Bad Boys – Brunelleschi's Dome

1418

Bad Boys
The Men Who Saw Art and Chose To Change It
Curated by Gabrielle Fenaroli

Brunelleschi, Florence Cathedral, 1418

Florence decided it needed a large cathedral, not to rival Rome, of course, who would do such a thing? Merely, to have a place in which its citizens could worship. It just so happened that the cathedral they were building required a dome with a 143 feet diameter and if it happened to be larger than the Pantheon, well, whose coming to Florence anyway? The only problem was no man was brave enough to complete the task without fear of his plan collapsing. So in 1418 a competition was held to decide who would put their name on the line to create one of the most monumental features in all of Florence. The winner was a cocky, irritable clock maker named Filippo Brunelleschi, whose arrogance was matched only by his skill.

Brunelleschi’s idea was to create a dome with an octagonal lantern with eight flying buttresses and eight arched windows. Brunelleschi invented numerous devices to even begin the construction, which involved hoisting over 70 million pounds of material hundreds of feet in the air. The most common way of building a dome in the 1400s was to support is with scaffolding called “centing,” but because of the large, open area inside the cathedral, the citizens wanted something large and noticeable. There was not enough wood in all of Northern Italy to build scaffolding large enough to support the dome the Florentines wanted. So, Brunelleschi decided to create a dome that supported itself as it was built. The dome would occupy most of Brunelleschi’s life, but also serve as his proudest achievement.

  • 7:00 AM

Bad Boys – Tribute Money

1420

Bad Boys
The Men Who Saw Art and Chose To Change It
Curated by Gabrielle Fenaroli

Massacio, Tribute Money, 1420

Art changes. This statement we know as fact. Changes what though? When does it change? How does it change? And who is brave enough to change it? I want to explore the idea behind a movement in art, the propelling force that makes people want to change the status quo. So here we are with an opportunity to no longer be a bystander, but to no delve into certain facets of art and explore the men who changed the face of art forever.

A picture holds a thousand words. Cliché? Yes. True? You betcha. When does this phenomenon of narrative in painting begin, though? Much of the early painting did not tell a story, rather captured a moment in time. Massacio doesn’t want to leave it up to the viewer to create his or her own idea of what is going on, he has decided to let the whole scene unfold in front of them.

Massacio knows the people he wants this painting to touch can’t read a Bible. He's opposed to having written word dictated to them and wants to give them a chance to interpret the story through sight. Massacio’s Tribute Money, painted in 1420, depicts a scene from the book of Matthew. In the story Jesus tells Peter to go to the sea to catch a fish, and inside that fish’s mouth will be coins. Even though Jesus is exempt from paying a Temple Tax because it is his father’s temple, he still choses to show the disciples that material goods on Earth mean nothing to those in Heaven.

Aside from the new form of narrative that the piece takes on, it also employs a change stylistically. Masaccio toys with the idea of single-point perspective. The head of Christ becomes the vanishing point, which immediately draws the viewer to his face. It widely believed to be the first painting, since Rome fell in 476 A.D, to use single point linear perspective. He takes the viewer on a journey and delivers them to Christ, something never done in art before.

  • 7:00 AM

Death of the Virgin

1605

Caravaggio, Death of the Virgin, 1605
I began my senior year with enthusiasm and joy, although it was often difficult for me to envision the end. I could never materialize how I felt, mostly because I did not want to. If I were to divulge my emotions and allow them to escape from the confines of my body then everything would become all too real. I spent the beginning of the year in a peaceful daze, allowing the moments to pass me by because if I confronted them it would be all too difficult to forget. That was true until I saw Caravaggio’s 1605 Death of the Virgin. 

The people do not have clear faces because, similar to me, grief has robbed them of identity. I had spent the first half of the year focusing on how this was an “end.” Senior year felt like a death because I couldn’t imagine a life without the friends, teachers, and family that surround me everyday. The men and women that surround Mary allow their bodies to portray their emotions with their clenched fists held up to their eyes. Caravaggio chooses not to paint the Virgin in her final moments, or even the moment following her death; however, he paints what comes after both. The moment between grieving and moving on. That is exactly where I was. I had grieved, but I couldn’t bring myself to move on so instead I was simply emotionally paralyzed.
           
The Virgin has never been depicted in this light before, and people had (and still have) a hard time receiving the image. There are no hints in the painting, besides its title, to let the viewer know this is Mary. Her face is lined with age, and she appears to be an ominous shade of green. The scene has a feeling of haste attached to it, as a blanket is quickly thrown over Mary as arrangements are made for her funeral. However if you are to look beyond the scene, Caravaggio adds an element of drama to the canvas. The red drapery mirrors Mary’s wrinkled dress and symbolizes death and transformation. The dress and the Virgin’s body drained of life reveals the cruel stamp of reality, but the curtain reminds us of an afterlife. While the moment is shocking and painful, there will come a time when the pain will end and the mourners will move on. Mostly because they have to but also because that is simply the way life goes.

After viewing this piece, I took the time to confront my emotions about graduating and facing the “death” of my childhood. I was going to become an adult, and even if I did not want it now, it was best for me. Caravaggio gave me the rare opportunity to spend the rest of the year in a place of peace and understanding. When graduation comes I will be nostalgic, but I will also look to the red curtain and know that my future awaits.

  • 7:00 AM

Judith Slaying Holofernes

Gabbi Fenaroli



Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Slaying Holofernes, 1612
I feel it. Can you? The eyes of judging viewers, neither alleviating nor sympathizing with her pain, allowing her assault to go on well beyond the confines of her rape. A public trial that ends in a deep seeded hatred of men, with just cause, of course. Artemisia Gentileschi paints her version of Judith Slaying Holofernes in 1612, and the hate she feels for her rapist and all men radiates through. While one admires the virtuosity and sheer magnificence of the painting, with its rich flesh tones and flowing fabrics of crimson and gold, the horror and brutality can not be overlooked.

Gentileschi was a woman unlike any other in the era of Italian Baroque. She grew up under the watchful eye of her painter father who encouraged and cultivated her talent. Then in 1611 her father began working with Agostino Tassi to decorate the vaults of Casino della Rosa inside the Pallavinci Rospigliosi Palace in Rome. He liked the work that Tassi was doing, so he hired the painter to tutor his daughter. Behind the closed doors of the painter's studio, Tassi raped Gentileschi with the help of Cosmio Quorlis. Her father then pressed charges against Tassi,which resulted in a seven month trial in which Gentileschi was given a gynecological examination and was tortured using thumbscrews. Tassi was eventually sentenced to a year in jail, although he never served the time.
Detail Judith Slaying Holofernes

The narrative unfolds in front of the viewer as a drunken man becomes witness to his own murder as his eyes are pried open by the jolting pain. The woman, whose arms represent purpose and strength, knows exactly what it takes to save her town from an invading army. The most visually dramatic feature of the panting is the blood splattering from Holofernes severed throat.

It comes as no surprise that this painting manifests itself right after Gentileschi’s rape and public humiliation. The cold demeanor of Judith and the uncanny resemblance to Gentileschi supports the claim that she is painting what she would like to do to her attackers. 

  • 7:00 AM

Rape of Proserpina

Bernini


Bernini, The Rape of Proserpina, 1621
“Texture of the skin, the flying ropes of hair, the tears of Persephone and above all the yielding flesh of the girl”, Howard Hibbard comments about Bernini’s 1621 masterpiece The Rape of Proserpina. The young girl pushes Pluto away, attempting to return to her home above the underworld. Her captor appears amused and dazed by the fact she wants to escape his hold.

The work embodies movement and motion unlike any scripture seen before. Bernini invents the idea of the interactive statue - a piece of artwork that interacts with its surroundings. The limbs of the subject puncture the surrounding air and invite the viewer to look closer. The twisting, turning bodies juxtaposed into a moment of extreme distress and playfulness at the same time. Although Pluto’s stature is overwhelming, Cerberus standing behind him and Proserpina on his hip balances the piece.

Rape of Proserpina detail
Most critics tend to agree on the artistic merit of the piece, but there are those critics who find faults with the statue. In the 18th and 19th century when Bernini’s reputation was faltering, many commented on the anatomical aspects saying, “Pluto's back is broken; his figure extravagant, without character, nobleness of expression, and its outline bad; the female one no better.” However, I have yet to encounter another statue as moving as Bernini’s.

There is a part of me that feels for Pluto, the hopeless romantic. He merely wants a companion other than his three-headed dog (no hate on Cerberus, though). The misunderstood giant grabbing out to hold onto the one he loves. Proserpina a scared young girl who only wants to return home where her own bed awaits her. I couldn’t agree more with Bernini’s son, Domenico, when he says,” an amazing contrast of tenderness and cruelty."



  • 2:56 PM