The purpose of this section of the course is to develop critical
awareness in terms of the process described previously. Modern art and design
historians and cultural commentators see works of art and design as expressions
of the social, political and economic conditions in which they were created.
In order to understand a work of art it is essential to understand its
time and place.
For example, An Allegory
with Venus
and Cupid
by Agnolo Bronzino (c. 1540-50) is one of the most famous and popular paintings
in the National Gallery. It is an enigmatic and mysterious work, erotic,
yet puzzling in its intentions. Study of the artist and his powerful, despotic
patron Duke Cosimo 1 de’ Medici, ruler of the city of Florence, solves
some of the paintings riddles but also leaves open areas of further ambiguity
which art historians still seek to fully understand. |
