Biography of Lucas Cranach the Elder

“David Slaying Goliath” by Peter Paul Rubens is an example of Renaissance art. This painting depicts a well-known Bible story of a young Israelite boy named David who kills the giant, Goliath, with a slingshot, and chops off his head with a sword. Rubens has chosen to illustrate this Bible story at the moment when David is about to hack off Goliath’s head with the giant’s sword. In addition, we see armor-clad soldiers rushing into battle in the background. In “David Slaying Goliath,” Peter Paul Rubens uses color, value, and line to illustrate the dynamism and energy within the painting that makes it look realistic. In addition, these elements contribute to the sense of excitement and anticipation of the event depicted.

Judith Cutting Off the Head of Holofernes (Figure 1), ca. 1640,1 is consisting of a well-dressed female decapitating a middle-age man in his bed with the aid of an old woman. The elegantly dressed female using a sword to behead the man is named Judith. The male figure in the painting is

1597-98). The heroic moment of Judith’s courage to as she beheads the general Holofernes is frozen onto the canvas. Instead of mathematical conventions, form is shown through dramatic tonal rendering, and contrast between the 3 figures and the darkness of the background. Similar to a photograph of a stage play. Caravaggio’s focus on the quality of the subject is the main story-telling factor. Holofernes’ mixed facial expression shows the remaining aspects of shock and panic as if there is still one final breath of life within him as his neck is being cut. However, the clear focus is on Judith herself who, standing relatively far away from the General whom she is beheading, has an unmistakably disgusted facial expression as if she wants to end the act with haste. The overall horrific atmosphere is amplified by the curtain behind the figures, it is the same colour as the blood that is shooting out from Holofernes’ neck, a visual representation to the violent act but also the Judith’s bravery and determination to save her hometown. The clear exaggeration of the blood, and theatrical style is typical of the Baroque visual

From the title of this art piece, it tells us that this woman is posing as Jesus Christ; she is spreading her arm out like Jesus depicted in the iconic painting by Leonardo Da Vinci. Instead of Jesus being a man, Cox used herself, a woman, to represent Jesus. The fact that the Bible is based upon Jesus and his twelve disciples, which all are male, tells us that there is a patriarchal and sexist sense embedded within the

Judith Slaying Holofernes is one of her masterpieces that has been acknowledged as a proper piece to understand the main characteristics of her painting style. Carol Strickland, an American art historian, explains that this painting shows how Gentileschi depicted her subject into the style of Caravaggio, who was her father’s teacher and famous for dramatic lightning (Strickland, 47). Based on these facts, some critics conjecture that Gentileschi may just have borrowed the dramatic story from the Book of Judith to express her technique that resembled that of Caravaggio. They argue that it is unreasonable and too subjective to relate Judith Slaying Holofernes with the identity of Gentileschi. Identity of Gentileschi, however, cannot be separated with the story of Judith and the painting Judith Slaying Holofernes because Gentileschi’s identity severely resembles that of Judith. Their struggle, success leaded by their capacity, and destruction of the gender stereotypes are main common aspects that Judith and Gentileschi share. These qualities further prove how Artemisia Gentileschi was an ideal feminist who asserted her freedom inside an unfair

Artists striving for any appearance of propriety created extremely feminine, quiet and bland Judiths, perhaps to avoid the controversy Gentileschi wholeheartedly invited. Veronese's Judith7 (1570) is a perfect example of this. Her hair is immaculately braided and her skin a porcelain white rivaling the delicate pearls around her neck. She gazes into the distance as she daintily places the head of Holofernes in the bag her servant holds out for her. Simply put, Judith appears as dead as the head she holds. She is devoid of emotion, intelligence and humanity. Again, she is nothing but an allegory, a warning for proud and arrogant men.

In the year of 1571, Caravaggio was born in Italy. At age 11, Caravaggio was orphaned, luckily he was apprenticed with a painter in Milan. His work became popular when he moved to Rome. Caravaggio's work became popular for the “tenebrism technique he used, which used shadow to emphasize lighter areas” (“Caravaggio”). This painting tells a biblical story about Judith Beheading Holofernes. In the picture, Judith is the women in the middle that is about to behead Holofernes, the man lying on the bed. The reason why she is doing this because she is saving her people from Holofernes. The women on the far left is Judith’s maid waiting for her to behead Holofernes (Judith Beheading Holofernes, 1599 by Caravaggio). Caravaggio used many elements

I believe, as do others, Judith and the Maidservant with the head of Holofernes is perhaps homage to her rape and subsequent treatment during her adolescent years. Her painting`s inspiration also plays tribute to the biblical story of Judith, who sleeps with the King Holofernes and than decapitates the drunk King in his sleep. Both Judith and the maidservant are now dominate in the painting over the dead male, they are quiet, unobtrusive and tense. A single candle burns within the dark room creating stark contrast between light and dark. The artist`s great skill can be seen in the bright highlighted details of Judith's hand and in the folds of clothing of the two. Depth and dark core detail can also be seen in the dark and reflective shadow areas within the room. Judith's hand covers the candlelight as she peers at the outside world, perhaps in an attempt to help in

Development in art often follows two tracks: development over a period of time and also differences in regional development. Both changes are seen in the comparison of Barna di Siena’s Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine and Rogier van der Weyden’s Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin and Child. Originating in Italy, the Renaissance began in the mid to late 13th century. Barna da Siena was one of the early Renaissance artists influenced by Duccio di Buoninsegna and Simone Martini. Barna di Siena’s painting is dated around 1340 and Rogier van der Weyden’s painting was painted nearly a century later

<br>At the bottom left side of the painting is a man about to be eaten by a termite who has a game table on his head. This is illustrating that the tables are turned on the man who has committed some terrible crime. In the Inferno this is represented by Lucifer eating the three worst sinners, Judas Iscariot, Brutus, and Cassius, all who betrayed their

Concerning color, there is a stark contrast between the figure on the painting and the background. More specifically, the figure of the woman is predominantly delineated in white color, especially pale, ashen white, as far her apparel and facial complexion are concerned, while there are also various hues of grey, with respect to her hair and accessory feather. These white and grey shades are vividly contrasted with the prevailing red and crimson hues of the background (viz. the drape, armchair, and table). Moreover, one can detect colors of dark green (jewelry), some beige on the left (pillar), and darker or lighter shades of blue on the right side of the canvas (sky), which all in concert and in addition to the subtle purple hue forming the sun or moon exude a certain dramatic sentiment. Also, there is brown, which often easily segues into gold (viz. books and attire details respectively). The main contrast of colors between white and red would be interpreted as serving the purpose of rendering the figure of the woman, and especially her face, the focal point of the work, despite, paradoxically enough, the lush red shades at the background. Bearing that in mind, the significance of the woman’s face will be enlarged upon later, when discussing aspects of her identity.

This major innovation that Georges adds to his Caravaggio inspired paintings would be showing the light source of the painting to the viewer, and putting the light source directly in the center of the piece. In his painting, Mary Magdalen with the Smoking Flame, Georges’ goal was to create a calm, reflective state of a follower of Christ. This painting shows Mary Magdalen, a repentive prostitute, putting aside her jewels and rich clothing to meditate on mortality while looking into a flickering flame. Georges creates subtle hints of religious meaning through items throughout the painting. The skull sitting in her lap refers to morality and the vanity of human life, the books of scripture refer to her following of Christ, and the scourge refers to the pain and suffering that Mary may have been experiencing in the past or during her

The portrait is displayed horizontally with a gold trimmed frame. The subject is a female that looks to be in her early 20’s sitting upright on a large brown chair. If the viewer travels up the painting the first indication of the woman’s class is her satin, blue dress. The saturated blue shines and falls in the light like water. Paired with the dress are her exceptionally detailed endings to her sleeves. The lace is even painted as though it is translucent, allowing a little of the blue dress to show through the sleeve. Flowers throughout history have symbolized innocence of a woman and her virginity. The repeating theme of flowers, in the sleeve cuffs and ribbon) in the woman’s attired suggests her purity or innocent nature. Another very details section of the painting includes the corset/torso details. The sewing suggests texture in the torso with small beading in between. Towards the top of the chest in the center, the female seems to bear an extravagant, ribbon piece with a tear drop bead in the center. The light pink

It is a scene which is shown after Jesus was crucified, where his body has been removed from the cross and his friends and family mourn over his body. Many artists have focused this scene by just painting four people: the body of Christ, His mother, Saint Mary Magdalene and Joseph of Arimathea.

In this essay, I will discuss the startling differences between two depictions of the story of Judith and Holofernes. “Judith with the Head of Holofernes”, 1495, created by Andrea Mantegna, is a small-scale painting that was completed during the Renaissance. The second is a Baroque painting, “Judith Slaying Holofernes”, c.1620 by Artemisia Gentileschi and is on a larger scale than the version created by Mantegna. Both artworks take inspiration from the religious story that appears in the Catholic editions of the Bible. The story is about a young widowed Jewish woman, by the name of Judith, who murdered an enemy army general, Holofernes, to spare her people from death. I will compare and contrast how the scene has been depicted in rather different ways by each of the artists and the influencing factors that contributed to the overall outcome of both works. I will also be discussing how form and naturalism are portrayed between the two paintings, use of colour, symbolism and religion, as well as the Renaissance and Baroque eras.