Pieter Claesz Still Life Essay

Still Life with Game Fowl contains painterly detail in the animals, fruit, and vegetables. From the left, one notices quince and cabbage suspended next to game birds like mallard and quail. Employing dark colors, the background deliberately seems obscured drawing attention to the foreground. While there appears to be no identifiable setting, the surroundings suggest a shop display or kitchen window. At the bottom, a

The quality and quantity of details in Adoration of the Mystic Lamb are embodied by van Eyck’s mastery of oil, which suggests that his altarpiece is the greatest representation of Christianity in a piece of art.

Secondly, the light and colors help to enhance the piece. Due to the oil painting,

Hirsch uses bright and subdued colors to represent the rank and status of the paintings occupants. The color of the chairs in contrast to the blue-black background gives the illusion of space. He utilizes highlights and shadows throughout which gives the viewer the impression of light cast onto the scene from outside. The light bounces off the reflective surface of the king’s head as well as the silverware and gold goblets. The shades of green and yellow give the fruit on the table a real feel to it. The smoke raising becomes transparent as it swirls upward and finally vanishes. The use of color shows the importance of every element from the

To start off, the readers can easily detect the contrast of imagery throughout the two separate passages. In the men’s meal, she states: “Meanwhile the wine

Since the first brush stroke was taken in Europe, the paintings that have been produced have played a vital role in revealing our world 's past, history, religion and daily lives of its citizens. Each time period and movement have influenced artists from its first existence to even this very day, creating an extraordinary timeline of art and history as one. Frans Hals ' Merrymakers at Shrovetide of 1615 and Francois Boucher 's Interrupted Sleep of 1750 are no exception. Despite their different time periods and movements, the two paintings each have many parallels and at the same time very distinct styles which play on how influential artists ' styles are upon each other. Even with all of the differences and similarities, both paintings are

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

Beginning with Vermeer’s painting called View of Delft, done in 1661, this painting done in oil paints shows a landscape scene from a port. The painting takes place in Vermeer’s hometown of Delft in the Netherlands and depicts a scene from his daily life. One of the first things that the author points out about

In the painting, ‘Virgin and Child’, by Rogier van der Weyden, it can be observed that the artist chose to use the medium of oil on wood. Despite the fact that Rogier van der Weyden created this painting in the Netherlands and was born in Tournai, Belgium, their primary influence appeared to stem from the Italian Renaissance, which had begun to use the technique of oil paintings with increasing frequency by turn of the 15th century. The subject of the painting itself, Madonna and her virgin child, were a common theme in the Renaissance, where religious subjects and topics were the primary choice for any prominent artist during this historical artistic period.

Frelinghuysen comments on how nature seems to be the subject. She calls the piece a “tour de force of mosaic,” which means the piece achieves its goal successfully (Frelinghuysen). Analyzing the mosaic, she points out the greens and yellows and the two swans which “carve a slender ripple in the placid shimmering pool” around a small area of water lilies (Frelinghuysen). Frelinghuysen takes account on Tiffany’s unique use of shapes and colors, apart from traditional glassmaking techniques, commenting on how it creates “luminous illusions in mosaic” (Frelinghuysen). She observes how the textured pieces display leaves veining in the shrub. The way he “juxtaposed tiny shapes of slightly varying hues” to create both “intense and subtle” colors, impacted the painting overall according to her (Frelinghuysen). His use of more shading, unlike Byzantine-inspired mosaics, also helped create a better interpretation of nature. Her interpretation describes how his utilization of color and shape helps portray nature as it truly

The painting The Holy Family with Saints Anne and John the Baptist, 1592 (oil on canvas) was created by Italian painter Sofonisba Anguissola (c.1532-1625). It is currently held at the Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, as a gift from Mrs. Forbes Hawkes and Bridgeman Images. This painting is among the unique pious narrative paintings by Anguissola. “The Holy Family” is the last dated painting by the artist. It was executed when she had just returned to Italy after spending 14 years working for King Philip II at the Spanish court. By this time, she had already married to a Genoese ship captain. Her various visits to court and her personal contacts with great painter at that time largely inspired herself. Through these contacts, she successfully stayed in touch with current developments in art. By closely observing this masterpiece, I argue that the artist perfectly sustain the beauty of counter-reformation arts in her work by use of light and shadow, delicate brushwork and accurate proportions of each subjects.

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.

Soth’s thesis in this paper is essentially that Starry Night is both Van Gogh’s representation of the biblical scene Agony in the Garden -- when Jesus prays to God after the Last Supper acknowledging his impending betrayal-- as well as Van Gogh’s physical agony and nostalgia. He argues that Van Gogh created the piece through a mixture of observation and imagination as a consolation piece for the artist to seek religion through means other than traditional Christian imagery. Carlo Dolci’s version of Agony in the Garden is referenced in particular (311). Soth’s physical

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.

The shapes of the figures are sharply defined and the objects such as the table, book, and string instruments. There are diagonal rhythms throughout the painting in which it creates movement. The light source in the upper left allows the source light to have a more natural appearance throughout the painting. The shadows at the right-hand corner and the men wearing green in the middle contrast the main object with the most sources of lighting. The objects shadows and lighting create dimension and a vivid sense of more contrast. There are areas in the making with more contrast and the sharp contrast that creates movement in the painting. The shadows and the lighting throughout the painting show gradations and the highlights create more depth. Staring from the upper-left hand corner with the first figure of a gentleman wearing a hue of blue and yellow, the left side of his face and garment shows the source light in right above him. The source light above the