Woman With A Mirror Essay

Women throughout art history have been treated as objects, meant to be looked at. Great examples of this can be “The Birth of Venus” by Botticelli (1486) and “The Venus of Urbino” by Titan (1583). In history, Venus was a Roman goddess of love, beauty and sexuality. Women we see in both of these paintings are displayed for the gaze of men, they are both idealized, with flawless porcelain skin, they are what men perceive as “perfect”. Botticelli’s Venus has a hesitant body language, yet the look on her face suggests sexual invitation. She is being styled in a certain way for the artist, she is one of “Botticelli’s women”. Titan’s Venus is lying in bed while looking back at the viewer which creates a sense of sexual intimacy. Other paintings that cater to the male gaze are “In love” by Marcus Stone and “Lady seated at her needlework” by Mihaly Munkacsy. In both cases we see men observing women, who are clearly absorbed with their work. Both of the men are looking at women as if what they are doing is something sensual, something they do to try to get men’s attention, which completely undervalues women’s work, suggesting that everything a woman does is to please the male gaze.

The painting is depicting Picasso’s mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter. She is looking at herself in the mirror. The woman in the painting has very elegant feature. She has an even complexion and beautiful eyes. One side of her face is yellow which appears to be makeup with a greenish eye shadow and bright red blush. The other side of her face is a lavender color which is the same color as her arm, hands, breasts, stomach, and legs. The lavender side of the face does not have any makeup and is very smooth and blemish free. In the mirror her reflection she has darker purple complexion with added green and red on her face. There is a shadow on her face of the side of her head and neck. Her body is covered in light green lines that are all slanted downward. In the reflection both of her eyes are round and two different shades of red. One is a bright red and the other is a deeper red and they both look out of focus.

     Sure, some of us have this great confidence within ourselves about looking great, but that does not hold true for everyone. I understand the pain or disgust, or even disappointment one feels when they look in the mirror and say, “I wish I could change this or that about myself”. Although this piece is written about the author’s life, it holds meaning and connects with for many people; one only has to dig deep enough to find one. For me, it was to realize what is important in life can change, adapt and that we must explore our inner selves and find our own path in life.

While many people recognize the this fresco, many cannot fully understand the meaning behind Michelangelo’s brushstrokes. Even those who understand the fresco’s aesthetic value, very few are able to

I would have to say that a lot of this so-called vanity that the author describes must be human nature, really – as far back

Artist of Renaissance brought a personal side to their work, uncovering the mystery and beauty of nature and people. Also light and shadows were heavily focused on and, the colors were brighter which caused the art to look more alive.

Titian’s ‘Venus of Urbino’ - as suggested by the title - uses a universal ‘Venus’ nude female figure lying across a bed who, in Manet’s ‘Olympia’ is substituted by a real prostitute whom posed for the painting. Manet was using what he considered ‘real’ beauty instead of an idealized fantasy created inside someone’s head. Manet was rebelling against the classical traditions of art, and so used this artwork to shock his intended audience. “Olympia was a slap in the face to all the complacent academic painters who regularly presented their exercises in scarcely disguised eroticism as virtuous homage to the gods and goddesses of classical antiquity”. The appropriation of this artwork was specifically used as the audience of the time would have recognized the reference to a Renaissance painting, as well as being shocked by the

Throughout the course of history, vanity has often been perceived as one of the pitfalls of mankind. The desire for pleasure and gratification has been said to fuel many wars and injustices committed towards the indigenous people, while those who are considered vain are automatically distrusted with their intelligence, passion, and morality put into question. Despite the characteristic’s negative presumptions, vanity is often considered a natural human trait. While most scholars don’t condone vanity, there nonetheless exists numerous arguments that encourage us to embrace our natural state of being, claiming that we are born equipped with qualities that allow us to survive in the natural world. In that sense, vanity being natural, is also

Leonardo Da Vinci “The Last Supper” created in the year of 1495 was a painting from the Renaissance era. This art depicted Jesus and his disciples at the last meal, before the betrayal of Judas and hanging of Jesus on the cross. The objective of this paper is to analyze and critique through artist influence and formal expression. Leonardo Da Vinci the four fathers of art, philosophy and tenacity. Leonardo was the eldest of seventeen siblings a natural artist, who discovered at “fourteen that he wanted to become the apprentice of Andreu de Verrocchio” (bio.com). Moreover, through this opportunity. “He learned a wide range of technical skills, including medal work, leather arts, and carpentry” (bio.com).However, by the time Leonardo became an adult he was an accomplished artist. Leonardo Da Vinci was the creator of thought provoking ideas. He delved into projects which were a figment of imagination in written word. However, he exposed written knowledge into images, for example: drawings of organs in the physical anatomy. These designs changed how people learned and perceived information. In the 15th century, many did not know how to read, so the visual was the next best understanding of observation. The best word to describe Leonardo would be the jack of all trades. However, he was trained and stringent which each endeavor he pursued. Leonardo continued to work on his craft which evolved with time. Which impacted other artist to perfect their techniques. Leonardo was not a

In analyzing the word “vanity,” most would like to believe that the term is referring to one being selfish prideful. Like a lot of humans tend to think, however, the term according to this part of the Old Testament means the emptiness one feels within their life when he or she is apart from God. For example, when reading the book of Ecclesiastes Solomon wants his audience to see his frustration, sin, and emptiness as a reflection. The thought addresses the way Solomon life had become since he has not chosen to make God first in his lifestyle. When we as humans tend to lean unto our understanding and do not stay the course, often far too many times people tend to stray away from the path that God has bestowed upon us making our journey even

The concept of the artist having a special talent began in the Renaissance. Before, Europeans believed that only God could create, and he would do it through the artists in their works of art. This thought influenced how they were seen by the society because people thought they had no originality. In the Middle Ages, artists were not seen as geniuses or anything out of the ordinary. They were just like other artisan or craft worker who did not get any credit for their work. Most of the paintings or sculptures before the 1300s did not have the signature of the artist. After the fourteenth century, changes in the characterization of artist were finally seen for the first time. Renaissance artists were “rare men of genius” (Vasari). Humanists,

Titian’s ‘Worship’ is oil paint on a 68x69-inch canvas. It shows Venus, goddess of love and sexuality, standing on a plinth at the right end of the end of the painting. Standing directly below her plinth are two female nature spirits - nymphs- making offerings to her. Diagonally below her is a crowd of cupids - children of nymphs - ‘with apples in their hands as an offering’ to her. This crowd completes the foreground of this painting. The background includes a blue sky and

Females have always been used as subjects in men’s art work, defining the women in the work as a sexualised object.” This was something that was broken down in the 1960’s movement by artists and supporters. Artists such as Hannah Wilke, with her self-portraits and Nan Goldin used themselves and other women in their work, stripped down the sexualised empty women that are shown in the early masculine-based work such as Titians painting, Venus of Urbino (1538) (figure 1), showing a woman looking out to the viewer in a suggestive manner, posed nude. The painting represented marriage, the eroticism of the wife and motherhood. It is a reminder from Titian of the woman’s obligations she had to her marriage and

I will consider the women in Titian painting, Venus of Urbino, to be in the nude. Even though the artist painted her in a seductive way, I see her as confident, a beautiful women not afraid of posing in the nude. There is a different in being nude a being naked, but only the one is seeing the nude picture can decide if it’s a nude or naked image. For some people a nude person in a painting is art because they see it as beautiful and perfect and for some people a naked person in a painting as just a person not having clothes on, also ugly and a shameful image. Only that individual person that is observing the painting can make the judgement of is it nude or naked.

Although only published more systematically long after, in fact the influence of Leonardo da Vinci's writings had begun to give the very life of the Italian artist and scientist, since some of them came to circulate the Italian workshops of the time. Thus, it can be said that the ideas and concepts of Leonardo helped redirect the Renaissance conception of art, at least in some points. But, as stated above, even considering that Da Vinci was a brilliant visionary, he was also a man of his time, so that the naturalistic and humanistic vision of the Renaissance period designs on it