Some of the most famous paintings in history come from the Renaissance period, partially thanks to humanistic ideals. We think of the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, The Birth of Venus, and I posit The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch. Hieronymus Bosch and The Garden of Earthly Delights, an artist nor painting that was discussed in class. Despite this, Hieronymus Bosch and The Garden of Earthly Delights are both equally distinguished in art history. The piece is large and enigmatic, no one truly understands what the piece means, and much less what is being depicted! However, this doesn’t mean that many haven’t speculated over the centuries. This report will attempt to delve into the person behind the painting and his style, …show more content…
The city was known for its charity and respect for travelers (1). The Netherlands was very wealthy thanks to banking, trade, and shipbuilding (2). The most powerful nations of Europe made sure to establish trading posts within their borders (2). Not much is known about Bosch, especially at an early age. Even the curators at museums where his artwork is shown are not entirely sure if they are his (1). His family had been painters for at least generations, and lived in the area for at least two generations (1). His grandfather became a member of a religious society known as the Brotherhood of Our Lady (1). This was important because the family would receive many artistic commissions through the society. Indeed, Hieronymus’ uncles and brothers were all artists (1). His father had also joined the Brotherhood of Our Lady, and sold his wares out in the public market. Hieronymus would have helped his father sell his artwork, gaining world experience, work ethic, and absorbing religious ideas, all of which would later influence his artwork (1). Even when a fire had raged through their home city, Hieronymus’ father was paid to recreate or replace a few different pieces of art, and the fire had even inspired Hieronymus to create works of art …show more content…
We see the innocence of creation in figure 2, which is the left panel of the inside of the Garden of Earthly Delights triptych. God is shown having just created Eve and presenting her to Adam, blessing them both. We see Adam looking upon Eve in wonder, and Eve fixing her gaze away from Adam, perhaps as a sign of chastity (3). Various animals flank the central characters, and fill out the rest of the panel with strange looking buildings and mountains. Some of the animals could have some meaning behind them, such as the rabbits behind eve depicting reproduction (3). It is interesting to note that the animals closer to the characters appear more fantastical, and the animals near the back appear more realistic. Bosch may be saying that the animals during the time of Adam and Eve look different than what animals look like in contemporary times, perhaps as a wink to humanistic and naturalistic ideas he had (3). One theory to describe the left panel is that this was a time before sin, where Adam and Eve lived in ignorance of sin and punishment for going against the word of
Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1654?) was one of the most important women artists before the modern period and certainly one of the most famous female painters from the seventeenth century. Gentileschi’s paintings regularly featured women as the protagonists acting in a manner equal to men. In fact, forty nine of her paintings fall into this category. She was raped at the age of 18 and the subsequent events lent her a certain amount of notoriety. These factors have led many to interpret her artwork as an expression of her role as a female victim looking for revenge through her art. Instead, a closer examination of Gentileschi’s life and her artwork exposes the artist as an individual with personal strength and incredible talent who painted subjects similar to or the same as those of her male counterparts, instead of staying within the guiding principles of what was acceptable “feminine” art.
In eight quasi-connected stories, Susan Vreeland delivers a fictional lesson on aesthetics. Set amidst human sorrow and historic chaos, the narrative follows an imagined Vermeer painting from the present day through 330 years of its provenance--beginning with its willful destruction in the 1990s and concluding with its inspired creation in the 1660s:
In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury makes an allusion to the Christian Bible story of Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve is a parable about love and life. In the story God created a beautiful garden, called The Garden of Eden. In the middle of the garden was a tree with the power to bestow knowledge of good and evil to whomever ate the fruit from the tree. God then created Adam, the first man. He was told to look after the garden and informed him, “You may eat fruits from any tree you like, but not from the Tree of Knowledge. If you do not obey, you shall die:” Following the creation of Adam, God created Eve from Adam's ribs to give Adam company. In the garden also lived a snake. The snake informed Eve that if she were to consume the fruit from the Tree
I found The Raising of Lazarus and Annunciation to be interesting pieces on their own as well as to be compared. At face value, these paintings do not appear to contain many contrasting features. However, by examining these paintings closely, one can conclude that paintings with similar themes, mediums, and time periods can still differ in countless ways. Light, medium, subject, color, space, and viewpoint are just a few of the characteristics that can be considered when analyzing Wtewael and Caliari’s works. It is imperative that observers of art take a deeper look into the different features of artwork in attempt to uncover the intentions of the artist.
Maria Van Oosterwyck’s painting of the “Vanitas Still Life” is layered with different shapes, colors, and sizes which makes it difficult and intriguing to analyze. Through the different lighting, color, spacing,
Symbolism is very prominent over the course of this story, giving it that much more meaning. Knowles makes not only one, but several instances to religious principles and more precisely in this case, Adam and Eve. These of jealousy, greed, and selfishness are prominent throughout both stories as well is a significant fall whether it would be as monstrous as humanity or on the smaller scale of relationships. The disruption of peace and harmony are also evident in the two. In addition, it is interesting how the author finds a way to tie them all into each other.
In the early 16th century the Netherlands experienced what was called “tulip mania” this was the beginning of the nations love for flora and foliage (Taylor 13). The result of this impressive flower invasion was a society that took a historical turn from which the results still remain today. Flower merchants, botanists and floral still life artists, were occupations that were an accurate reflection of the Netherlands demands (Brown). An interesting example of a life that was effected by, and devoted to the archiving of the flower craze was Rachel Ruysch (1664-1750) the 17th century Dutch flower painter. Rachel Ruyschs’ career straddled the 17th and 18th century, and her stunningly accurate floral pieces reflect the maturing, yet evolving art of floral still life painting (“Rachel Ruysch: Bibliography”). Ruyschs’ Still Life with Flowers on a Marble Tabletop (1716) is an excellent example of a painting that appropriately represents the genre of art that was created solely through specific societal events.
Here we also get to know that he is immortal and how he is not pleased with the painting he is obligated to paint. The painter also responds sorrowfully to the title of the mural, “The Happy Garden Of Life”, this shows us how the painter is also aware of the fact that it does not resemble the world they live in, so it is a metaphor for the world they live in. During the story we could also see how the painter does not share the same mindset as the others, for instance the meaning of life. This could be substantiated through the following quotation:
Peter Paul Rubens’ masterpiece, Venus and Adonis, is not only a significant artwork of the baroque-period in Europe during the 17th century, but it also tells the mythological story that begins with love, and ends in tragedy. Displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this painting is admired for representing the unique baroque-style of this era, as well as Rubens’ particular use of the medium and how it reaches those who are viewing it. His attention to detail and crafty use of symbolism within the painting assist viewers in deciphering the story, along with the values of the time period in which Rubens was living. In studying the composition of the work and noting the historical context from which it came, one can ultimately understand Rubens’ point-of-view and thus, connect to the painting in a way he or she has never imagined.
Imagine pondering into a reconstruction of reality through only the visual sense. Without tasting, smelling, touching, or hearing, it may be hard to find oneself in an alternate universe through a piece of art work, which was the artist’s intended purpose. The eyes serve a much higher purpose than to view an object, the absorptions of electromagnetic waves allows for one to endeavor on a journey and enter a world of no limitation. During the 15th century, specifically the Early Renaissance, Flemish altarpieces swept Europe with their strong attention to details. Works of altarpieces were able to encompass significant details that the audience may typically only pay a cursory glance. The size of altarpieces was its most obvious feat but also its most important. Artists, such as Jan van Eyck, Melchior Broederlam, and Robert Campin, contributed to the vast growth of the Early Renaissance by enhancing visual effects with the use of pious symbols. Jan van Eyck embodied the “rebirth” later labeled as the Renaissance by employing his method of oils at such a level that he was once credited for being the inventor of oil painting. Although van Eyck, Broederlam, and Campin each contributed to the rise of the Early Renaissance, van Eyck’s altarpiece Adoration of the Mystic Lamb epitomized the artworks produced during this time period by vividly incorporating symbols to reconstruct the teachings of Christianity.
It appears to me that pictures have been over-valued; held up by a blind admiration as ideal things, and almost as standards by which nature is to be judged rather than the reverse; and this false estimate has been sanctioned by the extravagant epithets that have been applied to painters, and "the divine," "the inspired," and so forth. Yet in reality, what are the most sublime productions of the pencil but selections of some of the forms of nature, and copies of a few of her evanescent effects, and this is the result, not of inspiration, but of long and patient study, under the instruction of much good sense…
The French 1884 oil on canvas painting The Song of the Lark by Jules-Adolphe Breton draws grasps a viewer’s attention. It draws an observer in by its intense but subtle subject matter and by the luminous sun in the background. Without the incandescent sun and the thoughtful look of the young woman, it would just be a bland earth-toned farm landscape. However, Breton understood what to add to his painting in order to give it drama that would instantly grab an onlooker’s interest.
Kleiner, F.S., Mamiya, C.J., Tansey, R.G. (2001) Gardeners Art Through the Ages. Eleventh Edition, Harcourt College Publishers, Orlando, USA.
In fact, some of the works presented depict mythological paintings that resemble the transcending Metaphysical matter of nature. Take for instance, the general aspect of the artworks presented in this chapter. They depict different social levels through the use of objects, emotions and various conditions. The lower status contradicts, the slaves to the wealthy and royalty, all delineate the role of the people present in the society and their everyday life. In the images, the poor and the slaves depicted with little to no possessions, looking tired and over-worked. Through their everyday labor, they must survive as a less fortunate person. In contrast to the images of the po...
Like many of Van Gogh’s paintings, Olive Trees commences as a landscape and expands into a complex work, disclosing influences from other times and places. Using the color theory and separated brushstrokes of the Impressionists, the movement and vivid colors of the Romantics, and lighting and composition inspired by Millet, Van Gogh achieves the potency and significance that characterizes his work. Van Gogh’s paintings can’t possibly be mistaken for those of another artist of his time because, despite the fact that all of his means have criterion, his end results do not.