Anyone who has with them the tools to create can be an artist. In the world of art there is no right or wrong, merely different styles, inspirations, and instruments that artist implement in the creation process. During the time of the Romans, however, it is clear that certain forms of art were held in higher consideration than others. This is a time where sculptures and figure painting thrive as the most popular outlet for artists to display their skills and technique. In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, there can be an evaluation of both Pygmalion’s constitution of works as well as nature of his character. In regards to Pygmalion as a man, he is critical and disapproving of women, carrying far too much negativity in his heart. Yet when thought of purely …show more content…
Clearly Pygmalion is able to create visually stunning pieces of work or else he would not fall head over heels for a mere slab of ivory. Pygmalion’s statue of his beloved is “most marvelous art” with a figure “better than any living woman could boast of” (Ovid 1104). His creation is said to be so realistic that Pygmalion himself often questioned if she were actually alive or not. It is this depiction of his creation that allows for an unbiased assessment of Pygmalion as an artist, and an artist alone. Undeniably he is a superb artist holding the ability to generate pieces of art capable of provoking emotions more advanced than simply admiration. There is something to be said about a man who can create a piece of art that he not only loves, but wants to also make love …show more content…
Ovid makes clear in his description of Pygmalion that he is not someone who is open-minded or very accepting of ideals that astray from his. In actuality, Pygmalion thought women “lived lives of sordid indecency” and because of this, Pygmalion lives his life without female companionship until the goddess Venus gifts upon him his perfect women (Ovid 1104). A man so disparaging of women that only the sheer perfection of his sculpture and the quietness of its nature can please him. Pygmalion is able to fall in love with his art because its innate lack of ability to speak, therefore making it impossible to become tainted like the women that who surround him in Rome. Though Pygmalion is able to find “true love” and live blissfully for the rest of his life, it is important to note that without supernatural help Pygmalion would have most likely lived out the rest of his days miserable and alone with only his lifeless art to keep him
It is understandable that Vout took on a discursive tone when attempting to explain her point of view regarding the depictions of the youths in the Hellenistic age. The subject’s content is far too broad to be encompassed within a small range of thinking. This observation is evident in Vout’s temporary straying from the main points to wider subjects; however, she always brings her tangents back to the principal objectives. The primary ideas that she focuses on concern the rendering of children in art forms during Hellenistic times. This idea is then divided into differen...
There were two major rape narratives in the Metamorphoses: one in Book I, when Jupiter rapes the nymph, Io; and one in Book II, when Jupiter rapes Diana’s follower, Callisto. After the first instance, Ovid sympathizes considerably with Io. First, he addresses her with the title “fleeing girl” (Ovid 9), which gives her the characterization of being innocent and unwilling towards Jupiter. In addition, after the rape, Io is turned into a heifer then taken away from her home to be kept in captivity by Argus, which makes the readers sympathize with her because she is being held against her will for being the victim of rape. Lastly, Ovid conveys sympathy for Io when she looks into a river and sees that she is a heifer and becomes “terrified of herself”
In conclusion, the portrayal of ancient rulers is dependent not only on the style of art popular during the era, but also on the evolution of the political climate. The portrayal of Menkaure, a pharaoh of the Old Kingdom in ancient Egypt, is of complete authority, control and power. His face does not show concern or grief over his people, because he is not challenged politically, the image of control coincides with his sole power over the kingdom. While the depiction of Alexander the Great, in ancient Greek coins is deified. Alexander’s leadership ended with world domination; therefore, his deified portrayal on monetary funds is particularly appropriate. By contrast, Philip the Arab’s portrait sculpture almost resembles a present day photograph with its capture of fleeting expression. This expression of anxiety and sadness is a representation of the political turmoil during the time period of his rule. Taking the progress of ancient cultures into account, how does the art of sculpting improve in the manipulation of the medium used?
In The Metamorphoses, Ovid’s book six tells us a story about Arachne who is the daughter of Idmon and an incredible weaver, challenged by the goddess Minerva. When Arachne wins the challenge it causes Minerva to strike back with violence. While reading Ovid’s stories, we recognize that he wrote stories based on the way the mind contemplates trauma. Ovid is interested in human awareness, and he helps us comprehend the emotions of the powerful and powerless. The gods express possessiveness, envy, and anger towards each other. At this time, in Ovid’s Roman World the gods have the power to manipulate and use their evil strategies. I will be concentrating on Arachne and Minerva; how their emotions take a big sorrow during the time when the powerful takes over the less powerful and punishes them abusively. I will deliberate primarily on the themes of emotions, power, of the gods to show the powerless.
Winckelmann like Vasari dealt greatly with the artistic problems concerning representation and imitation of nature including the need for the human beauty in a figure. However he also was interested in art criticism based in historical timelines and causes for the change and evolution of modern art. This greatly seen in this article not only in his thesis that great contemporary art is based in antiquity but also in his explanation for why the Greek art was so well done and why it has risen back into the hands of modern art. First, Greek work came back to contemporary society greatly by the monarch led by Titus who brought authentic work from Greek masters for his artists to learn from and imitate. He also discusses the correlation between the bodies, like that of the Theseus model, with the Greek lifestyle they lived based heavily on training for the Olympic games and the resemblance of youth’s bodies to godlike figures. Great masters of contemporary work use these same bodily model and ideal of beauty in their work. Winckelmann states that their present good taste is due to the fact that they, “partook of good taste at its source.” Overall the Greeks set up rules of art that could be imitated to capture nature and its ideal form of beauty, an idea that many sought to accomplish.
Titian’s health, inherited from his mountain race, along with his tendencies toward order, balance, and determination, defined the dominant characteristics of the art that he created. He is credited for his being capable of expressing beauty which springs from the deepest happiness of life, and granted his art with that sort of expression. His art was important and has influenced artists after him. He is considered to be a magnificent creator of beauty, which is a well-suited consideration.
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…
Ovid's work ridicules the concept of marriage and harmony between the sexes. It paints men and women as individual creatures who have little desire of joining with the opposite sex. The male gods are impelled by Cupid's power to chase certain female characters. Of course, the female characters are not interested and choose to evade capture so that they may continue with their individual desires. When the female god Venus falls for a human male and lays with him, she goes to great lengths to protect him from the wild animals. She specifically tells him to be bold "when you approach the timid animals, those who are quick to flee: but do not be audacious when you face courageous beasts" (Ovid 936). The man Adonis chose not to heed the god's warning and went on to hunt a wild boar with the aid of his hounds. The boar that Venus despised killed the human that she lusted after. This is another example of individual wants taking precedence over the joined couple. Pygmalion was so much of an individualist that he created his own mate from ivory.
Love and beauty is another theme that recurs in Greek discussion, especially in Plato’s dialogues. In the Phaedrus and especially the Symposium, Plato discusses the nature of erotic love and give the argument for the ultimately transcendental object of love: Beauty. In both dialogues, Plato presents Socrates as a quintessential philosopher who is a lover of wisdom, and through his great speeches we are able to grasp Platonism and Plato’s view on the interesting theme.
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...
Venus and Adonis is a famous and twisted love story between a goddess, and the most handsome mortal on earth. It is part of the Greek mythological culture that is not only known for being the basis of the existence of most people in ancient history, but it has still continued to be a phenomenon for those who enjoy the myth’s and stories of these ancient characters. Although this religion and belief system has almost faded to nothing, there are still many people who study its stories and artwork to completely understand what the artist was trying to portray through these characters and their artwork. Artists throughout history have used these mythological beings or characters as a way to tell a story, convey a message of their current society, and carry on the beautiful religion that once was. One of the artworks that has been continuously assessed, is the heart-wrenching painting by Titian “Venus and Adonis” based off of the mythological story of Venus and Adonis in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. This painting was created during the Renaissance Era which is one of the most influential time periods in history as it contributed to the advancement in intellectual thought in not only science and politics, but in art as well. “Venus and Adonis”’ existence on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s walls is of importance because of the beautiful talent and composition of Titian work conveying “an allegory of the perils of life guided by fate rather than reason” (Gentili 1980), and also because of the heavy influence of its time. Titian’s “Venus and Adonis” was a fantastic window to the art and views of the Renaissance era. It shows the growing interest in Greek Mythology but also a growing interest in the education of art using proportions and linear ...
In A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Stephen Dedalus defines beauty and the artist's comprehension of his/her own art. Stephen uses his esthetic theory with theories borrowed from St. Thomas Aquinas and Plato. The discourse can be broken down into three main sections: 1) A definitions of beauty and art. 2) The apprehension and qualifications of beauty. 3) The artist's view of his/her own work. I will explain how the first two sections of his esthetic theory relate to Stephen. Furthermore, I will argue that in the last section, Joyce is speaking of Stephen Dedalus and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man as his art.
Painting in the 19th century, still highly influenced by the spirit of Romanticism, proved to be a far more sensitive medium for the kind of personal expression one should expect from the romantic subjectivity of the time. At the very beginning of the “modern period” stands the imposing figure of Francisco Goya (1746-1828), the great independent painter from Spain. With much indebtedness to Velazquez, Rembrandt and the wonders of the natural world, Goya occupies the status of an artistic giant. His artistic range goes from the late Venetian Baroque through the brilliant impressionistic realism of his own to a late expressionism in which dark and powerful distor...
Transformations from one shape or form into another are the central theme in Ovid's Metamorphoses. The popularity and timelessness of this work stems from the manner of story telling. Ovid takes stories relevant to his culture and time period, and weaves them together into one work with a connecting theme of transformation throughout. The thread of humor that runs through Metamorphoses is consistent with the satire and commentary of the work. The theme is presented in the opening lines of Metamorphoses, where the poet invokes the gods, who are responsible for the changes, to look favorably on his efforts to compose. The changes are of many kinds: from human to animal, animal to human, thing to human, human to thing. Some changes are reversed: human to animal to human. Sometimes the transformations are partial, and physical features and personal qualities of the earlier being are preserved in mutated form.
Life is a never-ending metamorphosis. It is always changing, always transforming. Sometimes a change is followed by positive results, but on the darker side, a metamorphosis can lead to damage or suffering. But of course, the concept of metamorphosis can also be related into the wonderful yet unrealistic world of magic and sorcery. Metamorphosis can mean a rapid transformation from one object to another or a distinct or even degenerative change in appearance, personality, condition, or function. The concept of metamorphosis is commonly used in pieces of literature to describe an extreme change in character or form.