Unit 7 - Chapter & Film

Chapter 11 (The Sixteenth Century in Europe), Film 7 (Heroic Ambitions) and Film 8 (The Play of Light)

In my post for Unit 5 (The Early Renaissance) I mentioned that I struggled with the chapter and that it was possibly due to not being able to read it all in one go. Having now read chapter 11 on the later Renaissance, I actually think it has more to do with the subject matter just not doing it for me. I can't quite put my finger on what it is, but there is something about this period that just doesn't stimulate me.

There are elements of the Renaissance which I find really interesting, or rather, there are artists at this time that I admire (Jan Van Eyck's technique and use of oils is beautiful, and Durer and Leonardo's sketches are of such a precise nature).

I understand that it was a key time in the history of art in terms of developments in oils and printing, and that the freedom artists came to have allowed for more expression in the works. I feel that it was a time that artists looked back to move forward. They looked at the past for inspiration and to see what worked, and built on that, striving to be better and to get ahead.