Saint George is a statue that was sculpted by Donatello in the prime of his career. From top to bottom, this realistic statue displays a sort of defiance towards his enemies and a sense of pride in his country. This begins with his expression of pride and inner turmoil on his face and ends with the wide stance of his feet, a mighty shield in-between. Even the platform he is standing on and the composition of his body help contribute to the strength of this realistic soldier of a man. Everything from his mighty arms to the cloak he wears on his back act as a shield to the enemies of whomever building or town this sits by. Saint George is a symbol of hope and defiance to his protectors and a symbol of battle fury and fear to his enemies. There are three elements of art that help contribute to this the most; composition, pose and stance, and size.
Saint George’s pose and stance define his authoritative nature as a symbol of hope. His stance is intentionally static and stable, due to the fact that Saint George is, in fact, a soldier of war. His posture is strong, with his shoulders back and chest forward, indicating cool obedience. Yet his neck shows his defiance, as it is tall and taut as if ready to spring to battle. His expression is marred with the scars of battle; his forehead wrinkled as if in pain and his mouth twisted in disgust. As you move down the statue, you stop to look at his hands and arms; the right one looks almost tense and stressed, while his left side looks calm and relaxed, yet there is a feeling of naturalness to this arrangement. He is covered in what looks like Roman armor that is a representation of his high status as an officer of the military. This, along with the shield that covers half of...
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... arm, from what can be seen, looks quite a bit larger than the left one, which we believe is due to him being right hand dominant. His right hand is also loosely clenched, which further indicates that it is his sword arm. Even the longevity of his neck helps insinuate the feeling of defiance and pride in his country.
Saint George is expressed by Donatello as a symbol of pride and hope for his countrymen. Factors including the composition, size, and stance of the statue express feelings of pride, defiance, nationalism, and hope. From his feet, spread one foot in front of the other, and his shield, battered and beaten bloody from battle, to his broad, armored shoulders and his curly locks of independence, Saint George is the definition of defiance and pride. He is a protector of his people and will remain so until the last of the marble turns to dust from time.
intended to use this setting to serve as an emblem of new life as the
The artwork is very interesting as the painting is very detailed and have a strong sense of symbolism behind the center piece. The content of the Monument to Mignard can be looked at a grieving woman thinking about her husband on a platform of a monument. There is two cupids grieving to the left of the man and in front of the woman. One cupid sitting on the edge of the platform clutching a dead bird on its arm, symbolizing that there is death between the two lovers. The other cupid that is standing up crying holding its right hand against the side of the man, which symbolize that the man has passed away and not among the living. There is an angel looking down at the vicinity of the man, woman, and the two cupids. The angel himself could be the angel of death, which takes the dead to heaven. The painting takes place inside building that is probably around the roman era because of the perfect arches and their integration of the Greek Doric columns. There is a total of eight columns, four on each side that supports the arch in the upper middle par...
The pentangle symbolizes the five virtues of knights consisting of, generosity, friendship, courtesy, chastity, and piety. All of which Gawain is striving to adhere to due to his knightly obligation to the code of chivalry. Gawain alleges that all virtues are seamlessly interconnected in the man as in the geometric figure on the shield. Together with the amour, the shield seems to complete the visi...
With works in every known medium, from every part of the world, throughout all points in history, exploring the vast collection of the Museum of Modern Art was an overwhelming experience. The objects in the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts are an important historical collection, reflecting the development of a number of art forms in Western Europe. The department's holdings covered sculpture in many sizes, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, jewelry, and tapestries. The gallery attracted my appreciation of the realistic qualities of the human body often portrayed in sculpture.
In the engraving, Knight, Death, and Devil, it appears that the hero (the Knight) is gaining a moral victory over death. The Knight has often been interpreted as Erasmus’s sturdy Christian soldier who scoffs at death and the devil as he goes about God’s work in his journey through life. The conception of the ‘Christian soldier’ embodies and ideal of manly virtue which the traditional instincts of the Germanic race, German mysticism and Northern versions of Renaissance ideals all contributed to form.
The Washington Square Arch is a semi-circular arch and contains all of the characteristic parts of an arch: keystone, voussoir, impost, and an abutment. It also contains an entablature with a frieze and is highly decorated. The keystone on both the north and south sides sits at the apex on the arch and holds a pedestal with an eagle perched at the top. The voussoirs on both sides are also flanked by angels. The abutment surrounding the arch contains shields at the center and two crossed swords below it. The frieze above it and behind the eagle contains alternating wreaths with stars in the center, totalling in 13 stars, and “W’s” flanked by what I believe to be olive branches. The entablature continues upwards with a cornice showing dentils and then a quote at the center top. It says, “Let us raise a stand to which the wise and the honest can repair. The event is in the hand of God,” quoted from George Washington himself. On the north face of the arch, there are two statues of George Washington. The statue on the left shows him as the commander-in-chief and and the statue on the right shows a statue of George Washington as the president. In both statues, there representations of Fame, Valor, Justice, and Wisdom surrounding
Where one is a bronze statue with a singular figure, the other is a painting with a central figure, from which the story is built. However, their contrasts go beyond what they are made of, to their different subjects and their complexity. Donatello’s David shows youthful beauty and strength, which he confidently exudes through his body language. Standing with one foot atop Goliath’s severed head while turning his body to balance his weight to the other leg, this statue is a clear example of Contrapposto, which the Greeks invented and introduced into their sculptures. Donatello’s statue of David stands triumphant and proudly atop his trophy, while telling the audience I am the conqueror of Giants. His expression is stern to match his
When first looking at George Washington by Horatio Greenough first thought that came to mind was Roman Art! George Washington by Horatio Greenough is a unique piece looking much like many Roman sculptures you may have seen, but upon the statues shoulders dawns George Washington’s signature non-smiling, tightly clenched face. From the neck down you’d never think that this sculpture wasn’t created in the liking of our first president George Washington, but more that of a god like Jupiter. With his bare chest exposed and muscles chiseled, you’d think George Washington was a statue of a god if his face wasn’t so recognizable. With his face determined, brows lifted and his eyes always looking at you at whatever angle, this statue surely grabs your attention.
St. Francis was an Italian Catholic and a talented poet. As an Italian, his heart moved naturally to deep affection, love and enjoyment. As a poet, he could see right through the outcome of those answers. One night during a dream, he saw his house turned into a palace. The walls of this palace were hung with glorious armory, banners, shields, and swords – all instruments of war. Suddenly he heard a voice, it explained that this was to be his palace, the gathering place for all his knights. The arms were theirs, the banners, and tokens of their countless conquests. To complete this wonderful dream, a gorgeous bride awaited him. St. Francis awoke charmed. A few days after that, he left Assisi to go to Southern Italy to enlist. He reached Spoleto, wh...
Gudea ruled the city-state of Lagash from 2150-2125 B.C. (Anonymous, 2006). According, once again, to Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, the Akkadian empire had just recently collapsed and Gudea was one of the rulers to take over during the following 50 years (2006). It makes sense, because of the likely uncertainty in the empire during that time, that Gudea would want images of himself as a serene and reserved ruler spread throughout his lands. This statue is one of the statues commissioned during that time. Gudea is shown as seated peacefully with his hands clasped over his knees. There is fine detail on his headpiece and what appears to be some kind of ancient script inscribed on his clothing. Does the statue actually indicate how Gudea ruled? Not really. It is something he commissioned, which means he paid for it to be made. This gives him a lot of say in how he would be depicted. So, the only thing someone could conclude from the statue is that it looks very well-made and Gudea certainly does look peaceful and kingly in
The maidservant and St. Peter stand in the middle, surrounded protectively by four soldier figures. At first glance, the viewer can only discern the two, frontal facing bodies of the central figures. As their bodies are left open to the viewer, their intentions are similarly exposed; the maidservant hides nothing in her brazen indictment of St. Peter, and the Saint gestures unapologetically in response. However, as the observer’s gaze breaks away from the central figures, the hidden, protective border of the soldiers becomes discernible. The faces of two guards can be seen to the right, cramped, up close against Peter, scrutinizing his detail.
It set the standard for political art and, due to the effectiveness of Augustus’ rule, exemplified the importance of a ruler’s public image. As a result, in the second century, Trajan had a similar statue made of himself for the same purpose: to glorify himself as a leader and gain the respect of his people. Parallels can be drawn in the youthful yet authoritative appearance of Trajan and Augustus, as well as in the almost identical stance: feet firmly planted and one arm raised as if in the midst of a powerful speech. Trajan is also dressed in a military uniform, and wears a cuirass interspersed with meaning. On the top of the cuirass is a sun, representing a time of plenty under Trajan’s leadership, similar to the breastplate of Augustus. Underneath, two winged women, most likely representing plenty or the blessing of the divine, meet in the middle of the Trajan’s
Firstly, to understand George as a character it’s important to look at his appearance: both how he presents himself to the world and how that reflects his nature. When we meet George, the stage directions tell us that he is “typically good-looking, he has the best ‘looks’ of the family, [and he is] tall and elegant of figure” (255). He is wearing attractive clothing that we soon find out he inherited from his late cousin Sebastian, altered to fit him perfectly by “a little Jew tailor on Brittannia Street” (261), and he carries with him a tennis racket in a zippered cover.
The Statue of David clearly shows how the Italian Renaissance had evolved their concept of beauty from the Middle Ages. The Middle Ages would have likely dubbed the Statue of David as being ethically or morally incorrect and perhaps stripping away some of the sanctity of the biblical story by placing the emphasis on the man David and his personal experience and physical form, rather than on God and more spiritual matters. Unlike the Middle Ages, the Italian Renaissance did not find the human body offensive at all; rather, during that time, the general consensus was for people to celebrate the body in its naked form for expressing the beauty of the individual and enhancing the religious text to a more personal, experiential level. Indeed, people could sense and relate to the emotions David must have felt during those moments before he went to battle. For instance, the fact that the Statue of David is absolutely naked elicits a feeling of vulnerability before going to battle. Also, a close-up look at David’s face reveals a furrowed brow and tightly pursed lips, and a close-up look at his hands shows large veins indicative of high blood pressure. These tighter focus observations are exemplary of the magnitude of tension and high levels of stress that David had to have felt
This is a great symbol of art because The Statue of Liberty is magnificent in every way, and serves its purpose to a superb level. Like I mentioned previously, “location, location, location .. “ the statue’s location was perfect back in the days of Ellis Island and is perfect now as a tourist site. Shortly after the immigrants on the boats first spotted the land of their new homes, they came into the Hudson river to see this grand statue, and to most people it wasn’t just some lady who was standing in the middle of a river, it was the lady who was going to free them or help them from their inadequate lives.