da vinci, the night watch, el greco, primavera, video responses

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

I selected the Leonardo Da Vinci video because I feel his work and variety of so many great things is fascinating.  The Night Watch video also interested me because I wanted to know why it was such a huge hit in Holland.  I had heard of El Greco before and wanted to learn some more and I also did not know much about La Primavera and wanted to explore more

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

Da Vinci- From a young man, he was gifted.  Not only was he a painter, he was also an architect, engineer, among many other skill sets.  He did so much throughout his life and ended it as painter, engineer, and architect to the King in France.
The Night Watch- For the Dutch, the Night Watch is an item of pilgrimage.  It is common to see the work at least once in your lifetime for the Dutch.  Rembrandt made his works with drama as well as history.
El Greco- He became one of Spain's greatest painters, but he was almost forgotten.  The social and economic surrounding in Toledo really showed in his work.  His works later brought up the Romantic movement.
La Primavera- The Primavera was painted in the city of Florence in the 1480's.  It is one of the star attractions in its gallery.  Its scale really stands out.  In this video, we can see the relationship between marriage, rape, and sexual violence.  It was not uncommon for love to be a factor immediately in marriages.  People married for practical reasons and all of this is evident in the works of art during this time.

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

All of these videos relate to the texts and chapters we have been reading.  Da Vinci was talked about a lot in our text and by seeing the piece on him, I was able to grasp even more how brilliant he must have been in his time.  These videos relate art, history and politics altogether.

3. What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the readings and art concepts?
These films were good to see.  I felt the El Greco and La Primavera ones were okay, but the Da Vinci one was my favorite and I took the most from that one.  Nowadays, brilliant individuals might only be brilliant in one or two areas.  Da Vinci, however, was a genius in many more focuses than that.  I personally enjoy learning visually, but having the text and the videos helps us all learn in different ways.