Hind site is always 20/20. Looking back on history, especially the history of painting, one can decipher a great deal about the time it was painted in and the changes in those times. One can understand the value systems, the ethics, government, morality, economics and personal lives of the times reflected in paintings. Periods of art change to what the society demands at the time. The renaissance literally means the rebirth. The rebirth of antiquity, the rebirth of God (the Catholic Church), and the rebirth of man. The renaissance was such a sweeping artistic and social revolution that it is understandable how painting styles changed so rapidly and how the new painting styles were direct reflections of the times. The rebirth of antiquity in the renaissance, gave focus to ancient Greek and Roman life which was deemed noble and venerable. The influence of antiquity, the ?new birth? came directly from the civilization of Greece and Rome. Artistically they chose to represent them selves with sculptures and architecture, which reflected the ancient cultures they held in such high regard. Greek and Roman histories were chosen to be basis of society in 14th century Italian life. As culture moved away from the Middle Ages it attempted to understand the physical and intellectual world.
But more so it needed a spiritual guide. Antiquity changed art and society because now a place was held for the saints and heroes of Christianity. Paintings now held religious significance and were considered art as well as something to be practiced in every day life. The classical Antiquity revealed in the 14th century demonstrates the new emphasis on the Catholic church, which directly related to civic life. The society as a whole was drastically changing making a move to a life dependent on the morals and ethics of Christianity. The morals shown in the paintings and sculptures were not only art works but lessons and measuring sticks on how the modern renaissance citizen should be devoted to God, and the state. A new culture was being created. The new emphasis on the Catholic church raised a great deal of enthusiasm of the Italian people. A new development of civic life started to form. The art reflected how the culture viewed the Catholic church and the importance that was put on Jesus Christ, and Christianity as a whole. God was now part of not only daily life, but government, and society as a whole. Now from the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome the face of the city and culture literally changed. Art and architecture coincided with God and Government. Spiritual interests were part of every day life the same way taxes and laws were.
The Essay on How To Change Your Culture
Changing your organizational culture is the toughest task you will ever take on. Your organizational culture was formed over years of interaction between the participants in the organization. Changing the accepted organizational culture can feel like rolling rocks uphill. Organizational cultures form for a reason. Perhaps the current culture matches the style and comfort zone of the company ...
An early renaissance painting technique and media was Tempera painting. Tempera is a method of painting in which the pigment is carried in a solution of egg, casein gum, or glycerin and water. The process of painting in tempera is the oldest method of painting known. The Mycenaean period paintings in Greece were done in tempera. During the renaissance, Italian painters ground their colors by hand and mixed the powdered colors with a medium. Most pigments were owned by the artist but on occasion the pigments were supplied by the painters client. The process of making the pigments useful to paint with varied. For instance Vermilion was usually bought in a lump and pulverized into color. But others such as Ultramarine had to be put through a complex process to extract the desired colors. Colors such as Florence and Siena were also available to 14th century artists. In the artists workshop, pigments would have had to been ground on a hard stone slab. The muller, a tool for grinding pigments was used. After the pigments were ground down water was added. Then the paint was scrapped off ready for use. Every color needed a different amount of grinding, so it was a skilled task to create tempera paints. Some colors such as blue and green would loose color if they were not ground properly. Strongest colors were the most popular. Deep blue ultramarine, lapis lazuli and brilliant scarlet vermilion set against a gilded background had a lot of appeal for the time. Opaque yellow and red lead were also popular manufactured colors. Looking back one can understand the pallet of late 14th century Tempera paintings based on what pigments were available. Pigments would be imported from all over Europe, they were natural minerals and earthy deposits that could only be found in certain parts the land. Then there were synthetic paints, created with chemical equivalents of mineral materials. Lastly there were paints taken from animal or plant sources.
The Essay on Life Sized Figures Painting Colors
The subject chosen for analysis is the Masaccio's Trinity with the virgin, Saint John the Evangelist, and Donors, in the Church of Santa Maria Novella, Florence, circa 1425 (? ). It is perhaps what led to or is part of the artist's most celebrated work, the Trinity cycle of frescos in the Branca cci Chapel at Santa Maria del Carmine, though the dates of the paintings cannot be exactly determined. ...
The Tempera painting process was unique. The paint would be applied to the piece with fine brushes made with hairs of a minever or ermine, a member of the weasel family. The hair was bunched together and tied into quills. Larger hog bristle brushes were made in the same fashion. The water added to the pigments and the overall process of drying and setting in tempera painting forced the artist to add the paint media at the last moment of painting. The Media was usually egg yolk. Different pigments all needed different amounts of media. Egg fats are non drying and survive little change through time. If the ratio of media to pigment is correct the dried painting will be long lasting and durable. Mixed properly the colors will stay rich and survive the test of time retaining the original glow of the painting. But a major draw back to painting in tempera is that application of the paint is severely limited. It could not be blended or manipulated while its wet, nor can it be applied thick. Or it will crack and flake off the gessoed surface. Tempera must be applied to the surface with a hatched or stippled technique. So modeling of colors needs to be applied to layer after layer. Thus resulting in largely flat images.
Tempera Painting was a practical and beautiful method for painters at the time, but times change. During the renaissance there was an advent of scientific discoveries and a need to represent art differently to the people, so oil paintings quickly replaced tempera. oil painting was developed in Europe in the late Middle Ages. Oil paint consists of pigment ground in oil that dries when it is exposure to air. The pigments were mostly the same as in tempera painting but must be lightproof, insoluble, and chemically inert. The oil is usually linseed but may be poppy or walnut. Sometimes varnish is added to the mixture, which is then ground. The result is a stiff, creamy paste. A larger variety of colors were able to be mixed because after the pigments were created into paints an artist could then mix a variety of colors on his own. Oil paints were accepted because they were easier to work with and permitted a greater variety of effects. And there are various ways of applying oil paint, unlike tempera. The paint is not limited to linear brushstrokes or stippling and hatching. The renaissance artist of the 14th century could now apply wet paint in glazes, washes, thick or thin, with a large range of brush strokes.
The Essay on Chinese Painting
Chinese Painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world, it is also known in Chinese as Guohua. Traditional painting involves essentially the same techniques as calligraphy which is done with a brush dipped in black or colored ink. Compared with the western style of painting, oils are not used in Chinese Painting. Chinese paintings were usually painted on paper or silk; ...
This gave artists the ability to model form and light more naturally. Oils dry relatively slow and have little change in color. Changes are easy to make and advances in representation were surfacing. Now the creation of realistic environments and figure were within the reach of artist. Oils proved to be the better painting media and method. More practical then tempera, because they were able to create a large range of tones and colors. And mistakes were affordable because with oils they are easily correctable. Oils took the place of tempera in every away in the contemporary renaissance artists studio. The desire to create realistic paintings where reached with the benefits of oils. Prior to these well modeled oil paintings were Iconic tempera paintings. Icon paintings were images of a religious figure or event. Most done in tempera painting they would depict Christian saints and events. Painted on churches or on alter pieces they had a profound effect on the population. The artist would represent Catholic events and people could identify the stories and figures with pictures. The Catholic church was literally in homes all across Europe. Personal alter pieces were commissioned so that worship could be carried on in the homes of Catholics.
The Essay on The Similarities Between Adolf Hitler And Jesus Christ
The Similarities Between Adolf Hitler and Jesus Christ Many individuals hold the opinion that Adolf Hitler (1889 1945) and Jesus Christ (6 BC AD 30) have nothing in common; however, similarities become apparent when one contemplates both Hitlers and Christs objectives and influences upon the world. Adolf Hitlers main objective was to have a world populated by a superior Aryan race. Hitler almost ...
It personalized the religion and created popular imagery which evolved into iconic symbols. These iconic alter pieces were not only art and religion, they were a way of life. It was not only a visual manifestation of saints and tales. These small alter paintings were created to teach the populace what the catholic church and government wanted. They reshaped renaissance society. The Crucifixion, With The Mourning Virgin And Saints Mary Magdalene And John The Evangelist, was a tempera painting done in the mid 1330?s by the Italian Niccolo Di Segna. It is a small alter piece and has all the essential characteristics of an iconogrphic tempera alter piece. The painting is the center piece in a triptych. A triptych is a painting with three panels. The center panel, the panel being discussed is the base of the structure. It is the main piece, One can deduce from the brackets and hinges on both the left and right of the main piece, that two other pieces were attached this main peice. Most likely smaller shutters which close onto the main piece completely covering it. It has a pointed top, and gives the impression almost like a small chapel. Gold tooling wraps around the entire border of the piece.
Gold tooling was a technique that was used to separate halos and borders from their flat gold backgrounds. Lines and holes were punched into the gold creating elaborate raised designs. The practice of gold tooling became popular by the 1350?s. The gold tooling raised the surface of the piece and this gave the impression of an architectural structure which further feeds to the impression or a chapel or place of worship. The negative space in the altar piece is completely gold. Gold backgrounds hold an intrinsic characteristic of iconic tempera paintings. A lack of a represented background takes the figures out of a time and space. It freezes them in an eternal moment because there are no signs of time of day, season, or even location. The gold also illuminates around all figures and lets the viewer know that the event and patrons of the event are important. Gold backgrounds were a common theme in iconic temperas. Painted in tempera on a flat piece of wood. is the scene of Christ dead on the cross with The Virgin, John the Evangelist and Mary Magdalene all mourning. The figures are arranged in a triangular formation, which plays off of the overall shape of the wood. At the very top of the crucifix is a nest of pelicans. A pelican is a biblical reference to sacrifice. The Pelican refers to Christ and his sacrifice for all of humanity. Legend of the pelican is that it will pierce its own breast, and feed its children its own flesh to save them from starvation. This is a direct relationship to Christ dying on the cross, giving up his body and flesh to save his children and humanity from sin.
The Essay on The Death Of Jesus Christ
Jesus' life has provided for the religion of Christianity. Jesus was and is a very important part of modern life, and without him, our lives would be totally different today. In this paper, we are trying to dig deeper into the meaning of Jesus' crucifixion and death. The basis of the writings about Jesus' death is solely made up of literature, and no physical structures. In the Bible, the four ...
?Jesus knew that by now everything had been completed; and in order to make the scripture come true he said, ?I am thirsty.? ?Jesus drank the wine and said ?It is finished!? Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.? This is the part of the narrative of Jesus that the painting picks up after. The painting depicts Jesus dead on the cross. His green complexion and twisted body show him a life less corpse. The green pigment would have taken much effort to mix and apply. His head is bowed just as the scripture says and his eyes are shut. His naked body with out genitalia is represented lifeless on the cross. Hanging by a nail driven through each hand and one through both feet Jesus is facing his mother. Blood is trickling down from his hands and feet. The blood from is feet travels down the cross and onto a skull on the ground. The ground represents hilltop of the ?place of the skull?, or in Hebrew Golgotha. This is were they crucified all the criminals, but the skull on the ground does not represent a common criminal. It is representative of Adam?s skull. Adam being the first man and he committed original sin for all of mankind in the garden of Eden. Christ had then suffered and died on the cross to resurrect this sin.
Christ is the second coming of man and the link between Adam and him is literally represented in the link of blood which runs from Christ?s feet to the skull. Jesus? right side is spraying blood, representing the narrative and fulfillment of a prophecy. The scripture had said that ? not one of his bone will be broken? and ?People will look at him whom they pierced.? This is significant because when criminals were taken down from the cross their legs would be broken if they had not died yet. The Jewish authorities order Christ to be taken from the cross, but they saw he was already dead so they pierced his side with a spear. Thus fulfilling two prophecies, one being no bones of Christ had been broken and two being the blood and water that poured out of Jesus dead body. ?Standing close to Jesus? cross were his mother, his mothers sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing there; so he said to his mother, ?He is your son.? Then he said to the disciple, ?she is your mother.?
The Essay on Iconographic Representation Of Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ, by Christian tradition is known as the lamb of God or the sacrificial lamb, so he is symbolized by a very young lamb seated on a nest of thorns. Other than this Christ is also known as ‘the fisher of men’ which relates to the biblical story of how He was able to gather people into His flock so that they would submit to His teachings; so the ancient symbol for Christ is a simple ...
This scene is represented right below Jesus on the cross. The blood from Christ?s side sprays down to his mother, The Virgin Mary. She is in a blue robe, a common ultramarine pigment popular at the time of this painting. Her hands are clasped and praying and her eyes are fixed on her dead son. Mary has a cloak over her head not completely covering her hair. Her face shines through and cheeks are rosy, representative of her still being alive. The Virgin is represented extremely iconographical. All her attributes are represented in a very popular style for the time. The blue of her robe, her rosy cheeks, the way she stands and holds her hands were all popular positions for the time. Below The Virgin is Mary Magdalene. She is holding onto the cross at Jesus? feet and looking up at him. She is in vermilion red, a popular choice of color for the time it was painted in. She appears to be weeping. Mary Magdalene is the only figure in physical contact with Christ, but she is the lowest figure in the composition. She is there to represent sinners who have been saved by the love of God. Mary Magdalene was a prostitute but gave up her debauchees and followed Christ?s Teachings. She is a symbol of the forgiveness of God and how if we all repent then Gods love could save us as well.
To the Far right of the piece is John the Evangelist. He is in Biblical garb as well, Represented in red and blue, John in turning away from Christ?s body with great sadness. His hands are clasped and a single foot touches the ground. John the Evangelist was one of the 12 apostles. He was also known as Saint John the Divine, he became a disciple first of John the Baptist and then of Jesus Christ. John was made him an apostle after he witnessed Jesus being betrayed in Gethsemane. John is iconographically always present at the crucifixion of Jesus in Italian Tempera paintings. The Tempera Painting is over all Iconic of the 14th century, it has traits and characteristics which are very representative of the time. But as Science and society progressed other forms of artistic expression were needed. It makes sense that the next logical style of painting would arise. Oil paintings filled the void of realism in tempera painting. Gerard David?s, Lamentation, was painted in 1515. It is oil on wood and is a scene and narrative very similar to Di Segna?s, but represented completely different. The use of oils allows David to capture a realism that could not be achieved by tempera paints.
The Lamentation of Christ takes place after Christ had been taken down from the cross. Jesus taken down from the cross lays dead in John the Evangelists arms and the Virgin is holding her dead son?s head up. They are in physical contact with Jesus something not seen in the previous painting. This would give the viewer the impression of Jesus being more human, and would be able to relate more to the narrative. Mary Magdalene is again at Jesus? feet, wiping a tear from her eye. Directly behind her is an open tomb, which is open signifying Jesus? death. The cloths of both John and the virgin were typical, but rendered to look smoother and more cloth like than the previous painting. The expressions on both the Virgins and Johns face are human. They ceased to be stylized expressions like of that tempera paintings now were they hold emotions and substance. No longer were iconic paintings striking the same emotional cord that they once did, with the advent of oil paints a new realism was achieved and the public wanted to see it. No longer was in necessary for theses small alter pieces to intellectually evoke feelings. Now the viewer could see the drops of blood glistening on Christ? brow.
His life like flesh now represented a dead man. A quality of life, emotions and mood was captured because the figures in the paintings looked like the viewers of the painting. The connection from the real world to the picture plane was an easy leap. Pathos for the characters in the art could be easily reached. And since all the human emotions struck close to home and intellectual artist such as David knew he could make changes to an age old narrative and have it be more affective. He literally brought the story of Christ?s Lamentation into the ?modern? world. For instance, Mary Magdalene is dressed in contemporary Netherladish clothing of the 1500?s. David took the narative out of its time and put it into his, yet still retained the story and strengthened the meaning for his generation. Now the people of the Netherlands in 1515 could directly relate to the painting and historic event. Now detailed negative spaces could be painted in around the figures. No longer was it an ambiguous space like in tempera painting. The viewer could tell what time of day it was, what season, even what shrubbery was on the ground. There were specifics involved and all these details, in the eyes of 16th century viewer it became real.
Even the facial physiognomy of the figure relates to the people of the contemporary time. The painting retains much of the story line of the previous Tempera. Both take place on the Hill of Golgotha. But the David painting articulates it with specifics. The skull of Adam lies in the middle ground just as it did in Di Signa?s and the inscription on the cross are the same. The cross in David?s does not extend as vertically high as Di Signa?s. Behind the dead Christ is the city of Jerusalem, which lies in fertile green valleys which were common in the Netherlands. Further playing up the idea of the narrative being relevant to modern times. Lamentation is a larger scale oil painting on wood, it is framed and was created for a relatively large audience. The painting would have been displayed in a church or a home. The Tempera painting by Di Signa, was an alter piece meant for personal use. The sheer scale of both paintings play an enormous part in what the paintings can communicate. The Alter piece was most likely commissioned for a family or small church. This was common practice in the 1300, but by the 1515?s viewers craved more life like images. Not only the scale of the paintings increased but also the detail and quality.
The paintings now moved away small single person viewing works to a larger painting that could be shared by the community. The church became a social event and paintings began to reflect that. Jesus now obtained its his own aesthetic, painting became a vehicle to bolster the Catholic church and Christian way of life. Citizens all over Europe could relate too and recognize not only Christianity but also societies ethics, moral, and over all way of life. Art reflects life. One can look at two pieces of painting about the same event and recognize that the handling of the representation is different. These differences are based on the times they live in and media that is available, then one can see an evolution in art. Art is always malleable to the times, it needs to grow and expand to reach the viewers in their lives. Art can never stay static. Paintings are always one artist?s representation of when they live.
Bibliography:
paper on oil and tempera painting from rennisance.
