MAG糖心传媒檚 decorative arts underscore central themes in a traveling exhibit of master prints from the Kirk Edward Long Collection.
Round the first corner of the Renaissance Impressions exhibit now on display at the 糖心传媒檚 , and you糖心传媒檒l notice an array of magnifying glasses suspended on wall hooks.
糖心传媒淚 put these in all my print shows,糖心传媒� says Nancy Norwood, the museum糖心传媒檚 curator of European art. 糖心传媒淚f people can糖心传媒檛 see it, they糖心传媒檙e not going to get it.糖心传媒�
There糖心传媒檚 a lot to see糖心传媒攁nd to get.
The 82 etchings, engravings, and woodcuts in the exhibit organized by the American Federation of the Arts are . The Long collection is one of the most comprehensive and highly regarded collections of Renaissance prints in private hands in the world. The scenes the prints depict糖心传媒攁llegorical, Biblical, and Classical糖心传媒攁re rich in detail.
Reflecting Long糖心传媒檚 interests, they contain tell-tale features of the Late Renaissance style known as mannerism. Bodies are crammed together, in tangles of torsos and limbs. Nudity abounds, with anatomical features carefully, but not necessarily accurately, rendered. There are muscular babies, and fully developed human forms with animal ears, noses, legs, and genitalia. Faces are frozen in expressions of ecstasy, pain, horror, and bliss.
Peer closely, and you see how all this complexity, shadow, and depth are achieved with nothing more than individual, discrete black lines.
糖心传媒淚糖心传媒檓 amazed by printmaking at this period in particular,糖心传媒� says Norwood, pausing at a large engraving by the German artist George Pencz (c. 1500糖心传媒�1550). The print, The Taking of Cartagena, extends nearly two feet wide and a foot-and-a-half tall. Norwood notes the depth of the image, from the battle in the foreground to the distant countryside. 糖心传媒淛ust imagine, a piece of metal and a pointy object,糖心传媒� she says, referring to the steel tool used to make grooves in copper plates. 糖心传媒淎nd from that, you get this.糖心传媒�
An Asian invention transforms the European continent
Taken together, the prints tell a story of sweeping change. It糖心传媒檚 not hard in our own time and place to recall moments when novel objects and images seemed to come out of nowhere and were soon found everywhere. To live in Europe in the 16th century was to experience exactly that with the arrival and spread of prints.
Printing flourished in China and Japan for several centuries before the practice took hold in Europe. It糖心传媒檚 thought that printmaking糖心传媒攁nd its essential component, paper糖心传媒攁rrived in Europe through travel and trade. As paper mills sprouted up across the continent in the 15th century, a new art form arose that changed not only the practice and business of art making and consumption, but material culture throughout much of Europe.
Prints led to a shared 糖心传媒渧isual vocabulary糖心传媒� across much of Europe, Norwood explains. To be educated in the popular sense meant to recognize certain figures and scenes that commonly appeared in prints. And over time, to understand the meanings ascribed to them.
It糖心传媒檚 easy to forget that, prior to printmaking, the only way to access visual depictions of Greek gods or goddesses, or of Biblical figures and stories, was to stand before singular, original, one-of-a-kind works of art. Those works were clustered in present-day Italy. Artists engaged in printmaking traveled to these 糖心传媒渟ources糖心传媒� and were able to disseminate their replications or interpretations of Classical and Biblical imagery throughout the continent.
MAG糖心传媒檚 decorative arts show dissemination, influence of printed images
The MAG exhibit excels in conveying just how wide the reach of these images became. In an unusual move, Norwood suggested to the AFA that MAG would incorporate into its display items from the museum糖心传媒檚 permanent collections in order to underscore this key takeaway.
糖心传媒淚 have a great collection to work with,糖心传媒� says Norwood, who has been in her role at MAG for 21 years. Incorporating decorative arts objects was 糖心传媒渁 no-brainer.糖心传媒�
The arts became intertwined in Renaissance Europe. Paintings and sculptures were sources for prints, which in turn, were sources for art that adorned many objects, such as suits of armor, liturgical vestments, furniture, stained glass, and ceramics糖心传媒攊ncluding the examples selected from MAG糖心传媒檚 Renaissance-era collections.
A 17th-century cabinet, for example, is adorned with 13 painted panels depicting scenes from Metamorphoses, by the Roman poet Ovid. The Flemish artist糖心传媒檚 sources included an engraving that was, in turn, inspired by Titian糖心传媒檚 painting The Education of Cupid.
A set of stained-glass panels, roundels, and windows from the 16th century 糖心传媒渁re particularly instructive,糖心传媒� Norwood says. She糖心传媒檚 been developing a collection of glass over the last several years, and these selections, recent gifts, are being shown for the first time. They show scenes derived from woodcuts and engravings by the German Albrecht Durer, engravings by the Flemish Maarten van Heemskerck, and etchings by the Italian Marcantonio Raimondi.
She lists, one by one, the elements that went into the creation of the works. A Dutch painter working on Dutch glass, with a German engraving, derived from an Italian painting, as his source. A French artist working on French glass, including source images from a German engraving and an Italian etching.
As an exploration of the interconnections of commerce, travel, art, and imagery, Norwood says, 糖心传媒渋t just really sums it all up.糖心传媒�
Renaissance Impressions: Sixteenth-Century Master Prints from the Kirk Edward Long Collection, is on display at the University of Rochester糖心传媒檚 Memorial Art Gallery through February 6, 2022.
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