A Brief Look at Rembrandt

In all, Rembrandt produced around 600 paintings, 300 etchings, and 2,000 drawings. He was a prolific painter of self-portraits, producing almost a hundred of them (including some 20 etchings) throughout his long career. Together they give us a remarkably clear picture of the man, his looks, and — more

Indeed, I would also argue that Samson is a fool. His story begins with a lot of promises, born from a barren woman who received direct instructions from the angel of the Lord who brought a message to her saying that the child will be a “nazarite” unto god from the womb of his mother, which means a consecrated person to the services of God and who is under vows to abstain from alcohol, who must let his hair grow and who must avoid fornication. All these for the purpose of saving Israel from all the years spent under the oppression of the Philistines where God delivered them to after they have done evil on His sight.

Another evidentiary observation about Samson’s wife is that she clearly feels that she doesn’t belong, even at her own dinner party! Everything in her appearance is completely different from the others in the painting. Not only is she sitting in solitude, but she is the only character in the painting whose gaze is toward the viewer. It’s as if the viewers of the painting are the only ones who will pay her any sort of attention. Her posture is similar to the way one would take a portrait. In fact, Samson Tells a Riddle at his Feast could be viewed as a lonely portrait of a single woman, despite the busy crowd of people among her.

What is odd about the painting is that usually the face is masked during surgery, but in the painting it is not. I feel that Rembrandt did is because I feel that even though

Many people have concluded that Steen’s money problems stemmed from his dissolute lifestyle. However, during that time the second Anglo-Dutch war had broken out causing a severe drop in the art market (Chapman, 1996). The post-reformation society seemingly obsessed with purity, justice, and goodness seemed to suffer a blow to its heavenly façade when corruption among some of the most prominent leaders of society was exposed. In 1673 William III and the Deventer fathers were found to be corrupt and traitorous to the Dutch Republic (Kunzle, 2000). These men were meant to be the epitome of what it meant to be Dutch. They were meant to be symbols of temperance, virtue, and justice and were often related to Scipio Africanus, a Roman general (Kunzle, 2000). Scipio was a popular subject matter in art, especially in 17th century Holland. During this time the middle class became the major patrons of art. The Netherlands had just declared their independence from Spain and wanted paintings reflecting their new Dutch identity (Shaw-Eagle, 1996). Many artists gained fame by doing genre paintings such as scenes from everyday life. The years earlier had shown the public’s desire for genre and history painting (Meagher, 2000). Some, took old stories of

Painted by Dutch painter Jan de Bray in 1668, A Couple Represented as Ulysses and Penelope’s literary allusions would be highly regarded when it was painted, and the understanding of such allusions is crucial to fully appreciating the piece. The title gives away that it is a double portrait of Ulysses and Penelope, a married couple who are principle figures in Homer’s The Odyssey. However, what the title does not allude to is the story that sparked the painting. The moment portrayed is the return of Ulysses to his wife, just before Penelope recognizes him; having fought in the Trojan War, his journey home was prolonged by adventure, hazards, and bad luck, and most people presumed he was dead.

Judges 16:5-6 explains, "The lords of the Philistine came to her and said to her, `Coax him, and find out what makes his strength so great, and how we may overpower him, so that we may bind him in order to subdue him; and we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.'" Samson is legend to have extraordinary strength, and, therefore, cannot be forced to do anything. Delilah, then, has to use her feminine wiles to obtain Samson's secret to his strength. In Judges 16:15-17, it states, "Then she said to him, 'How can you say, "I love you," when your heart is not with me?" Delilah knows Samson loves her and she uses this fact to sway Samson to give her his secret, and therefore causing his fall.

The work of art that I have chosen to write about, is the Three Miracles of Saint Zenobius (1500-10). This painting is part of a bigger collection that depicts scenes from the life of Saint Zenobius. It’s sister pieces are spread out in different parts of the world, such places as, London, Dresden and New York itself. The painter of this entire collection is Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) and he belongs to the Early part of the Renaissance. It is worth to note, that Botticelli was taught by Filippo Lippi. Fra Filippo Lippi was a prominent artist of his time and he painted his work with great color and as well with a narrative quality. Botticelli himself made a name for himself by his artistic style and to his contribution to painting the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel and even though his most notable work of art was the Birth of Venus that was created eighteen years prior to the Three Miracles, this piece of work takes a different approach than his other paintings. The painting itself resembles the Scenes from the life of Saint John the Baptist (1490/95) and it could be said that Botticelli was inspired by it.

One of the more famous artists of the time, Rembrandt, created many paintings as well as etchings and wood carvings. One of his paintings known as Monk Reading (Fig. 1)demonstrates the stanch influence of Protestant principles. In Monk Reading the solitary monk is seen reading alone almost concealed by his cowl. This inwardly transfixed individual is brought to the foreground in traditional baroque style by being placed on a dark background. The Monk's gaze is thoughtfully on the pages in his hand which shed the only luminescence in the painting. Unlike many Baroque paintings, depicting extreme emotional circumstances such as murder or other foul acts, this Monk appears to be contently in deep thought while studying the text in his hand. He seems relaxed and reverent which is contrary to most examples of Catholic Baroque art and indeed many examples of Protestant art.

Rembrandt was also an artist who wished to depict art in a new manner. He is known for being a fashionable portrait painter. In paintings such as Bathsheba, Rembrandt uses classical ideas and studies from nature to achieve balance. He perceived old images in a new light, transforming them into "the light of human experience" (Cunningham and Reich 183). He used contrast between light and darkness, and rich textures in order to create depth and enhance the emotional power of the portrait. Just as Caravaggio did, Rembrandt created a path in art and others followed.

The middle period Rembrandt’s influence of classicism is shown. In the Portrait of the Mennonite Preacher Anslo and His Wife

Throughout history, specifically in ancient Rome and Greece, people admired painting to the point where it was taught to every son of respectable families, yet forbidden to the slaves. This goes to show how this form of art in particular was considered fit only to those of high social class. Although it was reserved for the educated and cultured, painting attracted everyone and pleased them equally. In particular, “[n]ature herself delights in painting.”(Alberti 64) Alberti persists in showing us how painting is of nature; he first references nature by saying that Narcissus was the inventor of painting. In the myth of Narcissus, nature plays the role of the artist who paints a portrait so beautiful that Narcissus cannot take his eyes off of it. To further convince the reader of the pleasures painting gives, the author recounts a personal anecdote of how gratifying and relaxing painting can be.

The present work is focused on undertaking an in-depth analysis of two famous religious paintings: The Virgin and Child by Barnaba da Modena, an Italian painter from the fourteenth century, and The Elevation of the Cross by Peter Paul Rubens, a seventeenth century Flemish artist and diplomat. Following, by comparison, a thorough account of the two works' features, careful observation reveals more than one interpretation.

Driscoll (2012) describes Samson as the last and most famous of the Judges who presided over Israel. He was born during the forty years of Israel's delivery to the Philistines as a result of abandoning God. His first special trait was that he was somewhat of a miracle, being born to a barren woman in the tribe of Dan. An angel appeared to let her know that he would deliver Israel from the Philistines. So Samson's fate as hero to his people was decided already before he was even conceived.

During the 17th century, especially after their break from Spain, The United Provinces of the Netherlands became the most prosperous nation in Europe by leading the world in trade, science, and art. Through the huge and one of the first art markets, art became a common household possession and allowed artists to freely express themselves, which is one of the evidential factors in three of the most universally admired artists of the baroque art era. Rubens, an influential Flemish artist of the Italian baroque scene, focused more on the works of the counter-reformation while the masters of the Dutch baroque art, such as Rembrandt, were in the heart of the protestant Dutch Republic. These three artists share similar artistic styles but yet have extremely evident differences and influences. The artists’ work also have a great portrayal of the historical and social impacts of the 17th century.