Questions

1. How do Raphael's pictures in the Vatican Stanza della Segatura (his Disputa and School of Athens, aka Philosophy), epitomize High Renaissance humanism?
The Room of the Segnatura contains Raphael's most famous frescoes. Besides being the first work executed by the great artist in the Vatican they mark the beginning of the high Renaissance. The room takes its name from the highest court of the Holy See, the "Segnatura Gratiae et Iustitiae", which was presided over by the pontiff and used to meet in this room around the middle of the 16th century.
2. In a "nut-shell", what are the key differences between Italian Renaissance art and Mannerist art? (Consider for instance Pontormo or Parmigianino)
Mannerism is a subjective art term that denominates a school of painting more than a period which coexisted with other schools of painting during late Renaissance The term comes from Italian "pintar a la maniera " or literally "painting in the way ". Probably most important differences would be in:

1 - Composition: very dynamic and expressive for the time
2 - Color: brilliant and use of complementarity for composition
3 - Detail: much more work and detail foreseeing or predating baroque art
4 - Expression. artist perception affects the composition and plays more important role in forming pictorial elements and "realism" became less important than "the way" in which the artist saw and painted.
3. Why is Michelangelo's Last Judgment sometimes described as Mannerist, while his Sistine Ceiling frescoes are High Renaissance?
The Last Judgment is a fresco by the Italian Renaissance master Michelangelo executed on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. It is a depiction of the Second Coming of Christ and the final and eternal judgment by God of all humanity.
4. What is an allegory, and what is the interpretation of Bronzino’s Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time (Exposure of Luxury)?
Allegory is a rhetorical device in which characters or events in a literary, visual, or musical art form represent or symbolize ideas and concepts. Allegory has been used widely throughout the histories of all forms of art; a major reason for this is its immense power to illustrate complex ideas and concepts in ways that are easily digestible and tangible to its viewers, readers, or listeners. An allegory conveys its hidden message through symbolic figures, actions, imagery, and/or events. Allegory is generally treated as a figure