Art and Society in Early Modern Europe - Annotated Bibliography Example

Art and Society in Early Modern Europe Introduction: The Early Modern Period in Europe found art, culture and society closely interlinked with each other, especially during the political upheavals and changes that took place in the country. Events such as the French Revolution, the 1870 revolutionary Commune, the First World War followed by Democracy and the Bauhaus, found political leaders making use of art and propaganda to emphasize their legitimacy and authority. On the other side of the coin, the minorities used art, rituals and the press to defame, demoralize and destabilize those people in power. (Barbara Day, New History 242) Art played a major role in European society because the European Aristocracy1 was not only a consumer of luxury but also great patrons of art, music and literature. The different works of art held their own social and political connotations and meanings which reflected the situations that prevailed during that particular period. Life in the eighteenth century comprised of a lavish aristocratic culture and also the Bourgeoisie2 who made up for the urban commercial class whose centrifugal point was the family and the home. This study is going to examine a few works of art focusing primarily on Titian’s portrayal of female beauty that rests within the context of contemporary Renaissance culture. I am going to make use of authentic sources that would directly relate to my theme and would supply me with both contextual and analytical ideas which I would incorporate into my analysis. Cantelupe, E. B. (1964) Titian's Sacred and Profane Love Re-examined [Electronic Version]. The Art Bulletin, 46(2), pp. 218-227 The first thing apparent in Cantelupe’s article is the inclusion of the historiographical background of Titian’s Sacred and Profane Love. Despite not in itself being an article investigating the portrayal of female beauty, this differs from my other sources and is useful in showing how a range of interpretations and meanings can be assigned to a work of art based on the prevailing knowledge available at the time. Cantelupe critiques analyses based entirely on one basis, for example literary or biblical, and believes that Sacred and Profane love should be read as Titian’s linking of a pagan (mythological) and biblical love in the Renaissance world. Cantelupe underlines the importance of considering the backgrounds and additional objects in works of art in order to gauge its full meaning, which I will employ in my investigation of images of feminine beauty. Cropper, E. (1986). The Beauty of Woman: Problems in the Rhetoric of Renaissance Portraiture . In M. W. Ferguson, M. Quilligan & N. J. Vickers (Eds.), Rewriting the Renaissance – The Discourses of Sexual Difference in Early Modern Europe, (pp. 175-190). London: University of Chicago Press Cropper’s work gives a useful insight to some of the specific issues surrounding the study of female portraiture and portrayal. She argues that the artistic portrait process has been thought in some ways inferior to poetry in truly depicting female beauty. She explores the problem of identity in female portraiture which I should consider in my essay, using the example of Titian’s Portrait of Isabella D’Este which introduces the idea that female portraiture was often based on an ideal, rather than a reality, of beauty. However, Cropper critiques the beliefs of many that the beauty in female portraits was for its own sake, that there was no other point to the works, suggesting that female portraiture was in accordance with, and response to Petrachan lyrical tradition. ‘Flora’ is referred to specifically and the conclusions Cropper draws on art rising to meet a ‘challenge’ from the poet will be interesting to analyze in Titian’s works. Goodman-Soeller, E. (1983). Poetic Interpretations of the Lady at her Toilette Theme in Sixteenth-Century Painting [Electronic Version]. The Sixteenth Century Journal, 14(4), pp. 426-442. This article directly links to my theme of the portrayal of beauty and is therefore especially useful. Again, poetry and Petrachan convention is linked to art, Goodman-Soeller suggesting that this was particularly true for Venice and that poems were perhaps even the catalyst for the ’Lady at her Toilette’ genre. Titian’s ’Young Woman’ and ’Venus’ at their respective ‘toilettes’ are both analysed, Goodman-Soeller challenging the view that Titian meant beauty as an allegory for transience and death in ‘Young Woman, and directly linking to Ariosto’s poetic metaphor in ‘Venus’, (Titian’s specific use of red white gold). This article investigates a very specific genre of art, and it will be valuable to view some of Titian’s portrayals of female beauty in relation to the theme underlined here, one decidedly based on my topic of choice. Mellencamp E. H. (1969). A Note on the Costume of Titian's Flora. The Art Bulletin, 51(2), pp. 174-177 Mellencamp here looks at Flora’s dress and the significance assigned to it by critics over time. His depiction of the portrait of Flora that is also in the Uffizi is considered to be a work of great beauty that “captures the early period of Titian completely with “warm and impassioned intensity of color.” (Kren and Marx, Web Gallery of Art) This again raises the point that interpretations can change, based on knowledge available at the time. The concept of Flora’s dress as a classically-based bridal gown is here critiqued, Mellencamp instead suggesting that Flora is instead dressed as a nymph in accordance with Roman theatrical tradition. Though Mellencamp does not herself delve into the meanings behind the nymph image, this short article is nonetheless very useful in underlining the importance of understanding the historical use of dress in the portrayal of beauty, which I can apply to my analysis of Titian’s works. Another typical specialty of the portrait of Flora, is the constant usage of an orange- brownish color he used for the portrait of Flora and for the hair of courtesans in his earlier portraits. It is for this reason that this particular color is given the name “Titian.” Most of Titian’s paintings have a personal touch to it, in the sense that most of his models recur in his consecutive paintings. Many of his paintings show a woman holding a flower, who was said to be his lover and the Victorian idea of romance in the picture, seems highly plausible. This particular woman who was thought of by Titian as an iconic beauty, who posed as Flora, is also found in his painting Sacred and Profane Love. It was also suggested that Flora could have Cecillia, who was Titian’s mistress, whom he later married in 1525 and thus legitimized their children. Millner Kahr, M. (1978). Danaë: Virtuous, Voluptuous, Venal Woman [Electronic version]. The Art Bulletin, 60(1), pp. 43-55. Millner Kahr contrasts differing artistic portrayals of the myth of Danae, included in which are analyses of Titian’s various works of the subject. The remains of medieval morality ideas, and Counter-Reformation Catholic zeal are considered as contextual factors which I can also consider in my analyses. Specifically considered are the contrasts between young and old, and dark and light in Titian’s artistic style, drawing the conclusion that for Titian, Danae represents a (male view) of female perfection, being ‘at once virtuous and voluptuous’ (1978, p. 50). This article will help me to consider the importance of myth and interpretation, particularly the complex stylistic and metaphorical tools employed by Titian to retell a story. Steele, B. D. (1997). In the Flower of Their Youth: "Portraits" of Venetian Beauties ca. 1500 [Electronic version] Sixteenth Century Journal, 28(2), pp. 481-502  Similarly to Cropper, Steele here considers the parallel between poetry and art in Renaissance Venice. Steele suggests that the initial ‘charm’ of a beautiful woman in a portrait is not, as earlier suggested, the point of the work itself, but that it entices the viewer in to further examination of moral and intellectual questions raised by the portrayed beauty. Moral lessons within Flora and the Woman in Blue are analyzed – particularly the image of the bloom and of transient, fading beauty - revealing the richness and depth of meaning in the portrayal of beauty which will serve as useful in helping me to see deep into Titian’s works and the hidden meanings that may have been apparent to Titian’s contemporary viewers. References: Advanced European History Courses – The Department of History. www.temple.edu/history/Undergraduate/Advanced-Euopean Culture and Society in Eighteenth – Century Europe. www.wps.ablongman.com/long_kishlansky_cw_6/35/9181/2350389.cw/index.html http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,868367,00.html Read More