News:
  • Women Directors 2021
  • Ma Rainey Sings the Blues with Passion and Rage
  • Kareem Tayyar and the Complexities of Joy
  • LIFE AFTER BIRTH APPLAUDS IMPEACHMENT NUMBER 2
  • Poets on Craft: Stephen Kampa and Chelsea Woodward
  • Signs and the City
  • Contact us
  • About
    • What is Cultural Weekly?
    • Advertise
    • Contributors
    • Masthead
    • Subscribe
    • Submissions: Write for us
    • Cultural Weekly Style & Formatting Guide
  • Contact us
  • About
    • What is Cultural Weekly?
    • Advertise
    • Contributors
    • Masthead
    • Subscribe
    • Submissions: Write for us
    • Cultural Weekly Style & Formatting Guide
Cultural Weekly logo
  • Film
  • TV + Web
  • Poetry
  • Art
  • Architecture
  • Literature
  • Theatre
  • Music
  • Dance
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Film
  • TV + Web
  • Poetry
  • Art
  • Architecture
  • Literature
  • Theatre
  • Music
  • Dance
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • Food

Renaissance Nude at The Getty Center through January 27, 2019

By Allon Schoener on November 14, 2018 inArt

1

Click Here To View Comments

For those of us enamored of the Western European art tradition,The Getty’s current exhibition, Renaissance Nude, is a bonanza.

gm_363697EX1_2000x2000

Donatello, Italian, about 1386-1466 St. Jerome in Penitence, 1454-1455 Polychrome wood 57 7/8 x 20 7/8 x 14 3/16 in. Pinacoteca Comunale di Faenza

gm_363746EX2_2000x2000

Jan Gossaert, Netherlandish, 1478-1532 Hercules and Delania, 1517 Oil on wood (hardwood oak) Unframed: 14 1/2 x 10 1/4 in. The Henry Barber Trust, the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham

Although non-didactic, it is a thematic presentation utilizing specific works of art to elucidate its thesis that nudity appeared with frequency in works by both Italian and Northern European Renaissance artists. In that sense, it is a curatorial triumph. Included are masterpieces by some of the most significant 15th and 16th century artists of Italy and Northern Europe. Among them are: Antonio da Messina, Giovanni Bellini, Dieric Bouts, Piero di Cosimo, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Donatello, Jean Fouquet, Hans  Memling, and Titian. Plus, there are drawings by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.

Representations of the nude figure, male and female, have been evident in Western European art since the sixth century B.C. when Greek artists began to make increasingly naturalistic depictions of the human figure. The uncovered human body was presented for its intrinsic beauty without restraint. This concept embraced women as well as men, with females being portrayed as Venus and other goddesses. This practice did not prevail for centuries during the Middle Ages. In the 15th and 16th centuries, both the Italian and Northern European Renaissances shared a common objective – to reactivate the worlds of Ancient Rome and Greece and to initiate a new society encompassing that heritage.

Recently, “renaissance” has become a colloquial term used by writers, commentators and commercial enterprises. To avoid any possible confusion about the term “renaissance,” it is worth examining its roots. Furthermore, this will help clarify the underlying thesis of this exhibition. In his 1860 publication,The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, art historian Jacob Burckhardt described the core of the Italian Renaissance as the revival of antiquity – particularly Greece and Rome. While writers exhumed ancient texts, painters and sculptors used ancient statutes as inspiration. Some artists like Leonardo even engaged in the dissection of human bodies in order to study them. Thus, the representation of unfettered reality became a guiding principle while, at the same time, reflecting the achievements of Ancient Greece and Rome.

The 14th, 15th and 16th century European classical revival began in Italy and spread to France, Germany and The Netherlands. These paintings  by Jan Gossaert (The Netherland) and Hans Memling   (The Netherlands) and Antonello da Messina (Italy) demonstrate how the shared concept of reinvigorating antiquity could be interpreted so differently. Piero di Cosimo’s The Discovery of Honey by Bacchus (Not illustrated) is a joyous light hearted celebration, while Jean Fouquet’s Madonna and Child Surrounded by Angels, (Not illustrated) is  a serious religious presentation and Lucas Cranach The Elder’s A Faun and His Family with a Slain Lion, (Not illustrated)   presents a mythological theme.

gm_363705EX1_2000x2000

Jan Gossaert, Netherlandish, about 1478-1532 Venus,  1521 Oil on panel, Unframed: 23 1/4 x 11 13/16 inches Rovgo, Pinacoteca dell”Accademia del Conco

gm_364328EX1_2000x2000

Hans Memling, Netherlandish, about 1440-1494 Vanitas, 1485 Oil on wood, Unframed: 8 11/16 x 5 1/8 inches Strasbourg, Musée des Beaux Arts

gm_179065EX2_2000x2000

Antonello da Messina, Italian, about 1430-1479 Saint Sebastian, 1476 -1477 Oil on canvas, Unframed, 67 5/16  x 33 7/8 inches Photo Credit: bpk Bildagentur / Gemaeldegalerie Alte Meister / Eke

This painting by Antonello da Messina  is outstanding both in terns of technique and subject matter. Until the mid- 15th century, Italian artists painted exclusively with tempura on wooden panel. Oil painting on canvas developed in Northern Europe and was adopted by Italian artists. Antonella da Messina was one of the first Italian artists to use oil paint on canvas.

Saint Sebastian, a popular subject for Renaissance artists, was an early Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Roman emperor Diocletian‘s persecution of Christians. He is commonly depicted in art and literature tied to a post or tree and shot with arrows. His image was invoked for protection from The Plague.

Although Florence was unquestionably the center of the Italian Renaissance, manifestations appeared in other centers such as Venice. The Venetians are represented here by paintings by Giovanni Bellini and Titian. However, nothing on display in this exhibition evokes the massive sensuality of Titian’s Urbino Venus.

This one painting has for five centuries stood as the unquestionable symbol of the Italian Renaissance nude. I consider it to be unfortunate that it was not included in the exhibition. It now hangs in The Uffizi in Florence. I recall having seen it and having been transfixed by its beauty and sensuality. There can be numerous valid reasons for its being unavailable: fragile condition as well as the costs of insurance and transportation.

However, with regard to this exhibition,  as much I admire the selection of objects and associated scholarship, I missed the sensual punch of this painting, or perhaps of another with similar attributes.

Click Here To View Comments

TagsartGettynude figuresRenaissance

Previous Story

Updating Icons: Mother of the Maid and King Kong

Next Story

They Write by Night, Episode 2

About the author

Allon Schoener

Allon Schoener

Website

Our critic Allon Schoener has been: Director, Cincinnati Contemporary Art Center; Consultant, The Library of Congress; Guest Curator, The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Director, Museum Aid Program, New York State Council on the Arts; Curator, San Francisco Museum of Art; Guest Curator and consultant, Smithsonian Institution; Assistant Director,The Jewish Museum, New York; Project Curator, United Nations Vienna Center.

Related Posts

  • Brantingham on Brantingham: The Art of Ann Brantingham

    By John Brantingham
    When I met Ann in our early twenties, she...
  • Zoomsgiving

    By Adam Leipzig
    I have always been a pre-planner. That’s...
  • Critiquing Art While Fostering Creativity: With Experienced Artist John Kissick  

    By Our Friends
    Whether you’re an artist, student, or...
  • Rediscovering David Park, Bay Area Realist

    By Stephen West
    One of the best things museums do is to...

Support Our Friends

Follow Us

Join Our Mailing List

Latest Tweets

Tweets by @CulturalWeekly

Comments

  • maurice amiel maurice amiel
    A Case Against New Year’s Resolutions
    Here is an interesting new voice: candid,...
    1/14/2021
  • Matthew R. Matthew R.
    A Taste of Gypsy Boots
    Thank you Gypsy, for being brave in your new...
    1/8/2021
  • maurice amiel maurice amiel
    Bye Bye 2020 … a mute testimony
    given the events at the US Capitol of January 6th...
    1/7/2021

New

  • Top 9 Things to Remember When Buying Car Accessories Online
  • The Dangers of Drug Addiction
  • Why Should we Focus on Our Mental Health?
  • The Different Types of Counseling
  • Types of Mental Health Treatments

Tags

art dance film Los Angeles music photography poem poems poetry tomorrow's voices today

Like us

Please Help

Donate

Who are we?

Cultural Weekly is a place to talk about our creative culture with passion, perspective and analysis – and more words than “thumbs up” or “thumbs down.” Our mission is to draw attention to our cultural environment, illuminate it, and make it ... read more

Site map

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact us
  • Contributors
  • Cultural Weekly Style & Formatting Guide
  • Food
  • Home
  • Masthead
  • Privacy Policy/Do Not Sell My Personal Information
  • Submission Form
  • Submissions: Write for us
  • Subscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Thank You

Links

Adam Leipzig
Entertainment Media Partners
This Is Crowd
CreativeFuture
Plastic Oceans Foundation
Arts & Letters Daily
Alltop
Alexis Rhone Fancher
Jack Grapes
Ethan Bearman
Writ Large Press

Mailing List

* indicates required


  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy/Do Not Sell My Personal Information
  • Contact us
Cultural Weekly is the digital magazine and public platform of Next Echo Foundation. DONATE HERE.
Copyright © 2010-2020 by Adam Leipzig. All Rights Reserved.