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The medics and their influence
The medics and their influence
The medics and their influence
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The Birth of Venus (Nascita di Venere) is a painting done by Florentine artist Sandro Botticelli in 1486. The painting depicts the moment the goddess Venus first emerges from the waters of the sea and prepares to step onto the shore. Through linear techinques and artistic symbolism, the painting not only depicts the story and narrative of the goddess Venus’s birth but also seeks to exhibit the many different types of love and adoration which surround the creation of life.
The painting was a commissioned work for the Medici Family of Florence, a powerful political and financial family which would later go on to become an influential royal house for centuries. Throughout the painting, there is evidence of movement and a prevailing sense you are watching a narrative of creation unfolding. From the falling roses (the symbol of Venus) to the style of waves painted in the sea and the posture of Venus herself, all of these combine to form a rich mythical story.
Most Renaissance period pieces are very natural and realistic in their execution of subjects and characters. As seen in this piece however, all of the characters take on a mythical and unnatural element in their design and implementation. The characters have an unearthreal sense of floating and gracefulness that is not found in mainstream Renaissance art. One would expect to find bodies and subjects with weight and balance and a realistic position on the ground, yet no character in the entire work exhibits this feature. Instead, Botticelli has isolated the three subjects along very distinct linear lines which create a sense that what you are witnessing is dreamlike or celestial.
The central figure in the work is that of Venus, the Roman goddess of love and passion. She st...
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... a way that it flows from one side to the other in a parallel plane to signify a gradual movement. It takes Venus through the process of birth on the left side to earth on the right, where she is to represent a new kind of love. Botticelli uses soft colors and lines to represent the softness and innocence of Venus and the growth of love itself. Every aspect of the painting flows together in the same direction by the use of parallel lines towards the shore where Venus is to arrive.
The Birth of Venus extols, from each and every aspect, the events surrounding the creation of life. Each figure is a representation of the many parts of love that come together to form the rich style of the Venus narrative. The cycle of life being created, nurtured, moving and growing is seen throughout the entire piece. Only through cooperation, passion and love can life begin and grow.
The prehistoric art is said to be a mother goddess by archeologist. Venus of Willendorf gets its name from the Roman goddess of love and beauty “Venus”, and its area of discover, because it was looked upon as beauty (Zygmont). Venus the Roman goddess also represented sex and fertility, she was looked upon highly to the the people of Rome and referred to as the mother, which is the same title people gave Venus of Willendorf. Women that resembled Venus of Willendorf was looked upon as success, during that time.
Although, both the Aphrodite of Knidos and the Birth of Venus have like traits such as nude female body, contrapposto stance, and iconography, they also can be easily contrasted by period of creation, technique, and artist. The human body has always been a popular choice among artists, but it seems the nude female body is quite controversial. The Aphrodite of Knidos, sculpted by Praxiteles about 350 – 340 B.C., or during the Greek Late Classical period, was a nude female modestly covering her genitalia. The Aphrodite was what made the small island of Knidos known to people around the world. Some 1,000 years later, the Birth of Venus arrived. Artist Sandro Botticelli, during the Italian Renaissance (ca. 1482,) defied odds with a similar interpretation of the Aphrodite despite stricter views on nude women. Both pieces share similar traits, yet can be easily identifiable apart from each other.
In classical Greek literature the subject of love is commonly a prominent theme. However, throughout these varied texts the subject of Love becomes a multi-faceted being. From this common occurrence in literature we can assume that this subject had a large impact on day-to-day life. One text that explores the many faces of love in everyday life is Plato’s Symposium. In this text we hear a number of views on the subject of love and what the true nature of love is. This essay will focus on a speech by Pausanius. Pausanius’s speech concentrates on the goddess Aphrodite. In particular he looks at her two forms, as a promoter of “Celestial Love” as well as “Common Love.” This idea of “Common Love” can be seen in a real life context in the tragedy “Hippolytus” by Euripides. This brings the philosophical views made by Pausanius into a real-life context.
... study for the overall concept they appear rather as abstract patterns. The shadows of the figures were very carefully modeled. The light- dark contrasts of the shadows make them seem actually real. The spatial quality is only established through the relations between the sizes of the objects. The painting is not based on a geometrical, box like space. The perspective centre is on the right, despite the fact that the composition is laid in rows parallel to the picture frame. At the same time a paradoxical foreshortening from right to left is evident. The girl fishing with the orange dress and her mother are on the same level, that is, actually at equal distance. In its spatial contruction, the painting is also a successful construction, the groups of people sitting in the shade, and who should really be seen from above, are all shown directly from the side. The ideal eye level would actually be on different horizontal lines; first at head height of the standing figures, then of those seated. Seurats methods of combing observations which he collected over two years, corresponds, in its self invented techniques, to a modern lifelike painting rather than an academic history painting.
During the Renaissance, people were dedicated to studying human works. They would observe from real life to gain inspiration, new ideas, and to try to recreate the world as they saw it in their art. New techniques such as scientific and atmospheric perspective were created, changing art forever. Artists would use their skills to create works for patrons, from the Church, various guilds, and other religious orders. During the High Renaissance, Julius II commissioned Raphael to decorate the Vatican Palace. The first of the rooms he decorated was The “Room of the Signature”, where he painted The School of Athens. Originally, this room housed Julius II’s personal library, but later on it would be the room where papal documents were signed. In 1508, Raphael began painting four frescoes that represented theology, philosophy, law, and the arts. As stated in Janson’s History of Art Volume II, This fresco “represents a summation of High Renaissance humanism, for it attempts to represent the unity of knowledge in one grand scheme.” Raphael’s The School of Athens is a prime example of humanistic art, as evidenced by the subject of the art itself, the classical elements in the piece, and it’s scientific and illusionistic rendering.
The Birth of Venus is a beautiful Renaissance canvas masterpiece created by Sandro Botticello. The picture illustrates the birth of Venus in a very mystical way. Venus has emerged from sea on a shell which is being driven to shore by flying wind-gods. She is surrounded by beautiful roses which are painted in a truly remarkable color. As she is about to step to land, one of the Hours hands her a purple cloak. The back drop includes the sea and a forest. The overall effect of this painting are almost overwhelming, color and beauty meet the eye in every angle.
Peter Paul Rubens’ masterpiece, Venus and Adonis, is not only a significant artwork of the baroque-period in Europe during the 17th century, but it also tells the mythological story that begins with love, and ends in tragedy. Displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this painting is admired for representing the unique baroque-style of this era, as well as Rubens’ particular use of the medium and how it reaches those who are viewing it. His attention to detail and crafty use of symbolism within the painting assist viewers in deciphering the story, along with the values of the time period in which Rubens was living. In studying the composition of the work and noting the historical context from which it came, one can ultimately understand Rubens’ point-of-view and thus, connect to the painting in a way he or she has never imagined.
Venus, the “mother” of the Roman people, might view this as end to an era, yet sees possibilities of a new beginning. When this poem is read with this in mind, one can see the possibilities of this explanation. She seems to mourn what is to come and states, “And her life’s one wedlock show her flushed with the beauty no man saw,” (643) She reflects bewilderment at the absence of recognition in the charm and beauty of Rome. Her love for Rome is legitimate, and is proven with this poem, she hopes for love, and looks forward to possible peace.
Long, J.C., (2008). Botticelli’s Birth of Venus as wedding painting. Aurora, The Journal of the History of Art, 9, p.1. ISSN 1527-652X.
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.
Knowing Venus of Willendorf is a sculpture, she has very nice defined lines. She has a nice combination of vertical, horizontal and curved lines. The artist has given her a nice horizontal line crossing across her breast that her arms create that draw you in. From the horizontal line to the vertical line that draws your eye down to look at her genitalia. She also has nice curved lines that form all around her. From the top of her head, to her breast, to the middle of her stomach, that bring your eye to her behind and back to the front of her legs. The artist has created a nice curved lines that surrounds her breast, as well as her stomach and rear hind. Another way to view her is from the side, which gives you a nice sense of her curved lines that you eye follows down in a flow.
Long, J.C., (2008). Botticelli’s Birth of Venus as wedding painting. Aurora, The Journal of the History of Art, 9, p.1. ISSN 1527-652X.
“Mars and Venus United by Love” by Paolo Veronese is done in the Renaissance style of painting. This is done in this style, because Poalo Veroneses was a Renaissance painter as well as his teacher Titan.
From its conception Baroque art, especially painting, has been designed to overwhelm and wow the viewer. Artistic devices of spatial illusion were developed during the Baroque in response to cultural anxieties occasioned by revolutionary scientific discoveries, revolutionary religious upheaval, and the new taste for virtuosic visual display. A spectacular painted phenomena, quadratura painting, make Baroque paintings seem to reach beyond their architectural limits into the viewer’s space. This trend of illusionistic painted surfaces begins early with Andrea Mantegna’s fresco Camera degli Sposi in 1465. With a di sotto in su, or “seen from below”, perspective the illusion of winged puttos, a peacock and some women lean out into what appears to be a third dimension. Viewers and painters alike grasped onto this illusionistic perspective in painting and ran with it. It was the Baroque era that really explored and perfected the techniques of illusionistic painting. From Mantegna to Pozzo and beyond, to this day illusionistic painting of the Baroque era still leaves viewers in awe.
The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli depicts a moment from Venus birth when she stepping, almost floating, off the seashell that was blown ashore by Zephyors along with Chloris. Horae awaits Venus arrival to shore with a large red cloak to cover her naked body .Venus is the Roman goddess of love, sex, beauty, fertility, and prostitution. Venus is the Roman Aphrodite. Born of seafoam from a singled drop of blood in to the sea from the castration of her farther Uranus by his son Saturn.