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The Impact of the System of Patronage Upon Works of Art
During the Renaissance, the system of patronage came into being,
mainly as a reflection of the increasing capitalist emphasis being
placed on life in Renaissance Italy, most notably in Florence. In its
very nature as a commercial, capitalist place, Renaissance Italy was a
hugely competitive place. It was therefore not surprising that works
of art were very often commissioned for competitive reasons. During
the Renaissance, art was not just as we think of it today, as an
expressive, interesting creation. Art was a focal point of society,
and a very powerful tool that powerful people used to gain an
advantage. Discarding the effects it had on society for a moment, it
was the key feature of the Renaissance.
In earlier times, art had less status. However, mirroring the economic
development of the time, art became the thing to spend money on, for
various reasons. Money lay at the centre of art, and that is why
patronage is so important.
The system of patronage is a wide term and therefore there are a
number of influences to consider when answering this question. Among
them are the glory of the family; the honour of the city; the
increasing economic power of individuals and groups; and the classical
legacy that influenced art so much.
Although in the later Renaissance time, Rome became increasingly
involved (with the Pope's influence), Florence and Venice were the two
leading protagonists as centres of culture in the earlier years. Not
surprisingly, they were also the two leading cities economically. The
two cities heavily competed with the other; honour was of primal
importance. As merchants and artists were encouraged to travel as much
as possible, innovative ideas in pieces from other cities quickly
became incorporated into artists' own city. For example, after the
death of Savonarola, Florence sought to make her constitution much
more similar to Venice's. As a reflection of this, a large room in the
palace of the signoria was designed to act and look like Venetian Hall
of the Great Council and two huge frescoes were commissioned, one by
Leonardo, the other by Michelangelo.
By commissioning their own great works of art, smaller states could
quickly achieve prominence and be "put on the map". Padua and Mantua
were two lesser states at the beginning of the Renais...
... middle of paper ...
...is was the greatest period in the history of
art because of the healthy economic situation of Renaissance Italy.
The rich did not save their money. Art was the thing to spend
disposable income on. It was a way of showing wealth and gaining
prestige and influence. Without patronage and consumer demand, being
an artist could not have been a profession. In the Renaissance, wealth
was power. And wealth was shown through owning works of art.
So, as has been seen, the system of patronage was extremely important
in Renaissance Italy. It brought with it mixed blessings for artists.
On the one hand, it gave them the income to support themselves and
continue to produce works. On the other hand, though, it could be very
constrictive on what the artist could produce, and could even
sometimes decide the quality of a work. But ultimately it can be said
that the art patronage allowed the Renaissance to be remembered as a
golden age in history and a way of distinguishing the period from the
Middle Ages. Patronage did effect works of art, but there is little
evidence supporting a theory that it stopped the art of the time being
as beautiful and expressive as it could have been.
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...
Writing during the emergence of the “New Negro” movement, Claude McKay and Langston Hughes work to reconcile black life in white America. The trope used by the two poets within “The Harlem Dancer” and “The Weary Blues” is that of a performance and a single speaker’s recollection of it. While both depict an African-American performer presumably consumed by the isolation and oppression of their condition, the intensity of the performances prove to be vastly disparate. Hughes’ “The Weary Blues” features a much more transcendent performance than that of McKay’s “The Harlem Dancer” not only because of the relationship between the audience and the performer, but the degree of ubiquity in descriptions of the performer and the poetic form through which the performance is framed. While neither performer attempts to gain anything from their audience, the impact of their art on the speaker identifies the importance McKay placed on art as a means to build racial pride as well as Hughes interest in art as a means to communicate a common struggle.
Decisions are an everyday part of life. Although many decisions made throughout the day may not be crucial to our path of life, most every decision will affect life in some way. Pop tart or bagel, milk or orange juice, as well as drive or take the bus are all choices people make to begin their day, but Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” is a perfect example of a life altering decision. Frost wrote this poem when his dear friend, Edward Thomas, was stuck between staying with Frost and becoming a poet, or going to war against Germany in World War I. “Two Roads”, later changed to “The Road Not Taken”, angered Thomas, and caused him to enlist in the war, only to be killed in action two months later at Arras on Easter Day. "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost has a literal meaning from the speaker, or traveler, of the road he did not take, but the deeper meaning certainly shows how decisions alter your life.
“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost is often misinterpreted. For many years to come, people are going to read this poem by Robert Frost and one of many things will happen. The reader will either misinterpret or misunderstand the poem itself, and its’ sense of irony does not help either.
As with many advances in industry and technology, we can thank war for increasing the interest in research for art conservation. After the Great War, the British Museum unpacked its collections after wartime storage in the Underground railway tunnels. Many items had unexpectedly deteriorated in a relatively short time; iron had rusted, bronze developed green corrosion, pottery and stone objects were covered in growth of salt crystals. The museum then decided to set up a permanent scientific research laboratory to further its understanding of the causes of deterioration of materials and learning methods of treating its effects. Conservation of art is now a full-time academic pursuit with Master’s programs at many universities in the United States with the intent to study, prevent, maintain, and restore cultural work.
The first line in "The Road Not Taken" is "two roads diverged in a yellow wood” (Frost 1). This gives the reader right off of two separate choices that the traveler can choose. The second line is "and sorry I could not travel both” (frost 2). This lets the reader know that in fact the traveler did choose one path. Just by reading the first two lines the reader can already feel the tone of being decisive. Throughout the poem it gives great descriptions as the travel compares to two paths. An example of this one would be line 8, "Because it was grassy and wanted wear". This statement also lets the reader know that the traveler already knew which one to pick by the looks of the road, thus road being the less traveled upon. At the end of the poem, the line 19 &20 lets us know the traveler has made a decision. Though in the traveler’s words one can almost sense sadness. The traveler explains that one day he would like to go back and travel the other path.
The United States of America has had over forty presidents in his many years. Though many of them have made a significant impact on us as a country, no one has introduced as many conflicts as Andrew Jackson. I believe that Andrew Jackson was a successful president in his political tactics and implementations of new ideas but proved to be very unsuccessful in his maintenance of the social order and structure of the United States and the people in them.
Andrew Jackson can be considered to be one of History's best and worst people. Jackson was born in 1767 and died in 1845. Before he was a president, he was a military leader who served to protect the people of America. Because of his toughness and heroic military leadership his troops respectfully nicknamed Jackson, “Old Hickory” to show how tough he is. He later ran for president and lost to John Quincy Adams. However, he won the following election of 1828 and the land requirement to vote was eliminated. This made it so that more common people could vote for a president; it was the most democratic election the United States had had at the time. Jackson would then go on to eliminate further conflicts with Native Americans, get rid of the 2nd
In the article “Conditions of Trade,” Michael Baxandall explains the interaction serving of both fifteenth- century Italian painting and text on how the interpretation of social history from the style of pictures in a historical period, pre-eminently examine the early Renaissance painting. Baxandall looks not only on the explanation of how the style of painting is reflected in a society, but also engages in the visual skills and habits that develop out of daily life. The author examines the central focus on markets, material visual practices, and the concept of the Renaissance period overlooking art as an institution. He observes a Renaissance painting, which relate the experience of activities such as preaching, dancing, and assessing. The author considers discussions 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 concepts used in contemporary critic of the painting, and in the assembled basic equipment needed to discover the fifteenth- century art. Therefore this introductory to the fifteenth- century Italian painting and arise behind the social history, argues that the two are interconnected and that the conditions of the time helped shape the distinctive elements in the artists painting style. Through the institutional authorization Baxandall looks at integration in social, cultural and visual evaluation in a way that shows not only the visual art in social construction, but how it plays a major role in social orders in many ways, from interaction to larger social structural orders.
In Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken”, Frost shows the everyday human struggle to make a choice that could change the course of one’s life. In his poem, a person has the choice to take one road or the other. One road is worn out from many people taking it, and the other is barely touched, for fewer have taken that road. Throughout the poem, the speaker learns that just because so many other people have done one thing, or walked one way, does not mean everyone has to. Sometimes you just have to go your own way.
In his celebrated poem "The Road Not Taken," Robert Frost describes the decision one makes when reaching a fork in the road. Some interpret Frost as suggesting regret on the part of the traveler as to not choosing the path he forgoes, for in doing so he has lost something significant. Others believe he is grateful for the selection, as it has made him the man he is. The diverging roads are symbolic of the choices society is faced with every day of life. Choosing one course will lead the traveler in one direction, while the other will likely move away, toward a completely different journey. How does one know which is the right path; is there a right path? The answer lies within each individual upon reflection of personal choices during the course of life's unfolding, as well as the attitude in which one looks to the future.
When reading the Berenson article, one would find a major attention to detail of critically researching documents such as paying attention to concrete scientific analysis in authenticating signatures, contracts, etc. However, something that the reader may find “missing” was the same attention to detail in artistic approaches such as form, composition, brushstrokes, and texture—the opposite of the Morelli argument. Berenson uses more scientific methodology leads to a more critical understanding and aids in validation from more than one spectrum. Berenson shows the reader that this must be found in multiple sources, and no matter how significant one document or detail maybe, it alone cannot establish authenticity. Therefore, it is important to not ignore even the smallest or seemingly pointless detail, for that may be where the proof lies.
“The Road Not Taken” examines the struggles people run into when they come to a place in their life where a life altering decisions has to be made. The man who is described in this poem is traveling when he comes upon “two roads diverged” (1). He then has to choose which path he will take to continue on his journey. After standing at the diversion for a while, he knows he has to make a final decision. One path was worn down and “bent in the undergrowth” (5), so he took the other path, which was described as “perhaps the better claim/ Because it was grassy and wanted wear” (6-7). The man of the poem begins to ponder about a time when he will be telling his story of the path he took. Although we are not sure if the man regrets his decision or is relieved, he lets us know taking the road less traveled “has made all the difference” (20).
In the poem, “The Road Not Taken”, the speaker has to make a big decision in his life. This poem talks about a person who comes across an intersection or a fork in the road and he has to choose which way to follow. The road is a metaphor of the choices we make in life. As the speaker ponders his choices, he feels strongly that whatever “road” he takes will be for good. So he must weigh his decision well in order to come up with the best choice and not end up regretting it. The speaker considers his thought wisely. He says, “And looked down as far as I could / To where it bent in the undergrowth”, by giving it a proper thought he weighs his choices well and in the end, chooses to follow the road “less traveled”. “The Road Not Taken” signifies a difficult choice in a person’s life that could offer him an easy or hard way out. There is no assurance of what lies ahead; if there will be success or sorrows. But a person has to take risk making up his mind about which way to choose because this is the first step of head...
“The Road Not Taken” reflects Frost’s opinion that society is stressful, as the speaker agonizes over a life decision represented by the division of a road. “The Road Not Taken” involves ‘life’s choices’, and can be directly related to Frost’s own life and experiences. It begins with;” Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.” The yellow woods are the first example of where Robert Frost has used nature as a means of expressing his feelings. These first two lines set the pessimistic theme of the poem as they tell the audience that Frost is now at the autumn (near end) of his life, and that he has a very hard choice to make. When Frost stopped at the fork in the road he looked down both of the paths to help him make his choice, but he found the ends of the paths to be intangible. The nature metaphor – shrubbery – obscured his view from seeing the consequences of this decision. He becomes frustrated that he cannot find the meaning of life in nature – which he feels should hold the answers. The poem is a monologue of Frost’s life and as the p...