The Courtyards
Visitors to the Palace enter through Prince Alfred's Courtyard. The Pinto clock is famously located here, and its four dials show the time, the date, the month and the phases of the moon. Four bronze Moor figures sound the hour by striking the gongs with their hammers. It was created by Gaetano Vella in 1745.
The bronze life-size sculpture of Neptune, the Roman god of the Sea has been guarding the courtyard named after him since 1861. Despite his stark nudity, Neptune stands majestically and unashamedly, holding a trident in his right hand against a backdrop of a fountain bearing the coat of arms of Grand Master Perellos. This is is a creation by the Flemish artist Jean Boulogne better known by his alias, Giambologna. The sculpture used to stand in the centre of a fountain at the old fish market close to the Our Lady of Liesse Church, celebrating the completion of the Wignacourt aqueduct that brought water to the new capital.
Staircase
A spiral staircase wends its way from Neptune's courtyard to the Piano Nobile, where the palace rooms are located. This was constructed during Grand Master Verdalle's reign as a ramp and was upgraded to its present form during Gaspard le Merchant's governorship. A marble plaque at the base of the stairs recalls the twenty-eight Grand Masters that ruled in Malta. A corresponding plaque at the top lists the governors that ruled Malta during the British occupation.
Armoury Corridor
This is 62 metres long and 5 metres wide.
On its walls hang portraits of several Grand Masters of the Order. Lunettes depicting Maltese landscapes adorn the walls along their length. These works are by Nicolau Nasoni from Siena; also by Nasoni are the decorative paintings on the ce...
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...the Paggeria – or the Pages' Room. The Yellow damask has since been replaced with green.
Within this room are a French and a Dutch bureaux, a silver model of the Verdala Palace by Francesco Meli (1903), six white and blue Persian vases donated to Grand Master Alof de Wignacourt by the Shah, Italian Majolica jars with snake-shaped handles, a 16th Century chandelier and on a side table is a 17th Century astronomical clock with imagery of Leda and the Swan on its base. This clock was made by Charles Andre' Boulle. It also bears an image of Father Time holding a Scythe and four Sphinxes at the base.
There are also paintings by Joseph de Ribera (Lo Spagnoletto): St. Peter Liberated From Prison and Jacob as a Shepherd; A portrait of Karl Theodore, Duke of Bavaria by Pompeo Batoni; and a portrait of a victorious La Vallette in chivalric attire, by de Favray.
Erasmus was led to the marble stair, and up to the palace dome. Everyone always wondered what was in that room but now one ever got the chance to know. To Erasmus surprise all there was in the room was an old
Plate 101. N.d. A History Of Lindale. Rome: Art Department of Rome, 1997. XXXVIII. Print.
The artists of the Baroque had a remarkably different style than artists of the Renaissance due to their different approach to form, space, and composition. This extreme differentiation in style resulted in a very different treatment of narrative. Perhaps this drastic stylistic difference between the Renaissance and Baroque in their treatment of form, space, and composition and how these characteristics effect the narrative of a painting cannot be seen more than in comparing Perugino’s Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to St. Peter from the Early Renaissance to Caravaggio’s Conversion of St. Paul from the Baroque.Perugino was one of the greatest masters of the Early Renaissance whose style ischaracterized by the Renaissance ideals of purity, simplicity, and exceptional symmetry of composition. His approach to form in Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to St.Peter was very linear. He outlined all the figures with a black line giving them a sense of stability, permanence, and power in their environment, but restricting the figures’ sense of movement. In fact, the figures seem to not move at all, but rather are merely locked at a specific moment in time by their rigid outline. Perugino’s approach to the figures’themselves is extremely humanistic and classical. He shines light on the figures in a clear, even way, keeping with the rational and uncluttered meaning of the work. His figures are all locked in a contrapposto pose engaging in intellectual conversation with their neighbor, giving a strong sense of classical rationality. The figures are repeated over and over such as this to convey a rational response and to show the viewer clarity. Perugino’s approach to space was also very rational and simple. He organizes space along three simple planes: foreground, middle ground, and background. Christ and Saint Peter occupy the center foreground and solemn choruses of saints and citizens occupy the rest of the foreground. The middle distance is filled with miscellaneous figures, which complement the front group, emphasizing its density and order, by their scattered arrangement. Buildings from the Renaissance and triumphal arches from Roman antiquity occupy the background, reinforcing the overall classical message to the
This sculpture of Adam by Lombardo shows the true craftsmanship and skill of sculptors in the 15th century. It stimulated my curiosity because of its realism and the important religious story that it depicted. After examining this sculpture I was encouraged to explore similar works throughout the museum. I also enjoy the variety of art found at the Metropolitan and plan to you to visit again to wander through the galleries that I may have just passed by.
A monumental staircase is the centerpiece of entrance hall and creates a barrier to a direct view of the courtyard. The stairway, although grandiose, is modeled after oversized wooden stairs with a “wealth of spindles and paneling from his earlier Shingle style houses.” The oversized arched windows on the wall facing Exeter Street, bring sunlight into this space, and have a radiant effect on the walls covered with variegated Sienna marble (especially quarried for the library). At the intermediate landing, there are two hand carved couchant lions, which are the work of Louis Saint-Gaudens. Above this stairway a spherical chandelier of bronze and cut glass hangs from the richly coffered ceiling. As you climb up the stairs towards the main landing, the paintings of Puvis De Chavannes representing poetry, philosophy, and science adorn the wall. These murals are painted
"The seventh apartment was closely shrouded in black velvet tapestries that hung all over the
Adamo, Rossella Vodret, and Michelangelo Merisi Da Caravaggio. Caravaggio: The Complete Works. Cinisello Balsamo, Milano: Silvana, 2010. Print.
Titian had many accomplishments in his lifetime. In 1518, Titian’s Assumption of the Virgin was shown at the Church of the Frari in Venice. It was in this composition that Titian seemed suddenly to absorb the achievements of the Roman High Renaissance style. At the time, it was learned that Titan had not traveled much, and therefore assumed that he squired this knowledge of art by visiting artists, studying their drawings and reproductive engravings. During the decades following his appearance in the art life, Titian’s reproductions placed him along with Michelangelo, as the most powerful artist in Europe. He was recognized for his mythical paintings, three of which he created for Alfonso I d’Este of Ferrara, called The Bacchanal of the Andrians, The Worship of Venus, and Baahus and Ariadne. Among his many patrons, the most important were the Spanish Habsburgs. Titian’s fame, wealth, and social position resulted from his patrons and admirers. His major artistic inhibitions included being especially creative with diagonal placing and perspectives, as well as setting up unusual spectator viewpoints. Among his most famous works, rests the picture known as The Gypsy Madonna. This picture ...
The paintings by Duccio and Giotto firmly set in place a benchmark for where artwork in the years around 1300 began to develop. These artworks show how paintings began to evolve into more symbolic, naturalistic, and dramatic scenes, depicting events in life and religion. The paintings of Duccio and Giotto are similar in the sense that their paintings were then, in the sense of more modern words, “special effects” of their time. They show vivid colors with meaning and symbolism, atmospheric characters that exist in space, and composition that is well thought out. Overall, these two artists become a pinnacle of art that illustrates Italian paintings in the years around 1300.
Brown, Patricia Fortini. Art and Life In Renaissance Venice. New York, NY: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1997.
Lorenzo De Medici can be considered as one of the most influential men of the 13th century. His work in political affairs and administration were renowned in all Italy and his family could count on him in every aspect. Lorenzo was also a promoter of a new period called Renaissance. He was one of the first “mecenate” to explore this new way of art. In this project, I will concentrate how he developed art in Florence, giving a clear example through an Artist of that period that was working for him: Sandro Botticelli. His work “The Spring” is a well-defined example of what we can call “art in the Renaissance”, in particular for the Italian Renaissance.
“The “Portrait of a woman with a man at a casement” dates from around 1440-1444. It is made with tempera on wood by a Florentine artist, Fra Filippo Lippi. The painting is 64,1 x 41,9 cm. A very interesting detail is the message on the cuff of the woman, reading the word “lealtà” which is Italian for loyalty. The painting is part of the Marquand Collection and is to be found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it was given as a gift by Henry G. Marquand in 1889.”
and painted by the now world renowned artist Leonardo DAVinci. It is a painting that is only
The Tower of London, in central London, has a gloomy past. There was bloodshed, ghosts, wars, imprisonment, torture, and jewels. The Towers past maybe dark and gloomy but the history surrounding it is fascinating.
The Palace of Versailles is situated at Versailles, France and was around ten miles southwest of Paris. It was implicit in the seventeenth century for King Louis XIII (Fiero 283). The Palace of Versailles has served as an imperial royal palace and many other purposes. It now serves as a museum of French history. The Palace of Versailles stands today as confirmation of the magnificence and dauntlessness of the Baroque period in the European history and its final effect on our modern day.