Cathy's Art Diary

Comprehensive and fascinating four week online course from Paula Nuttall on the Sistine Chapel. As ever with Paula the talk was clear and well thought out with good illustrations. As usual she overran gloriously! Week one we looked at the early frescos after setting the scene and looking at the design of the chapel itself. I love the frescos but never thought about how the project was co-ordinated to give a consistency across the work of multiple artists. Paula’s theory was that Perugino was the master having already been working in Rome and as he painted the most prominent frescos and the altarpiece. Week 2 we looked up to the next stage of the decoration and Michelangelo’s ceiling. I had recently done a course on the young Michelangelo with Paula so this felt like an extension of that. We looked at how the artist painted this massive undertaking from its inception to its unveiling. I was particular interested in the section on his influences. Week 3 was Raphael’s tapestries a...

Excellent three week online course from Paul Nutall looking in detail at the first thirty years of Michelangelo’s career. As ever Paula was very clear with excellent illustrations and quotes. Of course she ran over time but she always does and that’s part of the fun of her courses. Week one we looked at Michelangelo’s life until he left for Rome in 1496, a short period he spent in Bologna and the first few years after he arrived in Rome. We discussed how we know so much about him, what his influences were and where he might have trained, even if he claimed he hadn’t. Week two concentrated on the early masterpieces in Rome the Bacchus and the Pieta shown here then the David made on his return to Florence and the Bruges Madonna. We also looked at other work done in this period between these iconic works such at the National Gallery’s two panel paintings. Finally week three looked at his years back in Florence and in particular the battle of the battle scenes for the Palazzo Vecch...

Pragmatic and fascinating online lecture from the Courtauld Research Forum looking at the 15th century artist working in Urbino, Justus of Ghent. Paula Nuttall guided us clearly through the life of the artist and various theories about his identity. There is some discussion that he may actually have been a Spanish artist, Pedro Berruguete who had possibly trained in the Netherlands. She then looked in detail at the paintings from Urbino which were attributed to Justus looking at their style and techniques. She discussed the fact that the paintings are in a poor condition and the technique is often not as pure as in the Netherlands. She theorised, in a pragmatic way, that this may be down to having to teach the methods to Italians in his workshop who were not as skilled as him. She also suggested it may have been due to his patron, Federico de Montefeltro’s demand for a large amount of work which didn’t suit the slow drying oil paints. She also discussed how in turn Justus may ha...

Excellent online study morning from Paula and Geoff Nuttall looking at the history and art of Naples from the 13th to 15th century. Geoff started the morning by looking at the Angevin’s who ruled the city from 1266 to 1435 guiding us through the complicated order of succession covering both the early French Angevins and the later Durazzo branch of the family from Hungary and Croatia. He outlined their building work in the city and looked in particular at the patronage of the civil servants around King Ladislav. I was delighted that he spent quite a lot of time talking about the tomb shown here for Admiral Antonio Baboccio de Piperno which I had discovered a few years ago and loved but I didn’t know a lot about it. He talked us through the imagery in some detail. Paula then took over looking at the Aragonese rulers of the city from 1442 to about 1504 focusing on Alfonso I including his work to rebuild the Castel Nuovo, his commissioned of medals from Pisanello, his interest in Nor...

Comprehensive online course from Paula Nuttall on the life and work of the 15th century artist, Botticelli. As ever Nuttall delivered a clear narrative with great illustrations and good analysis of the art works. She began in the first week with a run through of Botticelli’s life from his early training as a goldsmith, through his work on the Sistine Chapel and his great works on his return to Florence. She discussed the context of the times he lived in and how he adapted to the political and religious turmoil.   Week two we concentrated on the famous mythological works looking at who they were painted for and where. We spent some time how groundbreaking they were and what texts they might be based on. She emphasized the artists design skills and intelligence as a visualiser of poetry. The final week moved to the religious works taking us through the artists major altarpieces for Florence and his role in popularising devotional pictures of the Virgin and Chid. We spent some t...

Another excellent three-week online course from Paul Nuttall on Lorenzo de Medici. As ever Paula overran dramatically but we all know she’s going to and look forward to her enthusiasm taking over. She always develops a clear narrative to her talks while throwing in the latest research and some of the philosophy behind the works she is showing. Week one focused on the life of this 15th century figure who epitomises the Renaissance to us. She took us through his life using wonderful images to drive the story. Week two we moved to look at Lorenzo at home and what he owned. Paula based the structure on the inventory of his palace made on his death and walked us around it pointing out what was there, again with great images of what still exists. It was particularly interesting to think about what he’d inherited and what he acquired. Finally we looked at Lorenzo as an influencer and how he used he artistic reputation of Florence to enhance the reputation of the city and how other cit...

Excellent online study morning by Paula Nuttall looking at the sculptors who came after Donatello in Florence. Nuttall had already done a good three-week course on Donatello himself to reflect the exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum. That course had led to questions about the artists legacy and how sculpture in the city evolved from him to Michelangelo’s David in 1501-5 and this study morning addressed some of those issues. The talk could have descended into just a lost of names and pretty pictures but Nuttall crafted the narrative to show a continuation and development over the period emphasising the links between artists. I was surprised at how much of the work I knew from trips to the city without realising its significance. We are so often distracted from a lot of work by the power of a few artistic superstars. I learnt about some fantastic artists who I will look out for in the future.

Excellent study morning from Paula Nuttall looking in depth at Quentin Massys’s “The Ugly Duchess”. The morning complemented the current exhibition at the National Gallery which had reunited the Duchess with her other half, “An Old Man”, and had examined the context of the work. Nuttall did this in more depth looking at the fashion for grotesque images both in Northern Europe and Italy and discussed how this knowledge may have passed between the two centres of Antwerp and Florence. She also looked at the traditions of Morris dancing which often featured a similar figure and discussed how that was probably played by a man at the time. I loved her delicate way of explaining the sexual innuendo involved.   We finished by looking at the history of the painting and how people gave tried to identify the Duchess as a real person and how she has seeped into the cultural zeitgeist.   

Excellent three week course from Paula Nuttall on Donatello. I always enjoy Paula’s courses for her lively delivery, enthusiasm and deep knowledge. She always overruns but that is fine by me as it is all good. Week one concentrated on the life and career of the artist looking at works in chronological order and examining any documentary evidence. It was good to get an overview of where he had worked and when and the rapid run through works set us up for the next two weeks. Week two looked at the materials he used and the techniques needed to work with them. Starting with marble we then went through bronze, wood, ceramics, a local stone called Macigno and glass. She talked us through a selection of masterpieces with super illustrations including a number from the current exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Finally in the last week we looked at what Alberti described as “movements of the soul” ie how Donatello expressed narrative and emotion through body language and fa...

Excellent online course from Paula Nuttall on the work of Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Over the course of three two-hour sessions Paula took us through the three main themes of Bruegel’s work and in doing so looked at what little we know of his life and at his legacy. Week one we looked at how he was influenced by Hieronymus Bosch, the subject of a previous course by Paula, taking up similar surreal themes and images. He was described by a contemporary as “a second Bosch”. We looked both at his drawings which were used for prints and paintings. Week two was on his peasant pictures discussing how he built proverbs into these and how his style in these works changed drastically over the course of a decade. We looked in some detail at the wonderful "Netherlandish Proverbs" picture unpicking some of the imagery. Paula made interesting analogies between “The Peasant Wedding” and a “Wedding at Canaan” by Tintoretto and discussed how he may have been influenced between Italian ar...

Excellent morning workshop from Paula Nuttall on the Portinari altarpiece now in the Uffizi Gallery. I have always loved this work since coming across it in the Uffizi a number of years ago holding its own with the Botticellis. I was stunned by the clarity and detail in this 15th century piece. Nuttall spent the first half of the workshop telling us about Tommaso Portinari and his life in Bruges working for the Medici bank. She talked about his relationship with the Burgundian court and other art works which he commissioned. She set the scene well and gave a good overview of a fascinating man and his time in the city. After the break she led us through the iconography of this Nativity scene with shepherds and talked about why it was so ground-breaking when it arrived in Florence. She looked at the details of the picture using clear, sharp slides. She finally looked at its influence sharing other paintings which picked up on the unusual subject for the city of Florence and the new...

Excellent online three week course from Paula Nuttall on Raphael to compliment the National Gallery exhibition. Paula split the course into three useful sections the road to fame, which looked at his years in Urbino and Florence; the achievement of fame, looking at his arrival in Rome and early work for Pope Julius II; and finally the triumph of fame looking at the vast amount of work he did in the last five years of his life. We of course covered his paintings and fresco work but also looked at him a print maker, architect, stucco artists and designer of sculpture. She also looked at the influences on his work and how he studies and borrowed from other artists without copying. I was particularly interested to learn about works he quoted which would have been in Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo’s studios when he was in Florence but were not yet on public view. Paula had wonderful illustrations and led us though a huge amount of information in a clear and engaging fashion. I cam...

Fabulous online lecture from Paul Nutall on the chapel of the Journey of the Magi in the Medici Palace in Florence. Nutall moved seamlessly from describing the space, talking about how it would have originally looked and how it was altered over the years, what it was built for, how it was painted by Benozzo Gozzoli and the iconography of the scheme. It is a space I know and love as it is like entering a jewel or stepping back in time to 15th century Florence and I knew a lot about it, but I learnt even more. I was most interested in how it might have related to contemporary history with portraits of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, son of the Duke of Milan, and Sigismondo Malatesta, Lord of Rimini, to mark their visit to the city and audience in the space. She also talked about how some of the symbolism relates to the Medici’s place in the city and influence on its government.   It certainly left me wanting to read around the subject even more and possibly watch the cheesy but fun TV s...

Excellent three-part online course from Paula Nuttall looking at the main three Leonardo de Vinci portraits of women. Paula spent a session on each of the ladies, Ginevra de’Benci (shown here), Cecilia Gallerani, usually called The Lady with the Ermine and the Mona Lisa. In each case she placed the portrait within Leonardo’s career and explained how it showed artistic techniques he was exploring at the time. She also told us about the ladies themselves and discussed why the pictures were commissioned and by who. In each case she also talked about the condition of the works and recent scientific studies of them. We looked at what the Ginerva de’Benci might have looked like before it was cut down, how 19th century conservation work has damaged Cecilia Gallerani particulary adding the dark background and weird chin strap and finally what the Mona Lisa might look like without the layers of dark varnish and why is in unlikely anyone would dare to clean it.  

Fun two sessions of online lectures from Paula and Geoff Nuttall recreating two of their guided tours of two Italian cities and buildings. I’ve not done any other guided tour type talks by other people as I thought it would feel strange to not actually go to a place, however as I’ve so enjoyed other talks and courses by this couple I thought I’d give it a go. I enjoyed their balance of good solid art history alongside a sense of moving around a place even down to pictures of how we would have arrived and where we might be having our coffee. Week one was Lucca with Geoff. I had previously done a five week course by him on the silk merchants of the city but it was nice to concentrate on what was actually in the city. The first lecture walked us through the cathedral looking at it from a pilgrim’s perspective then moved onto San Frediano’s with he tombs of St Richard at St Zita. In the second half he looked in particular at the painters who came to the city including Filippino Lippi w...

Marvellous online three week course from Paul Nuttall on Durer focusing on his travels in Italy and the Netherlands. I do love Paula’s clear style and great illustrations. She paces the story well and picks key pieces to make her points. This course was in preparation for an exhibition at the National Gallery later in the year and I can’t wait to go. Week one we looked at why Nuremberg was probably the only city that could have nurtured Durer at the time as it had no gild system to control the creativity of artists and which allowed him to experiment in different media. Being a centre of trade it was receptive to new ideas and it was easy for him to circulate his prints around Europe. We then talked about his travels over four years initially to meet the print maker Schongauer in Comar but sadly Schongauer died before he arrived. Durer did however learn from people who had worked with the master. He also visited the great book producing centre of Basel on his way back. Week two l...

Fabulous three week course from ARTscapes looking at the relationship between Netherlandish painting and Italy.   Paula Nuttall look us clearly through various aspects of this relationship with wonderful illustrations. In week one we busted idea, started by Michelangelo, that Netherlandish art was seen as primitive and sentimental, and looked at the common themes in Netherlandish and Italian art in the 15th century and how Northern art was admired and purchased at that time. Week two we focused on how the Northern paintings got down into Italy, who the patrons were and whether they bought work when travelling to the north or commissioned it from a distance. Examples we looked at included this wonderful portrait of Francesco D’Este, the illegitimate son of Leonello D’Este who was sent to the Burgundian court to be educated, by Van Der Weyden. We also looked at three art works commissioned by Thomaso Portinari including the fabulous altarpiece in the Uffizi. Finally we looked ...

A fabulous three week course from Paula Nuttall on the life and work of Hieronymus Bosch. I loved the depth and detail of this course which began by looking at the little we know about Bosch’s live and where his style of imagery may have come from, looking in particular at print culture and the marginalia of illuminated manuscripts. We also discussed his unusual structures of paintings using religious forms for secular although morally driven works. Week two we moved onto some specific works and looked at the way then represented sin and salvation and discussed whether they have a satirical side to them. I was fascinated by how many reflected popular moralistic sayings of the time and by some of the more detailed symbolism. I won’t be looking at a jug on a stick the same way ever again! Finally we concentrated on his most famous work, The Garden of Earthly Delights. Paula had a wonderful early description of the work although we are unsure who it was made for. She did speculate t...

Fantastic three week online course from Paula Nuttall on the six pictures by Titian in his Poesie series. This was a new venture by Paula to run online courses and I thought it worked really well so bring on more! In the first week we looked at mythological painting before these works both by Titian and others. We concentrated on the works for brother and sister Isabella and Alfonso D’Este and for Isabella’s son, Federico Gonzaga in Mantua. Titian worked on the pictures for Alfonso but would certainly have also known the work going on at Palazzo Te in Mantua. The second weekly session was spent looking in detail at the pictures themselves, currently together for the first time in centuries at the National Gallery. We discussed how Titian used Ovid’s Metamorphoses as a source for the story but thought about when he picked the particular moment in each tale. Finally we looked at the commissioning process between Philip II of Spain and Titian and the free hand the artists was given ...

Excellent three week course from the London Art History Society looking in detail at the Ghent Altarpiece. Led by Paula Nuttall, this was a clear look at the topic over three hour long, online lectures. Each week she tackled a different question, who painted it, what does it mean and what happened to it. In week one, who painted it, we looked the physicality of the work, it’s format and how it was viewed and used. We also examined the inscription on the reverse and discussed how much was by Jan Van Eyck, who is remembered for painting it, and how much by his brother Hugo who is also credited on the inscription. We also discussed that the date, 1432, at the end of the quote means. We also took this opportunity to look at the life and work of the two artists. Week two, what does is mean, was a wonderfully detailed look at the iconography and symbolism of the work. We discussed the various biblical works involved as well as biblical commentaries of the time and a few classical, secu...