Fra Angelico
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March 9th, 2009
Fra Angelico (c. 1395 – February 18, 1455), born Guido di Pietro, referred to in Giorgio Vasari’s “Lives of the Artists” as having “a rare and perfect talent” , was an Early Italian Renaissance painter.
Known as il Beato Angelico in Italy, he was known to his contemporaries as Fra Giovanni da Fiesole (Brother John from Fiesole). In Giorgio Vasari’s Lives of the Artists, written prior to 1555, he was already known as Fra Giovanni Angelico (Brother Giovanni the Angelic One).
Within his lifetime or shortly thereafter he was also called Il Beato (the Blessed), in reference to his skills in painting religious subjects. In 1982 Pope John Paul II conferred beatification, thereby making this title official. Fiesole is sometimes misinterpreted as being part of his formal name, but it was merely the name of the town where he took his vows, used by contemporaries to separate him from other Fra Giovannis. He is listed in the Roman Martyrology as Beatus Ioannes Faesulanus, cognomento Angelicus—”Blessed Giovanni of Fiesole, nicknamed Angelico”.
Fra Angelico was born Guido di Pietro at Rupecanina, in the Tuscan area of Mugello, near Fiesole towards the end of the 14th century and died in Rome in 1455. Nothing is known of his parents. He was baptized Guido or Guidolino. The earliest recorded document concerning Fra Angelico dates from October 17, 1417 when he joined a religious confraternity at the Carmine, still under the name of Guido di Pietro. This record also reveals that he was already a painter, a fact that is subsequently confirmed by two records of payment to Guido di Pietro in January and February 1418 for work done in the church of Santo Stefano del Ponte. The first record of Angelico as a friar dates from 1423, when he is first referred to as Fra Giovanni, following the custom of those in Holy Orders of taking a new name. He was a member of the Observant Branch of the Dominican Order at Fiesole. Fra, an abbreviation of frate (from the Latin frater), is a conventional title for a friar or brother.
Through Fra Angelico’s pupil Benozzo Gozzoli’s careful portraiture and technical expertise in the art of fresco we see a link to Ghirlandaio, who in turn painted extensive schemes for the wealthy patrons of Florence, and through Ghirlandaio to his pupil Michelangelo and the High Renaissance.
Apart from the lineal connection, superficially there may seem little to link the humble priest with his Madonnas and Crucifixions to the dynamic expressions of Michelangelo’s larger-than-life creations. But both these artists received their most important commissions from the wealthiest and most powerful of all patrons, the Vatican.
When Michelangelo took up the Sistine Chapel commission, he was working within a space that had already been extensively decorated by other artists. Around the walls the Life of Christ and Life of Moses were depicted by a range of artists including his teacher Ghirlandaio, Raphael’s teacher Perugino and Botticelli. They were works of large scale and exactly the sort of lavish treatment to be expected in a Vatican commission, vying with each other in complexity of design, number of figures, elaboration of detail and skilful use of gold leaf. Above these works stood a row of painted Popes in brilliant brocades and gold tiaras. None of these splendours have any place in the work which Michelangelo created. Michaelangelo, when asked by Pope Julius II to ornament the robes of the Apostles in the usual way, responded that they were very poor men.
Within the cells of San’Marco, Fra Angelico had demonstrated that painterly skill and the artist’s personal interpretation were sufficient to create memorable works of art, without the expensive trappings of blue and gold. In the use of the unadorned fresco technique, the clear bright pastel colours, the careful arrangement of a few significant figures and the skilful use of expression, motion and gesture, Michelangelo showed himself to be the artistic descendant of Fra Angelico. Frederick Hartt describes Fra Angelico as “prophetic of the mysticism” of painter such as Rembrandt, El Greco and Zurbarán.
Noli me tangere
The Architecture Of The Italian City Of Modena
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February 21st, 2009
By : Harwood E Woodpecker
Italian architecture is timeless, the soft colours and pleasing structures to very little to offend and always leave an impression on you.
Modena is a city situated in the mid north west of the Italian peninsula and is most famous for being the home town of the Ferrari but it’s also right in the middle of the Italian food corridor which runs from Bologna, the father of Italian food to Parma, the home of ham and down to Modena. As well as these claims to fame Modena is also the home to one of the most beautiful Italian cathedrals and some wonderful architecture.
Modena has numerous claims to fame, not only is it the hometown of Ferrari (the Italians other great passion), it was also the hometown of the late and great world famous Italian tenor, Luciano Pavarotti and it’s also one of the Emilia-Romagna region’s great gastronomic cities, producer of the most beautiful vinegar in the world, balsamic among other things. If you are into your food Emilia-Romagna has to be the Italian region to visit. But what is the real Modena like? Having visited Bologna many years ago and been overcome by its beauty I’d always promised myself I’d get to Modena one day.
Other than the obvious things about Modena I knew very little about it so was looking forward immensely to finding out more about the cities Italian architecture.
As soon as I arrived I headed for the main square, when ever you arrive in an Italian city for the first time the main Piazza is always a good starting point.
Piazza Grande is the main Piazza in Modena, and a very grand Italian Piazza it is too, being home to the beautiful cathedral. It has to be one of the most beautiful churches anywhere in and one of the most beautiful I’ve seen any where in the world. Building started on the cathedral in 1099. At the time Modena was without a bishop as the one chosen by the Pope was not approved by the locals, hence the citizens of Modena managed and paid for the cathedral to be completed, some achievement.
The beautiful white stones covering the outside of the cathedral were discovered, during renovation work to be Roman tombstones, this was a surprise to the restoration workers and historians who even found inscriptions on the stones. The doorways are adorned with life-like sculptures and these really set the cathedral apart from older cathedrals that generally have flatter one dimensional sculpture’s. The sculptures look magnificent in their white stone but they have a somewhat eerie appearance to them due to the use of lead as eyes, the black eyes staring down at you from the beautiful white figures is strange.
Standing proudly at either side of the main entrance to the cathedral are two magnificent Roman lions, the doorway to the Piazza Grande is also guarded by two magnificent lions, this time made from an Italian pink marble. I could spend hours inside cathedrals just looking at the reliefs and carvings, I always feel slightly disappointed when leaving a magnificent looking cathedral that isn’t regaled with historical reliefs that tell a story.
I certainly wasn’t disappointed in Modena. On one side of the church, beneath an arch linking it to a tower there are some wonderful carvings believed to be King Arthur and his knights as well as scenes from Aesop’s fables. My favourite of all was a calendar showing the months of the year complete with an agricultural task for the Italian farmers that would be carried out in the given month. This reminded me of a similar carving I saw at the Palazzo Ducale in Venice.
A later section was added to the cathedral in the 13-14th centuries, this was made out of a beautiful Italian pink marble and is of a more Gothic appearance than the earlier parts of the cathedral but it still links nicely with the older section, rather than looking like a bolt-on.
As with all Italian cities the main Piazza is the focal point of the city and Piazza Grande is no different. Up until 1931 the Piazza held the city market but this was moved to a purpose built covered site where it is still held today. Although not the site for the market any longer the Piazza is still very much the place to meet people, take a stroll or just sit and enjoy an espresso.
Modena’s buildings are a wonderful terra cotta colour, the sort of colour that lends itself wonderfully to Italian architecture, so warming and gentle on the eye. The good thing about Italy is that is still so in touch with its heritage, the citizens of Modena have to respect their heritage to the degree that the colour of all buildings must fall within local council guidelines to keep the aesthetics of the city.
Walking through the narrow atmospheric cobbled streets into the sleepy piazzas you can really get lost in the sense of Italian history that Modena exudes through its architecture. Modena has had an up and down history. Modena flourished under Roman rule but then went into steady decline as a power hub until the end of the 16th century when the ruling d’Este family made it their home. The family saw how Modena had fallen into declined and realised that it had potential and set about modernising the city to make it one of the Italian greats.
The d’Este family built their home, the Palazzo Ducale (not to be confused with the Venetian palace of the same name) on top of Modena’s existing castle. The spectacular Palazzo still stands today; still in all its original glory, the unfortunate thing is that it is now an impregnable Italian military academy with no access for to the public.
After a couple of days spent walking around the beautiful city of Modena sampling the wonderful architecture it dawned on me that I hadn’t even taken the time out to look deeper into Modena’s gastronomic heritage. Now that is something to look forward to.
Author Resource:- Sardinia Holiday
You may not always agree with my writings but I hope to inform.
Harwood E Woodpecker
Italian Sculptors
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February 5th, 2009
Here is a list of some of the more famous Italian Sculptors.
- Pietro Bernini (1562 — 1629)
- Umberto Boccioni (1882 – 1916)
- Rembrandt Bugatti (1884–1916)
- Giovanni Battista Caccini
- Pietro Canonica
- Antonio Canova, (1757–1822)
- Baccio D’Agnolo (c. 1460–1543), sculptor, wood-carver, and architect
- Donatello, (1386–1466)
- Giovanni Battista Foggini (1652 - 1737)
- Antonello Gagini
- Antonio Gagini
- Domenico Gagini
- Silvio Gazzaniga, (1921 - )
- Vincenzo Gemito - (1852–1929)
- Tommaso Geraci, (born 1931)
- Lorenzo Ghiberti
- Giambologna
- Stefano Maderno (1576–1636)
- Carlo Marochetti, (1805–1867)
- Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli
- Costantino Nivola, (1911–1988)
- Pinuccio Sciola, (born 1942)
- Mauro Staccioli
- Eugenio Tavolara
Caravaggio
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February 1st, 2009
By Michael Russell
Caravaggio is an extremely well known Italian painter
who painted in the Realistic Baroque style of art. His dramatic use of light and dark is revolutionary. Many other painters have tried to paint like him and failed.
Caravaggio’s real name is Michelangelo Merisi. He was born in 1571 in the town of Caravaggio; this is where he got his professional name. His father was Fermo Merisi, a steward and architect. At the age of eleven, Caravaggio was orphaned and apprenticed to the painter Simone Peterzano for four years.
Some time between 1588 and 1592 Caravaggio moved to Rome and became an assistant to Giuseppe Cesari, a pupil of Titian. He painted flower and fruit pieces for him which are now lost. After that, he moved from job to job working for other painters. This was a very unstable period in his life. After a while, Caravaggio decided to set out on his own and sell his paintings.
Caravaggio found a dealer that began to sell his paintings, Maestro Valentino. Valentino eventually showed Caravaggio’s paintings to Cardinal Francesco Del Monte, who had great influence in the court. Del Monte invited Caravaggio to come and live at the house of the cardinal and receive a pension. He painted about 40 paintings for Del Monte, which mostly included paintings about adolescent boys.
In 1597, Caravaggio was commissioned to paint the decoration of the Contarelli Chapel in the San Luigi dei Francesi church in Rome. This caused him to become very well known. For the church, he painted three very large paintings, St. Matthew and the Angel, The Calling of St. Matthew and The Martyrdom of St. Matthew. In these paintings, he painted them in a very contemporary, realistic way. This was not how saints were usually painted and this caused shock among the public. They even made Caravaggio redo one of the paintings!
After he finished the church, Caravaggio had a swarm of people that wanted his paintings. Some of the paintings he did during this time are The Conversion of St. Paul, The Crucifixion of St. Peter, The Deposition of Christ and the Death of the Virgin. Many of the paintings he did during this time caused violent outrages. He painted the Madonna with Pilgrims for the San Agostino Church which ended up being a scandal because the old people kneeling down had dirty feet and a filthy, torn cap. Other paintings were rejected entirely.
Even though Caravaggio was constantly criticized, he was still very successful. He became more and more popular as a painter. During this time, however, he had many run-ins with the law. He was arrested many times for various reasons. Other painters accused him of several things; he wounded a soldier, threw stones at a Roman guard and wounded another man defending his mistress. Then he had a serious brawl over the score of a tennis game and killed Ranuccio Tomassoni.
Because of what he did, Caravaggio fled Rome and hid with a relative of the Marquis of Caravaggio. He then hid in several other places and eventually ended up in Naples. In Naples, he painted Madonna of the Rosary and The Seven Works of Mercy. During this time his painting style shifted, probably because of his desperate state of mind.
After this, Caravaggio moved from place to place a lot. He went to Malta, where he painted The Beheading of St. John the Baptist for a cathedral. Word of his crime reached Malta and Caravaggio was imprisoned, but soon escaped. He then went to Sicily and painted The Resurrection of Lazarus and The Adoration of the Shepherds. Then he moved to Palermo and painted the Adoration with St. Francis and St. Lawrence.
Caravaggio was eventually arrested when he went by boat from Naples to Rome. His boat stopped in Palo where he was arrested. However, he was released. When he was released, he found that the boat had already left along with everything he owned. He set out to overtake the vessel and arrived at Port Ercole where he died a few days later. He probably died of either pneumonia or a fever.
Even though Caravaggio spent much of his life running from the law, he is still considered to be one of the best painters of all time. His style is unmatched and is still admired today.
Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Arts
Art Galleries for the Connoisseur
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February 1st, 2009
Clair Jons
In any city in the world that you choose to visit, you will be sure to find at least one art gallery. However, some of them are so well-known, that people will literally travel the world to find them. These most famous galleries house the great masterpieces of the world.
Probably the most famous art gallery in the world is ‘The Louvre’ in Paris. The most famous piece of art in the Louvre is the Mona Lisa, by Leonardo Da Vinci. This famous painting is kept under high security as it tops the list of art thieves the world over. The Louvre also houses many other famous paintings by Da Vinci and hundreds of other famous artists.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York City, is another home to incredible works of art. For Americans, it’s a great place to see works by famous fellow countrymen, but there are also important works from all over the globe. Some of these are paintings and sculptures by Botticelli, Raphael, and El Greco.
Our next stop is London, England, where the National Gallery is situated. There you will find glorious works by the best known artists of Europe. Some of the most famous are by Raphael, Manet, da Vinci, Renoir, and Monet. True art lovers will need to make a visit to this stunning gallery at some time in their lives. Some paintings hanging there are: Sunflowers, by Vincent Van Gogh; The Virgin of the Rocks, by Leonardo da Vinci; and Venus and Mars, by Sandro Botticelli.
Not all galleries across the world are homes to the old masters. Many of them offer representations from the twentieth century. Among the most famous contemporary art galleries and museums is the George Pompidou Center in Paris. The architecture is unique as well, since the piping and ducts are on the outside, rather than being hidden behind walls.
The modern art galleries and museums often show furniture, sound, light, and musical exhibitions. They also feature the usually seen paintings, drawings, and prints. When you visit one of the newer galleries, you will definitely notice how times have changed over the decades, as reflected by the art.
Most of the major European cities are home to at least a national and a contemporary gallery. Usually there are also private galleries. Any time you visit a major metropolitan area, be sure to include the galleries in your itinerary. It’s a wonderful way to learn about a country and its cultures. History and its changes are reflected in the art on display.
If you plan on buying some art pieces, you won’t be able to do so at the national galleries. You can however visit private galleries in your pursuit of owning some major works. These probably won’t include Renoir’s or Van Gogh’s, but you will find many wonderful pieces that you’ll be able to call your own. Art auctions are often held at Christie’s and other art houses. This is another way of obtaining some incredible works of art.
Art as an expression of our culture, thought process and creativity has no parallel. Viewing these masterpieces in an art gallery transposes the viewer into the mind and time of the creator who has shaped our culture.
Clair Jons is the your host at FE Art, the best place on the internet when you’re after fresh up to date advice and comment to do with Art. For further information on Art please visit: http://www.feart.com/articles You can swap links with us by going to: http://www.feart.com/links
Giotto di Bondone
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February 1st, 2009
Giotto di Bondone (c. 1267 – January 8, 1337), better known simply as Giotto, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence. He is generally considered the first in a line of great artists who contributed to the Italian Renaissance.
Giotto’s contemporary Giovanni Villani wrote that Giotto was “the most sovereign master of painting in his time, who drew all his figures and their postures according to nature. And he was given a salary by the commune [of Florence] in virtue of his talent and excellence.”
The later 16th century biographer Giorgio Vasari says of him “…He made a decisive break with the …Byzantine style, and brought to life the great art of painting as we know it today, introducing the technique of drawing accurately from life, which had been neglected for more than two hundred years.”
Giotto’s masterwork is the decoration of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, commonly called the Arena Chapel, completed around 1305. This fresco cycle depicts the life of the Virgin and the life of Christ. It is regarded as one of the supreme masterpieces of the Early Renaissance.[3] That Giotto painted the Arena Chapel and that he was chosen by the commune of Florence in 1334 to design the new campanile (bell tower) of the Florence Cathedral are among the few certainties of his biography. Almost every other aspect of it is subject to controversy: his birthdate, his birthplace, his appearance, his apprenticeship, the order in which he created his works, whether or not he painted the famous frescoes at Assisi, and where he was eventually buried after his death.
The Kiss of Judas
The Renaissance
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January 30th, 2009
The Renaissance - rebirth (derived from French Renaissance, meaning “rebirth”; Italian: Rinascimento, from re- “again” and nascere “be born”).
Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, who inspired the term “Renaissance man” were just two well renowned artists of tis era.
Leonardo da Vinci was and is renowned primarily as a painter. Whilst Annunciation is believed to be his first complete work, two of his works, the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, are the most famous, most reproduced and most parodied portrait and religious painting of all time, their fame approached only by Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam. Leonardo’s drawing of the Vitruvian Man is also regarded as a cultural icon, being reproduced on everything from the Euro to text books to t-shirts. Perhaps fifteen of his paintings survive, the small number due to his constant, and frequently disastrous, experimentation with new techniques, and his chronic procrastination. Nevertheless, these few works, together with his notebooks, which contain drawings, scientific diagrams, and his thoughts on the nature of painting, comprise a contribution to later generations of artists only rivalled by that of his contemporary, Michelangelo.
Annunciation (1475–1480)
Etruscan art
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January 30th, 2009
Etruscan art was the form of figurative art produced by the Etruscan civilization in northern Italy between the 9th and 2nd centuries BC. Particularly strong in this tradition were figurative sculpture in terracotta (particularly life-size on sarcophagi or temples) and cast bronze, wall-painting and metalworking (especially engraved bronze mirrors).
The mysterious origins of this people, and consequently of their artistic style, dates back to the peoples who inhabited or were expelled from Asia Minor during the Bronze Age and Iron Age, though other ancient cultures influenced Etruscan art (due to proximity or commercial contact), such as Greece, Phoenicia, Egypt, Assyria and the Middle East. However, its apparently simple character in the Hellenistic era conceals an innovative, characteristic and unique style whose apogee coincided with the Greek archaic period which would come to have a deep influence on the Roman art which would later entirely absorb it in the 1st century AD.
Italian Arts
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January 30th, 2009
The italian arts were divided into eras, from Etruscans, through to Contemporary Art.
1 Etruscans
2 Romans
3 Byzantines
4 Early Middle Ages and Romanesque
5 Gothic period
6 Renaissance
7 Mannerism
8 Modernity
* 8.1 Baroque
* 8.2 Rococo
* 8.3 Impressionism and Post-Impressionism
9 1900
* 9.1 Expressionism
* 9.2 Cubism, Futurism
* 9.3 Metaphysical painting and Surrealism
* 9.4 Classical modernism of the 20th century
* 9.5 Italian Modern Art
10 Post-Modern Italian art
11 Contemporary Art
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