Renaissance to Contemporary Sculpture - AP Art History

Equestrian statues, even when life-size, created a portrait of their subjects on massive scales. While commonplace in Rome, they were hardly made after the fall of Rome until the Renaissance, and in the age of absolutism in the seventeenth century, they were made all across Europe to commemorate and celebrate monarchs. These statues made the monarchs depicted in them appear intimidating, grandiose, and worthy of their position as absolute monarchs.

David is the first instance in which there is a genuine blending of the Christian faith and the styles and forms of Classical figural art. Here is the first time that biblical figures are represented in the styles of the Classical masters. Yes, he is not the freestanding nudes we recognize- the Boxer, the Discus Thrower, those trim and muscled figures. David clings to the vestiges of Gothic figures, but he is nude and freestanding and has paved the way for more of his kind.

Donatello had a clear interest in the human form. Many believed when he unveiled the piece that it had to have been done in life, it was so true to form. He also, though, was the first of his kind to use bronze in a freestanding nude (this hasn't been done since the Classical era). He is finally making a statement of Italian society, and the importance of blending Christian art and modernizing life.

This is David, also sculpted by artists like Donatello and Michelangelo. The head of Goliath sits at David's feet. John the Baptist was also beheaded, but by Salome, a woman. Hercules and Samson tend to be represented with more muscularity, and Moses is usually an older figure.

Work is in the public domain, accessed through WikiArt: http://www.wikiart.org/en/andrea-del-verrocchio/david-1475

Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) was a revolutionary sculptor who helped develop modern art, but he actually saw himself as a traditional craftsman. Rodin would use clay to create bronze molds, and used models. In contrast to his predecessors, Rodin asked models to move so he could capture natural movement and a dark psychological perspective. Rodin also refused to use traditional classical and mythological themes in his work.

The Thinker, portraying a nude man hunched over with his head on his fist deep in thought, is one of the most widely recognized pieces of art in the world. Created by Auguste Rodin in 1880, it was first widely cast in bronze in 1904, and was immediately desired thanks to its rough hewn texture, vivid portrayal of a man, and the emotion it displays. Thanks to being a bronze cast, there are about twenty-eight versions of the sculpture in existence around the world.

Auguste Rodin largely reinvented modern sculpture in the late nineteenth century, largely through his ability to capture human forms honestly and present motion in a still sculpture. The success of Rodin was attributable to his use of bronze casting for his sculptures. This both allowed him to mold in clay his radical forms before setting a mold and then allowed that mold to be recast multiple times to produce many copies of his most famous works.

Degas frequently used dancers as his subject, often in every day poses, such as this dancer examining her foot.

Work is in the public domain, accessed through Wikipedia Media Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Sculptures\_by\_Edgar\_Degas#/media/File:Dega\_Bronze\_Sculptures\_01102010\_NatArtGallery\_Sofia\_09.jpg

The Prairie School was an architectural movement that grew around the turn of the nineteenth to the twentieth century in the American midwest. The Prairie School architects wished for a uniquely American form of architecture that could fit in with the natural landscape of America. Among the leading figures of the Prairie School was the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright, whose early houses were all largely in the Prairie style.

"Found object" can be considered an umbrella term, as it can apply to sculpture, installations, and many other media. The main concept behind "found object" art is that any object can be presented as or included in fine art. The first use of such art was by Marcel Duchamp with his "readymades," which were literally just regular objects Duchamp gave titles to and placed in galleries. The earliest form of the movement was seen as a subset of Dadaism.

Found object art, or art that incorporates already made materials, is a form of art that often elicits controversy over what "art" really is--while it began as a conscious technique early in the twentieth century, it continues on today.

Readymades were everyday objects that were chosen and then adjusted by the artist before being put on display. Examples include Duchamp's own provocative "Fountain," which was simply a urinal. He saw this as a response to so-called "retinal art," or art that only affected its viewers through sight.

The Prairie School was an architectural movement that grew around the turn of the nineteenth to the twentieth century in the American midwest. The Prairie School architects wished for a uniquely American form of architecture that could fit in with the natural landscape of America. Among the leading figures of the Prairie School was the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright, whose early houses were all largely in the Prairie style.

"Found object" can be considered an umbrella term, as it can apply to sculpture, installations, and many other media. The main concept behind "found object" art is that any object can be presented as or included in fine art. The first use of such art was by Marcel Duchamp with his "readymades," which were literally just regular objects Duchamp gave titles to and placed in galleries. The earliest form of the movement was seen as a subset of Dadaism.

Found object art, or art that incorporates already made materials, is a form of art that often elicits controversy over what "art" really is--while it began as a conscious technique early in the twentieth century, it continues on today.

Readymades were everyday objects that were chosen and then adjusted by the artist before being put on display. Examples include Duchamp's own provocative "Fountain," which was simply a urinal. He saw this as a response to so-called "retinal art," or art that only affected its viewers through sight.

Michelangelo's Pietà follows the traditional theme of such pieces of art by having the Virgin Mary cradling a dead Jesus Christ after his crucifixion. Michelangelo depicted Mary in stunning realism for the sixteenth century, while also presenting her as extremely youthful. Michelangelo claimed that a completely chaste woman would hardly age, despite being the mother of a thirty-three year old man.

Given the nature of the work (David is nude and sensually posed), the patron was unlikely to be the Church. Though it was not wholly unusual later to see the church represent its prominent figures in the nude or seminude, this particular piece predates that. Donatello also would not have had the resources to commission this work himself, and David is a biblical figure. It is believed, actually, that the Medici family commissioned the piece for their courtyard.

The Renaissance literally means "rebirth" and did include a revival of both Greek as well as Roman style, though it is largely agreed that Classical Greece and a renewed interest in its art birthed the Renaissance in Italy. This work is early Renaissance for a number of reasons; one, the piece is not yet the heavily muscled figure reminiscent of Hellenistic Greece and its heroes. Two, the curvature, much like an S-curve, is reminiscent of a lingering Gothic interest.

This David is depicted the moment after he defeats the giant Goliath. He is standing triumphantly over the giant's severed head, carrying his sword and looking particularly smug over the giant's defeat. He is sensually and salaciously posed in only a hat and boots, and is the only figure of his kind from this time period.