An emblem book first published in 1593, by Cesare Ripa, that became the standard text consulted by artists when rendering allegorical figures and scenes. Ripa used various mythological, emblematic, and archaeological manuals to compose his text, including Vincenzo Cartari’s Le imagini de i dei and Piero Valeriano’s Hieroglyphica. An example of a work that relies on Ripa’s text is Guercino’s Aurora in the Casino Ludovisi, Rome (1621), down to her rolled-up sleeves and the flowers she scatters about. Valentin de Boulogne’s Allegory of Rome (1628; Rome, Villa Lante) depends on Ripa’s prescription for Rome as a female with shield, lance, and tower-like headdress.
The first Counter-Reformation church ever built. Financed by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, Il Gesù was to function as the mother church of the Jesuit Order. Its architect, Giacomo da Vignola, used Leon Battista Alberti’s Sant’Andrea in Mantua (beg. 1470) as his prototype. As in Alberti’s structure, Il Gesù is an aisle-less, barrel-vaulted church with a broad nave, granting an unobstructed view of the altar, where the rituals of the mass take place. The façade, which borrows elements from Alberti’s façade at Santa Maria Novella, Florence (c. 1456–1470), was completed by Giacomo della Porta, Michelangelo’s pupil, from 1575 to 1584. Here, doubled engaged pilasters define the bays of the lower story and step forward as they move closer to the entrance. The doorway is marked by a triangular and segmented pediment, as well as the pedimented window of the second story. Scrolls provide a rhythmic transition from the narrower upper level to the lower, an amplification of Alberti’s idea in the Santa Maria Novella façade. Il Gesù became the standard for longitudinal churches built in Rome during the Counter-Reformation and Jesuit churches throughout the world.
A manuscript handwritten on parchment with the text complemented by miniature painted scenes, decorated initials, and borders. The earliest illuminated manuscripts date from the Early Christian era. Most were created by monastic communities who, through the medium, were able to preserve the Greco-Roman literary culture and disseminate religious doctrine. With the invention of the printing press in the 15th century, the need for illuminated manuscripts was eliminated, as printed books became a more practical and economical way to disseminate information. Examples of illuminated manuscripts created during the Renaissance are the Psalter of the Duke of Berry (c. 1380–1385; Paris, Biliothèque National), for which André Beauneveu painted a series of prophets and Apostles; the Book of Hours of Jean le Meingre, Maréchal de Boucicaut (beg. c. 1409; Paris, Musée Jacquemart-André, Ms. 2) by the Boucicaut Master; the Limbourg brothers’ Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (1416; Chantilly, Musée Condé); and the Rohan Hours (c. 1414–1418; Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale).
A theological doctrine that asserts that the Virgin Mary was conceived without sin. This doctrine did not become dogma until 1854, although Pope Sixtus IV gave it official approval in 1475. The doctrine was passionately defended for centuries, particularly in Spain, where the monarchy took up the cause. Francisco Pacheco, Diego Velázquez’s father-in-law, wrote in his treatise on art that the Immaculate Conception should be depicted by showing a youthful and beautiful Mary with long, blond hair, a white tunic, blue mantle, with rays of light emanating from her head, culminating in 12 stars. She should be standing on the moon, with its upper part forming a crescent. This, in fact, is how Velázquez depicted the Immaculate Conception (1619; London, National Gallery), except that his Virgin’s tunic is pink, not white—one of many representations of the kind in the history of Spanish art, including Francisco de Zurbarán’s version of 1630–1635 (Madrid, Prado), Alonso Cano’s of 1648 (Vitoria, Museo Provincial), and Bartolomé Esteban Murillo’s of 1665–1670 (Madrid, Prado). In Italy, images of the Immaculate Conception are not as common as in Spain, although some splendid examples do exist, including Guido Reni’s of 1627, now at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
Paint applied thickly to the surface of a panel or canvas. Usually the marks from the brush or palette knife used to apply the paint remain visible when using this technique. The use of heavy impasto became a common feature of Baroque art, with artists like Rembrandt and Frans Hals creating some of the most notable examples.
Objects related to the Passion of Christ. These include the column on which he was beaten; the whips used for his flagellation; the crown of thorns placed on his head; the cross, nails, and hammer of his Crucifixion; the sponge saturated with vinegar administered to him in the last moments of life; the lance of St. Longinus, which pierced his side; and the chalice used to collect his blood.
The term International Style refers to an art mode of the 14th and 15th centuries that blends Italian and Northern Gothic elements. The International Style became the preferred mode of the rulers and aristocrats of Europe for its elegance. It is characterized by the use of brilliant colors; graceful, courtly figures; heavy gilding; and emphasis on patterned surfaces. The style developed when Simone Martini, a pupil of Duccio, moved to the papal court of Avignon (1335) and brought with him the Sienese vocabulary. As the papal court was frequented by foreigners, the style soon spread to other parts of Europe, hence the appellation “International Style.” Among the exponents of this mode were the Limbourg brothers, Melchior Broederlam, Jean Malouel, Gentile da Fabriano, Luis Borrassá, and Jaime Huguet.
Altarpiece painted by Matthias Grünewald for the chapel of the commandery of the Hospital Order of St. Anthony in Isenheim. The Isenheim Altarpiece includes in its closed state a Crucifixion, with St. Anthony and St. Sebastian in the outer wings and the Lamentation on the predella. In its first opened position, it depicts the Annunciation, Angel Concert and Nativity, and Resurrection. In the second opened position, the altarpiece presents the figures of St. Athanasius, St. Anthony, and St. Jerome (carved by Nicholas von Hagenau), flanked by panels of the Temptation of St. Anthony and the Meeting of Sts. Paul and Anthony in the Desert.
As a work seen daily by patients cared for at the commandery, many of whom were treated for the new disease of syphilis, St. Anthony and St. Sebastian were included for their association with illness and plague. St. Anthony, of course, was also the patron saint of the order, hence the two scenes from his life flanking the carved standing saints. In the Crucifixion, Christ is covered with skin lesions so that the intended viewers could parallel their suffering to that of the Savior. The agony experienced by Mary Magdalen at the foot of the cross adds to the poignancy of the scene. When the altarpiece was opened to reveal the Annunciation, Angel Concert and Nativity, and Resurrection to patients, the sense of misery and suffering was replaced by a sense of hope. The message provided was that the Savior came into the world to bring the rewards of an afterlife for the suffering experienced here on Earth.
