This is the second installment of the art recreation photos. I had to find time around kids and Rick coming home and, you know, the end of the world and all, but after everyone called it an early night I spent a couple hours with Google and knocked this one out. Hopefully I will manage to get the next two installments out by the end of July and get back to my regular blogging. I have also decided that I will have a fifth edition comprised of the bloopers and behind the scenes commentary on some of the pictures.
Thank you for your patience, and good luck with whatever you're struggling with right now. I hope this is a welcome distraction, even if only for a few minutes.
St. George and the Dragon
Oil on Canvas
Paolo Uccello, 1470
This is a classic depiction of St. George and the Dragon. The original story is Inabout a knight who tamed and slew a dragon, rescuing the princess who was supposed to be the next offering to the beast. The oldest version of the story dates to the 11th and 12th century, though it is influenced by various Greek myths and even earlier Christian saints, such as Saint Theodore Tiro. It is a common subject in Medieval art and literature, and heavily symbolic--the gallant knight of Christ slaying the minions/works/ideas of the Devil.
It is also a great example of Late Gothic art. Uccello emphasized color and pageantry instead of the rounder, more three-dimensional and realistic works of some of his contemporaries. The painting looks flatter than later works of art, with minimal shading and a lack of the depth found in the later Renaissance. The figures are smaller in relation to the background, and are often spaced across the scene.
Uccello was a Florentine painter and mathematician who was obsessed with capturing the idea of perspective and depth in paintings. His work with perspective influenced other artists, such as Da Vinci, Durer, and others.
Young Woman with a Unicorn
Oil
Raphael, 1506
Oil
Raphael, 1506
Inspired by Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, this painting was heavily reworked many times over its life. In the first version of the painting, the unicorn was a dog, a symbol of marital fidelity, before being changed to a unicorn (chastity) in the finished painting. The ears of the dog are still visible in the lady’s right sleeve, something known as a pentimento, a place in a painting where changes to the original design or painting remain visible. In the 1600s an anonymous artist repainted it further to replace the unicorn completely with a palm frond and St. Catherine wheel, symbols of Christian martyrdom. Restoration in 1959 returned the painting to its original state.
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino was a painter and architect during the Renaissance, and his paintings are noted for their clarity and simplicity of composition and the celebration of human grandeur. He is most famous for his work in Florence and Rome, where he made commissions for several popes. Raphael is considered part of the trinity of masters of the Renaissance, along with his rival Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci.
Judith
Oil on Canvas
Vincenzo Catena, 1520-1530
Judith by Vincenzo Catena, a Venetian Renaissance painter. I was unfamiliar with this Biblical story, which isn’t found in the King James Version but is part of the Apocrypha. Holofernes, an Assyrian General, threatened Israel, and the Israelites were too afraid to fight him. Judith, a Jewish widow, and her maid made their way into his camp. Judith seduced Holofernes, and when he was sleeping decapitated him and took the head back to show her countrymen. Holofernes’ army, leaderless, scattered and Judith was hailed as a heroine.
This is my favorite version of this painting. In many versions, Judith is often at least partially nude, sometimes caught in the very act of murder; her expression is often lascivious, vicious, or simply confused. In the early Renaissance, Judith was a symbol of virtue overcoming vice; later artists (notably not Jewish or raised with their bias in Judith's favor) used her as an example of a man's misfortune at the hands of a scheming, dishonest woman, of a man's loss of virility at the hands of a strong femme fatale. In this depiction, however, she is calm, competent, and composed--even a little challenging to the viewer. As always, the colors are symbolic--the red of her mantle subtly hints at the seduction of Holofernes as well as the passion of murder, but the dominating white represents purity of person, intent, and behavior. The steel is black, an allusion to death, but the gold hilt suggests nobility of action, that Holofernes' death was deserved and Judith's actions were heroic.
This is one of my favorite reproductions, too. I love how B looks in this. It was also an interesting challenge to replicate a severed head in this and another picture. Leah was a good sport, and also rocked her fabulous eye-liner beard.
Risen Hope
Oil
Joseph Brickey, 2002
This was a spur of the moment addition to our project because I wanted to share something on Easter and none of the other pictures seemed appropriate. This painting depicts Mary Magdalene seeing the resurrected Christ at the empty tomb. Again, colors are important--Mary Magdalene, stained with the sins and worries and weariness of the world, wears red, while Christ is in pure, spotless white. The ivy on the wall represents eternity and fidelity.
Joseph Brickey is a Utah-based artist whose work (both religious and secular in nature) is found in many publications and museums, homes and temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. His style reflects the influence of the old masters, using classical form and composition to create meaningful, symbolic art. In his own words, "art should both measure up in the museum and capture the common heart. The greatest art is that which generates the greatest good."
Our interpretation is obviously a little different, particularly in Mary's pose and expression. I always imagined this moment as being filled with more joy than trepidation or awe.
Salome and the Head of John the Baptist
Oil on Panel
Bernardino Luini, 1525
Another Biblical story that was painted over and over again by many painters in the Renaissance, Salome was the daughter of Herodias, a princess of Judaea who bore a grudge against John the Baptist because he claimed her marriage to Herod Antipas was unlawful. Herod did not want to kill John the Baptist, even for his wife, but Herodias did not give up easily. On her husband's birthday she sent Salome, his step-daughter, in to dance for him and his guests; pleased, he promised her publicly to grant her any favor she desired--upon which she requested John's head on a platter. Herod was dismayed, but because of his oaths and the witnesses, did as she asked.
Often in art Salome is predicted as the embodiment of dangerous female seductiveness and lasciviousness, a woman who uses her wiles to lure men from salvation. At best, she is often seen as naive and foolish; at worst, she is manipulative and vicious.
An interesting note on this is the similarity between Salome's face and Da Vinci's Head of a Woman. Heavily influenced by Da Vinci, Luini did several versions of this painting--but Salome's face is always familiar
Reading
Oil
Ilya Savich Galkin, 1890.
Galkin (1860-1915) was a Russian painter who specialized in portraits. His work ranges from simple Russian children to academics and even include official portraits of the Romanovs. His style is soft and uniquely luminescent.
Interestingly, this portrait also is sometimes attributed to Tony Robert-Fleury (1837-1912), a French painter in the same time period. Google was most unhelpful in determining the real artist, but based off the similiarties and style of other paintings more definitively attributed to Galkin--including some of young women wearing the same set of red beads--I'd put my money on Galkin.
Cherubs (Detail of Raphael's Sistine Madonna)
Oil on Canvas
Raphael, 1512
Easily one of the most famous details from the Sistine Madonna (more people know these characters than the original painting itself), the cherubs are a moment of whimsy in an otherwise somber painting. Sitting at the bottom of the scene, they look as if they're daydreaming about what they'll do when they're finally free from their boring chore.
There are a couple of apocryphal stories about Raphael's inspiration for the cherubim. The first is that they are based on the children of his model who would come in to watch him paint. Enchanted by their posture, he added them to the painting. The other story says that he was inspired by two children he passed on the street, looking wistfully at a baker's display.
u
We Can Do It
J. Howard Miller, 1943
One of the most iconic images associated with WWII was originally a wartime poster created to boost morale among Westinghouse Electric employees. Contrary to the legend surrounding the painting, it was not widely disseminated during the war. It wasn't until the 1980s that it started to be widely reproduced and used to promote feminism. Though known as "Rosie the Riveter," it is actually not affiliated in any way with Norman Rockwell's also iconic Saturday Evening Post cover Rosie the Riveter, also coincidentally published in 1943.
Miller was an American graphic artist who painted multiple posters during World War II to support the war effort. The subtle red, white and blue of her clothing was a nod to patriotism.
The Creation of Adam (Detail)
Fresco
Michelangelo, 1512
One of the frescos on the Sistine Chapel's ceiling, The Creation of Adam is one of the most widely recognized and replicated paintings in the world. It illustrates the story from the book of Genesis where God gives life to Adam. Originally, Michelangelo was commissioned to paint the Twelve Apostles on the roof supports and paint simple ornamental flourishes on the ceiling; he persuaded Pope Julius to give him free rein. The result was a more complex scheme depicting the Creation, the Fall of Man, the Promise of Salvation through the prophets, and the genealogy of Christ, and represents a large part of the doctrine of the Catholic Church. Michelangelo's composition stretches over 500 square meters, contains over 300 figures, and took four years to complete.
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect and poet of the High Renaissance in Florence. He has an enormous influence on Western art and was considered a prime example of the Renaissance man, along with his rival, Leonardo da Vinci. Michelangelo was the first Western artist whose biography was published while he was still alive. He was often called Il Divino, "the divine one," because of his brilliance and ability, and was noted for his deep-rooted faith and his ascetic self-discipline.
A fresco is a type of painting done rapidly on wet lime plaster on a wall or ceiling, so that the plaster absorbs the paint and the painting actually becomes part of the wall as the plaster dries. Fresco means "fresh" in Italian, and references how the painting is done over fresh, unset plaster.
Lady with an Ermine
Oil on Canvas
Leonardo da Vinci
Oil on Canvas
Leonardo da Vinci
Lady with an Ermine by Da Vinci, approximately 1490. This was a portrait of Cecilia Gallerani, the mistress of Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan. It is considered a brilliant example of Da Vinci’s expertise with human anatomy. Her dynamic posture—three quarter profile and looking at an unseen speaker—is something that originated with Da Vinci instead of the formal, facing forward or side-profile portraits of earlier artists.
The ermine can have several connotations: its whiteness it can symbolize purity; the Greek word for ermine is gale or galee, which can be a pun on her last name (the type of little joke that Da Vinci likes to put in his work); or it can also be a reference to her pregnancy, since weasels were associated with pregnancy in Renaissance Italy.
Her hair is coiffed in a style called a coazone, where the hair is smoothed into two braids in the back and then covered with a sheer veil held in place with a forehead band. In the original, what looks like her hair combed under her chin is actually part of the veil—Da Vinci simply didn’t like the way the tie looked under her chin so he omitted it.
We used the fox since it was the closest thing we had to a white weasel (even my toy box has limits). Brenna’s solution was a sock puppet, and she insisted on using it.
The Thinker
Bronze
Auguste Rodin, 1880
Originally called Le Poete, this sculpture was designed as part of a larger commission called The Gates of Hell that depicted characters from Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. It was dubbed The Thinker by bronze workers in the foundry who saw a resemblance between this sculpture and Il Penseroso (The Thinker), a sculpture of Lorenzo de Medici by Michelangelo. Rodin decided to have a stand-alone version of the piece enlarged to heroic (larger than normal life) proportions. It was intended to be viewed from below and the various castings are often displayed on large plinths.
Rodin is considered one of the fathers of modern sculpture. Instead of following formulaic, idealized and thematic traditions of sculpture, his work focused more on realistic, individualistic, physical depictions that celebrates the natural human form. His subjects often seem less posed and more dynamic.
Sistine Madonna
Oil on Canvas
Raphael, 1512
Oil on Canvas
Raphael, 1512
Despite its name, this painting is not in the Sistine Chapel. It was commissioned by Pope Julius II for the church of San Sisto in Piacenza, Italy. One of the last Madonnas painted by Raphael, it was relocated to Dresden, Germany in 1754, where it stayed until its rescue during the bombing of Dresden in World War II. It was found in a tunnel in Switzerland with many other pieces of art, and the Red Army took it back to Moscow. It has since been returned to Germany.
The painting is large, over 9 feet tall and 6 feet wide, and shows the Madonna holding the Christ Child and accompanied by Saint Sixtus (a bishop of Rome from the 3rd century CE), Saint Barbara (an early Christian saint and martyr also from the 3rd century CE) and dozens of faint, barely discernable cherubim, as well as the two familiar cherubs at the bottom of the picture. The term "Madonna" means "my lady," and in art often refers to a depiction of Mary the Mother of God.
Raphael was an incredibly prolific painter, running a very large workshop and leaving behind an impressive body of work despite his death at the relatively young age of 37. Many of his works are found at the Vatican Palace. His work was renowned for its clarity of form, serenity, and simple composition that tended to focus more on the human subject than the background. Raphael was buried in the Pantheon in Rome with an extremely grand funeral presided over by the Pope himself.
Self Portrait of the Artist
Oil on Canvas
Artemisia Gentileschi, 1639
Oil on Canvas
Artemisia Gentileschi, 1639
A rare piece of feminist art from the Baroque period, this is considered both an allegory and a self-portrait. The subject of the painting reflects several prime characteristics of Cesare Ripa's depiction of the anthropomorphized embodiment of "Painting": A beautiful woman (all virtues and abstracts are traditionally female), with disheveled black hair, a gold chain and pendant, holding a brush and palette, with artistically draped clothes. By depicting herself as the allegory of Painting, Gentileschi made a bold statement of her own skill and was a strong rebuke to more common depictions of women as purveyors of sin.
Artemisia Gentileschi was trained by her father, Orazio, who was himself a well-regarded artist. She was the first woman to become a member of the Accademia di Arte del Disegno. Gentileschi specialized in stories of heroines and strong, complicated women from myths and the Bible; many of her paintings have an emotional rawness and focus on the conflict between women and men. Her art was probably influenced by her own experience with such conflict--she was raped at 18 by a member of her father's workshop.
Baroque art is characterized by rich deep colors, chiaroscuro, and a sense of drama. Chiaroscuro (Italian for "light-dark") refers to strong contrast between light and dark used to create volume and dimension, as well as to heighten the drama of a painting. Instead of sitting and staring serenely at the audience, the subject is usually caught in dynamic movement. Baroque art, with all of its passion and evocative emotion, was a response to the rational, balanced serenity of the Renaissance.
Christina's World
Egg tempera on panel
Andrew Wyeth, 1948
Egg tempera on panel
Andrew Wyeth, 1948
This painting is based on a real woman, Anna Christina Olson, who suffered from a disease that weakened the lower half of her body so that she couldn't walk. Wyeth said that he was inspired by Olson and that he wanted "to do justice to her extraordinary conquest of a life that most people would consider hopeless. If in some small way I have been able in paint to make the viewer sense that her world may be limited physically but by no means spiritually, then I have achieved what I set out to do."
Andrew Wyeth was an American regionalist painter who specialized in painting the land and people around him. As he said, "I paint my life." His use of subdued colors and realistic style contrasted sharply with the abstract art that was en vogue in the mid-20th century.
No comments:
Post a Comment