CRITICAL QUOTES GENERAL
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Angkor Wat (1115-45)
- King Suryavarman II
o Usurped his uncle at the age of 14
o His kingship heralded the Golden Age of Angkor, Cambodia
1 million population
Buddhism Hinduism
- 540 foot width, 5 meter depth of water basins surround the temple
o Invokes the primordial ocean surrounding Mount Meru (the sacred dwelling
place of the Hindu gods) which is protective against evil
As do the quincunx of towers – five peaks of Mount Meru
- The central tower boasts a height of 213 feet and contains the ashes of King
Suryavarman, as per his request
o Thus the temple serves as devotional to Vishnu as well as a mausoleum
Vishnu was thought to dwell in the forest nearby
‘Churning of the Milk’ alongside other narratives of the god design the
temple walls
- Nature influences the design
o Local sandstone quarried from Mount Kulen (55km north-east)
o Richly moulded capitals containing leaf design and serpents
- “a rival to that of Solomon, erected by some ancient Michelangelo” (Henri Mouhot –
who popularised the temple as a tourist destination)
Rhinoceros (1515)
- Albrecht Dürer
o The first artist to purchase a printing press (Gutenberg, 1440)
Reproducibility meant that one print cost the equivalent of a steak
dinner
4000-5000 sold in his lifetime
- He never saw the rhinoceros so relied on a description given by Valentin Fernandez
o Therefore there are some anatomical inaccuracies
It is overly militaristic
Armour like breastplate
Horn on its back
- The rhino was originally a gift to Manuel I of Portugal who sent it to the Medici Pope,
Leo X but it died en route
o Exploitation of the animal and nature seen as a human toy
- Composition is closed and claustrophobic, and the rhino is disproportionately wide
for its height
o Idea of capture and vulnerability, which is balanced with its vicious
appearance
- Its head is bowed humbly and the piece is rendered in profile – allusions to nobility
but also objectified and gawked at
- “probably no animal picture has ever exerted such a profound influence” (Clarke)
, Turkey (1567)
- Commissioned by Francesco I di Medici from Giambologna for his grotto containing a
menagerie of animals, a vogue at the time as it was communicative of wealth and far
reach
o The group of animals are now kept at the Uffizi
o The first turkey arrived in Europe from the Americas in 1511
- As a Mannerist, Giambologna was interested not in psychological intensity (as had
his Renaissance predecessors been) but in anatomical accuracy and drama
o Plumage and caranda echo this as they are rendered with a high level of
verisimilitude
Facilitated through the use of the additive process of bronze which
has a high tensile strength that allows for protrusions
o Undoubtedly inspired by his readings of Vesalius’ ‘Seven Books on the Fabric
of the Human Body’ (1543) and his technical training at the Academia del
Disegno
- “a pompous strut and expression” (Olson)
o Proud neck
o Solid pyramidal scheme creates a strong centre of gravity
- Francesco’s interest in alchemy is reflected through the nature of the artwork as
bronze becomes the animal
Apennine Colossus (1580s)
- Commissioned by Cosimo di Medici during his “fit of patronage” following his 1579
marriage to Bianca Capella (Larry J. Feinberg)
- Mannerist drama and movement in the contrapposto which creates the idea that he
is uncomfortable in his own 11 meter height
o He either commands or relies on the ground which he pushes down on
- Two-storey grotto wherein Cosimo would hire an orchestra when guests arrived
o Live hydraulic system
o Smoke could bellow from his nostrils
- Apennine mountains are the mouth of all Medici territories’ rivers
o Sense of Medici benevolence
o Giambologna’s bozzetti were influential
River gods in idealised reclining male nude – though here it is upright
o Including River Arno which flows through Florence
- The pyramidal composition invokes the shape of a mountain as does the material of
lava used in the god’s beard
- Use of live rock means that the piece literally grows out of the landscape.
Flowers in a glass vase with a tulip (1716)
- Rachel Ruysch as a female artist was limited in what subject matters she could
depict, still lives being one of them (though not yet accepted as a genre by the salon)
‘
Angkor Wat (1115-45)
- King Suryavarman II
o Usurped his uncle at the age of 14
o His kingship heralded the Golden Age of Angkor, Cambodia
1 million population
Buddhism Hinduism
- 540 foot width, 5 meter depth of water basins surround the temple
o Invokes the primordial ocean surrounding Mount Meru (the sacred dwelling
place of the Hindu gods) which is protective against evil
As do the quincunx of towers – five peaks of Mount Meru
- The central tower boasts a height of 213 feet and contains the ashes of King
Suryavarman, as per his request
o Thus the temple serves as devotional to Vishnu as well as a mausoleum
Vishnu was thought to dwell in the forest nearby
‘Churning of the Milk’ alongside other narratives of the god design the
temple walls
- Nature influences the design
o Local sandstone quarried from Mount Kulen (55km north-east)
o Richly moulded capitals containing leaf design and serpents
- “a rival to that of Solomon, erected by some ancient Michelangelo” (Henri Mouhot –
who popularised the temple as a tourist destination)
Rhinoceros (1515)
- Albrecht Dürer
o The first artist to purchase a printing press (Gutenberg, 1440)
Reproducibility meant that one print cost the equivalent of a steak
dinner
4000-5000 sold in his lifetime
- He never saw the rhinoceros so relied on a description given by Valentin Fernandez
o Therefore there are some anatomical inaccuracies
It is overly militaristic
Armour like breastplate
Horn on its back
- The rhino was originally a gift to Manuel I of Portugal who sent it to the Medici Pope,
Leo X but it died en route
o Exploitation of the animal and nature seen as a human toy
- Composition is closed and claustrophobic, and the rhino is disproportionately wide
for its height
o Idea of capture and vulnerability, which is balanced with its vicious
appearance
- Its head is bowed humbly and the piece is rendered in profile – allusions to nobility
but also objectified and gawked at
- “probably no animal picture has ever exerted such a profound influence” (Clarke)
, Turkey (1567)
- Commissioned by Francesco I di Medici from Giambologna for his grotto containing a
menagerie of animals, a vogue at the time as it was communicative of wealth and far
reach
o The group of animals are now kept at the Uffizi
o The first turkey arrived in Europe from the Americas in 1511
- As a Mannerist, Giambologna was interested not in psychological intensity (as had
his Renaissance predecessors been) but in anatomical accuracy and drama
o Plumage and caranda echo this as they are rendered with a high level of
verisimilitude
Facilitated through the use of the additive process of bronze which
has a high tensile strength that allows for protrusions
o Undoubtedly inspired by his readings of Vesalius’ ‘Seven Books on the Fabric
of the Human Body’ (1543) and his technical training at the Academia del
Disegno
- “a pompous strut and expression” (Olson)
o Proud neck
o Solid pyramidal scheme creates a strong centre of gravity
- Francesco’s interest in alchemy is reflected through the nature of the artwork as
bronze becomes the animal
Apennine Colossus (1580s)
- Commissioned by Cosimo di Medici during his “fit of patronage” following his 1579
marriage to Bianca Capella (Larry J. Feinberg)
- Mannerist drama and movement in the contrapposto which creates the idea that he
is uncomfortable in his own 11 meter height
o He either commands or relies on the ground which he pushes down on
- Two-storey grotto wherein Cosimo would hire an orchestra when guests arrived
o Live hydraulic system
o Smoke could bellow from his nostrils
- Apennine mountains are the mouth of all Medici territories’ rivers
o Sense of Medici benevolence
o Giambologna’s bozzetti were influential
River gods in idealised reclining male nude – though here it is upright
o Including River Arno which flows through Florence
- The pyramidal composition invokes the shape of a mountain as does the material of
lava used in the god’s beard
- Use of live rock means that the piece literally grows out of the landscape.
Flowers in a glass vase with a tulip (1716)
- Rachel Ruysch as a female artist was limited in what subject matters she could
depict, still lives being one of them (though not yet accepted as a genre by the salon)
