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arthist0rian · 2 years ago

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La Baigneuse The valpinçon Bather or La Grande Baigneuse, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres 1808, oil on canvas , Louvre - Paris

French painter. Director of the french academy in Rome, he exercised a profound influence on french art and painters such as Degas, Cèzanne and Renoir. He pursued the ideal of formal purity and elegance of line and was considered by contemporaries the champion of the classical order again the romantic passion portraited by Delacroix. He preferred classical subjects, medieval french history, Persian miniature iconography, and nude studies.

During his stay in Italy for 18 years, he studied the classic painters, such as Raphael, aiming to achieve a supreme purity form rather that the grater of effect. All the works sent to the salons, however, did not aroused great impression, but he obtained vast success because he opposed the romanticism of Delacroix. Baudelaire wrote that the contrast between the two tendency was concentrated in the antithesis between drawing and color, between intellectual and passionate elements and Ingres was never cold of academic. His portraits are intensely characterized, despise the idealization of the character, his nudes are full of sensuality although the image ends in pure linear rhythm and in a perfect and abstract plasticity; the great composition instead are colder and more detached.

The painting

We are looking at a young woman back, who is sitting on a bed. On the left a curtain occupies a vertical band of the painting. At the bottom, behind the decorated edge we can see the corner of the tub. The girl sits on a sofa covered with white sheet with a wide embroidered border. Ate her feet there is an orange and white slipper. The background is a light stretched cloth.

This is an early example of a female nude, we are looking at her while she in her rooms, the woman appears to us reserved and modest. The figure and the composition are greatly influenced by the work of Raphael especially the elegance and balance. In addition, the nude expresses a formal grace that avoids its confrontation with reality.

This subject is later reproposed in other two artworks: the little bather and the Turkish bath.

Overall, during the 1800 the figures of young bathing woman were among the preferred subject for rooms paintings.

Ingres modeled the figure of the woman with a slight chiaroscuro, in fact giving more importance to the contour of the form and the drawing, so that we have more harmonious and elegant line.

The background, this light gray, highlight the warm complexion of the subject. Sheets and pillows do the same. The curtain on the other hand, dark green, creates a contrast of complementarity that highlight the red color of the decoration of the decoration such as the turban and the slippers. The right side is illuminated by the drapery of the sheet and the embroidery is highlighted by the dark shadow under the sofa.

The three-dimensional space of the closed environment is thus built by the drapery of the left curtain and the one stretched in the background. The depth of the scene is therefore limited to the little intimate space that is captured between the figure and the white cloth.

The structure of the work is organized on the four orthogonal sectors of the rectangular surface. At the top left the background the tent prevails. On the right the bust of the young woman. At the bottom left the legs of the girl, the corner of the tub with the jet of water, the decorated edge of the tent and the red slipper. Finally, on the lower right, the dial is occupied by the drapery of the sheet at the top and the embroidery at the bottom.

Almost the left half of the work is occupied by the large tent. The model's body creates an arch that is generated by the encounter between the neck and the right shoulder. A contrary arch is then created coincides with the bent left leg. Finally, the body of the young woman creates an elegant S-shaped line that ends with her face turned to the right.

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pangtasias-atelier · 4 years ago

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R&R: Reveling & Revolting

This was a commission done for @thattumtho of Ashiya aka Caster of Limbo indulging himself during Shimosa. It was a lot of fun writing for the trash man, cause I love those characters lol. And thanks again, so much!

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“Hmmph,” In a positively foul mood, Caster of Limbo nearly storms down the old castle’s numerous stairs, a sneer plastered on his face. Muttering unintelligibly, the ominous creaks and groans each step cries out are nothing more than insects buzzing in the air to Caster. The design clearly not made for someone of his plush size, the banisters nearly frame his stomach, Caster’s overflowing stomach a few inches from grazing both sides of them. His forest green robe draping over the right half of his body, the silk fabric miraculously contains the right half of his gut, the bottom drape hugging his stomach as it ends right at the middle of Ashiya’s cavernous belly button. A garish red and green fabric attached to the draping — both of the clashing colors interspersed between black — the two once overly large fabrics cling to every bit of surface it can find on Caster’s overly plump body. Much surface to find on Caster, the drapery perfectly contours alongside his soft rolls, the outline of Caster’s love handle and double stomach visible. The left side of Caster’s torso unclothed, his pale, well-fed stomach drapes down his body much like the clothes adorning him. Free to exist in the view of all, the left portion of his stomach splays out, so much fat piled onto his frame. The bottom roll of his stomach juts out, the meaty roll too much for a single hand to handle. Another roll falling down to rest on the bottom one, said roll lies underneath the swell of Caster’s moob. His stomach a decadent three tiered cake, the bottom flab is melted frosting, the hefty roll of fat reaching halfway down to his large, engorged thighs.

His new large size insignificant, the added difficulty of descending the narrow staircase is lost on him. His gut wobbling back and forth and up and down, it bounces with each step, the large flab seemingly never getting a moment of rest as it presses against his plump thighs. His stomach pushes against the banister at times from its movement. Yet, a far more pressing task occupies the dangerous mind of Caster.

Assassin of Paraiso now defeated, just as Lancer of Purgatorio and Archer of Inferno had before, Assassin’s defeat at the hands of Chaldea now meant that three out of seven of the Heroic Spirit Swordmasters had been slain. Chaldea more of a threat than expected, Caster had been tasked to give out orders once more as per Amakusa’s orders. Following the pathetic Avenger’s orders, Caster’s own task completed the instant he encountered Shimosa, getting his own fill of fun in seeing Chaldea struggle at every turn is nothing but an extra reward upon having already fulfilled Satan’s command. Catching his mistake, Caster holds back his cacophonic laughter as he finally descends the last step. The creaking stairs no longer sound in his ears; instead, groaning floorboards replace the noise. Shrill whines come from the floorboards, the old wood even dipping where Caster steps. Caster retains his grin as he saunters into the next room.

The remaining Heroic Spirit Swordmasters already waiting for his command, Caster’s grin grows even wider, his chipmunk cheeks puffing out further. His Curse of Annihilation working wonders on the group meant that a little prodding here and there was sufficient in making them do whatever he wants.

Saber of Empireo rests with his back against the wall. Cloaked as always, the man’s true identity remains anonymous to all but Caster. Saber offering nothing but a glance at Caster of Limbo, Caster misses the scowl on Saber’s face as he turns his attention to the other two occupants in the room.

Berserker of Samghata Hell sips away at whatever alcohol piques her fancy at the time. Rider of Kalasutra Hell, meanwhile, keeps her distance. The two always at the ready to brawl, the two’s oni nature meant there was some innate resistance to Caster’s curse. But, that exact same blood running through them was enough to bring their killing side to the forefront.

“Ahh…” Gulping down a large swig of her alcohol, Berserker merrily drinks the remainder of it, zero drops spilled down the wide brim of her plate. Berserker’s violet eyes squint at Caster. “There’s no cute men around here,” A solemn sigh escaping her thin lips, Berserker brings herself closer, her feet seemingly making no contact with the floor. “You’d be a nice feast though,” She pokes a slender finger directly into Caster’s doughy gut, her index finger squishing and sinking into the warm flab.

Caster backing up, his hand is halfway raised by the time Berserker gets out of his reach. But not out of her own volition.

“Enough you insignificant insect,” Another’s hand firmly restraining Berserker’s wrist, Rider grips it. Rider’s free hand resting on the hilt of her sword, her face is marred by her clenched mouth, her sword hand twitching.

“Ah, what a wonderful scene,” Caster lauds internally. Controlling and forcing fated enemies into working with each other is nearly enough to satisfy the anger in Chaldea still surviving. “You two shall destroy Chaldea,” Oh if only he could catch the look of that damned master’s face as two of their servants, now twisted by his spell, attempt to utterly annihilate them. Running his tongue over the edges of his teeth, Caster savors the image, both Rider and Berserker utterly cruel enough to leave no remains on their master, or the childr-

“They’ve left,” Saber uttering his piece, he wastes no time just as Berserker and Rider. His sword concealed under his thick cloak, Saber rests a hand on the comforting extension of his hand. Berserker far too wild, he had caught her all knowing smirk as she left. The two of them destined to fail, the comfort of facing Chaldea’s swordswoman gives him solace. Whether he wins or loses is independent of such satisfaction. Leaving Caster to whatever the strange man does, Saber offers no other words, leaving as silent as a butterfly.

“Good riddance to them all,” Free of any useless minions, Caster heads off to his newfound favorite pastime. His lengthy overflowing hair bundles behind him. The perfectly separated strands of white and black hair reach down to the mound of fat that is Caster’s ass. His green robe servicing him sufficiently, his garish attire holds back the flab of fat. Two substantial piles of fat making up Caster’s ass, the upper heft of his round malleable butt suffer under the constraint of Caster’s robe, only a sliver of his right cheek visible. The rest of his ass under the confines of his clothes, the lower portion of his ass, more squarish than the top with the sizable portion of fat sagging down, puts as much strain on his outfit as the rest of his big bloated body. The lower ends of his robes stretched from his ass, the clothes jut out as well, the stretched fabric hiding Caster’s wide legs. Each leg alone larger than Caster’s previous waistline, his fine, undulated thighs weigh upon each other, the silky inner portions of Caster’s lardy thighs meld into one another. Fat all bunched up, the compacted fat reaches all the way down to Caster’s knees despite his wide stance. Ankles now proper cankles, even they jiggle along with the rest of his body with each confident step. Positively wide, Caster’s new gait is a bit more clunky than before, one wide thigh swinging past the other in a waddle somewhat resemblant of walking.

The floorboards creak as ominously as the stairs did. Caster’s ignoble grin remains plastered on his rounded face. Each wide waddle shifts his flab and clothes alike, stretched wrinkled fabric softening out in some areas only to wrinkle in others. The wrinkling especially bad in the edges due to his cumbersome midsection, the fabric remains ever taut. The left portion of Caster’s stomach free, the sagging mass of fat makes contact with his legs every so often, each step causing them to collide and squish before his stomach continues its perpetual jiggling. His plush chest jiggles just as his stomach does, the two soft pillows jiggling up and down with each waddle. Keeping one bingo-wingo arm resting on his overflowing love handles, the other dangles down, the creased flab bunched up against the side of his monumental gut.

Finding the closest room, all of them abandoned just like the rest of the castle, Caster ignores any sort of niceties and instead barges right through. He scoffs as the paper from the shoji rips and tears, the tattered patterned paper fluttering uselessly to the floor. An abandoned chair left against the side of the room, Caster ignores the rest of the adorned room. Heaving out a relaxed sigh as he sits, Caster comfortably adjusts himself, paying extra mind to the chair’s near splintering sound, wishing to add another thing to break. The seat a tight fit, the chair digs into his roly poly back, his back rolls squashing and resting against the material. The overly small armrests serve in only framing his prodigious love handles. They drape over the armrests while his plush chest splays onto his gut. Subsequently, his legs are crammed as close together as possible. The two column like thighs are indistinguishable from one another, the two seemingly stuck together with glue. An overly sized table formed from his thighs, his gut makes itself comfortable, the soft round mass of fat resting on the expanse of his thighs.

His work done for the day, a minimal self appointed task, Caster’s completion of his work calls for a celebration. His long wiry green nails still attached to his sausage fingers, Caster outstretches a hand. An intangible little ball forms in the air, Caster conjuring up a specter. The formless little wisp floating harmlessly in the air, the small specter violently shakes as Caster magically pulls it at the very edges. The incorporeal being gaining a shape, it sprouts gauntly red bone like legs. The figure touching the floor, the thin being grows mass, its entire figure hulking out as it grows armor. Caster all the while shaping the being, he grins to himself as it continues to grow: adding a few extra feet, likening the armor to that of a samurai, adjusting its red coloration to that of blood, anything that’ll scare the pathetic humans more makes the minimal effort worth it.

The overly sized hulking beast is complete. It’s head nearly reaches the height of the shoji despite it’s hunched state. As wide as Caster, the figure contains nothing but muscle; each angular curve is perfected to end whatever unlucky human crosses its path. A katana longer than the average human in its hand, the monstrous being awaits Caster’s orders.

“Go fetch me whatever food you can find. And destroy whatever gets in your way,” Relaxing back in the chair, Ashiya once again rests his hands on his stomach. The monster trudging along, Caster easily replicates the being, conjuring up enough to make a dozen total in an instant. The nearest town the unfortunate victim of Caster’s cruel whims, he simply bides his time, kneading his overflowing gut.

The gut of fat sinking under his busy hands, Caster pulls back on the drape of his robe. Hefting the mass that is his stomach, the soft undersides of his gut rest in his left palm. A few small grunts escape his lips as he struggles, his overtaxed clothes unwilling to budge much further as Caster pulls back on it. Freeing the rest of his stomach, Caster sighs with a small pat. His stomach jiggles all over from the single pat.

His current body simply a shikigami with his saint graph engraved onto it, Caster’s real body is far away from any actual danger. A body destroyed, simply wasting another body or dozen is purely a matter of energy. Indulging in hedonistic tendencies the same principle to Caster, reveling in excess meals is just as harmless. Long gone is the well built musculature on his tall frame, his outfit perfect for showing off a few of the goods while leaving some to the vivid imagination. Instead, the addicting soft plush fat adorns his body, Caster soaking up as much fun as he can.

Waiting expectantly, Caster plays around with his body, his new form intriguing. Testing the heft of his breasts, squishing his stomach as compactly as he can, shaking his bags for arms, each test merely elicits a wild grin before Caster precedes to focus on another body part. By the second time he tests the heft of his breasts, his mitt for hands unable to properly cup the entirety of his heavy breast, the returning monsters interrupt Caster.

Their harsh stomping the first to notify Caster of his monsters’ return, the savory scent of their food notifies him second. Smears of blood marring their clothes, Caster picks up the sweet dried scent of iron. Letting out a contented sigh, Caster commands the first monster to step forward. The crispy aroma of fried food assaulting his nose, Caster’s suddenly famished stomach emits a growl. The desperate sound reverberates across the room. His right hand sinks into the expanse of fat as he reassuringly pats his stomach. The first monster carrying several plates of takoyaki, the fried batter is still warm. Caster brings one to his nose. Sniffing it, the savory sauce coating it has him wasting no more time, Caster chomping into it. Still blazingly hot, the extreme heat from the fried octopus has no effect on him, Caster dropping the other half down his gullet. Conjuring up a small table, Caster commands the monster to place the food down. Plucking each and every takoyaki, Caster effortlessly drops them into his mouth. His sharp teeth eviscerates each one, a transcendent grin radiating from Caster as he stuffs himself. The proportions are different: some with more octopus, others with more onions, others with more sauce and so on, each one is a different experience. Caster keeps a hand placed on the crest of his belly, rubbing the plush hill of fat.

Caster returns the monster back into a spectral form. Calling another one forward, more fried goodness wafts to his nose. Caster has the monster hurriedly place the food down. Yakisoba brought, Caster leans to the side of his chair. His stomach painfully digs into the wood, Caster lazily extending an arm to reach the plate of food. A hand necessary to hold the plate, he deftly holds the chopsticks. Expertly wielding them, he grabs nearly half the plate of food with the chopsticks. Tilting his head back, unwilling to waste a single ounce of food, Caster opens his mouth wide, the sharp teeth lining his mouth visible, before shoving the fried noodles into his mouth. The pork still tender and juicy, the soft meat melts in his mouth as he tears into the crispy hot noodles. Bringing the chopsticks to the plate, Caster effortlessly twirls his chopsticks, the remaining half of the plate caught by them. Closing his eyes, his muffled groans sound out as he chews the rest.

Returning the other monster back into its spectral form before unsummoning it, Caster calls the next monster up. Plain white rice offered up onto the table, Caster eyes the multiple bowls. In one fell swing, he destroys the monster, zero trace left of it besides its smoldering ashes. “Next,” Caster sings, grinning as the next monster isn’t a failure like its deceased comrade.

Something sweet offered to him instead, bunches of yakiimo are placed on the table. Grabbing the baked sweet potato, Caster bites down on the chewy, sweet caramel like food. Mouth stuffed with food, bits of the potatoes lie on his puffed cheeks. Pleasantly warm unlike the prior extremely hot foods, Caster gobbles up the remains before plowing through the rest. Caster’s voracious appetite greedily chomps down on each potato, each one devoured seemingly in an instant.

Caster continuously calls monsters forward and devours their delectable treats. Each brings something different, the only dud being in the monster he already destroyed. Savory grilled corn, hot juicy squid, sweet baked treats, each alone brings a smile of joy to Caster’s face as he gobbles it all down. Each dish easily finds its way into his gullet, the mass of food resting heavily in his stomach. His soft plush gut slowly bloats out, a level of firmness filling it out.

Returning the last monster back into nothingness, Caster lets out a labored breath. Eyes hazy, he casts a hooded look at his taxed gut. The flab of his double chin melds into his doughy collarbone, Caster letting out a puff of air as he grabs the sides of his gut with his right hand. The fine display of unabashed hedonism on display, he laughs to himself. “To the victor, the spoils,” The very last treat in his left hand, Caster dangles the tiny imagawayaki in between his portly fingers. He greedily chomps down on the sweet dough, the red bean paste exploding in his mouth as he tears into it with his sharp teeth. Caster wasting no time, the hurriedly swallowed treat travels down his still famished gullet to join the rest of its fellow treats. A bit of gas bubbles in the recesses of his throat; Caster happily lets out his small burp, grinning afterwards with his hand on his stomach all the while.

His thighs tired from the taxing task of being pressed up against each other, Caster shifts a bit, his wide portly ass and stout back struggling to move much at all with the weak chair. The creaking never having left, the lack of enjoyment from munching away brings back his attention to his poor chair. “What’s one more village?” Pressing a portly finger against his chubby cheek, Caster taps it, as if contemplating the question. Wickedly grinning, Caster conjures up another dozen monsters, each as terrifyingly large as before. He shifts a hand to rest on the middle of his prodigious chest. “Go bring me some more food,” Electing to break the chair, human’s creations as weak as themselves, Caster cackles to himself, his iris’ expanding as his pupils dilate, matching the red of his monsters. Caster conjures up another dozen, the monsters marching off into another direction.

“So pathetically weak,” Caster whispers, baring his fangs. “Humans are so enjoyable,” Bringing a hand to his face, his chipmunk cheeks squish against the palm of his hand as he grins. The frailty of humans in this world so pathetic, staying in Shimosa seems worth the waste of time. An abundance of delectable food to go alongside it, Caster has all the time in the world as he finally decides to recline fully in his chair, Caster letting out a cackle.

#commission #my writing #fat!Ashiya Douman #Fat!Caster of Limbo #Fat Grand Order #ssbhm #male weight gain #male stuffing #mwg #weight gain fiction #weight gain story

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pizzahutchan124 · 4 years ago

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A Comprehensive List of Things to Draw Based on My Highschool Art Assignments

These were made by my art teachers to push our art skills beyond our preconceived limits at the time. Here are the rules you need to apply when drawing these things -

Draw these every week. Each drawing should take between 45 mins to an hour to do. This is to make you look hard @ the subject matter use your imagination and explore ideas and techniques that will interest, challenge and simulate you. With more practice, effort and care towards your drawings, your confidence in your abilities will grow.

All drawings must be enlarged to fill the whole space with no empty spaces.

And finally, feel free to experiment with any kind of artistic media

-Yourself or your persona -Someone you like -One, some or all of your friends -An animal you think is really cute -Your favorite outfit -Something you've never drawn before -Your family or family member -Something with your favorite color -Your favorite cartoon/anime character -Something you couldn't live without -Your favorite food -An inanimate object -A group picture -Your favorite book character -Someone from your favorite board or video game -Something that represents your favorite song -Your favorite holiday -Something you're afraid of -A comic -Something you dont like -Your favorite season -Something that makes you happy -Something that represents your favorite culture/country/language -Someone or something from mythology -Your favorite sweet food/candy/etc -Your favorite scene from a movie -A room -Your favorite weather -Something you'd like to share with your followers + friends -Illustrate your favorite poem -Illustrate the word balance -Draw the contents of a trash can -Drawing of a house plant (real or artificial) -Draw an object with a surface texture -Draw tools used in certain professions -Draw a tennis shoe -Draw a grouping of leaves -Draw some you might find in a department store display -Draw a large jar and fill it up with something (candy, toys, rocks, etc -Design a school desk -Draw your favorite snack food -Draw an object melting -Draw a bowl of fruit, shade it -Draw hands holding something -Draw a mechanical object -Word picture: select a word that bring to mind a mental picture, and then complete the picture with synonyms and associations with that word Draw a word as a shape of an object (ex, the word apple in the shape of an apple, or apples spelling out the word -Draw popcorn -Draw what you could see through a keyhole -Draw a portrait using light and shadow-place the light from different angles then you normally would, such as under the chin, behind the head, in front of the face, etc -Study your feet and shoes. Draw them in different positions and from different angles + views -Draw studies of your hands. Try a variety of positions or over lapping them -Draw a figure in an environment from your observation- in motion and standing still -Draw an imaginary place- remember to show rich details -Do a self portrait. This can be full body or face only. -Gesture drawings of people, things or animals in motion -Contour line drawings of figures or objects -Draw several studs of your eyes, nose, and mouth in a variety of positions and poses -Focus on drapery and pattern: a shirt over a chair, a sheet around a banister, etc -Draw everything you can see from where you are positioned, whether it be real or imaginary. Dont forget to include details! -Draw a man made object -Draw a metallic object and everything you see in it -Draw or design any kind of vehicle -Draw an object of interest from 3 different views -Draw using 2 point perspective -Draw the inside of a mechanical object -Filling the page with them, overlap two dimensional forms and pick a direction for the light to hit them. Draw accurately and shade accordingly -Draw your reflection on any shiny surfaced area -Draw a landscape from observation; remember to show foreground, middle ground and background -Draw your home and what's around it -Draw family members with things they cherish -Draw the interior of your room and whats in it from your vantage point Study the forms, shapes lines, textures and colors of trees -Draw animals from life (or from a reference book -Draw a plant with as much detail as possible using line contour and line variation Arrange a still life and draw it with shading -Draw bottles and cans- have the cans crunched up for lots of details in contrast with the bottles smoothness -Draw dishes in a drainer, with shading -Create a fantasy building and landscape -Create a series of positive and negative space designs -Draw a piece of furniture and use color to show the texture and shadows -Draw a still life with one to three pieces of patterned clothes in it. Show color and patterns -Focus on textures in a drawing of your choice

#Art challenge #art prompts #30 day challenge #drawing #prompt #high school

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lankonu · 4 years ago

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drapery

If you study drapery enough, musculature should be a breeze If you understand how cloth works, then skin should be easy

Taut cloth, tight skin Silk string, smooth skin

For drapery is the rendering of a fluid screen as it contours the body it covers The level of air between the woven epidermis and the flesh adds to the illusion The appearance of musculature and form Where they may or may not be authentic or accurate

And so if air enters our bloodstreams Do muscles not breathe?

And if air is to drapery What muscle is to skin Then I dare say that if you understand the life cycle of the muscle And how age can rage the struts and sinews to a stage where they can no longer perform

#drapery

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rome-antic-city · 5 years ago

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Santa Cecilia in Trastevere and Excavations Underneath

For those of you who obsess over everything Basilica-related, the first thing you’ll notice with this church is that it does not have a transept or a north tower. But the medieval bell tower makes up for this. The exterior is made entirely of brick and the entrance contains a portico that includes an architrave and numerous inscriptions and fragments of different architectural elements. There are a few side chapels and aisles around the nave once you enter, and the choir towards the end is raised, giving a view of the crypt that holds St. Cecilia's tomb beneath. In front of the choir is a sculpture of St. Cecilia’s allegedly incorrupt body. Although we can’t see her face, the sculpture is incredibly emotional and heartbreaking. Her body is twisted and the drapery shows the contours of her rested body but the pose itself, especially the way the arms are draping over the body, illustrate the pain of the saint before she was martyred. The apse right above the choir depicts a mosaic of the Second Coming, with Christ in the middle as saints flank Him on both sides. The background is a beautiful meadow landscape with flowers, trees and even some clouds. Below this scene stand the Lamb of God surrounded by other sheep that do not have halos around their heads like the sheep in the middle. Below this row is a long inscription made of gold.

But if the interior of the church is exceptional, the excavations beneath the church are much more impressive. You descend to the crypt through the left aisle where the sacristy is. Once you go underneath the church, you are met with a large and complex structure. There is an ancient baptismal font in the spacious area as well as the remains of some thermal baths and Roman houses, one of which belonged to St. Cecilia and her family. Walking along the tunnel leading away from the baptismal area, you come into view with the rest of the crypt decorated with cosmati. The arcaded vaults with rosettes and seraphs almost make the crypt look heavenly even though it is below the ground. There are frescoes and mosaics decorating the walls, the ceilings and the columns of the area, all of which are remarkably preserved! Also found in this crypt are the tombs of several martyrs include St. Cecilia. The mosaics filling the space of the crypt are indescribable. One final interesting detail is the pagan shrine in one of the nearby rooms that consists of a niche with a relief of a goddess in front of an altar, and a Dionysian scene on the sides of the niche which heavily implies that one of the Roman houses discovered in this crypt much have belonged a pagan family.

#Santa Cecilia in Trastevere #Santa Cecilia #Trastevere #Excavations #Basilica #Basilicas #Basilica Excavations #Rome

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linzym13-blog · 8 years ago

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Ancient Greece and Origins Of Modern Beauty

After reading chapter 7, I learned that ancient Greece has made a huge impact on our western culture today and that it has shaped our ideas of what perfection should look like. There is no doubt that Greece has inspired America and the way we built/ran our country. For example, in the text it states that our words are influenced by Greece, like the word “alphabet”, it combines the first two letters of the Greek alphabet (alpha and beta). Also, Greece had an influence on how we built our democracy today. The establishment of “city-states” required males to participate in the government, these “city-states” are thought to be a very important foundation of the modern democracy, which was how Thomas Jefferson was inspired. Another thing we still use from the Greeks is the style of architecture. For example, the pillar. The most famous example from Greek architecture is the Parthenon, which was a huge building located in Athens with numerous pillars. Today, we use pillars in many buildings, including the White House.

Another thing that I found fascinating in this weeks reading was the fact that Greece emphasized the “individual above all”. It states that Greek art rapidly changed from stylization to naturalism. They started focusing more upon a celebration of the everyday human figures, rather than a celebration of the Gods. It stated that Greeks were one of the first westerners that signed their works, which shows that they sparked a new interest with the creators and their pieces of work. Also, new techniques were formed to portray the body in ever more realistic ways than before - in action, erotic positions, and even at rest, also with animals and the believable detailing that depicts something we might see in reality. A great example is the sculpture of “Peplos Kore”. Her pose is less rigid than the earlier “kouros”, the drapery of her upper body reveals contours of her breasts and arms. The most important and the most naturalistic, is the “archaic smile”, which accents on the fact of being alive and her lips are curved upward and her cheekbones are raised in response (p.92). This artwork is almost unrealistic to me. It fathoms me that someone can actually sculpt like this and make a human or any object our of stone. It truly shows how talented and dedicated people of Ancient Greece really were. It also shows how dedicated to the human body they were as well.

Lastly, I have always been really intrigued by the architecture of Greece, ever since my 5th grade Ancient Western Civilizations project. The gracefulness and powerful image just behind the architecture alone, is incredible. The Parthenon located at the Arcopolis in Athens, built in the mid-5th century by Ictinus and Callicrates. This is one of the best known buildings in the world and one of the greatest cultural monuments. This temple expresses classical balance, proportion, and unity and it seemed to be the “role model” for future civilizations throughout Greek culture. I also find it interesting that the Parthenon was dedicated to the Greek Goddess, Athena, for her aspect of being a virgin goddess. This building isn’t like any other building, it has life and dynamics to it. To think that this building was built over 15 years, shows the dedication and the powerful building these architects wanted to portray for the world to see.

“What is beauty?” All together, I believe the ancient Greek art deserves and portrays the word “kalos”, meaning beauty. The Greeks did everything right when it came to accenting on their artwork/sculpture/architect. They didn’t simply build something and want to quickly get it done. They dedicated their time to their artwork and made sure that that it was anything but ordinary. They wanted it to be harmonious and beautiful, and they made sure to put the extra emphasis and accents on their artwork to make it more realistic and great. What does Greek art do for us? It accentuates the attractiveness and the desire we feel towards an object, it makes us feel a strong connection with the artwork. From reading this chapter, I have to say that the Greeks did a phenomenal job in inspiring other civilizations and cultures to portray beauty as well.

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arthisour-blog · 8 years ago

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Apollodoros was an ancient Athenian red-figure vase painter who was active in around 500 BCE. His name is found on two cups.

Apollodorus Skiagraphos (Greek: Ἀπολλόδωρος ὁ σκιαγράφος) was an influential Ancient Greek painter of the 5th century BC whose work has since been entirely lost. Apollodorus left a technique behind known as skiagraphia, a way to easily produce shadow, that affected the works not only of his contemporaries but also of later generations. This shading technique uses hatched areas to give the illusion of both shadow and volume.

Little is known about the actual life of Apollodorus, although he was catalogued by the notable historians Plutarch and Pliny the Elder. It was recorded that Apollodorus was active around 480 BCE; his dates of birth and death, however, are not attested in any surviving historical works or fragments of works. He was given different names by those who wrote about him. To Pliny, he was the great painter Apollodorus of Athens; therefore, it can be assumed that he lived and worked in the polis of Athens. But, to Plutarch and Hesychius, he was known as Apollodorus Skiagraphos, “the shadow-painter, named after his greatest legacy.

None of his actual paintings remain, for, due to weathering, all of ancient Greek painting have been destroyed, and the elegance and beauty of Greek art can only be viewed in the sculptures that were later copied by the Romans and architectural ruins that remain. The subjects of some of the paintings were recorded, however, by quite a number of ancient Greek historians. Pliny the Elder recorded two paintings, Praying Priest and Ajax Burned by Lightning, that resided in the ancient Greek city of Pergamon which was situated in modern-day Turkey. Other ancient Greek historians cited the painting Odysseus Wearing a Cap and also Heracleidae, a painting that referenced the descendants of Hercules. Also, one of his paintings was supposedly entitled Alcmena and the Daughters of Hercules Supplicating the Athenians.

As demonstrated by the titles of the paintings, it is probable that the majority of his works were similar to the other artists of the era in that their subject matter was most often based around the Greek gods and goddesses or other famous Greek citizens from historical epic poems that were passed on for generations in the oral tradition. The topics of his paintings may have been unimaginative and common during the time period; however, it was his ingenious technique that made him such a renowned painter. One of the major artistic techniques that Apollodorus developed was called skiagraphia, or shading in English, hence his title “the shadow-painter”. The historian Plutarch recorded an inscription above one of Apollodorus’ painting which read, “’Tis no hard thing to reprehend me; But let the men that blame me mend me.” In other words, “You could criticize [skiagraphia] more easily than you could imitate it”

The type of shading applied by Apollodorus is highly sophisticated and even today people struggle to master skiagraphia. Apollodorus used an intricate way of “crosshatching and the thickening of inner contour lines as well as the admixture of light and dark tones” to show a form of perspective. Though it expanded the use of perspective in the ancient Greek world, skiagraphia was most effective in the depiction of stationary objects such as drapery, fruit, or faces; but it was ineffective in the painting of a body in action or a spatial setting for which perspective is usually used.

Another one of Apollodorus’ greatest accomplishments did not have to do with his actual style or technique, but rather with the medium he chose. Apollodorus could very well have been one to the first well-known artists who painted on an easel as opposed to a wall which was the common action of the day.

Apollodorus Skiagraphos was originally published on HiSoUR Art Collection

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caveartfair · 8 years ago

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2,500 Years Later, Athenian Artist Gets His First Major Show

Image courtesy of Princeton University Art Museum.

After 2,500 years of wallowing in relative obscurity, an unnamed Athenian artist known as the Berlin Painter is finally getting his turn in the art world spotlight. “The Berlin Painter and His World,” which opens in March of this year at the Princeton University Art Museum, will trace the heavily influential sculptor’s life in the Athens of the early fifth century B.C. for the first time.

So why the two and a half millennia delay? The Berlin Painter may be celebrated in contemporary academic and art-historical circles. But even the most cultured Athenian likely had no clue about this artist of clay cups with red figures. That’s because Attic (Athenian) vase painters were not the wealthy or famous artists we have today.

The authors of these ancient objects now revered in museum collections the world over “were humble craftsmen,” says J. Michael Padgett, curator of ancient art at the Princeton University Art Museum. “They worked down in the potter’s corner and they were covered with mud.” Jeff Koons they were not. But these lowly, mud covered craftsmen produced an at least equally crucial visual record of a city-state that would influence both world history and art history for thousands of years.

Images courtesy of Princeton University Art Museum.

The exhibition brings together 84 vessels and statuettes in total, with some 54 works attributed to the unnamed artist who plied his trade in Athens during in the early 5th century. This was a particularly interesting time in Greek history. After a spate of tyrants (who, it should be said, were sometimes pretty cool and actually redistributed wealth), Athens was emerging as a democracy for the 40,000 or so landed men considered citizens. During the later part of the Berlin Painter’s life, the Persian Empire loomed over all of Greece, threatening his home city and other city-states with enslavement.

We don’t know much else about the biography of the Berlin Painter. We don’t know the artist’s real name��or even that he was a he. The very name he was given has nothing to do with his actual life. Rather, it was ascribed to him in 1911 by scholar Sir John Davidson Beazley after he studied an amphora (a large jar with handles) held in a Berlin museum. The object exemplified certain stylistic traits found across some 200 complete or fragmented works. This led Beazley to conclude that the group must all be the work of a single ancient artist. In a way, the Berlin Painter is less a person than a set of what Padgett calls “almost unconscious ticks and habits” that can be found in the ears, eyes, ankles, and drapery painted onto hundreds of ancient pots.

The Berlin Painter’s figures are generally lean, sharing a certain elegance and painted with a fine line. As with much Greek art, these descriptions become clearer when compared to the work of his contemporaries. Among those was the Berlin Painter’s “rival” the Kleophrades Painter, who preferred more robust figures painted in thicker lines, says Padgett. It never come to fisticuffs between the two—at least, not so far as we know. Rather they rival “for the esteem of students of Attic vase painting in this period,” said Padgett.

Image courtesy of Princeton University Art Museum.

Though the Berlin Painter was not a celebrity in his own time, he was certainly appreciated for his craft and talent. Many of his works were discovered not in Athens but in Italy, where they had been exported. There is much to be impressed with in the work of the Berlin Painter. One of his innovations was to get rid of the ornamentation, frames, and decorative borders that were traditionally found on vases of the period. The Berlin Painter’s signature red figures stand alone against black backgrounds. “It’s just their presence and action that creates the space in which they live,” said Padgett, “And they’re framed only by the contours of the vessel itself.”

A favorite work of Padgett’s exemplifies the Berlin Painter’s ability to utilize space in ways that even challenge contemporary viewers. Slated for the show is a hydria (a water jar) from the Vatican’s collection. It shows a lyre-playing Apollo flying across the sea—depicted as a wavy line replete with dolphins and fish—while sitting on a bronze tripod cauldron with wings. But what’s remarkable about the work can’t be captured through a photograph.

“When you see a picture you don’t realize the physicality of the vase it’s painted on. That has to be remembered—they’re three-dimensional objects,” said Padgett. In the piece, Apollo’s body is extended, almost horizontal, up and around the inward curve of the vase as it centers towards the neck. “Some say The Berlin Painter is violating the shape of the vase, others say that he’s brilliantly accommodating it to it—the shape being traditional, and he was doing was imposing on it a new kind of composition,” Padgett explained.

Images courtesy of Princeton University Art Museum.

This kind of artistic innovation is all the more impressive when remembering that the Berlin Painter’s work was never meant to be looked at behind plexiglass. Ancient viewers would have used his relatively inexpensive clay cups and jugs in symposia (drinking parties). Their figures would have been animated as part of normal life.

Now, the images painted on the the objects tell us about the people who once used them. Attic vase painting “offers incomparable insight into the Greeks’ beliefs, their mythology, their cult practices, funerary practices and to some extent daily life,” Padgett says. While these works don’t teleport us back in time to an agora or symposium, they certainly let us close our eyes and imagine.

—Isaac Kaplan

from Artsy News

#Artsy News

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