From Willendorf to Amsterdam .... illusionism in art

Willendorf Venus, (link) Austria,

c.39,OOO-28,OOO BCE

Limestone carving

Height (12cm)

Make sure you can discuss the following terms:-

• stylised (definition & reasons)
• 3-D
• closed form
• carving - subtractive technique

2014 CE = now

V of W

30,000 BCE

• Bast, the cat goddess (link)

- ancient Egyptian deity.

• British Museum, London. Late Period, 664-332 B.C.E
• Discuss this sculpture as a stylized object.

Make sure you can discuss the following terms:-

• stylised (definition & reasons)
• 3-D
• partially closed form
• wax modelling and casting - additive technique

2014 - now

Bast

• Dancing woman from Mohen-jo Daro. (Link)
• copper statuette from India
• 2500 BCE
• naked except for her jewelry
• Her pose is relaxed and quite jaunty, showing a confidence and poise.
• great importance on the female image as sacred and vital to the continuation of life. The cult of the mother goddess occurred throughout the ancient world and especially in India, Iran and the Near East.
• figure is stylised, but conveys the message of female beauty and power effectively. How?
• An ‘open form’ - the form juts into the space around it and the space penetrates the form.

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2014 - now

Dancer

2500 BCE

What was the connection between Egypt and Greece at this time?

i.e. ‘What was the historical context?’

Archaic Greek sculpture

Kouros figure - marble

c 530 B.C

• stylised
• 3-D
• closed form
• carving

EGYPTIAN

Mycerinus and his Queen

2548-2530 B.C.

Link to Ancient Egypt

‘How Art made the World’

Link to Ancient Greece

‘How Art made the World’

EGYPTIAN

Mycerinus and his Queen

2548-2530 B.C.

EARLY CLASSICAL GREEK

Kritian Boy (link) 480 BCE

Discuss this sculpture as a REALISTIC object by looking at the following features:

Face, Ears, Hair, Body anatomy and Decoration.

LATE CLASSICAL GREEK

Riace bronzes 550BCE

Discuss this sculpture as a IDEALIZED object

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Facial and body anatomy and decoration.

Pose - ‘Ponderation’

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LINK to the BBC

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Now - away from 3-D sculptures in real 3-D space and on to ILLUSIONS of 3-D forms in illusionary space ...

Apollo statue in Pompeii

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• 3-D realism
• an open form
• religious subject matter

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Body casts in Pompeii

What is ‘reality’?

The destruction of Pompeii - British Museum website

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Eruption in 79 CE

"Courtship of Mars and Venus"

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- detail of Mars and Venus from the central panel of the north wall of tablinum (family record-keeping room),1st c BCE

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Pompeii, Italy, (destroyed 79 BCE by Vesuvius erupting)

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Medium Technique: fresco painting, mural

Make sure you can discuss the following terms:-

• realistic (definition & reasons)
• illusions of 3-D forms and space
• fresco painting
• mural

Giotto

The Flight into Egypt,

• fresco
• Arena Chapel
• Italy
• Proto- Renaissance - late 1400’s = ‘quattrocento’

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2014 - now

Flight

“Giotto's style was wholly new and unique for its time. He moved decisively away from the flowing, unrealistic human figures in the Medieval works and gave rise to the movement of naturalism”.

Explain how the following concepts enhance illusions of form and space

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1. aerial perspective
2. scale (large> small)
3. sfumato
4. chiaroscuro
5. Idealized image

Da Vinci

Mona Lisa (link)

(1503–1505/1507)

Renaissance

- idealized image

Leonardo da Vinci link

- better article on the Mona Lisa

BAROQUE

Vermeer

The Milkmaid interactive link

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c. 1658-1661

Oil on canvas

(45.5 x 41 cm)

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The Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Make sure you can discuss the following terms while referring to these works:-

• stylised forms (definition & reasons)
• 3-D
• closed form
• carving - subtractive technique
• partially closed form
• wax modelling and casting - additive technique
• open form
• realistic / naturalistic forms (definition & reasons)
• idealized forms (definition & reasons)

Hand-out�- 3-D sculptures

Make sure you can discuss the following terms with reference to the images shown:-

• realistic images (definition & reasons)
• illusions of 3-D forms and space
• fresco painting
• mural
• aerial perspective
• scale
• sfumato
• chiaroscuro

Paintings showing illusions of 3-D form and space

FOR PRINTING