Michelangelo’s Moses and Da Vinci’s Virgin of the Rocks
Michelangelo’s Moses (1513-1516)
Created by Michelangelo, a prominent artist of the 16th century, Moses embodies the Neoplatonist concept that “the most beautiful leads man to good.” Michelangelo possessed an intuitive ability to perceive the final form within a block of marble. Around 1495, he moved to Rome and began his career. Pope Julius II became his patron, commissioning various works, including sculptures for the Pope’s unfinished mausoleum. Moses was created for this mausoleum.
This marble
Read MoreFlemish and Dutch Masters: Rubens and Rembrandt
The Flemish School: Rubens
Peter Paul Rubens was much more than a painter of athletic, masculine types and generous, pink, and sensual women. Nature endowed him with a prodigious mind to unravel the compositional problems of a painting, and he was a magician of color. Considered the most learned artist of his time, he spoke and wrote six modern languages besides Latin and was regarded as a shrewd diplomat in the service of Spain’s foreign policy. His skill in state affairs led him to traverse European
Read MoreGraphic Design: Principles and Elements
Graphic Design
Graphic Design is the profession responsible for producing visual messages. It’s based on taking a particular object or concept and interpreting it to create a visual image. This image should reach, impact, and attract the viewer’s attention, promoting a product, service, or idea.
A graphic designer requires intimate knowledge in:
- Visual language
- Communication
- Visual perception
- Administration of economic and human resources
- Technology
- Media
- Evaluation techniques
Design Elements
Conceptual Elements
Conceptual
Read MoreKey Features of Islamic Architecture
Key Characteristics of Islamic Architecture
Islamic art is a syncretic art without sacred images, which places great importance on the Arabic language. It is aimed at stylization and dominated by an aesthetic of the perishable and mutable. Other general features of Islamic art include the importance it attaches to decor, the anonymity of the artists, and the homogeneity of artistic expression throughout all territories of the empire. The fundamental building, of great originality and religious significance,
Read MoreDoña María: A Deep Dive into a Complex Character
Doña María: A Complex Character
Doña María is a character of high drama, tracing the complex nature and the various aspects it presents. At first, she may fool the viewer by awakening pity, because she appears as a mother concerned about the upkeep of her home and her three daughters. Then, she reveals the full force of her dictatorship, her tyrannical rule, the despotic authority that she wields over her daughters. Finally, we see that her essential feature is an atrocious selfishness that leads
St. Peter’s Square: Architecture and Symbolism
St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican: A Baroque Masterpiece
Context: The Shift to Renaissance Aesthetics
Characterized by a “rhetorical formal language,” the Renaissance prioritized the sensual over the rational, leading to a diversity of aesthetic trends. Gian Lorenzo Bernini, a key figure of this era, worked extensively for the papacy, reflecting the spirit of the Counter-Reformation church.
Project Identification: A Prime Example of Baroque Urban Planning
St. Peter’s Square stands as a masterful example
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