Alternatives Summary

Charles Carr:



Bernini's David

The Renaissance with its design ideas and Baroque going against static Renaissance design with movement and embellishments is his main idea.  Unfortunately, his ideas are not organized well.  It is structured well enough that you can follow what is being said but without a flow.  This leads to a definite separateness in his composition.  Charles first begins with the Renaissance and a brief describes what it was about in terms of design and its rules, along with two wonderful examples of that time.  However, he goes into further detail with Michelangeleo than with Palladio.  Then he leads into Baroque and briefly describes what it was about in terms of design.  His conclusion is not bad but I believe it would be a stronger ending if he was particular about his idea – he could have mentioned how the Renaissance was more static and confined while Baroque was trying to break free from that.  Then he could have included how in Palladio’s case, the rules were broken by making a building design that was public into a private home.  As well as Bernini and his work, especially in David, which broke the rule and went "outside the box".  This would have helped support his conclusion and tie in the alternatives theme.

Ebony Goode:

Valerio Cioli's The Bacchino in the Boboli Gardens

Ebony does a wonderful job in organizing her thoughts and in her composition.  She starts off chronologically with the Middle Ages and then moves to the Renaissance and Baroque.  Ebony does a good job tying in all style periods together.  She made a wonderful choice with Giovanni Pico’s quote but should not have ended her essay with a quote.  It would have been great to have her interpretation of that quote.  There is also the issue with not including why she chose her image as a representation of alternatives.

Caitlyn Lyle:

Cenotaph for Isaac Newton

Although, Caitlyn did repeat a rule on her list (separation of spaces), she did a good job in organizing her ideas and the structure of her composition.  She tied the Renaissance and Baroque together by using artists/architects/designers.  She used Michelangelo and Bernini as her examples in design.  Caitlyn mentions Rococo in her conclusion but it seems unnecessary since she did not mention this style previously.  She could have also said a little more about the Cenotaph to strengthen her essay.