video review-week nine

Leonardo DaVinci- The mind of the Renaissance
I chose this video because I saw the movie the DaVinci Code and was interested to see if it went along with what I saw in the movie. Also we read alot about the Renaissance in the book and I always like to add connections to that and actually get to see things that relate to the readings, instead of just creating pictures in my mind. The video starts out by talking about DaVinci when  he was young and how he impressed his family. He became an apprentice to Andrea del Verrocchio. He became a painter very young and was accepted into the painters guild. At the same time he was also very skilled in engineering. He also began dissecting humans to further his understanding of the body. He painted the famous "Mona Lisa", designed an excavator big enough to build a canal, and believed beauty came from balance and proportions. He became the first painter, architect, and engineer to the king of France and died at the age of 67. I found this very interesting. DaVinci was such a complex and successful individual. He was truely a Renaissance man.

Albrecht Durer: Image of a Master
I chose this video because I really didnt have much of a clue who this was when I first read the title and I wanted to learn more. Durer was considered one of the "greatest artists of the Northern Renaissance". He was the main person through which the Italian ideas were passed on to Germany. He traveled to Italy and from his travel he became a lanscape artist and was very aware of his works' form and perspective. Not only was he a landscape painter, but he was very good when working with engraving copper. On of his famous works was "Knight, Death, and the Devil". Although he was not as weel rounded as DaVinci and not as famous other artists, in my opinion his art was beautiful and very unique. I enjoyed this video because we did not learn about him in the book much and i gained some extra knowledge.

Velazquez
I chose this video because when I was younger I once had to do a project on him for an art class. Velazquez was a Spanish artist. He was an idealist who was influenced by Italian artists. He was married to Dona Juana Pacheco and had two daughters, one who died young. He created a painting of his wife called Sybil. His art also showed a little psychology and painted truth rather than perfection. He painted people impefections and flaws. H took his skills to Rome where he painted Villa Medici and showed signs of impressionism. He and his wife died about the same time. This video brought back memories from my last project. Its crazy how when you do a project you know so much information about a subject but over the years you forget most of it. By watching the video I started remembering a lot more.

 El Greco: Rediscovering a MasterI also chose this video because I did not know much about this artist and wanted to learn more. Like Velazquez, El Greco was also an artist in Spain. The video goes through the life of the artist, Domenikos Theotokopoulos. Although he grew up on Byzantine style of law, he moved to Venice and began taking up Renaissance fundamentals. After a few years in Rome, he moved to Spain for a commission on the Cathgedral of Toledo. He stays in Spain and creates works such as "The Triumph of the Holy League", which combing Medieval, Byzantine, and Renaissance style, and "The Disrobing of Christ." What I found most interesting about El Greco was the difference he made in one painting to the next. He was able to paint in many style and combine them if he wanted to. El Greco died at 73 and went unappreciated for years. His "modernistic" ways began being noticed later on and even went on to influence artist such as Picasso.