1.
Italy
–
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
Italy
–
The
Colosseum in Rome, built c. 70 – 80 AD, is considered one of the greatest works of
architecture and
engineering of ancient history.
Italy
–
Flag
Italy
–
The
Iron Crown of Lombardy, for centuries symbol of the
Kings of Italy.
Italy
–
Castel del Monte, built by German Emperor
Frederick II,
UNESCO World Heritage site
2.
Renaissance
–
The Renaissance was a period in European history, from the 14th to the 17th century, regarded as the cultural bridge between the Middle Ages and modern history. It started as a movement in Italy in the Late Medieval period and later spread to the rest of Europe. This new thinking became manifest in art, architecture, politics, science, Early examples were the development of perspective in oil painting and the recycled knowledge of how to make concrete. Although the invention of movable type sped the dissemination of ideas from the later 15th century. In politics, the Renaissance contributed to the development of the customs and conventions of diplomacy, the Renaissance began in Florence, in the 14th century. Other major centres were northern Italian city-states such as Venice, Genoa, Milan, Bologna, the word Renaissance, literally meaning Rebirth in French, first appeared in English in the 1830s. The word also occurs in Jules Michelets 1855 work, Histoire de France, the word Renaissance has also been extended to other historical and cultural movements, such as the Carolingian Renaissance and the Renaissance of the 12th century. The Renaissance was a movement that profoundly affected European intellectual life in the early modern period. Renaissance scholars employed the humanist method in study, and searched for realism, however, a subtle shift took place in the way that intellectuals approached religion that was reflected in many other areas of cultural life. In addition, many Greek Christian works, including the Greek New Testament, were back from Byzantium to Western Europe. Political philosophers, most famously Niccolò Machiavelli, sought to describe life as it really was. Others see more competition between artists and polymaths such as Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Donatello, and Masaccio for artistic commissions as sparking the creativity of the Renaissance. Yet it remains much debated why the Renaissance began in Italy, accordingly, several theories have been put forward to explain its origins. During the Renaissance, money and art went hand in hand, Artists depended entirely on patrons while the patrons needed money to foster artistic talent. Wealth was brought to Italy in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries by expanding trade into Asia, silver mining in Tyrol increased the flow of money. Luxuries from the Eastern world, brought home during the Crusades, increased the prosperity of Genoa, unlike with Latin texts, which had been preserved and studied in Western Europe since late antiquity, the study of ancient Greek texts was very limited in medieval Western Europe. One of the greatest achievements of Renaissance scholars was to bring this entire class of Greek cultural works back into Western Europe for the first time since late antiquity, Arab logicians had inherited Greek ideas after they had invaded and conquered Egypt and the Levant. Their translations and commentaries on these ideas worked their way through the Arab West into Spain and Sicily and this work of translation from Islamic culture, though largely unplanned and disorganized, constituted one of the greatest transmissions of ideas in history
Renaissance
–
David, by
Michelangelo (
Accademia di Belle Arti,
Florence) is a masterpiece of Renaissance and world art.
Renaissance
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Renaissance
Renaissance
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Leonardo da Vinci 's
Vitruvian Man (c. 1490) shows clearly the effect writers of Antiquity had on Renaissance thinkers. Based on the specifications in
Vitruvius '
De architectura (1st century BC), Leonardo tried to draw the perfectly proportioned man.
Renaissance
–
Portrait of a young woman (c. 1480-85) (
Simonetta Vespucci) by
Sandro Botticelli
3.
Vicenza
–
Vicenza listen is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the base of the Monte Berico. Vicenza is approximately 60 kilometres west of Venice and 200 kilometres east of Milan, Vicenza is a thriving and cosmopolitan city, with a rich history and culture, and many museums, art galleries, piazzas, villas, churches and elegant Renaissance palazzi. With the Palladian Villas of the Veneto in the area, and his renowned Teatro Olimpico. In December 2008, Vicenza had an population of 115,927. Additionally, about one fifth of the gold and jewelry is made in Vicenza. Another important sector is the engineering/computer components industry, vicentia was settled by the Italic Euganei tribe and then by the Paleo-Veneti tribe in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. The Romans allied themselves with the Paleo-Veneti in their fight against the Celtic tribes that populated north-western Italy, the Roman presence in the area grew exponentially over time and the Paleo-Veneti were gradually assimilated. In 157 BC, the city was a de facto Roman centre and was given the name of Vicetia or Vincentia, the citizens of Vicetia received Roman citizenship and were inscribed into the Roman tribe Romilia in 49 BC. It was also an important Lombard city and then a Frankish center, numerous Benedictine monasteries were built in the Vicenza area, beginning in the 6th century. In 899, Vicenza was destroyed by Magyar raiders, in 1001, Otto III handed over the government of the city to the bishop, and its communal organization had an opportunity to develop, separating soon from the episcopal authority. When peace was restored, however, the old rivalry with Padua, Bassano, and other cities was renewed, besides there were the internal factions of the Vivaresi. The tyrannical Ezzelino III from Bassano drove the Guelphs out of Vicenza, the independent commune joined the Second Lombard League against Emperor Frederick II, and was sacked by that monarch, after which it was annexed to Ezzelinos dominions. Vicenza came under rule of Venice in 1404, and its subsequent history is that of Venice and it was besieged by the Emperor Sigismund, and Maximilian I held possession of it in 1509 and 1516. Vicenza was a candidate to host the Council of Trent, after 1797, under Napoleonic rule, it was made a duché grand-fief within Napoleons personal Kingdom of Italy for general Caulaincourt, also imperial Grand-Écuyer. After 1814, Vicenza passed to the Austrian Empire, in 1848, however, the populace rose against Austria, more violently than in any other Italian centre apart from Milan and Brescia. As a part of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, it was annexed to Italy after the Third War of Italian independence, after the end of the latter, what followed was a period of depression following the devasatation caused by two world wars. In the following years, the development grew vertiginously
Vicenza
–
A collage of Vicenza showing: the Villa Capra "La Rotonda", the classical temple in the Parco Querini, a panorama of the city from the
Monte Berico, the Piazza dei Signori and the Renaissance Basilica Palladiana.
Vicenza
–
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Vicenza
–
Vicenza during flooding, November 2010
Vicenza
–
The Basilica Palladiana
4.
Venice
–
Venice is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is situated across a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and these are located in the shallow Venetian Lagoon, an enclosed bay that lies between the mouths of the Po and the Piave Rivers. Parts of Venice are renowned for the beauty of their settings, their architecture, the lagoon and a part of the city are listed as a World Heritage Site. In 2014,264,579 people resided in Comune di Venezia, together with Padua and Treviso, the city is included in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, with a total population of 2.6 million. PATREVE is a metropolitan area without any degree of autonomy. The name is derived from the ancient Veneti people who inhabited the region by the 10th century BC, the city was historically the capital of the Republic of Venice. Venice has been known as the La Dominante, Serenissima, Queen of the Adriatic, City of Water, City of Masks, City of Bridges, The Floating City, and City of Canals. The City State of Venice is considered to have been the first real international financial center which gradually emerged from the 9th century to its peak in the 14th century and this made Venice a wealthy city throughout most of its history. It is also known for its several important artistic movements, especially the Renaissance period, Venice has played an important role in the history of symphonic and operatic music, and it is the birthplace of Antonio Vivaldi. Venice has been ranked the most beautiful city in the world as of 2016, the name Venetia, however, derives from the Roman name for the people known as the Veneti, and called by the Greeks Eneti. The meaning of the word is uncertain, although there are other Indo-European tribes with similar-sounding names, such as the Celtic Veneti, Baltic Veneti, and the Slavic Wends. Linguists suggest that the name is based on an Indo-European root *wen, so that *wenetoi would mean beloved, lovable, a connection with the Latin word venetus, meaning the color sea-blue, is also possible. The alternative obsolete form is Vinegia, some late Roman sources reveal the existence of fishermen on the islands in the original marshy lagoons. They were referred to as incolae lacunae, the traditional founding is identified with the dedication of the first church, that of San Giacomo on the islet of Rialto — said to have taken place at the stroke of noon on 25 March 421. Beginning as early as AD166 to 168, the Quadi and Marcomanni destroyed the center in the area. The Roman defences were again overthrown in the early 5th century by the Visigoths and, some 50 years later, New ports were built, including those at Malamocco and Torcello in the Venetian lagoon. The tribuni maiores, the earliest central standing governing committee of the islands in the Lagoon, the traditional first doge of Venice, Paolo Lucio Anafesto, was actually Exarch Paul, and his successor, Marcello Tegalliano, was Pauls magister militum. In 726 the soldiers and citizens of the Exarchate rose in a rebellion over the controversy at the urging of Pope Gregory II
Venice
–
A collage of Venice: at the top left is the
Piazza San Marco, followed by a view of the city, then the
Grand Canal, and (smaller) the interior of
La Fenice and, finally, the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore
Venice
–
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Venice
–
Photography of Venice at dusk
Venice
–
The Grand Canal seen from the bridge at
Ponte di Rialto
5.
Verona
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Verona is a city on the Adige river in Veneto, Italy, with approximately 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third largest in northeast Italy, the metropolitan area of Verona covers an area of 1,426 km2 and has a population of 714,274 inhabitants. Three of Shakespeares plays are set in Verona, Romeo and Juliet, The Two Gentlemen of Verona and it is unknown if Shakespeare ever visited Verona or Italy at all, but his plays have lured many visitors to Verona and surrounding cities many times over. The city has been awarded World Heritage Site status by UNESCO because of its structure and architecture. According to a theory that considers the geographical position of the city, Verona is short for Versus Romae which means In the direction of Rome because as italian people say All roads lead to Rome. The exclamation Vae Romae if understood in Latin means Alas Rome, in fact, to express distress or denounce a disgrace ancient Romans used the Latin interjection vae. So, you explain the famous poem by William Shakespeare There is no world without Verona walls, But purgatory, torture. Hence-banished is banishd from the world, And worlds exile is death, the writer would express a Roman concept through its character named Romeo, a name that invokes Rome, according to which the city of Verona was a boundary between the Roman world and barbaric one. Verona was a place of passage and to horses, for those who wanted to go and had walked the Via Claudia Augusta. So the expression Vae Romae Alas Rome would indicate spirit of the place, another theory is that it is connected to the river. Vera was a name of the river Adige before the adoption of the current name, as in many similar instances in Europe the name of the town is formed with the addition of suffix -ona which means settlement over. The city was sometimes known as Welsch-Bern in German. The precise details of Veronas early history remain a mystery, one theory is it was a city of the Euganei, who were obliged to give it up to the Cenomani. With the conquest of the Valley of the Po the Veronese territory became Roman, Verona became a Roman colonia in 89 BC, and then a municipium in 49 BC when its citizens were ascribed to the Roman tribe Poblilia or Publicia. The city became important because it was at the intersection of several roads, stilicho defeated Alaric and his Visigoths here in 403. But, after Verona was conquered by the Ostrogoths in 489, theoderic the Great was said to have built a palace there. It remained under the power of the Goths throughout the Gothic War, except for a day in 541. The defections that took place among the Byzantine generals with regard to the booty made it possible for the Goths to regain possession of the city, in 552 Valerian vainly endeavored to enter the city, but it was only when they were fully overthrown that the Goths surrendered it
Verona
–
A collage of the city of Verona, Clockwise from top left to right: View of Piazza Bra from Verona Arena, House of Juliet, Verona Arena, Ponte Pietra at sunset, Statue of Madonna Verona's fountain in Piazza Erbe, View of Piazza Erbe from Lamberti Tower
Verona
–
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Verona
–
Statue of
Dante Alighieri in Verona
Verona
–
Panoramic view of the city from Castel San Pietro
6.
Padua
–
Padua is a city and comune in Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic, the city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, which has a population of c. Padua stands on the Bacchiglione River,40 kilometres west of Venice and 29 km southeast of Vicenza, the Brenta River, which once ran through the city, still touches the northern districts. Its agricultural setting is the Venetian Plain, to the citys south west lies the Euganaean Hills, praised by Lucan and Martial, Petrarch, Ugo Foscolo, and Shelley. It hosts the University of Padua, founded in 1222, where Galileo Galilei was a lecturer, Padua is the setting for most of the action in Shakespeares The Taming of the Shrew. There is a play by the Victorian writer Oscar Wilde, titled The Duchess Of Padua, the original significance of the Roman name Patavium is uncertain. It may be connected with the ancient name of the River Po, additionally, the root pat-, in the Indo-European language may refer to a wide open plain as opposed to nearby hills. The ending -ium, signifies the presence of villages that have united themselves together, Padua claims to be the oldest city in northern Italy. According to a tradition dated at least to the time of Virgils Aeneid and to Livys Ab Urbe Condita, Padua was founded in around 1183 BC by the Trojan prince Antenor. After the Fall of Troy, Antenor led a group of Trojans and their Paphlagonian allies, the Eneti or Veneti, thus, when a large ancient stone sarcophagus was exhumed in the year 1274, officials of medieval commune declared the remains within to be those of Antenor. Nevertheless, archeological remains confirm a date for the foundation of the center of the town to between the 11th and 10th centuries BC. The Roman historian Livy records an invasion of the Spartan king Cleonimos around 302 BC. The Spartans came up the river but were defeated by the Veneti in a naval battle, still later, the Veneti of Padua successfully defended themselves against the aggression of Etruscans and Gauls. According to Livy and Silius Italicus, the Veneti, including those of Padua, formed an alliance with the Romans by 226 BC, against their common enemy, men from Padua fought and died besides the Romans at Cannae. As the Romans advanced northward, Padua was gradually assimilated into the Roman Republic, in 175 BC, Padua requested the aid of Rome in putting down a local civil war. In 91 BC, Padua, along with cities of the Veneti. Around 49 BC, Padua was made a Roman municipium under the Lex Julia Municipalis and its citizens ascribed to the Roman tribe, at that time the population of the city was perhaps 40,000. The city was reputed for its excellent breed of horses and the wool of its sheep, in fact, the poet Martial remarks on the thickness of the tunics made there
Padua
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Remnants of Padua's
Roman amphitheatre wall.
Padua
–
The unfinished façade of
Padua Cathedral
Padua
–
Last Judgment by
Giotto, part of the
Scrovegni Chapel.
7.
Madonna (art)
–
A Madonna is a representation of Mary, either alone or with her child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Catholic and Orthodox churches, the word is from Italian ma donna, meaning my lady. Or descriptive of the posture, as in Hodegetria, Eleusa. The term Madonna in the sense of picture or statue of the Virgin Mary enters English usage in the 17th century, in an Eastern Orthodox context, such images are typically known as Theotokos. Madonna may be used of representations of Mary, with or without the infant Jesus, is the focus and central figure of the image. Other types of Marian imagery have a context, depicting scenes from the Life of the Virgin. The earliest depictions of Mary date still to Early Christianity, found in the Catacombs of Rome and these are in a narrative context. The Theotokos iconography as it developed in the 6th to 8th century rose to importance in the high medieval period both in the Eastern Orthodox and in the Latin spheres. Liturgy depicting Mary as powerful intercessor was brought from Greek into Latin tradition in the 8th century, the Greek title of Δεσποινα was adopted as Latin Domina Lady. The medieval Italian Ma Donna pronounced reflects Mea Domina, while Nostra Domina was adopted in French and these names signal both the increased importance of the cult of the virgin and the prominence of art in service to Marian devotion during the late medieval period. Madonna was meant more to people of the theological concept which is placing such a high value on purity or virginity. This is also represented by the color of her clothing, the color blue symbolized purity, virginity, and royalty. In this sense, a Madonna, or a Madonna with Child is used of works of art. There are several types of representation of the Madonna. One type of Madonna shows Mary alone, and standing, generally glorified and with a gesture of prayer and this type of image occurs in a number of ancient apsidal mosaics. Full-length standing images of the Madonna more frequently include the infant Jesus, the most famous Byzantine image, the Hodegetria was originally of this type, though most copies are at half-length. There are a number of paintings that depict the Madonna in this manner. The Madonna enthroned is a type of image that dates from the Byzantine period and was used widely in Medieval and these representations of the Madonna and Child often take the form of large altarpieces
Madonna (art)
–
The Virgin and Child or The Madonna of the Book by
Sandro Botticelli, 1480.
Madonna (art)
–
Madonna and Child by
Filippo Lippi
Madonna (art)
–
Icon of the enthroned Virgin and Child with saints and angels, and the
Hand of God above, 6th century,
Saint Catherine's Monastery, perhaps the earliest iconic image of the subject to survive.
Madonna (art)
–
13th century Madonna with Child in the Italo-Byzantine style.
8.
Giovanni Bellini
–
Giovanni Bellini was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. His father was Jacopo Bellini, his brother was Gentile Bellini and he is considered to have revolutionized Venetian painting, moving it towards a more sensuous and colouristic style. Through the use of clear, slow-drying oil paints, Giovanni created deep, rich tints and his sumptuous coloring and fluent, atmospheric landscapes had a great effect on the Venetian painting school, especially on his pupils Giorgione and Titian. Giovanni Bellini was born in Venice and he was brought up in his fathers house, and always lived and worked in the closest fraternal relation with his brother Gentile. Up until the age of nearly thirty we find in his work a depth of religious feeling and his paintings from the early period are all executed in the old tempera method, the scene is softened by a new and beautiful effect of romantic sunrise color. Giovannis early works have often been linked both compositionally and stylistically to those of his brother-in-law, Andrea Mantegna, none of the masters works of this kind, whether painted for the various schools or confraternities or for the ducal palace, have survived. As is the case with a number of his brother, Gentiles public works of the period, the still more famous altar-piece painted in tempera for a chapel in the church of S. Giovanni e Paolo, where it perished along with Titians Peter Martyr, after 1479–1480 much of Giovannis time and energy must also have been taken up by his duties as conservator of the paintings in the great hall of the Doges Palace. Of the other, the class of his work, including both altar-pieces with many figures and simple Madonnas, a considerable number have fortunately been preserved. The old intensity of pathetic and devout feeling gradually fades away and gives place to a noble, if more worldly, serenity, the full splendour of Venetian color invests alike the figures, their architectural framework, the landscape and the sky. An interval of years, no doubt chiefly occupied with work in the Hall of the Great Council, seems to separate the San Giobbe Altarpiece. Formally, the works are similar, so a comparison between serves to illustrate the shift in Bellinis work over the last decade of the 15th century. Both pictures are of the Holy Conversation type, both show the Madonna seated on a throne, between classicizing columns. Both place the holy figures beneath a golden mosaicked half dome that recalls the Byzantine architecture in the basilica of St. Mark. Stylistically, the lighting in the San Zaccaria piece has become so soft, Giovannis use of the oil medium had matured, and the holy figures seem to be swathed in a still, rarefied air. The San Zaccaria is considered perhaps the most beautiful and imposing of all Giovannis altarpieces, and is dated 1505, the last ten or twelve years of the masters life saw him besieged with more commissions than he could well complete. In 1505 she endeavoured through Cardinal Bembo to obtain from him another picture, what the subject of this piece was, or whether it was actually delivered, we do not know. In 1513 Giovannis position as master in charge of the paintings in the Hall of the Great Council was threatened by one of his former pupils
Giovanni Bellini
–
Self-portrait
Giovanni Bellini
–
St. Jerome in the Desert, c. 1455; Tempera on panel;
Barber Institute, Birmingham
Giovanni Bellini
–
Christ Blessing, 1500; Tempera, oil, and gold on panel;
Kimbell Art Museum, Texas.
Giovanni Bellini
–
Madonna and Child, c. 1480; oil;
Indianapolis Museum of Art
9.
Andrea Mantegna
–
Andrea Mantegna was an Italian painter, a student of Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective and his flinty, metallic landscapes and somewhat stony figures give evidence of a fundamentally sculptural approach to painting. He also led a workshop that was the producer of prints in Venice before 1500. Mantegna was born in Isola di Carturo, Republic of Venice close to Padua, second son of a carpenter, at the age of eleven he became the apprentice of Francesco Squarcione, Paduan painter. Squarcione, whose vocation was tailoring, appears to have had a remarkable enthusiasm for ancient art. All the while, he continued undertaking works on commission for which his pupils no less than himself were made available, as many as 137 painters and pictorial students passed through Squarciones school, which had been established towards 1440 and which became famous all over Italy. Padua was attractive for artists coming not only from Veneto but also from Tuscany, such as Paolo Uccello, Filippo Lippi, Mantegnas early career was shaped indeed by impressions of Florentine works. At the time, Mantegna was said to be a favorite pupil, Squarcione taught him Latin and instructed him to study fragments of Roman sculpture. The master also preferred forced perspective, the results of which may account for some of Mantegnas later innovations. However, at the age of seventeen, Mantegna separated himself from Squarcione and he later claimed that Squarcione had profited from his work without paying the rights. His first work, now lost, was an altarpiece for the church of Santa Sofia in 1448. After a series of coincidences, Mantegna finished most of the work alone, though Ansuino and this series was almost entirely lost in the 1944 allied bombings of Padua. The most dramatic work of the cycle was the work set in the worms-eye view perspective. The sketch of the St. Stephen fresco survived and is the earliest known preliminary sketch which still exists to compare to the corresponding fresco, the drawing shows proof that nude figures were used in the conception of works during the Early Renaissance. In the preliminary sketch, the perspective is less developed and closer to a more average viewpoint however, despite the authentic look of the monument, it is not a copy of any known Roman structure. Luke and other saints for the church of S. Giustina, as the young artist progressed in his work, he came under the influence of Jacopo Bellini, father of the celebrated painters Giovanni Bellini and Gentile Bellini, and of a daughter Nicolosia. In 1453 Jacopo consented to a marriage between Nicolosia and Mantegna, trained as he had been in the study of marbles and the severity of the antique, Mantegna openly avowed that he considered ancient art superior to nature as being more eclectic in form. As a result, the painter exercised precision in outline, privileging the figure, overall, Mantegnas work thus tended towards rigidity, demonstrating an austere wholeness rather than graceful sensitivity of expression
Andrea Mantegna
–
St. Sebastian, 1480; panel;
Musée du Louvre
Andrea Mantegna
–
Christ as the Suffering Redeemer. Christ resurrecting, depicted according to Luke 24:1-2, praising thre Lord with a hymn.
Andrea Mantegna
–
Judith and Holofernes, by Andrea Mantegna or possibly Giulio Campagnola
Andrea Mantegna
–
The Madonna of the Cherubim (1485).
10.
Brescia
–
Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometres from the lakes Garda, with a population of 196,480, it is the second largest city in the region and the fourth of northwest Italy. The urban area of Brescia extends beyond the city limits and has a population of 672,822. The city is the capital of the Province of Brescia, one of the largest in Italy. Founded over 3,200 years ago, Brescia has been an important regional centre since pre-Roman times, Brescia is considered the industrial capital of Italy. The metallurgy and the production of tools and firearms are of particular economic significance, along with mechanical. In addition, Brescia is the setting for most of the action in Alessandro Manzonis 1822 play Adelchi, Brescia and its territory will be the European Region of Gastronomy in 2017. Various myths relate to the founding of Brescia, one assigns it to Hercules while another attributes its foundation as Altilia by a fugitive from the siege of Troy. According to another myth, the founder was the king of the Ligures, Cidnus, colle Cidneo was named after that version, and it is the site of the medieval castle. Others scholars attribute the founding of Brescia to the Etruscans, the Gallic Cenomani, allies of the Insubres, invaded in the 7th century BC, and used the town as their capital. The city became Roman in 225 BC, when the Cenomani submitted to the Romans, during the Carthaginian Wars, Brixia was allied with the Romans. During a Celtic alliance against the city remained fateful to the Romans, with their Roman allies the city remain and attacked and destroyed the Insubres by surprise. Subsequently, the city and the tribe entered the Roman world peacefully as faithful allies, in 89 BC, Brixia was recognized as civitas and in 41 BC, its inhabitants received Roman citizenship. Augustus founded a colony there in 27 BC, and he. Roman Brixia had at least three temples, an aqueduct, a theatre, a forum with another temple built under Vespasianus, when Constantine advanced against Maxentius in 312, an engagement took place at Brixia in which the enemy was forced to retreat as far as Verona. In 402, the city was ravaged by the Visigoths of Alaric I, during the 452 invasion of the Huns under Attila, the city was besieged and sacked. Forty years later, it was one of the first conquests by the Gothic general Theoderic the Great in his war against Odoacer, in 568, Brescia was taken from the Byzantines by the Lombards, who made it the capital of one of their semi-independent duchies. The first duke was Alachis, who died in 573, later dukes included the future kings of the Lombards Rothari and Rodoald, and Alachis II, a fervent anti-Catholic who was killed in battle at Cornate dAdda in 688
Brescia
Brescia
Brescia
Brescia
11.
Scuola Grande di San Marco
–
The Scuola Grande di San Marco is a building in Venice, Italy. It originally was the home to one of the six major sodalities or Scuole Grandi of Venice and it faces the Campo San Giovanni e Paolo, one of the largest squares in the city. The edifice was built by the Confraternity of San Marco in 1260 to act as its seat. In 1485, however, it was destroyed by a large fire, the façade, a masterwork with delicately decorated niches and pilasters, and with white or polychrome marble statues, was later completed by Mauro Codussi. Three of the greatest Italian explorers of the century, Giosafat Barbaro, Ambrogio Contarini. In 1819 it became an Austrian military hospital and it is now a civil hospital
Scuola Grande di San Marco
–
The Scuola Grande of San Marco.
12.
Flood myth
–
A flood myth or deluge myth is a narrative in which a great flood, usually sent by a deity or deities, destroys civilization, often in an act of divine retribution. Most flood myths also contain a culture hero, who represents the human craving for life, the Mesopotamian flood stories concern the epics of Ziusudra, Gilgamesh, and Atrahasis. In the Sumerian King List, it relies on the motif to divide its history into preflood and postflood periods. The preflood kings had enormous lifespans, whereas postflood lifespans were much reduced, in the Atrahasis version, the flood is a river flood. In the Genesis mythology of the Hebrew Bible, Yahweh decides to flood the earth because of the depth of the state of mankind. Righteous Noah is given instructions to build an ark, when the ark is completed, Noah, his family, and representatives of all the animals of the earth are called upon to enter the ark. When the destructive flood begins, all life outside of the ark perishes, after the waters recede, all those aboard the ark disembark and have Gods promise that he will never judge the earth with a flood again. He gives the rainbow as the sign of this promise, in the 19th century, Assyriologist George Smith translated the Babylonian account of a great flood. Further discoveries produced several versions of the Mesopotamian flood myth, with the account closest to that in Genesis found in a 700 BCE Babylonian copy of the Epic of Gilgamesh, the vessel would save Utnapishtim, his family, his friends, and the animals. In Platos Timaeus, Timaeus says that because the Bronze race of Humans had been making wars constantly Zeus was angered and decided to punish humanity by a flood. Prometheus the Titan knew of this and told the secret to Deucalion, after 9 nights and days, the water started receding and the ark was landed at Mount Parnassus. In ancient Mesopotamia, the Sumerian King List reads After kingship came down from heaven, the kingship was taken to Shuruppak. In Shuruppak, Ubara-Tutu became king, he ruled for 5 sars and 1 ner, in 5 cities 8 kings, they ruled for 241,200 years. Excavations in Iraq have revealed evidence of localized flooding at Shuruppak, a layer of riverine sediments, radiocarbon dated to about 2900 BC, interrupts the continuity of settlement, extending as far north as the city of Kish, which took over hegemony after the flood. Polychrome pottery from the Jemdet Nasr period was discovered immediately below the Shuruppak flood stratum, other sites, such as Ur, Kish, Uruk, Lagash, and Ninevah, all present evidence of flooding. However, this comes from different time periods. Geologically, the Shuruppak flood coincides with the 5.9 kiloyear event at the end of the Older Peron, in Israel, there is no such evidence of a widespread flood. Given the similarities in the Mesopotamian flood story and the Biblical account, floods in the wake of the last glacial period may have inspired myths that survive to this day
Flood myth
–
"The Deluge", frontispiece to
Gustave Doré 's illustrated edition of the Bible. Based on the story of
Noah's Ark, this shows humans and a tiger doomed by the flood futilely attempting to save their children and cubs.
Flood myth
–
"The Deluge", by
John Martin, 1834. Oil on canvas.
Yale University
Flood myth
–
Matsya-
avatara of Lord
Vishnu pulls
Manu 's boat after having defeated the demon.
Flood myth
–
The Great Flood, by anonymous painter, The vom Rath bequest,
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
13.
Trachyte
–
Trachyte is an igneous volcanic rock with an aphanitic to porphyritic texture. It is the equivalent of syenite. The mineral assemblage consists of essential alkali feldspar, relatively minor plagioclase, biotite, clinopyroxene and olivine are common accessory minerals. Chemically, trachyte contains 60 to 65% silica content, less SiO2 than rhyolite and these chemical differences are consistent with the position of trachyte in the TAS classification, and they account for the feldspar-rich mineralogy of the rock type. Trachytes usually consist mainly of sanidine feldspar, very often they have minute irregular steam cavities which make the broken surfaces of specimens of these rocks rough and irregular, and from this character they have derived their name. The trachytes are often described as being the equivalents of the plutonic syenites. Rhomb porphyry is an example with usually large porphyritic rhomb shaped phenocrysts embedded in a very fine-grained matrix, quartz is typically rare in trachyte, but tridymite is by no means uncommon. They often cover the surfaces of the larger feldspars or line the cavities of the rock. In the older trachytes, secondary quartz is not rare, of the mafic minerals present, augite is the most common. It is usually of pale color, and its small crystals are often very perfect in form. Olivine is unusual, though found in some trachytes, like those of the Arso in Ischia, basic varieties of plagioclase, such as labradorite, are known also as phenocrysts in some Italian trachytes. Dark brown varieties of augite and rhombic pyroxene have been observed but are not common, apatite, zircon and magnetite are practically always present as accessory minerals. Trachytes, being rich in potassium feldspar, necessarily contain considerable amounts of alkali. Occasionally minerals of the group, such as nepheline, sodalite and leucite, occur. In many trachytes, however, the phenocrysts are few and small, the ferromagnesian minerals rarely occur in large crystals, and are usually not conspicuous in hand specimens of these rocks. Sometimes granular augite or spongy riebeckite occurs in the groundmass, trachytes are well represented among the Cenozoic volcanic rocks of Europe. In the neighborhood of Rome, Naples and the island of Ischia trachytic lavas, trachytes are also found on the island of Pantelleria. In the United States, trachytes crop out extensively in the Davis Mountains, Chisos Mountains, in England there are Permian trachytes in the Exeter district, and Carboniferous trachytes are found in many parts of the central valley of Scotland
Trachyte
–
A cut sample of trachyte, with
phenocrysts of
sanidine, in a wall in Germany
Trachyte
–
A polished opal on trachyte
Trachyte
–
The Breadknife is a
peralkaline trachyte
dike in the
Warrumbungles of eastern Australia
Trachyte
–
Volcano types
14.
Altarpiece
–
An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing behind the altar of a Christian church. Altarpieces were one of the most important products of Christian art especially from the late Middle Ages to the era of the Counter-Reformation. Large number of altarpieces are now removed from their settings, and often their elaborate sculpted frameworks. Altarpieces seem to have begun to be used during the 11th century, the reasons and forces that led to the development of altarpieces are not generally agreed upon. The habit of placing decorated reliquaries of saints on or behind the altar, as well as the tradition of decorating the front of the altar with sculptures or textiles, an elaborate example of such an early altarpiece is the Pala dOro in Venice. The appearance and development of these first altarpieces marked an important turning point both in the history of Christian art and Christian religious practice, the autonomous image now assumed a legitimate position at the centre of Christian worship. Painted panel altars emerged in Italy during the 13th century, in the 13th century, it is not uncommon to find frescoed or mural altarpieces in Italy, mural paintings behind the altar function as visual complements for the liturgy. These altarpieces were influenced by Byzantine art, notably icons, which reached Western Europe in greater numbers following the conquest of Constantinople in 1204. During this time, altarpieces began to be decorated with an outer. Vigoroso da Sienas altarpiece from 1291 display such an altarpiece and this treatment of the altarpiece would eventually pave the way for the emergence, in the 14th century, of the polyptych. The sculpted elements in the emerging polyptychs often took inspiration from contemporary Gothic architecture, in Italy, they were still typically executed in wood and painted, while in northern Europe altarpieces were often made of stone. The early 14th century saw the emergence, in Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, the Baltic region, by hinging the outer panels to the central panel and painting them on both sides, the motif could be regulated by opening or closing the wings. The pictures could thus be changed depending on liturgical demands, the earliest often displayed sculptures on the inner panels, i. e. displayed when open, and paintings on the back of the wings, displayed when closed. With the advent of winged altarpieces, a shift in imagery also occurred, instead of being centred on a single holy figure, altarpieces began to portray more complex narratives linked to the Christian concept of salvation. As the Middle Ages progressed, altarpieces began to be commissioned more frequently, in Northern Europe, initially Lübeck and later Antwerp would develop into veritable export centres for the production of altarpieces, exporting to Scandinavia, Spain and northern France. By the 15th century, altarpieces were often commissioned not only by churches but also by individuals, families, guilds, the 15th century saw the birth of Early Netherlandish painting in the Low Countries, henceforth panel painting would dominate altarpiece production in the area. In Germany, sculpted wooden altarpieces were instead generally preferred, while in England alabaster was used to a large extent, in England, as well as in France, stone retables enjoyed general popularity. In Italy both stone retables and wooden polyptychs were common, with painted panels and often with complex framing in the form of architectural compositions
Altarpiece
–
The
Ghent Altarpiece (1432) by
Hubert and
Jan van Eyck. Considered one of the masterpieces of
Northern Renaissance art, it is an example of a complex polyptych panel painting
Altarpiece
–
Vigoroso da Siena 's altarpiece from 1291, an example of an early painted panel altarpiece, with the individual parts framed by gables and sculptured elements
Altarpiece
–
The Altarpiece of the Holy Blood, by
Tilman Riemenschneider (1501–1505). An example of an altarpiece with a central, sculpted section and relief wings.
15.
Certosa di Pavia
–
The Certosa di Pavia is a monastery and complex in Lombardy, northern Italy, situated near a small town of the same name in the Province of Pavia,8 km north of Pavia. Built in 1396-1495, it was located on the border of a large hunting park belonging to the Visconti family of Milan. It is one of the largest monasteries in Italy, Certosa is the Italian name for a house of the cloistered monastic order of Carthusians founded by St. Bruno in 1044 at Grande Chartreuse. The location was strategically chosen midway between Milan and Pavia, the city of the Duchy, where the Duke held his court. The church, the last edifice of the complex to be built, was to be the mausoleum of the Visconti. It was designed as a structure with a nave and two aisles, a type unusual for the Carthusian Order. The nave, in the Gothic style, was completed in 1465, Solari was followed as director of the works by Giovanni Antonio Amadeo. The church was consecrated on May 3,1497, the lower part of the façade was not completed until 1507. The construction contract obliged the monks to use part of the revenue of the held in benefice to the monastery to continue to improve the edifice. Consequently, the Certosa includes a collection of artworks of all centuries from the 15th to the 18th. In 1782, the Carthusians were expelled by the Emperor Joseph II of Austria, in 1810 the monastery was closed until the Carthusians reacquired it in 1843. In 1866 it was declared a National Monument and sequestrated by the Italian State, the monks currently living in the monastery are Cistercians admitted to it in the 1960s. In August 1946 the illegally exhumed body of Benito Mussolini was discovered in the complex, two Franciscan friars were charged with assisting in the concealment of the body. The church is built on a Latin cross plan, with a nave, the chancel terminates with an apse. It is covered by crossed vaults on Gothic arches and is inspired, on a reduced scale, the vaults are alternatively decorated with geometrical shapes and starry skies. The transept and the main chapel end with square-plan chapels with smaller, the façade of the church is famous for its exuberant decorations, typical of Lombard architecture, every part being decorated with reliefs, inlaid marble and statues. Sculptors who worked on it include Cristoforo Mantegazza and Giovanni Antonio Amadeo himself, the architect Giovanni Solari, in building the double row of arcades down the flanks of the church, modified its appearance. After his death he was succeeded in Pavia by his son Guiniforte Solari, in their hands the project was thoroughly redesigned
Certosa di Pavia
–
The Certosa di Pavia as seen from the Small Cloister
Certosa di Pavia
–
View of the façade.
Certosa di Pavia
–
The portal.
Certosa di Pavia
–
The path to the church.
16.
Semi-dome
–
A semi-dome, also called a half-dome, is the term in architecture for half a dome, used to cover a semi-circular area. Semi-domes are a feature of apses in Ancient Roman and traditional church architecture. Islamic examples may use muqarnas decorative corbelling, while in Late Antique, Byzantine and medieval architecture the semi-dome is the classic location for a focal mosaic. In buildings like Hagia Sophia in Byzantine architecture, apsidal openings or exhedras from the central nave appear in several directions, the tetraconch, triconch and cross-in-square are other typically Eastern Christian church plans that produce several semi-domes. The buildings of Mimar Sinan and his pupil Sedefkar Mehmed Agha are the masterpieces of this style, mihrabs are another common location for semi-domes. In Western Europe the external appearance of a semi-dome is less often exploited than in Byzantine and Ottoman architecture, the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal in Cincinnati, OH features the largest semi-dome in the western hemisphere, measuring 180 feet wide and 106 feet high. Ancient Jewish art and archaeology in the diaspora, leiden, Brill,1998 Kim, Tae Won, John H. Christy & Jae C
Semi-dome
–
Typical Early Christian/Byzantine
apse with a hemispherical semi-dome decorated in
mosaic (
Basilica di Sant'Apollinare in Classe in
Ravenna).
Semi-dome
–
Looking up at the radiating semi-domes of
Hagia Sophia.
Semi-dome
–
Cross-section of Hagia Sophia, as first built
Semi-dome
–
Exterior of the
Sultan Ahmed Mosque
17.
Fresco
–
Fresco is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly-laid, or wet lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the fresco technique has been employed since antiquity and is closely associated with Italian Renaissance painting. Buon fresco pigment mixed with water of temperature on a thin layer of wet, fresh plaster, for which the Italian word for plaster. Because of the makeup of the plaster, a binder is not required, as the pigment mixed solely with the water will sink into the intonaco. The pigment is absorbed by the wet plaster, after a number of hours, many artists sketched their compositions on this underlayer, which would never be seen, in a red pigment called sinopia, a name also used to refer to these under-paintings. Later, new techniques for transferring paper drawings to the wall were developed. The main lines of a drawing made on paper were pricked over with a point, the paper held against the wall, if the painting was to be done over an existing fresco, the surface would be roughened to provide better adhesion. This area is called the giornata, and the different day stages can usually be seen in a large fresco, buon frescoes are difficult to create because of the deadline associated with the drying plaster. Once a giornata is dried, no more buon fresco can be done, if mistakes have been made, it may also be necessary to remove the whole intonaco for that area—or to change them later, a secco. An indispensable component of this process is the carbonatation of the lime, the eyes of the people of the School of Athens are sunken-in using this technique which causes the eyes to seem deeper and more pensive. Michelangelo used this technique as part of his trademark outlining of his central figures within his frescoes, in a wall-sized fresco, there may be ten to twenty or even more giornate, or separate areas of plaster. After five centuries, the giornate, which were nearly invisible, have sometimes become visible, and in many large-scale frescoes. Additionally, the border between giornate was often covered by an a secco painting, which has fallen off. One of the first painters in the period to use this technique was the Isaac Master in the Upper Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi. A person who creates fresco is called a frescoist, a secco or fresco-secco painting is done on dry plaster. The pigments thus require a medium, such as egg. Blue was a problem, and skies and blue robes were often added a secco, because neither azurite blue nor lapis lazuli. By the end of the century this had largely displaced buon fresco
Fresco
–
Fresco in the church Mariä Verkündigung in Fuchstal,
Bavaria, Germany from Thomas Springer
Fresco
–
Fresco
Sistine Chapel in the
Vatican, Rome, Italy.
Fresco
–
Etruscan fresco of Velia Velcha from the
Tomb of Orcus,
Tarquinia.
Fresco
–
Fresco of "
Sappho " from
Pompeii, c. 50 CE.
18.
Saint Blaise
–
Saint Blaise, was a physician, and bishop of Sebastea in historical Armenia. According to the Acta Sanctorum, he was martyred by being beaten, attacked with iron combs and he is the patron saint of wool combers. In the Latin Church his feast falls on 3 February, in the Eastern Churches on 11 February, marco Polo reported the place where Meeser Saint Blaise obtained the glorious crown of martyrdom, Sebastea, the shrine near the citadel mount was mentioned by William of Rubruck in 1253. However, it appears to no longer exist, from being a healer of bodily ailments, Saint Blaise became a physician of souls, then retired for a time to a cavern where he remained in prayer. As bishop of Sebastea, Blaise instructed his people as much by his example as by his words, from all parts, the people came flocking to him for the cure of bodily and spiritual ills. He is said to have healed animals and to have been assisted by animals, in 316, the governor of Cappadocia and Lesser Armenia Agricolaus began a persecution by order of the Emperor Licinius and Saint Blaise was seized. After his interrogation and a severe scourging, he was hurried off to prison, the legendary Acts of St. Blaise were written 400 years later. The Acts of St. Blaise, written in Greek, are medieval, when the bishop of the city died, he was chosen to succeed him, with the acclamation of all the people. His holiness was manifest through many miracles, from all around, people came to him to find cures for their spirit and their body, even wild animals came in herds to receive his blessing. In 316, Agricola, the governor of Cappadocia and of Lesser Armenia, having arrived in Sebastia at the order of the emperor Licinius to kill the Christians, arrested the bishop. As he was being led to jail, a mother set her only son, choking to death of a fish-bone, at his feet, and the child was cured straight away. Regardless, the governor, unable to make Blaise renounce his faith, beat him with a stick, ripped his flesh with iron combs, and beheaded him. According to the Acts, while Blaise was being taken into custody, touched at her grief, he offered up his prayers, and the child was cured. Consequently, Saint Blaise is invoked for protection against injuries and illnesses of the throat, in many places on the day of his feast the blessing of St. At the same time the following blessing is given, May Almighty God at the intercession of St. Blaise, Bishop and Martyr, preserve you from infections of the throat, then the priest makes the sign of the cross over the faithful. As the governors hunters led Blaise back to Sebastea, on the way, at the command of Blaise, the wolf restored the pig to its owner, alive and unhurt. When he had reached the capital and was in prison awaiting execution, in the West there was no cult honoring St. Blaise prior to the eighth century. One of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, Blaise became one of the most popular saints of the Middle Ages and his cult became widespread in Europe in the 11th and 12th centuries and his legend is recounted in the 14th-century Legenda Aurea
Saint Blaise
–
Saint Blaise confronting the Roman governor - scene from a stained glass window from the area of
Soissons (
Picardy,
France), early 13th century.
Saint Blaise
–
Statue of Saint Blaise at
Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc.
Saint Blaise
–
The
Fourteen Holy Helpers.
Saint Blaise
–
Church of St. Blasius in
Dubrovnik
19.
Santi Nazaro e Celso, Verona
–
Santi Nazaro e Celso is a Romanesque-style, Roman Catholic church on the street that leads to the Porta Vescovo, in the Veronetta quartiere of Verona. The site was occupied by a church by the ninth century, construction began on October 13,1464 and was completed two years later, on April 6,1466. An inscription inside records the consecration on February 14,1483, the bell-tower was built in 1550. The choir was frescoed by Paolo Farinati, in 1688, the elliptical sacristy was built. Among the highly decorated chapels, there are works by Montagna, Badile, Palma il Giovane, Mocetto, Morone, Brusasorci, Farinati, the six bells in D are rung with Veronese bellringing art. G. Borelli, Chiese e monasteri di Verona, Banca popolare di Verona, Verona Federico dal Forno, Nazaro e Celso, Verona 1982 Guide to the churches of Verona tourist site
Santi Nazaro e Celso, Verona
–
Santi Nazaro e Celso
20.
John the Apostle
–
John the Apostle was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament, which refers to him as Ἰωάννης. He was the son of Zebedee and Salome and his brother was James, who was another of the Twelve Apostles. The traditions of most Christian denominations have held that John the Apostle is the author of books of the New Testament. Church tradition has held that John is the author of the Gospel of John, in the Gospel, authorship is internally credited to the disciple whom Jesus loved in John 20,2. John 21,24 claims that the Gospel of John is based on the testimony of the Beloved Disciple. The authorship of some Johannine literature has been debated since about the year 200, some doubt that the Gospel of John was even written by an individual named John. Nevertheless, the notion of John the Evangelist exists, and is considered by some the same as the Apostle John. In his Ecclesiastical History, Eusebius says that the First Epistle of John, however, Eusebius mentions that the consensus is that the second and third epistles of John are not his but were written by some other John. Eusebius also goes to some length to establish with the reader that there is no consensus regarding the revelation of John. The revelation of John could only be what is now called the book of Revelation, the Gospel according to John differs considerably from the Synoptic Gospels, likely written decades earlier than Johns gospel. The bishops of Asia Minor supposedly requested him to write his gospel to deal with the heresy of the Ebionites, who asserted that Christ did not exist before Mary. John probably knew and undoubtedly approved of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, around 600, however, Sophronius of Jerusalem noted that two epistles bearing his name. Until the 19th century, the authorship of the Gospel of John had been attributed to the Apostle John, however, most modern critical scholars have their doubts. Some scholars place the Gospel of John somewhere between AD65 and 85, John Robinson proposes an initial edition by 50–55 and then a final edition by 65 due to similarities with Paul. Other scholars are of the opinion that the Gospel of John was composed in two or three stages, other scholars think that an even later date, perhaps even the last decade of the first century AD right up to the start of the 2nd century, is applicable. Nonetheless, today many scholars continue to accept the traditional authorship. The Gospel of John was written by an anonymous author, according to Paul N. Anderson, the gospel contains more direct claims to eyewitness origins than any of the other Gospel traditions. F. F. Bruce argues that 19,35 contains an emphatic, bart D. Ehrman, however, does not think the gospel claims to have been written by direct witnesses to the reported events
John the Apostle
–
Saint John the Apostle
John the Apostle
–
Lamentation of the Virgin. John the Apostle trying to console Mary
John the Apostle
–
St. John at the
Crucifixion of Jesus in a
Stabat Mater by
Pietro Perugino Rome, c. 1482
John the Apostle
–
Russian Orthodox icon of the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, 18th century (
Iconostasis from the Church of the
Transfiguration,
Kizhi Monastery.
21.
Saint Joseph
–
Christian tradition places Joseph as Jesus foster father. Some historians state that Joseph was Jesus father, some differing views are due to theological interpretations versus historical views. In both Catholic and Protestant traditions, Joseph is regarded as the saint of workers and is associated with various feast days. In popular piety, Joseph is regarded as a model for fathers and has also become patron of various dioceses and places, several notable images of Saint Joseph have been granted a Canonical coronation by a Pope. In popular religious iconography he is associated with lilies or a spikenard, with the present-day growth of Mariology, the theological field of Josephology has also grown and since the 1950s centers for studying it have been formed. According to the New Testament, Joseph was the father of James, Joses, Judas, Simon, the Pauline epistles make no reference to Jesus father, nor does the Gospel of Mark. The first appearance of Joseph is in the gospels of Matthew, consequently, all the names between David and Joseph are different. Some scholars, such as Harry A. Ironside reconcile the genealogies by viewing the Solomonic lineage in Matthew as Josephs major royal line, the epistles of Paul are generally regarded as the oldest extant Christian writings. These mention Jesus mother, but do not refer to his father, the Book of Mark, the first gospel to be written, with a date about two decades after Paul, also does not mention Jesus father. Joseph first appears in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, both dating from around 80-90 AD, the issue of reconciling the two accounts has been the subject of debate. In Matthew, Joseph obeys the direction of an angel to marry Mary, once Herod has died, an angel tells Joseph to return, but to avoid Herods son he takes his wife and the child to Nazareth in Galilee and settles there. In Luke, Joseph already lives in Nazareth, and Jesus is born in Bethlehem because Joseph, lukes account makes no mention of angels and dreams, the Massacre of the Innocents, or of a visit to Egypt. The last time Joseph appears in person in any Gospel is in the story of the Passover visit to the Temple in Jerusalem when Jesus is 12 years old, no mention is made of him thereafter. The story emphasizes Jesus awareness of his mission, here Jesus speaks to his parents of my father, meaning God. Christian tradition represents Mary as a widow during the ministry of her son. Joseph is not mentioned as being present at the Wedding at Cana at the beginning of Jesus mission, nor at the Passion at the end. If he had been present at the Crucifixion, he would under Jewish custom have been expected to charge of Jesus body. Nor would Jesus have entrusted his mother to the care of John the Apostle if her husband had been alive, in Mark 6,3, they call Jesus Marys son instead of naming his father
Saint Joseph
–
Saint Joseph with the Infant Jesus,
Guido Reni (c. 1635)
Saint Joseph
–
A series of articles on
Saint Joseph
–
Holy Family with the
Holy Spirit by
Murillo, 1675-1682.
Saint Joseph
–
St. Joseph the Carpenter, by
Georges de La Tour, 1640s.
22.
Vicenza Cathedral
–
Vicenza Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Vicenza, Veneto, northern Italy. It is the seat of the Bishop of Vicenza, and is dedicated to the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, construction of the cathedral was begun in 1482, to plans by Lorenzo of Bologna, and completed in the 1560s. The cupola was planned by Andrea Palladio and probably the north doorway also, only the original façade survived the bombing of World War II, the rest of the present building has been reconstructed. The maestri di cappella include Fra Ruffino dAssisi, Nicola Vicentino, Giammateo Asola, the belltower has five bells in the chord of Eb, the oldest one was cast in the 17th century. Media related to Vicenza Cathedral at Wikimedia Commons Il portale laterale palladiano
Vicenza Cathedral
–
The cathedral seen from Monte Berico
23.
Choir (architecture)
–
A choir, also sometimes called quire, is the area of a church or cathedral that provides seating for the clergy and church choir. It is in the part of the chancel, between the nave and the sanctuary, which houses the altar and Church tabernacle. In larger medieval churches it contained choir-stalls, seating aligned with the side of the church, in modern churches, the choir may be located centrally behind the altar, or the pulpit. The back-choir or retro-choir is a space behind the altar in the choir of a church. In the Early Church, the sanctuary was connected directly to the nave, the choir was simply the east part of the nave, and was fenced off by a screen or low railing, called cancelli, which is where the English word chancel comes from. The word choir is first used by members of the Latin Church, isidore of Seville and Honorius of Autun write that the term is derived from the corona, the circle of clergy or singers who surrounded the altar. When first introduced, the choir was attached to the bema, the platform in the center of the nave on which were placed seats for the higher clergy. This arrangement can still be observed at the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome, over time, the bema and choir moved eastward to their current position. In some churches the choir is arranged in the apse behind the altar, the architectural details of the choir developed in response to its function as the place where the Divine Office was chanted by the monastic brotherhood or the chapter of canons. The chancel was regarded as the part of the church. The pulpit and lectern are also found at the front of the choir. The organ may be located here, or in a loft elsewhere in the church, some cathedrals have a retro-choir behind the High Altar, opening eastward towards the chapels in the eastern extremity. After the Reformation Protestant churches generally moved the forward, typically to the front of the chancel. The choir and rear of deep chancels became little used in churches surviving from the Middle Ages, with the emphasis on sermons, and their audibility, some churches simply converted their chancels to seat part of the congregation. The choir area is occupied by sometimes finely carved and decorated wooden seats known as choir stalls, the choir may be furnished either with long benches or individual choir stalls. There may be several rows of seating running parallel to the walls of the church, the use of choir stalls is more traditional in monasteries and collegiate churches. Monastic choir stalls are often fitted with seats that fold up when the monastics stand, often the hinged seat will have a misericord on the underside on which he can lean while standing during the long services. The upper part of the stall is so shaped as to provide a headrest while sitting
Choir (architecture)
–
The choir of
Bristol Cathedral, with the nave seen through the chancel screen, so looking west
Choir (architecture)
–
The placement of the choir within a large Latin cross church.
Choir (architecture)
–
The Choir at the
Palencia Catedral, an example of a dedicated monastic choir.
Choir (architecture)
24.
Vault structuring
–
Vault structuring is a forming technology to generate three-dimensional rectangular or hexagonal structures in thin-walled materials such as sheet metal, plastic sheeting, cardboard and paper. The main advantage is a rigidity of vault structured materials compared to unstructured materials. Vault structured materials are products of Dr. Mirtsch GmbH and protected by national and international patents. In the mid-70s, Prof. Dr. Frank Mirtsch discovered the principle of the effect of vault structures by an unexpected structure formation in a thin-walled cylinder. For the basic process only a thin-walled cylinder and supporting elements which are positioned on the surface of the cylinder are needed. When the cylinder is put under a pressure, the material between the supporting rings is pushed inwards. After reaching a critical but still considerably small exterior pressure, rectangular structures are formed spontaneously. This effect is called in the jargon as „buckling“, the circumferential, straight folds arise by the underlying supporting elements, while the axial folds develop all by themselves in a staggered way without an underlying tool. A) supporting rings b) imposed cylinder with low pressure, c) rectangular vault structure During research for enhanced vault structures a new approach had been chosen, by softening the boundary conditions the rectangular structures evolve to hexagonal vault structures by an additional self-organization along the horizontal folds. The hexagonal vault structure offer for sheet materials an enhanced isotropic rigidity compared to the vault structures. In analog way as the vault structures are formed, a modification allows the structuring forming in peripheral direction. This led to the development of a continuously vault structuring process to produce plates or coils, increased rigidity results in lower weight, Vault structures provide a multidimensional rigidity to the material against bending and bulging. Components made e. g. from metal, plastics or fibrous materials can be used - with the same functionality – to save material and weight. Less noise by reduction of body borne noise, Compared to the material, vault structures stiffen the material. As a direct result, the unpleasant droning of thin walled components is reduced, at the same time, the vault-structured material shows enhanced acoustic damping characteristics. Full preservation of the quality, Vault structuring does not only sustain the material properties by gentle deformation. The source material can be equipped before structuring with a high-quality surface finish, surface finishing of the source material like a coil is in general more economical and environmental friendly then the treatment of the single part after the forming operation. Design and virtually glare-free light reflection, Beside the bionic design, a glare-free light reflection is generated which can beneficially be used for light reflectors or facades
Vault structuring
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Vault structured sheet metal and cylinder
Vault structuring
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25.
Vasari
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Vasari was born in Arezzo, Tuscany. Recommended at an age by his cousin Luca Signorelli, he became a pupil of Guglielmo da Marsiglia. He was befriended by Michelangelo whose painting style would influence his own, in 1529, he visited Rome where he studied the works of Raphael and other artists of the Roman High Renaissance. Vasaris own Mannerist paintings were admired in his lifetime than afterwards. In 1547 he completed the hall of the chancery in Palazzo della Cancelleria in Rome with frescoes that received the name Sala dei Cento Giorni and he was consistently employed by members of the Medici family in Florence and Rome, and worked in Naples, Arezzo and other places. He also helped to organize the decoration of the Studiolo, now reassembled in the Palazzo Vecchio, aside from his career as a painter, Vasari was also successful as an architect. In Florence, Vasari also built the long passage, now called Vasari Corridor, the enclosed corridor passes alongside the River Arno on an arcade, crosses the Ponte Vecchio and winds around the exterior of several buildings. He also renovated the medieval churches of Santa Maria Novella and Santa Croce, at both he removed the original rood screen and loft, and remodelled the retro-choirs in the Mannerist taste of his time. In Santa Croce, he was responsible for the painting of The Adoration of the Magi which was commissioned by Pope Pius V in 1566 and it was recently restored, before being put on exhibition in 2011 in Rome and in Naples. Eventually it is planned to return it to the church of Santa Croce in Bosco Marengo, in 1562 Vasari built the octagonal dome on the Basilica of Our Lady of Humility in Pistoia, an important example of high Renaissance architecture. In Rome, Vasari worked with Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola and Bartolomeo Ammanati at Pope Julius IIIs Villa Giulia, the Lives also included a novel treatise on the technical methods employed in the arts. The book was rewritten and enlarged in 1568, with the addition of woodcut portraits of artists. The work has a consistent and notorious bias in favour of Florentines, and tends to attribute to them all the developments in Renaissance art – for example, Venetian art in particular, is systematically ignored in the first edition. Between the first and second editions, Vasari visited Venice and while the edition gave more attention to Venetian art. Vasaris biographies are interspersed with amusing gossip, with a few exceptions, however, Vasaris aesthetic judgement was acute and unbiased. He did not research archives for exact dates, as art historians do, and naturally his biographies are most dependable for the painters of his own generation. Modern criticism – with new materials opened up by research – has corrected many of his traditional dates and attributions. Vasari includes a sketch of his own biography at the end of the Lives, according to the historian Richard Goldthwaite, Vasari was one of the earliest authors to use the term competition in its economic sense
Vasari
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Vasari's self-portrait
Vasari
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Giorgio Vasari, Italian humanists, Tuscan Poets: Dante, Petrarch, Guido Cavalcanti, Boccaccio, Cino da Pistoia and Guittone d'Arezzo
Vasari
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Giorgio Vasari, The Garden of Gethsemane
Vasari
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The Uffizi Loggia.
26.
Antonello da Messina
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His work shows strong influences from Early Netherlandish painting although there is no documentary evidence that he ever travelled beyond Italy. Giorgio Vasari credited him with the introduction of oil painting into Italy, unusually for a south Italian artist of the Renaissance, his work proved influential on painters in northern Italy, especially in Venice. Antonello was born at Messina around 1429–1431, to Giovanni de Antonio Mazonus and this account of his training is accepted by most art historians. Antonello returned to Messina from Naples during the 1450s, in around 1455 he painted the so-called Sibiu Crucifixion, inspired by Flemish treatments of the subject, which is now in the Muzeul de Artǎ in Bucharest. A Crucifixion in the Royal Museum of Antwerp dates from the same period, in his biography of the artist, Giorgio Vasari remarked that Antonello saw an oil painting by Jan Van Eyck belonging to King Alfonso V of Aragon at Naples. Another theory, supported only by vague documentary evidence, suggests that in 1456 Antonello visited Milan, however, neither is known for certain to have been in Milan at the time. Between the years of 1456 and 1457, Antonello proved himself to be a painter in Messina. He also shared his home with Paolo di Ciacio, a student from Calabria, at this date, he was already married, and his son Jacobello had been born. In 1460, his father is mentioned leasing a brigantine to bring back Antonello, also from around 1460 are two small panels depicting Abraham Served by the Angels and St. Jerome Penitent now in the Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia in Reggio Calabria. In 1461 Antonellos younger brother Giordano entered his workshop, signing a three-year contract, in that year Antonello painted a Madonna with Child for the Messinese nobleman Giovanni Mirulla, now lost. Historians believe that Antonello painted his first portraits in the late 1460s, john Pope-Hennessy described him as the first Italian painter for whom the individual portrait was an art form in its own right. In 1474, he painted the Annunciation, now in Syracuse, Antonello went to Venice in 1475 and remained there until the fall of 1476. His works of this begin to show a greater attention to the human figure. His most famous pictures from this include the Condottiero, the San Cassiano Altarpiece. While in Venice he was offered, but did not accept, Antonello had returned to Sicily by September 1476. Works from near the end of his include the famous Virgin Annunciate, now in the Palazzo Abatellis in Palermo. He died at Messina in 1479 and his testament dates from February of that year, and he is documented as no longer alive two months later. Some of his last works remained unfinished, but were completed by his son Jacobello, Antonellos style is remarkable for its union of Italian simplicity with Flemish concern for detail
Antonello da Messina
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Portrait of Man, possibly a self-portrait.
Antonello da Messina
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Antonello da Messina,
Salting Madonna
Antonello da Messina
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The
Virgin Annunciate in the
Palazzo Abatellis in
Palermo
27.
Alvise Vivarini
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Alvise or Luigi Vivarini was an Italian painter, the leading Venetian artist before Giovanni Bellini. Like Bellini, he was part of a dynasty of painters and his father was Antonio Vivarini and his uncle, with whom he may have trained, was Bartolomeo Vivarini. Another uncle, on his mothers side, was the artist known as Giovanni dAlemagna, Alvise may have trained Jacopo de Barbari. There is good ground, however, for considering this date to be a forgery of a later time, the architecture and perspective in this work are superior. Many churches in Venice have examples, other works by Vivarini are in Treviso, Milan and the National Gallery, London. The Adoration of Christ dated 1476, in the sacristy of the church of Montefiorentino, is one of his early productions, in 1480 he painted a Virgin and Saints for San Francesco, Treviso, now in the Venice Accademia. To about this date belong the SS, matthew and John the Baptist, in the same collection, and the fresco of Christ Carrying His Cross in Santi Giovanni e Paolo. In 1488, Alvise Vivarini wrote a letter to the Signory of Venice, to this he received a favorable reply, and thereupon executed two paintings, which were burned in the fire of 1577. The subjects, Vasari tells us, were Otho promising to mediate between Venice and Barbarossa and Barbarossa receiving his Son, the Council were so pleased with the pictures that, in 1492, Alvise was named Depentor in Gran Conseio, with a salary of five ducats a month. Notwithstanding this work for the State, he continued to paint altar-pieces for private patrons, the Apotheosis of St. Bryan, Michael. Walter Armstrong & Robert Edmund Graves, ed, dictionary of Painters and Engravers, Biographical and Critical. 4, Covent Garden, London, Original from Fogg Library, Digitized May 18,2007, George Bell and Sons
Alvise Vivarini
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Alvise Vivarini: Retable of the Pentecost (
Bode-Museum, Berlin)
Alvise Vivarini
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Madonna col Bambino, (1485–90)
Alvise Vivarini
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Cristo benedicente (1494)
Alvise Vivarini
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Cristo risorto, 1497–98
28.
Italian Renaissance painting
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The city of Florence in Tuscany is renowned as the birthplace of the Renaissance, and in particular of Renaissance painting. A detailed background is given in the companion articles Renaissance and Renaissance architecture, Italian Renaissance painting can be divided into four periods, the Proto-Renaissance, the Early Renaissance, the High Renaissance, and Mannerism. These dates are approximations rather than specific points because the lives of individual artists, the Proto-Renaissance begins with the professional life of the painter Giotto and includes Taddeo Gaddi, Orcagna and Altichiero. The Early Renaissance was marked by the work of Masaccio, Fra Angelico, Paolo Uccello, Piero della Francesca, the High Renaissance period was that of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian. The Mannerist period included Andrea del Sarto, Pontormo and Tintoretto, Mannerism is dealt with in a separate article. The influences upon the development of Renaissance painting in Italy are those also affected Philosophy, Literature, Architecture, Theology, Science, Government. The following is a summary of points dealt with more fully in the articles that are cited above. A number of Classical texts, that had been lost to Western European scholars for centuries and these included Philosophy, Poetry, Drama, Science, a thesis on the Arts and Early Christian Theology. The resulting interest in Humanist philosophy meant that mans relationship with humanity, a revived interest in the Classics brought about the first archaeological study of Roman remains by the architect Brunelleschi and sculptor Donatello. Simultaneous with gaining access to the Classical texts, Europe gained access to advanced mathematics which had its provenance in the works of Byzantine and Islamic scholars. The advent of movable type printing in the 15th century meant that ideas could be disseminated easily, the development of oil paint and its introduction to Italy had lasting effects on the art of painting. The establishment of the Medici Bank and the subsequent trade it generated brought unprecedented wealth to a single Italian city, Cosimo de Medici set a new standard for patronage of the arts, not associated with the church or monarchy. A similar heritage of artistic achievement occurred in Venice through the talented Bellini family, their influential inlaw Mantegna, Giorgione, Titian, much painting of the Renaissance period was commissioned by or for the Catholic Church. These works were often of large scale and were frequently painted in fresco of the Life of Christ. There were also many paintings on the theme of Salvation. Churches also commissioned altarpieces, which were painted in tempera on panel, apart from large altarpieces, small devotional pictures were produced in very large numbers, both for churches and for private individuals, the most common theme being the Madonna and Child. Throughout the period, civic commissions were also important, during the 15th century portraiture became common, initially often formalised profile portraits but increasingly three-quarter face, bust-length portraits. Portraiture was to become a subject for High Renaissance painters such as Raphael and Titian
Italian Renaissance painting
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Raphael,
The Betrothal of the Virgin
Italian Renaissance painting
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Giovanni Bellini, The
San Zaccaria Altarpiece
Italian Renaissance painting
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Masaccio,
The Tribute Money for the Brancacci, a fresco cycle that had great influence upon subsequent artists
Italian Renaissance painting
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Domenico Ghirlandaio,
The Birth of the Virgin Mary, shows the introduction of patron's families into religious cycles.
