Showing papers in "Art Bulletin in 1982"
TL;DR: In this article, the theory that movable wings were first added to altarpieces to facilitate the housing of reliables was challenged. But the theory was not supported by any evidence.
Abstract: In positing an essentially liturgical function for the early winged altarpiece, this essay challenges the theory that movable wings were first added to altarpieces to facilitate the housing of reli...
33 citations
TL;DR: This paper studied the architectural origins and symbolic content of Kaisersale and found that they were religious places, honoring the Emperor and dedicated to his cult, but not official seats of the cult like neokorate temples.
Abstract: Halls in Roman baths and gymnasia with rich multi-story Facades have been associated by scholars with the Imperial Cult and called Kaisersale. By studying their architectural origins and symbolic content, this article shows that indeed they were religious places, honoring the Emperor and dedicated to his cult, but not official seats of the cult like neokorate temples.
22 citations
TL;DR: Rubens's extensive use of past art has always been recognized as discussed by the authors, and it is argued that this practice was defined by a carefully thought out theory of imitation, and the most important evidence for this view, Rubens's essay De Imitatione Statuarum, is examined in depth.
Abstract: Rubens's extensive use of past art has always been recognized. It is here argued that this practice was defined by a carefully thought out theory of imitation. The most important evidence for this view, Rubens's essay De Imitatione Statuarum, is examined in depth. Points of correspondence between theory and practice are considered. Finally, the role of memory as the place of artistic imitation is examined.
21 citations
TL;DR: The authors studied the use of the swinging motif in French 18th-century painting, particularly in the works of Watteau and Fragonard, and touched also on the contemporary iconography of hats, shoes, and feet.
Abstract: French pictures of fetes galantes and related subjects do not, as often thought, merely mirror real-life activities. They are usually constructed from pictorial patterns and motifs that were meant to convey narrative, psychological, or allegorical content. Swinging is a motif that carried a varied, mostly erotic, freight of connotation and innuendo, which must be understood if one is to appreciate fully the many pictures that feature it. This essay studies its use in French 18th-century painting, particularly in the works of Watteau and Fragonard, and touches also on the contemporary iconography of hats, shoes, and feet.
18 citations
TL;DR: The first issue of The Builder's Magazine as mentioned in this paper was published in 1774 and attracted little contemporary comment, but some notice must nevertheless have been taken of the influence subsequently exerted by the magazine's draftsman and joint author, John Carter who was responsible for the sequence of almost thirty Gothic designs that appeared between 1775 and 17782.
Abstract: If the appearance in 1774 of the first issue of The Builder's Magazine1 aroused little contemporary comment, some notice must nevertheless have been taken of the influence subsequently exerted by the magazine's draftsman and joint author, John Carter It was Carter who was responsible for the sequence of almost thirty Gothic designs that appeared between 1775 and 17782 The accompanying text left the reader in little doubt as to the seriousness of the architect's purpose
15 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, four small pencil sketches by John Constable at the Tate indicate that, while he had a good understanding of the geometric optics involved in the formation of a rainbow, he also shared in his gener...
Abstract: Four small pencil sketches by John Constable at the Tate indicate that, while he had a good understanding of the geometric optics involved in the formation of a rainbow, he also shared in his gener...
11 citations
TL;DR: The letter forms in handwriting indicate Leonardo as author of two sheets of notes (in Codex Atlanticus) about craft techniques and details of architecture, recorded them in his left-to-right calligraphy as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The letter forms in handwriting indicate Leonardo as author of two sheets of notes (in Codex Atlanticus) about craft techniques and details of architecture. He recorded them in his left-to-right calligraphy. Notes on the measured drawing of a horse (in the Metropolitan Museum of Art) are in Verrocchio's calligraphy. Historical evidence for this drawing proves that it was not collected in the Libro di Giorgio Vasari, despite contrary opinions. Like another drawing in Bayonne and others by Leonardo, they may be considered as patterns that sculptors kept in their workshops, using the measurements to produce the right proportions of a horse in small-scale models and large statues, the head being the unit of measure for the whole.
9 citations
TL;DR: Rembrandt's double portraits of the 1630's within the larger context of emerging Dutch marriage portraiture were examined in this article, where they attempted to create images of marital relationship through a portrait vocabulary that had been formulated for the undomestic social institution of the Renaissance court.
Abstract: This essay examines Rembrandt's double portraits of the 1630's within the larger context of emerging Dutch marriage portraiture. In them, he attempts to create images of marital relationship through a portrait vocabulary that had been formulated for the undomestic social institution of the Renaissance court. The Portrait of a Couple (Gardner Museum) reveals tension between public and private ideals of social form. But The Shipbuilder and His Wife and the etched Self-portrait with Saskia, which follow, successfully adapt courtly portrait formulas to domestic meanings. Far from being a hindrance, the social implications of Renaissance portrait conventions provided metaphors to articulate some of the most advanced ideas on marriage of his time.
9 citations
TL;DR: The design of the nave galleries at Durham Cathedral, the product of the second designer, is examined in a variety of ways in this paper, where the quadrant arches used there, normally regarded as concealed flying buttresses for the high nave vaults, are reinterpreted in the light of other monuments in England and Normandy that used similar arches only as supports for wooden roofs.
Abstract: The design of the nave galleries at Durham Cathedral, the product of the second designer, is examined in a variety of ways. The quadrant arches used there, normally regarded as concealed flying buttresses for the high nave vaults, are reinterpreted in the light of other monuments in England and Normandy that used similar arches only as supports for wooden roofs. The conclusion is that the quadrant arches at Durham are not the precursors of the later flying buttress but are elements creatively reused by the second master in order to overcome a number of design problems and to create a spacious and well-illuminated gallery space within the context of a compressed elevation.
9 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a careful study of Colonial history reveals that William Penn's Treaty with the Indians by Benjamin West is an intricately composed survey of Pennsylvania political events, which is designed to defend the proprietary rights of the Penn family which had been challenged during 17605.
Abstract: A careful study of Colonial history reveals that William Penn's Treaty with the Indians by Benjamin West is an intricately composed survey of Pennsylvania political events. Commissioned in 1771 by Thomas Penn, son of the founder, the painting is designed to defend the proprietary rights of the Penn family which had been challenged during the 17605. The protagonists in Penn's Treaty are Quakers, Indians and merchants, three groups that had been at the center of friction and dissent in the colony. By using such diverse sources as political satire, Roman sculpture, descriptive writings of William Penn, and Indian peace medals, West composed a modern epic.
TL;DR: A close examination of the fabric reveals no trace of a former clerestory but rather, and more significantly, considerable evidence that the major spans had been covered by barrel vaults.
Abstract: It has long been thought that the late 11th-century Romanesque abbey churches of Tewkesbury and Pershore, in the West Country of England, had, originally, four-story elevations consisting of arcade, gallery, wall passage, and clerestory. However, a close examination of the fabric reveals no trace of a former clerestory but rather, and more significantly, considerable evidence that the major spans had been covered by barrel vaults. Thus, these buildings, joined by Gloucester Cathedral, can now be identified as a small but important group of large-scale vaulted structures in an area where none had been recognized, paralleling contemporary Continental developments.
TL;DR: The scenographic architecture that Inigo Jones designed for the court theater of the early Stuarts bears a recognisable relationship to his work as a practicing architect as mentioned in this paper, and analysis of his stage architecture becomes possible with the identification of its sources.
Abstract: The scenographic architecture that Inigo Jones designed for the court theater of the early Stuarts bears a recognisable relationship to his work as a practicing architect. Analysis of his stage architecture becomes possible with the identification of its sources. In the period of his architectural “adolescence,” before he became Surveyor of the King's Works, the stage architecture shows an intelligent interest in theory and style, and an exploratory attitude to problems of design. As he matured, his definitive commitment to Palladian classicism is reflected in the stage designs, as he corrects solecisms or unclassical elements in his sources; and in the royal masques, just as much as in the King's Works, classicism becomes associated with the political mystique of the Stuart monarchy.
TL;DR: Sculptural models helped painters transfer three-dimensional values to the two-dimensional surface, but evidence for the practice is sparse or vague in the 15th century.
Abstract: Sculptural models helped painters transfer three-dimensional values to the two-dimensional surface, but evidence for the practice, while plentiful in the 16th century, is sparse or vague in the 15th century. The beginnings of the practice are established by discussing “pivotal presentation” (the turning of the figure for an additional view) and by sorting out various types of sculptural models indicated in texts and works of art. In particular, the article focuses on the sculptor-painter Pollaiuolo to estimate his contribution and to consider how the use of sculptural models may have affected his own representation on the flat surface.
TL;DR: The authors examined a group of English tombs on which the recumbent image of the deceased is wrapped in a shroud and argued that this metaphor was reserved for tombs of women and that it suggests a new function for a tomb, that of expressing the grief of the living.
Abstract: This article examines a group of English tombs on which the recumbent image of the deceased is wrapped in a shroud. Although related to late medieval traditions of funerary iconography, the style and imagery of these tombs depends on classical sources, specifically the metaphor of death as sleep. This metaphor was common in contemporary poetry, devotional literature, and sermons delivered by Anglican preachers, and it reflects a new, more comforting view of death. It is argued that this metaphor was reserved for tombs of women and that it suggests a new function for a tomb, that of expressing the grief of the living.
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TL;DR: Degas, like many of his contemporaries, made fan-shaped pictures and exhibited at least twenty-five fans between ca. 1868 and 1886 and exhibited five in the 1879 Impressionist exhibition as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Degas, like many of his contemporaries, made fan-shaped pictures. He produced at least twenty-five fans between ca. 1868 and 1886 and exhibited five in the 1879 Impressionist exhibition. This article presents Degas's works in this format and examines their artistic, personal, and financial reasons for being, their relation to the contemporary fashion for fans, their place in his work, their use as vehicles for decorative and compositional experimentation, and their sources of inspiration. They are visually delectable and expressive works that have not heretofore received the attention they merit.
TL;DR: In this paper, non-destructive analytical techniques in the hands of a conservator reveal a painted surface beneath Vasari's frescoes on the west wall of the Salone dei 500 in Florence.
Abstract: Non-destructive analytical techniques in the hands of a conservator reveal a painted surface beneath Vasari's frescoes on the west wall of the Salone dei 500 in Florence. Analysis of the pigments suggests that it is not related to the Vasari fresco over it, that it uses a toothy ground in an oil or resin binder, and contains pigments that can be associated with Leonardo. Art-historical re-examination of documents and descriptions of the Hall supports the suggestions of the conservator. Misinterpretation of a document established the tradition of locating the Battle of Anghiari on the east wall. Analysis of the building and the documents helps clarify Vasari's description of the Hall and suggests that the seat of the Gonfaloniere and Leonardo's mural were on the west wall.
TL;DR: In this article, the Playing-Card Master's engraved cards are found in manuscripts illuminated in the workshop of the Bedford Master well before the date of the cards' creation. But the cards are dependent in part on a lost repertory of established decorative designs, the engraver is viewed as a reproductive rather than an inventive artist.
Abstract: Designs in three suits from the Playing-Card Master's engraved cards occur in manuscripts illuminated in the workshop of the Bedford Master well before the date of the cards. The repetition of designs in several manuscripts suggests that they were recorded in a repertory of patterns which was probably copied and expanded outside the sphere of the Bedford illuminators. As the cards are dependent in part on a lost repertory of established decorative designs, the engraver is to be viewed as a reproductive rather than an inventive artist.
TL;DR: Rubens's Conuersatie a la Mode (ca. 1632-34), rather than being a moral-philosophical allegory, as scholars have claimed, is the most important conversation picture of its time and shares iconograp...
Abstract: Rubens's Conuersatie a la Mode (ca. 1632-34), rather than being a moral-philosophical allegory, as scholars have claimed, is the most important conversation picture of its time and shares iconograp...
TL;DR: Among the Wordsworth family papers that came to the Dove Cottage Library following a well-publicized sale at Sotheby's on July 6, 1977 is a hitherto unpublished letter from John Constable to William Wordsworth as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Among the Wordsworth family papers that came to the Dove Cottage Library following a well-publicized sale at Sotheby's on July 6, 1977 is a hitherto unpublished letter from John Constable to William Wordsworth. Dated June 15, 1836 — less than a year before Constable's death — the letter, although unpretentious in purpose and tone, valuably documents a main development of Constable's art. It is also the latest expression yet recorded of Constable's appreciation of Wordsworth and a touching acknowledgment of his gratitude to Sir George Beaumont, friend and benefactor of both Constable and Wordsworth.
TL;DR: In a series of landscape paintings and drawings done in Spain in the summer of 1909, Picasso evolved a complex formal language that was critical to the development of Cubism as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In a series of landscape paintings and drawings done in Spain in the summer of 1909, Picasso evolved a complex formal language that was critical to the development of Cubism. During that vital summer, he also took photographs of the same motifs he rendered. From unpublished letters he wrote to Gertrude Stein, detailed analyses of the photographs that have survived, and evidence in other correspondence and paintings, this article suggests that photography may have played a part in Picasso's work of 1909 and in the advancement of that new Cubist language.
TL;DR: The subject matter of Jan van Eyck's Arnolfini Portrait and its iconology were discussed at length in Erwin Panofsky's article of 1934 as discussed by the authors, which created an interest among scholars which has been sustained up to the present time.
Abstract: The subject matter of Jan van Eyck's Arnolfini Portrait (Fig. 1) and its iconology were discussed at length in Erwin Panofsky's article of 1934.1 Panofsky's iconological interpretation of the disguised symbolism of the painting created an interest among scholars which has been sustained up to the present time. Panofsky also regarded the optical qualities of the painting as outstanding, saying that Jan attained “a concord of form, space, light and color which even he was never to surpass.”2
TL;DR: In this paper, Dunlap's History of the Rise and Progress of the Arts of Design in the United States (1834) John Smibert (1688-1751) is rightly accorded a place comparable to that of the first Tuscan artists in Vasari.
Abstract: In William Dunlap's History of the Rise and Progress of the Arts of Design in the United States (1834) John Smibert (1688-1751) is rightly accorded a place comparable to that of the first Tuscan artists in Vasari. Indeed, the analogy goes further, for it is to his Italian sojourn that Smibert owes much of his rise from a modest role in the history of British art to a pivotal position in the history of American painting.
TL;DR: The way in which abstract and figural decoration on Attic Geometric vases interacted offers a clue to larger principles underlying their development as mentioned in this paper, and one can recognize a recurrent (periodic) pattern within the periods called in current practice Early, Middle, and Late Geometric.
Abstract: The way in which abstract and figural decoration on Attic Geometric vases interacted offers a clue to larger principles underlying their development. On the basis of these principles one can recognize a recurrent (periodic) pattern within the periods called in current practice Early, Middle, and Late Geometric. This throws a new light on the creativity of largely anonymous artists in that certain choices they made at each of several recognizable stages led to a specifically Attic achievement: a dynamic relationship of body and neck decoration combined with a means of concentrating attention on desired segments of decoration whether abstract or figural.
TL;DR: The authors reconstructs the framework of thought behind Delacroix's preoccupation with the lion and tiger, starting from a conversation he had with Taine in 1863, with their elliptical references to physiognomy and comparative anatomy.
Abstract: The article reconstructs the framework of thought behind Delacroix's preoccupation with the lion and tiger, starting from a conversation he had with Taine in 1863. From the details of this conversation, with their elliptical references to physiognomy and comparative anatomy, from the paintings and from remarks in the Journal, it is possible to show that Delacroix saw the lion and tiger not only as embodiments of nature, but as simpler reflections of the good and evil in man. His personal synthesis of ideas accompanies the entire production of his feline oeuvre, with particular strength in his transformation of the theme of the Lion Hunt.