Leo and Mich's approach to fine art.

The relationship of art and science during the renaissance has become an obvious motif in our discussions about Leonardo. However the relationship of art and science became obviously crucial in the life of a renaissance when reading about Michelangelo.

Understanding human anatomy, natural observation and physical experimentation is required of any artist, past and present, but the approach of the renaissance artist was just as much about understanding the subject physical properties and processes as it was creatively interpreting the image.

However their approach in their artwork shifted when it came to actually rendering the piece of art. Leonardo was more interested in physical representation rather then discovering internal beauty. "...the theory of Decorum. The gestures in which a figure makes must not only show his feelings but be appropriete with his age rank and feelings." (35Blunt) Lists, and categorization were all highly important when observing a subject, one could compare Leonardo to a modern sociologist or an anthropologist.  On the flip side Michelangelo was interested in interpreting a subjects beauty and an almost abstract approach, especially in sculpture, resulted.  rondanini pieta 

the "unfinished" work expressed what Michelangelo experienced, not the physical representation but the reflection of emotion. In this way, the piece of art is complete when embracing the unfinished surface.

Discussion 3 - The corrupt business of catholic rome

Renaissance Rome was a catholic run business headed by the pope and what one could call "cabinet" of clergy. As much as the church appeared to be run on merit, it was very obviously a patriarchal lineage. Family members of high ranking officials were given other high ranking positions while other clerics where given smaller roles in the church and purposely less educated. "Popes mostly viewed the church as monarchical, the papal power - both spiritual and temporal - as supreme, universal and absolute. They believed to be the new Christ figures on earth..." (- Partridge) With that mentality one can understand easily corruption could be abused. One could never do wrong if one is acting with the power of christ compelling them.

it makes me think about our own government, and the continuation of corruption in our contemporary society. What are the similarities? Why does corruption reoccur? 

Leo & Theater 257-290 ish (creation of the last supper)

Currently writing and hopefully directing my first piece of live theater this semester and obviously Leo's interest in theatrics sparked my interest. His visual contribution to Il Paradiso seem to resonate with the audience more than Bellincioni's words. Understanding the effective message of costume, lighting and set design is extremely impressive as most theater used the masquerade as the most effective tool in creating meaning in theater. "It was the multimedia extravaganza of it's day - physically constructed out of wood and cloth, transformed and animated into something ethereal by a combination of colour, lighting, music, ballet and poetry." (259) Theater gave Leo the opportunity to express physical action and emotion that a painting could not. His studies of hideous figures never truly appear outside of his sketch books unless personified on stage or live production. However his style and approach to rendering such images does transcend from theater, to his sketch books and to his paintings.

One can observe this when analyzing Leo's The Last Supper. An obvious moment in time, one could compare this image to a present day screen shot. Action and movement is present and one could not capture such attributes without first understanding why movement and theatrics is effective.

Humanism - Martines

Martines analysis on humanism discussed, among other things, the new out look on social and political interests. Humanism valued the ancient greek and roman ideals and reinforced them in their own contemporary settings. Education was no longer marginal, it was not restricted to idea's popularized by the church but valued secular idea's, ones that may have reinforced religious notions but always promoted individual worth. "'(T)he careful study of the past enlarges our foresight in contemporary affairs and affords to citizens and to monarchs lessons of incitement or warning in the ordering of public policy. From history also we draw our store of examples of moral precepts'" (Martines,195/Burni) Understanding ones own history was vital for scholars like Burni. It is inefficient to continue repeating the same social/political mistakes, to ensure progression for ones self and for ones society, one must appreciate and understand what practices functioned efficiently (functions that resulted in production of art/architecture, advances in science, career/educational opportunities, ect)  compared to practices that were detrimental to society (functions that resulted in oppression, further separating social classes, war, prejudice, ect). Restricting ones own knowledge to carefully selected passages from the new and old testament was inefficient. The only way to progress ones self and society was understanding all aspects of history, beyond the restrictions of religion.