By Saturday, February 14, 2015, respond to the assigned discussion questions and submit your responses to the appropriate Discussion Area. Start reviewing and responding to your classmates as early in the week as possible.

Question 1:

During the Renaissance and Baroque periods the type of patron diversified beyond the church to include private individuals, city governments, and corporate commissions, sponsored by entities such as the Wool Guild.  These patrons that were outside of the church were essential to artists to ensure their financial livelihood. Often artists, like Michelangelo, were forced to take commissions and complete works that they did not want to undertake.  In 3 well developed paragraphs, discuss:

1. Michelangelo’s version of David was a public monument commissioned by the Florentine city council. How do you see the context of a city government as patron influencing how Michelangelo visualized the biblical hero David?
2. The biblical hero David was a popular subject for sculpture and painting throughout the Renaissance and into the Baroque period. By studying, comparing, and contrasting sculptures of David created in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries, you can begin to see the stylistic changes that occurred across these centuries. In 3 well-developed paragraphs, compare and contrast the following 3 sculptures of David: 
   1. Early Renaissance: Donatello. David. 1430s (Note: Scroll down to figure 20-14). 
   2. High Renaissance: Michelangelo. David. 1504. (figure 20-10). 
   3. Baroque. Gian Lorenzo Bernini. David. 1624–1624. (figure 23-4)

In your comparison, discuss:

• What specific visual similarities do you observe in these three sculptures? 
• What specific differences do you see? 
• How has the attitude of David changed between these three representations of David? 

Be sure to explain your ideas clearly and support them by discussing specific works of art that you have read about this week, talking about how they illustrate and support your ideas.

Question 2:

In Northern Europe, the group portrait was a popular genre of painting in the Dutch Republic, and Rembrandt was in high demand as a portraitist. In 3 well developed paragraphs, discuss:

1. How did Rembrandt revolutionize the group portrait? Examine his works The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp and The Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq (The Night Watch)?
2. Artists like Rembrandt and the other successful Dutch portrait artists laid the foundation for what today is seen as a proper or successful portrait. From the official portrait of Kate Middleton (2013) in England, to the portraits of US presidents, to those of CEOs in major corporations all owe a debt to the work of Rembrandt, Hals, and other seventeeth-century portrait painters. Locate 2 contemporary portraits and discuss the visual characteristics that are inspired by Rembrandt’s style.

Be sure to explain your ideas clearly and support them by discussing specific works of art that you have read about this week, talking about how they illustrate and support your ideas.

Respond to both questions as thoroughly as possible, making sure to use information from the readings and the lectures. All responses should be in complete sentence form, using proper spelling and grammar.

Discussion question responses should be at least a one-half, double-spaced page in length. Your responses to your peers’ writing should be at least a good paragraph in length for each question and should include specifics from the text or lecture.

As soon as possible, review and comment on the work of two of your peers (click the rubric below to learn how to achieve the most credit). In your comments, consider areas you would suggest for expansion or clarification. Is there need for defense of a point of view or refinement in thought? Use constructive language. Your goal is to work with your peers towards positive interactions. This is aided by explicit comments and positively stated criticism.