I chose El Greco’s Laocoon, this painting was and still seems very strange to me. This is why I chose it, I really wanted to find out what the painting really meant, what it was all about, and I wanted to figure out what El Greco was thinking when he made this painting. My first guess was that it is a mythological painting knowing that el Greco was Greek and very proud of it. I looked into it and found out that it is el Greco’s only surviving mythological painting.
The mythological story is about Laocoon who was a priest in toy that was trying to warn his fellow countrymen about the Trojan horse. Laocoon was punished by the gods that sent snakes out of the sea to kill him and his two sons. The painting was made in (1610 - 1614). The painting
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is oil on canvas its dimensions are 137.5 x 172.5 cm (54 1/8 x 67 15/16 in.) framed: 176.5 x 212.7 cm (69 1/2 x 83 3/4 in.). It is currently in the Samuel H. Kress Collection. The Laocoon was presumed to be held by El Greco until he died then passed down to his son Jorge Manuel in 1621. It was inherited by Antonio Maria Felipe Luis de Orleans, Duque Montepensier (1824 – 1890). Then it was inherited by his son Don Antonio de Orleáns, Duque de Galliera, Sanlúcar de Barremada, Cádiz, (1890 – 1910). The Laocoon feel into the hands of Durand-Ruel, in Paris France by 1910. Then Paul Cassirer in Berlin got the Laocoon October 1915. Edwin Fischer Got the painting in Berlin by 1923. Edwin Divorced his wife, Eleanora Irme von Jeszenski, von Mendelssohn, and she got the painting from the divorce in 1926. The Prince and Princess of Yugoslavia received the painting by the year 1934. Consigned by the Prince of Yugoslavia in 1946, to M. Knoedler and Co., London, Paris, and New York. The Company later sold it to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation in New York, and later gifted it to the National Gallery of Art. El Greco lived from (1541 - 1614) he was born in the island of Crete and he died in Toledo, Spain.
El Greco was very proud of his Greek culture and heritage. El Greco always signed his works in his full name and with Greek characters. His real name was Domenikos Theotokopoulos and when he signed his works this was the name he used. All of El Greco’s works were in the “Venetian Renaissance Style” of painting.
El Greco’s was commissioned in Spain to do an altar piece for the high alter and the two lateral alters, for the church Santo Domingo el Antiguo. The church Domingo el Antiguo is located in the city were El Greco’s death happened; this city is Toledo, Spain. This commission was his very first in Spain, and it was the most important commission he had ever had in his life time so far. The painting that El Greco did was called the “Assumption of the Virgin”
At about the same time that the “Assumption of the Virgin” was made, he made the Espolio. The Espolio is Spanish for “The Disrobing of Christ” The Espolio showed the elongating of the bodies of humans (like many other paintings done by El Greco). The elongating of the body was really emphasized in the fingers, and in the person’s legs. Another example of this Technique is the painting named St. Sebastian, also by El
Greco. After El Greco died He did not have any followers remaining in Toledo, Spain. Only His son and some other unknown and insignificant painters, made some very weak copies of El Greco’s work. What I really Liked about El Greco Laocoon was how he painted the figures by elongating them, and more importantly I liked how the background seemed very rough and hill like. The sky and clouds really caught my eye in the way they are painted, and the color that is used in it.
present in both paintings. El Greco presented both St. John and St. Francis with a very
This myth is about the great Odysseus on his return from the Trojan War. On his way home, he washed up onto the isle of Circe, a great and powerful magician, famous for turning unwanted guests into animals. His men went first and only one came back, he told Odysseus that all the men had been turned into animals. Odysseus goes to confront Circe and ends up being invited to a banquet. In the end, Odysseus managed to bribe Circe to turn his men back and to let him leave the island. The first thing I noticed when looking at this painting is the architecture and how much of the canvas it takes up. This represents the power and strength of Circe. On the bottom right and left corners, you can see beautiful women on one side, and men turning into animals on the other. The beautiful women were used to lure them men and are separated from them in the painting. In the back you can see the messenger, Hermes, who gave Odysseus a plant to void all of the magic. Pannini also used directional lines and the geometric shape of the architecture to direct the eye into the arch where Odysseus and Circe were
Derived from Homer's epic, the Iliad, the painting depicts Automedon, chariot driver for Achilles, struggling to control Xanthos and Balios, the horses that will carry the Greek hero into his final, fatal battle. Exhibited around the United States in the 1870s and 1880s, the painting was called ?highly seasoned and unhealthful food which renders the palette insensitive to the...
In the two different depictions of the scene Betrayal of Christ, Duccio and Giotto show their different styles on how they compose their paintings. The first decision into the composure of the painting would be the comparison of the size of surface they chose to paint on. Duccio in comparison to Giotto chooses to work on a wooden panel no wider than a foot, and Giotto went with a plaster surface with a width of ten feet. This detail alone lets the viewer know that Giotto’s artwork is embedded in detail and visual consumption. The size difference is the factor between who see’s it and what they see; the fine details and symbolism of the narrative will be better understood if the viewer can see every detail.
Exekias, also called Execias, was living during Athens time period between 550BC and 530BC. He was a most recognized painter who frequently worked with black-figure. Under the achievement of some outstanding potteries such as Achilles and Ajax Playing Dice versus Dionysus Crossing the Sea, he is known as a master of black-figure painting in the Greek era (Britannica, 2014).
The original Laocoön statue was constructed by Athanadoros, Hagesander, Polydoros from Rhodes in the Hellenistic era. The large marble group that we now know as Laocoön Group was unearthed in 1506 CE, currently resides in the Vatican and may be a Roman copy of the famous Greek sculpture that Pliny the Elder described. , If the statue is a Roman copy, it was most likely commissioned by Augustus as a public works project to celebrate the fall of Troy that eventually led to the founding of Rome. However, if the marble statue is the original that was constructed by the sculptors from Rhodes, then the reasons for its construction could be as shrouded in mystery as its travels from Titus’s palace to Rome. Nonetheless, the origins of the statue
Seeing the art in person truly made me see the beauty and captivity a painting can hold. Each gallery was filled with different American works. My favorite kind of paintings are the ones I can look at and immediately write a story in my head about what is happening, even if it not what the artist intended. As I was going through the galleries one painting in particular stuck in my mind. I was fortunate enough to experience a special exhibition called, “Audubon to Warhol.” It was composed of different works acquired from private and public collections. I was lured to the emotions that was captured by the main figure in one of the works. I was drawn not only to the beauty of the painting, but the story it shared. The painting I chose was Peeling Onions, by Lilly Martin Spencer.
The artists of the Baroque had a remarkably different style than artists of the Renaissance due to their different approach to form, space, and composition. This extreme differentiation in style resulted in a very different treatment of narrative. Perhaps this drastic stylistic difference between the Renaissance and Baroque in their treatment of form, space, and composition and how these characteristics effect the narrative of a painting cannot be seen more than in comparing Perugino’s Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to St. Peter from the Early Renaissance to Caravaggio’s Conversion of St. Paul from the Baroque.Perugino was one of the greatest masters of the Early Renaissance whose style ischaracterized by the Renaissance ideals of purity, simplicity, and exceptional symmetry of composition. His approach to form in Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to St.Peter was very linear. He outlined all the figures with a black line giving them a sense of stability, permanence, and power in their environment, but restricting the figures’ sense of movement. In fact, the figures seem to not move at all, but rather are merely locked at a specific moment in time by their rigid outline. Perugino’s approach to the figures’themselves is extremely humanistic and classical. He shines light on the figures in a clear, even way, keeping with the rational and uncluttered meaning of the work. His figures are all locked in a contrapposto pose engaging in intellectual conversation with their neighbor, giving a strong sense of classical rationality. The figures are repeated over and over such as this to convey a rational response and to show the viewer clarity. Perugino’s approach to space was also very rational and simple. He organizes space along three simple planes: foreground, middle ground, and background. Christ and Saint Peter occupy the center foreground and solemn choruses of saints and citizens occupy the rest of the foreground. The middle distance is filled with miscellaneous figures, which complement the front group, emphasizing its density and order, by their scattered arrangement. Buildings from the Renaissance and triumphal arches from Roman antiquity occupy the background, reinforcing the overall classical message to the
Both Jan van Eyck and Fra Angelico were revered artists for the advances in art that they created and displayed for the world to see. Their renditions of the Annunciation were both very different, however unique and perfect display of the typical styles used during the Renaissance. Jan van Eyck’s panel painting Annunciation held all the characteristics of the Northern Renaissance with its overwhelming symbolism and detail. Fra Angelico’s fresco Annunciation grasped the key elements used in the Italian Renaissance with usage of perspective as well as displaying the interest and knowledge of the classical arts.
The ability to create a picture of The Annunciation in one’s mind is a key factor in understanding the analysis of the work. Francisco de Zurbaran approaches the painting with a naturalistic style. The painting features a room in which a woman – like angel is seen at the left kneeling on the ground before the Virgin Mary. The figure of Mary is placed between a chair and a small wooden table draped with a green cloth. Mary disregards an open Bible on the table, as she appears solemn while staring at the floor. Floating above the two main figures in the upper left side of the painting are cherubs resting on a bed of clouds. They happily gaze down at Mary with eyes from Heaven.
Artemisia Gentileschi is considered to be one of the great painters of the Baroque era, and is especially venerated for her mastery of the Caravaggesque style. Her power as an artist comes not only from her technical and creative capabilities, but also from her acute understanding of and involvement in theoretical discourse on painting and the genius of the artist. Known for her vigorous depictions of powerful Biblical heroines that do not conform to typical images of femininity and through the intensity of the Caravaggesque style, Gentileschi’s work can be considered quintessentially Baroque.
... the way that the artwork is resembled in the religious background of the gospel but reconstructed in to a celebrating impression. Throughout the fresco painting it depicts the myth of the Christ’s three fold temptations relating back to the article that “distinction between fresco and panel painting is sharp, and that painters are seen as competitors amongst themselves discriminating also, between the difference in genuine attempts in being better then the other.” Baxandall, “Conditions of Trade,” 26. in relation, the painting concerns the painter’s conscious response to picture trade, and the non-isolation in pictorial interests.
Judaism and the Greco-Roman world had significant influences in early Christian communities. Each notably impacted the ways these communities defined themselves and related to the greater Greco-Roman culture in the earliest era of Christianity. As many authors and audiences in the New Testament were Jewish and lived in the Greco-Roman world, the connections between these communities and the earliest stages of Christianity are diverse and sometimes conflicting. The earliest Christian communities defined their identities in relation to Judaism and the larger Greco-Roman context in many and conflicting models, some of which include the relationship between Hebrew scriptures and the community, the inclusion of Gentiles based on faith, and accommodation
Instead of the usual straight forward viewpoint, Titian created a left facing approach that had never been seen before Pesaro Madonna. The originality of this painting’s design gave it an entirely new level of amazement beyond that of just a good technique and a captivating color palette. The sweeping arch and tall Greco Roman pillars help this to appear as more than just a painting. More like a window, allowing the viewer to see a small rectangle of the life size scene before them. The painting was commissioned by Jacopo Pesaro to commemorate his papal fleet’s victory over the Turks. The Turkish prisoner held by St. Maurice is a clear representation of Christianity’s triumph over the Turks. The color palette shows those bright reds and deep blues that became so popular thanks to the import of pigments not available in
The Peloponnesian war resulted in an endless discord and declined the serene idealism the Greeks possessed. Greeks became disillusioned and alienated resulting in artist focusing on real world aspects of life and appearances opposed to the idea of perfection in humans and the structures, which portrayed them. The artist Praxiteles of the fourth century BCE did not reject the superhuman beauty that was present in Classical art; he preserved that in the creation of Gods and Goddesses. The Aphrodite of Knidos was imperative to history as she was represented completely nude, and that was the first nude sculpture of a Goddess. Alexander, the Greats many conquests including that of the Near East and Egypt, brought to light a new cultural age otherwise known as the Hellenistic period, with his death in 323 BCE Greek kings who succeeded him divided his empire among themselves. With the division of the Greek Empire and the loss of Alexander the Great open aspect of the Persian Empire into the Greek world. Hellenistic Geek sculptures continued to encompass the Classical trend however incorporated even greater natural elements. The idealized serenity of the traditional elements were replaced by the emotionalism and the intense reality of the Hellenistic period. One of my favorite sculptures was that of artist Epigonos: The Gallio Chieftain killing himself and his wife after the defeat of Gauls as he did not want to surrender and have his wife sold into slavery, therefore, he killed his wife and then himself. This was sculpture depicts much emotion. The sculpture shows the chieftain holding his wife’s lifeless body by the strength of one arm while he ends his life with the other by driving a sword into his heart. It portrays a sad and courageous act all at the same