Portrait of Amilcare, Minerva, and Asdrubale Anguissola

Week 8

Portrait of Amilcare, Minerva, and Asdrubale Anguissola

Sofonisba Anguissola

1558

Oil on canvas, 61 ¾ by 48 inches

Nivaagaards Malerisamling, Niva

            This oil painting is depicting a father and his children poising for a portrait. The son is looking up to the father as if he is admiring him. And the daughter is observing this. They also have their pet dog poising in this portrait. This painting is very dark. There are not a lot of bright colors being used. In the background you can see what looks like the outside. The mountains and country are in the background. There are a lot of primary colors being used. Foreshortening perspective is being used to demon straight people.

            The purpose of this art piece was probably created for that family. This family that the artist painted probably wanted it for a decoration in the house. Rich and noble families would often do this.  Another reason this might have been painted because this was a royal family and they are represented to be remembered in history. The social issue I chose was family. This is a family all together. The father seems proud of his two children that are standing beside him.

            This artwork gives us an idea of people during the renaissance era. And what kinds of art work they created. The people began to look much more three dimensional and life like.  During this renaissance time people began to portray certain people on what they actually look liked. They concentrated on each little detail which added character to these paintings. These types of paintings almost look like a photograph had been taken. It is so lifelike and detailed.

Icon with the Crucifixion

Week 7

Icon with the Crucifixion

Byzantine

1100

11 1/8 by 8 ½ inches

Tempera on Wood

The Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine, Sinai, Egypt

            This art work depicts the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. In this painting that is believed to be Jesus Christ placed on the cross with what looks like saints surrounding him. This is an incredibly old painting. This painting shows two people standing below him. And these people look as if they are worshiping him. The space in this painting is divided equally. Each person on the outside has the same amount of space they are separated evenly. The background color is a very bright gold, so each of the people stands out.

            The social issue I chose for this art piece is religion. This painting depicts the scene of Jesus Christ being crucified. This is an art work of a religiously Christian person. This scene was believed by many to be a true piece of history. This is supposed to represent for Christians and everyone what Jesus went through.

            Icons such as this have helped many people grow in their faith. These types of icons are also used for people to pray to as a way to get closer to God. They are beautiful representations of Christ and all he did. Many of these icons are creative and beautifully made. There are several hundred of these icons but this particular one is incredible with the color and detail developed throughout it.

Kouros

Week 6

Kouros

580 B.C.

Unknown Artist

Marble statue

Height of 6’4 inches

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

            This marble statue is of a man in the ancient world. This was created in the archaic people of Greek art. The term Kouros means youth. There are many statues like the one above that were created in ancient Greece. These statues are depicting the body of a young man. It was believed that some of these statues were created to depict godly figures. The Greeks thought of their gods in human forms. The Greeks made their statues as realistic as they could. The facial features on this statue are created in great detail. These statues were made out of marble as a result the texture of them would be very soft and shimmery almost.

            This statue was created to depict the youth of Greece. They believed in gods in human form and created many statues to demonstrate what kind of person that might be. The social issue I chose that relates to this is religion. The Greeks believed in many gods like a lot of the ancient worlds did. They also believed that the gods looked like the humans in the ancient world. As a result they would create sculptures of mighty men.

            This statue and many others like it have given us a better understanding of the types of art they created in ancient Greece and it even gives us an understanding of their spiritual beliefs. Their artwork has helped us understand the techniques they used. And the recourses they were available to in order to create this type of art work.

Tutankhamun Mask

Week 7

Burial Mask of Tutankamun

Artist: Unknown

Gold, Blue glass, and semiprecious stones

Height of 21 inches

Egyptian Museum, Cairo

            The Tutankamun display of art is well known all throughout the world. I was fortunate enough to get to see this at the Denver Art Museum over the summer. This particular piece of art depicts that Tutankamun was obviously from royalty. The artist uses a lot of gold. Gold in the ancient world was thought of as the work of the gods. In turn they would use gold all the time. In this mask blue glass is also used to create more features and a more abstract piece. Semiprecious stones are also used. Descriptive color is more used in the mask. The colors are meant to depict anything they are more just for appearance.

            The purpose of this art work was to be buried with Tutankamun in his tomb. The social issue I chose that relates to this is religion. The ancient Egyptians believed in the afterlife. That is why they dressed Tutankamun up so nicely. He had other precious artful artifacts placed on him as well. I got to see this artifact in real life and I know how detailed it looked. It was an incredible piece of artwork.

            This piece of artwork helped change how people understood the ancient Egyptians in their time. The Tutankamun tomb was discovered in the year 1922. This is when the world began to discover and understand the history of the Egyptians.