Rembrandt and the Nude Essay

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

Michelangelo may perhaps be most known for the use of nudity in his art, ranging from paintings to sculpture. Therefore, there is no doubt how fascinated he was with the human body. The use of nudity might have reflected his own views towards that of humanism, being less concerned with the scholasticism ideas of the medieval times and more so with Greek philosophy. You can really see Michelangelo's’ appreciation of anatomy and it’s beauty in sculptures such as The Pieta and it’s very fragile themes. Instead of showing Christ as a gruesome mess he decided to instead focus on the serenity of Mary and the “meaning of Christ’s death,” (Hartt).

How ironic that Rembrandt has focused this entire painting around making Samson’s wife the center of the painting, especially when she remains nameless and does not even appear in the painting’s title, Samson Tells a Riddle at his Feast. This face could also hint that Rembrandt himself is ignoring Samson’s wife, by forgetting her in the title. Samson, after all, is not primarily featured in this painting.

“People can take what they like out of the work”-Saville (YouTube, 2017). The female nude is one of the most prominent themes in the history of art and has been subject for many masterpieces such as botticelli's The Birth of Venus and Manet’s Le Dejeuner sur I’herbe. Saville's treatment of the female nude is undeniably like no other from the centuries before her.

All the figures in the painting were real individuals in Manet’s life. The man towards the left is Ferdinand Leenhof who is his soon to be brother in law, the man on the right is his younger brother Eugene Manet and most importantly the nude woman who left everyone stunned was a female model, Victorine Meurent, who makes another appearance in Manet’s other painting “Olympia” where once again she is the topic of debate. As all the figures were recognizable and were portrayed in an explicit narrative made it even more difficult to be displayed alongside traditional paintings.

Nudity has been an essential aspect in Western art. After the Renaissance, this is when the nudity was exploited as humans in their natural state. The nude form first was conquered by the ancient Greeks from approximately two thousand five hundred years ago. The Greeks celebrated the human body and cultivated the mastery of the human body through these sculptures of David. Rubens captures the nudity of Venus and makes her seen pure and compelling. When taking a glance at this masterpiece, one is immediately fixated and dragged in, it is a piece that cannot be missed. Ruben’s expression in this piece can be defined as timeless. Historians conclude that besides the magnificent Michelangelo, no other painter had a greater knowledge of the human body and visual power as Rubens. This is how he is able to cultivate these mythological pieces, and incorporate much detail. There is much life in Rubens’ painting, through the vibrant hues and how he depicts Venus and Adonis as these massive creatures. Figures depicted in art are more often nude then one would think. It is seen the human body is at its ideal state when artist depict the figure as nude. It is seemed as heroic because humans are compelled to see how artist illustrate the human body. Hence why the male and female body is the central theme of western art. When thinking about the human form, there is nothing more compelling, which is why the theme is still prominent in modern and contemporary

The author also talks about the story of Susanna and the Elders. Apparently Artemisia Gentileschi painted three versions of this biblical story at three different stages in her life, 1610, 1622, and 1649. The author did a comparison on the three Susanna paintings and she argues that it is noticeable that the abstracting qualities of the 1610 painting change its concept or meaning from one form of story telling to another. She argues that the abstract form of story telling serves the purpose of finding a visual equivalent to the “deafening silence”. She explains that the 1622 Susanna and the Elders speaks a different language, and so does the 1649 version.

It as well is in an ellipses shape where it is in an oval shape filling most of the canvas. This piece has a very dark atmosphere, as the only highlighted images are that of Christ and and the adulteress. There are people surrounding them all dressed in greys and greens. Jesus is dressed in an ivory which is a color in which people of importance often wore. The adultress life-drained body is looking down towards her exposed breasts as she comes to understand her fate. This painting conveys the emotion of a bible story about Jesus forgiving an adulteress. The emotions run very high as the individual 's facial expressions are locked in surprise and anger. Anger towards the woman and utter shock as to Jesus forgiveness and compassionate heart towards her. Showing Christ bending down to write in the sand as the pharisees behind him are appalled at what he has to say. “He who does not sin may throw the first stone” John 8:7. This reflects reaction to Mannerism, but also the social turmoil of the time. According to the Council of Trent and the Catholic church artworks should be a clear, intelligible subject realistically interpreted in order to stimulate piety. This was part of the reason that the artwork turned towards naturalism, becoming emotionally engaging and intense.

The reading claims that nudes throughout artistic history have been an important source of beauty and controversy. Nudes began to spike during the Baroque period as they were used for the more expressive and emotional arts of the time. In the nineteenth century, nudes became more common, yet became more sensitive. Artists would train by drawing nudes of ancient Greek statues and figures from myth. However, many artists would then move on to create works depicting prostitutes or peasant naked women. This would not please patrons as they were extremely societally taboo. However, this did not start artists from making them, as they moved into the twentieth and twenty-first century. This shows the importance of artistic nudes and their impact

About her works, the father was the one that taught her how to paint and according to that, there was a debate on if she was the one that painted some of the works or the father did. "Susanna

Tassi is now best known, not for his paintings, but for the violence he enacted upon Artemisia Gentileschi. Both Gentileschis were influenced greatly by the work of Caravaggio, specifically in the theatricality of the subject’s gestures, and the realistic nature of the painting. Where Gentileschi’s father and Caravaggio are inferior in to Gentileschi is the painting of women. In Gentileschi’s painting, Susannah and the Elders, the subject Susannah actually looks like a realistic woman, rather than an idealized version of a woman. This painting is actually the first instance of a woman being painted in a realistic manner (Stokstad). According to R. Ward Bissell, author of “Artemisia Gentileschi: A New Documented Chronology”, the painting may have been created as a way to document how Gentileschi’s father felt as to what had been done to her by Tassi. Another speculation is that her best known work, Judith Slaying Holofernes, may have been allegory for how she felt towards Tassi. There are further speculations that all of the female subjects for Gentileschi’s paintings had facial features similar to her own; furthermore, some surmise that Gentileschi painted Holofernes with a likeness towards Tassi. According to Bissell, Gentileschi’s unfortunate circumstances regarding Tassi may have been the reason why she was able to

The painting Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride was painted by Jan van Eyck. Shown in this painting is a man and woman who are to be married. What makes this piece of art special, beyond the talent of Jan van Eyck, is the amount of symbolism depicted. Every object is painted with care, and is intended to show the holiness of matrimony. This includes the pair of clogs which symbolized a sacred event, a dog that was a symbol of fidelity, a burning candle and a mirror that symbolize the all-seeing eye of God, and a small statue of Saint Margaret the patron saint of childbirth. Many if the objects in the painting were from traditional Flemish customs, and it shows some Flemish marriage practices, such as one lit candle in the chandelier. Even the placement of the couple is symbolic. The man is placed near an open window, which represents the world, and the woman is next to the bed, which may indicate the woman’s place is at home bearing children.

The couple's outfits are thick and even have fur, although the painting suggests that it is spring or summer, due to the amount of sunlight entering from the window and the fresh oranges (most oranges are harvest during the spring). The furniture and the drapery is impressive, and the oranges themselves are rare and are therefore a symbol of wealth. The painting also illustrates the relationship between the two subjects through various objects. The painting suggests that the subjects are married. There is a dog in between the couple, which represents loyalty. Both characters have rings on their ring fingers, which suggests that they are both married. Also, the painting shows that both characters have removed their shoes, which implies that they are standing on holy ground, such as Moses was when speaking to god through a burning bush in the bible. The reason they are on holy ground is because a holy ceremony has taken place, that is, a wedding. Notice the characters' body language is composed of the dominant husband and the submissive wife. There is also various references to the newlywed couple's intentions of starting a family. Not only does the wife's attire exaggerate her belly, making her seem as if she were pregnant, but behind here there is a statue of Saint Margaret, the saint of childbirth and fertility. When the individual objects of this painting are viewed as a whole, the message becomes clear. Jan van

location this painting depicts. It seems to be of biblical nature, as both people in the

art that were emotional, dramatic, and included real people as the primary subjects. Rembrandt showed all of this in his work. Rembrandt was influenced by nature, religion, the Bible, and humanity. His paintings showed his moods and feelings towards all of these. He would study people, especially members of his family, including himself to use as the basis for his work. He created over two thousand works of art including; ninety self-portraits, sixty paintings, and the rest