classical world into his works, one of the first Renaissance painters to do so.  The accurate details of costume, armour & architecture demonstrate his archaeological interest in classical antiquity.

and see above page 221

 

Tintoretto (directional energy): * see Endnote<C>

In the restless dynamism of his composition, his dramatic use of light, and his emphatic perspective effects, Tintoretto is a Baroque artist ahead of his time.  A comparison of Tintoretto's The Last Supper with Leonardo’s demonstrates of how artistic styles evolved during this period.  Leonardo's is all classical repose & studied balance; the disciples radiate away from Christ in almost-mathematical symmetry.  With Tintoretto, the same event becomes dramatic, even confused as the human figures are joined by angels. A servant is placed in the foreground, perhaps in reference to the Gospel of John 13:14–16.

see Chapter VI page 207

 

landscape-painters of Holland (backgrounds & atmospheres): * see Endnote<D>

In the 16th century landscape painting flourished as an independent genre in the Dutch Republic & Spanish Netherlands.  In Flanders & notably Antwerp, it was a popular subject for painters, draftsmen & printmakers from the mid-1500s onward. The pioneering landscape paintings of Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1525-69), such as The Harvesters, as well as the imaginary panoramas of Joachim Patinir (d. 1524) influenced printmakers who spread ideas for landscape subjects and compositions through woodcuts, engravings, and etchings.  The most experimental ideas, around 1600 included direct responses to topography & motifs.  This happened first in drawing, then in prints & finally in paintings.  Paintings were more costly to produce in time & materials, expensive to purchase, and represented a greater shift in taste than works on paper.  Factors that gave rise to secular subjects include the urbanization of Europe 1500-1600.  This was particularly evident in Holland (with major cities like Amsterdam, Haarlem, Leiden, The Hague, Rotterdam & Dordrecht) where as much as 70% of this population lived in cities & towns.  Mercantile & professional class patrons developed an interest in art that reflected everyday lives & values.  Genre pictures were concerned with contemporary society & human nature, still life with domestic life & collectibles (including flowers) & seascapes with foreign travel, the sea itself, the grandeur of nature.  Dutch & Flemish landscape paintings were rarely symbolic but were usually rich in associations, ranging from God and all of nature to national, regional, or local pride, agriculture and commerce, leisure time, to the sheer pleasure of physical sensation: fresh air, daylight, wind, moisture, cold and warmth, colours, textures.

 

Signorelli (foregrounds): * see Endnote<E>

an Italian painter, Tuscany, noted in particular for his ability as a draftsman &his use of foreshortening.  His massive frescoes of the Last Judgment (1499–1503) in Orvieto Cathedral are his masterpiece.  These frescoes display very busy and crowded foregrounds, with great narrative detail.

And see above page 221

 

Mantegna (foregrounds and reliefs): * see Endnote<F>

Mantegna was pioneer of perspective & space.  He was concerned with establishing rather crisp, sculpturesque forms (he was strongly influenced by the sculpture of Donatello) in an accurately rendered perspective space which considered the beholder's viewpoint.  Mantegna developed techniques to gives the illusion of 3-dimensional subjects on a 2-dimensional surface.  He unified the actual space of the room with the painted space creating an illusion that foretells the work of Correggio

 

Rembrandt (no foreground): * see EndNote<G>

Leonardo’s approach to space differed from the Florentine Renaissance.  The latter were focused on perspective & line.  As such we find clearly defined backgrounds, foregrounds & middle ground.  Leonardo explores space from a psychological, less optical, approach.  The Florentine style give us very obvious visual clues as to perspective with clear & delineated vanishing points & parallel lines converging as they fall into the distance.   Details in the foreground are crisp with a clear heavy line; as we recede line losses weight but crisp detail remains a feature of the background.  Colour blocks are used to highlight foreground figures; background colours will fade slightly.  Scale of course is important: figures in the foreground are larger than those in the background.  Rembrandt however does not concentrate on foreground so much as use background to create foreground.  His backgrounds have weak line, foreground are much more distinct: details in the foreground enjoy clarity, background detail is more amorphous with ill-defined shapes, suggestive rather than definitive.  Colour is also critical for Rembrandt.  He uses muted & dark tones for the background, with little variation.  He then employs lighter & richer colours for the main content, a style which pushes the central character forward.  He also uses chiaroscuro to heighten the dramatic effect in the foreground content.

 

Books of Hours (Duke of Berry): * see Endnote<H>

The Book of Hours is a type of popular Christian devotional, in Latin, most common extant medieval illuminated manuscript (thousands have survived). Each is unique; most contain a similar collection of texts, prayers & psalms, often with appropriate decorations, for Christian devotion.  They were developed for the lay who wished to incorporate elements of monasticism into their devotional life.  Reciting the hours typically centred upon the reading of psalms and other prayers.  Illumination is minimal in many examples, restricted to decorated capital letters at the start of psalms’ however those made for wealthy patrons were often lavish, with full-page miniatures.  The Very Rich Hours of the Duke of Berry is the most famous & possibly best surviving Bok of Hours; it is an example of French Gothic manuscript illumination, showing the late International Gothic phase; created  1412-16 by the Limbourg brothers for the extravagant royal bibliophile & patron John, Duke of Berry. When the 3 painters and their sponsor died in 1416 (plague), the manuscript was left unfinished.  It was further embellished in the 1440s by an anonymous painter, and 1485-89, it was brought to its present state by the painter Jean Colombe on behalf of the Duke of Savoy.