***First Assignment 5 pages --- due: Friday, October 18, 5.00pm***
Please choose from ONE of the following options. Papers should be uploaded to your webspace as webpages, and you should send me the URL by Friday October 18 at 5.00pm
1. Analyze Brunelleschis perspective panels. What techniques might Brunelleschi have used to make them? Make a reconstruction, using a building on the Stanford campus. Compare the perspectival techniques used in making the Baptistery and Signoria panels with the technique used in Masaccios Trinity. Suggested additional readings: Samuel Y. Edgerton, Jr., The Renaissance Rediscovery of Linear Perspective, New York, Harper and Row, 1975, Martin Kemp, The Science of Art, Yale University Press, 1990
2. Analyze in depth the technical problems faced by Brunelleschi in constructing the dome of the cathedral of Florence. How did Brunelleschis solution address these technical problems? What ancient sources and recent innovations did he employ? What economic and practical constraints governed Brunelleschis project? How might we compare it with other projects executed by Renaissance artist-engineers? Use diagrams and images to enhance your argument. Suggested additional readings: Howard Saalman, Filippo Brunelleschi, the Cupola of Santa Maria del Fiore London : A. Zwemmer, c1980
3. Focussing on a single Renaissance artist of your choice, working after
the publication of Albertis Della Pittura analyze
how this artist
adapted or modified the perspectival techniques described in Albertis
book. How did the artist respect Albertis other prescriptions for the
contents of a painting? Illustrate your essay with perspectival schemes of
the paintings of the artist, and other supporting materials.
Suggested readings:
go to the Art library and research the specific artist.
4. To what extent does Leonardo da Vinci reveal the concerns
that, according
to Michael Baxandall, were general to painters in Renaissance Italy? Using
Leonardo da Vinci's Notebooks (especially pp. 241-332) and
Baxandall, discuss
his sense of the cognitive, practical, and patronage aspects of
being an artist.
Do you discern any differences between Leonardo and the other Renaissance
artists described by Baxandall?
5. If none of these topics appeals to you, you are welcome to design a project that uses some of the readings from weeks 1-3 to address an important question about science, art and technology in Renaissance Italy. You may like to create a physical or digital reconstruction as part or all of the assignment. You must e-mail me your proposal in advance if you choose this option.