As I stood staring at the beautifully detailed oil-on-canvas painting, my mind began racing, conjuring up random stories behind all the people, the place, and the weather in this painting. This painting, titled Port of Ostia During a Tempest by Leonardo Carlo Coccorante, is nothing more than just a story portrayed on a canvas and its words, the oils, are scattered all over it, depicting a story about a populous port going through some horrible weather and the people experiencing it first-hand. The interactions between the people are perfectly portrayed and from each one a different story can be contrived—each sharing the subject of the brutal weather. The amount of detail in this scenic painting is overwhelming; thus, countless thoughts rush the mind when carefully studying every little section of this painting.
One basic point that I dwelled on while studying the painting was the lighting and the way Coccorante seemed to separate the painting in half with the contrasting dark and light. The dark half shows two suffering boats out at sea being caught up in the tempest, while the lighter side shows the caravans of people that have made it out alive onto the shore and rocks. As for the people caught in the middle of the light and dark, they are seen trying to make their way off the boat and it appears as if they’re trying to step into the light and away from the dark. One can deduce that the ship in the middle has recently harbored next to the rock site since the majority of the people in the painting can be found atop the rocks; the impressions of relief on their faces point to the idea that they have just finished unloading themselves from the docked ship and have found safety among these rocks.
On the other hand, the paintin...
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...ifferent times of observation. It just goes to show you that according to Hume and psychological topics (mostly relating to the cerebral cortex) the old saying, “we begin by being foolish and we become wise by experience", can be directly related to life and to our pursuit of knowledge.
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Hume, David. A Treatise of Human Nature. 2003. Project Gutenberg. 27 Sept. 2006
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Instituto De Fisiologia Celular. "A Close Look to the Cerebral Cortex." About.Com. 28
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Wikipedia. "Malcolm Gladwell." Wikipedia.Org. 19 Sept. 2006. 28 Sept. 2006
At the left-bottom corner of the painting, the viewer is presented with a rugged-orangish cliff and on top of it, two parallel dark green trees extending towards the sky. This section of the painting is mostly shadowed in darkness since the cliff is high, and the light is emanating from the background. A waterfall, seen originating from the far distant mountains, makes its way down into a patch of lime-green pasture, then fuses into a white lake, and finally becomes anew, a chaotic waterfall(rocks interfere its smooth passage), separating the latter cliff with a more distant cliff in the center. At the immediate bottom-center of the foreground appears a flat land which runs from the center and slowly ascends into a cliff as it travels to the right. Green bushes, rough orange rocks, and pine trees are scattered throughout this piece of land. Since this section of the painting is at a lower level as opposed to the left cliff, the light is more evidently being exposed around the edges of the land, rocks, and trees. Although the atmosphere of the landscape is a chilly one, highlights of a warm light make this scene seem to take place around the time of spring.
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.
A old sandy color bridge is cast upon the middle of the painting, which is crumbling apart and crashing into the water. The water in this painting is dark blue and white showing the choppiness of the water. In the middle of the painting is a white statue with its head broken off, but still standing, holding a black shield leaning forward towards the center of the painting. In the background fire and gray and black smoke cover the landscape. The gray skies linger over the town with a dark depressing tone. While the river banks are roaring with fire. In the lower center of the painting is a woman dressed in white jumping to off the river bank with a warrior behind her. In the lower portion of the painting ships are on fire. Throughout the whole painting you will see thousands of people, some enemy warriors some townspeople. The enemy warriors are wearing red. While the townspeople are dressed in typical daily life clothing
Somehow I related to this painting at the moment. Looking back in the distance in the sky you see that there was a turbulent time. Saturday was such an awful morning. When backing up you see the bottom of the picture. The lush lively flowers show the bright side happy ending. This was my reminder that there is a calm after the storm just like in the picture.
The size of the painting is 34 3/8 x 45 3/4 in. (86.5 x 115 cm). The height in proportion to the width shows that the painting is not proportional but it is not far off from forming a perfect square. The frame does not cut-off any of the people in the painting. The composition is centered and zoomed in to show what is going on. The composition is not simple but it is not complex either. The composition is not geometrically ordered. The people seem to be free and in motion. There is asymmetry throughout the painting. In the organization of the painting the objects appear to be crowded. There is not a lot of space between the people who appear to be fighting. The shapes of the people show that the mermaids are fighting a big guy and the placement of them shows unbalance. There are a couple objects presents. A total of three mermaids are presents including a triton and some objects are in the background represented by shadows. The sizes of the objects in the center of the composition are big compared to the ones in the background. A lot of emphasis is present in the center of the painting. The forms of the mermaids and triton are volumetric and a nice scenery is present in the background. The mermaids and trition are formed by contoured lines. Some of the lines are sharp and defined to show the natural curves on the human body and there is blurred out lines in the water to show waves and movements. The lines help give the painting a realistic feel to it. The lines are active in the reflection of the water. The color pallet present in the painting is soft with neutral warm colors. Only a couple different colors were used and the red color on the mermaid stands out the most. The neutral skin color is dominant because it is the color mo...
Between both ‘The Tempest’ and ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’, we see a contrast between love at first sight pre marriage between characters Miranda and Ferdinand and the aftermath and stresses of a family life after marriage between the narrator and John. In ‘The Tempest’ we see the characters become infatuated with one another and an emotional connection quickly established. This romance and love is contrasted in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ with the birth of a child presenting tension between both the speaker and husband John. Romance and love is a key theme presented in “The Tempest” as we see through the presentation of characters Miranda, a young daughter of the King of Milan named Prospero, and Ferdinand, the son of the Duke of Naples. After becoming washed up on the shore of Milan from the tempest cast upon the sea by Prospero with the waves of the “Mediterranean float” (Shakespeare: 1. 2. 234), Ferdinand’s character shows an immediate romantic admiration of Mi...
The Tempest was originally performed in late 1611, and was published in its current form in the First Folio of 1623. It is the one play by Shakespeare not derived from one or more of the many sources commonly utilized by all playwrights of the Elizabethan era, although a contemporary German play possesses an analogous exile theme. The story of the shipwreck was probably taken from Sir George Somers' narrative of a Bermuda shipwreck of 1609.
The Tempest by William Shakespeare, among other themes, is a play very centered around rivalries, an important one being the one between Prospero and Caliban. As one would naturally expect, the triumphs and failures of the ongoing conflict yield different reactions for the two different characters. The conflict illustrates a dichotomous view of the way in which people respond to failure or defeat. Whereas Caliban responds to defeat instinctively with furious acts of retaliation, Prospero reasons that when those kinds of acts are examined under the scope of logic, they appear to be unlike that of a noble and therefore, should not be undertaken.
The Tempest, like any text, is a product of its context. It is constructed in relation to moral or ethical concerns of 17th century European Jacobean society. The resolution of conflict appears 'natural' or an inevitable consequence if regarded in relation to the concerns of its context. The resolution of conflict in this play incorporates Prospero being returned to his 'rightful' or natural position as Duke of Milan, his daughter Miranda getting married to Ferdinand, and the party returning to Milan leaving the island to the 'monster', Caliban. The resolution is a consequence of the concerns of the time, including the idea of the divine right of kings, courtly love, and colonisation.
...s of the people that cared about Jesus and also to see the anger that God had for what the people had done to his son by showing the stormy clouds and gloomy surroundings. But he also wanted us to see that even among the gloom that good can come because Jesus has died on the cross for our sins so that we may join him in Heave with our father. I believe he shows this by the light surrounding Jesus. I think this is a great master piece. Tintoretto has so much going on throughout the painting that you can go back and look again and find something going on in the picture that you missed before.
In regards to first impressions of the artwork, the viewer’s eve is first drawn to the large raft in the center of the painting. The focal point in the painting is the ship on the horizon. It is the focal point because most of the people on the raft that are alive are looking at the ship. The viewer’s eye is also drawn to the man holding onto a dead little boy due to the color
In The Tempest, Shakespeare adheres closely to the classical unities of time, place and action. The unity of place required that the scene should remain unchanged throughout the play. The entire action, with the exception of the first scene, is confined to the island. The storm of the first scene symbolizes a transition in the lives of the characters, and establishes their relationships with each other and with a world in a state of disorder. The initial reactions of the characters when arriving on the island are important metaphors for the ideologies they h...
Davidson, Frank. “The Tempest: An Interpretation.” In The Tempest: A Casebook. Ed. D.J. Palmer. London: Macmillan & Co. Ltd., 1968. 225.
The examination of the imagery in The Tempest showed how vividly, sensuously and precisely this nature-world was represented. As we have already said, this concreteness and realness; conveyed through the imagery, constitutes a counterpart to the world of the supernatural in this play. The supernatural, in being based on firm reality, gains probability and convincing power.
The clearest parallel within the realm of nature between the two plays is the spectacle and grandeur of a tempest. In each case, the occurrence of a mighty storm is a pivotal plot-mover, as well as a symbol for transformation. In The Tempest, the storm provides for the arrival of the King of Naples, the usurping D...