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0701_T

Europe Gate

Explore the abstract of this artwork, Europe Gate.

The Europe Gate is a sculpture made out of LiTraCon, or Light Transmitting Concrete. It is a wall 3.5 meters squared and commemorates Hungary joining the European Union. It was built in 2004 in Fort Monostor in the town of Komárom by Áron Losonczi and Orsolya Vadász.

0701_NT

Europe Gate

Explore the abstract of this artwork.

The Europe Gate is a sculpture made out of LiTraCon, or Light Transmitting Concrete. It is a wall 3.5 meters squared and commemorates Hungary joining the European Union. It was built in 2004 in Fort Monostor in the town of Komárom by Áron Losonczi and Orsolya Vadász.

0702_T

St. Michael (Giordano)

Focus on St. Michael (Giordano) and discuss the abstract.

St. Michael is an oil painting by the Italian late Baroque artist Luca Giordano, painted in c. 1663, and now exhibited at the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin. Its dimensions are 198 × 147 cm.

0702_NT

St. Michael (Giordano)

Focus on this artwork and discuss the abstract.

St. Michael is an oil painting by the Italian late Baroque artist Luca Giordano, painted in c. 1663, and now exhibited at the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin. Its dimensions are 198 × 147 cm.

0703_T

Meditation (sculpture)

How does Meditation (sculpture) elucidate its abstract?

Meditation or The Interior Voice is an 1886 sculpture by Auguste Rodin, showing a young woman resting her head on her right shoulder.

0703_NT

Meditation (sculpture)

How does this artwork elucidate its abstract?

Meditation or The Interior Voice is an 1886 sculpture by Auguste Rodin, showing a young woman resting her head on her right shoulder.

0704_T

Meditation (sculpture)

Focus on Meditation (sculpture) and analyze the Versions.

The figure was also used on the right end of the tympanum of Rodin's The Gates of Hell, with a right hand added, extended in horror at the fate that awaits her in Hell. The figure was also used in Rodin's Monument to Victor Hugo, representing one of the poet's muses. For Gates, Rodin cut off its arms, left knee and part of its right leg. He exhibited the plaster as an independent work in 1896.

0704_NT

Meditation (sculpture)

Focus on this artwork and analyze the Versions.

The figure was also used on the right end of the tympanum of Rodin's The Gates of Hell, with a right hand added, extended in horror at the fate that awaits her in Hell. The figure was also used in Rodin's Monument to Victor Hugo, representing one of the poet's muses. For Gates, Rodin cut off its arms, left knee and part of its right leg. He exhibited the plaster as an independent work in 1896.

0705_T

Mademoiselle Rose

In Mademoiselle Rose, how is the abstract discussed?

Mademoiselle Rose (also Seated Nude) is a painting by French Romantic artist Eugène Delacroix, regarded as the leader of the French Romantic school. This nude was painted before 1824, and is currently held and exhibited at the Louvre in Paris. Another is at the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin.

0705_NT

Mademoiselle Rose

In this artwork, how is the abstract discussed?

Mademoiselle Rose (also Seated Nude) is a painting by French Romantic artist Eugène Delacroix, regarded as the leader of the French Romantic school. This nude was painted before 1824, and is currently held and exhibited at the Louvre in Paris. Another is at the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin.

0706_T

Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings

Focus on Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings and explore the Philosophy.

Philosophy was the first of the three pictures presented to the Austrian Government at the seventh Vienna Secession exhibition in March 1900. It had been awarded a gold medal at the World Exhibition in Paris, but was attacked by many art critics in his own country. Klimt described the painting as follows: "On the left a group of figures, the beginning of life, fruition, decay. On the right, the globe as mystery. Emerging below, a figure of light: knowledge." Critics were disturbed by its depiction of men and women drifting in an aimless trance. The original proposal for the theme of the painting was "The Victory of Light over Darkness", but what Klimt presented instead was a dreamlike mass of humanity, referring neither to optimism nor rationalism, but to a "viscous void".

0706_NT

Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings

Focus on this artwork and explore the Philosophy.

Philosophy was the first of the three pictures presented to the Austrian Government at the seventh Vienna Secession exhibition in March 1900. It had been awarded a gold medal at the World Exhibition in Paris, but was attacked by many art critics in his own country. Klimt described the painting as follows: "On the left a group of figures, the beginning of life, fruition, decay. On the right, the globe as mystery. Emerging below, a figure of light: knowledge." Critics were disturbed by its depiction of men and women drifting in an aimless trance. The original proposal for the theme of the painting was "The Victory of Light over Darkness", but what Klimt presented instead was a dreamlike mass of humanity, referring neither to optimism nor rationalism, but to a "viscous void".

0707_T

Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings

Focus on Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings and explain the Medicine.

Medicine was the second painting, presented in March 1901 at the tenth Secession Exhibition. It featured a column of semi-nude figures on the right hand side of the painting, representing the river of life. Beside it was a young nude female who floated in space, with a newborn infant at her feet, representing life. A skeleton represented death in the river of life. The only link between the floating woman and the river of bodies is two arms, the woman's and a man's as seen from behind. At the bottom of the painting Hygieia stood with the Aesculapian snake around her arm and the cup of Lethe in her hand, turning her back to mankind. Klimt conveyed an ambiguous unity of life and death, with nothing to celebrate the role of medicine or the science of healing. Upon display of the painting in 1901, Klimt was attacked by critics. An editorial in the Medizinische Wochenschrift complained that the painter had ignored doctors' two main achievements, prevention and cure. For a rough composition draft of the painting see here.

0707_NT

Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings

Focus on this artwork and explain the Medicine.

Medicine was the second painting, presented in March 1901 at the tenth Secession Exhibition. It featured a column of semi-nude figures on the right hand side of the painting, representing the river of life. Beside it was a young nude female who floated in space, with a newborn infant at her feet, representing life. A skeleton represented death in the river of life. The only link between the floating woman and the river of bodies is two arms, the woman's and a man's as seen from behind. At the bottom of the painting Hygieia stood with the Aesculapian snake around her arm and the cup of Lethe in her hand, turning her back to mankind. Klimt conveyed an ambiguous unity of life and death, with nothing to celebrate the role of medicine or the science of healing. Upon display of the painting in 1901, Klimt was attacked by critics. An editorial in the Medizinische Wochenschrift complained that the painter had ignored doctors' two main achievements, prevention and cure. For a rough composition draft of the painting see here.

0708_T

Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings

Explore the Jurisprudence of this artwork, Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings.

Jurisprudence, too, is laden with anxiety: a condemned man is depicted surrounded by three female furies and a sea monster, while in the background, the three goddesses of Truth, Justice, and Law look on. They are shown as the Eumenides, punishing the condemned man with an octopus's deadly embrace. The conflict in Jurisprudence has been seen as "psycho-sexual".

0708_NT

Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings

Explore the Jurisprudence of this artwork.

Jurisprudence, too, is laden with anxiety: a condemned man is depicted surrounded by three female furies and a sea monster, while in the background, the three goddesses of Truth, Justice, and Law look on. They are shown as the Eumenides, punishing the condemned man with an octopus's deadly embrace. The conflict in Jurisprudence has been seen as "psycho-sexual".

0709_T

Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings

Focus on Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings and discuss the Reaction.

The Faculty Paintings were attacked by critics when they were presented, as each painting broke different cultural taboos, contradicting the trend of the era to "sublimate reality and to only present its more favourable aspects" (Neret). The paintings also drew the standard charges of obscenity which Klimt often faced. Eighty-seven faculty members protested against the murals, and in 1901 a public prosecutor was called in and the issue even reached the Parliament of Austria, the first time that a cultural debate had ever been raised there, but in the end no action was taken. Only the education minister defended Klimt, and when Klimt was elected to be a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in 1901 the government refused to ratify the action. He was never offered another teaching position. This would also be the last time Klimt would accept commissions from the state, remarking: "I've had enough of censorship ... I reject all state support, I don't want any of it." A later painting of his entitled Goldfish (to my critics) (1901–1902), which showed a smiling, beautiful woman projecting her bottom at the viewer, was a response to all those who attacked the 'pornography' and 'perverted excess' of the University paintings. Animated by resentment, Klimt wanted to title the painting "To my critics", but was dissuaded by friends. In 1903, Hermann Bahr, a writer and a supporter of Klimt, in response to the criticism of the Faculty Paintings collected the articles that had attacked Klimt, and published a book Gegen Klimt (Against Klimt) with his foreword, where he argued that the reactions to Klimt's works were absurd.

0709_NT

Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings

Focus on this artwork and discuss the Reaction.

The Faculty Paintings were attacked by critics when they were presented, as each painting broke different cultural taboos, contradicting the trend of the era to "sublimate reality and to only present its more favourable aspects" (Neret). The paintings also drew the standard charges of obscenity which Klimt often faced. Eighty-seven faculty members protested against the murals, and in 1901 a public prosecutor was called in and the issue even reached the Parliament of Austria, the first time that a cultural debate had ever been raised there, but in the end no action was taken. Only the education minister defended Klimt, and when Klimt was elected to be a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in 1901 the government refused to ratify the action. He was never offered another teaching position. This would also be the last time Klimt would accept commissions from the state, remarking: "I've had enough of censorship ... I reject all state support, I don't want any of it." A later painting of his entitled Goldfish (to my critics) (1901–1902), which showed a smiling, beautiful woman projecting her bottom at the viewer, was a response to all those who attacked the 'pornography' and 'perverted excess' of the University paintings. Animated by resentment, Klimt wanted to title the painting "To my critics", but was dissuaded by friends. In 1903, Hermann Bahr, a writer and a supporter of Klimt, in response to the criticism of the Faculty Paintings collected the articles that had attacked Klimt, and published a book Gegen Klimt (Against Klimt) with his foreword, where he argued that the reactions to Klimt's works were absurd.

0710_T

Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings

How does Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings elucidate its Outcome and destruction?

The paintings were requested for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904 in St. Louis, Missouri, but the ministry declined, nervous of what the reaction might be. On 11 November 1903, the artistic commission of the ministry of education examined the projects for the panels of the University's Great Hall. Klimt's were welcomed, unlike Matsch's. However, it was proposed not to exhibit them in the Great Hall, but in the Österreichische Galerie. Klimt rejected the proposal: On 3 April 1905 he wrote to the aforementioned ministry resigning his commission, wishing to keep his work, but the ministry insisted they were already property of the state. Only when Klimt threatened the removal staff with a shotgun was he able to keep his painting. Klimt repaid his advance of 30,000 crowns with the support of August Lederer, one of his major patrons, who in return received Philosophy. In 1911 Medicine and Jurisprudence were bought by Klimt's friend and fellow artist, Koloman Moser. Medicine eventually came into the possession of a Jewish family, and in 1938 the painting was seized by Germany. In 1943, after a final exhibition, they were moved to Schloss Immendorf, a castle in Lower Austria, for protection. In May 1945, the paintings are believed to have been destroyed as retreating German SS forces set fire to the castle to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. However, while the castle was gutted, there is no proof that the paintings were destroyed, as the art historian Tina Marie Storkovich found out. As far as is known, all that remains now are preparatory sketches and a few photographs. Only one photograph remains of the complete painting of Medicine, taken just before it was destroyed.

0710_NT

Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings

How does this artwork elucidate its Outcome and destruction?

The paintings were requested for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904 in St. Louis, Missouri, but the ministry declined, nervous of what the reaction might be. On 11 November 1903, the artistic commission of the ministry of education examined the projects for the panels of the University's Great Hall. Klimt's were welcomed, unlike Matsch's. However, it was proposed not to exhibit them in the Great Hall, but in the Österreichische Galerie. Klimt rejected the proposal: On 3 April 1905 he wrote to the aforementioned ministry resigning his commission, wishing to keep his work, but the ministry insisted they were already property of the state. Only when Klimt threatened the removal staff with a shotgun was he able to keep his painting. Klimt repaid his advance of 30,000 crowns with the support of August Lederer, one of his major patrons, who in return received Philosophy. In 1911 Medicine and Jurisprudence were bought by Klimt's friend and fellow artist, Koloman Moser. Medicine eventually came into the possession of a Jewish family, and in 1938 the painting was seized by Germany. In 1943, after a final exhibition, they were moved to Schloss Immendorf, a castle in Lower Austria, for protection. In May 1945, the paintings are believed to have been destroyed as retreating German SS forces set fire to the castle to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. However, while the castle was gutted, there is no proof that the paintings were destroyed, as the art historian Tina Marie Storkovich found out. As far as is known, all that remains now are preparatory sketches and a few photographs. Only one photograph remains of the complete painting of Medicine, taken just before it was destroyed.

0711_T

Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings

Focus on Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings and analyze the Reconstruction.

By the end of 2021, a collaboration between Google and the Leopold Museum of Vienna restored using deep learning techniques the possible colour of the three works based on Klimt's works. This resulted in a possible appearance as the result needed to be retouched by experts in Klimt's art.

0711_NT

Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings

Focus on this artwork and analyze the Reconstruction.

By the end of 2021, a collaboration between Google and the Leopold Museum of Vienna restored using deep learning techniques the possible colour of the three works based on Klimt's works. This resulted in a possible appearance as the result needed to be retouched by experts in Klimt's art.

0712_T

Dutch Ships in a Calm Sea

In Dutch Ships in a Calm Sea, how is the abstract discussed?

Dutch Ships in a Calm Sea is a 1665 oil-on-canvas painting by Dutch marine artist Willem van de Velde the Younger (1633–1707). The son of Willem van de Velde the Elder, who also specialized in marine art, he was first instructed by his father and later by Simon de Vlieger.Most of Van de Velde's work represents shipping off the coast of the Netherlands. The vessels are painted with extremely intricate detail, providing a high-quality record of shipping in the period. He also excelled in his renderings of the sea and sky under various weather conditions. This painting is in the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

0712_NT

Dutch Ships in a Calm Sea

In this artwork, how is the abstract discussed?

Dutch Ships in a Calm Sea is a 1665 oil-on-canvas painting by Dutch marine artist Willem van de Velde the Younger (1633–1707). The son of Willem van de Velde the Elder, who also specialized in marine art, he was first instructed by his father and later by Simon de Vlieger.Most of Van de Velde's work represents shipping off the coast of the Netherlands. The vessels are painted with extremely intricate detail, providing a high-quality record of shipping in the period. He also excelled in his renderings of the sea and sky under various weather conditions. This painting is in the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

0713_T

Sacrifice of Isaac (Caravaggio)

Focus on Sacrifice of Isaac (Caravaggio) and explore the abstract.

The Sacrifice of Isaac is the title of two paintings from c. 1598 - 1603 depicting the sacrifice of Isaac. The paintings could be painted by the Italian master Caravaggio (1571–1610) but there is also strong evidence that they may have been the work of Bartolomeo Cavarozzi, a talented early member of the Caravaggio following who is known to have been in Spain about 1617–1619.

0713_NT

Sacrifice of Isaac (Caravaggio)

Focus on this artwork and explore the abstract.

The Sacrifice of Isaac is the title of two paintings from c. 1598 - 1603 depicting the sacrifice of Isaac. The paintings could be painted by the Italian master Caravaggio (1571–1610) but there is also strong evidence that they may have been the work of Bartolomeo Cavarozzi, a talented early member of the Caravaggio following who is known to have been in Spain about 1617–1619.

0714_T

Sacrifice of Isaac (Caravaggio)

Focus on Sacrifice of Isaac (Caravaggio) and explain the Princeton version.

The Sacrifice of Isaac, in the Piasecka-Johnson Collection in Princeton, New Jersey, is a disputed work that was painted circa 1603. According to Giulio Mancini, a contemporary of Caravaggio and an early biographer, the artist, while convalescing in the Hospital of the Consolazione, did a number of paintings which the prior took home with him to Seville. (The hospital had a Spanish prior from 1593 to around mid-1595.) That would date the work to the mid-1590s, but it seems far more sophisticated than anything else known from that period of Caravaggio's career, and Peter Robb, in his 1998 biography of Caravaggio, dates it to about 1598. The model for Isaac bears a close resemblance to the model used for the John the Baptist now in the museum of Toledo cathedral, which suggests that the two should be considered together. The presence of paintings by Caravaggio in Spain at an early date is important for the influence they may have had on the young Velázquez, but there is also strong evidence that they may have been the work of Bartolomeo Cavarozzi, a talented early member of the Caravaggio following who is known to have been in Spain about 1617–1619. The painting depicts the moment when Abraham, in obedience to God's command, is about to sacrifice his son Isaac, who is saved by an angel offering Abraham a ram in Isaac's place. The scene is lit with the dramatically enhanced chiaroscuro (tenebrism) with which Caravaggio was to revolutionize Western art, falling like a stage spotlight on the face of the youthful angel. The faces of Abraham and Isaac are in shadow, but show great emotion. The gestures of the hands are acutely eloquent, and the angel's hand is resting on the ram's head in imitation of the way Abraham's left hand rests on the head of his son. The Patriarch's other hand is holding the knife, but he is already relaxing as he listens to the angel. The three figures and the ram are shown without background or context, with nothing to distract from the powerful psychological drama as God's promise is delivered.

0714_NT

Sacrifice of Isaac (Caravaggio)

Focus on this artwork and explain the Princeton version.

The Sacrifice of Isaac, in the Piasecka-Johnson Collection in Princeton, New Jersey, is a disputed work that was painted circa 1603. According to Giulio Mancini, a contemporary of Caravaggio and an early biographer, the artist, while convalescing in the Hospital of the Consolazione, did a number of paintings which the prior took home with him to Seville. (The hospital had a Spanish prior from 1593 to around mid-1595.) That would date the work to the mid-1590s, but it seems far more sophisticated than anything else known from that period of Caravaggio's career, and Peter Robb, in his 1998 biography of Caravaggio, dates it to about 1598. The model for Isaac bears a close resemblance to the model used for the John the Baptist now in the museum of Toledo cathedral, which suggests that the two should be considered together. The presence of paintings by Caravaggio in Spain at an early date is important for the influence they may have had on the young Velázquez, but there is also strong evidence that they may have been the work of Bartolomeo Cavarozzi, a talented early member of the Caravaggio following who is known to have been in Spain about 1617–1619. The painting depicts the moment when Abraham, in obedience to God's command, is about to sacrifice his son Isaac, who is saved by an angel offering Abraham a ram in Isaac's place. The scene is lit with the dramatically enhanced chiaroscuro (tenebrism) with which Caravaggio was to revolutionize Western art, falling like a stage spotlight on the face of the youthful angel. The faces of Abraham and Isaac are in shadow, but show great emotion. The gestures of the hands are acutely eloquent, and the angel's hand is resting on the ram's head in imitation of the way Abraham's left hand rests on the head of his son. The Patriarch's other hand is holding the knife, but he is already relaxing as he listens to the angel. The three figures and the ram are shown without background or context, with nothing to distract from the powerful psychological drama as God's promise is delivered.

0715_T

Sacrifice of Isaac (Caravaggio)

Explore the Uffizi version of this artwork, Sacrifice of Isaac (Caravaggio).

The second Sacrifice of Isaac is housed in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence. According to the early biographer Giovanni Bellori, Caravaggio painted a version of this subject for Cardinal Maffeo Barberini, the future Pope Urban VIII, and a series of payments totalling one hundred scudi were made to the artist by Barberini between May 1603 and January 1604. Caravaggio had previously painted a Portrait of Maffeo Barberini, which presumably pleased the cardinal enough for him to commission this second painting. Isaac has been identified as Cecco Boneri, who appeared as Caravaggio's model in several other pictures. Recent X-ray analysis showed that Caravaggio used Cecco also for the angel, and later modified the profile and the hair to hide the resemblance.

0715_NT

Sacrifice of Isaac (Caravaggio)

Explore the Uffizi version of this artwork.

The second Sacrifice of Isaac is housed in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence. According to the early biographer Giovanni Bellori, Caravaggio painted a version of this subject for Cardinal Maffeo Barberini, the future Pope Urban VIII, and a series of payments totalling one hundred scudi were made to the artist by Barberini between May 1603 and January 1604. Caravaggio had previously painted a Portrait of Maffeo Barberini, which presumably pleased the cardinal enough for him to commission this second painting. Isaac has been identified as Cecco Boneri, who appeared as Caravaggio's model in several other pictures. Recent X-ray analysis showed that Caravaggio used Cecco also for the angel, and later modified the profile and the hair to hide the resemblance.

0716_T

Sacrifice of Isaac (Caravaggio)

Focus on Sacrifice of Isaac (Caravaggio) and discuss the Symbolism and Iconography.

The symbol of the ram has many facets of meaning. In the Biblical era, the ram's horn was a symbol of power. Referred to as a shofar, the ram's horn was used in battle to alert warriors. In Christianity, the ram itself represents Jesus Christ or Yeshua as the lamb of God, or sometimes referred to as "the ultimate sacrifice", foreshadowing Jesus' crucifixion. It is strongly debated that the word "el", which is the Hebrew word for God, derived from the Hebrew word for ram, "ayil"(אַיִל).

0716_NT

Sacrifice of Isaac (Caravaggio)

Focus on this artwork and discuss the Symbolism and Iconography.

The symbol of the ram has many facets of meaning. In the Biblical era, the ram's horn was a symbol of power. Referred to as a shofar, the ram's horn was used in battle to alert warriors. In Christianity, the ram itself represents Jesus Christ or Yeshua as the lamb of God, or sometimes referred to as "the ultimate sacrifice", foreshadowing Jesus' crucifixion. It is strongly debated that the word "el", which is the Hebrew word for God, derived from the Hebrew word for ram, "ayil"(אַיִל).

0717_T

Saint Jerome in His Study (Dürer)

How does Saint Jerome in His Study (Dürer) elucidate its abstract?

Saint Jerome in His Study (German: Der heilige Hieronymus im Gehäus) is a copper engraving of 1514 by the German artist Albrecht Dürer. Saint Jerome is shown sitting behind his desk, engrossed in work. The table, on the corner of which is a cross, is typical of the Renaissance. An imaginary line from Jerome's head passing through the cross would arrive at the skull on the window ledge, as if contrasting death and the Resurrection. The lion in the foreground is part of the traditional iconography of St. Jerome, and near it is a sleeping dog, an animal found frequently in Dürer's works, symbolizing loyalty. Both creatures are part of Jerome's story in the Golden Legend (c. 1260), which contained fanciful hagiographies of saints. St. Jerome in His Study is often considered as part of a group of three Dürer engravings (his Meisterstiche), the other two being the well-known Melencolia I (1514) and Knight, Death and the Devil (1513). Together they have been viewed as representing the three spheres of activity recognized in medieval times: Knight, Death, and the Devil belongs to the moral sphere and the "active life"; Melencolia I represents the intellectual; and St. Jerome the theological and contemplative life. The composition is intimate, but the viewer has difficulty locating himself in relation to the picture's space. Thomas Puttfarken suggests that while the scene is very close to the observer, Dürer did not intend the viewer to feel present: "the intimacy is not ours, but the saint's as he is engrossed in study and meditation" (94). Art historian Erwin Panofsky comments on the perspective:The position of the sight point, quite far off centre, strengthens the impression of a representation determined not by the objective law of the architecture but by the subjective standpoint of the spectator who is just entering – a representation which owes to precisely this perspective arrangement a large part of its peculiarly 'intimate' effect. (Qtd. in Puttfarken, 94)

0717_NT

Saint Jerome in His Study (Dürer)

How does this artwork elucidate its abstract?

Saint Jerome in His Study (German: Der heilige Hieronymus im Gehäus) is a copper engraving of 1514 by the German artist Albrecht Dürer. Saint Jerome is shown sitting behind his desk, engrossed in work. The table, on the corner of which is a cross, is typical of the Renaissance. An imaginary line from Jerome's head passing through the cross would arrive at the skull on the window ledge, as if contrasting death and the Resurrection. The lion in the foreground is part of the traditional iconography of St. Jerome, and near it is a sleeping dog, an animal found frequently in Dürer's works, symbolizing loyalty. Both creatures are part of Jerome's story in the Golden Legend (c. 1260), which contained fanciful hagiographies of saints. St. Jerome in His Study is often considered as part of a group of three Dürer engravings (his Meisterstiche), the other two being the well-known Melencolia I (1514) and Knight, Death and the Devil (1513). Together they have been viewed as representing the three spheres of activity recognized in medieval times: Knight, Death, and the Devil belongs to the moral sphere and the "active life"; Melencolia I represents the intellectual; and St. Jerome the theological and contemplative life. The composition is intimate, but the viewer has difficulty locating himself in relation to the picture's space. Thomas Puttfarken suggests that while the scene is very close to the observer, Dürer did not intend the viewer to feel present: "the intimacy is not ours, but the saint's as he is engrossed in study and meditation" (94). Art historian Erwin Panofsky comments on the perspective:The position of the sight point, quite far off centre, strengthens the impression of a representation determined not by the objective law of the architecture but by the subjective standpoint of the spectator who is just entering – a representation which owes to precisely this perspective arrangement a large part of its peculiarly 'intimate' effect. (Qtd. in Puttfarken, 94)

0718_T

Saint Jerome in His Study (Dürer)

Focus on Saint Jerome in His Study (Dürer) and analyze the Jonah and the gourd vine.

Using a dried gourd hanging from the rafters, Dürer memorializes Jerome's courage, in the face of a long brewing philological controversy with St. Augustine in his preference for Greek over Latin nomenclature for the fast-growing plant known in Hebrew as קיקיון (qiyqayown) encountered only this once, in the Book of Jonah. The Old Testament text closes abruptly (Jonah 4) with an epistolary warning based on the emblematic trope of a fast-growing vine present in Persian narratives, and popularized widely in certain collections of Aesop's fables such as The Gourd and the Palm-tree. Jerome elected to use hedera (from the Greek, meaning ivy) over the more common Latin cucurbita from which the related English plant name cucumber is derived, perhaps to avoid confusion while making a more perfect analogy to the typology of Christ "I am the Vine, you are the branches". In fact Augustine's view had already prevailed by Dürer's time.

0718_NT

Saint Jerome in His Study (Dürer)

Focus on this artwork and analyze the Jonah and the gourd vine.

Using a dried gourd hanging from the rafters, Dürer memorializes Jerome's courage, in the face of a long brewing philological controversy with St. Augustine in his preference for Greek over Latin nomenclature for the fast-growing plant known in Hebrew as קיקיון (qiyqayown) encountered only this once, in the Book of Jonah. The Old Testament text closes abruptly (Jonah 4) with an epistolary warning based on the emblematic trope of a fast-growing vine present in Persian narratives, and popularized widely in certain collections of Aesop's fables such as The Gourd and the Palm-tree. Jerome elected to use hedera (from the Greek, meaning ivy) over the more common Latin cucurbita from which the related English plant name cucumber is derived, perhaps to avoid confusion while making a more perfect analogy to the typology of Christ "I am the Vine, you are the branches". In fact Augustine's view had already prevailed by Dürer's time.

0719_T

Saint Jerome in His Study (Dürer)

In Saint Jerome in His Study (Dürer), how is the Skull and Crucifix, and the Hourglass discussed?

The positioning of the Crucifix on Jerome's desk is such that when he looks at it he can also see the skull by the window. Looking at the crucifix reminds of the resurrection of Jesus, which righted the wrongs of Adam leading to death, represented by the skull. The hourglass represents the finite space of time that is a man's life. Viewing these symbols together leads to the thought of man's mortality, and the method by which to save the immortal soul.

0719_NT

Saint Jerome in His Study (Dürer)

In this artwork, how is the Skull and Crucifix, and the Hourglass discussed?

The positioning of the Crucifix on Jerome's desk is such that when he looks at it he can also see the skull by the window. Looking at the crucifix reminds of the resurrection of Jesus, which righted the wrongs of Adam leading to death, represented by the skull. The hourglass represents the finite space of time that is a man's life. Viewing these symbols together leads to the thought of man's mortality, and the method by which to save the immortal soul.

0720_T

Portrait of Dr Richard Price

Focus on Portrait of Dr Richard Price and explore the abstract.

The Portrait of Dr Richard Price, is an oil on canvas by the American painter Benjamin West from 1784.

0720_NT

Portrait of Dr Richard Price

Focus on this artwork and explore the abstract.

The Portrait of Dr Richard Price, is an oil on canvas by the American painter Benjamin West from 1784.

0721_T

Portrait of Dr Richard Price

Focus on Portrait of Dr Richard Price and explain the Description.

The picture was sold at Christie's on 23 November 2004 and purchased by the Friends of the National Library of Wales. The picture's dimensions are 28 x 37 inches.

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Portrait of Dr Richard Price

Focus on this artwork and explain the Description.

The picture was sold at Christie's on 23 November 2004 and purchased by the Friends of the National Library of Wales. The picture's dimensions are 28 x 37 inches.

0722_T

Portrait of Dr Richard Price

Explore the Analysis of this artwork, Portrait of Dr Richard Price.

Richard Price (1723–1791) was a radical and author. The portrait depicts him sitting in his office reading a letter from his friend Benjamin Franklin, dated 1784. Price noted the sitting for this portrait in his diary, which is held today, like the picture itself, in the collection of the National Library of Wales, in Aberystwyth. This is the final portrait. Two similar images exist, perhaps studies for this picture: one held in Wales' National Museum in Cardiff, and one at the Royal Society in London.

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Portrait of Dr Richard Price

Explore the Analysis of this artwork.

Richard Price (1723–1791) was a radical and author. The portrait depicts him sitting in his office reading a letter from his friend Benjamin Franklin, dated 1784. Price noted the sitting for this portrait in his diary, which is held today, like the picture itself, in the collection of the National Library of Wales, in Aberystwyth. This is the final portrait. Two similar images exist, perhaps studies for this picture: one held in Wales' National Museum in Cardiff, and one at the Royal Society in London.

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Portrait of Dr Richard Price

Focus on Portrait of Dr Richard Price and discuss the The artist.

West was born in Springfield, Pennsylvania. He travelled and painted many portraits, and has been called "the American Raphael". He died at Newman Street in London, on 11 March 1820. He is buried in St Paul's Cathedral.

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Portrait of Dr Richard Price

Focus on this artwork and discuss the The artist.

West was born in Springfield, Pennsylvania. He travelled and painted many portraits, and has been called "the American Raphael". He died at Newman Street in London, on 11 March 1820. He is buried in St Paul's Cathedral.

0724_T

The Deluge towards Its Close

How does The Deluge towards Its Close elucidate its abstract?

The Deluge towards Its Close is an early 19th century painting by American artist Joshua Shaw. Done in oil on canvas, the work depicts the aftermath of a storm or flood. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which holds the painting in its collection, compares Deluge's dark an dour themes as being in the Western tradition of portraying the Biblical flood. The painting was praised by painter Benjamin West, who had also produced works concerning the Biblical flood.

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The Deluge towards Its Close

How does this artwork elucidate its abstract?

The Deluge towards Its Close is an early 19th century painting by American artist Joshua Shaw. Done in oil on canvas, the work depicts the aftermath of a storm or flood. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which holds the painting in its collection, compares Deluge's dark an dour themes as being in the Western tradition of portraying the Biblical flood. The painting was praised by painter Benjamin West, who had also produced works concerning the Biblical flood.

0725_T

Black Cross (painting)

Focus on Black Cross (painting) and analyze the abstract.

Black Cross (also known as The Black Cross) is an iconic oil painting by Kazimir Malevich. The first version was done in 1915. From the mid-1910s, Malevich abandoned any trace of figurature or representation from his paintings in favour of pure abstraction.

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Black Cross (painting)

Focus on this artwork and analyze the abstract.

Black Cross (also known as The Black Cross) is an iconic oil painting by Kazimir Malevich. The first version was done in 1915. From the mid-1910s, Malevich abandoned any trace of figurature or representation from his paintings in favour of pure abstraction.

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Black Cross (painting)

In Black Cross (painting), how is the History discussed?

Black Cross was first shown in The Last Futurist Exhibition 0,10 in 1915. One of the parts of Kazimir Malevich’s triptych (Black Square, Black Cross, Black Circle).

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Black Cross (painting)

In this artwork, how is the History discussed?

Black Cross was first shown in The Last Futurist Exhibition 0,10 in 1915. One of the parts of Kazimir Malevich’s triptych (Black Square, Black Cross, Black Circle).

0727_T

Fatata te Miti (By the Sea)

Focus on Fatata te Miti (By the Sea) and explore the abstract.

Fatata te Miti is an 1892 oil painting by French artist Paul Gauguin, located in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington, DC.

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Fatata te Miti (By the Sea)

Focus on this artwork and explore the abstract.

Fatata te Miti is an 1892 oil painting by French artist Paul Gauguin, located in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington, DC.

0728_T

Fatata te Miti (By the Sea)

Focus on Fatata te Miti (By the Sea) and explain the First Tahitian period.

Looking for a society more elemental and simple than that in France, Gauguin auctioned thirty of his paintings and used the money to travel to Tahiti. This first visit lasted from 1891 to 1893. His book Noa Noa was written in the style of a travel journal and was originally meant to provide a context for his 1893 Paris exhibition. Gauguin first used the words "Noa Noa" reporting the words the Tahitians themselves used for the scent of Tahitian women: "Téiné merahi noa noa " meaning "(now) very fragrant". The substantive Fenua ("land" or "island") is understood in the title of his book, so the correct translation is "The Fragrant Isle". Also implied is the Tahitian term for "Paradise" - Rohutu noanoa. In the event his book remained unpublished until 1901, although extracts were published in La Revue Blanche in 1897. The first European exhibition of Gauguin's work took place in March 1893 in Copenhagen, when he was able to take up the offer of a visiting sea captain and send out eight selected paintings. Paintings from Gauguin's first Tahitian period selected for his Copenhagen exhibition

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Fatata te Miti (By the Sea)

Focus on this artwork and explain the First Tahitian period.

Looking for a society more elemental and simple than that in France, Gauguin auctioned thirty of his paintings and used the money to travel to Tahiti. This first visit lasted from 1891 to 1893. His book Noa Noa was written in the style of a travel journal and was originally meant to provide a context for his 1893 Paris exhibition. Gauguin first used the words "Noa Noa" reporting the words the Tahitians themselves used for the scent of Tahitian women: "Téiné merahi noa noa " meaning "(now) very fragrant". The substantive Fenua ("land" or "island") is understood in the title of his book, so the correct translation is "The Fragrant Isle". Also implied is the Tahitian term for "Paradise" - Rohutu noanoa. In the event his book remained unpublished until 1901, although extracts were published in La Revue Blanche in 1897. The first European exhibition of Gauguin's work took place in March 1893 in Copenhagen, when he was able to take up the offer of a visiting sea captain and send out eight selected paintings. Paintings from Gauguin's first Tahitian period selected for his Copenhagen exhibition

0729_T

Fatata te Miti (By the Sea)

Explore the References and sources of this artwork, Fatata te Miti (By the Sea).

References SourcesDanielsson, Bengt (1965). Gauguin in the South Seas. Garden City, New York: Doubleday. Eisenman, Stephen F., (1999). Gauguin's Skirt. London: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 978-0500280386. Mathews, Nancy Mowll (2001). Paul Gauguin, an Erotic Life. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-09109-5. Stuckey, Charles F. (1988). "The First Tahitian Years". The Art of Paul Gauguin. with Peter Zegers. National Gallery of Art. pp. 276-7. ISBN 0-8212-1723-2. LCCN 88-81005.

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Fatata te Miti (By the Sea)

Explore the References and sources of this artwork.

References SourcesDanielsson, Bengt (1965). Gauguin in the South Seas. Garden City, New York: Doubleday. Eisenman, Stephen F., (1999). Gauguin's Skirt. London: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 978-0500280386. Mathews, Nancy Mowll (2001). Paul Gauguin, an Erotic Life. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-09109-5. Stuckey, Charles F. (1988). "The First Tahitian Years". The Art of Paul Gauguin. with Peter Zegers. National Gallery of Art. pp. 276-7. ISBN 0-8212-1723-2. LCCN 88-81005.

0730_T

Gyoshū Hayami

Focus on Gyoshū Hayami and discuss the abstract.

Gyoshū Hayami (速水 御舟, Hayami Gyoshū, August 2, 1894 – March 20, 1935) was the pseudonym of a Japanese painter in the Nihonga style, active during the Taishō and Shōwa eras. His real name was Eiichi Maita.

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Gyoshū Hayami

Focus on this artwork and discuss the abstract.

Gyoshū Hayami (速水 御舟, Hayami Gyoshū, August 2, 1894 – March 20, 1935) was the pseudonym of a Japanese painter in the Nihonga style, active during the Taishō and Shōwa eras. His real name was Eiichi Maita.

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Gyoshū Hayami

How does Gyoshū Hayami elucidate its Biography?

Gyoshū was born in the plebeian downtown district of Asakusa in Tokyo. He studied traditional painting techniques as an apprentice to Matsumoto Fuko from the age of 15. When he was 17, his talent was recognized by Shikō Imamura, who invited him to join the Kojikai circle of leading young artists. With the revival of the Japan Fine Arts Academy (Nihon Bijutsuin), Gyoshū became a founding member. He worked in many schools of painting, including Yamato-e, Rinpa and Bunjinga, with his style evolving gradually towards a detailed realism influenced also by his studies of Chinese paintings from the Song dynasty and the Yuan dynasty. His later works evolved further towards Symbolism. In 1914, Gyoshū formed a group called Sekiyokai to study new styles of Japanese painting. He had a leg amputated after being hit by a train in 1919, but the incident did not affect his artistic output. He devoted himself to creation, submitting numerous works to the Inten Exhibition, as well as touring Europe in 1930. His flower and bird drawings in India ink painting style and his portraits were especially well received by art critics. His most famous work, Dancing in the Flames (炎舞, Enbu) dates from 1925. Gyoshū died suddenly from typhoid fever in 1935 at the age of 40. Over 104 of his paintings were collected by the Yamatane Museum in Tokyo. One of Gyoshū's works, Dancing in the Flames, was selected as the subject of a commemorative postage stamp as part of the Japanese government's Modern Art Series in 1979. In the year 1994, Gyoshū himself was the subject of a commemorative postage stamp under the Cultural Leaders Series by Japan Post.

0731_NT

Gyoshū Hayami

How does this artwork elucidate its Biography?

Gyoshū was born in the plebeian downtown district of Asakusa in Tokyo. He studied traditional painting techniques as an apprentice to Matsumoto Fuko from the age of 15. When he was 17, his talent was recognized by Shikō Imamura, who invited him to join the Kojikai circle of leading young artists. With the revival of the Japan Fine Arts Academy (Nihon Bijutsuin), Gyoshū became a founding member. He worked in many schools of painting, including Yamato-e, Rinpa and Bunjinga, with his style evolving gradually towards a detailed realism influenced also by his studies of Chinese paintings from the Song dynasty and the Yuan dynasty. His later works evolved further towards Symbolism. In 1914, Gyoshū formed a group called Sekiyokai to study new styles of Japanese painting. He had a leg amputated after being hit by a train in 1919, but the incident did not affect his artistic output. He devoted himself to creation, submitting numerous works to the Inten Exhibition, as well as touring Europe in 1930. His flower and bird drawings in India ink painting style and his portraits were especially well received by art critics. His most famous work, Dancing in the Flames (炎舞, Enbu) dates from 1925. Gyoshū died suddenly from typhoid fever in 1935 at the age of 40. Over 104 of his paintings were collected by the Yamatane Museum in Tokyo. One of Gyoshū's works, Dancing in the Flames, was selected as the subject of a commemorative postage stamp as part of the Japanese government's Modern Art Series in 1979. In the year 1994, Gyoshū himself was the subject of a commemorative postage stamp under the Cultural Leaders Series by Japan Post.

0732_T

Gyoshū Hayami

Focus on Gyoshū Hayami and analyze the Famous works.

Dancing in the Flames (炎舞, Enbu) (Yamatane Museum collection)He was influenced by Ryusei Kishida and painted a realistic style. The concept of the picture floated seeing the moth which crowded in the bonfire, the moth was caught many times, and it observed it. The designed flame is said to be an expression of Hayami Gyoshu's own thought and spiritual symbolism. This work was designated as an Important Cultural Property in 1977.Maiko of Kyoto (京の舞妓, Kyō no maiko) (Tokyo National Museum)This work was created in 1912. This work is attached to the depiction of textures such as kimono and tatami mats and shows a realistic tendency in the Taisho period. The model was a maiko named Kimie and was completed in two years.Camellia Petals Scattering (名樹散椿, Meiju chiri tsubaki) (Yamatane Museum collection)This is an old camellia tree of Jizoin in Kita-ku, Kyoto City. The background of the painting was sprinkled with fine gold powder using a technique called maki tsubushi (not maki-e). This work was designated as an Important Cultural Property in 1977.

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Gyoshū Hayami

Focus on this artwork and analyze the Famous works.

Dancing in the Flames (炎舞, Enbu) (Yamatane Museum collection)He was influenced by Ryusei Kishida and painted a realistic style. The concept of the picture floated seeing the moth which crowded in the bonfire, the moth was caught many times, and it observed it. The designed flame is said to be an expression of Hayami Gyoshu's own thought and spiritual symbolism. This work was designated as an Important Cultural Property in 1977.Maiko of Kyoto (京の舞妓, Kyō no maiko) (Tokyo National Museum)This work was created in 1912. This work is attached to the depiction of textures such as kimono and tatami mats and shows a realistic tendency in the Taisho period. The model was a maiko named Kimie and was completed in two years.Camellia Petals Scattering (名樹散椿, Meiju chiri tsubaki) (Yamatane Museum collection)This is an old camellia tree of Jizoin in Kita-ku, Kyoto City. The background of the painting was sprinkled with fine gold powder using a technique called maki tsubushi (not maki-e). This work was designated as an Important Cultural Property in 1977.

0733_T

Mariano Moreno en su mesa de trabajo

In Mariano Moreno en su mesa de trabajo, how is the abstract discussed?

Mariano Moreno en su mesa de trabajo (Spanish: Mariano Moreno at his work desk) is a portrait by the Chilean artist Pedro Subercaseaux. It shows the artist's interpretation of Mariano Moreno, Secretary of War of the Argentine Primera Junta, the first national government, working at his desk. It is currently regarded as the canonical image of Moreno.

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Mariano Moreno en su mesa de trabajo

In this artwork, how is the abstract discussed?

Mariano Moreno en su mesa de trabajo (Spanish: Mariano Moreno at his work desk) is a portrait by the Chilean artist Pedro Subercaseaux. It shows the artist's interpretation of Mariano Moreno, Secretary of War of the Argentine Primera Junta, the first national government, working at his desk. It is currently regarded as the canonical image of Moreno.

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Mariano Moreno en su mesa de trabajo

Focus on Mariano Moreno en su mesa de trabajo and explore the Description.

The portrait was requested to Subercaseaux by Antonio Carranza in 1908, in the context of the proximity of the Argentina Centennial two years later. His instructions were that the portrait should represent Mariano Moreno while working hard, late in the night, writing with a quill, with many papers scattered around, and worried by the gravity of the measures being taken.Subercaseaux was not very satisfied with his work, thinking that his version of Moreno was not as thin as Moreno was reported to be.The portrait is currently kept at the National Historical Museum.

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Mariano Moreno en su mesa de trabajo

Focus on this artwork and explore the Description.

The portrait was requested to Subercaseaux by Antonio Carranza in 1908, in the context of the proximity of the Argentina Centennial two years later. His instructions were that the portrait should represent Mariano Moreno while working hard, late in the night, writing with a quill, with many papers scattered around, and worried by the gravity of the measures being taken.Subercaseaux was not very satisfied with his work, thinking that his version of Moreno was not as thin as Moreno was reported to be.The portrait is currently kept at the National Historical Museum.

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Portrait of Mariana of Austria

Focus on Portrait of Mariana of Austria and explain the abstract.

Portrait of Mariana of Austria is a 1652–1653 oil-on-canvas painting by Diego Velázquez, the leading artist of the Spanish Golden Age, existing in a number of versions. Its subject, Doña Mariana (known as Maria Anna), was the daughter of Emperor Ferdinand III and Maria Anna of Spain. She was nineteen years old when the painting was completed. Although described as vivacious and fun-loving in life, she is given an unhappy expression in Velázquez's portrait. The portrait is painted in shades of black and red, and her face is heavily made up. Her right hand rests on the back of a chair, and she holds a lace handkerchief in her left hand. Her bodice is decorated with jewellery, including a gold necklace, bracelets and a large gold brooch. A clock rests on scarlet drapery behind her, signifying her status and discernment. Mariana had been betrothed to her first cousin, Prince Baltasar Carlos. He died in 1646 aged sixteen, and in 1649 she married her uncle, Baltasar Carlos's father, Philip IV, who sought her hand so as to preserve the hegemony of the Habsburg dynasty. She became queen consort on their marriage, and after her husband's death in September 1665, regent during the minority of her son, Charles II, until he came of age in 1675. Owing to Charles' inhibiting physical weaknesses, she dominated the political life in Spain until her death in 1696. Velázquez completed a series of portraits of the Spanish royal family in the 1650s. The paintings are marked by an emphasis on bright hues against dark backgrounds, extravagant head-dress, and fashionably wide dresses. The series culminates with the 1656 Las Meninas, which includes Mariana and, at center-stage, her daughter the Infanta Margarita Teresa. Three full-length versions of the Portrait of Mariana of Austria survive, as well as half-length variants. The version now in the Museo del Prado is known to be the original, having been in the Spanish royal collection since its completion. Its date is based on a matching description of a canvas sent to Ferdinand in Vienna on 15 December 1651.

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Portrait of Mariana of Austria

Focus on this artwork and explain the abstract.

Portrait of Mariana of Austria is a 1652–1653 oil-on-canvas painting by Diego Velázquez, the leading artist of the Spanish Golden Age, existing in a number of versions. Its subject, Doña Mariana (known as Maria Anna), was the daughter of Emperor Ferdinand III and Maria Anna of Spain. She was nineteen years old when the painting was completed. Although described as vivacious and fun-loving in life, she is given an unhappy expression in Velázquez's portrait. The portrait is painted in shades of black and red, and her face is heavily made up. Her right hand rests on the back of a chair, and she holds a lace handkerchief in her left hand. Her bodice is decorated with jewellery, including a gold necklace, bracelets and a large gold brooch. A clock rests on scarlet drapery behind her, signifying her status and discernment. Mariana had been betrothed to her first cousin, Prince Baltasar Carlos. He died in 1646 aged sixteen, and in 1649 she married her uncle, Baltasar Carlos's father, Philip IV, who sought her hand so as to preserve the hegemony of the Habsburg dynasty. She became queen consort on their marriage, and after her husband's death in September 1665, regent during the minority of her son, Charles II, until he came of age in 1675. Owing to Charles' inhibiting physical weaknesses, she dominated the political life in Spain until her death in 1696. Velázquez completed a series of portraits of the Spanish royal family in the 1650s. The paintings are marked by an emphasis on bright hues against dark backgrounds, extravagant head-dress, and fashionably wide dresses. The series culminates with the 1656 Las Meninas, which includes Mariana and, at center-stage, her daughter the Infanta Margarita Teresa. Three full-length versions of the Portrait of Mariana of Austria survive, as well as half-length variants. The version now in the Museo del Prado is known to be the original, having been in the Spanish royal collection since its completion. Its date is based on a matching description of a canvas sent to Ferdinand in Vienna on 15 December 1651.

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Portrait of Mariana of Austria

Explore the Background of this artwork, Portrait of Mariana of Austria.

Mariana was born on 21 December 1634 in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, as the second child of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, and Maria Anna of Spain, the sister of Philip IV of Spain. Maria had six children, of whom only Mariana and two sons survived into adulthood: Ferdinand (1633–1654), and Leopold (1640–1705), who became emperor in 1658. Philip's first wife, Elizabeth of France, died aged 41 in 1644. Their only son, Balthasar Charles, died of smallpox in October 1646, just a few months after his betrothal to Mariana, then 13. His death left the Spanish king heirless. Realising that the hegemony of the Habsburg dynasty was at stake, Philip proposed marriage to Mariana, his niece. Mariana was described by art historian Rose-Marie Hagen as a "ruddy-cheeked, naive girl who loved a good laugh", and her day-to-day courtly duties came to weigh heavily on her, not least the pressure to produce a male heir.The marriage was initially viewed as a success by the royal court when Mariana gave birth to a daughter, the Infanta Margaret Theresa. They also had two sons: Felipe Próspero was the original heir to the throne, but died in 1661 aged 3 years; Charles, the future Charles II of Spain, was born later that year.Mariana had a difficult life. She and Philip did not know each other before their marriage, and found little in common. The marriage presented many difficulties for the royal court. He was over 40, she was 19, and her bid to provide Philip with a male heir in a family whose sons tended to be sickly, included several false hopes and miscarriages. When Philip died in 1665 she became regent for Charles, the last of the Spanish Habsburgs. Charles was infirm throughout his life, suffering from mental and physical disabilities, and the Spanish monarchy allowed women to play a powerful role in government, so Mariana was able to dominate the political life of Spain until her own death in 1696.

0736_NT

Portrait of Mariana of Austria

Explore the Background of this artwork.

Mariana was born on 21 December 1634 in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, as the second child of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, and Maria Anna of Spain, the sister of Philip IV of Spain. Maria had six children, of whom only Mariana and two sons survived into adulthood: Ferdinand (1633–1654), and Leopold (1640–1705), who became emperor in 1658. Philip's first wife, Elizabeth of France, died aged 41 in 1644. Their only son, Balthasar Charles, died of smallpox in October 1646, just a few months after his betrothal to Mariana, then 13. His death left the Spanish king heirless. Realising that the hegemony of the Habsburg dynasty was at stake, Philip proposed marriage to Mariana, his niece. Mariana was described by art historian Rose-Marie Hagen as a "ruddy-cheeked, naive girl who loved a good laugh", and her day-to-day courtly duties came to weigh heavily on her, not least the pressure to produce a male heir.The marriage was initially viewed as a success by the royal court when Mariana gave birth to a daughter, the Infanta Margaret Theresa. They also had two sons: Felipe Próspero was the original heir to the throne, but died in 1661 aged 3 years; Charles, the future Charles II of Spain, was born later that year.Mariana had a difficult life. She and Philip did not know each other before their marriage, and found little in common. The marriage presented many difficulties for the royal court. He was over 40, she was 19, and her bid to provide Philip with a male heir in a family whose sons tended to be sickly, included several false hopes and miscarriages. When Philip died in 1665 she became regent for Charles, the last of the Spanish Habsburgs. Charles was infirm throughout his life, suffering from mental and physical disabilities, and the Spanish monarchy allowed women to play a powerful role in government, so Mariana was able to dominate the political life of Spain until her own death in 1696.

0737_T

Portrait of Mariana of Austria

Focus on Portrait of Mariana of Austria and discuss the Description.

Velázquez sought to reinvigorate 16th-century court portraiture, which was then, according to art historian Javier Portús, "petrified into a rigid format ... with its clichés of gesture and deportment". As an official court portrait, the painting adheres to convention, with every attempt made to convey a sense of Mariana's majesty. Her extravagant taste in clothes and jewellery is evident, but a modern view is that she was a rather plain looking woman in an unhappy marriage, perhaps lacking in much of the elegance that Velázquez attributed to her.The painting is composed of harmonious shades of whites, blacks and reds. The scarlet velvet curtain lends the painting a theatrical air. Its material and colour are similar to the long table behind her, on top of which is placed a gilt clock in the shape of a tower. The chair and table signify her royal status, while the clock draws attention to her duties as Queen consort and suggests the virtue of prudence.Velázquez seemingly conducts an in-depth examination of Mariana's character. She is depicted as elegant and extravagantly dressed in the height of contemporary fashion, but with a sulky expression. According to Hagen, Mariana felt constricted by the demands of court, and suffered from "boredom, loneliness, home-sickness and illness in consequence of her never ending pregnancies [which] transformed the lively girl into that willful, mulish German". Her pout reappears in several of Velázquez's later portraits, including Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo's 1666 Mariana of Spain in Mourning, painted just after her husband died and the year her daughter Margarita, then twelve, was sent to marry her uncle, Emperor Leopold I. The subject has an unusually rigid and stiff pose; her upper body and head seem to almost suffocate underneath her black dress. The dress is supported by a wide and stiff farthingale; its width emphasised by the broad lace collar and the horizontal patterns of its trimmed borders. Her unusually pale skin is heavily painted in rouge, making it almost doll-like under her wig and wide head-dress. Her face is painted with thick brush strokes and layers of opaque paint that thin towards the edges, where they appear, from radiography, to have been applied in quick dabs. Although only 19 years old at the time, she stands in the "formal and upright, Catholic manner" expected of contemporary Spanish royalty.Mariana holds a lace handkerchief in her left hand. Her farthingale and bodice reflect her interest in high fashion. Her dress is extensively lined with silver braids and decorated with red ribbon. Her many pieces of jewellery include bracelets, gold chains and an elaborate gold brooch pinned on her chest. Her brown hair is adorned with red ribbons and a series of braids that extend widely on either side. She wears a large red and white plume which pictorially acts to frame her face. Her left hand holds a large and elaborately folded white cloth, whose depiction, in its attention to line and abandonment of scale, has been described by art historian Antonio Domínguez Ortiz as "worthy of El Greco".

0737_NT

Portrait of Mariana of Austria

Focus on this artwork and discuss the Description.

Velázquez sought to reinvigorate 16th-century court portraiture, which was then, according to art historian Javier Portús, "petrified into a rigid format ... with its clichés of gesture and deportment". As an official court portrait, the painting adheres to convention, with every attempt made to convey a sense of Mariana's majesty. Her extravagant taste in clothes and jewellery is evident, but a modern view is that she was a rather plain looking woman in an unhappy marriage, perhaps lacking in much of the elegance that Velázquez attributed to her.The painting is composed of harmonious shades of whites, blacks and reds. The scarlet velvet curtain lends the painting a theatrical air. Its material and colour are similar to the long table behind her, on top of which is placed a gilt clock in the shape of a tower. The chair and table signify her royal status, while the clock draws attention to her duties as Queen consort and suggests the virtue of prudence.Velázquez seemingly conducts an in-depth examination of Mariana's character. She is depicted as elegant and extravagantly dressed in the height of contemporary fashion, but with a sulky expression. According to Hagen, Mariana felt constricted by the demands of court, and suffered from "boredom, loneliness, home-sickness and illness in consequence of her never ending pregnancies [which] transformed the lively girl into that willful, mulish German". Her pout reappears in several of Velázquez's later portraits, including Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo's 1666 Mariana of Spain in Mourning, painted just after her husband died and the year her daughter Margarita, then twelve, was sent to marry her uncle, Emperor Leopold I. The subject has an unusually rigid and stiff pose; her upper body and head seem to almost suffocate underneath her black dress. The dress is supported by a wide and stiff farthingale; its width emphasised by the broad lace collar and the horizontal patterns of its trimmed borders. Her unusually pale skin is heavily painted in rouge, making it almost doll-like under her wig and wide head-dress. Her face is painted with thick brush strokes and layers of opaque paint that thin towards the edges, where they appear, from radiography, to have been applied in quick dabs. Although only 19 years old at the time, she stands in the "formal and upright, Catholic manner" expected of contemporary Spanish royalty.Mariana holds a lace handkerchief in her left hand. Her farthingale and bodice reflect her interest in high fashion. Her dress is extensively lined with silver braids and decorated with red ribbon. Her many pieces of jewellery include bracelets, gold chains and an elaborate gold brooch pinned on her chest. Her brown hair is adorned with red ribbons and a series of braids that extend widely on either side. She wears a large red and white plume which pictorially acts to frame her face. Her left hand holds a large and elaborately folded white cloth, whose depiction, in its attention to line and abandonment of scale, has been described by art historian Antonio Domínguez Ortiz as "worthy of El Greco".

0738_T

Portrait of Mariana of Austria

How does Portrait of Mariana of Austria elucidate its Commission and dating?

Velázquez was then the Spanish crown painter, having been Aposentador mayor del Palacio (officer in charge of palace lodging) since 1652. He operated in a pressurised court under threat from the anti-Catholic Oliver Cromwell, the Catalan revolt, and the withdrawal of Austrian support. He admitted to being drained by his workload, and that his official duties limited the time he could devote to painting; he produced fewer than twenty works during the last eight and a half years of his life. Of these some fourteen survive, mostly of the royal family. The run of portraits began with Philip and Mariana's marriage in 1649, and include canvases of Maria Theresa of Spain and Felipe Prospero, their first two children to live beyond infancy. Felipe died aged 3 years, but portraits of Maria Theresa became in demand among potential suitors when she reached marriageable age. When Ferdinand III requested a portrait of his daughter, Philip asked Velázquez to return to Madrid from his 1649–1650 visit to Italy as soon as possible. The Prado dates the painting between 1652 and 1653, and the art historian José López-Rey agrees. Josep Gudiol places it at 1652, noting that replicas were completed and distributed during 1652–1653. The replica now in the Musée du Louvre was sent to Ferdinand on 15 December 1652. From this, the painting can be assumed as finished before this date.Velázquez again painted Mariana after Philip's death in 1665. Imbued with a sense of pathos, his late portraits emphasise the effects of widowhood. Although these portraits are dour and mournful in tone, in person Mariana was engaging and fun loving. The 1653 Portrait of the Infanta Maria Theresa of Spain shows the sitter in a very similar pose, complete with large wig, wide dress, and similar overhanging velvet curtain.

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Portrait of Mariana of Austria

How does this artwork elucidate its Commission and dating?

Velázquez was then the Spanish crown painter, having been Aposentador mayor del Palacio (officer in charge of palace lodging) since 1652. He operated in a pressurised court under threat from the anti-Catholic Oliver Cromwell, the Catalan revolt, and the withdrawal of Austrian support. He admitted to being drained by his workload, and that his official duties limited the time he could devote to painting; he produced fewer than twenty works during the last eight and a half years of his life. Of these some fourteen survive, mostly of the royal family. The run of portraits began with Philip and Mariana's marriage in 1649, and include canvases of Maria Theresa of Spain and Felipe Prospero, their first two children to live beyond infancy. Felipe died aged 3 years, but portraits of Maria Theresa became in demand among potential suitors when she reached marriageable age. When Ferdinand III requested a portrait of his daughter, Philip asked Velázquez to return to Madrid from his 1649–1650 visit to Italy as soon as possible. The Prado dates the painting between 1652 and 1653, and the art historian José López-Rey agrees. Josep Gudiol places it at 1652, noting that replicas were completed and distributed during 1652–1653. The replica now in the Musée du Louvre was sent to Ferdinand on 15 December 1652. From this, the painting can be assumed as finished before this date.Velázquez again painted Mariana after Philip's death in 1665. Imbued with a sense of pathos, his late portraits emphasise the effects of widowhood. Although these portraits are dour and mournful in tone, in person Mariana was engaging and fun loving. The 1653 Portrait of the Infanta Maria Theresa of Spain shows the sitter in a very similar pose, complete with large wig, wide dress, and similar overhanging velvet curtain.

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Portrait of Mariana of Austria

Focus on Portrait of Mariana of Austria and analyze the Provenance and copies.

The painting was recorded in a 1700 inventory when it was paired with Philip IV in Armour with a Lion, which is now in El Escorial, Madrid, and attributed to members of his workshop. Velázquez's portrait of Philip is unfinished; some sections, including the lion, are described by art historian Julián Gállego as "hardly more than sketched". According to the art historian Georgia Mancini, sometime before 1700, another hand "added a piece of canvas to the top of the original composition and painted the upper part of the curtain", so as it would match the size of Philip's portrait.Later in life, Velázquez became preoccupied with courtly duties, and tended to paint a bust-length portrait of his sitter from life, leaving the completion of the final work to assistants. Several contemporary full-length copies are known; one in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, a second was sent to Archduke Leopold William in 1653, but is now lost. The third was in the Prado until it was acquired by the Louvre in a 1941 exchange. A half-length version attributed to members of his workshop is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The version cataloged in the collection of Richard Ford by the German art historian Gustav Friedrich Waagen in his 1854 "Art Treasures in Great Britain", and misidentified by Harry Wehle in 1940 as the Met picture, is today attributed to followers of Velázquez, and in the Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida.

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Portrait of Mariana of Austria

Focus on this artwork and analyze the Provenance and copies.

The painting was recorded in a 1700 inventory when it was paired with Philip IV in Armour with a Lion, which is now in El Escorial, Madrid, and attributed to members of his workshop. Velázquez's portrait of Philip is unfinished; some sections, including the lion, are described by art historian Julián Gállego as "hardly more than sketched". According to the art historian Georgia Mancini, sometime before 1700, another hand "added a piece of canvas to the top of the original composition and painted the upper part of the curtain", so as it would match the size of Philip's portrait.Later in life, Velázquez became preoccupied with courtly duties, and tended to paint a bust-length portrait of his sitter from life, leaving the completion of the final work to assistants. Several contemporary full-length copies are known; one in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, a second was sent to Archduke Leopold William in 1653, but is now lost. The third was in the Prado until it was acquired by the Louvre in a 1941 exchange. A half-length version attributed to members of his workshop is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The version cataloged in the collection of Richard Ford by the German art historian Gustav Friedrich Waagen in his 1854 "Art Treasures in Great Britain", and misidentified by Harry Wehle in 1940 as the Met picture, is today attributed to followers of Velázquez, and in the Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida.

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Boxford Roman mosaic

In Boxford Roman mosaic, how is the abstract discussed?

Boxford Roman mosaic is a mosaic at Boxford, West Berkshire, England, discovered during an archaeological dig in August 2017. It dates from the Roman period. The 4th century (AD) mosaic is over 6 metres (20 ft) long. Its central panel is thought to show Bellerophon, at the court of either Iobates or Proteus, battling Chimera.Anthony Beeson, an expert on Roman mosaics, said it is "without question the most exciting mosaic discovery made in Britain in the last 50 years and must take a premier place amongst those Romano-British works of art that have come down to modern Britons."

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Boxford Roman mosaic

In this artwork, how is the abstract discussed?

Boxford Roman mosaic is a mosaic at Boxford, West Berkshire, England, discovered during an archaeological dig in August 2017. It dates from the Roman period. The 4th century (AD) mosaic is over 6 metres (20 ft) long. Its central panel is thought to show Bellerophon, at the court of either Iobates or Proteus, battling Chimera.Anthony Beeson, an expert on Roman mosaics, said it is "without question the most exciting mosaic discovery made in Britain in the last 50 years and must take a premier place amongst those Romano-British works of art that have come down to modern Britons."

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Boxford Roman mosaic

Focus on Boxford Roman mosaic and explore the Discovery.

The mosaic was revealed during a community archaeology project in 2017. From 2011, the project investigated three Roman sites near the village of Boxford, which was led by the Boxford History Project with the Berkshire Archaeology Research Group, and with the help of many local enthusiastic volunteers and the expertise of Senior Project Officer, Matt Nichol, who from 2013 was seconded to manage fieldwork, record the findings, and help train the volunteers on behalf of Cotswold Archaeology. In 2017, a villa "of modest size" was unearthed at Boxford. The mosaic was found at the eastern end of the building. Only one half of the mosaic was uncovered. It was subsequently reburied, to ensure its preservation. In 2019, the mosaic was fully uncovered, meticulously recorded, and carefully backfilled upon completion.

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Boxford Roman mosaic

Focus on this artwork and explore the Discovery.

The mosaic was revealed during a community archaeology project in 2017. From 2011, the project investigated three Roman sites near the village of Boxford, which was led by the Boxford History Project with the Berkshire Archaeology Research Group, and with the help of many local enthusiastic volunteers and the expertise of Senior Project Officer, Matt Nichol, who from 2013 was seconded to manage fieldwork, record the findings, and help train the volunteers on behalf of Cotswold Archaeology. In 2017, a villa "of modest size" was unearthed at Boxford. The mosaic was found at the eastern end of the building. Only one half of the mosaic was uncovered. It was subsequently reburied, to ensure its preservation. In 2019, the mosaic was fully uncovered, meticulously recorded, and carefully backfilled upon completion.

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Boxford Roman mosaic

Focus on Boxford Roman mosaic and explain the Subject of the mosaic.

Some of the most famous heroes from Greek mythology are brought to life in the stunning artwork. Hercules slays the half-man, half-horse Centaur. Pelops wins the hand of a king's daughter by sabotaging his racing chariot. The handsome Bellerophon kills the fire-breathing Chimaera monster with the help of his flying horse, Pegasus and a lance tipped with lead. This legend spread down the centuries into the folklore of many countries; in Britain, it became Saint George and the Dragon.

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Boxford Roman mosaic

Focus on this artwork and explain the Subject of the mosaic.

Some of the most famous heroes from Greek mythology are brought to life in the stunning artwork. Hercules slays the half-man, half-horse Centaur. Pelops wins the hand of a king's daughter by sabotaging his racing chariot. The handsome Bellerophon kills the fire-breathing Chimaera monster with the help of his flying horse, Pegasus and a lance tipped with lead. This legend spread down the centuries into the folklore of many countries; in Britain, it became Saint George and the Dragon.

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Portrait of the Trip Sisters

Explore the abstract of this artwork, Portrait of the Trip Sisters.

Portrait of the Trip Sisters, also known as Portrait of Margarita Trip as Minerva Teaching Her Sister Anna Maria Trip, is an oil on canvas painting by Dutch artist Ferdinand Bol, created in 1663. It is in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, in Amsterdam, but is currently displayed at the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, also in Amsterdam. It is signed and dated 'fBol 1663'.

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Portrait of the Trip Sisters

Explore the abstract of this artwork.

Portrait of the Trip Sisters, also known as Portrait of Margarita Trip as Minerva Teaching Her Sister Anna Maria Trip, is an oil on canvas painting by Dutch artist Ferdinand Bol, created in 1663. It is in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, in Amsterdam, but is currently displayed at the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, also in Amsterdam. It is signed and dated 'fBol 1663'.

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Portrait of the Trip Sisters

Focus on Portrait of the Trip Sisters and discuss the History and description.

It shows Margarita Trip (1640-1714) and her sister Anna Maria Trip (1652-1681), both daughters of the merchant Louis Trip and his wife Emerentia Hoefslager. Trip also commissioned the imposing Trippenhuis, over two of whose fireplaces this painting and Portrait of Johanna de Geer and her Children as Charity originally hung. On the left two putti carry a large book, possibly in an allusion to the love of knowledge. In the background there is see a balustrade with a park-like area behind, and a fountain in the shape of a putto (or Cupid) on a dolphin. This motif comes from Roman art. There is also a peacock on the balustrade. On the far right against a wall is the shield of Minerva with the head of Medusa on top. The painter Ferdinand Bol painted a second mantel piece for this house, the Portrait of Johanna de Geer and her Children as Charity, which, just like the portrait of Margarita Trip also has an allegorical meaning. A painting in which the sitter is depicted in, for example, a mythological role is referred to by the term portrait historié. Such portraits were more common in the 17th century.

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Portrait of the Trip Sisters

Focus on this artwork and discuss the History and description.

It shows Margarita Trip (1640-1714) and her sister Anna Maria Trip (1652-1681), both daughters of the merchant Louis Trip and his wife Emerentia Hoefslager. Trip also commissioned the imposing Trippenhuis, over two of whose fireplaces this painting and Portrait of Johanna de Geer and her Children as Charity originally hung. On the left two putti carry a large book, possibly in an allusion to the love of knowledge. In the background there is see a balustrade with a park-like area behind, and a fountain in the shape of a putto (or Cupid) on a dolphin. This motif comes from Roman art. There is also a peacock on the balustrade. On the far right against a wall is the shield of Minerva with the head of Medusa on top. The painter Ferdinand Bol painted a second mantel piece for this house, the Portrait of Johanna de Geer and her Children as Charity, which, just like the portrait of Margarita Trip also has an allegorical meaning. A painting in which the sitter is depicted in, for example, a mythological role is referred to by the term portrait historié. Such portraits were more common in the 17th century.

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Portrait of the Trip Sisters

How does Portrait of the Trip Sisters elucidate its Provenance?

It originally hung in the corner room on the first floor of the Trippenhuis's southern wing - Hendrik Trip occupied the north wing The Rijksmuseum was housed in the Trippenhuis from 1816 to 1885 and the main hall was divided into two in 1858 to place Rembrandt's The Night Watch and Bartholomeus van der Helst's Meal of the Schutters opposite each other, which may have been the occasion when both the chimney-piece works were added to the Rijksmuseum collection.

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Portrait of the Trip Sisters

How does this artwork elucidate its Provenance?

It originally hung in the corner room on the first floor of the Trippenhuis's southern wing - Hendrik Trip occupied the north wing The Rijksmuseum was housed in the Trippenhuis from 1816 to 1885 and the main hall was divided into two in 1858 to place Rembrandt's The Night Watch and Bartholomeus van der Helst's Meal of the Schutters opposite each other, which may have been the occasion when both the chimney-piece works were added to the Rijksmuseum collection.

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Portrait of the Trip Sisters

Focus on Portrait of the Trip Sisters and analyze the Bibliography (in Dutch).

Anoniem (1903) Catalogus der Schilderijen miniaturen, pastels, omlijste teekeningen, enz. in het Rijks-Museum te Amsterdam, Amsterdam: Boek- en kunstdrukkerij v/h Roeloffzen-Hübner en Van Santen, p. 54, cat.nr. 546 (als Het Onderwijs). Zie archive.org. Anoniem (1934) Catalogus der schilderijen pastels–miniaturen–aquarellen tentoongesteld in het Rijksmuseum te Amsterdam, Amsterdam: J.H. de Bussy, p. 53, cat.nr. 546 (als Het Onderwijs). Zie delpher.nl. Dyserinck, Johs. (1891) ‘De schuttersmaaltijd van Bartholomeus van der Helst’, De Gids, jrg. 55, p. 381-430. Zie dbnl.org.

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Portrait of the Trip Sisters

Focus on this artwork and analyze the Bibliography (in Dutch).

Anoniem (1903) Catalogus der Schilderijen miniaturen, pastels, omlijste teekeningen, enz. in het Rijks-Museum te Amsterdam, Amsterdam: Boek- en kunstdrukkerij v/h Roeloffzen-Hübner en Van Santen, p. 54, cat.nr. 546 (als Het Onderwijs). Zie archive.org. Anoniem (1934) Catalogus der schilderijen pastels–miniaturen–aquarellen tentoongesteld in het Rijksmuseum te Amsterdam, Amsterdam: J.H. de Bussy, p. 53, cat.nr. 546 (als Het Onderwijs). Zie delpher.nl. Dyserinck, Johs. (1891) ‘De schuttersmaaltijd van Bartholomeus van der Helst’, De Gids, jrg. 55, p. 381-430. Zie dbnl.org.

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Portrait of the Trip Sisters

In Portrait of the Trip Sisters, how is the Exhibition History discussed?

Kinderen op hun mooist. Het kinderportret in de Nederlanden 1500-1700, Frans Halsmuseum, Haarlem, 7 October-31 December 2000, ISBN 9076588120. Holländsk guldålder. Rembrandt, Frans Hals och deras samtida, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 22 September 2005 – 8 January 2006, ISBN 917100730X. Rembrandt? The Master and his Workshop, Statens Museum for Kunst, Kopenhagen, 4 February-14 May 2006, ISBN 978-8790096519.

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Portrait of the Trip Sisters

In this artwork, how is the Exhibition History discussed?

Kinderen op hun mooist. Het kinderportret in de Nederlanden 1500-1700, Frans Halsmuseum, Haarlem, 7 October-31 December 2000, ISBN 9076588120. Holländsk guldålder. Rembrandt, Frans Hals och deras samtida, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 22 September 2005 – 8 January 2006, ISBN 917100730X. Rembrandt? The Master and his Workshop, Statens Museum for Kunst, Kopenhagen, 4 February-14 May 2006, ISBN 978-8790096519.

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Flight Stop

Focus on Flight Stop and explore the abstract.

Flight Stop, also titled Flightstop, is a 1979 site-specific art work by Canadian artist Michael Snow. Located in the Toronto Eaton Centre in the downtown core of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the work hangs from the ceiling and appears to depict sixty Canada geese in flight. Each individual goose is made of Styrofoam covered in fibreglass and covered in a sheath made from photographs taken from a single goose. The flock is frozen in mid-flight, "flight stop" being a pun on the nature of still photography. When conceived in 1977, the work was titled Flight Stop but has frequently also been titled Flightstop. The work remains an iconic public art piece in Toronto and in many ways stands as a visual identity for the mall.

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Flight Stop

Focus on this artwork and explore the abstract.

Flight Stop, also titled Flightstop, is a 1979 site-specific art work by Canadian artist Michael Snow. Located in the Toronto Eaton Centre in the downtown core of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the work hangs from the ceiling and appears to depict sixty Canada geese in flight. Each individual goose is made of Styrofoam covered in fibreglass and covered in a sheath made from photographs taken from a single goose. The flock is frozen in mid-flight, "flight stop" being a pun on the nature of still photography. When conceived in 1977, the work was titled Flight Stop but has frequently also been titled Flightstop. The work remains an iconic public art piece in Toronto and in many ways stands as a visual identity for the mall.

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Flight Stop

Focus on Flight Stop and explain the Background.

Michael Snow has exhibited his work internationally since 1957. He uses a wide range of media and he is noted for his innovative use of a variety of technologies. Snow is an experimental filmmaker and a key figure of the structural film movement of the 1960s. His 1967 film Wavelength has been designated and preserved as a masterwork by the Audio-Visual Preservation Trust of Canada and was named number 85 in the 2001 Village Voice critics' list of the 100 Best Films of the 20th Century.

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Flight Stop

Focus on this artwork and explain the Background.

Michael Snow has exhibited his work internationally since 1957. He uses a wide range of media and he is noted for his innovative use of a variety of technologies. Snow is an experimental filmmaker and a key figure of the structural film movement of the 1960s. His 1967 film Wavelength has been designated and preserved as a masterwork by the Audio-Visual Preservation Trust of Canada and was named number 85 in the 2001 Village Voice critics' list of the 100 Best Films of the 20th Century.

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Flight Stop

Explore the Development and creation of this artwork, Flight Stop.

Snow was commissioned by the Eaton Centre's developers, Cadillac Fairview, and architect Eberhard Zeidler to provide a permanent art work to hang in a skylit galleria, which would be visible from several levels and balconies as well as from ground-level corridors spanning Dundas and Queen Streets, given that the mall is built on a slope. Snow's original intent was to depict a flight of geese breaking formation as if to land in the mall. Flight Stop appears to be a straightforward representation of sixty geese, but the work is a combination of fibreglass forms and photographs of a single goose, "one of two culled from a flock living on Toronto Island."Photographing the dead bird, Snow adjusted "the neck, wing, and tail positions and the cylindrical parts of the body". Three different body sizes were then carved in Styrofoam and, "using pattern-making techniques, two-dimensional photographic goose costumes were printed and assembled". The Styrofoam bodies were cast in fibreglass, covered in the photographic sheathes, and varnished in a tinted brown that has yellowed somewhat over time. Strung from the roof on individual wires, the objects form a dynamic group: the poses lend variety; the play with scale maximizes depth; photographic detail heightens a sense of realism. The objects are somehow more naturalistic—goosier—than conventional sculptural representation could be, and this quality accentuates Snow's artistic comment on the nature of photographic illusion, on the tendency to suspend disbelief. In Snow's original preparation for the work, the title was given as Flight Stop (and indicated as the "Flight Stop project" in the archival materials). However, in a number of monographs and catalogues, the work is called Flightstop. Now a tourist destination, Flight Stop is one of Snow's most famous and highly visible works, and the work has become iconic for the Toronto Eaton Centre and a part of the visual identity of the mall.

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Flight Stop

Explore the Development and creation of this artwork.

Snow was commissioned by the Eaton Centre's developers, Cadillac Fairview, and architect Eberhard Zeidler to provide a permanent art work to hang in a skylit galleria, which would be visible from several levels and balconies as well as from ground-level corridors spanning Dundas and Queen Streets, given that the mall is built on a slope. Snow's original intent was to depict a flight of geese breaking formation as if to land in the mall. Flight Stop appears to be a straightforward representation of sixty geese, but the work is a combination of fibreglass forms and photographs of a single goose, "one of two culled from a flock living on Toronto Island."Photographing the dead bird, Snow adjusted "the neck, wing, and tail positions and the cylindrical parts of the body". Three different body sizes were then carved in Styrofoam and, "using pattern-making techniques, two-dimensional photographic goose costumes were printed and assembled". The Styrofoam bodies were cast in fibreglass, covered in the photographic sheathes, and varnished in a tinted brown that has yellowed somewhat over time. Strung from the roof on individual wires, the objects form a dynamic group: the poses lend variety; the play with scale maximizes depth; photographic detail heightens a sense of realism. The objects are somehow more naturalistic—goosier—than conventional sculptural representation could be, and this quality accentuates Snow's artistic comment on the nature of photographic illusion, on the tendency to suspend disbelief. In Snow's original preparation for the work, the title was given as Flight Stop (and indicated as the "Flight Stop project" in the archival materials). However, in a number of monographs and catalogues, the work is called Flightstop. Now a tourist destination, Flight Stop is one of Snow's most famous and highly visible works, and the work has become iconic for the Toronto Eaton Centre and a part of the visual identity of the mall.