“The Rape of Europa” is a painting by the Italian artist Titian (Tiziano Vecelli), painted between 1560-62 in Venice. The work is inspired by a story from Ovid’s Metamorphoses about one of Zeus’ abduction of Europa. Zeus, also known as Jupiter, transforms himself into a beautiful white bull and joins a herd grazing near the seashore. When Europa came over to him, Zeus enticed her to climb onto his back. He then seized the opportunity and rode into the sea towards Crete while Europa clung to him in terror. In Titian’s painting, Europa holds on to one horn while gazing back over her shoulder toward the shoreline, waving a red silk veil to attract the attention of her companions. Nearby, cupid chases after them on a dolphin, adding …show more content…
in June of 1896. It currently hangs in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. Titian’s piece became the crown jewel of Gardner’s growing museum collection, where today, it sits in the “Titian Room”: a whole room with the main focus on “The Rape of Europa”. The two giants of High Renaissance painting in Venice were Giorgione and Titian. Both men studied with Giovanni Bellini and developed his style of exploring new forms of figural composition, increased the subtleties of texture and lighting, and produced a new language of landscape paintings. Compared to painting in Florence and Rome, Venetian artists preferred fuller, fleshier figures and softer, more atmospheric lighting. Titian’s subject matter covered a wide range of iconography, including altarpieces, individual Christian works, mythological scenes, allegories, and portraits. His pictures are also characterized by a richness in color, with many varieties of warm reds, and his use of glazes. Titian traveled around Italy a lot and had many friends in high places that introduced him to court. His patrons were among the most influential of the time, including members of nobility like Philip II of Spain as well as Charles V, who knighted Titian in 1533.
King Philip II of Spain commissioned Titian to make all seven of these painting based on the Roman poet Ovid’s Metamorphoses poems about
To begin, the main figures in this piece are Europa, a mythological nymph, and Jupiter, the chief god who transformed himself into a white bull and kidnapped her. We know who the main figures are due to everyone looking at their direction and the number of details that make Europa and Jupiter stand out. Such details include the flower crown around the bull and the excess of fabric wrapping and flowing around Europa. As a viewer, it can be noted that this piece is composed of various flanking figures that range from notable sea deities to flying Cupids. Above Europa, we see a wind god blow air in her direction. Additionally, on the far right, a woman sits on a shell throne with a man wielding a trident whispering at her side. Overall, the figures refrain from assisting Europa on her kidnapping and prefer to remain on the sidelines.
From the late fifteenth century to the genesis of the sixteenth, a new movement influenced art in Europe, expanding the bleak limits of past art and created some of the most memorable masterpieces in history. The creators of these artworks during these decades of the Renaissance include Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti, and Raphael Sanzio. Influenced and sometimes driven competitively by each other, these artists share differences and similarities in their life, art style and techniques, and interests.
The main focus of the painting intended by Titian is a nude woman, Venus, looking straightforwardly at the audience. The young woman’s nipples are erect; with her left hand covers her pubic area, the sexuality of this painting is unquestionable. She is completely naked except for the ring on her little finger and the bracelet around her wrist. It is clear that the intention of this painting is to evoke sensual feelings in its audience.
The title of this piece is “Torso of Aphrodite/Venus”. This piece was discovered outside of Rome in 1771. Afterwards, it was purchased by a wealthy English collector, who displayed it in his home. Today, the piece resides at the
During the Baroque Ages a man by the name of Caravaggio was a very prominante artist,
"After the death of Raphael, the sixteenth century saw a shift in the dominance in art from Florence and Rome to Venice in northern Italy." The only painter who was still of great importance for central Italy was Michelangelo, who finally died in 1564 and left the region around Florence and Rome behind with no more artists worth mentioning. Basing on the foundation laid down by Giovanni Bellini "Venice gradually took over the leadership in painting" .
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio better known as simply Caravaggio was an Italian Baroque master painter born in Italy around 1571. After he apprenticed with a painter in Milan, he moved to Rome, where he lived for most of his life. His work influenced painters around Europe. He’s most known for his gruesome subjects and use of Tenebrism, which was a technique that used heavy shadow to
Francesco used a style that I really enjoy, it is called pittura di tocco and it is a style known for its small dotting in the art work and it's small but clean brush strokes. It's a style that not many artist can lock down it is very very advanced. He started in venice italy when he was passed down a shop from his father who was deceased and he worked alongside his brother to make and sell hand made paintings. His paintings are beautiful painting like the venetian capriccio which is a landscape painting of the molo towards santa Maria. He was born october 1712 and when his father passed away in the year 1716 and that's when he had the shop passed down to him, he was only 4 when the shop was handed down to him and his brother. He worked with
Tiziano Vecellio, also documented, as Titian was an Italian painter. He was born sometime around 1470-1480, his exact date of birth is unclear and he died of a fever during the plague around 1576. Titian was one of the furthermost adaptable Italian painters during the High Renaissance. Titian was equally proficient with portraits, landscape backgrounds and mythological and religious subjects. Consequently, Titian was one of the furthermost important members of the sixteenth century Venetian school and he is still an overwhelming influence on the art world. Often times, Titian is described as the first artist to have an international career. Titian’s painting career was prosperous from the start but over the course of this prolonged life, his style changed drastically and he retained a permanent interest in color, which is well defined in his painting Venus of Urbino.
El Greco's artistic formation in Rome and Venice, reflects the influence of roman mannerist designs (e.g Michaelangelo's masterfully polished drawings) and that of the Venetian school of painting with its emphasis in the richness and variety of colors, the use of pigments to achieve the impression of depth and brightness,
Florence, Italy. He left Florence in 1480 to help decorate the Sistine Chapel in Rome with some of his art which only the most famous painters of that time were invited to do. In 1482, Botticelli returned to Florence and shortly
Giovanni Bellini, (born c. 1430, Venice [Italy]—died 1516, Venice), Italian painter who, in his work, reflects the increasing interest of the Venetian artistic milieu in the stylistic innovations and concerns of the Renaissance (metmuseum). Bellini was one of the most influential Venetian artists. He lived and worked in Venice all his life; his career spanned 65 years. Little is known about Bellini’s family. Bellini’s father, Jacopo, a painter was a pupil of the Gentile da Fabriano, in any case, Jacopo introduced the principles of the Florentine Renaissance to Venice before either of his sons (Britannica). Jacopo strove to ensure that his sons would become distinguished painters as well and, it is said, often pitted them each other.
Michelangelo Merisi, known as “Caravaggio” was known for introducing realism and drama by using theatrical lighting and gesture to Italian Baroque art. Caravaggio’s paintings were focused on religious matter commissioned for the Catholic Church. Georges de la Tour was well known in his own time but then forgotten until well into the twentieth century. His work consisted mostly of candlelit subjects, and he commissioned paintings for royal aristocrats such as King Louis XIII and Henry II of Lorraine. George de la Tour is one of the most important examples of the many artists during the seventeenth century who were greatly influenced by the work of Caravaggio.
This nickname came from his father’s profession as a cloth dyer (“Tintoretto”). Tintoretto is known as Venetian Mannerist painter and is seen as an artist who merged “the rich color of Titian with the powerful line of Michelangelo” (“Renaissance Art And Architecture”). I find this truly amazing, being inspired by two very different artists and combining their styles to form your own. Tintoretto’s work over the years influenced the expansion of baroque art; however; after his death on May 31, 1594, Venetian painting quickly dwindled away (“Tintoretto”).
With the continuous growth of paintings and artists, prestige for art increased dramatically to the point in which religious aspects were shown through landscapes, portraits, and temperas. This then allowed the creation of new styles and mathematical input that manifested everyday life with religious aspects. One such artist was Giovanni Bellini who introduced bright, rich, strong colors into his palette and landscapes that expressed the happiness, calmness, and prosperity that Italy carried throughout the Renaissance. These characteristics and styles of paintings subsequently became a popular Venetian cornerstone. Other important figures in the Italian Renaissance that demonstrated the movement?s ideas through their ingenious paintings and architectural methods were Pier Della Francesca and Leon Battista Alberti. Francesca, who was and expert in mathematics, developed the art form of perspective. Alberti, on the other hand, as an architect developed the pediment which became popular throughout the entire Renaissance. His monasteries and churches depicted many of the religious ideas, as evident in one of his famous works, the Santa Maria Novella. All in all, the use of the common religious themes such as the annunciation, adoration, Crucifixion, and the popular Madonna