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Michelangelo da Caravaggio – The painter of the greatest diligence in the most exquisite way
After staying in Milan for his apprenticeship, Michelangelo da Caravaggio arrived in Rome in 1592. There he started to paint with both realism and psychological analysis of the sitters. Caravaggio was as temperamental in his painting as in his wild life. As he also responded to prestigious Church commissions, his dramatic style and his realism were seen as unacceptable.
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CARAVAGGIO- THE PAINTER OF PLEASURES AND TABOOS
Exhibition: Discovering Caravaggio. Technical study and restoration of Saint Catherine of Alexandria Date: From 17 December 2018 to 26 May 2019 Venue: Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid Although Caravaggio and his art may have forgotten for almost three hundred years, it can safely be said that since the beginning of the 20th century this oversight has largely been compensated for. Despite his dismissal by critics (was it not Poussin who stated that he came in order to destroy painting?) and his fall into oblivion, his name seems to have reappeared in collective memory during certain periods of history. Even in his own time, a contemporary of Caravaggio, Giovanni Baglione recognised the artist’s…
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Shelley’s Art Musings – Spotlight on Rembrandt
When you look at art throughout the ages, there is nothing quite so extravagant as the late renaissance moving through to the Baroque period. The artwork is indulgent and highly detailed, with every aspect of the frame covered. Rembrandt was known as a master of this field, producing elaborate self-portraits and depictions of biblical scenes embedded his name in the art world for the ages. Born Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn in 1606, he was the son of a miller and was able to attend a Latin school. At the age of 14, he began to study at the University of Leiden, but finding academia was not for him, he took…
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If it ain’t Baroque, fix it!
Bear with me here. The Baroque movement is a combination of beauty and grotesque; high drama with intense focus on every element. It started under the influence of the Roman Catholic Church in Italy during the 1600s. A century later, during the late 1720s in France, Rococo was invented – was this a backhanded attempt at a war between the Romance languages and arts? Meant to create imagery for those unable to read, Baroque set out to be a symbol of unity among the masses. In light of the most recent events in the US, a country that claims to want unity while ceaselessly coming up short, I can’t help…
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Avec ou sans Formes ?
Un corps parfait. C’est ce que prône la mode du XXIᵉ siècle. À l’époque où la maigreur est de mise, où le naturel tend à disparaître au profit du superficiel, où, à en observer les magazines et les mentalités, seules les femmes très minces sont considérées comme « belles », que penser des célèbres nus de Rubens ? Ces nus bien en chair, voluptueux, aux formes généreuses, ces corps d’une blancheur extrême mais surtout d’une sensualité sans précédent que le maître du Baroque prenait plaisir à réaliser ? Une adolescente penserait probablement des Trois Grâces qu’elles sont : « grasses ». Personnellement, je pense que Rubens, par son talent et sa façon de peindre, a…
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Bernini: The Beauty and The Beast
Rome is the city of light, certainly, but it is also the city of water. Tourists may visit for the city’s celebrated history and architecture, but they leave entranced by the babbling fountains which dot the city like stars. What most don’t realize is that most of those fountains were designed by the same man: the astoundingly talented Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Immortalized in countless great works of cinema, from Frederico Felini’s La Dolce Vita to Woody Allen’s To Rome With Love, Bernini’s fountains are essential to the character of this most romantic of cities. His Fontana della Barcaccia on the Spanish Steps even provided the backdrop for Gregory Peck and…
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Photoshopping and Photobombing…Peter Paul Rubens-Style!
When I open any magazine these days, I look at the photos of waif-like women with perfect skin, hair and teeth, without a jot of cellulite to be seen, and it’s what I expect to see. I admit it! The world of mass media has done its work very well indeed. There is perhaps a handful of women who may be naturally blessed with the genetic make-up to look as flawless as those pictured on billboards without the help of Photoshop. And that’s just it; technology such as Photoshop gives me expectations. If I were to see an ad with the models remaining unaltered, I would be surprised. It’s human…
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Rubens, Making Women Look Good Since 1698
Though Peter Paul Rubens’ impressive works are around 400 years old, I still find comfort in his representations of the female body. They are round, plush, and beautiful. Ruben’s women make me feel more comfortable in my own skin, regardless of my weight or how many dimples are on my thighs – okay, that’s not entirely true, I have a mini-breakdown any time I discover one and try chalking it up more to the fact that I’m getting older and less that I haven’t stepped foot in a gym in at least four years*. What is going on in our society where models and actresses are all thinner than thin,…
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