jmcoffin

Geometry in Renaissance Art

As previously discussed in a blog regarding renaissance art, math played an important role in renaissance art. This blog further examines the role of geometry in renaissance art and the overall society.

The renaissance was a time of rebirth for the people living in it as well as developed art of the era. Many people of the time were merchants or artists who had to fully understand mathematics, especially since there was no common currency or unit of measurement. The rule of three was typically employed by people to gain an insight into fair prices and trading means, and was utilized and understood on a complex level by the majority of the people of the 14th century. In terms of geometry, this meant that the population could understand mathematical representations (mostly) even in terms of complex geometric equations represented in art. Although Da Vinci is typically referred to as the Renaissance man, this paper will examine works I have already seen in London from the artist Piero della Francesca.

Francesca practiced a series of geometric units in his paintings which will be examined for a few of his works, but particularly he practiced the linear perspective which he published books on later in his life.The first painting to examine is the,Flagellation of Christ which was referred to as scrupulously being planned. This painting can be broken and divided into two separate zones; one with crist divided into a square portion where the marble flooring is differentiated from the men in the foreground on the right hand side of the picture. Christ is dead center in terms of the geometry divisions, which can be inferred by utilization of this linear perspective utilized by the artist. This painting uses the formula has been depicted and divided by a series of mathematicians and artists alike, but just by simply looking at the picture you can gain a brief insight into the complexities surrounding the creation of the art work. Computer analysis has estimated the vanishing point to be exact to the nearest millimeter in the painting which is a feat today even with the assistance of computing in the creation of artworks.

A final painting I personally examined was the Virgin and Child with Saints, Angels and Federigo da Montefeltro (or commonly called Madonna and the Egg). This painting is divided into a 2:3 ratio with Madonna and Christ being dead center in respect to that division of the piece. The painting was actually commissioned so further insight into who is associated in the painting also provides insight regarding the work. From my art history class we had also made additional observations regarding the work including the strange and obvious egg that was above Madonna and child, which represents birth and virginity. In terms of religious associations, we also duly noted the sober nature of this new mother with a baby that we though indicated the death of Christ which is suggested based on the baby’s obvious strange neck position which makes viewers questions if the baby is alive or dead when you see the work in person. In terms of mathematics regarding the paper, the associated circular regions of the architecture of the depicted work is also congruent with the 2:3 mathematical formula used to layout the bottom portion of the artistic work.

References
"Geometry in Art & Architecture." Polyhedra & Plagiarism in the Renaissance. Dartmouth. 10 Dec. 2008 .

Continue reading "Geometry in Renaissance Art" »

Posted by jmcoffin at 09:43 PM | Permalink

Not So Bad After-all

For an assignment in our 602 class, we were asked to give and record a speech as a group to our class and then watch the video as a group. Unfortunately, my group was the only one that had not watched our video (or at least admitted it) out of our class by the second week until the end of the semester and with prodding we finally decided to watch it after that class session.

We gathered in our typical meeting place located in the CICS labs which we have become all too familiar with over the course of the semester and began to watch and comment on the video as a group.

Personally I felt as if I were shaking and stutter stepping through the entire presentation and expected the video to show every flaw I had committed through the course of my delivery. I was surprised that I actually seemed much more composed than I had expected when viewing the footage. I seemed surprisingly calm throughout, and seemed to maintain much better eye contact than I had thought when I was shaking and reading these cards due to being so nervous. The video overall had shown me that I wasn't nearly as bad as I though (especially after receiving a failing grade from a fellow classmate regarding my evaluation).
As a group I felt like everyone did a great job, as I had observed from watching the others give presentations. Given that we did have a few hiccups with the projector and me not asking someone to turn the slides, I think we did pretty well. We could have organized where we stood during other presentations better, but overall we all did a good job and I was happy with the outcome. I could not ask for a better group to give presentations with who were so composed and excellent at organizing powerpoint slides.

Posted by jmcoffin at 08:43 PM | Permalink

Changing Times

The renaissance gave birth to a slew of new ideas, technologies, mathematical concepts, and artistic innovations. During these changing times, several artists emerged that are still infamous today from their works writings and especially through their remanding art. This blog attempts to answer the question regarding what made the differences in art from the 13th to the 14th century?

Emerging from the middle ages the cultural emphasis of the time had a fluctuation from being primarily religious orientated into a humanistic movement, which was reflective in artistic renditions. Artists have been our key into knowing what technologies and happenings have occurred throughout the centuries in addition to the historic record.
In terms of the renaissance, there were dramatic shifts seen in artistic representations. Firstly, what they were painting with changed from an egg based quick drying coloring to oil based paint. The oil paint assisted artists in layering and also gave them additional time to work since the paint was slow drying, which also assisted in adding depth to paintings.

Innovations in math also assisted artists in terms of creating actual representations of subject material and eliminating the hieratic scale that was typically used in Middle age religious works. Typically in the 13th century, paintings were mostly religious with icons having a halo around their heads and being drawn on a larger scale than their surrounding counterparts (through use of the hieratic scale). With the current movement being more humanist based, religious figures were drawn to actual size and put back into a normalized environment versus that of gold clamor it was previously depicted in.

The humanistic movement, which centered on a more earthly basis as opposed to that of the heavens, was directly reflected in art as preciously mentioned. Specifically, religious depictions were now drawn to a normal scale; religious figures were depicted without halos, and in everyday environments. This also meant that there was a new shift towards accurate representations of the environment as well as architecture.

A few representations of the changing times include Madonna and Child with St. John (1523/1525) that shows evidence of typical 14th century religious paintings, and Jacopa di Cione Madonna and Child in Glory (1360/65) which is painted in gold and the use of the hieratic scale is evident.

References
"Humanism in the Renaissance." The Renaissance Connection. 10 Dec. 2008 .

Continue reading "13th Versus 14th Century Art" »

Posted by jmcoffin at 08:42 PM | Permalink