24
Lectures
30
minutes/lecture
1.
Greatness in Painting
What makes a masterpiece? Look at criteria for defining greatness in painting, including a work's uniqueness and the quality of its impact, both immediate and cumulative.
1.
Greatness in Painting
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13.
The Serenity of Poussin, Claude, Watteau
Define the measured grace and brilliant use of color, shape, and gesture in Poussin's Eliezer and Rebecca. Study the elements of Lorrain's consummate mastery of the landscape, and the dreamlike qualities of Watteau's wistful fantasy, the Embarkation for Cythera.
13.
The Serenity of Poussin, Claude, Watteau
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2.
The Majesty of Duccio and Giotto
Your exploration begins with two composite masterworks of Italian painting. In the Maestá altarpiece by Duccio, grasp the elements of the painting's visual impact and spatial carrying power, its dramatic composition and imagery. In the Arena Chapel frescoes by Giotto, study the powerful depictions of devotion and grief in two narrative scenes.
2.
The Majesty of Duccio and Giotto
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14.
In Contrast—Chardin, Tiepolo, Gainsborough
Three diverse works reveal 18th-century achievements in painting. In a small still life, ponder Chardin's delicate, intimate portrayal of game animals in death. Then discover Tiepolo's apotheosis of fresco painting in Apollo and the Four Continents, and Gainsborough's ingenious melding of sitter and landscape in his portrait Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan.
14.
In Contrast—Chardin, Tiepolo, Gainsborough
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3.
Acts of Faith—Masaccio, Van Eyck, Van der Weyden
This lecture traces landmark religious imagery in 15th-century painting. Define Masaccio's narrative ability in two biblical fresco scenes from the Brancacci Chapel. Then discover Jan van Eyck's brilliant melding of realistic portraiture and sacred images in Madonna of the Canon van der Paele, and the emotional intensity and compositional richness of Rogier van der Weyden's Deposition of Christ.
3.
Acts of Faith—Masaccio, Van Eyck, Van der Weyden
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15.
Dark Images of David, Goya, Friedrich
Portrayals of brutality open this lecture. Observe David's merging of idealized presentation and realism in the stark Death of Marat, and Goya's bitter vision of military retaliation in Third of May, 1808. Finally, study the Romantic evocation of nature in Friedrich's Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon.
15.
Dark Images of David, Goya, Friedrich
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4.
The Diversity of Piero, Mantegna, Botticelli
You now encounter three major painters of the Italian Renaissance. In Piero della Francesca's Resurrection, reflect on the fresco's commanding image of the risen Christ and its mathematical composition. Later, contemplate Andrea Mantegna's extraordinary innovations in "illusionistic" painting and the luminous mysteries of Botticelli's Primavera.
4.
The Diversity of Piero, Mantegna, Botticelli
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16.
The Worlds of Constable, Turner, Delacroix
Compare the styles and originality of British landscape masters Constable and Turner, highlighting Constable's compositional technique and signature cloud-filled skies, plus Turner's bravura use of color and light. In Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People, examine the artist's allegorical fusing of symbol and reality in the heat of France's 1830 revolution.
16.
The Worlds of Constable, Turner, Delacroix
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5.
The Devotion of Bellini, Geertgen, Dürer
You continue with three extraordinary evocations of religious devotion. In Bellini's St. Francis in the Desert, witness the portrayal of the saint's passion for nature by means of divine light. Study the multilayered pictorial details enriching Geertgen's Madonna with Musical Angels and the spiritual import in Dürer's monumental Self-Portrait.
5.
The Devotion of Bellini, Geertgen, Dürer
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17.
Dark to Bright—Courbet, Church, Monet
French and American canvases reveal bold innovations in 19th-century painting. Contemplate the elements of Realism in Gustave Courbet's sprawling, slow-motion composition of a rural funeral, followed by Frederic Church's dynamically original depiction of Niagara Falls. Then study Monet's blaze of sunlight and color on a snowscape in The Magpie.
17.
Dark to Bright—Courbet, Church, Monet
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6.
Masterworks by Leonardo, Raphael, Correggio
Track the dramatic interaction of the human figures in Leonardo's iconic Last Supper and the composition's rich theological symbolism. Then define Raphael's embodiment of High Renaissance ideals in Baldassare Castiglione, and the poetic eroticism of Correggio's illusionistic Jupiter and Io.
6.
Masterworks by Leonardo, Raphael, Correggio
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18.
Alone and Together—Whistler, Degas, Renoir
In the ever-familiar image of Whistler's mother seated in profile, observe the superlative blending of abstract, formal composition with the intimate portrayal of a living woman. Follow with the pictorial riches and psychological ambiguities of Degas' In a Café, and the virtuoso staging and color of Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party.
18.
Alone and Together—Whistler, Degas, Renoir
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7.
Great Ensembles—Michelangelo and Grünewald
In scenes from Michelangelo's stunning Sistine Chapel ceiling, study the compositional power of The Creation of Adam and the weighty emotion of the ominous Prophet Jeremiah. Continuing with a highly contrasting masterwork of German art, penetrate the mystical evocation of suffering and ecstasy in Matthias Grünewald's Isenheim Altarpiece.
7.
Great Ensembles—Michelangelo and Grünewald
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19.
Unlike Any Other—Sargent, Manet, Seurat
In John Singer Sargent's elusive portrait of the daughters of a friend, ponder the unusual placement and psychological separation of the subjects. Then, explore the deliberate unreality of Manet's Bar at the Folies-Bergère, and Seurat's suspended, Pointillist rendering of Parisians in A Sunday on La Grande Jatte.
19.
Unlike Any Other—Sargent, Manet, Seurat
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8.
Ideal and Real—Giorgione, Titian, Holbein
You encounter the Concert Champêtre (1510–1511), worked on by both Giorgione and Titian, uncovering the enigmatic imagery of its Arcadian scene. Then study Titian's radiant portrayal of the Virgin Mary in the Assumption and the richly detailed execution of Holbein's portrait, Charles de Solier.
8.
Ideal and Real—Giorgione, Titian, Holbein
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20.
Close Observation—Cézanne, Van Gogh, Homer
Uncover the structural geometry and unity of focus in Cézanne's The Card Players, as they create the weighty, timeless concentration of the figures. Also witness the structure and balance of Van Gogh's sun-baked vista in The Harvest, and Winslow Homer's dramatic merging of self with subject in Fox Hunt.
20.
Close Observation—Cézanne, Van Gogh, Homer
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9.
Living and Dying—Bruegel, El Greco, Caravaggio
Explore three contrasting 16th-century masterworks. In Bruegel's Hunters in the Snow, investigate the artist's layering of descriptive scenes within a vast space. Conclude with the haunting details and symbolic compositions of El Greco's Burial of Count Orgaz and Caravaggio's The Entombment.
9.
Living and Dying—Bruegel, El Greco, Caravaggio
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21.
The Human Condition—Munch, Matisse, Schiele
Analyze Munch's pictorial composition of The Scream, as its pulsating visual field embodies the figure's cry of psychic terror. In stunning contrast, study Matisse's lyrical, floating colors and figures in The Joy of Life, then conclude with Egon Schiele's The Family and its bold evocation of his own hopes and fears.
21.
The Human Condition—Munch, Matisse, Schiele
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10.
Life Stories by Ter Brugghen, Rubens, Steen
Probe Hendrick Ter Brugghen's tender, understated evocation of the healing of St. Sebastian. Then learn about Rubens's ingenuity as a court painter in his operatic Landing of Marie de Medici in Marseilles, and the masterful organization and roguish imagery of Jan Steen's The way you hear it, is the way you sing it.
10.
Life Stories by Ter Brugghen, Rubens, Steen
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22.
Art in Time of War—Monet and Picasso
Two milestones of 20th-century art: Learn about the creation and the architectural display of Monet's transcendent series of water-lilies, parsing his superlative brushwork reflecting sky, clouds, and sunlight on water. Then take apart the writhing, nightmarish images in Picasso's Guernica, evincing his pained response to the atrocities of war.
22.
Art in Time of War—Monet and Picasso
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11.
Inside Vermeer, Velázquez, Rembrandt
Explore three introspective works of genius. In View of Delft, reflect on Vermeer's purpose in this becalmed, idealized rendering of his city. Also decode the ambiguous, philosophical composition of Velazquez's Maids of Honor, and Rembrandt's richly costumed, stoic portrayal of himself in his Self-Portrait of 1658.
11.
Inside Vermeer, Velázquez, Rembrandt
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23.
Time and Memory—Magritte, Hopper, Gorky
In Magritte's Time Transfixed, observe how the artist calmly dislocates our sense of temporal and physical reality. In the famous Nighthawks, study Hopper's careful, deliberate design evoking the silent separateness of the figures. Finally, trace Gorky's inspired craft in bringing to life the joyful explosion of color in The Plough and the Song.
23.
Time and Memory—Magritte, Hopper, Gorky
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12.
Spirit and Thought—Hals, Rembrandt, La Tour
Study Hals's penetrating treatment of elderly women in a Haarlem group portrait. Then explore Rembrandt's expression of a couple's deep emotion through an intimate configuration of hands and fabric, and La Tour's evocation of mystical contemplation through a flame.
12.
Spirit and Thought—Hals, Rembrandt, La Tour
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24.
Expressive Abstractions—Pollock and Hofmann
Track Jackson Pollock's whole-body approach to putting paint on canvas, and tease out the layered color fields in his elemental force of nature, Lavender Mist. Then contrast Hans Hofmann's mastery of geometry and color with his brutal, agonized creation, to JFK. Conclude with reflections on the power of great art.
24.
Expressive Abstractions—Pollock and Hofmann
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36
Lectures
30
minutes/lecture
1.
Introducing Leonardo da Vinci
In this introductory lecture, Professor Bent sets the stage for the rest of the course by detailing the swelling political, cultural, and artistic changes in Italy—all of which would lay the groundwork for the High Renaissance that Leonardo, through his life and work, would come to define and change forever.
1.
Introducing Leonardo da Vinci
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19.
Colossus—The Sculpture for Ludovico Sforza
Leonardo’s mathematical knowledge and drive to capture natural forms extended into his sculpture as well. Follow Leonardo’s process from start to near completion as he developed an ultimately unrealized sculpture that nevertheless remains a powerful example of his sculptural and engineering genius: a colossal 24-foot-high bronze horse in memory of the father of Ludovico Sforza.
19.
Colossus—The Sculpture for Ludovico Sforza
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2.
Who Was Leonardo? Facts and Fictions
How do we know what we know about Leonardo? First, dispel some common myths about the artist and signature works such as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. Then, explore important sources for the life and career of Leonardo, including the detailed (yet opinionated) Lives of the Artists by Giorgio Vasari.
2.
Who Was Leonardo? Facts and Fictions
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20.
The Making of The Last Supper
Conclude your look at Leonardo’s career in Milan by focusing on his grand masterpiece from this phase of his career: The Last Supper. By closely analyzing this exceptional work of Western art (and the epitome of High Renaissance Italian painting), you’ll consider it from a variety of technical and theoretical perspectives.
20.
The Making of The Last Supper
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3.
Leonardo’s Artistic Origins
Leonardo wasn’t born great—like everyone else, he learned his skills from his contemporaries and predecessors. After a walk through Renaissance Florence, follow Leonardo’s artistic development under his master, Andrea del Verrocchio, and figures who influenced him, including the artists Masaccio and Donatello, as well as the humanist thinker and architect Leon Battista Alberti.
3.
Leonardo’s Artistic Origins
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21.
The Meaning of The Last Supper
Go deeper into the powerful hidden meanings of The Last Supper. Closely study the painting’s figures to see what each suggests about human nature and the world we live in. Then, follow the story of the painting’s decay, as well as efforts to restore it to its original glory.
21.
The Meaning of The Last Supper
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4.
From Apprentice to Partner
Continue following Leonardo’s artistic growth against the backdrop of revolutionary changes in art, including the rise of paper as the surface of choice for drawings and the introduction of oil paint as a new medium in Italy. Then, learn more about Leonardo’s big break: his contribution to Verrocchio’s The Baptism of Christ (1472).
4.
From Apprentice to Partner
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22.
Mantua, Isabella d’Este, and Venice
Travel alongside Leonardo as he leaves French-invaded Milan and moves between Italian courts as an intellectual free agent. In particular, you’ll focus on his productive stays in Mantua (which led to his drawing the Portrait of Isabella d’Este) and Venice (where Leonardo designed the concept for a diving suit).
22.
Mantua, Isabella d’Este, and Venice
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5.
Annunciation—Leonardo’s First Commission
Here, watch as the increasingly successful Leonardo experiments with replicating nature, unfolding grand vistas, and depicting delicate draperies. Central to this lecture is Professor Bent’s analysis of Leonardo’s first commission as a master painter in Verrocchio’s workshop (and one of his first true masterpieces): Annunciation of the Virgin (1473–1474).
5.
Annunciation—Leonardo’s First Commission
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23.
Return to Florence—Sfumato and an Exhibition
Professor Bent guides you through a nomadic period of Leonardo’s career, a dramatically productive phase that saw Leonardo complete a massive mural for the Republic of Florence, military plans for sovereign states, and an impressive drawing of the Virgin Mary and Saint Anne—now lost—that led to the world’s first one-man art show.
23.
Return to Florence—Sfumato and an Exhibition
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6.
A New Kind of Portrait—Ginevra de’ Benci
To truly grasp Leonardo’s originality, you must look at his portraiture. After examining traditional approaches to portraits from antiquity to the early Renaissance, discover how this artistic genius revolutionized the genre—particularly through his portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci and its shocking emphasis on a woman’s individual features and intellectual presence.
6.
A New Kind of Portrait—Ginevra de’ Benci
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24.
Leonardo, Cesare Borgia, and Machiavelli
In 1502, Leonardo went into the service of the Renaissance villain Cesare Borgia, where he put his talents to use in the name of science and engineering. Comb through some of the artist’s surveyor maps, explore his schematics for machines, learn the story of his help in attempting to redirect the Arno River, his connection to Machiavelli, and more.
24.
Leonardo, Cesare Borgia, and Machiavelli
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7.
Leonardo’s Early Madonnas
Leonardo’s innovative approach to female sitters also informed his interpretation of the female icon of Christian art: the Virgin Mary. Professor Bent reveals how Leonardo’s innovative Madonnas—such as Madonna of the Carnation and the Benois Madonna—radically differed from those of predecessors and contemporaries like Fra Filippo Lippi and Verrocchio.
7.
Leonardo’s Early Madonnas
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25.
Michelangelo and Leonardo
Continue following Leonardo’s life and work in the Florentine state. In this lecture, you’ll learn more about his relationship with another great Renaissance artist, Michelangelo; discover the story behind Leonardo’s epic Battle of Anghiari of 1503; and compare that masterpiece with Michelangelo’s own Battle of Cascina from 1505 to 1506.
25.
Michelangelo and Leonardo
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8.
Scandal, Reprieve, and the Penitent St. Jerome
Why was Leonardo arrested by the Guardians of the Night, Florence’s vice squad? How did this arrest inspire Leonardo’s haunting and unfinished painting of St. Jerome (one of his first commissions as a truly independent artist)? Find out in this investigation of a key scandal that consumed the artist during his 20s.
8.
Scandal, Reprieve, and the Penitent St. Jerome
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26.
Mona Lisa—La Gioconda
Who was the Mona Lisa painted for? What is the sitter’s true identity? How did Leonardo achieve the painting’s brilliant sfumato effects? What should you really be looking for when confronted with this painting? Get solid answers to these and other probing questions about Leonardo’s most enigmatic work.
26.
Mona Lisa—La Gioconda
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9.
Inventing Early Modern Classical
Continue tracking Leonardo’s growth as an independent artist with this lecture on his engrossing The Adoration of the Magi and its classical, pyramidal composition; his northern European approach to painting natural landscapes; and his artistic and political ties to a giant of 15th-century Florence: Lorenzo de’ Medici (“The Magnificent”).
9.
Inventing Early Modern Classical
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27.
Raphael and Leonardo
Explore the connection between Leonardo and Raphael, who would soon go on to paint his own masterpieces, including the School of Athens. How did this relationship develop? What was Michelangelo’s role in this mentor-protégé relationship? In addressing these questions, you’ll focus on Leonardo’s now-lost erotic work, Leda and the Swan.
27.
Raphael and Leonardo
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10.
Arrival in Milan—Madonna of the Rocks
Follow the artist to Milan, where he served in the court of the Renaissance prince Ludovico Sforza, who would employ Leonardo for the next 17 years. Central to this lecture is a detailed aesthetic examination of Leonardo’s masterpiece from 1483, Madonna of the Rocks, which is the first fully realized example of High Renaissance painting.
10.
Arrival in Milan—Madonna of the Rocks
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28.
Leonardo in Milan and Pope Julius II in Rome
The rise of Pope Julius II led to the rebuilding of Rome that drew the talents of Michelangelo, Raphael, and even Leonardo’s associate Bramante. So why was Leonardo content to avoid papal Rome in favor of Milan and Florence? Discover the answer in this lecture on the changing landscape of early 1500s Italy.
28.
Leonardo in Milan and Pope Julius II in Rome
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11.
Leonardo at Court—Portrait of a Musician
Portrait of a Musician. Frescoes on the Sala delle Asse. The Sforza Madonna (Litta). Go inside these and other works from Leonardo’s work between the 1470s and 1480s—much of which shocked the local cultural elite. Also, get an insider’s look at the politics and structure of a typical Renaissance court.
11.
Leonardo at Court—Portrait of a Musician
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29.
The Anatomical Drawings—His Greatest Works?
Focus on Leonardo’s revolutionary anatomical drawings of everything from the cardiovascular system and fetuses to eyes and heads to spines and musculature. You’ll see how, taken together, these anatomical drawings are remarkably accurate, scientifically groundbreaking, and profoundly naturalistic—all while produced under almost unimaginable conditions involving freshly dissected corpses.
29.
The Anatomical Drawings—His Greatest Works?
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12.
Leonardo and the Ladies
Professor Bent invites you to peer behind the canvases of Leonardo’s portraits of female sitters, including Cecilia Gallerani (in Lady with an Ermine) and Lucrezia Crivelli (in La Belle Ferronniere). In doing so, you’ll learn how Leonardo ushered in a new phase of portraiture that was both more naturalistic and psychological.
12.
Leonardo and the Ladies
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30.
In Praise of Painting—Leonardo’s Manifesto
Pore over some of Leonardo’s most fascinating ideas, credos, observations, and philosophical statements about optics, light, perspective, distance, and other artistic concepts. These views, assembled after the artist’s death, are as close to a personal manifesto as Leonardo ever gave and stress his profound belief that painting was the noblest art of all.
30.
In Praise of Painting—Leonardo’s Manifesto
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13.
Threats to the Italian Renaissance—The 1490s
Pull back from Italy to explore the overall geopolitics of 1490s Europe—which would provide fertile ground for the next phases of Leonardo’s brilliant career. You’ll investigate power struggles in the Holy Roman Empire, the corrupt reigns of several popes, French expansionism under Charles VIII, and Columbus’s daring voyage to the New World.
13.
Threats to the Italian Renaissance—The 1490s
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31.
Leonardo and the Medici in Rome
Survey the nomadic Leonardo’s period working as a consultant for the court of Pope Leo X, also known as Giovanni de’ Medici. While spearheading several projects, including a stylistically innovative Madonna and Child with Saint Anne and a Lamb, this professional relationship would ultimately prove problematic and lead to Leonardo’s final departure from Italy.
31.
Leonardo and the Medici in Rome
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14.
Leonardo the Inventor and Engineer
Begin your initial foray into Leonardo’s incredibly inventive technical mind with a look at his engineering work. Comb through the artist’s various papers and manuscripts and get a fascinating glimpse of designs for moveable walls, machines for raising columns and grinding needles, a self-propelled cart, hydraulic devices, bridges, and more.
14.
Leonardo the Inventor and Engineer
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32.
High Renaissance Art from Rome to Venice
How did Leonardo’s works and ideas go on to inspire some of the Italian High Renaissance’s other great artists? Here, Professor Bent trains your eyes to see hidden connections between Leonardo and dramatic works by artists, including Bellini, Giorgione, Titian, Botticelli, and Ghirlandaio.
32.
High Renaissance Art from Rome to Venice
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15.
Vitruvian Man, Perfection, and Architecture
Leonardo was an artist deeply interested in matters of architecture. Here, examine some of the master’s most important architectural drawings and their underlying mathematical ideas about perspective and proportion. In addition to viewing his stage sets and church plans, you’ll see how Leonardo’s iconic Vitruvian Man brings together geometry, nature, and spirituality.
15.
Vitruvian Man, Perfection, and Architecture
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33.
Last Years—Leonardo in France
First, finish your look at Leonardo’s tenure in Rome with an analysis of his exciting drawing, The Deluge. Then, learn about some of the ideas Leonardo developed for his final patron: Francois I, king of France. It was for the French court that Leonardo would continue to work until his death in 1519.
33.
Last Years—Leonardo in France
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16.
Leonardo the Military Scientist
Explore the utterly imaginative (and sometimes barbaric) military works that Leonardo drafted while employed by Ludovico Sforza in Milan—but never saw realized. Among the jaw-dropping prototypes you’ll take a closer look at: defensive castle walls and towers, siege-busting bridges, human-powered tanks, repeating canons, giant crossbows, and even a submarine.
16.
Leonardo the Military Scientist
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34.
Renaissance Man and Man of the Renaissance
Dispel any doubts you may have about Leonardo’s status as Western history’s greatest Renaissance man. In this lecture, explore the political, cultural, and spiritual climate of the times that led to the possibility of such a comprehensive individual’s existence. In the process, you’ll get a window into the sources and reasons for Leonardo’s lasting genius.
34.
Renaissance Man and Man of the Renaissance
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17.
Leonardo and Flight
Investigate one of Leonardo’s greatest passions: the possibility of human flight. You’ll get to peer over his shoulder as he captures birds in flight, creates his first designs for a glider (ornithopter) based on birds, expands his ideas to encompass parachutes and mechanical wings, and attempts to design grand self-powered flying machines.
17.
Leonardo and Flight
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35.
The End of an Era
During the 1520s, the dream of the High Renaissance came to an end. Professor Bent explores some of the reasons behind this dramatic shift away from classical art styles, including the lack of suitable heirs to Leonardo; the demise of papal power; and the failed ambitions of leading Italian cities, including Milan and Florence.
35.
The End of an Era
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18.
Drawing Human Figures and Caricatures
After a brief look at the role drawings played in Renaissance art, see how Leonardo used drawings to better depict the myriad features of the human body. Professor Bent provides illuminating commentary on Leonardo’s detailed drawings of grimacing faces, hallowed religious figures, dramatic battles, and even comedic caricatures.
18.
Drawing Human Figures and Caricatures
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36.
The Legacies of Leonardo da Vinci
What should we remember Leonardo for as an artist? As an inventor? As an engineer? As a scientific observer? In this lecture, take one last look at the legacy of Leonardo’s life and work, his relevance to today’s world, and why he remains—even today—one of Western history’s greatest individuals.
36.
The Legacies of Leonardo da Vinci
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