Friday, September 14, 2007

Antonio Allegri da Correggio (August 1489 ?March 5, 1534)

10 comments:

D.Macri said...

If you zoom in on this one you can see many examples of the forshortening in the figures as they ascend to heaven. Even the composition as a whole shrinks back into nothing , growing smaller and smaller as it spirals away from us. I can only imagine the effect of seeing this in person. Correggio ia an Italian Mannerist, who is much less "floofy" (my own term=P) than his contemporaries. A lot of Mannerism is pink and baby blue drapery. Here we get another term as well: tromp l'oie, or "fool the eye", refering to painted objects meant to be mistook for reality (in this case a good part of the architechture).

This was one of my favorite paintings in first year fine arts.

D.Macri said...

Just in case that isn't a clear enough example =P

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/143661main_ET-119_2.jpg

Lorne Roberts said...

isn't it trompe l'oiel?

good call on mannerism-- it is quite "floofy". all super-muscular dudes, pink-cheeked virgin marys with eyes cast heavenward, swirling clouds and drapes and sheets and every inch packed with detail.

for my 2nd FP article ever, way back when, i wrote about the Mannerism show at the WAG. according to my pal Collin Zipp, it prompted one art student, in a class discussion, to refer to me as "a waste of skin". heh. fortunately, my wasted skin has gotten much thicker since then. :)

Lorne Roberts said...

trompe l'oeil?

Lorne Roberts said...

p.s. what an amazing painting.

cara said...

beautiful.
trompe l'oeil I think.

Anonymous said...

Lol, yea, what she said.

My question is, what other possible use would there be for your skin?! Weirdo fine-arts students probably want to make some assemblage or something.

=P

Denis said...

Obviously this Correggio guy has way too much time on his hands.

Denis said...

As for the whole trompe l'oeil thing.... I would not consider this trompe l'oeil because it is not intended to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects really exist.

Anonymous said...

I may not have defined that well, but I think the architecture is meant to fool the viewer somewhat. Maybe it fooled you and you didn't realize it was painted? (even the clam shell corners are paint). Ya, Correggio = totally too much free time.

Here is some more help to define:

Trompe-l'œil is an art technique involving extremely realistic imagery in order to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects really exist, instead of being mere, two-dimensional paintings. The name is derived from French for "trick the eye", from tromper - to deceive and l'œil - the eye

Trompe l'oeil is a French term literally meaning "that which deceives the eye."