Renaissance and baroque

painting and sculpture - 16th

and 17th centuries
 1440
Donatello’s David
Michelangelo breaks away from the traditional way of representing David. He does not present us with the winner, the giant's head at his feet and the powerful sword in his hand, but
portrays the youth in the phase immediately preceding the battle: perhaps he has caught him just in the moment when he has heard that his people are hesitating, and he sees Goliath
jeering and mocking them. The artist places him in the most perfect " contraposto", as in the most beautiful Greek representations of heroes. The right-hand side of the statue is smooth
and composed while the left-side, from the outstretched foot all the way up to the disheveled hair is openly active and dynamic. The muscles and the tendons are developed only to the
point where they can still be interpreted as the perfect instrument for a strong will, and not to the point of becoming individual self-governing forms.

David's oblique gaze and determined frown embody the 'terribilità' characteristic of all Michelangelo's work. [Awesomeness or emotional intensity of conception and execution in an
artist or work of art, originally as a quality attributed to Michelangelo by his contemporaries.]

Wikipedia

The pose of Michelangelo's David is unlike that of earlier Renaissance depictions of David. The bronze statues by Donatello and Verrocchio represented the hero standing victorious over the
head of Goliath, and the painter Andrea del Castagno had shown the boy in mid-swing, even as Goliath's head rested between his feet,[19] but no earlier Florentine artist had omitted the
giant altogether. According to Helen Gardner and other scholars, David is depicted before his battle with Goliath.[20][21] Instead of being shown victorious over a foe much larger than
he, David looks tense and ready for combat.

The statue appears to show David after he has made the decision to fight Goliath but before the battle has actually taken place, a moment between conscious choice and action. His
brow is drawn, his neck tense and the veins bulge out of his lowered right hand. His left hand holds a sling that is draped over his shoulder and down to his right hand, which holds a
rock.[22] The twist of his body effectively conveys to the viewer the feeling that he is in motion, an impression heightened with contrapposto. The statue is a Renaissance interpretation
of a common ancient Greek theme of the standing heroic male nude. In the High Renaissance, contrapposto poses were thought of as a distinctive feature of antique sculpture. This is
typified in David, as the figure stands with one leg holding its full weight and the other leg forward. This classic pose causes the figure's hips and shoulders to rest at opposing angles, giving a
 1475
Andrea del Verrocchio and Leonardo da Vinci, The
Baptism of Christ, ca. 1475, oil on wood, 70”x 59”,
Uffizi.
Take, for instance, the famous painting in the Uffizi of The Baptism of Christ, which is labelled as the work of Andrea del Verrocchio and Leonardo da Vinci
together.

Even without the historical information that while Verrocchio painted most of the picture, he gave one of the angels to his young assistant Leonardo, then
only about 19, and even without having studied in detail the other works of these two artists and of the period generally, one's eye should be alerted simply
from looking to the marked
differences which exist here between the left-hand angel and his
companion to the right. The left-hand one shows much greater subtlety in expression and the handling of light and atmosphere. The pose is more
graceful and there is more of a harmonious flow in the movement and fall of the hair and drapery. This, in fact, is Leonardo's angel: visual comparison,
which can be confirmed and
refined by the use of other works, makes concrete what the written sources say on the subject.
 1478
Giovanni Bellini’s San Giobbe
Altarpiece
The architectural space depicted in Giovanni Bellini’s San Giobbe
Altarpiece (Figure 4), painted before 1478, is even more
convincing. The work was commissioned to fulfil the demands,
devotional as well as social, of its patrons, who were members of
the Confraternity of San Giobbe (St Job), a kind of charitable
organization and social ‘club’ for well-to-do Venetian citizens.
Rather than employing real gold leaf, Bellini used only the ‘plain
colours’ advocated by Alberti (albeit relying on shimmering oil
paint rather than the much more matte tempera used in the St Lucy Altarpiece) to depict the glittering half-
dome of what appears to
be a fully three-dimensional chapel. Indeed, Bellini is so consistent
in producing this illusion that he even includes a hanging
 1475
Primavera, Sandro Botticelli, late 1470s or early
1480s, tempera on panel
From Webart:

In 1550, Vasari wrote that a picture which according to him announced the arrival of spring was in the Medici villa in Castello. In 1477, the estate was acquired by Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, who was a
second cousin of Lorenzo the Magnificent. This is why it was long assumed that the Primavera (Spring), as the painting continues to be called, was painted for the fourteen year old Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco when the
villa was bought. An inventory dating from 1499, which was not discovered until 1975, lists the property of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco and his brother Giovanni and states that in the 15th century the Primavera had
been displayed in Florence's city palace. The painting decorated an anteroom attached to Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco's chambers.

Such large format paintings were nothing new in high-ranking private residences. The Primavera is, however, special in that it is one of the first surviving paintings from the post-classical period which depicts
classical gods almost naked and life-size. Some of the figures are based on ancient sculptures. These are, however, not direct copies but are translated into Botticelli's own unconventional formal language: slender
figures whose bodies at times seem slightly too long. Above all it is the women's domed stomachs that demonstrate the contemporary ideal of beauty.

Venus is standing in the centre of the picture, set slightly back from the other figures. Above her, Cupid is aiming one of his arrows of love at the Three Graces, who are elegantly dancing a roundel. The garden of
the goddess of love is guarded by Mercury on the left. Mercury, who is lightly clad in a red cloak covered with flames, is wearing a helmet and carrying a sword, clearly characterizing him as the guardian of the
garden. The messenger of the gods is also identified by means of his winged shoes and the caduceus staff which he used to drive two snakes apart and make peace; Botticelli has depicted the snakes as winged
dragons. From the right, Zephyr, the god of the winds, is forcefully pushing his way in, in pursuit of the nymph Chloris. Next to her walks Flora, the goddess of spring, who is scattering flowers.

Various interpretations of the scene exist. Leaving aside the suppositions there remains the profoundly humanistic nature of the painting, a reflection of contemporary cultural influences and an expression of
many contemporary texts.
 1475
Ave Maria ... Virgo serena, Josquin des Prez,
Latin Motet
Ave Maria ... Virgo serena
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigationJump to search
For other uses, see Ave Maria (disambiguation).

This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to
improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (May 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
"Ave Maria … virgo serena"
Song
Language Latin
Publishedca. 1475[1]
Genre Motet
Length 4:50 (approx.)
 1490
Leonardo’s Vitruvian Man (1490)
In a successful composition, the harmonious blending of formal
elements creates balance. The simplest form of balance is
symmetry, in which there is an exact correspondence
of parts on either side of a central axis—the left side of a work
is a mirror image of the right side. The human body is an
example of symmetry, as shown in Leonardo’s
Vitruvian Man (see fig. 16.1).
 1499
Pietà, Michaelangelo
Pietà (Michelangelo)
The Pietà (Italian: [pjeˈta]; English: "The Pity"; 1498–1499) is a work of
Renaissance sculpture by Michelangelo Buonarroti, housed in St. Peter's
Basilica, Vatican City. It is the first of a number of works of the same
theme by the artist. The statue was commissioned for the French Cardinal
Jean de Bilhères, who was a representative in Rome. The sculpture, in
Carrara marble, was made for the cardinal's funeral monument, but was
moved to its current location, the first chapel on the right as one enters the
basilica, in the 18th century. It is the only piece Michelangelo ever signed.
This famous work of art depicts the body of Jesus on the lap of his mother
Mary after the Crucifixion. The theme is of Northern origin. Michelangelo's
 1503
Michelangelo’s David (1503) [High Renaissance]
Michelangelo breaks away from the traditional way of representing David. He does not present us with the winner, the giant's head at his feet and the powerful sword in his hand, but
portrays the youth in the phase immediately preceding the battle: perhaps he has caught him just in the moment when he has heard that his people are hesitating, and he sees Goliath
jeering and mocking them. The artist places him in the most perfect " contraposto", as in the most beautiful Greek representations of heroes. The right-hand side of the statue is smooth
and composed while the left-side, from the outstretched foot all the way up to the disheveled hair is openly active and dynamic. The muscles and the tendons are developed only to the
point where they can still be interpreted as the perfect instrument for a strong will, and not to the point of becoming individual self-governing forms.

David's oblique gaze and determined frown embody the 'terribilità' characteristic of all Michelangelo's work. [Awesomeness or emotional intensity of conception and execution in an
artist or work of art, originally as a quality attributed to Michelangelo by his contemporaries.]

Wikipedia

The pose of Michelangelo's David is unlike that of earlier Renaissance depictions of David. The bronze statues by Donatello and Verrocchio represented the hero standing victorious over the
head of Goliath, and the painter Andrea del Castagno had shown the boy in mid-swing, even as Goliath's head rested between his feet,[19] but no earlier Florentine artist had omitted the
giant altogether. According to Helen Gardner and other scholars, David is depicted before his battle with Goliath.[20][21] Instead of being shown victorious over a foe much larger than
he, David looks tense and ready for combat.

The statue appears to show David after he has made the decision to fight Goliath but before the battle has actually taken place, a moment between conscious choice and action. His
 1507
Raphael Sanzio, The Deposition, oil on panel, 1507
[High Renaissance]
See Wikipedia:
In this most divine picture there is a Dead Christ being borne to the Sepulcher, executed with such freshness and such loving care, that it seems to the eye to have been only just
painted. In the composition of this work, Raffaello imagined to himself the sorrow that the nearest and most affectionate relatives of the dead one feel in laying to rest the body of him
who has been their best beloved, and on whom, in truth, the happiness, honor, and welfare of a whole family have depended. Our Lady is seen in a swoon; and the heads of all the
figures are very gracious [(in Christian belief) showing divine grace.] in their weeping, particularly that of St. John, who, with his hands clasped, bows his head in such a manner as to
move the hardest heart in pity. And in truth, whoever considers the diligence, love, art and grace shown by this picture, has great reason to marvel, for it amazes all who behold it, what
with the air of the figures, the beauty of the draperies, and in short, the supreme excellence that it reveals in every part.[13]

On the far right, in the other figural group slightly behind the action, are the three Marys supporting the Virgin Mary, who has fainted (a controversial depiction known as the Swoon of
the Virgin) most likely due to her overwhelming grief.[12] The way in which the Virgin is kneeling is excessively awkward, with extreme torsion and sharply cut drapery, also known as a
figura serpentinata. Though seen in other famous works, her positioning seems to have been directly inspired by the example of Michelangelo's Doni Tondo, completed only a few years
earlier. In terms of color, Raphael balances his use of strong reds, blues, yellows and greens and he creates subtle contrast in his flesh tones, best seen with the living Mary
Magdalene's holding of the dead Christ's hand.[16]

In art history, the High Renaissance is a short period of the most exceptional artistic production in the Italian states, particularly Rome, capital of the Papal States, and in Florence,
during the Italian Renaissance. Most art historians state that the High Renaissance started around 1495 or 1500 and ended in 1520 with the death of Raphael, although some say the
High Renaissance ended about 1525, or in 1527 with the Sack of Rome by the army of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, or about 1530 (see next section for specific art historians’
 1513
Raphael Sanzio, The Sistine Madonna, oil on canvas, c.
1512–14
The canvas with the Virgin, Child and Saints Sixtus and Barbara, usually called the Sistine Madonna, is characterized by an imaginary space created by the
figures themselves. The figures stand on a bed of clouds, framed by heavy curtains which open to either side. The Virgin actually appears to descend from
a heavenly space, through the picture plane, out into the real space in which the painting is hung. The gesture of St Sixtus and the glance of St Barbara
seem to be directed toward the faithful, whom we imagine beyond the balustrade at the bottom of the painting. The Papal tiara, which rests on top of this
balustrade, act as a bridge between the real and pictorial space.
 1534
Tomb of Lorenzo de' Medici Sculpture,
Michelangelo, between 1520 and 1534
He wears a suit of Roman armor, in accordance with his career as a general in the wars with the Duke of Urbino, whose title he took. His helmet is pulled well forward over the brow, the
head is bent, the cheek rests upon the left hand, the elbow supported on a casket placed on the knee. With finger laid thoughtfully upon the lips, he is thinking intently. The right hand
rests, palm out, against the knee in a characteristic position of inaction.

His mood is not that of a dreamer lost to his present surroundings. Rather he seems to be keenly aware of what is going on; his meditations have to do with the present. It is as if,
having given an order, he awaits its execution, his mind still intent upon his purposes, satisfied with his decision, and calmly expectant of its success.
Virgin and Child, Titian
1560-65 1565
Oil on canvas, 124 x 96 cm
Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice

The canvas with the Virgin, Child and Saints Sixtus and Barbara, usually called the Sistine Madonna, is characterized by an imaginary space created by the
figures themselves. The figures stand on a bed of clouds, framed by heavy curtains which open to either side. The Virgin actually appears to descend from
a heavenly space, through the picture plane, out into the real space in which the painting is hung. The gesture of St Sixtus and the glance of St Barbara
seem to be directed toward the faithful, whom we imagine beyond the balustrade at the bottom of the painting. The Papal tiara, which rests on top of this
balustrade, act as a bridge between the real and pictorial space.
 1593
Sick Bacchus, Caravaggio, c. 1593 Oil on canvas, 67 x 53
cm, Galleria Borghese, Rome
Among Caravaggio's early works, this painting, in which the pose of the arm may recall his debt to the Persian Sibyl in a fresco by Peterzano, belongs to the small group which has always been seen as self-portraits.
The livid colours of the subject's face, his teasing smile and the mock seriousness of his mythological dignity all reinforce the attempt to undermine the lofty pretensions of Renaissance artistic traditions. Here is
no god, just a sickly young man who may be suffering from the after-effects of a hangover. There is no mistaking the artist's delight in the depiction of the fine peaches and black grapes on the slab, the white grapes
in his hand and the vine leaves that crown his hair, but the artist is not content merely to demonstrate his superb technique: he wishes to play an intimate role and only the slab separates him from the viewer. His
appearance is striking rather than handsome: he shows both that his face is unhealthy and that his right shoulder is not that of a bronzed Adonis, as convention required, but pale as in the case of any man who
normally wears clothes

Livid
having a discolored, bluish appearance caused by a bruise, congestion of blood
vessels, strangulation, etc., as the face, flesh, hands, or nails.

dull blue; dark, grayish-blue.

enraged; furiously angry:

deathly pale; pallid; ashen:

 1593
Boy with a Basket of Fruit, Carravagio, c. 1593, Oil on
canvas, 70 x 67 cm, Galleria Borghese, Rome

One of the sure signs of an early painting by Caravaggio is the patent (of ideas or characteristics - obvious )influence of northern Italian art. The boy with a fruit basket has analogies with a Fruit Seller by the
Lombard painter Vincenzo Campi, painted about 1580, but Caravaggio is not content to follow the traditions on which he draws. Instead of the young women favoured by his predecessors, he has chosen a teenage
boy; and he has brought his subject almost to the front of the picture plane, so that the boy seems to offer himself as well as the fruit to the spectator's gaze. There is a sign of uncertainty in the awkward way that
the boy's long thick neck rises out of his shoulder blades, yet there is compensation in the poetic device which places his weary eyes partially in the shade.

Once again Caravaggio has used the diagonal 'cellar' light which was to become a hallmark of his style. Against a near-blank ground, attention is focused on the right side of the boy's upper body, the classical
drapery on his right arm and the marvellously realized fruit, displaying succulent peaches and bunches of grapes.
 1594
Boy Bitten by a Lizard, c. 1594
Oil on canvas, 66 x 49,5 cm

This picture is wrongly said by Mancini not to be one of Caravaggio's earliest pictures, and since he also states that the picture was sold for less than Caravaggio expected, it must have been painted as a speculative
venture.

One of the most effeminate of his boy models, with a rose in his hair, starts back in pain as his right-hand middle finger, which he has put into a cluster of fruit, is bitten by a lizard. The rose behind the ear, the
cherries, the third finger and the lizard probably have sexual significance - the boy becomes aware, with a shock, of the pains of physical love. What was novel was not the theme so much as its dramatic treatment,
evident in the boy's foreshortened right shoulder, the contrasting gestures of his hands and the leftward sloping light. What lingers most in the memory is found in the foreground: the gleaming glass carafe
containing a single overblown rose in water, together with its reflections.

Two almost identical examples of this composition exist (the other in the Longhini Collection, Florence). Their equally high quality suggests that Caravaggio himself painted them both.

Against a neutral background, a boy with a white rose behind his ear is standing behind a stone slab which leads diagonally into the picture. In his fright, his shirt has slipped down off his shoulder. While reaching for
some fruit, which lies next to a vase containing orange blossom or jasmine, as well as a rose, he has been bitten by a lizard in his middle finger, which has given rise to ticklish erotic overtones.

Foreshortened: specialized art to draw, paint, or photograph people or objects to make them seem smaller or closer together than they really are
 1594
Fortune Teller, Caravaggio, c. 1594, Oil on canvas, 115 ×
150 cm
The youth abandons his reserve, leans over towards the gypsy-woman and looks into her smiling face, as if he idolized her, and as if the woman was enticing a very willing man. We cannot be absolutely sure this
picture is an original Caravaggio. Its authenticity has recently been based on two arguments. The genre-scene has been painted over a praying female saint, perhaps the Virgin Mary, and the most likely painter is the
Cavaliere d'Arpino. The painting also carries the same indication of provenance from Cardinal del Monte's Collection as the Cardsharps. The same subject-matter recurs in Narcissus. In the case of this not-undisputed
picture, the smooth way in which the paint is applied suggests a Caravaggesque artist of some note.
St Francis in Ecstasy, c. 1595
Oil on canvas, 93 x 128 cm 1595
This is one of the artist's first works. It has a perfectly Lombard air: the broad lines of the composition recall mannerist motives. But Caravaggio's characteristic approach to reality is already at work, and his
brushstroke shows a magic that could be obtained only by a thorough analysis of Venetian painting.
 1599
‘The Quality of Mercy’, The Merchant of Venice,
Shakespeare, c. 1599

The quality of mercy is not strained.

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The thronèd monarch better than his crown.
His scepter shows the force of temporal power,
 1603
Caravaggio, The Entombment of Christ, alterpiece,1603
Counter-Reformation]
See Wikipedia:

This counter-reformation painting – with a diagonal cascade of mourners and cadaver-bearers descending to the limp, dead Christ and the bare stone – is not a moment of
transfiguration, but of mourning. As the viewer's eye descends from the gloom there is, too, a descent from the hysteria of Mary of Clopas through subdued
emotion to death as the final emotional silencing. Unlike the gored post-crucifixion Jesus in morbid Spanish displays, Italian Christs die generally bloodlessly, and slump in a
geometrically challenging display. As if emphasizing the dead Christ's inability to feel pain, a hand enters the wound at his side. His body is one of a muscled, veined, thick-limbed
laborer rather than the usual, bony-thin depiction.

Caravaggio balances the stable, dignified position of the body and the unstable exertions of the bearers.

While faces are important in painting generally, in Caravaggio it is important always to note where the arms are pointing. Skyward in The Conversion of Saint Paul on the Road to
Damascus, towards Levi in The Calling of Saint Matthew. Here, the dead God's fallen arm and immaculate shroud touch stone; the grieving Mary of Cleophas gesticulates to Heaven. In
 1611
Proverbs 8, King James Version
1 Doeth not Wisedome crie? & Understanding put foorth her voice?
2 Shee standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the pathes.
3 She cryeth at the gates, at the entrie of the citie, at the comming in at the doores.
4 Unto you, O men, I call, and my voice is to the sonnes of man.
5 O yee simple, vnderstand wisedome: and yee fooles, be yee of an vnderstanding heart.
6 Heare, for I will speake of excellent things: and the opening of my lippes shalbe right things.
7 For my mouth shall speake truth, and wickednesse is an abomination to my lippes.
8 All the words of my mouth are in righteousnes, there is nothing froward or peruerse in them.
 1621
The Rape of Proserpina, Bernini, 1621-22, marble, height
95 cm, Galleria Borghese, Rome

The large marble group of Pluto and Proserpina shows Pluto, powerful god of the underworld, abducting Proserpina, daughter of Ceres (Greek Demeter), the goddess of harvest and
fertility. By interceding with Jupiter, her mother obtains permission for her daughter to return to earth for half the year and then spend the other half in Hades. Thus every spring the
earth welcomes her with a carpet of flowers.The group was executed between 1621 and 1622. Cardinal Scipione gave it to Cardinal Ludovisi in 1622, and it remained in his villa until
1908, when it was purchased by the Italian state and returned to the Borghese Collection.In this group Bernini develops the twisting pose reminiscent of Mannerism, combined with an
impression of vital energy (in pushing against Pluto's face Proserpina's hand creases his skin and his fingers sink into the flesh of his victim). Seen from the left, the group shows Pluto
taking a fast and powerful stride and grasping Proserpina, from the front he appears triumphantly bearing his trophy in his arms; from the right one sees Proserpina's tears as she prays
to heaven, the wind blowing her hair, as the guardian of Hades, the three-headed dog, barks. Various moments of the story are thus summed up in a single sculpture.This group has
often been said to strongly resemble ancient sculpture such as the Niobe (then in the Villa Medici), as regards Proserpina's face, while Pluto's stance is reminiscent of the Pedagogue
 1623
Bernini’s David (1623)
Balance can also be achieved by
nonequivalent elements. In Bernini’s
David (see fig. 19.13), the weight of
the figure is not evenly distributed
on either side of the central axis.
However, although the parts are not
arranged symmetrically, there is an equilibrium
between them that produces an
aesthetically satisfying result. This is
known as asymmetrical balance.
 1625
Apollo and Daphne, Bernini, 1622-25, Carrara
marble, height 243 cm, Galleria Borghese,
Rome

This is the last of Bernini's work commissioned by the Borghese family and one of his most
popular sculpture. The influence of antique sculptures (Apollo of Belvedere) and of
contemporary paintings (Guido Reni) is clearly seen.Gian Lorenzo Bernini created an
unprecedented masterpiece for Cardinal Scipione Borghese depicting the chaste nymph
Daphne being turned into a laurel tree, pursued in vain by Apollo god of light. This life-size
marble sculpture, begun by Bernini at the age of twenty-four and executed between 1622
and 1625, has always been housed in the same room in the villa, but originally stood on a
lower and narrower base set against the wall near the stairs. Consequently anyone entering
the room first saw Apollo from behind, then the fleeing nymph appeared in the process of
metamorphosis. Bark covers most of her body, but according to Ovid's lines, Apollo's hand
 1650
The Ecstasy of Saint Therese1647-52Marble, stucco,
gilt bronze, Cappella Cornaro, Santa Maria della
Vittoria, Rome

Ecstasy of Saint TeresaThe Ecstasy of Saint Teresa (alternatively Saint Teresa in Ecstasy or Transverberation of Saint Teresa; in Italian: L'Estasi di Santa Teresa or Santa Teresa in estasi) is the
central sculptural group in white marble set in an elevated aedicule in the Cornaro Chapel, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome. It was designed and completed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the
leading sculptor of his day, who also designed the setting of the Chapel in marble, stucco and paint. It is generally considered to be one of the sculptural masterpieces of the High Roman
Baroque. It depicts Teresa of Ávila. Ecstasy of Saint TeresaArtistYear Catalogue Type Medium Dimensions LocationGian Lorenzo Bernini 1647–1652 48 Sculpture Marble Life-size Santa Maria
della Vittoria, Rome CommissionThe entire ensemble was overseen and completed by a mature Bernini during the Pamphili papacy of Innocent X. When Innocent acceded to the papal
throne, he shunned Bernini's artistic services; the sculptor had been the favourite artist of the previous and profligate Barberini pope. Without papal patronage, the services of Bernini's
studio were therefore available to a patron such as the Venetian Cardinal Federico Cornaro (15791653). Cornaro had chosen the hitherto unremarkable church of the Discalced Carmelites for
his burial chapel. [1] The selected site for the chapel was the left transept that had previously held an image of 'St. Paul in Ecstasy', which was replaced by Bernini's dramatization of a
religious experience undergone and related by the first Discalced Carmelite saint, who had been canonised not long before, in 1622. [2] It was completed in 1652 for the then princely sum of
12,000 scudi. [3] Sculptural group and its settingWider view, including the Cornaro portraits, but omitting the lower parts of the chapelThe two central sculptural figures of the swooning nun
and the angel with the spear derive from an episode described by Teresa of Avila, a mystical cloistered Discalced Carmelite reformer and nun, in her autobiography, The Life of Teresa of Jesus
(1515–1582). Her experience of religious ecstasy in her encounter with the angel is described as follows:I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at the iron's point there seemed to be a
 1656
Velázquez, Las Meninas, c.
1656, oil on canvas, 125 1/4 x 108
5/8 in. (318 x 276 cm), (Museo
Nacional del Prado, Madrid).
 1665
Château de Versailles, salon de Diane, buste de Louis XIV
[the ‘Sun King’], Bernini

From Wikipedia:

Bernini had been invited to Paris as part of a larger diplomatic exchange between the
Papacy and France. The ostensible reason for the visit was to create new designs for
the Louvre Palace, but the young king Louis XIV had declared he also desired a
portrait bust.[2] Bernini’s designs for the Louvre did not go down well and were not
acted upon; indeed their failure to be accepted was a reflection of the general
antagonism between the Italian Bernini and certain members within the French
court. However, the portrait bust, which depended upon a more personal relationship
between the king and the artist, was completed and lagrely considered a great success.

The creation of the bust is incredibly well documented, thanks to efforts of the French diarist Paul Fréart de Chantelou, a steward at
the court of Louis XIV, who befriended Bernini during his time in Paris.
 1685
Dido and Aeneas, Purcell, 1685

Dido and Aeneas (Z. 626)[1] is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance
of the opera are uncertain. It was composed no later than July 1688,[2] and had been performed at Josias Priest's girls' school in London by the end of 1689.[3] Some scholars argue for a date of composition as
early as 1683.[4][5] The story is based on Book IV of Virgil's Aeneid.[6] It recounts the love of Dido, Queen of Carthage, for the Trojan hero Aeneas, and her despair when he abandons her. A monumental work
in Baroque opera, Dido and Aeneas is remembered as one of Purcell's foremost theatrical works.[6] It was also Purcell's only true opera, as well as his only all-sung dramatic work. One of the earliest known
English operas, it owes much to John Blow's Venus and Adonis, both in structure and in overall effect.[6] The influence of Cavalli's opera Didone is also apparent.[citation needed]
 After a brief but fierce storm sent up against the
group at Juno's request, Aeneas and his fleet made
landfall at Carthage after six years of wanderings.
Aeneas had a year-long affair with the Carthaginian
Dido‘s Lament queen Dido (also known as Elissa), who proposed
that the Trojans settle in her land and that she and
Aeneas reign jointly over their peoples. A marriage
of sorts was arranged between Dido and Aeneas at
the instigation of Juno, who was told that her
favorite city would eventually be defeated by the
Trojans' descendants. Aeneas's mother Venus (the
Roman adaptation of Aphrodite) realized that her
son and his company needed a temporary respite
to reinforce themselves for the journey to come.
However, the messenger god Mercury was sent by
Jupiter and Venus to remind Aeneas of his journey
and his purpose, compelling him to leave secretly.
When Dido learned of this, she uttered a curse that
would forever pit Carthage against Rome, an
enmity that would culminate in the Punic Wars.
She then committed suicide by stabbing herself
with the same sword she gave Aeneas when they
first met.
Judith and Holofernes
Introduction
From Wikipedia:

The account of the beheading of Holofernes by Judith is given in the deuterocanonicalBook of Judith, and is the subject of many paintings and sculptures from
the Renaissance and Baroque periods. In the story, Judith, a beautiful widow, is able to enter the tent of Holofernes because of his desire for her. Holofernes was
an Assyrian general who was about to destroy Judith's home, the city of Bethulia. Overcome with drink, he passes out and is decapitated by Judith; his head is taken away in
a basket (often depicted as being carried by an elderly female servant).
Artists have mainly chosen one of two possible scenes (with or without the servant): the decapitation, with Holofernes supine on the bed, or the heroine holding or carrying
the head, often assisted by her maid. An exception is an early sixteenth-century stained glass window with two scenes. The central scene, by far the larger of the two,
features Judith and Holofernes seated at a banquet. The smaller background scene has Judith and her servant putting Holofernes' head in a sack, the headless body standing
behind with his arm waving helplessly. The subject is one of the most commonly shown in the Power of Women topos.
In European art, Judith is very often accompanied by her maid at her shoulder, which helps to distinguish her from Salome, who also carries her victim's head on a silver
charger (plate). However, a Northern tradition developed whereby Judith had both a maid and a charger, famously taken by Erwin Panofsky as an example of the knowledge
needed in the study of iconography.[1] For many artists and scholars, Judith's sexualized femininity interestingly and sometimes contradictorily combined with her masculine
aggression. Judith was one of the virtuous women whom Van Beverwijck mentioned in his published apology (1639) for the superiority of women to men, [2] and a common
example of the Power of Women iconographic theme in the Northern Renaissance.

Background in early Christianity[edit]

The Book of Judith was accepted by Jerome as canonical and accepted in the Vulgate and was referred to by Clement of Rome in the late first century (1 Clement 55), and
thus images of Judith were as acceptable as those of other scriptural women. In early Christianity, however, images of Judith were far from sexual or violent: she was usually
depicted as "a type of the praying Virgin or the church or as a figure who tramples Satan and harrows Hell," that is, in a way that betrayed no sexual ambivalence: "the figure
of Judith herself remained unmoved and unreal, separated from real sexual images and thus protected." [3]

Judith and Holofernes, the famous bronze sculpture by Donatello, bears the implied allegorical subtext that was
inescapable in Early Renaissance Florence, that of the courage of the commune against tyranny.[4]
 1460
Judith and Holofernes (1457–1464), Donatello,
bronze (gilded)
 1470
The Return of Judith to Bethulia, Bottticelli, c. 1470,
tempera on panel, Uffizi
 1493
Woodcut illustration for the Nuremberg Chronicles, 1493
 1495
Andrea Mantegna, Judith and Holofernes, 1490s
 1504
Judith with the Head of Holophernes,Gergione, c.
1504, oil on canvas, The Great Old Hermitage
 1510
Michelangelo, Judith Carries off Head of Holofernes, c.
1510 (Sistine Chapel ceiling)
 1530
Judith with the Head of Holofernes, Lucas Cranach
the Elder, 1530
 1530
FOSCHI, Judith and Holofernes (somewhere near
1530)
 1547
Sebald Beham engraving of 1547
 1599
Judith Beheading Holofernes, Caravaggio (c.1598-9)
 1608
Giovanni Baglione, Judith and the
Head of Holofernes, 1608
 1610
Judith beheading Holofernes (c. 1610), Cornelis
Galle the Elder Warsaw University Library
 1610
Judith beheading Holofernes (c. 1610), Cornelis
Galle the Elder Warsaw University Library
 1612
Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith beheading
Holofernes, 1611-12, oil on canvas, 159 x 126 cm
 1613

Cristofano Allori, Judith with the Head

of Holofernes (1613)
 1625

Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith and her

Maidservant 1625, Detroit Institute of
Arts
 1625

Gustave Klimt, Judith and the Head of

Holophernes, 1901, Österreichische
Galerie Belvedere
 1628
LISS, Johann
Judith in the Tent of Holofernes ,1628
Oil on canvas, 126 x 102 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
 1630

Charles Mellin, Judith with the head of

Holofernes, 1630s, oil on canvas
 1725

Antonio Gionima, Judith Presenting Herself

to Holofernes, 1720s, Minneapolis Institute of Art
 1840
August Riedel, Judith,1840
Honourables …
POSES
Composite
Nebamun hunting in the marshes, Late 18th Dynasty-
around 1350 BC

The ancient Egyptians represented the body in an impossible twist, combining multiple perspectives into a single stance. In this
composite pose, used in reliefs, stelae, and wall paintings, the torso faces forward, while the head, hips, and legs are shown
completely in profile. And even though the figure’s face looks out to the side, its single, almond-shaped eye stares directly at the
viewer.

Why contort the body this way? One reason is practical. Noses and feet are easier to draw from the side, while eyes and
shoulders are easier to draw straight-on. Go ahead and try it—you’ll find that this is one of the simplest poses to copy on paper,
even though it’s among the hardest to recreate with your body.

But these contortions also had spiritual implications. The ancient Egyptians believed that souls needed earthly homes, such as
sculpted sarcophagi or painted portraits, to survive after death. Designed to convey this sense of eternal life, the composite
pose presents figures as unwavering, motionless, and altogether timeless.
Contrapposto
Kritios Boy. Marble, c. 480 BC. Acropolis Museum, Athens.
Leda and the Swan, copy by Cesare da Sesto after a lost original
by Leonardo da Vinci, 1515–20, Oil on canvas

Contrapposto (Italian pronunciation: [kontrapˈposto]) is an Italian term that means counterpoise. It is used in the visual arts to describe a human figure standing with most of its weight on one foot so that
its shoulders and arms twist off-axis from the hips and legs. This gives the figure a more dynamic, or alternatively relaxed appearance. It can also be used to refer to multiple figures which are in counter-
pose (or opposite pose) to one another. It can further encompass the tension as a figure changes from resting on a given leg to walking or running upon it (so-called ponderation). The leg that carries the
weight of the body is known as the engaged leg, the relaxed leg is known as the free leg.[1] Contrapposto is less emphasized than the more sinuous S Curve, and creates the illusion of past and future
movement.[2]

Contrapposto was an extremely important sculptural development, for its appearance marks the first time in Western art that the human body is used to express a psychological disposition. The balanced,
harmonious pose of the Kritios Boy suggests a calm and relaxed state of mind, an evenness of temperament that is part of the ideal of man represented.

From this point onwards Greek sculptors went on to explore how the body could convey the whole range of human experience, culminating in the desperate anguish and pathos of Laocoön and His Sons
(1st century CE) in the Hellenistic period.

This stance forces a chain of anatomical events: as the pelvis is pushed diagonally upwards on the left side [in Kritios Boy], the right buttock relaxes, the spine acquires an "S" curve, and the shoulder line
dips on the left to counteract the action of the pelvis.
Serpentine
Laocoön and His Sons

On a winter day in 1506, the Hellenistic Greek masterpiece Laocoön and His Sons (c. 40–30 B.C.) was discovered in a Roman vineyard. Before the piece was fully unearthed, Michelangelo had already rushed to the
scene, anxious to study and sketch the ancient marble figures.

The sculpture was a revelation, filled with dramatic contortions previously unseen in Western art. Instead of a slight twist, Laocoön’s entire body completely spiraled on its central axis—his lower limbs pushing in
one direction and his torso spinning the other way. This serpentine pose (or figura serpentinata, in Italian) transfixed Michelangelo, and many of his later sculptures and paintings mimic Laocoön’s coiling body.
Serpentine poses are arresting, sensuous, and almost always unnatural. (Few would twist their body in opposite directions by choice.) This exaggerated tension appealed to Mannerist and Baroque artists like
Agnolo Bronzino and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, respectively, who wanted to imbue their images with movement, rather than naturalism. For many, Laocoön had cast a shadow over the standard contrapposto, showing
that bodies could express much more emotional drama than the effect of a single step.

The group has been called "the prototypical icon of human agony" in Western art,[4] and unlike the agony often depicted in Christian art showing the Passion of Jesus and martyrs, this suffering has no redemptive
power or reward.[5] The suffering is shown through the contorted expressions of the faces (Charles Darwin pointed out that Laocoön's bulging eyebrows are physiologically impossible),[6] which are matched by the
struggling bodies, especially that of Laocoön himself, with every part of his body straining.[7]

Pliny attributes the work, then in the palace of Emperor Titus, to three Greek sculptors from the island of Rhodes: Agesander, Athenodoros and Polydorus, but does not give a date or patron. In style it is considered
"one of the finest examples of the Hellenistic baroque" and certainly in the Greek tradition,[8] but it is not known whether it is an original work or a copy of an earlier sculpture, probably in bronze, or made for a
Greek or Roman commission. The view that it is an original work of the 2nd century BC now has few if any supporters, although many still see it as a copy of such a work made in the early Imperial period, probably of
a bronze original.[9] Others see it as probably an original work of the later period, continuing to use the Pergamene style of some two centuries earlier. In either case, it was probably commissioned for the home of a
wealthy Roman, possibly of the Imperial family. Various dates have been suggested for the statue, ranging from about 200 BC to the 70s AD,[10] though "a Julio-Claudian date [between 27 BC and 68 AD] ... is now
preferred".[11]‘

From Wikipedia:

The story of Laocoön, a Trojan priest, came from the Greek Epic Cycle on the Trojan Wars, though it is not mentioned by Homer. It had been the subject of a tragedy, now lost, by Sophocles and was mentioned by
other Greek writers, though the events around the attack by the serpents vary considerably. The most famous account of these is now in Virgil's Aeneid (see the Aeneid quotation at the entry Laocoön), but this
dates from between 29 and 19 BC, which is possibly later than the sculpture. However, some scholars see the group as a depiction of the scene as described by Virgil.[13]
Pudica
The Ludovisi Cnidian Aphrodite, 4th century, Roman marble
copy (torso and thighs) with restored head, arms, legs and
drapery support.
When Cypris saw Cypris at Cnidus, "Alas!" said she; "where did Praxiteles see me naked?"

— Plato, Epigram XVII[2]

Praxiteles’s Aphrodite of Knidos (4th century B.C.) is considered to be the first monumental sculpture of a naked woman in Western art. (Men, on the other hand, had already been unclothed in sculptures for over
300 years.)

For this pioneering subject matter, Praxiteles needed to invent a new pose—along with a narrative to justify his figure’s unprecedented nudity. Standing in contrapposto, Praxiteles’s Aphrodite notices a stranger
intruding on her bath. In the original, the goddess recoils, rushing to cover her pubis with one hand and grabbing her garment with the other. [OR discarding it!] (Today, surviving copies of Aphrodite appear
exposed, as her marble arms have not survived.)
This pudica (or modest) pose quickly became standard iconography for women in art, heralded for its eroticism. By covering themselves, women in the pudica pose have tantalized viewers, drawing attention to their
sexuality. And while the posture has been adopted by countless artists—including Botticelli, Rembrandt van Rijn, and Pablo Picasso—it’s easy to forget the troubling narrative at its core: the gesture of a woman
protecting her body from unwanted advances.
.
K
‘
Adlocutio
Augustus of Primaporta, perhaps a
copy of a bronze statue
20 B.C.
If you stand in contrapposto, lift your right arm, and raise your index finger, you’ve made it into the adlocutio (or orator’s) pose. In art history, this commanding stance is reserved mostly for leaders, especially
those addressing their troops during battle.

The ancient Roman sculpture Augustus of Primaporta (1st century A.D.) remains the most famous example of the adlocutio—though many artists have continued to employ this pose since. When the Neoclassical
master Jacques-Louis David painted Napoleon at the Great St. Bernard (1801), he lifted the French leader’s right arm to echo that of the iconic Augustus. Gilbert Stuart did the same when capturing George
Washington (1796), and most depictions of Chairman Mao feature this gesture as well.
Augustus is shown in this role of "Imperator", the commander of the army, as thoracatus —or commander-in-chief of the
Roman army (literally, thorax-wearer)—meaning the statue should form part of a commemorative monument to his latest
Adlocutio 1801
Napoleon at the St. Bernard Pass, David
[Radical neo-classism – and a lot of ripping off.]

Oil on canvas, 246 x 231 cm

Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna

From Wikipedia:

Background
Having taken power in France during the 18 Brumaire on 9 November 1799, Napoleon was determined to return to Italy to reinforce the French troops in the country and retake the territory seized by the Austrians
in the preceding years. In the spring of 1800 he led the Reserve Army across the Alps through the Great St. Bernard Pass. The Austrian forces, under Michael von Melas, were laying siege to Masséna in Genoa and
Napoleon hoped to gain the element of surprise by taking the trans-Alpine route. By the time Napoleon's troops arrived, Genoa had fallen; but he pushed ahead, hoping to engage the Austrians before they could
regroup. The Reserve Army fought a battle at Montebello on 9 June before eventually securing a decisive victory at the Battle of Marengo.

The installation of Napoleon as First Consul and the French victory in Italy allowed for a rapprochement with Charles IV of Spain. While talks were underway to re-establish diplomatic relations, a traditional exchange
of gifts took place. Charles received Versailles-manufactured pistols, dresses from the best Parisian dressmakers, jewels for the queen, and a fine set of armour for the newly reappointed Prime Minister, Manuel
Godoy. In return Napoleon was offered sixteen Spanish horses from the royal stables, portraits of the king and queen by Goya, and the portrait that was to be commissioned from David. The French ambassador to
Spain, Charles-Jean-Marie Alquier, requested the original painting from David on Charles' behalf. The portrait was to hang in the Royal Palace of Madrid as a token of the new relationship between the two countries.
David, who had been an ardent supporter of the Revolution but had transferred his fervour to the new Consulate, was eager to undertake the commission.

On learning of the request, Bonaparte instructed David to produce three further versions: one for the Château de Saint-Cloud, one for the library of Les Invalides, and a third for the palace of the Cisalpine Republic in
Milan. A fifth version was produced by David and remained in his various workshops until his death.
Stylistic Terminology
Jan van Eyck,
Man in a Red Turban, 1433.

Naturalistic: depicting figures and objects more or

less as we see them
Rene Magritte, The
Betrayal of Images (“This is not a pipe.”),
1928.

Realistic: depicting figures and objects to resemble their actual

appearances, rather than in a distorted or abstract way
Duane Hanson, The Cowboy, 1995.

Illusionistic: depicting figures, objects, and the space

they occupy so convincingly that an appearance of
reality is achieved
Polykleitos,
Doryphoros (Spear Bearer),
c. 440 b.c.

Idealized: depicting an object according to an

accepted standard of beauty
Head of
Gudea, c. 2100 b.c. (2nd Dynasty of Lagash. Head
Gudea Louvre AO13)

Stylized: depicting certain features as non-organic surface

elements rather than naturalistically or realistically.

Non-organic from Oxford Dictionary

Not relating to or derived from living matter.

‘Kubrick and Shahni's visual surfaces are highly decorative; they

integrate the human with the non-organic surfaces of everyday
objects and spaces and in Shahani's case, with nature as well.’
Maybe look at the eyebrows in
particular.
Statue of a Kouros, from
Attica, c. 590–580 b.c. (front view).
Naxian marble; Menkaure and Queen Khamerernebty,
from Giza, 2490–2472 b.c.

Stylized: depicting certain features as non-organic surface elements rather than

naturalistically or realistically.
Capitoline Wolf, c. 500 b.c.
Stylized: depicting certain features as non-organic surface elements rather than
naturalistically or realistically.
Francisco de Goya y
Lucientes, The Executions of the Third of
May, 1808, 1814.

Romanticized: depicting its subject in a nostalgic, emotional, fanciful, or

mysterious way
Hans
Namuth, Jackson Pollock, 1950.

Nonrepresentational or nonfigurative: the opposite of representational or

figurative, implying that the work does not depict (or claim to depict)
figures or objects
Constantin
Brancusi, Bird in Space

Abstract: describes forms that do not accurately depict real objects. The
artist may be attempting to convey the essence of an object rather than its
actual appearance. Note that the subject matter may be recognizable
(making the work representational) but in a non-naturalistic form