Mod 9

1.    Explain why you selected each of the TWO videos you choose from the selection listed above.

I chose the video on El Greco because I was already very familiar with his work. I had taken a course on him through my former high school’s Spanish department. Additionally, I have visited Toledo, Spain and have been up close and person with many of his most famous works. I thought that it would be interesting to learn a little more about El Greco’s style of painting, how he was rediscovered and his personal background.

I selected the video on Leonardo da Vinci because I was very interested to learn about his work other than painting, especially in the field of math, science, medicine and engineering. Like El Greco, I have also seen Leonardo da Vinci’s work in person when I visited the Louvre in Paris. I thought it would be interesting to learn more about Leonardo’s life and work through this video.

The Disrobing of Christ by El Greco in Toledo, Spain. 

The Mona Lisa by da Vinci 

2.    For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

The first video I chose was El Greco: Rediscovering a Master. I learned that one of his most famous paintings The Disrobing of Christ was finished in 1579, afterwards the Catholic Church refused to pay El Greco what he was asking for his work on the objection of bad economic times as well as theological ethics. I also learned that in his work The Burial of the Count of Orgaz he managed to paint himself and his friends as funeral goers as well as included his own son in the corner of the painting. A key concept of this video was that after El Greco’s death in 1614 he was overlooked as the brilliant painter he was and forgotten. He was rediscovered, however, by the French romantic artist who thought that his paintings summed up the ideas and style of romanticism.

The second video I watched was Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance. I learned that in his early years he became the first person to make a landscape the complete subject of a drawing. I also learned that despite his mastering of painting, engineering and math, Leonardo considered himself an uneducated man. In his notebook he also has described and sketched a machine that in modern day would resemble an airplane. Leonardo is also the first person to dissect the body of human beings, which led to his obsession with creating the proportions of humans and animals perfectly.

3.    How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?

The Leonardo da Vinci video most related to the chapter on the Renaissance. Both the text and the video discussed the effect of the Renaissance on Italy and the surrounding countries. Briefly, the video mentioned the rivalry between da Vinci and Michelangelo, the text was able to fill in gaps and questions I had on Michelangelo’s work and personal life. The text also briefly discussed da Vinci’s obsession with the proportions of the human body, the video expanded on this and added that he even would dissect human bodies to study their insides.

The chapter on

El Greco was not discussed in the text, however, Velazquez was featured heavily in the book. The two of these men are very prominent painters who worked in Spain. Although Velazquez worked after El Greco died, both are very famous and influential in Spain to this day.

4.    What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the readings and art concepts?

I enjoyed both films, as the depth they added to the chapters in the book. The video on El Greco added most to the reading in the text because it gave me an entirely new perspective on a topic that was not heavily discussed in the text.