1.
Michelangelo
–
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art. Considered to be the greatest living artist during his lifetime, he has since described as one of the greatest artists of all time. A number of Michelangelos works of painting, sculpture, and architecture rank among the most famous in existence and he sculpted two of his best-known works, the Pietà and David, before the age of thirty. As an architect, Michelangelo pioneered the Mannerist style at the Laurentian Library, at the age of 74, he succeeded Antonio da Sangallo the Younger as the architect of St. Peters Basilica. Michelangelo transformed the plan so that the end was finished to his design, as was the dome, with some modification. Michelangelo was unique as the first Western artist whose biography was published while he was alive, in his lifetime he was often called Il Divino. One of the qualities most admired by his contemporaries was his terribilità, the attempts by subsequent artists to imitate Michelangelos impassioned and highly personal style resulted in Mannerism, the next major movement in Western art after the High Renaissance. Michelangelo was born on 6 March 1475 in Caprese near Arezzo, at the time of Michelangelos birth, his father was the Judicial administrator of the small town of Caprese and local administrator of Chiusi. Michelangelos mother was Francesca di Neri del Miniato di Siena, the Buonarrotis claimed to descend from the Countess Mathilde of Canossa, this claim remains unproven, but Michelangelo himself believed it. Several months after Michelangelos birth, the returned to Florence. There Michelangelo gained his love for marble, as Giorgio Vasari quotes him, If there is good in me. Along with the milk of my nurse I received the knack of handling chisel and hammer, as a young boy, Michelangelo was sent to Florence to study grammar under the Humanist Francesco da Urbino. The young artist, however, showed no interest in his schooling, preferring to copy paintings from churches, the city of Florence was at that time the greatest centre of the arts and learning in Italy. Art was sponsored by the Signoria, by the merchant guilds and by patrons such as the Medici. The Renaissance, a renewal of Classical scholarship and the arts, had its first flowering in Florence, the sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti had laboured for fifty years to create the bronze doors of the Baptistry, which Michelangelo was to describe as The Gates of Paradise. The exterior niches of the Church of Orsanmichele contained a gallery of works by the most acclaimed sculptors of Florence – Donatello, Ghiberti, Andrea del Verrocchio, and Nanni di Banco. The interiors of the churches were covered with frescos, begun by Giotto. During Michelangelos childhood, a team of painters had been called from Florence to the Vatican, among them was Domenico Ghirlandaio, a master in fresco painting, perspective, figure drawing, and portraiture who had the largest workshop in Florence at that period
Michelangelo
–
Portrait of Michelangelo by
Daniele da Volterra
Michelangelo
–
The
Madonna of the Stairs (1490–92), Michelangelo's earliest known work
Michelangelo
–
Michelangelo's
Pietà, St Peter's Basilica (1498–99)
Michelangelo
–
The
Statue of David, completed by Michelangelo in 1504, is one of the most renowned works of the Renaissance.
2.
National Gallery, London
–
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the century to 1900. The Gallery is a charity, and a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media. Its collection belongs to the public of the United Kingdom and entry to the collection is free of charge. It is among the most visited art museums in the world, after the Musée du Louvre, the British Museum, unlike comparable museums in continental Europe, the National Gallery was not formed by nationalising an existing royal or princely art collection. It came into being when the British government bought 38 paintings from the heirs of John Julius Angerstein, after that initial purchase the Gallery was shaped mainly by its early directors, notably Sir Charles Lock Eastlake, and by private donations, which comprise two-thirds of the collection. It used to be claimed that this was one of the few national galleries that had all its works on permanent exhibition, the present building, the third to house the National Gallery, was designed by William Wilkins from 1832 to 1838. Only the façade onto Trafalgar Square remains essentially unchanged from this time, wilkinss building was often criticised for the perceived weaknesses of its design and for its lack of space, the latter problem led to the establishment of the Tate Gallery for British art in 1897. The Sainsbury Wing, an extension to the west by Robert Venturi, the current Director of the National Gallery is Gabriele Finaldi. The late 18th century saw the nationalisation of royal or princely art collections across mainland Europe, great Britain, however, did not emulate the continental model, and the British Royal Collection remains in the sovereigns possession today. In 1777 the British government had the opportunity to buy an art collection of international stature, the MP John Wilkes argued for the government to buy this invaluable treasure and suggested that it be housed in a noble gallery. The twenty-five paintings from that now in the Gallery, including NG1, have arrived by a variety of routes. This offer was declined and Bourgeois bequeathed the collection to his old school, Dulwich College, the collection opened in Britains first purpose-built public gallery, the Dulwich Picture Gallery, in 1814. The British Institution, founded in 1805 by a group of aristocratic connoisseurs, the members lent works to exhibitions that changed annually, while an art school was held in the summer months. However, as the paintings that were lent were often mediocre, some resented the Institution. One of the Institutions founding members, Sir George Beaumont, Bt, in 1823 another major art collection came on the market, which had been assembled by the recently deceased John Julius Angerstein. Angerstein was a Russian-born émigré banker based in London, his collection numbered 38 paintings, including works by Raphael, on 1 July 1823 George Agar Ellis, a Whig politician, proposed to the House of Commons that it purchase the collection. The appeal was given added impetus by Beaumonts offer, which came with two conditions, that the government buy Angersteins collection, and that a building was to be found
National Gallery, London
National Gallery, London
–
Location within Central London
National Gallery, London
–
The Raising of Lazarus by
Sebastiano del Piombo, from the collection of
John Julius Angerstein. This became the founding collection of the National Gallery in 1824. The painting has the
accession number NG1, making it officially the first painting to enter the Gallery.
National Gallery, London
–
100
Pall Mall, the home of the National Gallery from 1824 to 1834.
3.
Ancient Roman pottery
–
Pottery was produced in enormous quantities in ancient Rome, mostly for utilitarian purposes. It is found all over the former Roman Empire and beyond, fine wares were serving vessels or tableware used for more formal dining, and are usually of more decorative and elegant appearance. For example, dozens of different types of British coarse and fine wares were produced locally and it is clear from the quantities found that fine pottery was used very widely in both social and geographic terms. The more expensive pottery tended to use relief decoration, usually moulded, rather than colour, especially in the Eastern Empire, local traditions continued, hybridizing with Roman styles to varying extents. From the 3rd century the quality of fine pottery steadily declined, partly because of economic and political disturbances and these are not normally classified under the heading pottery by archaeologists, but the terracottas and lamps will be included in this article. Pottery is a key material in the dating and interpretation of archaeological sites from the Neolithic period onwards, in the Roman period, ceramics were produced and used in enormous quantities, and the literature on the subject, in numerous languages, is very extensive. These vessels have fine, fairly hard and well-fired buff to pink fabrics, however the definition of all these terms has varied and evolved over the many generations during which the material has been studied. Technically, red-gloss wares have much in common with earlier Greek painted pottery, African Red Slip ware belonged to the same tradition, and continued to be made much later than Italian and Gaulish sigillata, right through to the Islamic conquest. ARS in turn influenced the production of Phocaean red slip, which is common in the Eastern Mediterranean and also appeared occasionally as far west as Southern France and Britain. Most of these wares were widely distributed and produced on an industrial scale, the names of many potters and factory-owners are known from the potters marks frequently applied to fine wares, and can be highly informative. However, the interpretation of name-stamps can be more complex than it appears at first sight, theoretically, a decorated vessel might bear the mould-makers name, that of the bowl-maker or finisher, and the brand-name of the factory in the decoration. The use of labour in the Italian workshops is unproven. The site of La Graufesenque in South Gaul, near Millau, has extensively studied and excavated. Its products had a wide distribution in the later 1st century AD. In 1895, the German scholar Hans Dragendorff produced a classification of shapes in Roman red gloss pottery that is still used. Other numbering systems used with Italian and Gaulish sigillata include those of Déchelette, Knorr, Curle, Walters, Loeschcke, Ritterling and Ludowici, to name, details could also be added by hand with a stylus. When the decoration was complete in intaglio on the interior, the mould was dried and fired in the usual way, the details varied according to the form. The completed bowl could then be slipped, dried again, relief-decoration of tall vases or jars was usually achieved by using moulded appliqué motifs and/or barbotine decoration
Ancient Roman pottery
–
Decorated terra sigillata bowl from Gaul (
Metz in modern Germany)
Ancient Roman pottery
–
Unusually ambitious
Samian ware flask from Southern Gaul around 100 AD.
Hercules is killing
Laomedon.
Ancient Roman pottery
–
A selection of pottery found in Roman Britain. The assemblage includes
Black-burnished ware jars, a Rusticated Ware jar, a Central Gaulish Colour-Coated Ware beaker, Trier Black-slipped Ware with white trailed decoration,
Nene Valley Colour Coated Ware, a coarse ware cheese press and other fine wares.
Ancient Roman pottery
–
Selection of undecorated
terra sigillata from
La Graufesenque
4.
Greek mythology
–
It was a part of the religion in ancient Greece. Greek mythology is explicitly embodied in a collection of narratives. Greek myth attempts to explain the origins of the world, and details the lives and adventures of a variety of gods, goddesses, heroes, heroines. These accounts initially were disseminated in a tradition, today the Greek myths are known primarily from ancient Greek literature. The oldest known Greek literary sources, Homers epic poems Iliad and Odyssey, focus on the Trojan War, archaeological findings provide a principal source of detail about Greek mythology, with gods and heroes featured prominently in the decoration of many artifacts. Geometric designs on pottery of the eighth century BC depict scenes from the Trojan cycle as well as the adventures of Heracles, in the succeeding Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods, Homeric and various other mythological scenes appear, supplementing the existing literary evidence. Greek mythology has had an influence on the culture, arts. Poets and artists from ancient times to the present have derived inspiration from Greek mythology and have discovered contemporary significance and relevance in the themes, Greek mythology is known today primarily from Greek literature and representations on visual media dating from the Geometric period from c. Mythical narration plays an important role in every genre of Greek literature. Nevertheless, the only general mythographical handbook to survive from Greek antiquity was the Library of Pseudo-Apollodorus and this work attempts to reconcile the contradictory tales of the poets and provides a grand summary of traditional Greek mythology and heroic legends. Apollodorus of Athens lived from c, 180–125 BC and wrote on many of these topics. His writings may have formed the basis for the collection, however the Library discusses events that occurred long after his death, among the earliest literary sources are Homers two epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Other poets completed the cycle, but these later and lesser poems now are lost almost entirely. Despite their traditional name, the Homeric Hymns have no connection with Homer. They are choral hymns from the part of the so-called Lyric age. Hesiods Works and Days, a poem about farming life, also includes the myths of Prometheus, Pandora. The poet gives advice on the best way to succeed in a dangerous world, lyrical poets often took their subjects from myth, but their treatment became gradually less narrative and more allusive. Greek lyric poets, including Pindar, Bacchylides and Simonides, and bucolic poets such as Theocritus and Bion, additionally, myth was central to classical Athenian drama
Greek mythology
–
Bust of
Zeus,
Otricoli (Sala Rotonda,
Museo Pio-Clementino,
Vatican).
Greek mythology
–
Greek Mythology
Greek mythology
–
Prometheus (1868 by
Gustave Moreau). The myth of Prometheus first was attested by
Hesiod and then constituted the basis for a tragic trilogy of plays, possibly by Aeschylus, consisting of
Prometheus Bound,
Prometheus Unbound, and
Prometheus Pyrphoros.
Greek mythology
–
The Roman poet
Virgil, here depicted in the fifth-century manuscript, the
Vergilius Romanus, preserved details of Greek mythology in many of his writings.
5.
Zeus
–
Zeus /ˈzjuːs/ is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion, who ruled as king of the gods of Mount Olympus. His name is cognate with the first element of his Roman equivalent Jupiter and his mythologies and powers are similar, though not identical, to those of the Indo-European deities such as Indra, Jupiter, Perun, Thor, and Odin. Zeus is the child of Cronus and Rhea, the youngest of his siblings to be born, in most traditions, he is married to Hera, by whom he is usually said to have fathered Ares, Hebe, and Hephaestus. At the oracle of Dodona, his consort was said to be Dione, Zeus was also infamous for his erotic escapades. These resulted in many godly and heroic offspring, including Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Persephone, Dionysus, Perseus, Heracles, Helen of Troy, Minos, and the Muses. He was equated with many foreign weather gods, permitting Pausanias to observe That Zeus is king in heaven is a common to all men. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull, and oak, in addition to his Indo-European inheritance, the classical cloud-gatherer also derives certain iconographic traits from the cultures of the Ancient Near East, such as the scepter. Zeus is frequently depicted by Greek artists in one of two poses, standing, striding forward with a thunderbolt leveled in his right hand. The gods name in the nominative is Ζεύς Zeús and it is inflected as follows, vocative, Ζεῦ Zeû, accusative, Δία Día, genitive, Διός Diós, dative, Διί Dií. Diogenes Laertius quotes Pherecydes of Syros as spelling the name, Ζάς, Zeus is the Greek continuation of *Di̯ēus, the name of the Proto-Indo-European god of the daytime sky, also called *Dyeus ph2tēr. The god is known under this name in the Rigveda, Latin, Zeus is the only deity in the Olympic pantheon whose name has such a transparent Indo-European etymology. The earliest attested forms of the name are the Mycenaean Greek
Zeus
–
The Jupiter de Smyrne, discovered in
Smyrna in 1680
Zeus
–
The Chariot of Zeus, from an 1879 Stories from the Greek Tragedians by Alfred Church.
Zeus
–
Zeus, at the Getty Villa, A.D. 1 - 100 by unknown.
Zeus
–
"
Cave of Zeus ",
Mount Ida (Crete).
6.
Swan
–
Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus Cygnus. The swans close relatives include the geese and ducks, Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a subfamily, Cygninae. There are six or seven species of swan in the genus Cygnus, in there is another species known as the coscoroba swan. Swans usually mate for life, though divorce does sometimes occur, particularly following nesting failure, and if a mate dies, the number of eggs in each clutch ranges from three to eight. The English word swan, akin to the German Schwan, Dutch zwaan, an adult male is a cob, from Middle English cobbe, an adult female is a pen. Swans are the largest extant members of the waterfowl family Anatidae, the largest species, including the mute swan, trumpeter swan, and whooper swan, can reach a length of over 1.5 m and weigh over 15 kg. Their wingspans can be over 3.1 m, compared to the closely related geese, they are much larger and have proportionally larger feet and necks. Adults also have a patch of unfeathered skin between the eyes and bill, the sexes are alike in plumage, but males are generally bigger and heavier than females. The Northern Hemisphere species of swan have pure white plumage but the Southern Hemisphere species are mixed black, the Australian black swan is completely black except for the white flight feathers on its wings, the chicks of black swans are light grey. The South American black-necked swan has a body with a black neck. The legs of swans are normally a dark grey colour. Bill colour varies, the four species have black bills with varying amounts of yellow. The mute swan and black-necked swan have lumps at the base of their bills on the upper mandible, Swans are generally found in temperate environments, rarely occurring in the tropics. A group of swans is called a bevy or a wedge in flight, four species occur in the Northern Hemisphere, one species is found in Australia and New Zealand and one species is distributed in southern South America. They are absent from tropical Asia, Central America, northern South America, one species, the mute swan, has been introduced to North America, Australia and New Zealand. Several species are migratory, either wholly or partly so, the mute swan is a partial migrant, being resident over areas of Western Europe but wholly migratory in Eastern Europe and Asia. The whooper swan and tundra swan are wholly migratory, and the swans are almost entirely migratory
Swan
–
Swans Temporal range:
Late Miocene -
Holocene
Swan
–
An adult
trumpeter swan in
Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Swan
–
Whooper swans migrate from
Iceland,
Greenland,
Scandinavia, and Northern
Russia to
Europe,
Central Asia,
China, and
Japan
Swan
–
Mute swan threatens a photographer in
Toyako,
Japan.
7.
Leda (mythology)
–
In Greek mythology, Leda was daughter of the Aetolian king Thestius, and wife of king Tyndareus of Sparta. Her myth gave rise to the motif in Renaissance and later art of Leda. She was the mother of Helen of Troy, Clytemnestra, and Castor, Leda was admired by Zeus, who seduced her in the guise of a swan. As a swan, Zeus fell into her arms for protection from a pursuing eagle and their consummation, on the same night as Leda lay with her husband Tyndareus, resulted in two eggs from which hatched Helen, Clytemnestra, and Castor and Pollux. Which children are the progeny of Tyndareus the mortal king, the split is almost always half mortal, half divine, although the pairings do not always reflect the childrens heritage pairings. Castor and Pollux are sometimes both mortal, sometimes both divine, one consistent point is that if only one of them is immortal, it is Pollux. It is also stated that Helen is the daughter of Zeus. Leda also had daughters by Tyndareus, Timandra, Phoebe. In Homers Iliad, Helen looks down from the walls of Troy, the narrator remarks that they are both already dead and buried back in their homeland of Lacedaemon, thus suggesting that at least in the Homeric tradition, both were mortal. Another account of the states that Nemesis was the mother of Helen. A shepherd found the egg and gave it to Leda, who kept it in a chest until the egg hatched. When the egg hatched, Leda adopted Helen as her daughter, Zeus also commemorated the birth of Helen by creating the constellation Cygnus, the Swan, in the sky. Leda and the swan and Leda and the egg were popular subjects in ancient art, in the post-classical arts, it became a potent source of inspiration. It is the subject of William Butler Yeats poem Leda and the Swan, march, J. Cassells Dictionary Of Classical Mythology. Peck, H. Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, media related to Leda at Wikimedia Commons Warburg Institute Iconographic Database
Leda (mythology)
–
Leda and the Swan, 16th-century copy after the lost painting by
Michelangelo
Leda (mythology)
–
Leda, by
Gustave Moreau
Leda (mythology)
–
Leda with the Swan, a restored Roman copy, perhaps after an original by
Timotheus (
Museo del Prado)
8.
Helen of Troy
–
In Greek mythology, Helen of Troy, also known as Helen of Sparta, or simply Helen, was the daughter of Zeus and Leda, and was a sister of Castor, Pollux, and Clytemnestra. In Greek myths, she was considered the most beautiful woman in the world, by marriage she was Queen of Laconia, a province within Homeric Greece, the wife of King Menelaus. Her abduction by Prince Paris of Troy brought about the Trojan War, elements of her putative biography come from classical authors such as Aristophanes, Cicero, Euripides and Homer. In her youth, she was abducted by Theseus, a competition between her suitors for her hand in marriage sees Menelaus emerge victorious. An oath sworn beforehand by all the suitors requires them to military assistance in the case of her abduction. When she marries Menelaus she is very young, whether her subsequent involvement with Paris is an abduction or a seduction is ambiguous. The legends recounting Helens fate in Troy are contradictory, Homer depicts her as a wistful figure, even a sorrowful one, who comes to regret her choice and wishes to be reunited with Menelaus. Other accounts have a treacherous Helen who simulates Bacchic rites and rejoices in the carnage, ultimately, Paris was killed in action, and in Homers account Helen was reunited with Menelaus, though other versions of the legend recount her ascending to Olympus instead. A cult associated with her developed in Hellenistic Laconia, both at Sparta and elsewhere, at Therapne she shared a shrine with Menelaus and she was also worshiped in Attica and on Rhodes. Her beauty inspired artists of all time to represent her, frequently as the personification of ideal beauty, Christopher Marlowes lines from his tragedy Doctor Faustus are frequently cited, Was this the face that launchd a thousand ships/And burnt the topless towers of Ilium. However, in the play this meeting and the ensuing temptation are not unambiguously positive, closely preceding death, images of her start appearing in the 7th century BC. In classical Greece, her abduction by—or elopement with—Paris was a popular motif, in medieval illustrations, this event was frequently portrayed as a seduction, whereas in Renaissance painting it is usually depicted as a rape by Paris. The fact that rape and kidnapping were interchangeable terms lends additional ambiguity to the story, the etymology of Helens name continues to be a problem for scholars. Georg Curtius related Helen to the moon, Émile Boisacq considered Ἑλένη to derive from the noun ἑλένη meaning torch. It has also suggested that the λ of Ἑλένη arose from an original ν. Linda Lee Clader, however, says none of the above suggestions offers much satisfaction. Inversely, others have connected this etymology to a hypothetical proto-indo-european sun goddess, in particular, her marriage myth may be connected to a broader indo-european marriage drama of the sun goddess, and she is related to the divine twins, just as many of these goddesses are. The origins of Helens myth date back to the Mycenaean age, the first record of her name appears in the poems of Homer, but scholars assume that such myths invented or received by the Mycenaean Greeks made their way to Homer
Helen of Troy
–
Helen and Menelaus: Menelaus intends to strike Helen; captivated by her beauty, he drops his sword. A flying
Eros and
Aphrodite (on the left) watch the scene. Detail of an Attic
red-figure krater, c. 450–440 BC (
Paris,
Louvre)
Helen of Troy
–
Leda and the Swan by
Cesare da Sesto (c. 1506–1510,
Wilton). The artist has been intrigued by the idea of Helen's unconventional birth; she and Clytemnestra are shown emerging from one egg; Castor and Pollux from another.
Helen of Troy
–
Theseus pursuing a woman, probably Helen. Side A from an Attic red-figure bell-krater, c. 440–430 BC (
Louvre, Paris).
Helen of Troy
–
In this painting by
Maarten van Heemskerck Helen, queen of the Greek city-state Sparta, is abducted by Paris, a prince of Troy in Asian Minor. The Walters Art Museum.
9.
Castor and Polydeuces
–
In Greek and Roman mythology, Castor and Pollux, or Kastor and Polydeuces, were twin brothers, together known as the Dioscuri or Dioskouroi. Their mother was Leda, but they had different fathers, Castor was the son of Tyndareus, the king of Sparta, while Pollux was the divine son of Zeus. Though accounts of their birth are varied, they are said to have been born from an egg, along with their twin sisters or half-sisters Helen of Troy. In Latin the twins are known as the Gemini or Castores. When Castor was killed, Pollux asked Zeus to let him share his own immortality with his twin to keep them together, the pair were regarded as the patrons of sailors, to whom they appeared as St. Elmos fire, and were also associated with horsemanship. They are sometimes called the Tyndaridae or Tyndarids, later seen as a reference to their father and stepfather Tyndareus, the best-known story of the twins birth is that Zeus disguised himself as a swan and seduced Leda. Thus Ledas children are said to have hatched from two eggs that she then produced. The Dioscuri can be recognized in vase-paintings by the skull-cap they wear, the pilos, whether the children are thus mortal or half-immortal is not consistent among accounts, nor is whether the twins hatched together from one egg. In some accounts, only Pollux was fathered by Zeus, while Leda and this explains why they were granted an alternate immortality. It is a belief that one would live among the gods. Castor and Pollux are sometimes both mortal, sometimes both divine, one consistent point is that if only one of them is immortal, it is Pollux. In Homers Iliad, Helen looks down from the walls of Troy, the narrator remarks that they are both already dead and buried back in their homeland of Lacedaemon, thus suggesting that at least in some early traditions, both were mortal. Their death and shared immortality offered by Zeus was material of the lost Cypria in the Epic cycle, the Dioscuri were regarded as helpers of humankind and held to be patrons of travellers and of sailors in particular, who invoked them to seek favourable winds. Their role as horsemen and boxers also led to them being regarded as the patrons of athletes and they characteristically intervened at the moment of crisis, aiding those who honoured or trusted them. Ancient Greek authors tell a number of versions of the story of Castor, homer portrays them initially as ordinary mortals, treating them as dead in the Iliad, but in the Odyssey they are treated as alive even though the corn-bearing earth holds them. The author describes them as having honour equal to gods, living on alternate days due to the intervention of Zeus, in both the Odyssey and in Hesiod, they are described as the sons of Tyndareus and Leda. In Pindar, Pollux is the son of Zeus while Castor is the son of the mortal Tyndareus, the theme of ambiguous parentage is not unique to Castor and Pollux, similar characterisations appear in the stories of Hercules and Theseus. The Dioscuri are also invoked in Alcaeus Fragment 34a, though whether this poem antedates the Homeric Hymn to the twins is unknown and they appear together in two plays by Euripides, Helen and Elektra
Castor and Polydeuces
–
Dioscuri (Pollux or Castor), Rome, Capitol
Castor and Polydeuces
–
Dioscuri (Castor or Pollux), Rome, Capitol
Castor and Polydeuces
–
Castor depicted on a
calyx krater of ca. 460–450 BC, holding a horse's reins and spears and wearing a
pilos -style helmet
Castor and Polydeuces
–
Pair of Roman statuettes (3rd century AD) depicting the Dioscuri as horsemen, with their characteristic skullcaps (
Metropolitan Museum of Art)
10.
Clytemnestra
–
Clytemnestra was the wife of Agamemnon and queen of Mycenae in ancient Greek legend. Her Greek name Klytaimnḗstra is also sometimes latinized as Clytaemnestra and it is commonly glossed as famed for her suitors. However, this form is a later misreading motivated by an erroneous etymological connection to the verb mnáomai, the original name form is believed to have been Klytaimḗstra without the -n-. The present form of the name does not appear before the middle Byzantine period, Aeschylus, in certain wordplays on her name, appears to assume an etymological link with the verb mḗdomai. Clytemnestra was the daughter of Tyndareus and Leda, the King, according to the myth, Zeus appeared to Leda in the form of a swan, seducing and impregnating her. Leda produced four offspring from two eggs, Castor and Clytemnestra from one egg, and Helen and Polydeuces from the other, therefore, Castor and Clytemnestra were fathered by Tyndareus, whereas Helen and Polydeuces were fathered by Zeus. Agamemnon and his brother Menelaus were in exile at the home of Tyndareus, in due time Agamemnon married Clytemnestra and Menelaus married Helen. In a late variation, Euripidess Iphigenia at Aulis, Clytemnestras first husband was Tantalus, King of Pisa, Agamemnon kills him and his infant son, in another version, her first husband was King of Lydia. The kings of Lydia, according to Plutarchs The Greek Questions,45, having succeeded Omphale who had received from Herakles Hippolytes axe, after Helen went from Sparta to Troy, her husband, Menelaus, asked his brother Agamemnon for help. However, consistently weak winds prevented the fleet from sailing, through a subplot involving the gods and omens, the priest Calchas said the winds would be favorable if Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia to the goddess Artemis. Agamemnon persuaded Clytemnestra to send Iphigenia to him, telling her he was going to marry her to Achilles, when Iphigenia arrived at Aulis, she was sacrificed, the winds turned, and the troops set sail for Troy. The Trojan War lasted ten years, during this period of Agamemnons long absence, Clytemnestra began a love affair with Aegisthus, her husbands cousin. Whether Clytemnestra was seduced into the affair or entered into it independently differs according to the author of the myth. Nevertheless, Clytemnestra and Aegisthus began plotting Agamemnons demise, Clytemnestra was enraged by Iphigenias murder. Aegisthus saw his father Thyestes betrayed by Agamemnons father Atreus, in old versions of the story, on returning from Troy, Agamemnon is murdered by Aegisthus, the lover of his wife, Clytemnestra. In some later versions Clytemnestra helps him or does the killing herself in his own home, Clytemnestra waited until he was in the bath, and then entangled him in a cloth net and stabbed him. Trapped in the web, Agamemnon could neither escape nor resist his murderer, meanwhile, Cassandra saw a vision of herself and Agamemnon being murdered. Her attempts to elicit help failed and she realized she was fated to die, and resolutely walked into the palace to receive her death
Clytemnestra
–
Clytemnestra trying to awake the
Erinyes while her son is being purified by
Apollo,
Apulian red-figure
krater, 480–470 BC,
Louvre (Cp 710)
Clytemnestra
–
After the murder (1882), by
John Collier, Guildhall Art Gallery (London)
Clytemnestra
–
Murder of Agamemnon, painting by
Pierre-Narcisse Guérin.
Clytemnestra
–
Orestes Pursued by the Furies by
William-Adolphe Bouguereau. Clytemnestra was killed by Orestes and the
Furies torment him for this killing
11.
Tyndareus
–
Tyndareus had a brother named Hippocoon, who seized power and exiled Tyndareus. He was reinstated by Heracles, who killed Hippocoon and his sons, tyndareus’ other brother was Icarius, the father of Penelope. Tyndareus’ wife Leda was seduced by Zeus, who disguised himself as a swan and she laid two eggs, each producing two children. When Thyestes seized control in Mycenae, two exiled princes, Agamemnon and Menelaus came to Sparta, where they were received as guests, the princes eventually married Tyndareus daughters, Clytemnestra and Helen respectively. Helen was the most beautiful woman in the world, and when it was time for her to marry, many Greek kings, among the contenders were Odysseus, Ajax the Great, Diomedes, Idomeneus, and both Menelaus and Agamemnon. All but Odysseus brought many and rich gifts with them, Tyndareus would accept none of the gifts, nor would he send any of the suitors away for fear of offending them and giving grounds for a quarrel. Odysseus promised to solve the problem in a manner if Tyndareus would support him in his courting of Penelope. This stratagem succeeded and Helen and Menelaus were married, eventually, Tyndareus resigned in favour of his son-in-law and Menelaus became king. Some years later, Paris, a Trojan prince came to Sparta to marry Helen, Menelaus attempted to retrieve Helen by calling on all her former suitors to fulfil their oaths, leading to the Trojan War
Tyndareus
–
Tyndareus’ stepdaughter
Helen of Troy
Tyndareus
–
Lelegids
12.
Sparta
–
Sparta was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece. In antiquity the city-state was known as Lacedaemon, while the name Sparta referred to its settlement on the banks of the Eurotas River in Laconia. Around 650 BC, it rose to become the dominant military land-power in ancient Greece, given its military pre-eminence, Sparta was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars. Between 431 and 404 BC, Sparta was the enemy of Athens during the Peloponnesian War, from which it emerged victorious. Spartas defeat by Thebes in the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC ended Spartas prominent role in Greece, however, it maintained its political independence until the Roman conquest of Greece in 146 BC. It then underwent a period of decline, especially in the Middle Ages. Modern Sparta is the capital of the Greek regional unit of Laconia, Sparta was unique in ancient Greece for its social system and constitution, which completely focused on military training and excellence. Its inhabitants were classified as Spartiates, mothakes, perioikoi, Spartiates underwent the rigorous agoge training and education regimen, and Spartan phalanges were widely considered to be among the best in battle. Spartan women enjoyed more rights and equality to men than elsewhere in the classical world. Sparta was the subject of fascination in its own day, as well as in the West following the revival of classical learning and this love or admiration of Sparta is known as Laconism or Laconophilia. At its peak around 500 BC the size of the city would have been some 20,000 –35,000 free residents, plus numerous helots, olliers theory of the Spartan mirage has been widely accepted by scholars. The ancient Greeks used one of three words to refer to the location of the Spartans. The first refers primarily to the cluster of settlements in the valley of the Eurotas River. The second word was Lacedaemon, this was used sometimes as an adjective and is the name commonly used in the works of Homer. Herodotus seems to denote by it the Mycenaean Greek citadel at Therapne and it could be used synonymously with Sparta, but typically it was not. It denoted the terrain on which Sparta was situated, in Homer it is typically combined with epithets of the countryside, wide, lovely, shining and most often hollow and broken. The hollow suggests the Eurotas Valley, Sparta on the other hand is the country of lovely women, a people epithet. The name of the population was used for the state of Lacedaemon
Sparta
–
Territory of ancient Sparta
Sparta
–
Hollow Lacedaemon. Site of the Menelaion, the ancient shrine to Helen and Menelaus constructed in the Bronze Age city that stood on the hill of
Therapne on the left bank of the
Eurotas River overlooking the future site of Dorian Sparta. Across the valley the successive ridges of Mount
Taygetus are in evidence.
Sparta
–
Eurotas River
Sparta
–
The theater of ancient Sparta with
Mt. Taygetus in the background.
13.
W. B. Yeats
–
William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, he helped to found the Abbey Theatre, Yeats was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival along with Lady Gregory, Edward Martyn and others. He was born in Sandymount, Ireland and educated there and in London and he spent childhood holidays in County Sligo and studied poetry from an early age when he became fascinated by Irish legends and the occult. These topics feature in the first phase of his work, which lasted roughly until the turn of the 20th century. His earliest volume of verse was published in 1889, and its slow-paced and lyrical poems display Yeatss debts to Edmund Spenser, Percy Bysshe Shelley, from 1900, his poetry grew more physical and realistic. He largely renounced the transcendental beliefs of his youth, though he remained preoccupied with physical and spiritual masks, in 1923, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Of Anglo-Irish descent, William Butler Yeats was born at Sandymount in County Dublin and his father, John Butler Yeats, was a descendant of Jervis Yeats, a Williamite soldier, linen merchant, and well-known painter who died in 1712. Benjamin Yeats, Jerviss grandson and Williams great-great-grandfather, had in 1773 married Mary Butler of a family in County Kildare. Following their marriage, they kept the name Butler in the family name, Mary was a descendant of the Butler of Ormond family from the Neigham Gowran branch of the family. They were descendants of the first Earls of Ormond, by his marriage, Williams father John Yeats was studying law but abandoned his studies to study art at Heatherleys Art School in London. His mother, Susan Mary Pollexfen, came from a merchant family in Sligo. Yeats was raised a member of the Protestant Ascendancy, which was at the time undergoing a crisis of identity. In 1997, his biographer R. F. Foster observed that Napoleons dictum that to understand the man you have to know what was happening in the world when he was twenty is manifestly true of W. B. Y. Yeatss childhood and young adulthood were shadowed by the power-shift away from the minority Protestant Ascendancy, the 1880s saw the rise of Charles Stewart Parnell and the home rule movement, the 1890s saw the momentum of nationalism, while the Catholics became prominent around the turn of the century. These developments had an effect on his poetry, and his subsequent explorations of Irish identity had a significant influence on the creation of his countrys biography. In 1867, the moved to England to aid their father, John. At first the Yeats children were educated at home and their mother entertained them with stories and Irish folktales. John provided an education in geography and chemistry, and took William on natural history explorations of the nearby Slough countryside
W. B. Yeats
–
William Butler Yeats photographed in 1903 by
Alice Boughton.
W. B. Yeats
–
Balscadden House in
Howth, County Dublin, where Yeats lived in 1880–83
W. B. Yeats
–
1900 portrait by
John Butler Yeats
W. B. Yeats
–
Maud Gonne c. 1900
14.
Nemesis (mythology)
–
In the ancient Greek religion, Nemesis, also called Rhamnousia/ Rhamnusia was the goddess who enacted retribution against those who succumb to hubris. Another name was Adrasteia/ Adrestia, meaning the inescapable and her Roman name/ counterpart is Invidia. The name Nemesis is related to the Greek word νέμειν némein, meaning to give what is due, divine retribution is a major theme in the Hellenic world view, providing the unifying theme of the tragedies of Sophocles and many other literary works. Hesiod states, Also deadly Nyx bore Nemesis an affliction to mortals subject to death, Nemesis appears in a still more concrete form in a fragment of the epic Cypria. As the Goddess of Rhamnous, Nemesis was honored and placated in a sanctuary in the isolated district of Rhamnous. There she was a daughter of Oceanus, the primeval river-ocean that encircles the world, pausanias noted her iconic statue there. Her cult may have originated at Smyrna and she is portrayed as a winged goddess wielding a whip or a dagger. In early times the representations of Nemesis resembled Aphrodite, who bears the epithet Nemesis. Later, as the goddess of proportion and the avenger of crime, she has as attributes a measuring rod, a bridle, scales, a sword, and a scourge. The word Nemesis originally meant the distributor of fortune, neither good nor bad, later, nemesis came to suggest the resentment caused by any disturbance of this right proportion, the sense of justice that could not allow it to pass unpunished. O. Gruppe and others connect the name with to feel just resentment, from the fourth century onward, Nemesis, as the just balancer of Fortunes chance, could be associated with Tyche. In the Greek tragedies Nemesis appears chiefly as the avenger of crime and the punisher of hubris, and as such is akin to Atë and the Erinyes. She was sometimes called Adrasteia, probably meaning one from whom there is no escape, her epithet Erinys is specially applied to Demeter, Nemesis has been described as the daughter of Oceanus or Zeus, but according to Hyginus she was a child of Erebus and Nyx. She has also described, by Hesiod as the daughter of Nyx alone. In some metaphysical mythology, Nemesis produced the egg from which hatched two sets of twins, Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra, and the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux. While many myths indicate Zeus and Leda to be the parents of Helen of Troy, Nemesis, to avoid Zeus, turns into a goose, but he turns into a swan and mates with her. Nemesis in her bird form lays an egg that is discovered in the marshes by a shepherd and it is in this way that Leda comes to be the mother of Helen of Troy, as she kept the egg in a chest until it hatched. Stasinus of Cyprus or Hegesias of Aegina, Cypria Fragment 8, but Zeus ever pursued and longed in his heart to catch her
Nemesis (mythology)
–
Nemesis, by
Alfred Rethel (1837)
Nemesis (mythology)
–
Nemesis on a brass
sestertius of
Hadrian, struck at
Rome AD 136
Nemesis (mythology)
–
Nemesis, Roman marble from Egypt, second century AD (
Louvre)
15.
Hubris
–
Hubris describes a personality quality of extreme or foolish pride or dangerous overconfidence. The adjectival form of the noun hubris is hubristic, Hubris is usually perceived as a characteristic of an individual rather than a group, although the group the offender belongs to may unintentionally suffer consequences from the wrongful act. Hubris often indicates a loss of contact with reality and an overestimation of ones own competence, Hubris is generally considered a sin in world religions. In ancient Greek, hubris referred to actions that shamed and humiliated the victim for the pleasure or gratification of the abuser, the term had a strong sexual connotation, and the shame reflected on the perpetrator as well. Violations of the law against hubris included what might today be termed assault and battery, sexual crimes, two well-known cases are found in the speeches of Demosthenes, a prominent statesman and orator in ancient Greece. These two examples occurred when first Midias punched Demosthenes in the face in the theatre, and second when a defendant allegedly assaulted a man, aeschines brought this suit against Timarchus to bar him from the rights of political office and his case succeeded. In Ancient Athens, hubris was defined as the use of violence to shame the victim, Hubris is not the requital of past injuries, this is revenge. As for the pleasure in hubris, its cause is this, crucial to this definition are the ancient Greek concepts of honour and shame. The concept of honour included not only the exaltation of the one receiving honour and this concept of honour is akin to a zero-sum game. Rush Rehm simplifies this definition of hubris to the concept of insolence, contempt. In its modern usage, hubris denotes overconfident pride combined with arrogance, Hubris is often associated with a lack of humility. The proverb pride goeth before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall is thought to sum up the use of hubris. Hubris is also referred to as pride that blinds, as it causes a committer of hubris to act in foolish ways that belie common sense. In other words, the definition may be thought of as. Victor in Mary Shelleys Frankenstein manifests hubris in his attempt to become a great scientist by creating life through technological means, but eventually regrets this previous desire. Chinua Achebes novel Things Fall Apart has been called a modern Greek tragedy, the characters Pride and Father in the popular manga Fullmetal Alchemist were inspired by the sin of hubris. One notable example is the Battle of Little Big Horn, as General George Armstrong Custer was apocryphally reputed to have there, Where did all those damned Indians come from. In business word many cases of social scandals were explained by managerial hubris, more recently, in his two-volume biography of Adolf Hitler, historian Ian Kershaw uses both hubris and nemesis as titles
Hubris
–
illustration for John Milton's Paradise Lost by
Gustave Doré (1866).
16.
Timotheus (sculptor)
–
He was apparently the leading sculptor at the temple of Asklepios at Epidaurus, c.380 BC. The theme must have been popular, judging by the more than two dozen Roman marble copies that survive, the most famous version has been that in the Capitoline Museums in Rome, purchased by Pope Clement XIV from the heirs of Cardinal Alessandro Albani. A highly restored version is in the Museo del Prado, Die copien der Leda von Timotheos Antike Plastik 17. Kunzl, E. and G. Horn, Die Hygeia des Timotheos 1969, Leda and the Swan Roman marble, 1st century AD, found in Rome,1775 and bought by the second Earl of Shelburne, Lansdowne House, London. Leda and the Swan, from the Albani collection
Timotheus (sculptor)
–
Roman marble of Leda and the Swan (
Prado)
17.
Cameo (carving)
–
Cameo is a method of carving an object such as an engraved gem, item of jewellery or vessel made in this manner. It nearly always features a relief image, contrast with intaglio. Today the term may be used loosely for objects with no colour contrast. This derives from another generalized meaning that has developed, the cameo as an image of a head in a frame in any medium. In cheaper modern work, shell and glass are more common, glass cameo vessels, such as the famous Portland Vase, were also developed by the Romans. Modern cameos can be produced by setting a carved relief, such as a portrait and this is called an assembled cameo. Sometimes dyes are used to enhance these colours, sir Wallis Budge alleged that the noun Cameo apparently comes from Kameo, a word used in kabbalistic slang to signify a magical square, i. e. A kind of talisman whereupon magical spells was carved, stone cameos of great artistry were made in Greece dating back as far as the 3rd century BC. The Farnese Tazza is the oldest major Hellenistic piece surviving and they were very popular in Ancient Rome, especially in the family circle of Augustus. Roman Cameos became less common around in the leading up to 300AD although production continued at a much reduced rate right through the Middle Ages. The technique has since enjoyed periodic revivals, notably in the early Renaissance, the Neoclassical revival began in France with Napoleons support of the glyptic arts, and even his coronation crown was decorated with cameos. In 1852 Théophile Gautier titled a collection of his highly polished, during the Roman period the cameo technique was used on glass blanks, in imitation of objects being produced in agate or sardonyx. Cameo glass objects were produced in two periods, between around 25 BC and 50/60 AD, and in the later Empire around the mid-third and mid-fourth century. Roman glass cameos are rare objects, with only two hundred fragments and sixteen complete pieces known, only one of which dates from the later period. Blanks could be produced by fusing two separately cast sheets of glass, or by dipping the base glass into a crucible of molten overlay glass during blowing, the most famous example of a cameo from the early period is the Portland Vase. Although occasionally used in Roman cameos, the earliest prevalent use of shell for carving was during the Renaissance. Before that time, cameos were carved from hardstone, the Renaissance cameos are typically white on a grayish background and were carved from the shell of a mussel or cowry, the latter a tropical mollusk. In the mid 18th century, explorations revealed new shell varieties, helmet shells from the West Indies, and queen conch shells from the Bahamas and West Indies, arrived in Europe
Cameo (carving)
–
The
Great Cameo of France, five layers
sardonyx,
Rome, ca 23 A.D., the largest of Antiquity
Cameo (carving)
–
Renaissance cameo of an African king, 16th century, Italy(?) (
Cabinet des médailles)
Cameo (carving)
–
Woman wearing a cameo at her throat, on a high lace collar in the Edwardian style.
Cameo (carving)
–
Cameo, handmade shell (Cassis madascarensis), Modula Gioielli.
18.
Engraved gem
–
An engraved gem is a small gemstone, usually semi-precious, that has been carved, in the Western tradition normally with images or inscriptions only on one face. The engraving of gemstones was a luxury art form in the ancient world. Strictly speaking, engraving means carving in intaglio, but relief carvings are covered by the term. This article uses cameo in its sense, to denote a carving exploiting layers of differently coloured stone. The activity is also called gem carving, and the artists gem-cutters, vessels like the Cup of the Ptolemies and heads or figures carved in the round are also known as hardstone carvings and similar terms. Glyptics, or glyptic art, covers the field of small carved stones, including seals and inscriptions. A finely carved seal was practical, as it made more difficult – the distinctive personal signature did not really exist in antiquity. Gems were mostly cut by using abrasive powder from harder stones in conjunction with a hand-drill, emery has been mined for abrasive powder on Naxos since antiquity. Some early types of seal were cut by hand, rather than a drill, there is no evidence that magnifying lenses were used by gem cutters in antiquity. A medieval guide to gem-carving techniques survives from Theophilus Presbyter, byzantine cutters used a flat-edged wheel on a drill for intaglio work, while Carolingian ones used round-tipped drills, it is unclear where they learnt this technique from. In intaglio gems at least, the cut surface is usually very well preserved. The colour of several gemstones can be enhanced by a number of methods, using heat, sugar. Many of these can be shown to have used since antiquity – since the 7th millennium BC in the case of heating. The technique has an ancient tradition in the Near East, and is represented in all or most early cultures from the area, and these were made in various types of stone, not all hardstone. The Greek tradition emerged in Ancient Greek art under Minoan influence on mainland Helladic culture, pre-Hellenic Ancient Egyptian seals tend to have inscriptions in hieroglyphs rather than images. The Biblical Book of Exodus describes the form of the hoshen, round or oval Greek gems are found from the 8th and 7th centuries BC, usually with animals in energetic geometric poses, often with a border marked by dots or a rim. Early examples are mostly in softer stones, Gems of the 6th century are more often oval, with a scarab back, and human or divine figures as well as animals, the scarab form was apparently adopted from Phoenicia. The forms are sophisticated for the period, despite the small size of the gems
Engraved gem
–
Roman intaglio portrait of
Caracalla in
amethyst, once in the Treasury of
Sainte-Chapelle, when it was adapted by adding an inscription and cross to represent
Saint Peter.
Engraved gem
–
Cameo of a Roman prince
Engraved gem
–
Antelopes attacked by birds:
cylinder seal in
hematite and its impression. Late Bronze Age II (maybe 14th century BC), from
Cyprus in the
Minoan period, following Near Eastern precedents.
Engraved gem
–
Reclining
satyr,
Etruscan c. 550 BC, 2.2 cm wide. Note the vase shown "sideways"; it is characteristic of early gems that not all elements in the design are read from the same direction of view.
19.
Ovid
–
Publius Ovidius Naso, known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is ranked as one of the three canonical poets of Latin literature. The Imperial scholar Quintilian considered him the last of the Latin love elegists and he enjoyed enormous popularity, but, in one of the mysteries of literary history, was sent by Augustus into exile in a remote province on the Black Sea, where he remained until his death. Ovid himself attributes his exile to carmen et error, a poem and a mistake and his poetry was much imitated during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and greatly influenced Western art and literature. The Metamorphoses remains one of the most important sources of classical mythology, Ovid talks more about his own life than most other Roman poets. Information about his biography is drawn primarily from his poetry, especially Tristia 4.10, other sources include Seneca the Elder and Quintilian. Ovid was born in Sulmo, in an Apennine valley east of Rome, to an important equestrian family and that was a significant year in Roman politics. He was educated in rhetoric in Rome under the teachers Arellius Fuscus and Porcius Latro with his brother who excelled at oratory and his father wanted him to study rhetoric toward the practice of law. According to Seneca the Elder, Ovid tended to the emotional, after the death of his brother at 20 years of age, Ovid renounced law and began travelling to Athens, Asia Minor, and Sicily. Ovids first recitation has been dated to around 25 BC, when he was eighteen and he was part of the circle centered on the patron Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus, and seems to have been a friend of poets in the circle of Maecenas. 4.10. 41–54, Ovid mentions friendships with Macer, Propertius, Horace, Ovid was very popular at the time of his early works, but was later exiled by Augustus in AD8. He married three times and divorced twice by the time he was thirty years old and he had one daughter, who eventually bore him grandchildren. His last wife was connected in some way to the influential gens Fabia, the first 25 years of Ovids literary career were spent primarily writing poetry in elegiac meter with erotic themes. The chronology of early works is not secure, tentative dates. 2.18. 19–26 that seems to describe the collection as a published work. The authenticity of some of these poems has been challenged, between the publications of the two editions of the Amores can be dated the premiere of his tragedy Medea, which was admired in antiquity but is no longer extant. Ovid may identify this work in his poetry as the carmen, or song. The Ars Amatoria was followed by the Remedia Amoris in the same year and this corpus of elegiac, erotic poetry earned Ovid a place among the chief Roman elegists Gallus, Tibullus, and Propertius, of whom he saw himself as the fourth member
Ovid
–
Statue (1887) by
Ettore Ferrari commemorating Ovid's exile in Tomis (present-day
Constanța, Romania)
Ovid
–
A second statue of Ovid by
Ettore Ferrari in the Piazza XX Settembre,
Sulmona, Italy.
Ovid
–
Ovid Banished from Rome (1838) by
J.M.W. Turner.
Ovid
–
Medea in a fresco from
Herculaneum.
20.
Prado
–
The Prado Museum is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. Founded as a museum of paintings and sculpture in 1819, it contains important collections of other types of works. El Prado is one of the most visited sites in the world, and it is considered one of the greatest art museums in the world. The collection currently comprises around 8,200 drawings,7,600 paintings,4,800 prints, and 1,000 sculptures, in addition to a large number of other works of art and historic documents. As of 2012, the museum displayed about 1,300 works in the buildings, while around 3,100 works were on temporary loan to various museums. The museum received 2.8 million visitors in 2012 and it is one of the largest museums in Spain. The best-known work on display at the museum is Las Meninas by Velázquez, Velázquez and his keen eye and sensibility were also responsible for bringing much of the museums fine collection of Italian masters to Spain, now the largest outside of Italy. The museum is planning a 16% extension in the nearby Salón de Reinos and their efforts and determination led to the Royal Collection being enriched by some of the masterpieces now to be seen in the Prado. In addition to works from the Spanish royal collection, other holdings increased and enriched the Museum with further masterpieces, such as the two Majas by Goya. Among the now closed museums whose collections have been added to that of the Prado were the Museo del la Trinidad in 1872, in addition, numerous legacies, donations and purchases have been of crucial importance for the growth of the collection. Upon the deposition of Isabella II in 1868, the museum was nationalized and acquired the new name of Museo del Prado, the building housed the royal collection of arts, and it rapidly proved too small. The first enlargement to the museum took place in 1918, particularly important donations include Barón Emile dErlangers gift of Goyas Black Paintings in 1881. Between 1873 and 1900, the Prado helped decorate city halls, new universities, during the Second Spanish Republic from 1931 to 1936, the focus was on building up provincial museums. The art had to be returned across French territory in night trains to the museum upon the commencement of World War II, during the early years of the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, many paintings were sent to embassies. The main building was enlarged with short pavilions in the rear between 1900 and 1960, in 1993, an extension proposed by the Prados director at the time, Felipe Garin, was quickly abandoned after a wave of criticism. In the late 1990s, a $14 million roof work forced the Velázquez masterpiece Las Meninas to change galleries twice, in 1998, the Prado annex in the nearby Casón del Buen Retiro closed for a $10 million two-year overhaul that included three new underground levels. In 2007, the finally executed Rafael Moneos project to expand its exposition room to 16,000 square meters. A glass-roofed and wedge-shaped foyer now contains the shops and cafeteria
Prado
–
Museo del Prado (Main wing)
Prado
–
Museo Nacional del Prado
Prado
–
In the main exhibition hall, first floor
Prado
–
Francisco de Goya,
La maja desnuda, oil on canvas, (circa 1797–1800)
21.
I Modi
–
While the original edition was apparently completely destroyed by the Catholic Church, fragments of a later edition survived. The second edition was accompanied by written by Pietro Aretino. The original illustrations were probably copied by Agostino Caracci, whose version survives, Raimondi had worked extensively with Romanos master Raphael, who had died in 1520, producing prints to his design. The engravings were published by Raimondi in 1524, and led to his imprisonment by Pope Clement VII, Romano did not become aware of the engravings until the poet Pietro Aretino came to see the original paintings while Romano was still working on them. Romano was not prosecuted since—unlike Raimondi—his images were not intended for public consumption, Aretino then composed sixteen explicit sonnets to accompany the paintings/engravings, and secured Raimondi’s release from prison. Raimondi escaped prison on this occasion, but the suppression on both occasions was comprehensive, no original copies of this edition have survived, with the exception of a few fragments in the British Museum, and two copies of posture 1. Certainly, unless the engraver of the Caracci edition had access to the British Museum’s fragments, and reconstructed his compositions from them, the Dean, Dr. John Fell, impounded the copper plates and threatened those involved with expulsion. The text of Aretino’s sonnets, however, survives, a new series of graphic and explicit engravings of sexual positions was produced by Camillo Procaccini or more likely by Agostino Carracci for a later reprint of Aretinos poems. Their production was in spite of their artist’s working in an environment that encouraged religious art and restricted secular. This famous artist was Jacques Joseph Coiny, agostino’s brother Annibale Carracci also completed the elaborate fresco of Loves of the Gods for the Palazzo Farnese in Rome. These images were drawn from Ovid’s Metamorphoses and include nudes, but are not explicit, the wide adultery of Julia Messalinas participation in prostitution, as criticised in Juvenals Satire VI. Jupiters full beard the frontispiece image is entitled Venus Genetrix, the bodies of those depicted show clear influences from classical statuary known at the time, such as, the over-muscled torsos and backs of the men. The womens clearly defined though small breasts the elaborate hairstyles of some of the women, such as his Venus, portraying the action in a classical stage set such as an ancient Greek sanctuary or temple. The title Polyenus and Chryseis pairs the fictional Polyenus with the mythological character Chryseis. All the women and goddesses in this work have a hairless groin, the modern furniture, e. g. Note, These prints are late 18th century re-creations of the originals. Media related to I Modi at Wikimedia Commons Selection of images in various versions
I Modi
–
Surviving fragments of Raimondi's second edition of I Modi in the
British Museum.
I Modi
–
Annibale’s Loves of the Gods
22.
Old master print
–
An old master print is a work of art produced by a printing process within the Western tradition. Fifteenth-century prints are rare that they are classed as old master prints even if they are of crude or merely workmanlike artistic quality. A date of about 1830 is usually taken as marking the end of the period whose prints are covered by this term, the main techniques used, in order of their introduction, are woodcut, engraving, etching, mezzotint and aquatint, although there are others. Different techniques are combined in a single print. With rare exceptions printed on textiles, such as silk, or on vellum, many great European artists, such as Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt, and Francisco Goya, were dedicated printmakers. In their own day, their international reputations largely came from their prints, influences between artists were also mainly transmitted beyond a single city by prints, for the same reason. Prints therefore are frequently brought up in detailed analyses of individual paintings in art history, today, thanks to colour photo reproductions, and public galleries, their paintings are much better known, whilst their prints are only rarely exhibited, for conservation reasons. But some museum print rooms allow visitors to see their collection, the oldest technique is woodcut, or woodblock printing, which was invented as a method for printing on cloth in China, and perhaps separately in Egypt in the Byzantine period. This had reached Europe via the Byzantine or Islamic worlds before 1300, religious images and playing cards are documented as being produced on paper, probably printed, by a German in Bologna in 1395. However, the most impressive printed European images to survive from before 1400 are printed on cloth, for use as hangings on walls or furniture, including altars, some were used as a pattern to embroider over. Some religious images were used as bandages, to speed healing, the earliest print images are mostly of a high artistic standard, and were clearly designed by artists with a background in painting. Whether these artists cut the blocks themselves, or only inked the design on the block for another to carve, is not known, the great majority of surviving 15th-century prints are religious, although these were probably the ones more likely to survive. Their makers were sometimes called Jesus maker or saint-maker in documents, as with manuscript books, monastic institutions sometimes produced, and often sold, prints. No artists can be identified with specific woodcuts until towards the end of the century, the little evidence we have suggests that woodcut prints became relatively common and cheap during the fifteenth century, and were affordable by skilled workers in towns. For example, what may be the earliest surviving Italian print, the school caught fire, and the crowd who gathered to watch saw the print carried up into the air by the fire, before falling down into the crowd. This was regarded as an escape and the print was carried to Forlì Cathedral. Like the majority of prints before approximately 1460, only a single impression of this print has survived, Woodcut blocks are printed with light pressure, and are capable of printing several thousand impressions, and even at this period some prints may well have been produced in that quantity. Many prints were hand-coloured, mostly in watercolour, in fact the hand-colouring of prints continued for many centuries, Italy, Germany, France and the Netherlands were the main areas of production, England does not seem to have produced any prints until about 1480
Old master print
–
The Three Crosses,
etching by
Rembrandt, 1653,
State III of IV
Old master print
–
Melencolia I, 1514, engraving by
Albrecht Dürer
Old master print
–
This
donor portrait of about 1455 shows a large coloured print attached to the wall with
sealing wax.
Petrus Christus,
NGA, Washington. Another example is seen
here.
Old master print
–
Anonymous German 15th century woodcut, about 1480, with hand-colouring, including (unusually) spots of gold. 5.2 x 3.9 cm, i.e. this is similar to the original size on most screens
23.
Engraved gems
–
An engraved gem is a small gemstone, usually semi-precious, that has been carved, in the Western tradition normally with images or inscriptions only on one face. The engraving of gemstones was a luxury art form in the ancient world. Strictly speaking, engraving means carving in intaglio, but relief carvings are covered by the term. This article uses cameo in its sense, to denote a carving exploiting layers of differently coloured stone. The activity is also called gem carving, and the artists gem-cutters, vessels like the Cup of the Ptolemies and heads or figures carved in the round are also known as hardstone carvings and similar terms. Glyptics, or glyptic art, covers the field of small carved stones, including seals and inscriptions. A finely carved seal was practical, as it made more difficult – the distinctive personal signature did not really exist in antiquity. Gems were mostly cut by using abrasive powder from harder stones in conjunction with a hand-drill, emery has been mined for abrasive powder on Naxos since antiquity. Some early types of seal were cut by hand, rather than a drill, there is no evidence that magnifying lenses were used by gem cutters in antiquity. A medieval guide to gem-carving techniques survives from Theophilus Presbyter, byzantine cutters used a flat-edged wheel on a drill for intaglio work, while Carolingian ones used round-tipped drills, it is unclear where they learnt this technique from. In intaglio gems at least, the cut surface is usually very well preserved. The colour of several gemstones can be enhanced by a number of methods, using heat, sugar. Many of these can be shown to have used since antiquity – since the 7th millennium BC in the case of heating. The technique has an ancient tradition in the Near East, and is represented in all or most early cultures from the area, and these were made in various types of stone, not all hardstone. The Greek tradition emerged in Ancient Greek art under Minoan influence on mainland Helladic culture, pre-Hellenic Ancient Egyptian seals tend to have inscriptions in hieroglyphs rather than images. The Biblical Book of Exodus describes the form of the hoshen, round or oval Greek gems are found from the 8th and 7th centuries BC, usually with animals in energetic geometric poses, often with a border marked by dots or a rim. Early examples are mostly in softer stones, Gems of the 6th century are more often oval, with a scarab back, and human or divine figures as well as animals, the scarab form was apparently adopted from Phoenicia. The forms are sophisticated for the period, despite the small size of the gems
Engraved gems
–
Roman intaglio portrait of
Caracalla in
amethyst, once in the Treasury of
Sainte-Chapelle, when it was adapted by adding an inscription and cross to represent
Saint Peter.
Engraved gems
–
Cameo of a Roman prince
Engraved gems
–
Antelopes attacked by birds:
cylinder seal in
hematite and its impression. Late Bronze Age II (maybe 14th century BC), from
Cyprus in the
Minoan period, following Near Eastern precedents.
Engraved gems
–
Reclining
satyr,
Etruscan c. 550 BC, 2.2 cm wide. Note the vase shown "sideways"; it is characteristic of early gems that not all elements in the design are read from the same direction of view.
24.
Woodcut
–
Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that the artist cuts away carry no ink, while characters or images at surface level carry the ink to produce the print, the block is cut along the wood grain. The surface is covered with ink by rolling over the surface with a roller, leaving ink upon the flat surface. Multiple colors can be printed by keying the paper to a frame around the woodblocks, single-leaf woodcut is a term for a woodcut presented as a single image or print, as opposed to a book illustration. Among these the best known are the 16th century Hieronymus Andreae, Hans Lützelburger and Jost de Negker, all of whom ran workshops, the formschneider in turn handed the block on to specialist printers. There were further specialists who made the blank blocks and this is why woodcuts are sometimes described by museums or books as designed by rather than by an artist, but most authorities do not use this distinction. The division of labour had the advantage that a trained artist could adapt to the medium relatively easily, there were various methods of transferring the artists drawn design onto the block for the cutter to follow. Either the drawing would be made directly onto the block, or a drawing on paper was glued to the block, either way, the artists drawing was destroyed during the cutting process. Other methods were used, including tracing, in both Europe and the Far East in the early 20th century, some artists began to do the whole process themselves. In Japan, this movement was called sōsaku-hanga, as opposed to shin-hanga, in the West, many artists used the easier technique of linocut instead. Compared to intaglio techniques like etching and engraving, only low pressure is required to print, as a relief method, it is only necessary to ink the block and bring it into firm and even contact with the paper or cloth to achieve an acceptable print. In Europe a variety of woods including boxwood and several nut and fruit woods like pear or cherry were commonly used, in Japan, there are three methods of printing to consider, Stamping, Used for many fabrics and most early European woodcuts. Used for European woodcuts and block-books later in the fifteenth century, also used for many Western woodcuts from about 1910 to the present. The block goes face up on a table, with the paper or fabric on top, the back is rubbed with a hard pad, a flat piece of wood, a burnisher, or a leather frotton. A traditional Japanese tool used for this is called a baren, later in Japan, complex wooden mechanisms were used to help hold the woodblock perfectly still and to apply proper pressure in the printing process. This was especially helpful once multiple colors were introduced and had to be applied with precision atop previous ink layers, printing in a press, presses only seem to have been used in Asia in relatively recent times. Printing-presses were used from about 1480 for European prints and block-books, simple weighted presses may have been used in Europe before the print-press, but firm evidence is lacking
Woodcut
–
Four horsemen of the Apocalypse by
Albrecht Dürer
Woodcut
–
Using a handheld gouge to cut a woodcut design into Japanese plywood. The design has been sketched in chalk on a painted face of the plywood.
Woodcut
–
Woodcuts of Stanislaw Raczynski (1903-1982)
Woodcut
–
Block Cutter at Work woodcut by
Jost Amman, 1568
25.
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili
–
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, called in English Poliphilos Strife of Love in a Dream or The Dream of Poliphilus, is a romance said to be by Francesco Colonna and a famous example of early printing. The book was printed by Aldus Manutius in Venice in December 1499, despite this, scholars have also attributed the book to Leon Battista Alberti, and earlier, to Lorenzo de Medici. The latest contribution in this respect was the attribution to Aldus Manutius, and a different Francesco Colonna, the author of the illustrations is even less certain. The subject matter lies within the tradition of the genre of Romance within the conventions of courtly love, the Hypnerotomachia also draws from a humanist tradition of arcane writings as a demonstration of classical thought. The text of the book is written in a bizarre Latinate Italian, full of words based on Latin, the authors style is elaborately descriptive and unsparing in its use of superlatives. The text makes frequent references to classical geography and mythology, mostly by way of comparison, the book has long been sought after as one of the most beautiful incunabula ever printed. The typography is famous for its quality and clarity, in a typeface cut by Francesco Griffo. The type was revived by the Monotype Corporation in 1923 as Poliphilus, another revival, of the earlier version of Griffos type, was completed under the direction of Stanley Morison in 1929 as Bembo. The type is thought to be one of the first examples of the italic typeface, the book is illustrated with 168 exquisite woodcuts showing the scenery, architectural settings, and some of the characters Poliphilo encounters in his dreams. These images are also interesting because they shed light on people in the Renaissance fancied about the alleged æsthetic qualities of Greek. The psychologist Carl Jung admired the book, believing the dream images presaged his theory of archetypes, the style of the woodcut illustrations had a great influence on late-nineteenth-century English illustrators, such as Aubrey Beardsley, Walter Crane, and Robert Anning Bell. The first complete English version was published in 1999, five hundred years after the original, however the translation uses standard, modern language, rather than following the originals pattern of coining and borrowing words. A complete Russian translation by art historian Boris Sokolov is now in progress, the book is planned as a precise reconstruction of the original layout, with Cyrillic types and typography by Sergei Egorov. Ten of the monuments described in the Hypnerotomachia were reconstructed by computer graphics and were first published by Esteban A. Cruz in 2006, the book begins with Poliphilo, who has spent a restless night because his beloved, Polia, shunned him. Poliphilo is transported into a wild forest, where he gets lost, encounters dragons, wolves and maidens and a variety of architecture, escapes. He then awakens in a dream, dreamed within the first. In the dream, he is taken by some nymphs to meet their queen, and there he is asked to declare his love for Polia and he is then directed by two nymphs to three gates. He chooses the third, and there he discovers his beloved and they are taken by some more nymphs to a temple to be engaged
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili
–
Poliphilo from a page of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili
–
Poliphilo kneels before Queen Eleuterylida
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili
–
Polia kisses Poliphilo back to life
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili
26.
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
27.
Coitus
–
Sexual intercourse, or coitus or copulation, is principally the insertion and thrusting of the penis, usually when erect, into the vagina for sexual pleasure, reproduction, or both. This is also known as vaginal intercourse or vaginal sex, other forms of penetrative sexual intercourse include anal sex, oral sex, fingering, and penetration by use of a dildo. These activities involve physical intimacy between two or more individuals and are used among humans solely for physical or emotional pleasure. A variety of views concern what constitutes sexual intercourse or other sexual activity and it is usually defined by sexual penetration, while non-penetrative sex acts, such as non-penetrative forms of cunnilingus or mutual masturbation, have been termed outercourse. Non-penetrative sex acts, however, may additionally be considered sexual intercourse, the term sex, often a shorthand for sexual intercourse, can mean any form of sexual activity. Religious beliefs also play a role in decisions about sexual intercourse or other sexual activity, such as decisions about virginity, or legal. Religious views on sexuality vary significantly between different religions and sects of the religion, though there are common themes, such as prohibition of adultery. For most non-human mammals, mating and copulation occur at the point of estrus, however, bonobos, dolphins and chimpanzees are known to engage in sexual intercourse regardless of whether or not the female is in estrus, and to engage in sex acts with same-sex partners. Sexual intercourse may be defined by different words, including coitus, copulation, coition and this is often termed vaginal intercourse or vaginal sex. The term vaginal sex, and less often vaginal intercourse, may refer to any vaginal sexual activity, particularly if penetrative. The World Health Organization states that non-English languages and cultures use different terms for sexual activity, various vulgar or slang words and euphemisms are also used to describe sexual intercourse or other sexual activity, such as the term fuck, shag, and the phrase sleep together. Penetration of the vagina by the penis is additionally known as intromission. Vaginal, anal and oral sex are recognized as sexual intercourse more often than other sexual behaviors, lesbians may define oral sex or fingering as sexual intercourse and subsequently an act of virginity loss, or tribadism as a primary form of sexual activity. Researchers commonly define sexual intercourse as penile–vaginal intercourse while using terms, such as anal sex or oral sex. Scholars Richard M. Lerner and Laurence Steinberg state that researchers also rarely disclose how they define sex or even whether they resolved potential discrepancies in definitions of sex. This focus can also relegate other forms of sexual activity to foreplay or contribute to them not being regarded as real sex. Studies regarding the definition of sexual intercourse sometimes conflict, a 1999 study by the Kinsey Institute examined the definition of sex based on a 1991 random sample of 599 college students from 29 U. S. The specificity of questions concerning sexual activity can additionally affect definitions of sexual intercourse or other sexual behaviors, another study by the Kinsey Institute sampled 484 people, ranging in ages 18–96
Coitus
–
Sexual intercourse in the
missionary position, the most common human
sex position, depicted by
Édouard-Henri Avril
Coitus
–
19th-century painting of a couple engaged in vaginal intercourse, by
Achille Devéria
Coitus
–
19th-century
erotic interpretation of
Hadrian and
Antinous engaged in anal intercourse, by
Édouard-Henri Avril
28.
Giulio Campagnola
–
He was the adoptive father of the artist Domenico Campagnola. His early years are better documented than his adult life and he was born in Padua, then subject to the republic of Venice, and home to one of the three major European universities of the fifteenth century, the University of Padua. According to Giorgio Vasari, Girolamo was also an artist a Paduan painter and disciple of Squarcione, a number of sources, including Vasari, say that Campagnola was extremely accomplished in a number of artistic areas as a teenager. This letter was sent to the court at Mantua in an attempt to find him a position there and it is not clear if he ever went to Mantua, although his work shows the influence of Mantegna. One engraving is based on a drawing by Mantegna or his workshop. In 1499 he appears in the accounts of the court at Ferrara, there is then no documentation until 1507, when another Paduan recorded lending him a painting and three copper engraving plates. This was in Venice, where most writers assume he was living by then, at the period he also became a friend of the humanist and alchemical poet Giovanni Aurelio Augurello. Depicting his experiments with artificial blue pigments in his Chrysopoeia Augurello refers to Giulio as the one person who at least is somehow profiting from the vain quest for gold. After this there is no record, but an engraving plate that he had left half-finished was completed by his adopted son c. 1517, so he is assumed to have died by then at the latest and he had adopted Domenico Campagnola, apparently an orphan of German parentage, in about 1512. Another source claimed that he took orders, but this is now discounted. Most writers see Campagnola as a professional artist, who received some sort of training in Mantua and it is still possible to see Campagnola, as W. R. Rearick did, as a dilettante who probably mostly lived in Padua, probably with another career altogether. This, however, remains a minority view, the dating of his work is based very largely on the stylistic arrangement of his work around the Astrologer, dated 1509, and his presumed death around 1515. Whilst the chronological sequence of his engravings set out by Arthur M. Hind has been generally accepted, the dating of them remains a subject for discussion. His early work is influenced by Albrecht Dürer, and includes one direct copy of a Dürer engraving. The next group of engravings, which include the Astrologer, very successfully interpret the mood of Venetian painting of the first decade of the century in the medium of engraving and it is this group that he is most famous for, and that also introduce his stipple technique. Stippling means engraving with dots or little flicks of the burin, Campagnola is able to convey varying tone by different intensities of dots, rather than by techniques of hatching and cross-hatching usually necessary. These engravings are in a combination of line and stipple work, the plates were later reworked in stipple work, in at least one case after a considerable number of impressions of the first state had been taken
Giulio Campagnola
–
Landscape with Two Men Sitting near a Coppice, pen and wash (
Louvre Museum). Later begun as an engraving by Giulio, but finished by his son Domenico. Some ascribe the drawing to
Giorgione.
Giulio Campagnola
–
Two Naked Women, an early print, 11.9 × 18.1 cm
29.
Benvenuto Cellini
–
Benvenuto Cellini was an Italian goldsmith, sculptor, draftsman, soldier, musician, and artist who also wrote a famous autobiography and poetry. He was one of the most important artists of Mannerism, Benvenuto Cellini was born in Florence, in present-day Italy. His parents were Giovanni Cellini and Maria Lisabetta Granacci and they were married for eighteen years before the birth of their first child. Benvenuto was the child of the family. At the age of sixteen, Benvenuto had already attracted attention in Florence by taking part in an affray with youthful companions and he was banished for six months and lived in Siena, where he worked for a goldsmith named Fracastoro. From Siena he moved to Bologna, where he became an accomplished flute player. After a visit to Pisa and two periods of living in Florence, he moved to Rome, at the age of nineteen. His first works in Rome were a silver casket, silver candlesticks, and a vase for the bishop of Salamanca, which won him the approval of Pope Clement VII. Another celebrated work from Rome is the medallion of Leda and the Swan executed for the Gonfaloniere Gabbriello Cesarino. He also took up the flute again, and was appointed one of the court musicians. In the attack on Rome by Charles III, Duke of Bourbon, according to his own accounts, he himself shot and injured Philibert of Châlon, prince of Orange. His bravery led to a reconciliation with the Florentine magistrates, from Florence he went to the court of the duke of Mantua, and then back to Florence. On returning to Rome, he was employed in the working of jewellery and in the execution of dies for private medals, in 1529 his brother Cecchino killed a Corporal of the Roman Watch and in turn was wounded by an arquebusier, later dying of his wound. Soon afterward Benvenuto killed his brothers killer – an act of blood revenge, Cellini fled to Naples to shelter from the consequences of an affray with a notary, Ser Benedetto, whom he had wounded. Through the influence of cardinals, Cellini obtained a pardon. He found favor with the new pope, Paul III, notwithstanding a fresh homicide during the three days after the death of Pope Clement VII in September 1534. The fourth victim was a goldsmith, Pompeo of Milan. The plots of Pier Luigi Farnese led to Cellinis retreat from Rome to Florence and Venice, at the age of 37, upon returning from a visit to the French court, he was imprisoned on a charge of having embezzled the gems of the popes tiara during the war
Benvenuto Cellini
–
Bust of Benvenuto Cellini on the Ponte Vecchio, Florence
Benvenuto Cellini
–
Perseus with the Head of Medusa
Benvenuto Cellini
–
Statue of Cellini, Piazzale degli Uffizi, Florence
Benvenuto Cellini
–
Chateau de Fontainebleau
30.
Antonio Abondio
–
Antonio Abondio was an Italian sculptor, best known as a medallist and as the pioneer of the coloured wax relief portrait miniature. Born in Riva del Garda, he worked in Italy between 1552 and 1565, and thereafter mainly for the Habsburgs and his son Alessandro followed in his fathers footsteps, also specializing in mythological reliefs, and marrying the widow of another court artist, Hans von Aachen. Thirteen of Abondios wax portraits survive, and about sixty medals and he also made the dies for the first coinage of Emperor Rudolf II. Initially his style in metal followed that of Leone Leoni, for the facade of whose house in Milan he carved eight large atlantes in stone and he died at Vienna in 1591
Antonio Abondio
–
Portrait of Antonio Abondio by
Martino Rota, 1574
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