Mantegna (sketch):

Line not colour is what Mantegna was all about.  He was trained in the study of marbles & the severity of the antique, he avowed that ancient art was superior to nature as more eclectic in form.  As a painter he exercised precision in outline, privileging the figure with a sculptural style.  His work tended towards rigidity, austere wholeness rather than graceful sensitivity of expression. His draperies are tight, closely folded, his figures slim, muscular & bony; the action impetuous but of arrested energy.  His colouring, initially neutral & undecided, matured although there is more balancing of colour than fineness of tone.  His mastery of optical illusion & perspective attained astonishing effects.

 

Signorelli (sketch):

Signorelli was noted for his ability as a draftsman & his use of foreshortening.  He paid great attention to anatomy.  He surpassed contemporaries in showing the structure and mechanism of the nude in immediate action.  His drawings in the Louvre demonstrate this and bear a close analogy to the method of Michelangelo. He aimed at powerful truth rather than nobility of form; comparatively neglecting colour.  His chiaroscuro exhibits sharp oppositions of lights and shadows.

 

Titian did not know how to draw (Michelangelo):

Michelangelo & Titian, celebrated painters of the 16th century, were both in Rome winter 1545-46.  Michelangelo, having completed the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, was the undisputed master of the city's art scene.  He studiously avoided Titian. One day, on a break from painting his sombre last frescoes The Conversion of St. Paul and The Crucifixion of St. Peter, he paid a surprise visit to Titian's workshop in the company of Giorgio Vasari.  It was the only time the 2 artists met.  At the meeting both artists were polite & complimentary (Titian showed off his nude Danae which Michelangelo praised highly.  However later, as Michelangelo & Vasari returned to their lodgings, Michelangelo stated:

              “I like the man’s style and his colouring, but it is a great pity that in Venice they don’t learn to draw well from the beginning and pursue their                       studies with more method. I tell you, if Titian had been helped by art and design as much as he was by nature—for the man has exceptional                     talent—no one would have been able to beat him, because he has a fine spirit and a captivating style.  Really.”

 

The “form" and the “content" of an art work: * see Endnote<A>

Art critics consider form and content as distinct.  Form refers to the work's style, techniques, media & the implementation of the elements of design.  It is how the artist handles the visual tools which include: line, shape, value, colour, texture & space.  In drawing and painting, the illusion of 3D form is conveyed through the use of lighting & shadows, and the rendering of value & tone.  Shape is defined by the outer contour of an object (line), which is how we first perceive it & make sense of it. Light, value & shadow give an object context in space so that we can fully identify it.  Content, on the other hand, refers to a work's subject matter, what is being depicted.  Content or subject might be religious (a Madonna) or personal (a portrait).  It might be public (a great historical event such as Napoleon’s Crossing the Alps) or more private (Watteau, The Swing).  Kant was one of the most influential of the early art theorists late 18th century. He believed that art should be judged only on its formal qualities because the content of a work of art is not of aesthetic interest. 

 

“complete inversion…of pictorial elements”: * see Endnote <B>

From the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, artists focused on content; a painting was valued in terms of how well the content was expressed.  Religious art affecting the penitent, monuments commissioned by city-states magnifying their roles, portraits of kings reflecting their saintly nature, were content heavy.  At the end of the Renaissance artists began to focus more on form (perspective).  Content was about identifying objects, relating them to a context as determined by the patron.  Optical reality is not necessarily ignored, but it is not the default objective.  Form is about art design issues notably space for Spengler, 3D and perspective (among others).  After 1600 these design issues came to the fore, while content was gradually relegated to secondary role.  This process has continued.

 

“instrumental music of the grand style came to the front”: * see Endnote<C>

Spengler is drawing a parallel with the pictorial arts (specifically oil painting) which circa 1600 began to move towards focus on form away from content; at the same time music began moving away from the human voice towards instrumental music, from modality towards tonality