The Hollow Skull Analysis

The Netherlands in the Seventeenth Century was the home of many famous artists, most notably Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, but also many lesser known artists such as Pieter Claesz.. Pieter Claesz was born in 1597 in Berchem (near Antwerp) Claesz moved to Haarlem in 1620 and lived there till his death in 1660. He is most associated with the Flemish and Dutch still life tradition and still lifes make up a vast majority of his work. His 1628 painting Still Life with a Skull and a Writing Quill is a prime example of the Still Life style called Vanitas, so named as the artist would attempt to display the vanity of materialism.

It is almost a reflection of the man’s trident. That same pitchfork shape also appears in the window of the house that sits in between both figure’s heads. Repetition can also be seen in the dotted pattern of the woman’s outfit, which also appears in the material of the curtain that hangs in the house’s window. The echo of verticals in this painting is also strong. The faces and bodies of the figures seem to be stretched, and narrowed. The pitchfork’s slender prongs and the green stripes on the man’s shirt also add to the elongation of their frame. The copious amounts of vertical wood boards that make up the house and the barn, keep the viewer’s eye moving up and down the picture plane. Wood’s use of verticality in this painting is overwhelming.

Jan van Eyck was born during c. 1935 in Maaseik, Bishopric of Liege, the Renaissance period. He had a sister Margareta, and at least two brothers, Hubert (died 1426) and Lambert was active between 1431 and 1442 (Both of them were also painters). Yet the order of their births is not known. Another significant, and rather younger, painter who worked in Southern France, Barthélemy van Eyck, is presumed to be a relation. It is not known where Jan was educated, but he had knowledge of Latin and used the Greek and Hebrew alphabets in many of the inscriptions, indicating that he was schooled in the classics. (From Wikipedia) The first ever record of Eyck is from the court of John of Bavaria at The Hague, where payments were made to Jan van Eyck between 1422 and 1424 as court painter, with the court rank of valet de chambre. This suggests a date of birth

The illusionistic brushwork denotes the bulky drapery folds that are wrapped around the body.3 Behind his head is a large golden circle that could either qualify as a large halo or a sunset in the distance. His left foot is slightly lifted and is resting on the base of the writing desk which highlights that this artwork is three

In terms of subject matter, both works are visual depictions of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. In each painting, Christ is the central figure, surrounded by two groups of figures. On the left, a group of women that includes the Virgin Mary mourns over the dead body of Christ, while on the right is a group of soldiers and other lamenters. Both works feature a rocky landscape on which the figures are positioned. Encircling Christ are several angels whose gestures of lamentation echo those of the figures below. Highlighting the severity of each scene is the blood that pours from Jesus' wounds. The blood from his feet drips onto human bones that are embedded in the rocky terrain below. The skull serves as a "memento mori," or a reminder of death, an idea that has been repeated in several other depictions of Christ's crucifixion.

The genre of crime fiction reflects shifting social, cultural and political conditions. Each composer is influenced by these shifting paradigms and thus incorporates them into their texts, pushing past the conventions and boundaries set in earlier eras to create new sub-genres. Daniel Chandler in An Introduction to Genre Theory, identifies this phenomenon: "genres change over time; conventions of each genre shift, new genres and sub-genres emerge and others are discontinued." Through my prescribed texts, Howard Hawks' hardboiled film The Big Sleep (1946) and P.D. James' Revenge Tragedy The Skull Beneath the Skin (1982), and related texts, Agatha Christie's classic detective story Murder on the Orient Express (1933)

Techniques in this painting include many different mediums such as carving into the wood, paint, and varnish to create multiple dimensions and tension in this piece. Specifically tension from the stains of varnish making the depiction look dirty and worn, as well as lettering from the red kanji appearing on this piece of which is illegible to me, after carefully analyzing the piece I moved on. Venturing to the second floor of the art museum I observed a series of pieces named Fearful Symmetry Holly Scoggins a professor of art at Polk State the one I found to be the most interesting Little

Directly above his head, yet still connected to his head is a semi-circle of an image of a woman holding a baby. It appears that the image is a memory, perhaps of his mother holding himself or his wife holding their child. The man is surely a representation of the artist and this is “his life”. He seems to be the focus of the painting and the overall theme appears to be memories layered throughout. Right above the original semi-circle is another semi-circle of four small, colorful squares. Each square is red, yellow, and blue in color reminding me of the artists’ Hispanic origins. Moving inward from the darker, gray and white outer portion of the painting seems to be a bookcase with three separate images. Each image is of a man painting on a canvas. These three separate images of a man painting throughout the artwork could be the artists’ memories of his father, or a significant man in his life. The grays, blacks, and white used show the artists’ darker memories, while the vibrant, beautiful colors symbolize the joyous ones. Similarly, the softer, warmer colors that the artist uses represent his love, appreciation, and admiration towards his father. Overall, the painting is a memory timeline that

I choose to do the artwork option for my project and I have created a 3D model of a witch’s hat and a crown with a unique background. The witch’s hat symbolizes the three witches in Macbeth of which we get to know the most. The hat represents a bigger meaning of which that one of the themes in the play is supernatural and faith. This relates to the witches because the witches told Macbeth and Banquo their three visions and gave Macbeth the chance to see his three aspirations. In the play, these three visions and aspirations start to come true and it moves the ploy forward to the end, of which Macbeth gets killed. I put a major quotation about the witches onto the witch’s hat to enforce that witches and supernatural is a major theme and part of the play. On the witch's hat, I painted three tiny canvas of which put together spells ‘Macbeth’. I painted the word ‘Macbeth’ on three separate canvas to represent how Macbeth is later ‘broken’ and killed. It represents how Macbeth’s life starts to get out of control with his killing spree due to his ambition. It represents and foreshadows that something unpleasant is going to happen to Macbeth, death.

The painting I chose to research from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is Gerrit van Honthorst’s The Mocking of Christ. Honthorst was a Dutch painter from a Catholic family in Utrecht. He was the son of a painter and trained by his father and Abraham Bolemaert, the leading artist of his town. Upon completing his education, Honthorst traveled to Rome in 1616. He was one of the many artists from Utrecht drawn by the world of art within Rome. These artists were named the Utrecht caravaggisti because upon arrival, they became inspired by Caravaggio’s paintings. Honthorst gained success painting in the Caravaggesque style and became known for his depiction of artificially

More than anything on this painting, it is focused on the woman state of mind and heart rather than the skull or anything else. The simple arrangement of how the artist used vertical and horizontal shapes draws the viewer really close into the Magdalen's thoughts. The skull and the books purpose is to set the mood in what the woman might be feeling. The focal point of the entire painting seems to be the candle because not only is it bright, but the woman is gazing profoundly into it.

Hieronymus Bosch was an artist who was alive during the middle of the Renaissance time period, yet his real name is Jeroen Anthoniszoon, the other is what we’ve taken to call him. He was born circa 1453 and died in the year 1516, both in Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. The artist didn’t travel out of his hometown very often, and it is thought that he was taught artistry locally, possibly by his grandfather and father, who were both painters. Not much is known about Bosch’s personal life, so historians have tried to make educated guesses about his early years and what had happened throughout his life

Returning to reality and finding my destination, I opened the heavy glass doors and walked into a gallery full of Geisel’s collection of sculptures and painting. One particular dark painting drew my attention. Sitting in the chair adjacent to the painting, staring at the lowered center odd deer-like creature with long horns drinking water out of a bowl shaped stone, I noticed the creature contained the brightest colors in the painting, being shades of orange and

Taking up the entire right side of the composition a third character ascends a staircase and rests one hand on a disjointed platform. This figure wears an elaborate headdress, fabric sash and holds a large knife tucked at it’s side. The figure’s long toes curl around the top stair where it stands surveying the other two figures. This figure also has a tail, and the same mirroring happens between the extending hairs of the headdress and the hairs of its tail as with the candle light and tail of the first figure. The decorations and prominence of this figure give it an air of spiritual significance, the word priest seems apt. Behind this figure is the forth and final figure of the composition. This figure stands lower on the staircase behind the figure with the knife. This figure has a head shaped like a goblet filled with toothpicks. We only see the head and shoulders of this figure,

This painting is divided into three equal parts by the arches in the background and the characters correspond to each of these arches (TV12). The father is in the middle portion of the painting. The lines of perspective created by the tiled floor, draws our attention to the swords that the father is holding and the vanishing point lies just behind the handles of the sword. Our angle of vision is such that we are looking directly at the main figures groups, particularly the father. A single light source from the left of the picture illuminates the characters and also focuses our attention to the father holding the sword. This creates a ‘theatrical’ effect. The background is simple and stark so our attention is focussed on the figure groups in the painting. The painting has a wide tonal range that makes the composition logical and balanced. The colours used in this