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…
The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston contains some of the greatest treasures of the Italian Renaissance, and not least among these is Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple, painted in 1467 by Bartolomeo d. Giovanni Corradini, better known as Fra Carnevale. This Urbinian painter and architect produced some of the greatest architectural paintings of the early Renaissance, and his techniques expressed an interest in the progression of the Italian Renaissance style of classical idealism. The Presentation, measuring 57 5/8 x 38 in., depicts the apocryphal story of the Virgin Mary’s Presentation in the Temple of Jerusalem by her parents at the age of three. Executed in oil and tempera on panel, the work frames a young Virgin in purple by the grand, classical architecture of the Temple. The entire work confers an atmosphere of contrast: the softness of Mary’s companions with the sharply defined, half-nude beggars, the religious with the classical reliefs, the tiny Virgin with the enormous architecture, and the brightly lit interior with the cloudy sky. Fra Carnevale creates a mysterious, yet orderly, scene of subtle emotion and veiled heterogeneity.…
The painting still receives much attention and is the base of discussion for many art lovers and historians (Mohan and Centeno, 2005). However, the very details that made the portrait so shocking nearly a century and a half ago are what now delight critics and casual viewers alike; the piece is truly remarkable in its contrasting hues and dramatic details. The lines are crisp and clean, the lighting is flattering yet dramatic, and the composition is pleasing to the eye. While these fundamental artistic components make a great contribution to the attractiveness of this painting, the subject herself deserves to be recognized as the most beautiful thing about the portrait. Gautreau’s physical beauty is often debated even today, mostly because her roman nose is considered too prominent to be classified as classically beautiful. The difference in opinion regarding Gautreau’s physical features is where most modern controversies end. It is the painting’s daring representation of Gautreau, rather, which is inarguably beautiful. The unorthodox pose, the revealing clothing, and the haughty expression were all revolutionary for the time they were presented. Sargent and Gautreau’s goal was not to challenge the societal norms of the time; in fact, their goal was the exact opposite. Inadvertently, however, the appreciation of Amelie Gautreau’s portrait one hundred and fifty years later is now a wonderful reminder of the power in breaking rules and refusing to fit into the definition of…
The harsh lighting expels midtowns and shallow depth which emphasizes her nudity. The painting is supposedly modeled after Titans, Venus of Urbino, however, I consider it to be a mockery of Titans work. Titan presents a goddess while Manet presents a prostitute. Unlike Titan’s Venus, whose left hand entices the viewer and politely covers her genitals, Olympia’s left hand obstructs as if she was forcibly doing so. This is an interpretation of how she is not reliant on men. Manet also replaces the dog with a black cat which is another symbolization of prostitution. On another note, the size of this work is quite large for this sort of painting. Paintings at this stature should be portraying historical events, not what I see before me. In conclusion, this work should not be displayed in a gallery such as the…
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.”…
I found three particular compositions to be representative of their era or genre. The first of which is an oil painting on a wood panel by an Englishman named William Larkin to be completed in 1610. This piece, entitled Mary Radclyffe, is a portrait of King James’s wife, Mary Radclyffe. It is very obvious to see, after reviewing the Roman artistic style of idealizing an individual in a realistic way, that this is a idealized view of Radclyffe. As a matter of fact, William Larkin was one of the last artists to work in this refined, elegant portrait style of Elizabeth I. The clothing Radclyffe is donning in the aforementioned painting is typical of the high class during the time it was completed in the early 17th century. This piece can also be classified as having a Baroque nature about it. The Baroque cultural movement pertained to not only art, but music, dance, and literature as well. The artistic style emits a sense of awe and a tremendous attention to detail which is seldom mistaken for any other method. This Idealized style derives from Plato and the “higher reality of eternal truths” which he refers to in his book, the Theory of Forms.…
PartII The Middle Ages and Renaissance McGraw-Hill © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rig…
Rossetti’s paintings of mistress or harlot-type stunners also indirectly arranged the pattern of Victorian female sexuality into a dual opposition between the chaste ideal and the immoral deviant. In formal terms, the mistress is often brought up close to the foreground of the canvas and painted on a larger scale than were the other figures. The bare neck, chest, and arms of the mistress figure plays prominently into her depiction, and she is often very richly adorned with flowers, jewelry, combs, feathers, and lavish fabrics. In descriptive terms, the mistress often contains direct allusions to adultery, promiscuity, and sexual maturity in the painting’s title and symbolism, serving thus as a obvious offense of the Victorian female sexual…
The Vietnam war was a troubling war that lasted from 1955 to 1975. It was located in North and South Vietnam and was fought by the U.S., South Vietnam, and North Vietnam. There was bloodshed from both sides and many innocent lives lost. The Vietnam war was not only a troubling time for Vietnam, but also the United States.…
There is no historic age admired more then the Renaissance. This epic period defined the meaning of art and its connection to humanism in the past and present. It was an explosion of ideas and knowledge. It was a rebirth of learning based on the rediscovery of ancient texts, and a rebirth of the European culture as a whole. When the Renaissance ended the Baroque period emerged, that conveyed different ideas. There was a sense of tension and even theatrical drama in the paintings. The period produced several new and influential artists that defined the new style and one of the most important was Artemisia Gentileschi. Artemesia was a female Italian painter that pianted in a time period where female painters were not a norm and in many case were not socially accepted. She however, did not conform and became one of the most important female artists of all-time. This was partly because of her breaking ground in paintings involving historical and religious themes. It was not all fun and games for Gentileschi, as she faced hardships and turmoil throughout her artistic life. This anguish and disparity can be seen even in her work Judith and Holofernes. Throughout Gentileschi's painting there is a prevalent theme of feminism. To understand why she is so anti-male it is important to look at Artemisia's motives for the painting, the treatment of women during the Baroque period, and the relevance of Artemisia's life and work with regards to the present.…
This masterpiece was created by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres in 1814 and is perfect example of Neoclassicism which was the revolt of the Rococo style of art. The artwork is placed in the Louvre Museum in Paris. This painting captures the image of an odalisque, which we refer to as a concubine. The painting depicts beautiful hues of blue, and a dark background and shadows which creates a seductive scenery while enhancing the curves and shapes of the model. With the contrast of light and dark colors, Ingres was able to achieve the illusion of depth. Ingres favored long sinuous lines which is show through the way he painted her elongated back. The volumes of the nude, bathed in an even light, are toned down in a space without depth (Louvre). I also like the details of his work, from the detailed headpiece, jewelry, feather duster and even the designs strategically placed on the curtains. Ingres was highly criticized for his art work and his paintings were unpopular due to others not understanding his…
Art is one aspect of the past that has carried on for decades. Art in any form may it be poetry, novels, and playwright, sculpting as well as painting, has been an outlet for generations and continues to be an outlet and a means for expression. This paper will discuss “ The Mona Lisa” one of Da Vinci’s most famous paintings, as well as another great painting, Antonio Veneziano’s “Virgin and Child”(c. 1380). Both paintings focus on the human form and exhibit many variations of styles from lines, shading, color and possible meanings behind the work.…
Because of the large amount of wine consumed at these parties, it is understandable that depictions of this scene would be fitting for the paintings that adorned the very vases serving such wine. Most paintings of these parties idealized them, showing them as leisurely and sophisticated. However, one attic red figure cup by the Brygos painter (Figure 2) shows us an entirely different perspective. His painting, called “After the Party”, depicts a youthful male being held up by a heterai as he stumbles and vomits. This comical illustration reminds its owner, who most likely participated in Symposia, of the consequences of overindulging. While this could be seen as critical of this lifestyle, we must look more specifically at the placement of this painting. Unlike vases on which paintings decorate the outside, the painting on this cup is actually found on the bottom, inside the cup. The intention of this is that it is only seen once the consumer has finished drinking the contents of the cup. Placing the image here is clever as it presents an irony: the drinker sees the consequences of his actions the moment it is too late to change them. The Brygos painter, here, makes a joke of the very thing his creation is used for. Simultaneously, he mocks the high-class youthful males and their customs. This clever, and playful…
A well known photograph by Floria Sigismondi, titled “self portrait with cat” symbolises her Italian heritage and features many aspects of Leonardo da Vinci’s oil painting “Lady with Ermine”. The photograph has many features such as a “style of pose” which symbolises a similar pose to Leonardo’s painting, while including an animal used for symbolic reasons also a technique used in Leonardo’s painting. The photograph is set in a post modern context and features “coloured and textured garments” a simple technique that was also used in the “Lady with Ermine” artwork.…
Culture, which is a word that is very difficult to define, is very much engrained in the African people. The culture and art of African people expresses values, attitudes, and thoughts which help to represent the products of their past experiences and it also provides a way of learning about their history. Throughout this paper, you will learn about the culture and art of Africa and its people.…