The Different Materials and Techniques Used in Painting

This assignment is based on two slide sets posted on Canvas.  Questions I, II, and III are based on “2 Slides – Materials and Techniques 1.”  Questions IV and V are based on “Assignment 1 – Materials and Techniques.”  For full credit, please be sure to respond in your own words to what the questions actually ask – avoid repeating unrelated information.

I.  (25 points)

Fresco painting is an ancient technique that was also widely used in the Italian Renaissance.  It is still employed occasionally today (as we shall see next semester, Diego Rivera used it in Rockefeller Center).

1. Watch this short video featuring Paul Schwartzbaum describing fresco technique: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnzOHiDeU9E&t=24s. 

2. Then, answer these questions: Is fresco painting fragile or durable?  Why?

Fresco painting is durable with the ability to last thousands of years if done well. Paint is applied to the plaster which the dries into a hardened surface in a process called carbonation. The paint pigments dry and become part of the wall.

3. Also, please find at least one fresco painting in the full Materials and Techniques slide set, and give the title, culture and date.

Title - Samnite House

Culture – Roman

Date – Late second century BC

II.  (10 points)

According to information in the full Materials and Techniques slide set, does encaustic painting use a hot or cold medium?

It uses both hot and cold mediums. When hot, molten beeswax mixed with powdered color pigments was used to paint with long even strokes. When cold, emulsification is employed where the wax dries more slowly allowing the painter more flexibility in making adjustments on the final outcome.

III.  (15 points)

What is red-figure vase painting?  In what culture and period was it prominent?  What is the subject of one example at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that I illustrate in the full Materials and Techniques slide set?

Red figure vase painting is a vase painting style where red figures are produced on the vase with a black background. It was prominent amongst the Greeks from around 520 BC to late 3^rd century.

The Amphora from the Metropolitan Museum displays Heracles and Apollo tussling over the Delphic tripod.

IV.  (20 points)

In the slide set for Assignment 1 – Materials and Techniques, I illustrate three handaxes (slides 1 and 2).  All three of these handaxes exhibit design features that exceed the demands of a simple tool.  Most of the design elements in question were not added by the person who made the handaxe – they were intrinsic characteristics of the material that the maker brought out.  This may be evidence that the makers and original users valued design independently of practical functioning, and even that the design elements were meaningful in some way.  By contrast, the stone tools in slide 3 do not evince much, if any, interest in design for the sake of design – they appear to be purely practical.  Correspondingly, it appears that the material used for these tools in slide 3 does not invite the maker to bring out or enhance potential design elements in it.  (Design elements include line, color, shape, texture, form, and composition.)   

1. Please choose one of the three handaxes on slides 1 and 2, and identify three design elements that exceed what would be required if they were simply tools.  Please be specific for full credit.

V.  (30 points)

The two sculptures on slide 4 of the slide set Assignment 1 – Materials and Techniques are very similar in that they are both naturalistic portraits of similar size, format and style, and they were both intended to hang from the waist of their owners.  However, they meant very different things to their original users.  Their material and technique are important factors in considering this difference.

1. Part of the intent in commissioning the head on the left was surely to create a commemorative portrait.  However, that desire does not, on its own, explain why ivory was chosen as the material.  Indeed, the use of ivory contributed to the work’s meaning in ways that extend beyond serving as a medium for creating a likeness. 

1) Read the online catalogue entry for this head: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/318622.

2) Then, please state at least two ways in which the material - ivory - played an important role in the work’s meaning for its original audience.

The white color of ivory depicted purity which is linked with the god of the sea, Olukun. Ivory also represents commerce in that it brought the Portuguese to the shores of Benin; these traders epitomized wealth and power.

B. The head on the right is very similar in many ways, but it was made with very different material and using a very different technique.

1) Read the online catalogue entry: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/316521. 

2) What are the material and technique? 

The material is brass and it was made by casting brass.

3) Keeping in mind that the material has darkened over time, how would the head have looked when it was new?  (As you consider this, think about how the material of which it was made usually looks when it is new.)

The head would have taken on a reddish gold color when new.

4) What was the head’s original purpose (think about who is probably depicted and who probably wore it)? 

The masks depicted the oba or King and were worn to show rank and loyalty to the king.

5) Considering your answers to these questions, how would the material and technique have contributed to its original purpose?

The material and technique used would have enhanced the masks power and value which were symbols of the oba’s authority and importance.

1. Considering your answers, how do the materials and techniques contribute to the differences between these otherwise similar sculptures?

The material and technique used show the differences in gender and roles. The ivory mask represents female and fertility while the brass mask represents male and power.