‘I have the Biggest Head in the World’: David by Verrocchio.
The life of David would serve as the inspiration for numerous sculptures and paintings during the Italian Renaissance when Christian themes were very popular in art. The story of David defeating Goliath would be the one that would be mentioned most frequently as artists tried to use this stirring narrative as an inspiration for their works. Although David often appears in paintings, the sculptures undeniably stick out in our memories because this three-dimensional medium seems more suited to this topic. Andrea del Verrocchio was a notable draughtsman and a master in both media. The city of Florence was alive with a passion for the arts at this time, and many masters explored a variety of media to push their imaginations to the limit.
David is portrayed as a great man, proudly on his feet, keeping watch of Goliath’s head at his feet. He holds his waist with one hand while the other has a small knife as he leans slightly towards the left. The artist tells us of his costumes and depicts his admirable physique, composed of beautiful body features and an athletic form. David is often described as little, slight, and agile, perfectly fitting the story about him defeating a bigger enemy in Goliath. The exquisite attention draws the nuances of the situation to detail in his arm veins(thehistoryofart.org).
‘Saint for Saint’ St. Sebastian Tended by St. Irene
The unsettling picture of a botched execution from early Christianity is depicted in Saint Sebastian Tended by Irene by Hendrick ter Brugghen, combined with allusions to current plague outbreaks. After surviving an assassination attempt by Roman shooters, Saint Sebastian came to be closely associated with arrows, representing his professional military career, his zealous defence of the new-found religion, and ultimately his intercessory activities of martyrdom with the ability and will to cure the epidemic. St. Sebastian was frequently depicted beside the Virgin Mary or as a lone figure resembling Christ in thaumaturgic artworks that acted as spiritual cures for the sick. Saint Sebastian was pierced with protruding shafts as his attempted assassination failed.
Sebastian was beaten to death after confronting the emperor about his harshness after he had recovered. The first martyrdom of Sebastian was a favourite subject for artists, and in this picture, you can see the arrow that went through his chest to identify him. La Tour makes the tableau appear more realistic by removing the saints’ halo and outfitting the characters in modern attire. He achieved a tranquil and spiritual mood by eliminating extraneous details, simplifying faces and bodies, using mellow, earthy hues, and producing dramatic lighting from a candle or torch in the middle of darkness. However, the diagonal thrust that starts with Sebastian’s head and ends with the onlookers gives the otherwise static scene a subtle sense of movement (Hedquist, 2018).
‘The Unsweet Kiss’: Kiss of Judas
Judas betrayed Jesus by kissing, which became the first step toward the crucifixion. In the piece of art, Judas wears a yellow cloak, which is believed to be the same cloak he wore during his payment to the Pharisees after the betrayal. Jesus and Judas are centrally located in the foreground of the image. Surrounding them are the Pharisees who accompanied Judas and the disbelieving faces of the disciples. They are holding sticks with lights at the top since the event happened at night. Some are carrying weapons showing the violent and military nature of Jesus’ arrest. In the painting, Jesus shows calmness and stands solid distinct from the violent and chaotic character of the people around him. On the other hand, Judas opens his arms for an embrace while pursing his lips to kiss Jesus. Through the kiss, Judas betrays Jesus from the soldiers (thehistoryofart.org).
‘The Man Inside a Circle and Square’: The Vitruvian Man
The Vitruvian Man is one of da Vinci’s most well-known and loved famous art pieces. It shows a naked man with arms and legs in two orientations laid over each other. The tips of his limbs touch the edges of the square, the perimeter of the circle. Leonardo spent months examining several young guys as part of his independent research on the ratios of the dimensions study of the human body. Body dimensions that he attributed to Vitruvius are recorded above and below the drawing of the piece of art. In reality, Leonardo made most of the measurements. Thanks to his inquiries, he could depart from Vitruvius’ measurements and other representations of human dimensions.
He drew the guy spread-eagle with his hands and feet touching the circle’s edge and his navel precisely in the middle, as per Vitruvius and displaced the square from the circle. This position is followed by one in which the guy stands with his legs together, his feet on the bottom of the square, and his arms outstretched to his sides. According to Leonardo’s research, the centre of the square is where the man’s genitalia would be if he were to stand in this position. Leonardo questioned the prevailing belief in the texts of antiquity by using his practical facts in his drawing of the perfect human body (Artincontext, 2022).
Abbey in an Oak Forests
Monk by the Sea’s sister piece is titled Abbey among Oak Trees. Friedrich displayed both paintings in the 1810 Berlin Academy Exhibition. King Friedrich Wilhelm III purchased them at the young crown prince’s request. Due to their puzzling distance and official extremism, they were to grow into important works in German Romanticism. In the novel Monk by the Sea, a guy is depicted as being alone and infinite in the post-apocalyptic world of nature. He thinks about the limits of life. The gates of death have opened in the companion article. To celebrate a requiem mass beneath the cross, monks bring a coffin inside an abandoned Gothic ruin.
Similarly, lonely is the cemetery with its twisted, sunken tombstones. The bare oaks are complaining as they stretch upward. The delicate arc of the sickle moon is being outshone by the initial light of dawn, which is emerging over the horizon like an ocher-yellow veil. The earthly regions, still shrouded in darkness, are cut off from the celestial realm’s visionary glimmer. The two individual lights on the cross are one indication of optimism. Carl Gustav Carus, a friend of Friedrich’s, thought this picture was among the most profoundly poetic contemporary landscapes.
References
Art and Culture. (2019). Abbey among oak trees – Caspar David Friedrich – Google Arts & Culture. Google. Retrieved May 1, 2023, from https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/abbey-among-oak-trees-caspar-david-friedrich/UAEmmuxqtNUt-g?hl=en
Artincontext. (2022, March 31). The “Vitruvian Man” Da Vinci – why was the “Vitruvian Man” created? artincontext.org. Retrieved April 29, 2023, from https://artincontext.org/the-vitruvian-man-da-vinci/
Hedquist, V. (2018, August 25). Irene tended to Ter Brugghen’s Saint Sebastian. Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art. Retrieved April 29, 2023, from https://jhna.org/articles/ter-brugghen-saint-sebastian-tended-irene/
thehistoryofart.org. (n.d.). David. David by Andrea del Verrocchio. Retrieved April 29, 2023, from https://www.thehistoryofart.org/andrea-del-verrocchio/david/
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