In the Vanitas with Violin and Glass Ball, artist Pieter Claesz uses oil paint to create a realistic still life made up of ordinary everyday objects. As with other Vanitas art, everyday objects are meticulously positioned within the painting allowing the object to transcend their simplicity. Each individual item serves as a piece of to the overall symbolic puzzle revealed in the painting. The dominating element in this relatively quiet work, is light, the artist seems to focus his concentration with how the light catches on the reflective surfaces. Claesz illuminate’s objects that hold predominance, over other objects in the artwork. Interestingly, the artist own rendered reflection is painted within the glass ball, illuminated by sun light. …show more content…
The placement of the objects, and the relevance one object has to the opposing objects, is as central to the artwork as the use of light. For instance, directly across from the skull in the background is a glass globe, within the glass is the illuminated reflection of the artist. The artist exemplifies “life” and the skull, opposite of life; denotes death. The collection of amassed goods serves as a statement of pride for the prosperous Dutch trading empire. Yet the grouped objects also have a subtle religious warning, “that pride comes before the fall.” The violin, tipped glass, book, and quill all acknowledge the vanity in pursuing earthly pleasures. The watch is symbolic to the brief time a person spends on earth, in comparison to an eternal time of heavenly life. The time piece also stands for the unexpected and unplanned nature of a human’s death. The inclusion of various memento mori objects are all typical of traditional Vanitas painting. However, the skull represented in this painting is slightly different than others in the same time-period. In which, the skull is not the focal point in the painting, rather it was placed in the background of the painting. By doing this the artist subtly suggests a religious truth to the viewer, rather than it be conveyed as a forced commandment of religious
Wayne, transforms this painting into a three dimensional abstract piece of art. The focal point of the painting are the figures that look like letters and numbers that are in the front of the piece of art. This is where your eyes expend more time, also sometimes forgiving the background. The way the artist is trying to present this piece is showing happiness, excitement, and dreams. Happiness because he transmits with the bright colours. After probably 15 minutes on front of the painting I can feel that the artist tries to show his happiness, but in serene calm. The excitement that he presents with the letters, numbers and figures is a signal that he feels anxious about what the future is going to bring. Also in the way that the colors in the background are present he is showing that no matter how dark our day can be always will be light to
The plaque shown is a light umber in color, with a funeral scene etched out in black and white engravings into the smooth surface. The figures are very geometric in style and simplified. Even so, each figure seems to still have somewhat differentiating features from one another. How they are places in relation to each other creates a sense of rhythm within the piece. Helping guide the viewer, and lends itself to the illusion of the element of time.
Two of the most extensively analyzed works of art are Diego Velasquez's Las Meninas and Jan Van Eyck's Arnolfini Double Portrait. Both of these artist's talent won them recognition not only during their lifetime but after as well. Both Velasquez and Van Eyck have a justly earned title as the most talented artists of their respective times. A detailed examination of the details and intricacies of these artist's respective masterpieces, their similarities, and what sets them apart not just from each other but from other paintings from their time period and style, will lead the viewer to a better understanding of the mentalities of these gifted artists and how they transcend their respective genres and contemporaries to create their own artistic identities.
Pieter Claesz’s “Still life with a skull and a writing quill” is a 24.1 x 35.9cm still life oil on wood painting showing a skull with a quill as well as a turned glass roemer with reflections, an expired lamp, pen holder, inkwell, book, and folders of papers, this is one of Pieter Claesz’s earliest still life paintings, the attributes of a writer suggest that worldly efforts are eventually in vain.
The Merode Altarpiece is a triptych painting that represents the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. This work displays the main characteristics of the Northern Late Gothic period. There is so much detail in this work of art. Campin utilizes many symbols in this altarpiec. The setting of the painting is in a Flemish middle class house. The Annunciation theme is being depicted in the central panel. A scene of Saint Joseph at work as a carpenter occupies the right-hand panel. The portraits of the donors are depicted in the left hand panel. Campin failed to understand the scientific perspective. To illustrate, there is no focal point in the painting and the table looks tilted. Campin used no aerial perspective. To illustrate, the background is still very crisp when seen from a distance. The most important aspect of the painting is the symbolism. For example, the lilies represent Mary's purity, the candle represents the Holy Spirit, even the mouse traps represent trapping evil. Campin also made use of bright, rich colors. In the central panel, the drapery of the figures are filled with colors of red and white. Campin has also made a good use of illusion of the space by making the town seem to be far away by distance by making them appear blurry. Furthermore, Campin has created figures that are not in proper proportion. To illustrate, the figure’s head is small and the bodies are big and it seems that if they get will hit their head if they get up. They look very unrealistic. Although they are not in proportion, the figures seem to have very sharp edges. The figures also look very stiff and rigid. In Merode Altarpiece, the light is arbitrary and the figures do not cast any...
The Interpretation/Meaning (III) will be written without any guideline points, the aim of this part will be to determine what the painter wanted to express with his piece of work and what it tells us in a symbolic or not instantly clear way. This part will also handle why the artist drew the painting the way he did it and why he chose various techniques or tools.
As I walked into the first gallery, I saw a wood sculpture that stood in the center of the room. This carving depicted “the crucified Christ, flanked by the Virgin Mary and St. John the Evangelist with Angels holding instruments of the Passion”. It was painted oak and very appealing to the eye. It stood approximately 15 feet in the air. The origin of this sculpture is unknown, but it was found in a Belgium church. This kind of sculpture usually stood at the entrance or at the center of the alter in the church facing the congregation. This image of the suffering Christ relates to the Christian ideas of suffering and Christ’s salvation of all mankind.
images in this painting, all of which have the power to symbolize to us, the viewer, of the painter’s
Cimabue’s Madonna Enthroned and Andy Warhol's Gold Marilyn share several visual attributes. While observing the works beside each other the viewer can locate multiple similarities, but in order to understand these works we must picture them separately first in order to then link the reasons for these overlaps in depiction. While also the pointing out the differences that show the uniqueness of the artist's hand and the era in which they were created. Both works depict the image of a woman with a gold background, yet with this over simplified assertion, one must add that these women depicted hold large influence and significance for the era they represent. For Gold Marilyn Warhol looked back at Cimabue’s Madonna Enthroned to parallel elements such as the feel of opulence and nobility, a flat but meaningful composition, and the depiction of a vastly represented public persona,
The eye is kept in constant motion when considering the piece, the mind oscillating between the domestic forms of the appliances in the foreground and the intricate metanarrative taking place behind them. The work is made conceptually dynamic through the liberal use of contrasting elements and ideas. Square tiles come together to create circular forms; floral motifs and depictions of the natural world are incorporated into a deeply manufactured and sanitary environment. Traditional
In this work, the viewers come across two green light emitting barriers that intersect each other and emits green light to the entire atypically structured room. The work pays homage to the artist Piet Mondrian and touches upon the light characteristics of the De Stijl movement, such as pure abstraction to just colour and line. Aside from that Flavin creates an immersive work with the strong use of the light and abstractly structured room and disorients the vision of those who are in the room. In this work, Flavin creates a completely separate environment filled only with pure green light and two intersecting
The Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Opus 26 is one of the most famous violin concertos over the musical history. It is also considered to be the most renowned work by the German composer Max Bruch. I will begin with a short explanation of why I choose to analyse this piece followed by what makes this piece so remarkable. I will then present the musical context – German Romantic period – in which this piece was composed and discuss how it is representative of this period. Also, I will present briefly the biography of the composer and relate his life and style with this particular piece of music. After, I will explain the basic structure of a concerto, associate it with this violin concerto, and analyse how each movement is related. Then, I will analyse some psychoacoustic parameters of this piece (pitch, dynamics, rhythm, and texture). Finally, I will give my appreciation of this piece in term of beauty, musical expression, and mood.
"Vanitas still life with portrait of a young painter " by David Bailly includes such objects as dying flowers, a skull, a painting of musician, musical instruments (recorder, conductor’s baton), statuary of a young, virile man and a young child, a portrait of another young man, and a clean palette hanging on the wall. The meaning behind these articles can be manifold, depending upon one’s point of view, but I think they are all important symbols of the passing nature of vitality and life itself. The flowers, once brilliant and lovely, are now withering in their vase. Music, represented by a man playing a lute in a portrait on the wall and by numerous music related items (a recorder, a conductor’s baton) is itself transient and elusive. Obviously a skull can represent death, but it can just as easily be a reminder of what remains behind. The clean palette hanging on the wall is evocative of a clear start, a new beginning, the option available to us all to begin again, before it’s too late!
Perspective is based on Jesus in this painting due to his outward “radiant glow of divine light” (1) extending to the other people in the painting. The main focus is on Jesus and the rest of the figures are diffused in an outward fashion from Jesus himself. The artist himself expresses an emphasis on individualism by implementing himself within the painting by appearing “twice in the Last Judgement: in the flayed skin which Saint Bartholomew is carrying in his left hand, and the figure… who is looking encouragingly at those rising from their graves” (2). This is an action that only a Renaissance painter would do, which is displaying individuality through a self-portrait because of the possibility of being judged for selfishness. Light and shadowing is prominent within the art which is shown in the painting when the lighter, more brighter colors are focused in the middle and then fade into darker tones while moving outward into the
Images of different different seasons of the year to explain the process of growing older. Images that depict the fading of light in a persons soul transforming into darkness. Images that the reader can perceive as vivid actions. Images that all symbolize one thing, death. In the first quatrain the speaker begins by comparing an old middle age man to a tree with few to none yellow leaves hanging on its branch, and branches moving to the wind of a cold late autumn/early winter day. Image that depicts a lifeless trees and shivering branches, branches that perhaps represent the weak muscles of the speaker. Another image is depicted in the first quatrain containing the same idea. The image of an old church choirs in ruins. In the second quatrain the speaker depicts a moving image of a twilight that can be seen fading on him as the sun sets in the west and soon turns into darkness. Symbolizing the last moments of life the speaker has. In the third quatrain the speaker depicts an image with a similar meaning as the previous, except for one distinctly last thought. The speaker depicts a living image of a bonfire extinguishing and turning into ashes, ashes that may represent his well lived youth. The image gives the idea that ashes represent what once was a beautiful life to the speaker. Overall the images representing the