UNIT 2
Exercise 1. Practice the pronunciation of the following words:
Renaissance, Tuscan, exponent, epoch, era, antiquity, exquisite, chiaroscuro, sfumato, characterization, portraiture, technique
NOTE: Check your spelling with the key.
Exercise 2. Consult the English-English dictionary to give definitions of the following:
development, progress, evolution; rendition, depiction, portrayal; exponent, artisan, painter, artist.
Exercise 3. What adjectives could be used to qualify the following:
Perspective, brushstrokes, colour, portrayal, style
Exercise 4. Which word to use:
a) posture, position or pose?
1. Tony Forrest’s work “Majestic ______” was sold for half a million dollars at the Sotheby’s Auction last year. 2. Are you worried about looking like the hunchback of Notre Dame? Here's a pain-free and effective method for safely assuming a 'correct _____ and improving muscle tone. 3. "Poise, ______, and Profanity" is a dual exhibit featuring the works of Arabella Proffer and Andrea Heimer. 4. The sitter has to stand for hours without changing ______. 5. She was in a relaxed ______ for the painter. 6. However, the erect ______ must have brought very important advantages, because it asserted itself in a clear and definitive way.
b) rendition, depiction or portrayal:
1. Titian's pastoral scene is a unique ______ of Lot and his daughters. 2. The latest Vin de Terroir bottling — which is Renaissance's greatest ______ — is the 1999 vintage. 3. In the Renaissance, impressive weather features inspired considerable interest among artists. The _______ of a tornado and other weather features appear on a sixteenth-century series of 12 huge tapestries (“Conquest of Tunis”). 4. The early Renaissance artist Raphael has a wonderful ________ of the key scene of the Hanukkah story. 5. Renaissance art achieved a much greater realism and accuracy in its _______ of the world through the use of mathematically framed principles of proportion. 6. Botticelli's 'Primavera' is the real ________ of love.
NOTE: Check your answers with the key.
Exercise 5. Use prepositions out (2), on (2), to (2), from (2), to fill in the blanks:
1. Perspective and attention … light became important to artists.
2. Taking inspiration … classical Roman and Greek art, Renaissance artists were also interested in the human body, particularly the nude
3. The Renaissance period in art history corresponds … the beginning of the great Western age of discovery and exploration.
4. They focused … the laws of proportion for architecture, the human body, and space.
5. They found their inspiration … antiquity, creating realistic figures that portrayed personality and behaviour.
6. The painted surface was regarded as a window … the natural world.
7. Figures located within a landscape or an architectural environment act … a specific story.
8. That tree on the left of the picture is … of perspective.