RAR, Volume 15, 1995
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The Astronomical Garden of Venus and Mars-NG915: the Pivotal Role Of
The astronomical garden of Venus and Mars - NG915 : the pivotal role of Astronomy in dating and deciphering Botticelli’s masterpiece Mariateresa Crosta Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF- OATo), Via Osservatorio 20, Pino Torinese -10025, TO, Italy e-mail: [email protected] Abstract This essay demonstrates the key role of Astronomy in the Botticelli Venus and Mars-NG915 painting, to date only very partially understood. Worthwhile coin- cidences among the principles of the Ficinian philosophy, the historical characters involved and the compositional elements of the painting, show how the astronomi- cal knowledge of that time strongly influenced this masterpiece. First, Astronomy provides its precise dating since the artist used the astronomical ephemerides of his time, albeit preserving a mythological meaning, and a clue for Botticelli’s signature. Second, it allows the correlation among Botticelli’s creative intention, the historical facts and the astronomical phenomena such as the heliacal rising of the planet Venus in conjunction with the Aquarius constellation dating back to the earliest represen- tations of Venus in Mesopotamian culture. This work not only bears a significant value for the history of science and art, but, in the current era of three-dimensional mapping of billion stars about to be delivered by Gaia, states the role of astro- nomical heritage in Western culture. Finally, following the same method, a precise astronomical dating for the famous Primavera painting is suggested. Keywords: History of Astronomy, Science and Philosophy, Renaissance Art, Educa- tion. Introduction Since its acquisition by London’s National Gallery on June 1874, the painting Venus and Mars by Botticelli, cataloged as NG915, has remained a mystery to be interpreted [1]1. -
The Esotericism in Sandro Botticelli's La Primavera
THE ESOTERICISM IN SANDRO BOTTICELLI’S LA PRIMAVERA © Esperanza Parra López. Registered in the Spanish Register of Intellectual Property. Register Number: 08/2011/549. ABSTRACT: This article proposes an iconographic and especially iconological interpretation about the picture La Primavera (Allegory of Spring) by Sandro Botticelli. This fresh interpretation has a strong esoteric component, characteristic of the period when it was created, which has remained largely unnoticed. But the author of this research maintains that in order to fully understand this picture, it is needed to penetrate the Italian Renaissance Mentality. KEYWORDS: Marsilio Ficino – Lorenzo of Pierfrancesco of Medici – Lorenzo The Magnificent – Simonetta Vespucci – Semiramide Appiani. RESUMEN: Se propone aquí, en el presente artículo, una interpretación iconográfica y sobre todo iconológica totalmente nueva y definitiva sobre el cuadro La Primavera de Sandro Botticelli. Esta novedosa interpretación tiene un fuerte componente esotérico, propio de la época en la cual se realizó esta obra de arte, que, muchas veces, ha pasado totalmente desapercibido. Pero la autora de esta investigación, insiste, en que hay que penetrar en la mentalidad del Renacimiento Italiano y sus escritos para comprender la totalidad de dicho cuadro. THE ESOTERICISM IN SANDRO BOTTICELLI’S LA PRIMAVERA © Esperanza Parra López. Registered in the Spanish Register of Intellectual Property. Register Number: 08/2011/549. [email protected] Botticelli: La Primavera. Florence, ©Uffizi. (fig. 1) PREFACE: This essay begins with a short review of what has been written until now about Botticelli’s La Primavera. Later, the main part of the essay is presented. The purpose of this research is not to compile what has been said before, but to bring new information 2 that can help to envisage the iconographic, and above all, iconological interpretation of this artwork. -
The Forty-First George Eliot Memorial Lecture, 2012- Romola's Artists
University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln The George Eliot Review English, Department of 2013 The Forty-first George Eliot Memorial Lecture, 2012- Romola's Artists Leonee Ormond Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/ger Part of the Comparative Literature Commons, Literature in English, British Isles Commons, and the Women's Studies Commons Ormond, Leonee, "The Forty-first George Eliot Memorial Lecture, 2012- Romola's Artists" (2013). The George Eliot Review. 632. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/ger/632 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the English, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in The George Eliot Review by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. THE FORTY· FIRST GEORGE ELIOT MEMORIAL LECTURE, 2012 Delivered by Leonee Orrnond ROMOLA'S ARTISTS 2012-2013 marks the one hundred and fiftieth birthday of Romola. Originally published in the Comhill Magazine from July 1862 to August 1863 , it later appeared in a three volume edition in 1863. An illustrated edition followed in 1865. George Eliot had begun work on the novel in 1861 , when she was forty-one. She had recently published Si/as Mamer, and The Mill on the Floss , preceded by Adam Bede, had come out not long before that. The genesis of Romola came in May 1860 when George Eliot and George Henry Lewes spent two weeks in Florence. Lewes noted that, 'while reading about Savonarola it occurred to me that his life and times afford fine material for an historical romance'.1 The idea appealed to George Eliot and they began on some preliminary research. -
Sandro Botticelli
4(r A SANDRO BOTTICELLI BY E. SCHAEFFER TRANSLATED BY FRANCIS F. COX New York : FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved. — — — CONTENTS troductory— Botticelli's Place in Florentine Art—His Early History—Filippo Lippi, the Pollajuoli, Verrocchio Fortitude—Judith and Holofernes—S. Sebastian—Botticelli, Landscape Artist—Painter of Madonnas— Influence of Dante—The Magnificat —Madonna of the Palms— Adoration of the Magi— The Medici at Florence S. Augustine— Botticelli Summoned to Rome—The Frescoes of the Sistine Chapel—The Louvre Frescoes—Leone Battista Alberti Pallas Subduing a Centaur— Spring — TSirth of Venus—Mars and Venus— Calumny of Apelles—Savonarola—The Nativity—The Divina Commedia—Poverty and Neglect—The End—List of Works. ILLUSTRATIONS Mars and Venus. London, National Gallery (Photo- gravure) Frontispiece Facing page Fortitude. Florence, Uffizi 6 S. Sebastian. Berlin, Royal Gallery . .10 Head of the Madonna. Florence, Uffizi (From the " Mag- nificat ") . 20 The Daughters of Jethro. Rome, Sistine Chapel (Detail from the History of Moses) 36 Spring. Florence, Accademia 4.4. The Birth of Venus. Florence, (Photogravure) Uffizi . 46 Salome. Florence, Accademia ...... 50 The Calumny of Apelles. Florence, Uffizi . .52 The Nativity, London, National Gallerv .... 60 SANDRO BOTTICELLI I a chapel of the church of S. Maria Maggiore INat Florence there was preserved during long centuries a painting of the Assumption of the Virgin, the creation of Sandro Botticelli. The Holy Inquisition had detected in this apparently- pious work the taint of an abominable heresy, and shrouded it by means of a curtain from the gaze of true believers. For Botticelli in his conception of the angels had adhered to a damnable doctrine of Origen, who maintained that the souls of those angels who remained neutral at the time of Lucifer's rebellion were doomed by the Deity to work out their salvation by undergoing a period of probation in the bodies of men. -
Neoplatonism and the Visual Arts at the Time of Marsiuo Ficino
NEOPLATONISM AND THE VISUAL ARTS AT THE TIME OF MARSIUO FICINO Francis Ames-Lewis Over the past fifty years or so, debate on the issue of the significance of Florentine Neoplatonic philosophy, and of Ficino's philosophical ideas in particular, for the visual arts in his time has primarily revolved around paintings produced for members of the Medici family, and most particularly two of Botticelli's great panel-paintings in the Uffizi, the Pallas and the Centaur and the Primavera. This debate reached its height around 1960 when Edgar Wind and Erwin Panofsky proposed variations on the classic Neoplatonic reading, Ernst Gom brich's celebrated article of 1945.1 Gombrich understood the Primavera in the light of a letter from Marsilio Ficino to Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, second cousin to Lorenzo the Magnificent, in which Venus is equated with the concept of humanitas. However, this does not really help to elucidate the meaning of the Venus who stands at the centre of the Primavera. Moreover, Gombrich's hypothesis was further compromised by his unsatisfactory attempt to identify the figures and their interrelationships in the light of the Golden Ass of Apuleius, which in its somewhat coarse character does not well match the lyrical, pastoral quality of Botticelli's pictorial treatment. In 1958 Edgar Wind suggested, citing Ficino at frequent inter vals, that the two groups on either side of Venus may represent two consecutive phases of one consistent Platonic theory of love. 2 Since Vasari had seen the Primavera and the Birth of Venus hanging in the villa of Castello, which then belonged to the heirs of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, Erwin Panofsky proposed in 1960 that they were pendants (despite the fact that one is on panel and the other on canvas), both painted for Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco, the first 1 E. -
Challenges Old and New
Issue no. 23 - December 2015 CHALLENGES OLD AND NEW Our association was founded in defiance of the violent destruction of the Via dei Georgofili bombing. Twenty-two years have now passed since that initial collective reaction of civic pride and compensation, and over the years the kinship and solidarity between the Amici degli Uffizi and the Gallery’s executives has grown ever stronger. A unity matured in the last eight years also thanks to the presence and the essential, precious encouragement of director Antonio Natali. With him the Amici degli Uffizi’s patronage has become bold, to say the least: each and every restoration, exhibition, renovation, donation and intervention within the museum has always been a path of knowledge and enrichment, of shared visions and affections, a continuous challenge for new projects for the betterment of the museum. Natali involved us in the most arduous undertakings for a patron: from the past seemingly hopeless restorations of the Madonna della Gatta by Federico Barocci and of the Adoration of the Shepherds by Gerrit van Honthorst -reduced even today to a mere flash of light on the canvas – to the current restoration of the masterpiece Adoration of the Magi by Leonardo, we continue our mission to support the museum with unwavering determination, without any vanity nor expecting honors or returns, true to our vocation to support the artistic heritage of our museum. I could make a long list of accomplishments, a series of happy occasions and achievements attained by the profitable cooperation with our friend Natali. I prefer instead to remember our brief meetings stolen to the work routine to discuss projects and exhibit ideas; our trip to the United States in 2006 when our strong core of Florentine members was supplemented by the branch “Friends of the Uffizi Gallery”, that has since been gathering resources among generous American donors: our long discussions that have always resulted in a positive outcome, further acquisitions and enrichment of the artistic wealth of our museum. -
Simonetta Cattaneo Vespucci: Beauty. Politics, Literature and Art in Early Renaissance Florence
! ! ! ! ! ! ! SIMONETTA CATTANEO VESPUCCI: BEAUTY, POLITICS, LITERATURE AND ART IN EARLY RENAISSANCE FLORENCE ! by ! JUDITH RACHEL ALLAN ! ! ! ! ! ! ! A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Department of Modern Languages School of Languages, Cultures, Art History and Music College of Arts and Law University of Birmingham September 2014 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT ! My thesis offers the first full exploration of the literature and art associated with the Genoese noblewoman Simonetta Cattaneo Vespucci (1453-1476). Simonetta has gone down in legend as a model of Sandro Botticelli, and most scholarly discussions of her significance are principally concerned with either proving or disproving this theory. My point of departure, rather, is the series of vernacular poems that were written about Simonetta just before and shortly after her early death. I use them to tell a new story, that of the transformation of the historical monna Simonetta into a cultural icon, a literary and visual construct who served the political, aesthetic and pecuniary agendas of her poets and artists. -
Venus Anadyomene: the Mythological Symbolism from Antiquity to the 19Th Century
VENUS ANADYOMENE: THE MYTHOLOGICAL SYMBOLISM FROM ANTIQUITY TO THE 19TH CENTURY By Jenna Marie Newberry A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN ART HISTORY University of Wisconsin – Superior December 2011 2 3 Title: Venus Anadyomene: The Mythological Symbolism from Antiquity to the 19th Century Author: Newberry, Jenna Marie Advisors: Famule, Olawole and Morgan, William Abstract: This thesis includes reading the chosen artworks as a visual interpretation of the written mythological birth of Venus by the sea. Reading the selected painting as visual novels, the pictorial symbolism helps prove or disprove the true theme of the Venus. The writer bases her theory on the inclusion of mythological symbols that represent the Venus Anadyomene; scallop shell, dolphins, Aros, dove, sparrow, girdle, mirror, myrtle, and roses. The comparison of various artists‟ interpretations of this theme and the symbols they use to recognize the Venus as such is a substantial part of the research. The writer concludes in this thesis that the chosen art pieces are or are not a Venus Anadyomene, and in fact just a female nude entitled and themed fallaciously for an allure or ambiance. Through extensive research in the mythological symbolism of the Goddess of Love, the above-mentioned symbols used by various artists across several eras prove the Venus a true character of mythological history. Description: Thesis (M.A.) – University of Wisconsin, Superior, 2011. 30 leaves. 4 CONTENTS TITLE -
Santa Maria Del Popolo Piazza Del Popolo Metro Station: Flaminio, Line a 7 AM – 12 PM (Closed Sunday) 4 PM – 7 PM (Closed Sunday)
Santa Maria del Popolo Piazza del Popolo Metro station: Flaminio, line A 7 AM – 12 PM (Closed Sunday) 4 PM – 7 PM (Closed Sunday) Sculpture of Habakkuk and the Angel by Bernini (after 1652) in the Chigi Chapel Crucifixion of St. Peter (1600-01) by Caravaggio in the Cerasi Chapel. Baroque facade added by Bernini in 1600 Standing on the Piazza del Popolo, near the northern gate of the Aurelian Wall, the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo is a small temple with a splendid Renaissance decoration in its interior. In its interior Santa Maria del Popolo’s decoration is unlike any other church in Rome. The ceiling, less high than most built during the same period, is practically bare, while the decoration of each of the small chapels is especially remarkable. Among the beautiful art work found in the church, it is worth highlighting the Chapel Cerasi, which houses two canvases by Caravaggio from 1600, and the Chapel Chigi, built and decorated by Raphael. If you look closely at the wooden benches, you’ll be able to see inscriptions with the names of the people the benches are dedicated to. This custom is also found in a lot of English speaking countries like Scotland or Edinburgh, where the families of the person deceased buy urban furniture in their honour. ******************************************** Located next to the northern gate of Rome on the elegant Piazza del Popolo, the 15th-century Santa Maria del Popolo is famed for its wealth of Renaissance art. Its walls and ceilings are decorated with paintings by some of the greatest artists ever to work in Rome: Pinturicchio, Raphael, Carracci, Caravaggio and Bernini. -
Love in Control by HEIDI J
68 © 2016 The Institute for Faith and Learning at Baylor University Due to copyright restrictions, this image is only available in the print version of Christian Reflection. Botticelli draws freely from mythological figures to create a moral allegory of chaste and pure love controlling the sensual passions. Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510), PALLAS AND THE CENTAUR (c. 1482). Tempera on canvas. 81½“ x 58¼”. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. Photo: Scala / Art Resource, NY. Used by permission. © 2016 The Institute for Faith and Learning at Baylor University 69 Love in Control BY HEIDI J. HORNIK y the 1480s, Sandro Botticelli was one of the leading painters of the Renaissance and was working for the Medici family. Many works of Bthis period, often considered his masterpieces, use mythological sub- jects to blend contemporary historical references and moral instruction. Pallas and the Centaur, which is recorded in the 1498-1499 inventory as “Camilla and a Satyr,” originally was hung in the “old house” of the Medici family in a ground floor room alongside the chamber of Lorenzo, together with the Primavera.1 The old palace on Via Larga was owned by Lorenzo and Pierfrancesco de’ Medici, cousins of Lorenzo the Magnificent. The female figure with long blonde hair wears a wreath of olive branches with a diamond at the top. Her white, transparent gown is decorated with linked balls or circles, perhaps a symbol of the Medici family crest. She wears leather boots and bears defensive weapons—a diamond-crusted halberd (combined spear and battle axe) and a shield on her back.2 The centaur submits to her, despite his having a bow and quiver of arrows. -
Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt
Botticelli Reimagined V&A Museum, 5 March – 3 July 2016 Lender Reference number: Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt (8767) Title: Birth of Venus Date of creation: 1868-9 Place of creation: Basel, Switzerland Artist/ Designer: Arnold Böcklin (1827-1901) Dimensions: 1355 x 790 mm Nationality of Artist: Swiss Materials/ medium: Oil on canvas Brief physical description (including identifying marks and inscriptions): Female figure, representing Venus, emerges from the foam of the sea. A veil held by two putti is gathered in the hand of the female figure to cover her from the waist down. Lender (name and address): Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt Friedenspl. 1 64283 Darmstadt Germany Provenance: 1898 Maximilian Freiherr von Heyl, in Darmstadt; various owners; Sigmund Buchenau, Niendorf/Lubeck; 1938 Karl Haberstock, Berlin; ‘Führermuseum’, Linz; acquired by The Federal Republic of Germany; since 1968 on permanent loan to Hessisches Landesmuseum in Darmstadt Ownership between 1933-1945: Collection of Sigmund Buchenau; from 1938 in the collection of Karl Haberstock; the ‘Führermuseum’, Linz Art Gallery Object registered on Art Loss Register?: Not checked Image of Object: Lender Reference number: Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt (AE.1285) Title: The Devout Jews at Pentecost Date of creation: 1500s Place of creation: Italy Artist/ Designer: Sandro Botticelli (c.1445-1510) Dimensions: 231 x 365 mm Nationality of Artist: Italian (Florentine) Materials/ medium: Black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash with white gouache, on paper Brief physical description (including identifying marks and inscriptions): This drawing depicts eight figures (seven above and one below) gathered around a central door. It is believed to record the missing lower half of a painting titled Pentecost now in the collection of the Birmingham Museums Trust. -
Power and Nostalgia in Eras of Cultural Rebirth: the Timeless
Claremont Colleges Scholarship @ Claremont Scripps Senior Theses Scripps Student Scholarship 2013 Power and Nostalgia in Eras of Cultural Rebirth: The imelesT s Allure of the Farnese Antinous Kathleen LaManna Scripps College Recommended Citation LaManna, Kathleen, "Power and Nostalgia in Eras of Cultural Rebirth: The imeT less Allure of the Farnese Antinous" (2013). Scripps Senior Theses. Paper 176. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/176 This Open Access Senior Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Scripps Student Scholarship at Scholarship @ Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusion in Scripps Senior Theses by an authorized administrator of Scholarship @ Claremont. For more information, please contact [email protected]. POWER AND NOSTALGIA IN ERAS OF CULTURAL REBIRTH: THE TIMELESS ALLURE OF THE FARNESE ANTINOUS by KATHLEEN ROSE LaMANNA SUBMITTED TO SCRIPPS COLLEGE IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS PROFESSOR MICHELLE BERENFELD PROFESSOR GEORGE GORSE MAY 3, 2013 Acknowledgements To Professor Rankaitis for making sure I could attend the college of my dreams and for everything else. I owe you so much. To Professor Novy for encouraging me to pursue writing. Your class changed my life. Don’t stop rockin! To Professor Emerick for telling me to be an Art History major. To Professor Pohl for your kind words of encouragement, three great semesters, and for being the only person in the world who might love Gladiator more than I do! To Professor Coats for being a great advisor and always being around to sign my many petition forms and for allowing me to pursue a degree with honors.