Italian Renaissance Blog Response

This week I looked at Flor and Justine's blogs.

Flor mentioned that one-point perspective was created during this time which was a cool fact that I didn't know. I also liked how she dissected the different parts of the interiors of the time. She talked about how most walls were plaster and frescoes were prominent at the time. Some rarer walls were made of marble or wood paneling. Then she talked about how the floors were most commonly made of wood and rarely made of marble or had Turkish carpets. Next she talks about the ceilings and how they were considered their own piece of architecture. They usually had joists running in one direction or cross-beams were used. Some ceilings were plaster and were even painted.

I also liked this picture of a modern application from her blog.

Justine talked a lot about Palazzos and Piazzas. She said that many of the Palazzos could be found in a Piazza which was what the town square was called during the Renaissance. Piazzas were usually lined with cafes and shops and are where most people gathered for festivals, political events, and celebrations.

Here's a picture of a Piazza from Justine's blog.

Sistine Chapel Video

This is a video I found that shows that Michelangelo's Sistine chapel ceiling frescoes and talks more about them. I loved this because it went into more depth about each painting.

Itialian Renaissance

What I Learned

Renaissance is a term meaning rebirth and all of this began in Italy. This was a time when classical forms were refined and adapted for new uses. At this time everyone, no matter their monetary status, was interested in the arts. This was the first time that the arts were focused on interior/residential design. The design was inspired by ancient Rome and Greece. They dug up some ancient site and modeled their buildings after them.

The Florence Cathedral was the most important religious structure in Florence at this time. It was designed by Brunelleschi who built it based on inspiration from the Pantheon. 

Florence Cathedral

Palazzos were the style of house at this time. Their facades implemented important design elements such as repetition, alternation, and progression.  This style was well known for having three divisions, compound windows, and a heavy projecting cornice. Palazzos also had a central courtyard that was similar to that of a Roman domus. It contained now hallways, had walls pierced with niches, and had living space on the second and third floors over a store which was similar to the Roman insula.

Palazzo Facade

Palazzo Farnese by Michelangelo

The Palazzo Medici-Riccardi was designed by Michelozzo di Bartolommeo who was an architect for the Medici family. The Medici family were very influential patrons of the arts at this time. Floor plans for building included three guiding principles: symmetry, public rooms were immediately accessible from the mail entrance, and the Palazzo would be divided into smaller apartments. Rustication was used on the facade of this particular Palazzo. This process makes the exterior appear rugged and rustic like a fortress. 

Palazzo Medici-Riccardi

Palazzo Medici-Riccardi

This shows the rustication better.

My Favorites

Sistine Chapel ceiling frescoes by Michelangelo.

Savonarola Chair

Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci

Modern Applications

Cher's Itatalian Renaissance-style California villa.

Rodarte, a California-based fashion label, released a collection of dresses that was inspired by Italian art, specifically Renaissance frescoes in the monastery of San Marco by Fra Angelico in Florence, as well as the Baroque sculpture - Ecstasy of Saint Teresa - by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in Rome. Frescoes have vibrant colors that look chalky so that's one of the main fresco influences in these dresses. They found colors that were chalky but still vibrant.

Annalena Altarpiece by Fra Angelico - One of the inspiration pieces for the dresses.

Bonus: Italian Renaissance in Pop Culture

The Mona Lisa is an extremely famous painting that is recognized by almost everyone worldwide. This is why it is not surprising that several versions of it have shown up in pop culture. Here's one of the better examples:

Lego Mona Lisa

Another da Vinci piece, Vitruvian Man, has shown up in Pop Culture. This example is of a design created for a T-shirt that mixes the TV show Avatar: The Last Airbender with Vitruvian Man.

The original Vitruvian Man

The T-shirt spin-off.

Mesoamerican Ballgame Video

This is a reenactment of what gameplay of the Mesoamerican ballgame probably looked like.

I also found this very informative video about the ball game, but unfortunately Blogger won't let me embed it so here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4uNfzBEMXw

The Americas Blog Response

This week I looked at Chanel and Katie's blogs.

Chanel gave some information on the origin of the name Olmec that I found very interesting. She said "The name Olmec means 'rubber people' in Nahuatl. It was the Aztec name for the people who once lived in this area, and extracted latex from rubber trees. The word Olmec also refers to the rubber balls, used for the ancient ball game." I hadn't realized that rubber was so important to them before this.

I also really liked this modern Olmec-inspired interior picture that she found:

Katie had written some extra information on the giant stone heads that I didn't know. She said "The Olmec stone heads represented rulers of the time and surrounded the temple area. These 40-50 ton boulders were found in the jungle and the helmets they seem to be wearing are similar to the helmets worn in the ballgame invented by the Mesoamerican people." She also posted a video that talked about how these boulders were considered to be a throne initially and then reused once a new ruler came about to carve their face into the throne. That's really interesting because I hadn't realized that it looked like they were wearing helmets and I also had no idea that they used them as thrones or that they recarved them each time.

Here's the picture she posted that shows how the head looks like it's wearing a helmet.

You can also click here to go to her blog post that contains the video I mentioned above.

The Americas - The Olmecs

What I Learned

A map showing the geographic location of the Olmecs.

The Olmecs were the 1st dominant culture in Southern Mexico and the first major civilization in the whole of Mexico. They existed from about 2000 B.C. to 300 B.C. when they came to a sudden, violent unknown end. The Olmecs developed hieroglyphic writing and the first calendar in the Western Hemisphere. They made realistic artwork, played a Mesoamerican version of a ballgame, and the jaguar was the symbol of their chief deity. They were also the first city-based society with a temple as the focus of the city. The ceremony center of the city consisted of the great pyramid of the earth, a ball court, smaller pyramids, burial grounds, and giant stone heads. 

The stone head carvings are believed to represent a ruler. They were sculpted from basalt boulders and weighed 40-50 tons.

This shows just how large they really are.

Olmec artwork consisted of delicate carvings of jade, rock crystal, and other less valuable stones. They made things such as axe heads, mural paintings, pottery, masks, and other decorative objects. 

Fish vessel

Jade Olmec face mask

Olmec elites lived in highly decorated homes and wore elegant jewelry and clothing while commoners lived in stick and mud "houses," but at least food sources were reliable for the commoners.

The Olmecs were polytheistic, meaning they believed in multiple deities. They became close to the gods through bloodletting and human sacrifices. They also had shamans, people who believed they had a direct contact to a deity, who gave advice about agriculture and periodic rain to the leaders. Religious art included small ceramic figures, stone carvings, and utilitarian pots.

My Favorite Olmec Art

A bird vessel.

One of the Olmec's giant head carvings.

A mosaic at the city of La Venta.

Current Applications of Olmec Design

An Olmec head shows up in a record company's logo.

Olmec head inspired fountain at Playa del Carmen.

Dolce & Gabbana shirt with an Olmec-like design.

Gothic Blog Response

This week I looked at John and Sammy's blogs.

I liked how John went into details about gargoyles that I didn't see on other blogs. I never realized that gargoyles were originally created for functionality instead of just for looks. It was really interesting to learn that they were originally used as water spouts to drain water off the buildings. It was also interesting to learn that the word gargoyle actually translates to "Throat or Gullet" in English.

A picture showing the functionality of gargoyles from John's blog.

I like how Sammy's blog went into detail about the different arch types. Arches were very important during this time so that was a good topic to write more about. It's also very important to notice the differences between the Romanesque arches and the Gothic arches. Sammy explained that the Romanesque period had more of a rounded arch and that the Gothic arches were more pointed. She also explained that the Gothic churches were intended to look like heaven and light, while in Romanesque the churches were thick, dark, and heavy. I like this explanation of the two because it really helps you see how different they both are even though they both use arches.

Pictures from her blog that show the differences between arch styles:

Romanesque Arch

Gothic Arch