Julie Chavez
Art 102
Monday
6 - 9pm
05/11/18
Judith Slaying Holofernes Artemisia Gentileschi learned from her father, Orazio whom was inspired by Caravaggio. Gentileschi paintings spread Caravaggio’s style around the peninsula, one of Gentileschi’s painting that dramatically affected society was Judith Slaying Holofernes. This painting can be found in Gardner’s Art through the Ages, Volume II, pg 571. Judith Slaying Holofernes was painted oil on canvas during the Baroque art period and it is 6’ 6 1/3” X 5’4” and is located in Galleria Degli Uffizi, Florence. Judith Slaying Holofernes painting expressed one of Gentileschi well known themes, heroic women. There is a story to this painting and it was inspired from the book of Judith and it also connects to the delivery of Israel from the Assyrians. The background story to the painting is Judith gets invited to the Assyrian general, Holofernes, tent and when he falls asleep Judith beheads him and frees the Israel people. In Gentileschi painting she uses dark colors to create dramatic lighting to make the action in the front to imitate Caravaggio’s style of dramatic illumination. This piece of art looks very dramatic and the actions that are occurring in the painting are highlighted by using Caravaggio's technique, tenebrism. The actions being played out in the painting are in the center surrounded by dark lighting. In the painting one can see how strong and
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In the painting there is a lot of ruffle texture such as Judith’s and her maid’s sleeves and the bed sheets are also ruffled. There is a tint of green in the painting and its placed in Judith’s bracelet and on her bracelet, it seems to have an ancient goddess, Artemis, goddess of chastity and
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.
Arnolfini Double Portrait was painted in 1434, by Jan van Eyck; who hard already gained attention and admiration through earlier works, such as the Ghent Altarpiece. The subject of Arnolfini Double Portrait, also known as The Arnolfini Portrait, is the italian merchant Giovanni Di Nicolao Arnolfini and his first wife inside of a room filled with objects teeming with symbolism. The depth is divided into a familiar three layers, a foreground, which is composed of a dog and a pair of sandals; a middle ground which features the two main subjects of the painting; and background, which contains the rest of the objects in the painting. The painting is symmetrical and the vanishing point is not far from the center of the painting along the horizontal. The paining is filled with symbolism and items meant to portray the subjects' distinguished lifestyle. Although, what some of the objects actually symbolize can be interpreted in slightly varying ways. To begin, many of the ob...
I had never heard of the artist Artemisia Gentileschi before this introductory Art course. Of all the paintings and sculptures found within the book, it was her work that stood out and spoke to me. "Judith and Maidservant with the head of Holofernes" is a particularly rich oil painting by the Italian Gentileschi, painted circa 1625 Europe. Her large canvas measures 72 and 1/2 inches by 55 and 3/4 inches and began as a biblical story telling inspiration come to life within the oil. Located at the Detroit Institute of Arts, the painting was a gift to the institute from Art collector Mr. Leslie H. Green in 1952. Artemisia was the daughter of a painter (and caravaggio influenced) Orazio Gentileschi, she was also the wife of little known artist Pierantonio Stiattesi. Artemisia had four sons and one daughter during her marriage. A student of the Chiaroscuro technique and during a time when women were not believed capable of painting competitively and intelligently as the men of the day. Artemisia proved them wrong with stunning work and artistry over her artistic career.
Contextual Theory: This painting depicts a portrait of life during the late 1800’s. The women’s clothing and hair style represent that era. Gorgeous landscape and a leisurely moment are captured by the artist in this work of
Gentileschi’s Judith Slaying Holofernes epitomizes the style of artwork during the Italian Baroque era. By using a Catholic subject and key elements and techniques essential to baroque art such as chiaroscuro and foreshortening, she was able to create a piece that gushes drama and realism. Without the use of all of these elements the effect would be lost, but instead the piece is one that moves the viewer with its direct and gritty realism of the religious subject, evoking emotion in a way that leaves the viewer in awe.
RODERICK CONWAY MORRIS, “Artemisia: Her Passion Was Painting Above All Else”, New York Times, Published November 18, 2011
The composition of this painting forces the eye to the woman, and specifically to her face. Although the white wedding dress is large and takes up most of the woman’s figure, the white contrasts with her face and dark hair, forcing the viewer to look more closely into the woman’s face. She smokes a cigarette and rests her chin on her hands. She does not appear to be a very young woman and her eyes are cast down and seem sad. In general, her face appears to show a sense of disillusionment with life and specifically with her own life. Although this is apparently her wedding day, she does not seem to be happy.
The painting can be found at the Washington’s National Art Gallery. Further, this artwork is an important piece of art created during her mature career. Cassatt depicts the young girl alone within a domestic exterior. The informal posture, as well as the evident brushwork, are attributed to impressionism while the asymmetrical structure, the hasty scene cropping, and the shallow space indicate the Japanese art inspirations. Additionally, the young girl seated in an unselfconscious and sprawling manner is a reminder to the viewer of her young age
The painting depicts two figures, the one of a woman and of a man. The dominating central figure is the one of the woman. We see her profile as she looks to the left. Her hands are crossed in a graceful manner. She has blonde hair and her figure is lit by what seems to be natur...
This time, the artist depicted a scene after Judith had killed her enemy. On page 123, Artemisia then presented this painting at the Palazzo Pitti. It was during this event where she first met Galileo Galilei who complemented her work (Vreeland 125).
The painting that captivated my eyes was “La Buena Ventura”. As I was walking through the hallway my eyes were drawn to this beautiful young woman wearing a bluish greenish dress and what seems to be pink hearts. She is sitting down with a sad look on her face staring at her cards. I tried distinguishing the type of cards and to me they look a little like tarot cards. So I interpreted this as her not happy with what her fortune has in store for her. Maybe she is waiting for her love or she might have found out that tragedy is going to strike her way. I noticed the guitar at the far left corner so she could be a musician who is having a hard time making money. This oil painting is done so beautifully, the artist used a lot of texture and a mixture of dark colors to bring out the shadows and accentuate
... right is the only part of the painting that has gold leaf in it, on her gown, what looks to be a gold collar, and a gold necklace with a pearl. The gold she is garnished in represents royalty and the holy. An interesting illusion is seen the left angel’s hair and how it’s illuminated by the sun creating a halo.
I chose “The Martyrdom of St. Matthew” as the painting that best illustrates the baroque period. The reasons surrounding my decision are clear in Caravaggio’s painting. Here Caravaggio uses the entire canvas to illustrate complexity, flow, and chiaroscuro. The painting depicts the source of lighting to be coming from the left side of the plane. The brightest light focuses directly on Matthew’s executioner who intends to strike Matthew with an old balcanic hand weapon. Caravaggio masterfully illustrates the use of lighting by casting believable shadows. As an example, the shadow of the handle on balcanic hand weapon reflects on the executioner’s left thigh and knee. Another shadow appears on the executioner’s right inner thigh. The lighting source to the left of the executioner, the executioner, St. Matthews, the boy, the 2 observer’s bottom, right, and the fainter lighting upper left of the canvas illustrates the technique of visual movement. The lighting is placed strategically, causing visual movement within the piece. For example, the illumination of the executioner’s forearm directs my attention to the angel who appears to be handing St. Matthew a palm leaf. As a result, my eyes then focuses on the body of St. Matthew, lying on the bottom of the altar, then my eyes shifts up toward the Angle’s arm. The lighting on the angel's arm contrasted with the darkness of the palm leaf forces the viewer to look at the hand to see what St. Matthew is reaching for. The boy fleeing the scene further draws in the viewer. The two adult observers at the bottom right of the painting are illuminated but not as bright as the two main characters. Next, my attention is drawn to the man lying on the bottom steps, left side of the canv...
In this painting there is a strong presence of the color element. There is a strong contrast in lighting between the mother and child and the angels worshiping on the outside. The mother and child are painted in a vibrant pinkish rose hue while the surrounding angels are a slightly darker mix of green shades. The painting also offers a good variation of saturation when it comes to the fading yellow brick background. The pallets used
Rossetti shows us the woman being painted as many different things. Although she is just a painting, the woman symbolizes how the artist views women in real life: as objects. Irony is used when the woman is painted as “a queen”(5). She is put on a pedestal in a position of power, yet she is only described as being “in [an] opal or ruby dress”(5), cementing her role as an ornament. The ruby symbolizes passion and perhaps promiscuity. Opal is a white stone that reflects many colors. White symbolizes purity; while the different colors reflected symbolize how her meaning can change, and how the artist controls her identity and can make her fit any persona he desires. The woman is also depicted as a “nameless girl”(6), indicating her identity is not important to the artist. It also shows that he does not personally know the women he’s painting, but only their looks, affirming that he bases their value off of their appearances. Lastly, the artist portrays a woman as “a saint [and] an angel”(7) and compares her to the “moon”(11), an allusion to Artemis, the goddess of virginity. In this painting, she is established as a pure virgin, which was a requirement of the time period Rossetti lived in. However, because it is one of the fantasies the artist creates, and the poem antagonizes him, this line also expresses the idea that a woman’s purity should not define her. He makes the innocent virgin and the licentious queen the only ways women can be viewed. Yet, they are the same to him. Lacking depth, their physical description is the only thing giving them any meaning. Rossetti describing the portraits conveys the idea that no matter the position in society; or what their actual personalities are like, women are just blank canvases for men to project their fantasies onto. Uninterested in a real person, the artist worships the idea of a