Art History
...Mythological
Up until the Renaissance, most art had to do with religion. Architecture, sculpture, music and painting all centered around the scenes from the Bible, the lives of the saints, and portraits of Madonna and the Christ Child. But this changed as the Renaissance progressed. Greek and Roman gods reappeared everywhere. Sculptures imitated those of ancient Greece. ROMEO AND JULIET and most of Shakespeare's work are full of references to the ancient gods and their myths. A good example of this transition might be to view a strong Biblical theme from the early 1400's and then take a look at one artist's version of mythological subjects painted about 75 years later.
A. Religious: Lorenzo Ghiberti was a sculptor whose greatest work was the bronze doors he designed and completed for the Baptistry at Florence in the first half of the 15th Century.
Check the web sites on the bronze sculptures of Ghiberti and the Eastern Door of the Baptistry in Florence for the following questions:
1. Describe the panel of the Sacrifice of Isaac. What
Bible scene is Ghiberti portraying?
2. Describe the detail in the Creation of Adam, a panel on
the Eastern door of the Baptistry. How does it differ
from Michelangelo's depiction of the ceiling of the
Sistine Chapel?
3. Choose one other famous Biblical scene and describe
Ghiberti's interpretation of it.
B. Mythological: Now to the mythological - Botticelli painted religious scenes as well, but two of his most famous works deal with famous myths, stories which the ancient Greeks told to explain nature and the world around them. Using his Allegory of Spring or Primavera,...
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