AH midterms

AH midterms

The piece is showing the artists use of single point perspective. there's a clear background middle ground & foreground in the piece, and the single point perspective allows the artist to create the illusion of depth and space within a 2D medium. This is done using orthogonals, A horizon and a vanishing point particularly seen in the pattern of tiles on the floor of the piazza/large town square. In the background the colors seem to blur together hazily thus highlighting that it is in the distance and again aligning pictorial image with the optical image. The scale of the building in the background is also smaller/ same size as the subjects in the foreground which contributes to the 3-D effect of the single point perspective. the people in the middle ground can also be seen to be smaller and have less detail than the subjects in the foreground. this shows that there is a distance between the two groups of people in actuality

The placement of the main church on the vanishing point draws the viewers focus to it as a focal point. this is reflective of the fact that many art pieces in the Italian Renaissance depicted biblical narratives or focused on the church. one of the reasons for this is that the church's decline played a role in allowing the renaissance to flourish with the decline of the Byzantine empire and Constantinople, artists  spread out to Florence and other parts of Italy carrying their skills with them. The church's  decrease in power facilitated the rise in humanism, which places inherent value on human beings as individuals rather than the medieval notion that humans were merely temporary vessels for the spirit. in order to regain their clout, churches often collaborated with private dealers (given the flourishing wealth of bankers and merchants in Florence at the time and the rising middle class) such as the Medicis to commission pieces with religious texts/connotations. The private commissioners' patronage of the artists allowed them to gain favor with the common people and (supposedly) with God. The growing industry also facilitated the invention or adaptation of old medieval painting methods and the discovery of precious pigments such as gold silver and Persian blue.

Persian blue was Gem-like and iridescent in nature thus bringing the viewer's attention to parts where it was sparingly used. In this piece, the German blue of the sky pales in comparison to the Persian blue used in the clothes of the kneeling figure at the center of the piece. As the eye moves from this focal point upwards, through the orthogonals (horizontal lines with decreasing distance between each other to reflect the spatial reality of the floor of the piazza which likely was idealized to resemble a checkerboard) and to the church, it is evident that the artists' skill in creating the illusion of depth is present.

The rise of humanism coincided with the Western age of discovery, in which ideas of classical antiquity (Greek and Roman ideals of exploring nature and representing it with anatomical accuracy) allowed artists to deviate from the inaccurate depictions of the human body in medieval times. In the dark ages, less focus was placed on showing the body, as it was viewed as a temporary vessel, and seeing it in the nude was associated with Christian ideas of mortal sin. it is thus remarkable that in this piece, the faces of the subjects in the foreground are distinct, probably taken in inspiration for models. this focus on the subjects individuality is reflective of humanistic ideals. Furthermore, the shading and detail in each subject presents itself to the viewer. this allows viewers to empathize with the subjects following the revolution in Christian ideals which followed St. Francis' message of humble and emphatic approaches to religion. Allowing the viewer the single point perspective via the receding lines places the viewer at a focal point too, highlighting that focus was not only placed on artists as individuals but on the viewer as an individual as well. 

The shift from 'gold to bush'can be seen in this piece by the fact that instead of gilding in gold, the background is vividly portrayed with itemized landscapes shown by the blurry mountains in the background. Furthermore,all the positions of the subjects in the foreground seem more natural and even have elements of contrapposto in comparison to earlier works with more contrived body language (e.g. The virgin pointing at her son to indicate that he is divine). We see the individuality of the artist present within the painting. the fact that the patrons allowed this reflects the status of the master artist as well as the close relationship between patron and artist. details in the drapery and shading of each subject reflect careful focus from the artist, thereby highlighting his skill in playing with shadows and light. 

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This piece by BASAWAN depicts two elephants( hawaii and ran bagha)pitted against each other by Akbar, seen atop one of the elephants. the scene is dynamic by virtue of its diagonal axis and zigzag lines shown by the bridge and the shoreline. the water is painted with consistent patterns and embellishments. This piece differs from BASAWN's other pieces, with typical subdued Persian palettes depicting greens, browns, and a gold sky. here, the effect of Akbar's rule as a tolerant and cosmopolitan ruler can be seen through the cross pollination of Safavid Persian and Indian styles of painting.

Akbar's princely status can be seen through his position with in the painting. whilst other subjects blend into the background due to the sheer density of people (fisherman struggling to get to shore to escape the turbulent waters or hoards of men struggling to prevent the bridge from collapsing), Akbar remains singular and stands his own ground against the gray of the elephants. His status is reinforced by the vibrant splash of solid red on the cloth he sits atop while riding the elephant. this reflects Akbar's need to be seen in the eyes of his people as a competent and possibly even divine ruler fueled by political strife on the borders of the Mughal empire. this political unrest was probably also the reason why he implemented so many tolerant policies placing Muslims on equal footing with the Hindu majority. Akbar's cosmopolitan policies may have been an attempt to subdue orthodox Muslim scholars who possibly rejected advice glorification of himself as a ruler. this was in response to the fundamental idea of Islam that 'there is no God but God'. 

In spite of this, Akbar was remembered as a successful ruler. His atelier allowed art music and literature to flourish. the fact that the library really worked so closely with the atelier reflects the cohesion present in his rule as a king, and that many pieces done with to be presented in conjunction with their many Scripts, such as this piece found in Akbarnama (his biography). This piece differs from the earlier piece in that there are multiple points of entry to the piece, providing the viewer with multiple perspectives. this does not necessarily reflect a gap in knowledge between the Mughal Renaissance and the Italian Renaissance. more likely the answer lies in the different purposes of artwork between the two countries. while in Italy, art was made to be consumed by the masses and viewed as a spectacle of beauty and gods glory, the purpose for art in the Mughal empire was largely to facilitate storytelling. large pieces such as this would be placed on cloth so as to be unrolled during the storytelling. furthermore it can be suggested that there was more humility needed in the Mughal empire, since Akbar's support of aesthetics can be seen as a subtle rebellion against Islamic ideals in his pursuit of a new syncretic religion. 

BASAWN trained under SAMAD and SAYYID ALI, alongside MISKIN. His flair for portraiture can be seen in this piece by the individuality and uniqueness of each subject in the painting, specifically in Akbar's triumphant expression. Whilst MISKIN is credited as being better in the depiction of animals/all that was marvelous and strange, BASAWAN's attempt to portray the dramatic energy and rhythm in this piece is evident through his treatment of the lines is this piece as well as through the portrayal of the turbulent waters and the dynamic body poses of the subjects viewing or part of the scene. it can be noted that the elephant's foot protrudes into the frame of the scene, creating the life-like illusion, as if the elephant is jumping out of the frame at the viewer. 

The piece is split into 3/4 parts by the emphatic lines of the piece: parts of it dedicated to the density of people; parts of it dedicated to viewing the magnificent power of the beasts, highlighted by the shading on the elephants. despite the split, the painting remains balanced as an ode to Akbar's competence as a leader. Additionally, the unjoined parallel lines which formed the bridge between the two pages of the piece add to the chaos in the surrounding and gives the peace added dynamism. despite this chaos Akbar was able to triumph over the mad elephant. his mastery of the elephants can be read as Akbar's impression of his rule during his time on the throne amidst consistent political strife to gain new territory. This piece thus reflects Akbar's desire to portray himself as a benign ruler with the ability to overcome, tame or conquer the wild populace under his role, symbolized by the elephants. 

The piece is showing the artists use of single point perspective. there's a clear background middle ground & foreground in the piece, and the single point perspective allows the artist to create the illusion of depth and space within a 2D medium. This is done using orthogonals, A horizon and a vanishing point particularly seen in the pattern of tiles on the floor of the piazza/large town square. In the background the colors seem to blur together hazily thus highlighting that it is in the distance and again aligning pictorial image with the optical image. The scale of the building in the background is also smaller/ same size as the subjects in the foreground which contributes to the 3-D effect of the single point perspective. the people in the middle ground can also be seen to be smaller and have less detail than the subjects in the foreground. this shows that there is a distance between the two groups of people in actuality

The placement of the main church on the vanishing point draws the viewers focus to it as a focal point. this is reflective of the fact that many art pieces in the Italian Renaissance depicted biblical narratives or focused on the church. one of the reasons for this is that the church's decline played a role in allowing the renaissance to flourish with the decline of the Byzantine empire and Constantinople, artists  spread out to Florence and other parts of Italy carrying their skills with them. The church's  decrease in power facilitated the rise in humanism, which places inherent value on human beings as individuals rather than the medieval notion that humans were merely temporary vessels for the spirit. in order to regain their clout, churches often collaborated with private dealers (given the flourishing wealth of bankers and merchants in Florence at the time and the rising middle class) such as the Medicis to commission pieces with religious texts/connotations. The private commissioners' patronage of the artists allowed them to gain favor with the common people and (supposedly) with God. The growing industry also facilitated the invention or adaptation of old medieval painting methods and the discovery of precious pigments such as gold silver and Persian blue.

Persian blue was Gem-like and iridescent in nature thus bringing the viewer's attention to parts where it was sparingly used. In this piece, the German blue of the sky pales in comparison to the Persian blue used in the clothes of the kneeling figure at the center of the piece. As the eye moves from this focal point upwards, through the orthogonals (horizontal lines with decreasing distance between each other to reflect the spatial reality of the floor of the piazza which likely was idealized to resemble a checkerboard) and to the church, it is evident that the artists' skill in creating the illusion of depth is present.

The rise of humanism coincided with the Western age of discovery, in which ideas of classical antiquity (Greek and Roman ideals of exploring nature and representing it with anatomical accuracy) allowed artists to deviate from the inaccurate depictions of the human body in medieval times. In the dark ages, less focus was placed on showing the body, as it was viewed as a temporary vessel, and seeing it in the nude was associated with Christian ideas of mortal sin. it is thus remarkable that in this piece, the faces of the subjects in the foreground are distinct, probably taken in inspiration for models. this focus on the subjects individuality is reflective of humanistic ideals. Furthermore, the shading and detail in each subject presents itself to the viewer. this allows viewers to empathize with the subjects following the revolution in Christian ideals which followed St. Francis' message of humble and emphatic approaches to religion. Allowing the viewer the single point perspective via the receding lines places the viewer at a focal point too, highlighting that focus was not only placed on artists as individuals but on the viewer as an individual as well. 

The shift from 'gold to bush'can be seen in this piece by the fact that instead of gilding in gold, the background is vividly portrayed with itemized landscapes shown by the blurry mountains in the background. Furthermore,all the positions of the subjects in the foreground seem more natural and even have elements of contrapposto in comparison to earlier works with more contrived body language (e.g. The virgin pointing at her son to indicate that he is divine). We see the individuality of the artist present within the painting. the fact that the patrons allowed this reflects the status of the master artist as well as the close relationship between patron and artist. details in the drapery and shading of each subject reflect careful focus from the artist, thereby highlighting his skill in playing with shadows and light. 

--------------

This piece by BASAWAN depicts two elephants( hawaii and ran bagha)pitted against each other by Akbar, seen atop one of the elephants. the scene is dynamic by virtue of its diagonal axis and zigzag lines shown by the bridge and the shoreline. the water is painted with consistent patterns and embellishments. This piece differs from BASAWN's other pieces, with typical subdued Persian palettes depicting greens, browns, and a gold sky. here, the effect of Akbar's rule as a tolerant and cosmopolitan ruler can be seen through the cross pollination of Safavid Persian and Indian styles of painting.

Akbar's princely status can be seen through his position with in the painting. whilst other subjects blend into the background due to the sheer density of people (fisherman struggling to get to shore to escape the turbulent waters or hoards of men struggling to prevent the bridge from collapsing), Akbar remains singular and stands his own ground against the gray of the elephants. His status is reinforced by the vibrant splash of solid red on the cloth he sits atop while riding the elephant. this reflects Akbar's need to be seen in the eyes of his people as a competent and possibly even divine ruler fueled by political strife on the borders of the Mughal empire. this political unrest was probably also the reason why he implemented so many tolerant policies placing Muslims on equal footing with the Hindu majority. Akbar's cosmopolitan policies may have been an attempt to subdue orthodox Muslim scholars who possibly rejected advice glorification of himself as a ruler. this was in response to the fundamental idea of Islam that 'there is no God but God'. 

In spite of this, Akbar was remembered as a successful ruler. His atelier allowed art music and literature to flourish. the fact that the library really worked so closely with the atelier reflects the cohesion present in his rule as a king, and that many pieces done with to be presented in conjunction with their many Scripts, such as this piece found in Akbarnama (his biography). This piece differs from the earlier piece in that there are multiple points of entry to the piece, providing the viewer with multiple perspectives. this does not necessarily reflect a gap in knowledge between the Mughal Renaissance and the Italian Renaissance. more likely the answer lies in the different purposes of artwork between the two countries. while in Italy, art was made to be consumed by the masses and viewed as a spectacle of beauty and gods glory, the purpose for art in the Mughal empire was largely to facilitate storytelling. large pieces such as this would be placed on cloth so as to be unrolled during the storytelling. furthermore it can be suggested that there was more humility needed in the Mughal empire, since Akbar's support of aesthetics can be seen as a subtle rebellion against Islamic ideals in his pursuit of a new syncretic religion. 

BASAWN trained under SAMAD and SAYYID ALI, alongside MISKIN. His flair for portraiture can be seen in this piece by the individuality and uniqueness of each subject in the painting, specifically in Akbar's triumphant expression. Whilst MISKIN is credited as being better in the depiction of animals/all that was marvelous and strange, BASAWAN's attempt to portray the dramatic energy and rhythm in this piece is evident through his treatment of the lines is this piece as well as through the portrayal of the turbulent waters and the dynamic body poses of the subjects viewing or part of the scene. it can be noted that the elephant's foot protrudes into the frame of the scene, creating the life-like illusion, as if the elephant is jumping out of the frame at the viewer. 

The piece is split into 3/4 parts by the emphatic lines of the piece: parts of it dedicated to the density of people; parts of it dedicated to viewing the magnificent power of the beasts, highlighted by the shading on the elephants. despite the split, the painting remains balanced as an ode to Akbar's competence as a leader. Additionally, the unjoined parallel lines which formed the bridge between the two pages of the piece add to the chaos in the surrounding and gives the peace added dynamism. despite this chaos Akbar was able to triumph over the mad elephant. his mastery of the elephants can be read as Akbar's impression of his rule during his time on the throne amidst consistent political strife to gain new territory. This piece thus reflects Akbar's desire to portray himself as a benign ruler with the ability to overcome, tame or conquer the wild populace under his role, symbolized by the elephants. 

Feedback from Dr Priya:

Slide 3 .
Visual analysis: 8/10
. Contextual analysis: 9/10 .
Coherence, structure: 7/10
Additional reading / research: 3/10 (overlap with contextual analySiS + 1)
Overall quality: 7/10
TOTAL = 34/50

Jan,

As compared to your response to the Mughal painting, this one falls short in terms of precise identification 0f the painting, artist, characters and storyline.

It is a good and necessary practice in art history to be able to identify the aforementioned. Your visual analysis has more scope to provide a detailed reading of characters and the general storyline as it unfolds with the help of visual devices.

You present a very well-informed contextual plot of the Italian renaissance. You visual analysis is also good, though tends to be broad and general in parts since you do not recognise the exact episode and characters.

Good.

Slide 3

Total = 41/50

Very well done.