The Torment of Saint Anthony

Created in 1489 this masterpiece is made out of pure marble. This sculpture is located in the Vatican City. At first glance this sculpture looks like child dead in a mother's arms, which is correct but there is more too it. The sculpture represents the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Its shows his mother Mary holding him and he lays there dead. A very little detail that usually goes unnoticed is that Mary is not touching her son directly, but a cloth is between the two. This signifies the Higher Renaissance belief in Neoplatonic, that the beauty on earth signifies God's beauty. This masterpiece is not only amazing by the meaning but the glorious detail that Michelangelo was able to go into with practically a hammer and chisel.

Michelangelo’s art, which relied heavily on the human body reflected the Renaissance Period’s interest in humanism and the individual experience. Michelangelo often studied the human anatomy, and even looked at and dissected corpses. Great examples of this are two of his earlier sculptures; the Pietå and the David, revealed his true talent and also his disposition to bend rules of anatomy and proportion i the service of greater expressive power. His ability to portray humans in the Renaissance Period, which was his great talent, showing the values of the period though his sculptures and paintings, which appealed to the people of this period. Arguably his most well known work, the painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, which was painted to show humanity’s need for salvation offered by God through Jesus.

Both of the paintings by Michelangelo are excellent examples of Renaissance era art. These two paintings are the Last Judgment and the Sistine Chapel ceiling. The ceiling was worked on from 1508 to 1512 and shows many themes common throughout Renaissance art. One of the most prominent is the stunning realism in both pieces. Despite there being hundreds of figures is both pieces each is extremely realistic. There’s a huge stress on the human figure in this painting and they look as though they could be real people. There’s also a fair amount of perspective, although this isn’t one of the most important parts of the paintings.

Leonardo da Vinci created one of the defining monuments of Renaissance art and also one of the most well-known works of Christian art. It is often referred as a fresco but actually Leonardo had used an oil/tempera mix to paint the mural. The mural has struggled to stay intact over the years, Visual-Art-Cork.com states that “Sadly, in order to give himself the opportunity of making changes to the painting as he went along - something that is not possible with

“‘You have no passion. You are not going to make it… I can say to you that the state championship is a month and a day away…”’ (Wojnarowski 227). This what Coach Bob Hurley said to his somewhat deflated St. Anthony Friars in The Miracle of St. Anthony. The Friars were undefeated at this point in the season but there seemed to be a lack of energy in the team with the New Jersey State Championship looming. Because of this, Hurley would give a speech that would bring the team back together for an undefeated championship season. I could relate to this because this summer my sailing team was in a similar situation with the Maine State Championship Regatta just a few weeks a away. My coach gave a very similar speech to Hurley’s which also brought our team together. As a result the team did very well in the state championship.

Michelangelo painted a Holy Family on a round shape panel for the rich Florentine merchant Doni in approximately 1506. This painting is the only panel unanimously attributed to Michelangelo and it is best known as “Doni Tondo”. The traditional Florentine generally celebrated the birth of the child by using round panels. It was painted after the sculpture of “David”. It clearly reflects the experience of Michelangelo as a sculptor in the colors which shaped the volumes. The figures of this painting are almost like sculptures with clear outlines of the bodies. The use of the colors in this painting is perfectly coherent with the bright colors of the Sistine ceiling.

The two paintings I decided to compare are “The Last Judgement” and the “Conversion of Saul”. They were both painted by Michelangelo an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. These two paintings are both religious images and show Michelangelo’s image of God and his fellow followers. The “Last Judgement” was created first in 1536–1541 and the “Conversion of Saul” was painted a few years later in 1542–1545. He was considered to be the greatest living artist during his lifetime and is also included in the list of one of the greatest artists of all time.

Saint Anthony the Abbot in the Wilderness explains that the cultural climate at this time in Italy was full of vivid colors, passion towards the era, and tells a story without using a single word. In the same way, this body of work is one of eight panels which is similar to different chapters in a book, displaying Saint Abbot life. This painting shows Saint Abbot as a hermit travelling through a desert in the Egyptian wilderness. The sky is dim so it appears to be getting dark. He passed by a Church, which looks to have a vibrant appeal, it seems the further he gets from the Church, the more isolated it becomes. The landscape is bare, there are naked trees and bland rocky hills. Saint Abbot was surrounded by small animals, they were often

“No other sculptor managed to capture the realism and beauty of the Renaissance quite like Michelangelo. The work of Michelangelo represented the power and vulnerability of the human form in a way that still fascinates the world today”(Italian Renaissance Art and Artists). During the Italian Renaissance, the 14th to 15th century, Michelangelo created multiple pieces of artwork that are still admired by people around the world today, such as, his work on the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling and his sculpture “David”. Michelangelo has created an assortment of pieces including sculptures, frescoes, paintings, and even architectural work involving churches and tombs. Additionally, Michelangelo was infamous for his incomplete pieces of artwork known as “non-finto” (Michelangelo's Prisoners or Slaves at the Accademia Gallery).

Catholicism and the story of Christ are key components of the Italian Renaissance. Many of the most popular works of art from this area employ some sort of biblical theme. Raphael’s “Sistine Madonna” is no exception to this trend.

Additionally, Caravaggio transports this canvas to life with bright colors; bold contrasts of reds, golds and greens and many surfaces of velvets and soft fur. He also contrasts gestures and expressions and used the contrast principle to differentiate the bright from the dark, which creates interest in the characters portrayed. He intends to tell us that the atmospheric perspective used in this painting is to create depth, like the window behind the individuals. Additionally, the painting is mostly organic forms, but the window can be classified as an organic form. This painting, along with two others of St. Matthew by Caravaggio, was specially made for the Contarelli chapel situated in San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome (Biography.com Editors).

An early example of fantastic renaissance and one of the world’s most recognizable paintings, as considered to many all over the world, is Leonardo Da Vinci’s Last Supper, which is an iconic and powerful work of art. Finished in 1494, it has stood the test the time and you can go see this painting currently in Milan, Italy at the Santa Maria delle Grazie. In order to paint it, Leonardo used an oil/tempera mix and applied it to a dry wall. “He did this because he wanted to capture the look of an oil painting, but even within his lifetime it began to wear off. Further destruction was caused in the seventeenth century, when a door was cut into the bottom,” according to Italianrenaissance.org. As it stands today, this masterpiece is currently 523 years old which is impressive due to the fact that it has been through so many tragic events, such as countless wars and occupations of different countries. Natural disasters could have also easily destroyed it as well like countless other paintings last throughout time.

The piece of art is a statue that portrays Jesus’ body laying on his mother Mary’s laps at the time after the crucifixion having been removed from the cross (Lewis & Lewis, 2008) which is evidenced by the marks of small nails and the indication of the wound located in Jesus’ side. It revolves around the major theme of Northern origin which during that time was present in France but not in Italy. According to (St. Peters Basilica, 2009) Michelangelo offered a unique interpretation of the pieta to the models since it is a significant piece of work that balances the ideals of a new beginning incorporated in typical beauty and a touch of naturalism which is illustrated by the relationship exhibited by the figures. This is made possible by his skill to prove to both the viewers and himself of the supernatural beauty.

The Sistine Chapel is one of the most beautiful artworks known to man, but who knew that so many secrets could be hidden in the artwork that covers the ceilings and walls of the sacred church. The Sistine Chapel was falling apart and after getting it fixed church needed someone to decorate the inside with the most intelligent strokes of a paint brush. After searching Pope Julius ll chose the famous artist Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo may or may not have wanted to paint the Sistine Chapel for the Pope. Symbols are everywhere in art; Michelangelo was able to put large and even some insulting symbols on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

The life of Saint Anthony was vividly pictured in the narration of his life by no other person than St. Athanasius. In St. Athanasius’ description of St. Anthony, he explored all areas where St. Anthony was modeled as a saint. In light of this, the thesis for this essay states that classical genres to which St. Athanasius modelled the Life of St. Anthony is autobiography/biography, mythology and adventures.