The piece of Art, Smiling Girl, a Courtesan Holding an Obscene Image, painted by Gerrit van Honthorst in 1625 can be seen at the Saint Louis Art Museum. I was initially drawn to this image from across the gallery mostly due to the subject’s bright red dress with gold sleeves, it was one of the brightest colored images in the gallery. It is about three feet tall and two feet wide, it is an oil on canvas painting. As I approached the image, I was still intrigued as the image she is holding is of a naked man facing away, the subject in the painting seems to get enjoyment from this. To me this piece of art makes me curious, I want to know who this woman was and why she is holding that image. The artist seems to be communicating the importance of…
Gentileschi is a second generation Italian artist who demonstrates tenebrism in the form of candlelight that is placed on a table. The heroic figure, Judith within the painting is blocking the light with her hand thusly casting a shadow onto her face. This illustration seems to project the intention that Judith is hiding from unforeseen dangers just out of sight. Gentileschi’s oil canvas creation is 72 ½ X 55 ¾ inches in size and is an “expressive media tool” (253) with the use of brilliant colors, detailing in the clothing, lighting, and shadowing. It is a great asset for the artist to paint with passion and imagination as well as realistic views.…
This object, being placed in the back of a long central hallway, is found in a room containing large sculptures of men and women. There were also many portraits of only the heads of men and women. This placement hints to the wide belief that this head was originally thought to be prepared as a separate piece for insertion in a stature. There was once a veil covering the top and back of the head, but now it is missing. Marble at the summit and back of the head was left roughly worked, since a veil in either marble or stucco, a fine plaster used for moldings and other architectural decorations, would have hidden it. For the development of the ideal form, this sculpture had to accomplish its purpose having had to restrict itself almost exclusively to form giving the viewer a feeling of tranquility and authority.2 Consequently,…
This painting shows the energy and positive attitudes of the people through the use of vibrant colors and the happy expressions of the faces. The people in this picture have features that were comparable to the minstrel characters (Wikipedia, 26 July 2013) often depicting Black face. Many have very dark skin with big white eyes and teeth, and are all smiles. All of the people are dressed nicely in dresses for the women and girls, top hats and slacks for the men and boys. It is safe to assume that the people in the picture had just came from church, because in the background you clearly see the church and a handful of people walking out as well as a carload of people driving off.…
The Grotesque Old Woman, by Renaissance painter, Quinten Metsys illustrates an old and unattractive woman of the 16th century. Her voluptuous, weathered breasts are on displayed and her headdress is one of astute fashion of an earlier German period and her eloquent dress and corset are fashionable to Italy in this time period. Her aged hands hold a small and delicate red bud, a symbol of engagement, and her slightly lifted chin is of poised position. All of this beauty and detailed is over shadowed with the features of a rather controversial “ugliness.”…
Topic One: Master of Flemalle, Merode Altarpiece, Northern Renaissance, 1425-1430s, oil on panel; Donatello, David, Italian Renaissance, 1446-1460s, bronze; Judith Leyster, Self-Portrait, Baroque, 1635, oil on canvas; Jusepe de Ribera, St. Jerome, Baroque, 1638-1640, oil on canvas “Merode Altarpiece (Triptych of the Annunciation)” is a triptych from the nineteenth century. It is a scene of painted with oil on a panel and shows the angel Gabriel visiting the Virgin Mary, Joseph making mice traps, and the patrons of the painting on the left side ready to enter the scene of Gabriel and Mary. The second work of art is David made out of bronze created by Donatello. The sculpture is life sized and is on display in a Florence Gallery. The third piece is a self-portrait of the Dutch artist, Judith Leyster.…
The scene it portrays shows a woman holding an infant while she stands on a chariot drawn by two lions. Surrounding her in the air and around her feet are sixteen angels or cherubs. In the background there is a horizon with foggy mountains and a lake. On the left and right of the picture there are two columns reminiscent of the Classical era and at the top of the painting there is curtains and berry garland, almost like the scene was staged in a theater.…
Although the subject matter of this piece of art is somewhat macabre, the realism, since we can almost feel the fear of Judith and Ara of being discovered; plus the story behind the author and Judith, draw my interest and fascination to attempt this analysis of its visual elements and principles of design.…
Continuing into the Renaissance, Lucas Cranach the Elder’s Judith with the Head of Holofernes, was created in the midst of both the High and Late Renaissance. The oil painting on linden created in 1530, is in traditional portrait style, and showcased Judith immediately after the beheading. The image of Judith holding the decapitated head of Holofernes uses the contrasting nature of the scene in its advantage. The painting contains both the gruesome head and the elegant beauty of the murderous widow. Appropriately, Judith is dressed in an elaborate contemporary costume of the time.…
Citations: Andrea Solario, Salome Receiving the Head of St. John the Baptist, oil on canvas, after 1510, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond.…
In “Judith Slaying Holofernes”, it uses a technique called Chiaroscuro, which means light and dark. “Chiaroscuro, (from Italian: chiaro, “light,” and scuro, “dark”) technique employed in the visual arts to represent light and shadow as they define three-dimensional objects.” (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, 2015) It is usually to create a dramatic effect or 3D effect through the contrast of value. This painting uses an extreme Chiaroscuro, called Tenebrism, where the highest value is Judith, Abra and Holofernes, and the lowest value on the other hand, is the background. It builds up an effect that advances the characters to the front and recedes the background, creating a 3D and dramatic effect. It evokes contrast because it creates…
The use of the mannequin chosen is a potent visual symbol for the audience as it can highlight the perversion of their relationship showing that they construct games to make meaning in their lives and hints at pedophilia and abuse, which becomes more and more prominent as the play progresses. This reading of the play can be heightened thought the use of powerful visual symbols…
As in Noah’s Ark, there is the evidence of acknowledgment of Egyptian wall paintings which ties into African heritage. The most prominent part of the painting is the story being told through the figures in the foreground. Starting on the left, the story begins with the slave worker in the fields picking cotton. As the story transitions to the right, the figures are no longer hunching over, but are standing tall and willing to fight for their freedom. In the background are the silhouettes of the armies that fought for and against the abolishment of slavery. The center figure, through the use of Art Deco inspired geometric shapes becomes the focal point, is pointing towards the north to lead the southerners to their economic freedom. Lastly, on the right side of the painting, emphasizes the cultural rebirth black Americans found in the…
There are four main individuals contained within this painting who are situated in the foreground. A mother is sitting on a small stone wall of what looks to be someone’s yard. On her lap is a baby wrapped in a sling that is enclosed around the woman’s body. To the left of her is a young boy. He is leaning into her which shows that they have a close bond. The three look as though they are there to encourage the little girl on the right who is selling flowers. She is more than…
This symbolizes what is usually called a “left handed marriage” which means a union of unequal’s, in which the woman was obliged to forfeit all the usual right of property and inheritance. Which is like us today as a morganatic marriage which is entered by a European royal prince and a commoner. This is most likely the cause of the two witnesses are present to validate the financial contract drawn up at the time of marriage. If the couple are in fact Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his wife Giovanna Cenami, there is no question of it being a marriage between unequal’s, as Giovanna was equally well connected. But in 1997 it was established that their marriage did not take place until 1447 - about thirteen years after the date of the painting, and six years after Jan van Eyck's death. However, his brother Michele appears to have entered a marriage, around the time of the painting. Other art historians think the painting might represent the wedding of Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his first wife Costanza…