Sociology Assignment: Analysis of Renaissance and Dutch Art Forms

This sociology assignment analyzes and compares two distinct art forms: Renaissance sculptures and Dutch paintings. The first part of the assignment focuses on three sculptures of David created by Donatello, Michelangelo, and Bernini, examining how these works reflect changing interpretations of man's relationship with the divine and artistic styles across different centuries. The analysis highlights similarities in artistic style, such as the contrapposto pose, while contrasting the specific moments in David's story each sculpture depicts. The second part of the assignment shifts to Dutch paintings of the 16th century, discussing how these artworks represent the social and cultural aspects of Holland, particularly focusing on gender roles and societal norms of the time. The paintings depict scenarios of women regents, medical lessons, and women holding balances, offering insights into the roles and statuses of men and women in Dutch society during the Dutch Golden Age.

Running head: SOCIOLOGY
Sociology
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Answer 1:
The three sculptures of David created by Donatello, Michelangelo and Bernini in three
different centuries signifies the beginning, depth and end of the Renaissance of Italy. All the
three statues represent three different interpretations of man’s interface with the Almighty.
Whenever an artist takes a piece of a subject that has previously gathered artistic elucidation, it is
simultaneously an updated cultural version of how with the changing time the views and
interpretation changes. In terms of comparing the radical presentations of the three sculptures by
three different artists from different centuries irradiates un-documented changes and shifts in the
attitude and thought process, which each of the artists has integrated into their portrayal of the
heroic battle of David against the Goliath (Adam 2019).
The three statues of David shares a similar style of art. The contrapposto pose is the first
similarity among the sculptures, in which the sculptures are in a freestanding position following
an asymmetrical alignment of the body that is mostly used in renaissance art in order to
overstress the human form. The central difference among the sculptures is that in Donatello’s
piece of art represents David after he did defeat the Goliath; whereas the Michelangelo in his
sculpture depicts David before the battle; on the other hand, in terms of Bernini’s statue
represents David during his fight against Goliath. Although all the three sculptures have their
specific aspects and represent different parts of the story, their subject matter is identical (Ames
2015).
These sculptures have caused enough controversy in their respective times as all of them
signifies nude or semi-clothed male body. The statue of the heroic David is considered
efficacious. All of them are great achievers and masterpieces in the field of sculptures.

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Answer 2:
The three different paintings created by three various artists in the sixteenth century
represents the social and cultural aspects of Holland. In the first painting ‘The Women Regents
of the Old Men's Home at Haarlem’, a group of women can be seen sitting wearing black clothes
with white collars, representing maids of the society. In the second painting ‘The Anatomy
Lesson’, a defined group of men can be seen standing around a laid body in front of them, this
piece of art is showing a scenario in which a team of medical professionals and doctors are
standing around a patient lying on a surface. In the third picture ‘Women Holding a Balance’, a
woman is standing holding an empty balance (Kahr 2018).
The mentioned scenario in the three paintings represents the condition of women and
men in the 17th century Dutch Golden Age. As per the pictures, discrete gender roles in the time
can be explicitly traced among the middle-class people, where male members hold the dominant
position in the society, working actively as the participants of the culture and economy and on
the other hand the women are probable to remain at home and perform household chores
(Mangone 2014). Hence, often the image of women in the arts of Dutch genre are shown as
mothers, housewives, maids, and widows, which clearly means that in Dutch society the women
are considered as inferior and men as superior.

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References:
Adams, L.S., 2019. Key monuments of the Baroque. Routledge.
Ames-Lewis, F., 2015. Donatello, Michelangelo, Cellini. Sculptors' Drawings from Renaissance
Italy. The Sculpture Journal, 24(2), p.297.
Kahr, M.M., 2018. Dutch painting in the seventeenth century. Routledge.
Mangone, C., 2014. Like Father, Like Son: Bernini's Filial Imitation of Michelangelo. Art
History, 37(4), pp.666-687.

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