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Two painters that both worked under Spanish rule, Diego Velazquez and Peter Paul Rubens were considered two of the greatest p
Rubens
Two painters that both worked under Spanish rule, Diego Velazquez and Peter Paul Rubens were considered two of the greatest painters in Europe. Diego Velazquez, being a more visual, rather then spiritual preferred, to paint portraits as well as genre scenes. His style one may consider calm, and easy on the eyes. Peter Paul Rubens on the other hand, painted highly sacred pieces capturing dynamic poses full of drama. Perhaps their preferences of subject matter were affected by where they mainly worked.
Peter Paul Rubens came from Flanders. Found in the southern Netherlands, it was a highly Catholic area. So of course, his work was often depicted sacred subjects. Velazquez on the other hand was the court painter for King Philip IV of Spain. This being the case, he had I’d imagine, more commissions to do personal portraits. As I said earlier, the over all mood of their paintings were complete and total opposites as well. Diego Velazquez’ paintings are soothing on the eyes, leading it slowly around, observing each skillful stroke, every realistically proportioned character.
He worked hard to match texture’s apperence. “Las Meninas” itself is a massive painting that is a combination of genre scene, group portrait, and self portrait. Peter Paul Rubens’ painting, “Allegory of the Outbreak of War” on the other hand, portrayed muscular figures that were influenced by Michelangelo. He dynamic composition, bold color, and brilliant light kept ones eye constantly on the move. It is highly debated whether or not “Las Meninas” is Velazquez’ personal manifesto. He seemed to have portrayed himself possibly on equal ground with the royal family to indirectly hint that he deserved more. “Allegory of the Outbreak of War” was quite a different type of Manifesto. It was a manifesto of Peter Paul Rubens’ personal feelings on war rather then portraying himself. These two men are both great painters, one for painting perhaps one if not the best painting in western art and the other know for setting the standards for European art, have some similarities but also differ greatly in terms of mood, use of colors, and dynamics.
“Las Meninas” was painted by Diego Velazquez in the year 1656. It is oil on canvass and measures at 10’5″ by 9’1″. Velazquez seemed to be the kind of painter that could find the silver lining in everyone. “Las Meninas” is a portrait of the princess Margarita, daughter of King Phillip IV of Spain along with her maids ladies-in-waiting. It was painted during the Spanish baroque. As I mentioned earlier, this painting is a combination of genre scene, group portrait and self portrait. It is considered by some to be the greatest painting in western art. It is now found in the Prado in Madrid
Peter Paul Rubens painted “Allegory of the Outbreak of War” in 1638 during the Flemish baroque. It’s is about 6′ 9″ by 11′ 4″. He was considered the greatest of the Flemish baroque painters. Ruben’s muscular figures were based off of Michelangelo’s style while his devotion to minute detail was of northern influence. As a man, Peter Paul Rubens well educated, wealthy and well liked. This painting however was his most powerful and personal work. Having seem so much war, he used his works to present his feeling on war. It portrays Mars moving forward to bring chaos to the world as Venus tries in vein to stop him. This piece currently hangs in the Pitti Gallery, Florence
“Las Meninas” is a beautifully painted work. Not only is it considered Velazquez’ greatest painting, it is considered one of the greatest in history. That’s a very impressive statement. Perhaps what makes it so impressive is the artist’s drive for optical realism. The forms are suggested through loosely applied paint. Also what makes this painting interesting is that nothing is emphasized, and nothing forced. Our eyes take a calm stroll through the painting, wandering from character to character in an arc like path from Velazquez, dipping down to the lowest point being the princess, and completing the arc, the eye travels back up with the girl to the right of the princess. As I said, it’s a combination of genre scene, group portrait, and self portrait. And the figures are captured in a baroque moment.
This painting also makes use of tenebrism and impasto. “Allegory of the Outbreak of War”, however is an intense look on the brutalities of war. It uses intense color and dynamic figures to emphisize the panic of the situation. The figures and placed in figura serpentinata. As with most of Peter Paul Rubens paintings, there is a high contrast of dark and light. Another note-able characteristic is the intense use of primary colors. For example, the blue sky and intense red of Mar’s cape. Both of these wonderful paintings successfully portray the characters depicted in their own world; breathing their own air. The figures are all realistically interacting with each other and of course, captured in a baroque moment.
Both of these paintings are personal manifesto for their creators personal feelings. But that is where the similarity ends. Velazquez painted “Las Meninas” to indirectly suggest to the royal family that he believed that he deserved greater recognition and standing in the court. He does so by several rather subtle means. First of all, the portrait he created of himself.
Instead of wearing an artists smock, he is wearing his royal court garbs with a knights cross over his chest. Another theorized idea is that to the right of the painter is a mirror as opposed to a painting that some may believe. In the reflection of the mirror stands the king and queen, thus Velazquez is putting himself on equal grounds with the royal family. A very bold statement. Ruben’s manifesto on the other hand is of a less self promoting nature. It is more like a protest to the constant wars taking place at the time. The painting depicts Mars having left the temple of Janus open. Which should be closed in times of peace. His love, Venus tries to stop him along with her small love gods using caresses but to no avail.
The Fury Alecto pulls Mars forward, to bring chaos to the world. There is a woman with broken lute signifying that harmony is impossible beside the discord of war, a mother holding her child showing that war opposes furtility and tenderness. There are many other less import forms of symbolism present but one last main figure is the sorrowful woman behind Mars and Venus, wearing all black, a torn veil, and deprived of her jewel represents unhappy Europe. Who has long suffered as a result of war.Both of these paintings are great examples of how artists can work their personal feelings otherwise known as manifesto into their paintings. One may consider them complete opposites when it come to the overall feeling mood of their works. They are considered equally great because Velazquez may have created one of the greatest paintings in all of western art but Rubens is credited with creating the first real European style.
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The Cathedral Amiens was built in 1152 with the Romanesque style and burnt in 1218 by lightnings
RenaisssanceThe Cathedral Amiens was built in 1152 with the Romanesque style and burnt in 1218 by lightnings. The reconstruction was started in about 1220 and the nave was completed in about 1245.The choir was started to reconstruct in about 1238 and completed befor 1269 and the most of part including transept was completed in 1288. The south tower was constructed in about 1366, and the north tower was done in about 1401.
Amiens Cathedral, in the heart of Picardy and a couple of hours’ drive north of Paris, one of the largest and most “classical” of French cathedrals of the 13th century in Gothic era. It is the tallest complete cathedral in France. It is notable for the coherence of its plan, the beauty of its three-tier interior elevation and the particularly fine display of sculptures on the principal façade in the south transept. Although there are some other Cathedrals are more omate, Amiens is the largest and the most famous one. And the inside of the cathedral shows the sign of the new way of the matured Gothic design such as the triforium of the choir. It was fitted by stained grasses and produced bright upper part of the elevation with clerestory as if it was two-story. Originally the triforium of the nave was to be fitted by stained grasses as well as the choir but it changed to the wall because of the structural reason for the three meter extention of the nave’s height. The style of the seven radiating chapels facing double ambulatory of the choir became a model of the cathedrals
The term Gothic was first used during the later Renaissance, and as a term of contempt. Some people also said that Gothic is the style arose after the manner of the barbarous nations erected buildings. “The ancient Greek and Roman architecture answered all the perfections required in a faultless and accomplished building, but Goths and Vandals destroyed these and introduced in their stead a certain fantastical and licentious manner of building: congestions of heavy, dark, melancholy, monkish piles, without any just proportion, use of beauty.” (Evelyn) The technical revolution in architecture known as “Gothic” began at the end of the 12th century and lasted just over two hundred years. It was a significant structural improvement upon the Romanesque building that preceded it. As with almost any large undertaking, there were political implications for the people involved in the operation of building a cathedral. The type of cathedrals built in England at a given time were thus representative of the political, social and economic situation there at the time of construction.
Cathedral is a church which contains a cathedra or a throne for a bishop. The origin cathedrals were the homes of Benedictine monks. They were usually built with some inexpensive and readily available materials. Roofs were usually made of oak, and walls were constructed with stones from a variety of English mines. Marble was a common material used in Italy. Unfortunately, there were no marble imported into England during the Gothic period. Enlish master masons used “Purbeck marble” instead. It can still be seen in the above images of Lincoln cathedral. It is the black stone used in the columns.
The master builders and craftsmen of the Gothic era learned how to build strong, tall edifices that were both light and decorative. There were some obstacles for these men such as wind pressure, balance, mass, abutment, thrust and how to support the sheer weight of these massive structures. Not much mathematical theory was used in the design, but lots of tracing and sketching instead.
The general shapes of the Gothic buildings are cross or crucifix. Buildings of the crucifix shape are called “cruciform” after the cross that Christ was hung on. The main entrance into the cathedral is usually through the west into the nave, the place where people may meet and see the church’s artwork and attend services. Each arm of the cruciform is called a transept. The chapter-house was used for the more formal gatherings of “chapter”, the groups of monks that lived in the cathedral and formed its governing body. All the cathedrals also have Lady Chapel, where the Virgin Mary was worshiped. It contained an altar to her and was usually at the eastern-most point of the cathedrals.
There are certain classic elements of English Gothic architecture which not only added aesthetically to the cathedrals, but were also great structural revolutions. Every small detail, even a small flower at the top of an arch stands for a reason, its own purpose. The pointed arch is one of the technical advances of the Gothic cathedral. This is the point at which the top of the columns meet. Having them meet at an angle rather than a curve added strength because of the more efficient way the weight carries by the columns was distributed. Thus, fewer columns would be needed to support a building of the same size or larger. Another technical advance is the vaults. They were the internal supports of the cathedral ceiling. They disperse across the ceiling the weight to be carried by the columns. The last technical advance was the flying buttress. They assisted in carrying the thrust of the vaults. These external designs are also another example of a functional addition to cathedral design that was also embellished upon for the purpose of beauty. With these advances, the whole church’s structure becomes lighter, airier, and taller, stretching cathedrals to the heavens.
However, toward the end of the 14th century, many Flemish artists went to France, and a Franco-Flemish style was created, showing an elegance and interest in minute detail; so wide was its diffusion that it came to be known as the International Style. At about this time panel painting, under the lead of Flanders and Italy, achieved preeminence over all other forms of painting. In the 15th century, individual painters, such as Stephan Lonchner, Martin Schonguaer, and Mathias Grunewald in Germany, mark the culmination of Gothic art. Others, such as Jean Fouquet in France and the Van Eycks in Flanders, point the way to the Renaissance, while retaining much of the Gothic spirit. In 15th-century Italy, where the Gothic style had never really taken root, the early Renaissance was already in full flower. Although the Gothic style didn’t last long in the history, but there are still many architectures and arts remain and are still visited by people even till now. Some of them became the world heritages, such as Amiens Cathedrals. It is actually one of the most important achievements from the Gothic era.
Bibliography:
The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001.
Gothic Architecture by Paul Crossley, Paul FranklAMIENS CATHEDRAL Web Site by Columbia University
Odyssey, Leadership is an essential part for any group in a society that wants to be successful at whatever it is trying to a
Odyssey
Leadership is an essential part for any group in a society that wants to be successful at whatever it’s trying to accomplish. Without a leader the group will not be able to achieve their goals. The group will instead be lost and confused. However, after that goal has been meet, does the leadership diminish as well? The passion that once was there to lead the group might not exist anymore. The wealth that the group has achieved will most likely outweigh the strength of the leadership that once excited. Also the group’s willingness to listen to their leader will also decrease. In book IX of The Odyssey of Homer, Odysseus’ leadership starts to decline, as his group was able to reach the goal that they had set out to accomplish.
The Greeks believed in the importance of social order and rituals, and one of those included having good leadership abilities. Odysseus has always portrayed himself as a true leader. He is the strongest and most powerful out of all of the men. He believed that he was the one that was responsible for leading his men to victory in the first battle against the Kikonians. Odysseus and his men defeated the Kikonians in battle and were rewarded with the war spoils that the Kikonians had to give to them. However, some of Odysseus’s men became greedy and took more possessions than was granted. They were just excited by the new fortunes that they had obtained. They did not listen to Odysseus because they had already gotten what they wanted. This caused the Kikonians to become frustrated by the way Odysseus and his people were dishonoring the social ritual of good hospitality. It will later lead to a second attack by the Kikonians and some of its’ neighbors against Odysseus and his men. This starts to demonstrate the decline of Odysseus’ leadership abilities.
In terms of the type of social order that the Greeks believed in, a good leader is someone that is honest, humble, not greedy and has to be willing to sacrifice himself for the benefit of the whole. Additionally, he needs to have goals and not allow anything to get in the way of what he is trying to accomplish. Odysseus felt that he was a fair and equal leader. It is quoted as saying on lines forty through forty-two, “I sacked the city and killed their people, and out …his proper portion.” The quote makes it seem that he was easily able to lead his men to victory against the Kikonians. There were not many true obstacles that stood in their way of obtaining victory against the Kikonians. Additionally, from the quote Odysseus shows himself as not being greedy and honest. This is done by when he talked about the war possessions and how he believed that all of his men deserved an equal share. This is a sign of a leader that is not greedy and honest. Furthermore, on lines forty-seven through fifty-one, it states “…more numerous and better men, well skilled in fighting men with horse…” In this phrase, Odysseus is trying to show that even thought his men were outnumbered and that the Kikonians had better materials to fight the war. He would not let his men become discouraged and just give in to the Kikonians. Odysseus is trying to show that he is direct minded and would rather end up dead than to quite the battle. However, after Odysseus and his men conquered the Kikonians and got their possessions, his leadership also declines.
Odysseus claims that he was a good leader towards his men and the people of Greece. However in reality, he ends up failing terribly. He does not live up to the standards of social order of what a good leaders should be. Instead, he tries to cut corners and makes it seem like he possessed good leadership to his people. Instead he can be considered in many ways to be selfish and the exact opposite of what a good leader should be. As stated earlier in lines forty through forty-two, “I sacked the city and killed their people, and out…his portion.” The quote is expressed in the first person instead of “we”. Even though Odysseus would have never have been able to have defeated the Kikonians without the help of his men, he still gives himself the most of the credit for their success. The next few lines afterwards are quoted as “…but they were greatly foolish…lumbering horn-curved cattle.” In times of prosperity Odysseus wants to be known as the main person that was responsible for it. However when times start becoming difficult he wants out of the recognition. So, is that what a good leader should be like? Odysseus has to be there for his men and the people of Greece through both the good and bad times. What he is doing is blaming his men for the second attack by the Kikonians and not himself. If Odysseus was indeed a good leader, he should have stepped in and try to prevent his men from being greedy. The second attack would have easily been avoided if they did not stick around as long as they did.
Additionally, Odysseus tries to place pity (pathos) towards his audience to show that he tried his best at being a good leader. As lines fifty-one through fifty-four states, “ They came early morning…Zeus was evil, to make us unfortunate.” Here Odysseus is trying to blame Zeus for not being behind him and his men in the battle. He is also trying to demonstrate to the audience that even though Zeus did not support them in protect them, they still went out and fought as best as they could against the Kikonians. Another example of pathos that Odysseus tries to install in his audience is when he talked about the Kikonians having many more men then they did and how they also had horses to aide them in the battle. Just as in the case of Cabeza de Vaca, Odysseus tries to use rhetoric to try and defend himself against his failures. In the case of The Odyssey of Homer, Odysseus is trying to sound as heroic as possible, to cover up for the death of six of his men. Death is inevitable whenever there is a battle; however it the way the six of Odysseus’ men died could have been prevented. He should have been more authoritative in his orders. However, true leadership does exist in the Odyssey as can been seen in the case of the Phaiakians and the Gods. The Phaiakians functioned very well under the leadership of Alkinoos. They are the protégée of how social order for exhibiting good leadership should function in the Greece culture. Alkinoos made sure that all of his people were treated equally and he was not corrupt as a leader. He knew not to look at his ambitions for personal wealth to interfere with his duties as a leader for his people. Another good example of good leadership that was under the Greeks’ belief of social order can be found in the Gods. Leadership will function correctly for the most part when the people listen to the Gods. An example of that is when, the family of the Suitors and Odysseus were going to fight due to what he did to their sons. However, Athena stepped in and prevented it from occurring. She told them that they had to make friendship between the Oikos or else there will never be peace in Greece. To her demands for peace, all the people listened. The main difference between Athena and Alkinoos’ and that of Odysseus’ leadership is that they were more respected by their people. The people were willing to listen to and trusted them. When the people stop listening to their leader then bad things will arise. As can be seen by the second attack by the Kikonians.
The ability to exhibit leadership is an important aspect to the Greeks belief of social order. Leadership is determined by the people’s willingness to put their trust into that leader. If the people stop listening to their leader, then the leadership will surely diminish. Consequently, it will lead them left open to an attack and it will weaken that group. In The Odyssey of Homer, Odysseus’s leadership declines as his people stop listening to him.
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