Leon Battista Alberti: Beyond Architecture

Fascinating two day online course from the London Art History Society on Leon Battista Alberti, the Renaissance architects and polymath.

On day one Andrew Spira put Alberti in the context of 15th century humanism and gave us an excellent outline of the main protagonists prior to Alberti. He then looked at Alberti’s theories on art, in particular linear perspective, and outlined why these changes in how space could be defined were important. I’d never considered before that it allowed technical ideas to be shared more easily via more detailed, realistic diagrams. There was a good outline of the main artists who were early adopters of the ideas.

Day 2 concentrated on Alberti’s architectural writings and projects. Spira outlined the principles in Vitruvius and how some architects and theorists had tried to apply these before Alberti. I was interested to see some early versions of the Vitruvian man which didn’t quite work. He also talked about how Alberti’s ideas spread and become more popular with printed, illustrated versions becoming more of a technical rather than intellectual tool.

It was nice to finish the session by going through the main buildings which Alberti had worked on or been a consultant for. We went though how he had used his own principles but most of all it was lovely to look at pictures of Italian churches in sunny climes on a grey day in lockdown!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year Exhibition 2019

Image
Delightful exhibition at Clarendon Fine Art showing pictures from the Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year TV series. I had loved the series which had set nine artists, both professional and amateur, to paint one of three celebrities. It then had a semi-final and final with them all looking at one sitter and in the final they also took on a commission. I loved the way you watched a picture build and how some were then made or spoiled by one stroke of paint.   Finding these pictures I knew so well in the flesh was therefore fascinating. None of them disappointed. My favourite artist from the final, Tom Mead, works looked just as good in real life if not better as you could see the detail. The show included his impressive self-portrait which he submitted to enter the competition, a wonderful fragmented picture of his reflection in a mirror giving a sense of movement. I loved that it included a large version of him and a miniature. His commission for the final of Jazzie B was
Read more

Thomas Becket: Murder and Making of a Saint

Image
Stunning exhibition at the British Museum on the life and afterlife of Thomas Becket. I studied Becket both at A Level and at university so I was really looking forward to this show and it did not disappoint. From walking in to see an old friend, the early Limoges casket showing the murder from the Victoria and Albert Museum, I was gripped. The show told the story well using fantastic objects and led you through his life, the murder, the political aftermath, his sainthood and miracles, and how Canterbury became a major pilgrimage site. It is hard to pick out the best objects as so many were wonderful. I loved that they had early copies of some of the five eyewitness accounts of the murder which made you fell you were almost touching the event. I liked the manuscript on his time in exile which was almost like a comic strip. How wonderful to get a 13th century font from Sweden which shows how far and how quickly the news that Henry II had integrated the murder spread. I think my
Read more

Courtauld summer school day 1

Image
Today has been my first day of this year’s week at the Courtauld Institute’s summer schools. This year I am doing “Painting in Renaissance Venice” which is being led by Michael Douglas-Scott. It was nice to see some familiar faces and there are at least five of us who did Michael’s course last year. Today has been two lectures. Firstly setting out the background of Venice in this period looking at how the city had set up a myth of itself, the role of the Doge. the nature of the Republic and the role of citizens. The second lecture looked at why the nature of Renaissance was different in Venice. There was still a sense of the coming of antiquity and humanism but in Venice it fused with the Gothic and Byzantine rather than replacing it. The day ended with a choice of gallery talks. I went to one on the second floor of the Courtauld on the coming of Modernism. In essence it looked at the Impressionists and discussed what they were reacting against and what themes they portrayed. All in a
Read more