We was taken in groups around the National Gallery and were asked to look at certain paintings from the late mediaeval and early renaissance periods and explore the Allegorical meanings behind them, and examining the way that space and time are represented in the paintings (this consisted of two seperate visits). This was a great exercise as it helped me explore these paintings in a whole new manner and to interpret them in a more analytical and evaluative approach. I learned that certain details can help interpret the meaning behind a painting and that certain critical judgements can help with exploring whole new areas within the pieces.
Exploring space within certain paintings helped me notice the un-even proportions of bodies in some works yet others had perfect symmetrical proportions. This had me curious as to how they had achieved some of the areas.
In the Mediaeval world, space did not exist in the way we understand it today - as dimension in which bodies can be located.
'Just as post-Copernican theoretic space and the aesthetic space of the perspective painting are perfectly matched, so were medieval conceptions of space and medieval conventions of representation. The medievals, like the Greeks, "experienced the spatial," as Heidegger says, "on the basis not of extension, but... as chora, which signifies... that which is occupied by what stands there" (Heidegger, 54).'
Bordo (1987) p68.
Ucello - Battle of San Romano
Ucello had used a perspectival grid to help with the composition of the painting, it is reflected clearly at the bottom created by the lances. This painting was cut down to size by the Medici's and was originally a tryptych which is now found at different museums.
The National Gallery
No comments:
Post a Comment