Week 9 Videos on Artists

I chose Drawings of Michelangelo and Leonardo de Vinci because of their association in the Renaissance era and popularity today. I then chose Botticelli because he was a fellow student of Leonardo. I just randomly chose Durer as the 4th video to watch.
Michelangelo’s video was very impressive in the details given. It not only mentioned and explained his famous works as did the text, it was about his private life and compared it to his drawings. The video showed the similarity of his work to Ghirlandalo, whom he apprenticed with. Michelangelo used the solar plexis of the human figure, twists and detailed muscles in positions that are nearly impossible, in his works. He also had an attraction to young men, one in particular, to which he wrote poems and sonnets. That proved why most of his famous works are of the male nude body. The website on our Week 9 home page shows a relationship with a woman, Vittoria, to which he wrote poems. This was never mentioned in the video.
I watched the Leonardo video only to learn about his homosexual tendencies, too. He was accused of sodomy, leading to creating caricatures of men that slandered him. He was the “Renaissance Man”, know for proportions of man and animals. He used the head from one, eyes from another, arms from someone else, etc. to create the perfect body as the text explained too. He not only was a painter, he was chief engineer and musician.
I then watched La Primavera, Boticelliti’s famous art work, to see how his work compared to his classmate, Leonardo. This was about a painting with a different kind of sexual tendency. It depicted rape, and the vision of the female after they married, along with a homosexual, Mercury, with his back to the 3 female nymphs. I would never have read that perspective viewing this painting. The video also showed how he used the egg tempura for flesh tones with the egg yolk and the egg whites were used to paint the delicate lace. The flowers had meaning, like strawberries for aphrodisiacs and carnations for the bridegroom to find hidden on the female. The painting was displayed in the Medici family home, in the bedroom. The video also mentioned the homo tendencies of Botticelli which explains the position of Mercury in this portrait.
I then randomly chose Albrecht Durer, known as the Landscape Artist. I was relieved to find nothing in here about his homosexuality. He was married. He did paint about narcissism though. His painting of hands was his signature, along with his monogram. He used grid, combining circles, lines and triangles for the art of perspective. His art work in the Palm Garden used stiff figures, but the later work in the Chapel, used softer, more natural figures. Durer was known for woodcuts, then later engraved on copper. He also did many pen and colored inks in prayer books.
I enjoyed watched these detailed lifestyles of the artists. Although very time consuming, very educational. It gave much more detailed graphics about their art works and lives. I now have a more rounded knowledge of art and the artists. They are all famous, but not necessarily wealthy. Botticelli died in poverty.