Paintings in art history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Paintings in art history - Essay Example Fifteenth-century artist Sandro Botticelli is noted for his lyrical, flowing style, often decorative and showing a certain elegance. The Florentine Renaissance became a cult of beauty, love and gratification of the senses, and Botticelli in both The Birth of Venus and Spring (Primavera) reflected this delicate and romantic Renaissance style, with Venus rising from the sea on an open shell, unclothed but demure, and later clothed at her coronation. Because these two paintings are different sizes, it was thought they did not belong together, but further analysis shows enough similarities to make them a set (â€Å"Analysis;† â€Å"Allegory†) At a time in Italian history when Florentine artists were enamored of mythology, Botticelli captured the essence of the myth. The elements in any composition are line, shape, color, pattern, value, form, texture, space. Those specifically attributed to the Sistine Chapel are 1) lines – direction of lines leads eye to specific ar ea of painting; 2) shape – height and width of shape creates an illusion on the ceiling panels; 3) space – the relationship of positive and negative space affects impact and unity; 4) color – bright, dark, intense—implies texture through color, line, shading, repetition and pattern. Michelangelo began painting the Sistine Chapel in 1508 and completed it in 1512, almost single-handedly. The four main elements that define the vaulted ceiling of the Chapel are, as noted, line, shape, color, and pattern. The ceiling is painted in panels, with circles., squares, and triangles framing the different panels. Colors, bright and dark, lead the eye to the focus in each panel. The technique is fresco. There are nine central panels illustrating and interpreting stories from Genesis in a specific pattern ("Michelangelo"). Albrecht Drer Albrecht Drer was a painter and engraver who was best known for his woodcuts and prints. His etching work was meticulous with special focus on color in his paintings. He was influenced by Leonardo da Vinci's studies of the human figure and applied Leonardo's proportions to his own figures. Finished form and richness of conception, as well as perspective and proportion are characteristics of his work along with color and energy (Ponich). Rembrandt Rembrandt van Rijin is noted for his transfiguration of experience into art. It is his inner emotions as represented in his art that makes him unique. He was highly influenced by Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titan in their depiction of the human form, but he is a multi-faceted artist, excelling as a painter and an inspired graphic artist and etcher. He painted, drew and etched portraits, landscapes, figures, and animals, but above all scenes of biblical and secular history and mythology. Although also known for his self-portraits, his most famous works show his ability to expand his subject matter. One of his best known paintings is called "Night Watch" although it has since been found to be a daytime scene. His art symbolizes a whole period of art history rightfully known as "Holland's Golden Age" ("Rembrandt"). Romanticism Romanticism (1800-1850) unlike its opposite, classicism, has a storytelling, epic quality that extends to music, painting, and literature. Richard Wagner's music evokes feelings of power and dread, with its emphasis on emotion and great freedom of form. It was his aim to offer a complete synthesis of the arts in his music. According to Alfred Einstein in "Music in the Romantic Era, A History of Musical Thought in the 19th Century (New York, 1947), "[Wagner] was the first to