20thCenturyRedbook: March 2025

Saturday, 8 March 2025

{(The Renaissance outside Italy [continued (4)])}{The Dance of Death}[29th April 1991]

[Redbook9:210][19910429:0914k]{(The Renaissance outside Italy [continued (4)])}{The Dance of Death}[29th April 1991]

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[continued]

‘[Hans Holbein the Younger’s]* woodcut series of “The Dance of Death”** (1523-24[ce]) gave new dimension to a medieval theme and was so popular that numerous pirated editions appeared in his own lifetime.... He established a portrait tradition in England.’

***

*[Square brackets per ms]

**{cf T.XIII at R~}

*** – ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 25:352]

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{(The Renaissance outside Italy [continued (3)])}{Lucas Cranach the Elder, Martin Luther, and the Female Nude}[29th April 1991]

[Redbook9:210][19910429:0914j]{(The Renaissance outside Italy [continued (3)])}{Lucas Cranach the Elder, Martin Luther, and the Female Nude}[29th April 1991]

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[continued]

‘[Lucas Cranach the Elder]* developed in Wittenberg** the full-length portrait in which the sitter is rendered with consummate skill and fidelity. He was a personal friend of Martin Luther, and is probably best known for his portraits of the great reformer. At the same time his “Reclining River Nymph at the Fountain” of 1518[ce] in Leipzig illustrates his knowledge of Giorgione and Venetian painting and points the way to the group of highly erotic female nudes of his later works.’

***

*[Square brackets per ms]

**(where ‘his style changed radically’)**

*** – ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 25:] 352

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{(The Renaissance outside Italy [continued])}{Dürer}[29th April 1991]

[Redbook9:209][19910429:0914i]{(The Renaissance outside Italy [continued])}{Dürer}[29th April 1991]

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[continued]

{Dürer}

[continues:]

-ence on 16^th century art in Germany that it is sometimes difficult to realize that he died in 1528.’

* – E[ncyclopaedia] B[ritannica] 25:351

[continuing immediately from source text in previous ts journal entry]

[continued]

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{(The Renaissance outside Italy)}{El Greco}[29th April 1991]

[Redbook9:209][19910429:0914h]{(The Renaissance outside Italy)}{El Greco}[29th April 1991]

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[continued]

(Spain)

{El Greco}

* – E[ncyclopaedia] B[ritannica] 25:351

[continued]

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Friday, 7 March 2025

{Akkadian Art Zenith?}[29th April 1991]

[Redbook9:208][19910429:0914g]{Akkadian Art Zenith?}[29th April 1991]

1991042{9}:0914

[continued]

I also have a note re the first 5 rulers of Akkad * in ancient Mesopotamia:

‘Plastic and graphic arts reached a high point of perfection’**

– but I don’t know the source of this, although there seems to be no other comparable comment in the Mesopotamia and Middle East column BCE.**

*c[irca]2334-c[irca]2193[ce]

2048R~2304BCE

**ref VII: [[Redbook8:44-67][19901027ff]{Comparative Chronology}[27th October 1990],] 51

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Thursday, 6 March 2025

{Origin of Ancient Egyptian Art [continued (3)]}[29th April 1991]

[Redbook9:207][19910429:0914f]{Origin of Ancient Egyptian Art [continued (3)]}[29th April 1991]

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[continued]

This* was followed by disintegration of central government (The 1^st Intermediate Period),** then by reunification, strong kings (The Middle Kingdom),*** and two centuries**** in which ‘craftsmen achieved new levels of excellence’# before new political disintegration (The 2^nd Intermediate Period),#* leading to the New Kingdom#** and ‘a new blossoming of the arts and crafts of ancient Egypt’.#***

#****

So one cannot show art only at 2048G~, but perhaps the only really new art [is] in that semicircle.

*[See last previous TS journal entry]

**c[irca]2160-c[irca]2000[bce]

***c[irca]2050ff[bce]

****c[irca]2040-c[irca]1786[bce]

#[– Encyclopaedia of Visual Art 1:22]

#*c[irca]1786-c[irca]1567[bce]

#**c[irca]1567-c[irca]1085[bce]

#***For details see VIII: [[Redbook8:44-67][19901027ff]{Comparative Chronology}[27th October 1990],] 50ff

#****[– Encyclopaedia of Visual Art 1:22]

Egypt also had a cultural revival c[irca]650-550[bce]

[There are difference of opinion of up to 4 centuries in the chronology of the early period of ancient Egypt, both before and after (and including) the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt]

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Tuesday, 4 March 2025

{Origin of Ancient Egyptian Art [continued]}[29th April 1991]

[Redbook9:207][19910429:0914e]{Origin of Ancient Egyptian Art [continued]}[29th April 1991]

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[continued]

‘During the Old Kingdom,* the period when Egypt was ruled by the kings of the 3^rd to 6^th Dynasties, strong central government** meant that artists *** and craftsmen were drawn to the court to work under the patronage of the king and his great nobles. Techniques of working in stone, wood and metal made tremendous progress, demonstrated by surviving large-scale monuments, such as the pyramids of the 4^th Dynasty**** and the sun temples built by the 5^th Dynasty# kings.’

*c[irca]2686-2160BCE#**

**[contra G~ political? But cf our 2048-year period; politics as we recognise it may be a shorter-cycle phenomenon]

***2048J~2816|G~2560|R~2304BCE

****c[irca]2613-c[irca]2494[bce]

#c[irca]2494-c[irca]2345[bce]

#*[– Encyclopaedia of Visual Art 1:22]

#**[There are difference of opinion of up to 4 centuries in the chronology of the early period of ancient Egypt, both before and after (and including) the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt]

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{Origin of Ancient Egyptian Art}[29th April 1991]

[Redbook9:206-207][19910429:0914d]{Origin of Ancient Egyptian Art}[29th April 1991]

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[continued]

I’ve been looking (briefly) for a period of Egyptian excellence or advance in the arts, c2500BCE, but haven’t found anything isolated at that time. But:

‘The traditions followed by the artist and craftsmen of ancient Egypt were established at an early date. The result was a sense of unity in art that persisted until Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire. In fact about 3000 years elapsed between the establishment of the kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt* and the death of Cleopatra, the last of the Ptolemies. During this time techniques developed, fashions changed, and variations did occur, but in general the basic patterns were faithfully reproduced by generations of Egyptian craftsmen. It is possible to look at a statue or a piece of jewelry and to be certain that it was made in ancient Egypt, even though its exact date may not at once be apparent.’

*[There are difference of opinion of up to 4 centuries in the chronology of the early period of ancient Egypt, both before and after (and including) the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt]

**E[ncyclopaedia of] V[isual] A[rt] 1:20

[continued]

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Monday, 3 March 2025

{Italian Mannerism [continued (3)]}[29th April 1991]

[Redbook9:205-206][19910429:0914c]{Italian Mannerism [continued (3)]}[29th April 1991]

1991042{9}:0914

[continued]

I have included this article* in full** because of a notion that the Mannerist (and Baroque) styles may turn out to be particularly interesting in C[ircles] A[nalysis] & S[ynthesis] terms.

* – E[ncyclopaedia] B[ritannica] 25:349-351

(complete section)

[The final section of the article on Italian Mannerism is included in the ms & ts but not here, as there are no marginal notes with it in the ms and it is not clear that it throws any light on the matter of these journals one way or the other. If references are made to it later in the ms, it may be retrospectively included. In the meantime, for more information about Mannerism,reference may be made to Encyclopaedia Britannica (available now online), The Encyclopedia of Visual Arts, or other, more specialised sources.]

**[[Redbook9:204-206][19910429:0914]{Italian Mannerism}[29th April 1991]ff]