Week 7 Video Review

In a general sense I tried to view the videos of the artists I was not too familiar with, and this was especially the case of Albrecht Durer, a German master of woodcuts and portraits during the time of the Renaissance. There are some interesting dynamics in the work of Durer, from his work ethic and refinement to his unmatchable level of observation and seemingly different styles with the use of various media. I was especially impressed with Durer's non-idealized representation of the figure in his portrait work, and the level of realism achieved with his charcoal drawings and paintings. His self portrait painting, the same one which is in our text, is also a great example of Durer's ingenuity and narcissism, as he seems to have used the portrait of himself to showcase his complex, almost divine, system of proportion through the use of the triangle, circle, and square. Durer's woodcuts, however, seem to represent a different style, perhaps one more closely connected with the history and tradition of his German culture. While there is obviously a great level of detail and influence on the use of light and shadow obtained from his travels and exposure to Italian Renaissance artists, there seems to me to be a more stylized, almost cartoon-like representation of the figure in his woodcuts and prints. The video's display of Durer's work has given me a new appreciation for the incredible talents of this artist.

I had seen some of the work of Caravaggio, yet this is an example of how the story of the artist can make his work more intriguing. While the incredible realism depicted by Caravaggio through the use of intense light and dark and expression is by itself enough to make his paintings remarkable, the story of this troubled artist reveals the darkness to his work while explaining his devotion to making his work real and truthful. The original, dark, and seemingly rebellious nature of his paintings is a direct characterization of Caravaggio himself, who was a product of the "dark" underbelly of Rome. He had a tremendous ability to depict religious narratives in such a way as to make them real, as if the viewer was actually witnessing a live event or was actually a part of the painting. Caravaggio was violent, unpredictable, and in the end seeking redemption for murder. This dynamic and conflict of religious themes to his work and personal guilt manifested itself in his paintings, especially in his version of David's beheading of Goliath, where the head of Goliath is actually a self portrait of Caravaggio. I credit Caravaggio for letting his inner turmoil manifest itself in his work, and think that this element of honesty is one of the reasons why he is such a fascinating and masterful artist.

The video of La Primavera was interesting, and reveals the tremendous impact a single work of art can have upon society even centuries after it's creation. The debate over the meaning of the work takes center stage in the video, and it is truly fascinating how deeply intellectual, and seemingly intentionally ambiguous, artists like Botticelli were. This is also an example of a painting evoking different responses from people, as the interpretations of the work have included symbolism related to marriage, eroticism, the depiction of primitive, human, and divine love, and even homo-eroticism through the figure of Mercury. The video covers this debate, yet also highlights some of the technical genius of Botticelli in his use of egg tempera to create the translucent garments of the three graces, and the incredible detail in the representation of hundreds of flowers throughout the painting. The video accurately describes the allegory of La Primivera as a work of aesthetic and intellectual beauty.