Ugolino

The piece I decided to analyze is the famous sculpture, Laocoön and his two sons. I decided on this particular piece for a few reasons, one being the emotion we see on the subjects’ faces, and the other being the importance for future art. When I began this research I could not have possibly understood the relevance this piece had on the art that was yet to come.

Standing in front of this sculpture, the viewer can feel the wind whipping around them and the sea spraying you in the face. The energy and motion add to the dramatic effect that immediately draws the viewer in. This dramatic effect is created by the lines of the figure. Nike’s elongated wings catch your eye and create a lengthy transverse line which adds to the drama. The drapery that clothes the figure has the same

We begin in the 14th century, at the start of the Italian Renaissance. From 1308 to 1320, Dante Alighieri began and completed his Divine Comedy, a three part poem entailing his visionary journey through the realms of Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. It intertwines aspects of Roman Catholic doctrine with Classical philosophy and contemporary politics, all in the dialect of Florence. He wrote this for a myriad of reasons, ranging from the inspiration of his muse to the politics of late 13th century Florence. The biggest political concern at the time was the struggle between church and state for secular power. The pope, along with other characters from Florentine politics, are represented in Hell, or the Inferno. Dante incorporates many references

This sculpture is comprised of marble, and due to its large size it was easier for me to develop an impression about the piece because I can focus on specific parts in more detail. To understand the piece, a very visual and detailed perspective is needed. Judging by the way the thighs are represented, it appears as though she is striking a contrapposto pose, which makes her appear static. She has most of her weight shifted on her left leg, but not all of it The focal point of this piece I believe is her robe. It skillfully falls down her left side, while leaving other parts exposed, drawing the main attention of this piece. Few different types of shapes are displayed, except the shape of her legs and the form of the robe. The physical texture was smooth throughout the entire piece, partly due to the material it is made of. There is only this one texture, as her robe and body parts all feel the same.

The body of Adam, fully nude with the exception of a leaf, is very realistic and accurate, greatly detailed from his tightly curled hair to the creases in his knuckles. Without even touching the work I can “see” the purity of its marble and the smoothness of its carving. The muscle and facial expression of Adam are remarkably convincing qualities, showing the overall tense feeling of Adam’s pose. He stands on a flat base, and it is seen there that he is leaning forward because both feet are slightly lifted off the ground. He seems to be moving in a forward direction. That encouraged me to explore the back of the sculpture, where I found the same remarkable realism through muscles depiction and perfected proportion.

The marble statue of Diadoumenos is a copy of the original bronze statue displaying a young man tying a fillet around his head. The original was created in c.a. 430 B.C. by a man called Polykleitos of Argos. Polykleitos was a Greek sculptor who worked during the mid-fifth century B.C. . he was one of the most famous artists of the ancient world. Polykleitos' figures are carefully designed with special attention to bodily proportions and stance. The statue of Diadoumenos has its thorax and pelvis tilt in opposite directions, setting up rythmic contrasts in the torso that create an impression of organic vitality. The position of the feet, (poised between walking and standing), give a sense of potential movement.

Interestingly, instead of four, only three sides of the Sarcophagus are filled with images. The long section illustrates two Greek heroes, presumably Herakles and Iolaos, battling evil centaurs. The two other sections show a centaur attacking a lioness and the other, the representation of peace in this work, two centaurs getting along. Herakles and Iolaos are highlighted by the artist’s careful attention to make them protrude the greatest, accentuating their impact and overall importance in this sculpture. Every powerful muscle in their bodies is portrayed and given detail in three dimensions. The three-dimensions not only bring these characters closer to reality but also heighten the heroic nature, masculinity, and belligerent attitude of the Greek heroes. Instead of using basic geometric shapes to create works of art, the sculptor chooses to increase the detail in the Sarcophagus by giving everything in the sculpture individual characteristics and traits. They are presented as being stressed

+Log:+ SCP-1800 is a bronze sculpture measuring 146cm in height, appearing identical to the work Le Minotaure by Salvador Dalí with the following deviations: Heightened aggressivity of onlookers; verbal assaults between onlookers; sexual assaults between onlookers;...

Pirici’s living sculpture, like Serra’s could be experienced three-dimensionally. “However, the use of the human body gives the sculpture performative quality which makes it far more flexible, modifiable, and negotiable than [the original which was solid, unfinished and demanding of the public audience]...” (Ess-spa.ch, 2014)

Ugolino uses his story’s version as an act of revenge upon the bishop, whom he burns in Hell eternally with revulsion (Franke 31). Dante the Poet shares this story to allow the reader to feel immense sympathy and to stimulate the reader’s hatred of Ugolino’s tyrant; the suffering father in the story forgets his fate within his agony that he can do nothing for his children or himself. In addition, this suffering was an injustice, which gives the poet the right to be against Pisa (Yate 93). Ugolino’s story has been constantly paired with Paolo and Francesca’s story; both stories arouse deep emotion in anguish, but contrast in Dante the Pilgrim’s reactions and responses to both sinners. Through these stories, Dante indicates human love and human sorrow break through in the Inferno (Yate 95). Ugolino is the father of sorrows that are easy to weep for. As a man of rank as a Count, he is oppressed by a priest, and with this Ugolino becomes an emotional and liberty-loving English lord (Yate 99). However, Ugolino is filled with rage, which persuades him to gnaw at his oppressor’s skull. Dante seems to use this episode as a narrative of revenge, exposing Dante the Poet’s weakness in his god-like personality. He thereby produces a narrative of the damning of sin in expressing his own anger (Franke 27). Between the two haters, they share absolutely no pity, as there was towards Francesca and her lover. Ugolino and Ruggieri rage with

Ugolino is trapped beside Ruggieri in the ice and is eating his head as punishment. This is so graphic and so revolting that Dante wanted the readers to be scared and to see where your actions would get you.

Both the sculpture and the text depict Laocoön’s movements at magnifying detail in their respective medium. For instance, the sculpture depicts Laocoön with a dynamic pose. The priest’s limbs spread out in agony, filling up a viewer’s the visual space, leaving a lasting impact. The creases of Laocoön’s muscles achieve in depicting the strain and tension the priest is exerting on his limbs and torso, showing the tremendous effort the preist puts in to break free of the serpents. Simultaneously, Laocoön’s toes grip onto the floor, trying to regain his stance. By filling up

Dante Alighieri was a major Italian poet born in Florence, Italy in 1265, around the Middle Ages. Although he wrote other works, none were as notable as the Divine Comedy, the most illustrious work of all medieval European literature. This epic dives into Dante’s journey through hell, purgatory, and paradise. The various religious and political figures, mythological references, as well as biblical references,  all play a role in the poet’s comprehensive analysis of the turmoil Florence was facing in the Middle Ages. In Dante’s Inferno, the poet spawns his own  form of punishment of the heinous conduct that was spurning in his time period. Dante's inspiration for this epic stemmed from being exiled from Florence. As he was exiled, he commented on the corruptness in Italy, which produced Dante’s allegory Inferno. Using a biographical lens, we can see the the influence of his life in this work.

Standing eight feet tall in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is a marble statue known as a youthful Hercules. Sculpted during the Early Imperial period, with several restorations made in the 17th century, this Roman masterpiece dominates the room with its godlike essence. Chiseled with great detail, Hercules is holding a skinned lion in his left hand while his right hand is gripping a club behind his back.  The statue stands with confidence and empowerment, capturing the moment right after Hercules’ skinned the Nemean beast, transporting the viewer directly to the scene, while at the same time also demonstrating Hercules’ emotional state. Upon examining the amalgam of Hercules’ qualities such as his physical characteristics, pose, and expression, the sculpture leaves the viewer with the impression that Hercules is the epitome of the ideal man.

Michelangelo's David is a masterpiece and one of the most recognizable statues in the entire world of art. Standing 13 feet tall, the double life-sized David is depicted patiently waiting for battle, prepped with slingshot in one hand and stone in the other. The human body is glorified in this piece, with every detail being showered in beauty and aesthetics that were viewed as beautiful at the time. The detail is astounding, his veins are visible in his arms and hands as he clutches the stones with one hand and the slingshot in the other, his hands and his head appear to be disproportionally large for his body, because they were deemed more visually important for viewers who would see the statue high up on the exterior of the cathedral. Also, his left leg, which straddles the rocky base upon which he stands, appears a big too long for his body, it accentuates the line of this leg as it forms an essential component in David's contrapposto stance. The classical nude further glorifies the body, as it was thought as something not to be ashamed of and one of the most beautiful subjects