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Influences on Renaissance art
How the Renaissance period affected art
How the Renaissance period affected art
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Botticelli’s Primavera can be labeled as one the most notable interpretative challenges of art history, due to the plethora of differing interpretations of its meaning. Some interpret the Primavera as a mythological depiction surrounding a wedding in the painting’s patron’s family, others believe it is an allegorical representation of the arrival of spring or a symbolic portrayal of Neoplatonic philosophies concerning the nature of love. Although scholars disagree on what exactly Botticelli trying to express in Primavera, most do agree on the identity of the figures in the painting which include mythological figures based primarily on the works of the Greek poet, Ovid. Although the exact meaning will remain unknown, considering differing interpretations can assist in understanding the notions presented and can aid in analysing the findings accordingly. Primavera is a 2.03m x 3.1m tempera panel painting by the famous Italian Early Renaissance painter, Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, better known as Sandro Botticelli and is currently housed by the Uffizi Gallery of Florence, Italy. D’Ancona suggests that the painting was produced around 1482, and was commissioned for a member of the Medici family, a powerful political and banking house in Florence. . Such large format paintings were not unusual in private residences of affluent families. Primavera was part of a decoration in Pierfrancesco’s house in Florence, where it was hung or fixed above a lettuccio, which is a kind of settle that stood and fixed against the wall in the chamber next to Lorenzo’s bedroom. Moreover, D’Ancona supported this idea by stating that the painting was framed in a white frame, and white is an appropriate colour for weddings. Likewise, Venus e... ... middle of paper ... ...ing stands Mercury. As Wind asserts, "The crux of any interpretation of the Primavera is to explain the part played by Mercury. By tradition he is 'the leader of the Graces'; but while that would seem to explain his place next to them, it is hard to reconcile with his disengaged -- not to say, indifferent, attitude". The mention of the wind brings us again to the last section of the painting. At the extreme right three figures recall Ovid's Fasti since Zephyr, the west wind, impregnates Chloris. "However, he made amends by making her Queen of flowers." As Dempsey notes, "the meaning of the Ovidian model is transformed, for Ovid does not literally describe a transformation in the Fasti, but Botticelli has nevertheless imagined the event as an Ovidian metamorphosis and thereby rendered, in true Ovidian fashion, the meaning of the event in the actions themselves".
The painting I chose today is called ‘Fidelia and Speranza’, part of Putnam collection, by Benjamin West and was painted in 1776. The Fidelia and Speranza painting is Oil on canvas painting. ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬The current location of this painting is in the Timken Museum in San Diego, California. Benjamin West worked mainly in London, Roma, and Philadelphia. Benjamin was an American- British painter and was born in October 1738 and died in March of 1820; born in Pennsylvania but lived his entire life in England from the year of 1763. This painting has dimensions of about 54 by 43 inches. Fidelia and Speranza mean Faith and hope.
In the article “Conditions of Trade,” Michael Baxandall explains that fifteenth-century Italian art is a “deposit” resulting from the commercial interaction between the artist and the purchaser, who he refers to as a client. These works, as such, are “fossils of economic life,” and money, and they play an important role in the history of art. In our current perception of the relationship between the artist and art, “painters paint what they think is best, and then look around for a buyer” . However in the past, especially during the Renaissance period, the customers determined the content and form of paintings, as it was them who commissioned the work before it was created. He states that the artists and clients were interconnected and a legal agreement was drawn up specifying subject matter, payment scheme and the quality and quantity of colors, which would influence the artist’s painting style. Baxandall not only looks at the explanation of the style of painting that reflects a society, but also engages in the visual skills and habits that develop out of daily life. The author examines the situations between the painter and client within the commercial, religious, perceptual, and social institutions, centrally focusing on markets, materials, visual practices, and the concept of the Renaissance period, which saw art as an institution. Baxandall notes that Renaissance paintings also relate to the clients’ motives through such ways as possession, self-commemoration, civic consciousness, and self-advertisement. The author considers works of a wide variety of artistic painters, for instance, Filippo Lippi, Fra Angelico, Stefano di Giovanni, Sandro Botticelli, Luca Signorelli, and numerous others. He defines and exemplifies fiftee...
The painting clearly shows Mars and Venus being tied together by a cupid. So I can see why this is the most popular translation of this painting. My personal response was really strong after seeing the painting for the first time. As soon as I saw this painting I knew that it had a deeper meaning to it; and not just some people being tied together by a cupid. I knew right away that it had to do with Roman mythology just from the names. After looking at this painting for a while there is still something that the artist is trying to portray, that is really tough. It feels like there is more going on than what seems. The painting has such a calm tone to it but it gives a little hint of roughness with the sword and the horse, which I think, helps to balance this painting.
By most accounts, the year 1500 was in the midst of the height of the Italian Renaissance. In that year, Flemmish artist Jean Hey, known as the “Master of Moulins,” painted “The Annunciation” to adorn a section of an alter piece for his royal French patrons. The painting tells the story of the angel Gabriel’s visit to the Virgin Mary to deliver the news that she will give birth to the son of God. As the story goes, Mary, an unwed woman, was initially terrified about the prospects of pregnancy, but eventually accepts her fate as God’s servant. “The Annunciation” is an oil painting on a modest canvas, three feet tall and half as wide. The setting of the painting is a study, Mary sitting at a desk in the bottom right hand corner reading, and the angel Gabriel behind her holding a golden scepter, perhaps floating and slightly off the canvas’s center to the left. Both figures are making distinct hand gestures, and a single white dove, in a glowing sphere of gold, floats directly above Mary’s head. The rest of the study is artistic but uncluttered: a tiled floor, a bed with red sheets, and Italian-style architecture. “The Annunciation” was painted at a momentous time, at what is now considered the end of the Early Renaissance (the majority of the 15th Century) and the beginning of the High Renaissance (roughly, 1495 – 1520). Because of its appropriate placement in the Renaissance’s timeline and its distinctly High Renaissance characteristics, Jean Hey’s “Annunciation” represents the culmination of the transition from the trial-and-error process of the Early Renaissance, to the technical perfection that embodied the High Renaissance. Specifically, “Annunciation” demonstrates technical advancements in the portrayal of the huma...
Max C. Marmor wrote an article titled: “From Purgatory to the Primavera: Some Observations on Botticelli and Dante” in which he discusses the connections between Dante’s Divine Comedy and Botticelli’s Primavera. I will be comparing this article to one written by Sergiusz Michalski titled: “Venus as Semiramis: A New Interpretation of the Central figure of Botticelli’s Primavera,” which was published in the same issue of Artibus et Historiae in 2003. Michalski discusses Botticelli’s Primavera in this article, but unlike Marmor, his thesis does not include the influence of Dante, but instead revolves around the content and possible donor of the painting, not its basis in Dante’s literary works. The difficulty in comparing these articles comes from Marmor’s focus on Dante and the fact that Michalski hardly mentions Dante’s name or his enormous contributions to Botticelli’s life and work. The articles contain very little overlapping content, which is
GRISELDA POLLOCK, review of “Artemisia Gentileschi: The Image of the Female Hero in Italian Baroque Art”, THE ART BULLETIN SEPTEMBER 1990 VOLUME, LXXII NUMBER
In the essay “Naturalism and the Venetian ‘Poesia’: Grafting, Metaphor, and Embodiment in Giorgione, Titian, and the Campagnolas,” Campbell explains the role of poetic painting, poesia, in Venetian artwork during the 1500s. Titian personally used the term poesia when he “[referred] to paintings he was making for [King Philip II] with subject matter derived from the ancient poets.” Poesia now refers to a type of sixteenth century Venetian painting, which Giorgione and Titian initiated and used within their works. Campbell’s main argument is that poesia is not simply aesthetic or reflective of poetry, but rather “grounded in the process of making – and in making meaning – rather than in an aesthetics of self-sufficiency or self-referentiality.” Like poetry, it is not self-contained; meaning lies outside of the work, within the interpretations of the viewers. He discusses the idea of grafting in poetry and how the same grafting model is utilized in the visual arts. Different images, such as pagan figures and contemporary figures and settings, are juxtaposed to create visual discordance and give an intrinsic meaning to the viewer. Campbell then uses many examples of writing, poetry, engravings, and paintings to explore his argument and the connections between artists during the 1500s.
The depiction of the Greek and roman myths are given unique insights from different authors. The Hymn to Demeter and Ovid's Metamorphosis provide and insight to Demeter's love for her daughter, Persephone, and explores its affect on the surrounding environments. The theme of separation and isolation is present in both of these myths, however, in Ovid's Metamorphosis, he symbolizes the environment in important events, has characters playing different roles, and empowers female deities.
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
This semester, in comparing works of visual art and opera and particularly between works of the same time period, many parallels emerge. But beyond the scope of individual time periods (e.g., Renaissance, Romanticism, Modern), there are parallels that transcend the scope of time entirely. Individuals of varied cultures and periods in history seem to be invariably fascinated by the idea of an archetypal character whom they can adapt and reinterpret according to the terms of their own zeitgeist and with whom they can identify. A salient example is the Orpheus figure, who hails from the myths of antiquity and has been remade and adapted in operas by composers including Monteverdi, Schütz, Lully, Fux, Telemann, Rameau, Gluck, Haydn, Offenbach, Debussy (in an unfinished project), Milhaud, Birtwistle, and Philip Glass—and that is really only the tip of the iceberg! We see Oprheus depicted as well in paintings by Gennari in the 17th century and by Redon in the 19th century, Corot (1861), dell’Abbate, and Rubens. I could similarly enumerate artists, writers, or composers who have famously depicted any of the figures we have studied this far: the Norse figures held so dear by Wagner, Saint Sebastian...
Artemisia Gentileschi (1593 – 1652), daughter of a well-known Roman artist, was one of the first women to become recognized in her time for her work.. She was noted for being a genius in the world of art. But because she was displaying a talent thought to be exclusively for men, she was frowned upon. However by the time she turned seventeen she had created one of her best works. One of her more famous paintings was her stunning interpretation of Susanna and the Elders. This was all because of her father. He was an artist himself and he had trained her and introduced her to working artists of Rome, including Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. 1. In an era when women artists were limited to painting portraits, she was the first to paint major historical and religious scenes. After her death, people seemed to forget about her. Her works of art were often mistaken for those of her fathers. An art historian on Artemisia, Mary D. Garrard notes that Artemisia “has suffered a scholarly neglect that is unthinkable for an artist of her caliber.” Renewed and long overdue interest in Artemisia recently has helped to recognize her as a talented renaissance painter and one of the world’s greatest female artists. She played a very important role in the renaissance.
Giovanni Bellini was born in Venice, Italy around 1430. He was the son of Jacopo Bellini, an esteemed painter at the time, and probably began his career along side his brother as an assistant in his father’s workshop. Though his artwork was influenced by many of his friends and relatives, Giovanni possessed certain qualities in his compositions which set him apart from the others. He blended the styles of both his father and brother-in-law, Andrea Mantegna, with his own subtle appreciation of color and light, the high regard he held for the detail of natural landscape, along with the very direct human empathy he placed in his painting. These components of Bellini’s personal style became foundational to the character of all Venetian Renaissance Art. Bellini later developed a sensuous coloristic manner in his work which became yet another characteristic he contributed to the Venetian Renaissance Art.
Beneath Christina Rossetti’s poetry a subtext of conflict between the world of temptation and the divine kingdom exists. Hugely aware of her own and others desires and downfalls her poetry is riddled with fear, guilt and condemnation however her works are not two dimensional and encompass a myriad of human concerns expanding beyond the melancholy to explore love and fulfilment.
This altarpiece painting was done in tempera paint on wood by Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi. He became known as Sandro Botticelli. “Botticelli” was a nickname given by his older brother meaning 'small wine cask'. “(Artble, 2014). According to our textbook, this painting is one of four Adorations he painted that have achieved lasting fame. (Wold, 2008) Botticelli was an Italian Renaissance painter whose life spanned from 1440-1510. I was unable to verify where he was born, but most of the information I came across seemed to agree his home town was Florence, Italy. “During his lifetime he was one of the most acclaimed painters in Italy, being summoned to take part in the decoration of the Sistine Chapel in Rome and earning the patronage of the leading families of Florence, including the Medici.” (Artble, 2014). Adoration of the Magi is a religious painting of the entire Medici family which was characteristic to this era. Our textbook explains that during this period the wealthy and powerful people liked “leave likenesses of them...
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