Module # 9, Video Review

1. Explain why you selected each of the TWO videos you choose from the selection listed above.

·         I chose the first two videos listed, The Drawings of Michael Angelo and Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renascence because they were the two most recognizable names on the list. Even though I became more familiar with the other artist through the reading, my ultimate goal when I am finished with this class (in addition to obtaining the three art credits that I need to graduate) is to be able to speak educated-ly about art. Da Vinci and Angelo seem the most likely artist that I will come across again from the list.

2. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

·         It was interested to realize that these two wildly successful and talented artists, began as apprentices, and that that they both had such different experiences. That Michael Angelo was reluctant to give credit to his mentor, which the narrator indicated was probably due, and Leonardo’s mentor was rumored to have given up painting when Leonardo’s angel out shone the rest of the master’s painting.  It was also interesting to observe the use of grids in transforming Michael Angelo’s smaller sketches to the large images in the ceiling of the sixteenth chapel. I was stuck by the difference between the two artists, Leonardo was so much more than an artist. I really enjoyed hearing the stories about his study of movement and the wart inventions that he envisioned were inspired. Also interestingly both men seemed to have quite large egos.

3. How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?

·         The videos elaborate on the works of two artist, discussed in Chapter 16. Where the reading mostly touched on their art, the form, colors, imagery etc. The videos went into detail about the lives of the artist and explained how they came to create the pieces for which they are so well known, and shed light on why those pieces appeared the way that they did. The videos that I chose did not really add to the topics of Chapter 17, but they played heavily on the Da Vinci’s and Angelo’s role in the time of the Renaissance.

4. What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the readings and art concepts?

·         As with most of the videos that we have watched in the class, these videos were great in adding depth to the artists and elaborating on their artistic drive, motives, and diversity. Typically I am not concerned with the artist, and I am more interested in the art, but when it comes to artist as famous as Angelo and Da Vinci I was curious. Having gained so much insight into the art by learning about the artist has opened my mind about the importance of knowing the artist. I never would have known the depth of Da Vinci’s creativity if not for the breadth of his life covered by the video. It is interesting that art was what ultimately brought him fame, it seemed that he was destined to make a difference through some medium. I also found it interesting that both men had very pronounced egos, which I would not have expected, because their art seems so beautiful, and pure.