15th Century Aztec Art

Aztec Sun Stone

The Aztec Sun Stone is a that was part of a complex of the Temple Mayor of Tenochtitlan it is a basalt stone that weighs 25 tons, 3.58 meters in diameter and 98 cm thick and is currently in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, Mexico. The dating that was made on this stone dates to 1427 C.E. Another name that this stone goes by is the Calendar Stone. It is of an Aztec myth of the 5 eras of the sun. It is not intended as a functional calendar but, like the Egyptians, a story of their myths on an artifact. It is not known who is at the center of the stone but it could be one of three gods, the Sun God, Tonatiuh, the Night God, Yohualtonatiuh, or the earth monster, Tlaltecuhtli. Its suppose to be explaining the end of the 5th sun and eventual even of the Aztec people. There is a tongue at the center that is thought to be a sacrificial knife that is supposed to signify a thirst for a sacrifice, which is something the Aztecs were known to do. It is thought that the stone would lay flat and a person would be sacrificed on it. It has a 20-day calendar for the Aztec calendar with spots that represent major celestial events.

This is a very intriguing artifact and I have a special place in my heart for anything from an ancient civilization. The work on this statue is breathtaking and the ability the Aztecs had for such detail is phenomenal.  I would not own this just for the fact that it is believed to be something that the Aztecs sacrificed people on.

Mictlantecuhtli Statue

This is a clay statue of the Aztec god Mictlantecuhtli “the god of death” that is 6 foot tall made around 1480.  This god was associated with spiders, owls, bats, and the direction south. This god was depicted as a skeleton with red spots that were supposed to represent blood, like in this statue. There were other ways that this god was depicted some in an owl costume made of feathers, or with a necklace of eyeballs. This god has worshipped by everybody in the Aztec culture because their beliefs didn’t involve a place that other some people went to if they were good, like heaven. They believed that everybody went to Mictlan where he ruled and they would eventually meet him face to face after death. This statue reminds me of a lot of the ancient cultures depictions in art. The use of clay is usual but the added red to the clay to signify a difference is something that is entertaining. The smooth chunked parts of Mictlantecuhtlis arms and legs are a big difference of the white on what looks like his pants. The ribs are what I love the most for a culture that probably saw brutality often, with there sacrifices, they have a very interesting way of making the rib cage. They are very close together they almost look like fish gills. I would not own this statue just because it is too big to fit anywhere and looks like something that belongs in the open, like outside in a jungle.

Tenochtitlan

The Aztec ruins of Tenochtitlan in Mexico City, Mexico. These ruins were the capital of the Aztec empire. founded in 1325 but became the Captial in the 15th century. These ruins were two islands in a Mexican lake called Lake Texcoco, which later became one big city on a lake made with atifical islands that eventually spend to 5 square miles. At its peak, it had over 400,000 people living in it and was home to the palace of Montezuma II. This once beautiful city was destroyed and conquered by the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes in 1521. This is a beautiful ancient city that I have wanted to visit since I first learned about the city built on an island. Like anything ancient and still standing it looks absolutely breathtaking.  The what looks like concrete but is actually likely made of wood and clay from the area. The geometric accuracy with these ruins is what is the most amazing and beautiful part of Tenochtitlan. To be able to see what it looked like when it was at its peak would be something truly amazing or even a recreation of the Aztecs ability to make a whole thriving city on a lake.

Cartwright, Mark. “Mictlantecuhtli”. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient History Encyclopedia. September 2013. Mictlantecuhtli

Cartwright, Mark. “Sun Stone”. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient History Encyclopedia. September 2013. Sun Stone 

Jarus. Owen. “Tenochtitlan: History of Aztec Captial”. Live Science. Live Science. June 2017. Tenochtitlan: History of Aztec Captial

“Tenochtitlan” Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica. 2018 Tenochtitlan

Modern Era Women of Surrealism

Surrealism is an artistic expression influenced by the psychology theorist Sigmund Freud. Using free association in the art to paint or write what in an artists mind, by breaking free of reason and limitations in society.  Producing a subconscious dreamlike painting. The theme of this exhibit is the Modern Era dating from 1939 to 1980, and women artist practicing to art expression of Surrealism. 

The Broken Column 

This painting is by the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, like most of her paintings, it is a painting of herself. Frida Kahlo is often called a Surrealist artist a name that she rejects, by stating that she just paints what she knows best, herself. This painting is currently in Mexico City, Mexico at the Museo Dolores Olmedo. It is an oil on masonite that is 39.8cm x 30.6 cm.

Throughout Frida Kahlo’s life, she had 30 operations, one accident left her in a full body cast which ultimately is how she started painting. This painting, in particular, was made in 1944 after having spinal surgery to correct an issue from the accident that put her in a full body cast in her teens. With her recovering from surgery I believe this painting is a depiction of her feelings at this time in her life. The column representing her spine that is broken and needs repairing, the nails in her body represent the numerous surgeries and pains shes had throughout her life. The body cast she has on isn’t the normal type that covers the whole body its cut into something that resembles a metal casting holding her together. She cries in a what looks like a deserted place with just her, the background and the sky, showing her loneliness. Her breasts are out but the bottom half of herself is covered in a shirt, I think shows her vulnerability at this time in her life. I believe this is a surrealist painting because although these are feeling she doesn’t often hide in her painting she is represented as a very strong woman. Often used as a feminist idol for her strength and lifestyle. So these paintings are showing her emotions which is something that in real life she doesn’t show. I would own this painting but only place it in an area where my children would not see it. Somewhere like an office if I had one.

The Two Fridas

This painting is another self-portrait of Frida Kahlo but unlike most self-portraits, this one has two hence the name of the painting. Frida Kahlo was married two to the same man, Diego Rivera, this painting was created the same year that she divorced Diego Rivera the first time in 1939. This is an oil on canvas painting that is currently in Mexico City, Mexico at the Museo de Arte, it is a 68.3in by 68in painting. There are many interpretations of this painting, some say its to show Frida’s two heritages, some say its Frida loved and unloved, and some say its Frida pre-divorce and after the divorce. I believe this painting shows Frida the two Frida’s with and without her husband Diego. In the painting, you see two Frida’s one with a dress in the fashion of the time and the other you have Frida in a dress worn by people of that area of that culture. They both have hearts exposed, that shows vulnerability, but the hearts are connected to each other, with one side cut. There are forceps in the hands of one Frida with the connection to the heart cut at the end. In the other hand is a picture of a person, presumably Diego. I think these two Frida’s are with Diego and without Diego. They both are very similar in every other aspect other than their dresses, hearts, and what’s in their hands. You can see that the connection between the two is wrapped around the arm of the Frida on the right and only draped down the back of the Frida on the left. The connection to me is the love for Diego, the traditional Frida in the white dress is Frida without Diego and the Frida with the full heart and picture of Diego is the Frida that loves Diego. They’re both the same person but one is broken and hurting where the other is loved and wanted. This is beautiful and I love Frida Kahlo but I would not own this painting just because it wouldn’t have a place in my house and I do not have another place to put it like an office.

The Fourteen Daggers

This Painting is by the Artist Kay Sage it was produced in 1942 and is an oil on canvas that is 16 in by 13 in. This picture represents what comes to mind when I think of Surrealism very dreamlike and no one interpretation into what the art means. It is mostly dark in color except for the red door and what is beyond the red door. Its title is The Fourteen Daggers but theirs are not daggers in sight and the only thing there are fourteen of are the steps out the red door. The area outside of the door is very bright and welcoming the figure that is draped in a sheet is also lighter than the one that is inside the door and looks like it is walking further up the stairs. I believe the daggers are the pain of change and the stair inclining into the light means change for the better. I would love to own this painting it would probably be placed in my hallway because it is not overly huge but also not super small and would fit perfectly at the end of my hallway.

Le Passage

This painting is also by Kay Sage in 1956 it is an oil on canvas painting that is 91 cm x 71 cm. This painting like the one above is also a Surrealism painting it shows in the dreamlike showing of a lady sitting on what looks like rocks but they’re sharp geometric shapes with the overall theme of emotions. She looks out and staring into a grey field that is also geometric with cracks throughout it. The overall mood of the picture is depressed and lonely, dark and gloomy. The sad hunched up posture of the women shows sad, the dark gloomy sky looks cloudy and gloomy which further give you the impression of depression. The geometrically shaped rocks she is sitting on look very uncomfortable and unwelcoming. The deserted landscape in front of her is barren and gives the impression of sad and lonely. Which makes sense because a year previous to this paintings completion her husband died and around the time that she was painting this she started to get cataracts.  I would own this painting and for some reason would place it in a bathroom, the over the depressive mood of this painting says it belongs in a bathroom.

Asleep

This painting is by the artist that goes by the name of Toyen her real name is Marie Cerminova. She was part of the Czechoslovak Surrealist Movement. This painting was produced after she and her husband went to Paris to study art. When she started using the technic of Artificialism which is “an abstract consciousness of reality defined by poetic perceptions of memories”. Using emotions and dreamlike technic which falls under the Surrealism of the time. The painting has what looks like a woman in a white jacket on backward, but the back is open and there is nothing inside. She is holding a nest and staring at a barren landscape like all the other it is dark and lonely. The nest gives you the impression that she is trying to catch something. The white coat looks dirty and falling apart. Before this painting was produced Toyen was in Czechoslovakia but managed to get out before the communist takeover which is when she and her husband went to Paris. The main impression I get from this picture is the nest and the empty field in front of her. It, in my opinion, shows that she subconsciously trying to catch something that is not there. Although a very beautiful painting, I would not own this because I cannot think of a place to hang it.

Mythe de la Lumiere (Myth of Light)

This painting is by the artist that goes by the name of Toyen. It is an oil on canvas that is  160 cm by 75cm that is currently in Stockholm. During the time that Toyen was painting this, she and her lover were living in Prague while she studied art. Which was during WWII, her lover was a Jewish poet, photographer, and object maker. They lived in an apartment where she hide her lover from the Gestapo. Which meant that they had to live with very little light, her lover had a love for light. So she showed her love for him in this paintings because they was forced to live in near darkness. This painting was a show of the light that she missed and he loved it is of her lovers’ shadow and hand making a wolf that looks like it is eating the plant that is being held by the shadow. It is obvious that the things in this painting are what she loved her soon to be husband and her depiction of light in a life without it. What stands out is the wolf that is significantly darker than the man and is eating the plant. In my view, it signifies the Gestapo that they are hiding from and the current things happening around them. The wolf is eating the life in the painting which is the plant, the only thing actually alive. It symbolizes the Nazi’s destruction in the world and them destroying all the beauty in the world, depriving the world of light and love. I would love to own this painting it would probably be the main thing on my bedroom walls because of its one of my favorite of these six painting and its the only bright one of the bunch.

Chakrabarty, Sonia, Naomi Blumbery. “Kay Sage: American Painter and Poet”. Britannica. Britannica.com. 2018. Kay Sage: American Painter and Poet

“Kay Sage (1898-1963)”. The Surrealism Website. Kay Sage (1898-1963)

“The Broken Column, 1944 by Frida Kahlo”. Frida Kahlo.org. 2011. The Broken Column 1944, by Frida Kahlo

“The Two Fridas, 1939 by Frida Kahlo”. Frida Kahlo.org. 2011. The Two Fridas 1939 by Frida Kahlo

“Toyen (1902-1980)”. The Surrealism Website. Toyen (1902-1980)

Voorhies, James. “Surrealism”. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2004. Surrealism

Walsh, David. “Toyen: A film about the Czech Surrealist Painter and her time”. World Socialist Web Site. 2016. Toyen: A Film about the Czech Surrealist Painter and her times

 

Early Modern and The Great Depression

The Great Depression

The great depression started in 1929 and lasted four 10 years. It started when the stock market crashed in October of 1929, which then caused many investors to lose money. Companies started to fail and lay off people or just close. Ultimately ending with the worst recession in America that forced people out of their homes, jobs, and life in the cities, to try and find work in other places. Mainly moving across the country and settling along the way or making it all the way to California.

 

Migrant worker on California Highway

This photograph was captured by Dorothea Lange taken in 1935 somewhere in California. This photograph like many others shows you an actual glimpse of life during the great depression. This was a picture like many of Dorothea Lange pictures are from the Farm Security Administration project. This picture is not as in-depth with the suffering that is usually depicted with her photos. This looks like a man walking down the highway with a wrapped bag slung over his shoulder on what looks like a deserted road. What looks deserted to me with today’s standards are probably normal conditions during the great depression. The sorrow or tragedies doesn’t come into effect until you understand the time that this picture was taken, during the great depression. This is probably making his journey for work to live like so many other people did during this time. Living in rough, dirty conditions to get very little money to feed themselves or their families.

Erosion No.2 Mother Earth Laid Bare

This painting is by the artist Alexandre Hogue in 1936 it is an oil on canvas painting. In the painting, you can clearly see the women’s figure in the field that is the main focus of this painting. At the bottom, you see the farming equipment farmers use to plow fields and get them ready for crops. This is an example of expressionism in the art the artist is conveying his opinion of the treatment of earth and putting it in a dramatic way. The use of the bright colors really makes you look at the painting he is also using them in a way they’re not normally used. He uses bright colors to bring out what’s wrong which is the overproduction of the land and mother earth. Whereas typically bright colors are used to bring in happy things like a good outlook or part of a painting.  This is a depiction of what happened after the great depression hit and people were forced to move west in search for work. With more and more people traveling to the west for money to survive, you got more and more mouths to feed. Farmers would use all the nutrients in the fields by overusing their fields to make enough food for all the people flooding the areas. This painting is a depiction of what happens when you overuse your fields to disrespect mother earth and her gifts as the artist believed. Mother earth is left barren and unable to provide the farmer what he needs, food. And what ultimately became the dust bowl because of this scenario was something that was repeated over and over across the midwest all the way out to California.

Apple Vendor

This painting is by the artist Barbara Stevenson in 1934 it is an oil on canvas painting that is currently at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington D.C.

This painting was part of the New Deal program made by President Franklin D Roosevelt in order to give jobs to artists for support during the Great Depression. This is a more hopeful painting of my picks. In the main part of the painting, you see the vendor with a crate of apples in front of his that says apples for 5 cents a piece. In the background, you see an industrial plant and a mother with a child representing another generation being made and hope that work will come. The New Deal project was ultimately the thing that helped save the country during the great depression, among other things. The color on the man is very bright, which brings the focus to him, with the background still visible but in dark tones. Making the background feel less important, making you see the vendor and understand the message of what the Great Depression had done to the country and that there was still hope in people.

DeLong, Lea Rosson. “Hogue, Alexandre (1898-1994)”. Encyclopedia of The Great Plains. Unversity of Nebraska- Lincoln. 2011. Hogue, Alexandre (1898-1994)

Edwards, Katie Robinson. “Alexandre Hoque”. Newington- Cropsey Cultural Studies Center. 2017. Alexandre Hogue

Mann, Jon. “6 Things You Didn’t Know about Dorothea Lange”. Artsy. Artsy. October 2017. 6 Things you didn’t know about Dorothea Lange

“Migrant Farm Families”. The History Place. 2012. Mirgant Farm Families

“Apple Vendor”. Smithsonian American Art Museum. Smithsonian. 2018. Apple Vendor

Panda. “The Great Depression”. Mountain View Mirror. 2018. The Great Depression

Romantic

Post-impressionist/ Impressionist

I choose the post-impressionist and impressionist eras to be my favorite of this time because I love the way these arts choose an ordinary object to paint and in the case of Vincent Van Gogh they because to most favored of paintings. I also love the way impressionist and post-impressionist paint their lighting into their pictures.

The Church at Auvers-sur-Oise

This painting was made by Vincent Van Gogh, June 1890 in Auvers-Sur-Oise, France. This painting is currently at the Musee d’Orsay in France. This painting along with about 70 other was made in the two-month span of time that Vincent Van Gogh lived in Auvers-sur-Oise, France, about a month before his death. This is an oil on canvas painting that is 94 cm in height and 74 cm in width.

This is a lovely painting, the noticeable brush strokes that seem to blend in when you are far away. The variation in color is very nice, with what looks like a darker sky but not dark enough for the church to cast a shadow. With the whiteish church building and the orange roof.  Beautiful green grass outside and somebody walking down the path. This I feel is a very personal painting for Vincent Van Gogh, his father was a minister and at some point, he wanted to be one too. for whatever reason, Vincent Van Gogh never became a pastor and choose to become a painter but religion always stuck with him. I feel his painting of the church in some way brought him back to his upbringing. I think this is a beautiful painting and would love to own one, unfortunately for me, Vincent Van Gogh paintings are some of the most expensive paintings there out there. The presentation I get from this painting is calm. It’s not unknown that Vincent Van Gogh had something wrong with him it’s unknown what but he had some sort of mental health. Before going to Auver-Sur-Oise France he was in an asylum in Saint-Remy for a year. This painting was painted a months before he shot himself in the chest and died two days later. I believe this church reminded him or his childhood or maybe his failure to become a paster and I feel like it affected him. I don’t believe that the artist had any historical content in this painting it was more personal than anything. He paints the church into such a happy glow.

A Sunday on La Grande Jatte

This painting is a post-impressionist painting by the artist Georges Seurat in 1884. It is an oil on canvas 70.5 cm x 104.1 cm painting. The painting is currently in the Art Institue of Chicago.

This painting is made up of tiny dots and the technique is called pointillism but the artist liked to call it chromo-luminarism. The tiny dots are placed so well together that they make great shadows and change color so easily. The painting is an impressionist painting of the upper class on an island on the Seine River in France. The painting is so busy and so peaceful at the same time. With so much detail but just about an ordinary day for the upper class in France. Which shows the Impressionist elements in it, its use of light shows you a particular time of the day. You can clearly tell that its mid-day and the fact that it is about an ordinary day. This painting like all impressionist painting doesn’t have a focus on history or religion, it just shows you a day in ordinary life. I believe the artist is just trying to show you a day in the life of an upper-class France people enjoying an afternoon in the sun.

Romanticism

I choose the romanticism era to be my least favorite era because its suppose to be a reaction to neoclassical. Neoclassical so far has been my favorite era, so I chose the romantic just because of its opposition to my favorite and not because I don’t like the art. I actually do really enjoy the romantic era especially the dramatic depictions that come with them.

The Last Day of Pompeii 

This painting is by the Russian artist Karl Bryullov it is oil on canvas painting that is 456.5 cm x 651 cm. Started in 1830 and being completed in 1833.

This painting is technically a neoclassical painting but has a lot of the characteristics of the romantic era. The use of so much detail to show the emotion and dramatic atmosphere of the eruption and eventual destruction of Pompeii is breathtaking. The muted or darkened color really add to the theme of destruction and horror. The real emotion in the picture really makes you feel what they’re experiencing while their city is falling down around them. The use of historical subject is also romanticism and after the discovery of the city, it really became a popular subject to paint. The artist is really trying to show you the emotion and dramatic environment of the time. He goes into so much detail that really shows you everything that was happening.  You can see the horror-stricken faces of all the people, with the roofs and sides of buildings coming down. You can see dead people lying around with their companions holding them and crying with horror and fright in their face. You can visibly see the falling rocks and ash clouds surrounding the city and the people and can really feel that emotion when you look at them. The historical significance of this painting is the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii. 

The Ninth Wave 

This painting is an oil on canvas painting that is 221 cm x 332cm made in 1850. It is currently in the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg Russia. This painting is by the artist Ivan Aivazovsky and very talented marine artist. Was most likely painted in his birthplace Theodosia, Ukraine, but I am not sure.

In romantic fashion, this painting depicts people adrift on what appears to be a cross and watching rough seas. It is a very dramatic painting which is a characteristic of the romantic era.  The paintings color usage is very nice with the glowing sun rays on the survivors of what you’d think was a shipwreck. Then you see the waves which seem to be big waves and you want to hope for their survival but you know that its impending doom. The title is from a sailing expression stating that the ninth wave is always the biggest one and that after it the cycle of waves starts over. When you put that information into the painting you know that these people aren’t surviving this storm. With all the sadness and impending death, Ivan Aivazovsky really had a talent of depicting the sea in such a beautiful and peaceful way. even though you see the storm and the wreckage to come you still wonder at house beautiful the sea looks. I believe the artist is trying to show you the beauty and destruction of the ocean. And Ivan Aivazovsky did that he showed how beautiful and terrifying the ocean is. This historical content of this painting world has to be the thing that the survivors at floating on. it looks like a cross, that would go along with the romantic era want to bring back historical or religious subjects. This cross and the way the survivors are clinging to it might signify how people clingy to the church.

“A Sunday on La Grande Jatte” Art Institute of Chicago. 2018. A Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte

Andrey V. “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte – A Study”. Widewalls. Modern & Contemporary Art Resources. January 2018. A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte – A Study

Department of European Paintings. “Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890). Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. October 2004, revised in March 2010. Vincent Van Gogh (1953-1890)

Glioza, Olga. “History of a Painting: ‘Last Day of Pompeii’ by Karl Bryullov”. Culture Trip. April 2018. History of a Painting: ‘Last Day of Pompeii’ by Karl Bryullov

“Important Art by Ivan Aivazovsky” The Art Story – Modern Art Insight. The Art Foundation. 2018 Important Art By Ivan Aivazovsky

“Karl Briullov: The Last Day of Pompeii, 1830-1833”. Tuttartpitturasculturapoesiamusica. Tut’Art. 2018 Karl Briullov The Last Day of Pompeii 1830-1833

Lewandowski, Herve. “Vincent Van Gogh – The Church in Auvers-sur-Oise”. Musee d’Orsay. 2018. Vincent Van Gogh – The Church in Auvers-sur-Oise 

 

“The Coming of Age of Russian Art: First Half of the 19th Century”. Guggenheim. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. 2018. The Coming of Age of Russian Art: The First Half of the 19th Century

Classical

The Death of Socrates

This painting was made in 1787 by the artist Jacques Louis David, it is an oil on canvas painting that is 129.5cm x 196.2cm. The painting depicts the Athenian court sentencing the philosopher Socrates to death by hemlock after charged with impiety. This painting was commissioned by the Trudaine de Montigny brothers and is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

This painting is a neoclassical era painting noticeable by the use of an Athenian philosopher, Socrates. The use of primary colors which make it very subdued and somber unlike the earlier rococo and the patriotic sacrifice of Socrates. When the world was learning new things like new sciences, for example, a painting I have further down of the discovery of phosphorus or the unburying of Pompeii.

I like this painting because I like anything about ancient civilization mainly ancient Greeks and Romans. Being a person that enjoys philosophy is a plus. The meaning behind this painting has to be my favorite part about it. This painting is about the death of Socrates, who was sentenced to death by the Athenian government for his teachings. This painting was presented right before the French revolution. Which shows that the artist had a meaning with the subject and in a time when the French were on the edge of a revolution. With the french fighting the unjust court and all their ways. This goes along with the back story of The Death of Socrates. With Socrates being charged with impiety, choosing death over exile and still speaking about what he believed in.

 

Venus Victorius

This is a sculpture by the artist Antonio Canova finished in 1808 and is currently at the Borghese Gallery in Rome. This sculpture was commissioned by the model’s second husband, Camillo Borghese. Its made of marble and polished with wax. model of this painting was the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte’s sister princess Paoline Borghese Bonaparte.

Going along with the previous painting this sculpture has signs of the unburial of the city Pompeii and new scientific meaning for the world. The artist Antonio Canova was thought to be one of the leading artists in the neoclassical era and was heavily influenced by the ancient discoveries of Pompeii and Herculaneum.  With its marble sculpture of the Roman god Venus. It is very linear and relaxed, it is a sculpture made to look like the Roman statuses it doesn’t have color but you get a calm relaxed feeling from it.

I like this sculpture because again its subject is a Roman god and anything ancient Roman or Greek is automatically my favorite. I would like to own something this like this but in a much smaller version. The original, although I don’t know the exact size looks fairly big. What I like most is how relaxed this sculpture looks and makes you feel.

 

The Alchymist, in Search of the Philosopher’s Stone, discovers Phosphorus, and prays for the successful conclusion of his operation, as was the custom of the ancient chymical astrologers

This painting is by the artist Joesph Wright, it is a neoclassical painting made in 1771. It is an oil on canvas painting currently in the Derby Museum and Art Gallery and is 127 cm x 101.6 cm.

Going along with the previous artwork this painting has a different way of showing the scientific discoveries in the neoclassical eras. The other two were influenced by the unburying of Pompeii and Herculaneum. This painting goes in another direction and shows the discovery of phosphorous. The story of the discovery of phosphorous is that alchemist is trying to create gold from a metal but instead gets phosphorous. which was a scientific discovery in 1669.

The painting is very dark and somber with low lighting except by the alchemist. The two assistants in the background look to be working on something. While the alchemist is in awe of what was just created in front of him. The painting is primary, darker colors that are characteristic of the neoclassical era.

I like this painting and would probably have this in my house just because I like the subdued colors but with a good amount of details in this painting. It’s not just involving the alchemist and the phosphorus it involves the assistants in the background. I feel like a lot of painting about a big moment just involve that moment and not other things that are involved. What I like most is that the artist involved the fact that there are assistants in the background.

 

 

“The Death of Socrates”. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Death of Socrates

“Jacques=Louis David: The Death of Socrates”. Boston College. Jacques-Louis David: Death of Socrates

Gontar, Cybele. “Neoclassicism”. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts. 2008. Neoclassicism

Pollitt, Ben. “Canova, Paoline Borghese as Venus Victorious”. Khan Academy. Canova, Paoline Borghese as Venus Victorious

Irwin, David. “Antonio Canova Marchese d’lschia”. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Oct 9, 2018. Antonio Canova: marchese d’lschia

“The Discovery of Phosphorus”. Alchemy Lab. Alchemy Lab. 2018. The Discovery of Phosphorus

“The Joesph Wright of Derby Collection”. Derby Museum. Derby and Nottingham Major Partner Museum Consortium. The Joseph Wright of Derby Collection

Baroque

Consequences of War 

This painting is by the Flemish baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens, it was painted in 1638 for Ferdinando II de’Medici, the Grand Duke of Tuscany. The painting is Peter Paul Rubens depiction of the Thirty Year War. Most likely made in Palazzo Pitti in Florence where Rubens worked at the time. Has paid over 142 guldens for it and its an oil on canvas painting, that is 81in. X 136 in.

In the painting, you have Mars the Roman god of war, who is one of the darkest areas of the painting. He looks like he’s charging forward with all the people ahead of him on the ground or fighting, and one frightened woman holding a baby. If you look up at the top of the painting you also notice stormy skies around Mars and his charge. To the left, you have his lover the Roman goddess of love, Venus, all in lighter colors and what makes up the brightest parts of the painting.  Shes surrounded by cherubs, she also looks like she trying to get Mars to stop his charge, possible indication to end a war. While she holds on to his arm and leans her head on his shoulder, more indication of her trying to end the war and show love over war. On the far left, you can see a building with a door open, this is said to be a temple of Janus, the Roman god of beginnings, gates, and transitions among other things. This building probably signifies the coming end to the war. To the right of Mars, you see a figure dragging him on towards his charge. This figure is thought to be the Fury Alecto, who is a show of anger and rage, shows the continuance of the war. Under Mars’ feet you see papers scattered all over which is probably books, since its the Consequences of War, it probably signifies no growing in science or knowledge with a massive war raging throughout Europe. What I see when I look at this painting is exactly what the title tells you, what you get from war. You have cities destroyed, villages massacred, the loss of lives and the continuance of knowledge is halted until the war is over. With the woman on the far left in a dark robe with a crown and jewels on her is suppose to all of Europe, she is shown with a ripped robe and all disheveled. showing the overall feeling in Europe at the time, a mess full of misery and destruction.

What I love about this painting is that its dramatic like most Baroque paintings but not as dramatic as it could get or gory. With the subject of war, the artist could have easily incorporated gore into this painting but keep it more as a statement than a showing. I like the use of light and dark to signify the war and peace, plus anything with Roman or Greek gods is always a plus for me. I would love to own this painting and would definitely put it in my house.

 

“Consequences of War”. Totally History. Totally History. 2012.  http://totallyhistory.com/consequences-of-war/

Katarina Chmelinova. “On the Consequences of War by Peter Paul Rubens”. Academia. Academia. 2014. pp. 24-38. http://www.academia.edu/33988746/Katar%C3%ADna_Chmelinov%C3%A1_On_the_Consequences_of_War_by_Peter_Paul_Rubens_Quart_31_1_2014_s._24-38

Northern Renaissance

  The Adoration of the Magi

The Adoration of the Magi is a painting by Leonardo da Vinci, it was commissioned by Augustinian monks of San Donato a Scopeto in 1481 in Florence. It was in Florence while being created for a year until it when to Milan, unfinished. Then the painting ultimately when to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence in 1670, where it has been since. The painting represents Christianity’s triumph over pagan beliefs, its believed to have the Basilica of Maxentius deteriorating in the background. A legend says that the Basilica of Maxentius would fall when a virgin gave birth, reference to the new Christian belief with Jesus. The main part of the painting is of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus, and a couple people praising them. The surrounding figures look curious, present and some seem creepy. The technique Leonardo using in this painting is called “sfumato”. Leonardo da Vinci explained that sfumato is to paint “without lines or borders, in a manner of smoke or beyond the focus plane”(Adoration/Love).

 

I really enjoy this painting which is why I picked it. When you first look at this painting you think its boring with the limited colors and the usual depiction of the Virgin Mary and Jesus, but the longer you look the more you see. You start to see the background with architectural sketching on a falling apart building. You see animals in the background and start to think of why they’re there. Then you start to notice this isn’t a typical painting of the Virgin Mary and Jesus, were everyone in the picture absolutely adores the two. You start seeing the other figures surrounding the Virgin Mary and Jesus and notice that only a few are completely enthralled with them. The other figures in the surrounding area look worrisome and unfriendly. The absents of a variety of colors in the painting is the best thing about it. The ability to put so much work and detail into a painting without using color like this is amazing. The paintings use of chiaroscuro to get so much detail and emphasize the main focal point in the center is why this painting is my favorite from the Italian Renaissance.

Leonardo da Vinci is considered the “The Renaissance Man” and is one of the earlier artists in the Italian Renaissance, he wasn’t only a painter, he was also an architect, sculpture, and inventor and engineer. Being a man of multiple talents made him to ideal renaissance man and someone that had humanism values. Using his multiple talents in his art showed that Leonardo da Vinci was a humanism being influenced by the world around him instead of relying on the church for information and understanding of the world. This painting also has influences of a royal family because he never finished the painting after being commissioned to create it. In 1482 not long after starting his work on The Adoration of the Magi he left for Milan to work with the Sforza family the ruling family in Milan at the time. He engineered many things for the Sforza family, one being a giant crossbow and sculped a 16-foot horse that took him 12 years.

“Adoration of the Magi, Leonardo da Vinci – Uffizi Gallery”. Love from Tuscany. Love from Tuscany. 2018. http://lovefromtuscany.com/adoration-of-the-magi-by-leonardo-da-vinci/

Love from Tuscany/Adoration

“Leonardo da Vinci: Painting, Drawings, Quotes, and Biography.” Leonardo da Vinci. LeonardodaVinci.net. 2011. https://www.leonardodavinci.net/the-adoration-of-the-magi.jsp#prettyPhoto.

LeonardodaVinci.net/Adoration

History.com Editors. “Leonardo da Vinci”. History. A&E Television Networks LLC. 2009. https://www.history.com/topics/renaissance/leonardo-da-vinci

History/Leonardo da Vinci

Mead, Wendy. “Ultimate Renaissance Man: 5 Fascinating Facts about Leonardo da Vinci.” Biography. A&E Television Networks LLC. 2016. https://www.biography.com/news/leonardo-da-vinci-biography-facts

Biography/Leonardo da Vinci

 

 

Elements of Art

The Veiled Vestal Virgin

The Veiled Vestal Virgin is a sculpture made of marble by the artist Raffaelle Monti in 1846 for the 6th Duke of Devonshire. This sculpture I assume was made at the Italian artists’ studio in Milan, Italy until around April 1847, when it arrived in England. The Sculpture was at the Chiswick House until 1999, since then it has been at the Chatsworth Estate, in a private collection with various other artists work.

When I first saw this sculpture all I could think of was the beauty of it. The clean lines and how smooth of a texture this sculpture must feel like. I don”t know how this looks in person but I love the way it looks in the picture above. The white marble with the background dark grey and black, just add to the beauty and cleanliness of this sculpture. How innocent and pure the white Vestal Virgin looks with the soft lines and the marble sculpture that looks so real you’d think you could reach out and feel her soft veil. I love the way the virgins face has so much detail then you go to the fire and lower half of the sculpture and it’s not as detailed. I believe that is to show you the virgin and how they were portrayed in those times, how they were beautiful and respected.

There is a backstory to the Vestal Virgins, they were the priestess in ancient Rome who guarded and maintained the sacred fire of Vesta, at the temple of Vesta. The sacred fire of Vesta was supposed to always burn and the constant burning of the fire signified Romes safety. The Vestal Virgins were chosen from prominent families in Rome it was considered an honor for a daughter to be chosen as a Vestal Virgin and they were respected members of society. Always having 6 Vestal Virgins at a time they were chosen at a young age, usually around 6 to 10 years old, and they would serve for 30 years. Unless the sacred fire went out on one of their watches, then that Vestal Virgin would be beaten or buried alive.

“Vestal Virgins”. Encyclopeida Britannica. Encyclopeida Britannica.

Vestal Virgin

“A Veiled Vestal Virgin”. Chatsworth. Chatsworth House Trust.

A Veiled Vestal Virgin

Osborne, Grace. “The Veiled Vestal Virgin”. Girl Museum. Girl Museum Inc. 11 March 2017.

The Veiled Vestal Virgin/girl museum

 

Explorations In Art

Hello, I’m Stephanie Wood. I currently live in Missouri just moved here a year ago after leaving Alaska, and I’m originally from Arizona. I’m majoring in Justice with a minor in Psychology, with hopes of becoming a forest ranger or conservation officer.  In whatever state I’m lucky enough to go to next, I’m hoping somewhere along the east coast but mainly North Carolina. My husband is in the Army which is why I get to live in so many states.  I have two toddlers a 3 year old and almost 2 year old, which keeps my house very busying. My hobbies are anything outdoors, canoeing, hiking, camping, fishing, and archery, ect.

I myself do like to draw, I’m not necessarily very good at it but it calms me when I’ve had a busy day. I have a brother and sister that are very good at free hand drawing and have been extremely jealous of their talent since a young age. I’ve also loved watching videos of people making furniture and household décor like planting boxes, and have always wanted to find out how to do this. I would have to say my favorite form of art is in sculptures and street art. I love seeing them while traveling through big cities and feel that have a lot of meaning in them. I do not own any art. I would love to go to art museums and plan to go to some here in Missouri along with looking at the street art in St. Louis and Phoenix.

Street Art Here

Sources:

Katrina Montgomery, “40 favorite Murals in Phoenix”, PhoenixNewtimes, August 18,2014, https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/arts/40-favorite-murals-in-phoenix-6553024, August 31, 2018.

 

The Journey Begins

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton