Realism: Leonardo Da Vinci

OBJECTIVES:

1. Be able to cite several examples of Leonardo's art and discuss the ways in which it reflects realism.

2. Be able to define realism.

3. Be able to define and to discuss/analyze examples of Leonardo's art of psychological realism.

4. Be able to discuss Leonardo's depiction of sacred themes, and how they reflect the values of Renaissance humanism.

5. Be able to discuss the overall features of humanism according to Jacob Burckhardt.

6. Be able to discuss other views of humanism, including those of the medievalists of the 1940s.

OUTLINE

I. Renaissance Humanism

A. Jacob Burckhardt's characteristics

i) obsession with Greece and Rome
ii) individualism
ii) secularity
iii)quest for fame and glory

B. As distinguished from medieval art

i) medieval icons
ii) the medieval world view

C. Other view of humanism:

i) the revolt of the medievalists and continuity

II. Leonardo's contributions to art

A. Oil

B. Light/Dark

III. Realism

A. Definition

B. Leonmardo's Notebooks:

*canon of proportions
*anatomical studies
*fetus in womb
*study of drapery
*birds in flight

IV. Greco-Roman Themes: Bacchus

V. Humanistic Religious Art:

*head of Christ
*The Annunciation
*Virgin and Child With St. Anne
*Last Supper
*Madonna of the Rocks: Louvre
*Virgin of the Rocks: London
*John the Baptist

VI. Psychological Portraiture

*Self-portrait
*Ginevra da Benci
*Mona Lisa