Diego Velázquez: Las Meninas

crime. On January 9, 2014 a homicide investigation started when a body was discovered and an area off of road 1210 in Park County, Wyo. But this was not just a regular homicide. This homicide was different that any homicide that any of the law enforcement have ever dealt with in Park County Wyoming. (Cody/Powell)

Differences between the Italian Renaissance and the Reformation can be seen in art. Renaissance art exhibited a secular spirit. Artists, for the first time since the antiquity, painted secular themes. The human body was portrayed as being beautiful in its nature and glorified humans, rather then God. Art was dynamic and vivacious, often seeming as though it was in movement. This portrayal both was a reaction to the iconographic God worshipping art of the Middle Ages, and caused a reaction in Protestants, resulting in their more conservative style. Nude bodies, often seen in Italian Renaissance paintings and sculptures, are never seen in those of the Protestants. Their religious beliefs and way of life, in many ways countering that of the

The revolving role of artists from craftsmen to independent artists, a more widespread incorporation of secular subjects into works of art, and the development of individual artistic styles and techniques. Dependence on community was a distinguished idea of the Middle Ages. Craftsmen belonged to a guild that dictated all aspects of their business. This ensured craftsmen earned money, while reinforcing the idea that no one should do better than others. In the Renaissance, this changed. The importance of individuals and individual talents were stressed. Painters in the Middle Ages were inspired by the Bible, while Renaissance painters looked to the classics and mythology for inspiration. While medieval Renaissance art glorified the humanity of the individuals being portrayed. While artistic technique, styles, and materials stayed relatively constant during the Middle Ages, the Renaissance was a period of rapid change and development.

The Christian Church was absolutely instrumental in the art of the Renaissance. It was the driving force behind every inspiration; without the Church, there would have been no art. The Church was the only institution powerful enough to be able to support the commissions of all of the artwork, and it was the only institution, in which people had enough faith and devotion to spend so much of their time and money creating pieces that—although beautiful—were not necessities. The role of religion in art actually began during the Byzantine era. During this time, all artwork was religious in nature, and most of it was done in a consistently similar style so that figures from the Bible could be easily recognized by everyone and so that people

Alvaro was the one that was quiet and would copy other people's paintings instead of making some kind of original and unique art. Cristobal was the troublemaker that would steal things from Mr.Velazquez and blame it on Juan. Mr.Velasquez knew that it was not Juan’s fault and he threatened to send cristobal away if he did it again. But, he did it again and Mr.Velasquez did not do anything because Cristobal was a good drawer and painter and was much better than Alvaro. There was a request by the King for Diego Velasquez to paint a portrait of him.

He wanted to make the painting his own way. Picasso had his own point of view on las meninas by just painting the princess and the attendants. I think he decided to paint just the princess and attendants because he wanted to show the difference between the two. The princess is highly praised while the attendants don’t get noticed. The attendants are always longing in the princesses shadow, just like how in the painting the attendant is kneeling down to the princess, supposedly helping her get ready.I think Velazquez created such a work because he was trying to put his own life experiences into something. I think he was trying to express two different groups of people.In the painting there is the royal princess and her attendants. There is other people in the painting that people are less focused on. When you look at the painting there is people gathered around

Art was one thing that quite drastically changed man's view of man. Art in the Middle Ages was extremely religious in fact that was what every painting revolved around. They all included halos and angels. They were all 2D and didn't care about individuality at all. At the end of the Renaissance there was barely any religion included in art.

Diego Rivera was born in December of 1886 and first began creating art and murals at the age of three after the death of his twin brother. Young Diego's parents caught him drawing on the walls of their home but rather than punish him for it they instead nurtured his growing creativity. They installed canvas and chalkboard on the walls and let Rivera create as he saw fit. Even in his early years Diego knew what he wanted to be. When Diego Rivera was 10, he attended San Carlos school of fine arts where he furthered his love for art. In 1907, Diego Rivera continued his education in Europe. He there also met a few others who later became famous artistic figures. For example, Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, and Piet Mondrian. The world in which Diego

Diego Rivera was born on December 8, 1886, in Guanajuato, Mexico. At the age of three years Rivera began drawing on his walls at home and his parents saw this and instead of punishing him for drawing on the walls they nurtured his creativity. Rivera made art that portrayed the lives of working class Mexican people. Rivera’s passion for art began from a young age. Around 10 old years he went on to study art at the San Carlos Academy of Fine Arts in Mexico City where he received training modeled on conservative European academies. Later in his life he traveled to Europe to continue his art studies where he friended many famous artists such as Pablo Picasso. In Spain, Rivera studied the work of El Greco, Velazquez, Goya, and the Flemish masters

With the adoption of Christianity as the official religion, art was able, so to speak, to come above ground in the old pagan city of Rome, and painting, instead of being restricted to the decoration of the walls of the Catacombs or of small chambers and chapels, came into use on a large scale in the new churches that were at once set up. At the same time patronage moved from the hands of the poorer classes to the richer, and artists of outstanding quality came to be employed as well as those of obscurer character, who would work for small fees (www.religion-online.org). To wall painting was added the more luxurious art of mosaic; numerous sculptures were done, and minor objects, often in expensive materials, were in addition produced in the service of the Church, so that art production became at the same time both more extensive and more luxurious (www.religion-online.org ).

realize that Spain, at the time, offered great opportunities for artists, largely because of the patronage of king Philip II. The King, in particular, favored painters which followed the Mannerist style.

Art in the Medieval Times was dreary and bland. Many works of art were solely about God or holy figures. The most obvious change from the Renaissance to Medieval Times was the arts, according to Document A and also that “One begins to know the names of the artists ... feel stronger emotions in the subjects”. This shows that Renaissance art not only changed in style, in changed in how it made the viewer feel when seeing the art. Similarly, in Document A, Renaissance art is described as “new artistic styles would echo the broader movements and interests of the new age.…”. As compared to Medieval Times, the style of art became something similar to the time that people could relate to. In the Medieval Times, art was just meant to extol God’s many feats. People who viewed the painting were supposed to put that style of art on a pedestal. Medieval art was supposed to be worshipped, not so much understood. The individual in the Medieval Times was supposed to take away from the painting that the only thing that mattered in their life was the Roman Catholic church and God already had a plan for their lives. But in comparison, Renaissance art was supposed to empower and help people of the time to understand themselves and the fact that they can change their own lives.

Art during the Italian Renaissance differed from art during the Middle Ages. The two have contrasting characteristics and concepts. To the people in the medieval world, religion was their life. Everything in daily life focused around the church and God (Modern World 164). Medieval culture influenced the arts; this was evident in the religious themes. During the Italian Renaissance, painters and other artists focused on the portrayal of a more humanistic way of life. Renaissance artists’ work portrayed realism with “lifelike human figures in their paintings” (Modern World 164). Renaissance artists wanted to express ancient Greek and Roman cultures in their work (Modern World 162). Italian Renaissance

In the Medieval time, art was also very controlled by religion. Most art was based off of religious figures and were colored mostly dull dark colors. In the Renaissance, while art still contained some religious themes, more and more artists explored things like nature and the human body, they also began to use brighter colors.

Las Meninas was Velázquez’s largest oeuvre measuring 3.21 m by 2.81 m (Umberger 96). Velázquez’s masterpiece is one that draws sharp criticism ranging from those who find this work as a complete piece with its pictorial features prominent in the artwork, to those who find it hard to interpret its content conclusively (Ancell 159-160; Snyder 542+; Steinberg 48; Bongiorni 88). Despite such disparities, Velázquez’s masterpiece was able to project a day in the life of the royal family while at the same time achieving his artistic ideal. This work explores this artwork in light of the royal family and personal gratification by Velázquez as a celebrated artist.