Body worlds by Leonardo Da Vinci

I’m sure you all know about Renaissance and Leonardo da Vinci. But lets just say a few words.

Renaissance (the word rebirth in french) is basically an Italian phenomenon (Albrecht Durer is en exception being a renaissance German artist.) It was a local phenomenon that spread to the world (just the idea spread not the art)

You cross the Alps and you see that, that area was almost untouched by the Italian art. You would come across the two dimensional gothic style; illuminated works on manuscript books or glass paintings. Renaissance paintings did’t spread to world, Gothic did.

So we said the word renaissance meant rebirth but rebirth of what exactly?

Classical antiquity! You see wherever they looked people would see the heritage of Rome, remains of the almighty Roman Empire. This is what made the Italians attempt to rebirth the Roman Empire.

Today we could summarize the main achievements of Renaissance as the revival of Greco-Roman antiquity, humanism, investigation of visible reality and exploration of the world.

The third one embraces Leonardo Da Vinci and his work. Remember his scientific work? The ones he did starting from 1490? His sketches engineering projects; weapons, flying machines… and of course his sketches of  human bodies.

He was so ahead of his time. He would open up dead bodies and draw their every detail. Now doesn’t these images remind you of something? Well let me give you some more pictures.

Now even if you haven’t gone to the exhibition you must have heard The Body Worlds. The exhibition where original human bodies were frozen with a special technique called plastination. Each body were donated (not sure about the giraffe and the horse though ^^) and even now you can donate your own body (link)

Well my point is don’t Leonardo’s sketches have the same feeling to them =))

And I’m not sure if this pose was inspired from Gaspar Becerra’s sketch but they sure do look the same ^^

primitive art

The moment I skimmed this weeks reading (link) I immediately though one of Pablo Picasso’s primitive study series; Bull. But before I come to that first things first.

Cave paintings are mostly about an animal chase (either a big hunt or an animal that was so extraordinary that they couldn’t catch. and also the things which they think are sacred)

As I have taken HUM 202 I know of the cave paintings in Lascaux . At first I thought it to be a small cave but It surely is not! You don’t have to go to France to see the paintings in the cave, you can virtually wander around thanks to this website (link)

The paintings are generally in black and red. The most known Lascaux painting is of  a bison;

It is also known as “the crossed bison”

and since I will mention Picasso and his Bull series I specially want to add this particular painting, the Fifth Bull. It is located in the Hall of the Bulls.

Enough of Lascaux. On with the show! Remember Picasso? well of course you do, so you probably know his The Bull series.  It consists 11 lithographs. In this series Picasso tries to find the very essentials of a Bull.

Little by little you can see that Picasso eliminates unnecessary parts (though we can still understand that it is somehow a bull)

and voila the final version of Picasso’s bull; the essentials of a bull with just a few lines The cave paintings have always reminded me of Picasso’s Bull. Not the final version but don’t you think that the 5th or 6th version somehow reminds you of cave paintings? like the ones in Lascaux?

The Last Supper #2 Tintoretto

Located in Venice in the Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore Tintoretto’s Last Supper is probably the second most known Last Supper.  He finished the painting in two years (between 1592 and 1594)

This Last Supper is different than usual last suppers. Jesus is not in the center of the painting nor it looks like a religious scene. It is a naturalistic scene; ordinary place, ordinary event, people are just eating a meal in a pub, there is no existence of an holy atmosphere. The usual halo is replaced with a circular light (which is how the actually halo it is mentioned in the Bible)

Just like Caravaggio Tintoretto has painted a normal atmosphere, a typical pub, servants, the apostles of Jesus are distinguished by the halos (they are the supernatural ones) and the scene is actually an anachronistic setting.  A venetian pub in the 16th century, venetian servants, venetian clothing, venetian atmosphere.

There are cats and a dog in the same scene with Jesus. Tintoretto wanted to create a casual scene yet he still wanted to make it a little bit supernatural. There are angels, not your usual angels, flowing out of the lamp, like light. Not like the solid angels of Michelangelo.

 

La Gioconda

Mona Lisa (La Gioconda or La Joconde ) by Leonardo da Vinci is a portrait that is a product of many years of working, experience. Basically it is a portrait of a woman wearing Florentine clothing in 1502-1503.

Background is invented, not real. It is based on Leonardo’s careful studies on geography.

“Brownish” colors in general, kind of a sepia tone; This is typical for High Renaissance. Background is not asymmetrical but this was done intentionally. Lower and higher plan; one is celestial one is terrestrial (just like in the Last Supper there are interpretations of different worlds or dimensions, well whatever you call celestial world.) She seems to be emerging from the background, a delicate “moist” atmosphere, no drama on the background.

This painting is celebrated because of the smile. Leonardo has never done this kind of a self-satisfied smile that is so discreet.

Mythology – Gods

and now time for the gods.

Zeus: The god of all gods. He is the god of sky and heaven. The youngest son of Cronus and Rhea, Hades and Poseidon are his brothers. After he saved his brothers and sisters from the wrath of their father Cronus (Leader of Titans) he became the king and divided the world (sky, sea and the underworld) ; he became the king of heaven and gave his brother Poseidon, the sea and Hades, the underworld. It is known for these top 3 gods to fight over heaven. He is also the husband (and I forgot to mention he is also her brother ) of Hera. He had several lovers such as Cassiopea, Ceres, Calliope, Leda, Niobe… It wasn’t necessary to be a goddess to mate with him, many mortals mated with him which resulted with demi-gods. He is described as a man with long beard and hair while holding a lightning bolt. Persephone is his daughter from Demeter. Hermes was born from his relationship with Maia.

Poseidon:The god of waters (sea, rivers etc.) Brother of Zeus and Hades, son of Rhea and Cronus. He has a trident with him all the time (which appears in time of need and then disappears) He is also the god of earthquakes and creator of horses. If there was an earthquake, he was blamed for it, somebody must have angered him so he was punishing them with an earthquake (same with shipwrecks, drownings…)  His wife is Amphitrite, the sea goddess, but as every god he cheated on his wife.  He mated with Medusa (before she became an ugly snake haired woman). Pegasus (the winged horse) was born from this union. He than wanted to mate with Demeter, who changed her form into a mare just to avoid him but being a man to get what he wants, Poseidon transformed himself into a stallion and raped Demeter (aaand the horse Arion was born). From Amphitrite he has 4 children; Triton, Kymopoleia, Benthesikyme, and Rhode.

Hades: Brother of Zeus, son of Cronus. God of the underworld, ruler of death. Do not confuse him with the god of death; Thanatos. Nobody likes or worships him because he is feared and enemy of those who live. So no god, goddess or human like or trust him. He has a monster-like dog called Cerberus who guards the key to the underworld. Described as  a dark bearded man generally with a crown, a key and a scepter. He owns a helmet of invisibility and a chariot. He is known to abduct Demeter’s daughter Persephone. He tricked her to eat some pomegranate seeds (while they were in the underworld) which resulted in bounding Persephone to Hades for infinity (if you eat the food of underworld, you cannot leave, or sth like that…) Persephone was given the permission to see her mother half the year but she always returned to Hades.

Ares: The feared one, the almighty god of war and violence. Unlike Athena, he is not respected or liked, he is just feared. He is the son of Hera and Zeus. He has a bronze tipped spear, depicted generally in battle arms, golden armor, helmet etc.. The most common story involving Ares is the one with Aphrodite. He was caught in Hephaestus’s bed with Aphrodite which ended with Hephaestus humiliating him to all the Olympians. Even though he was humiliated other gods also envied him cause well the beautiful goddess Aphrodite had a huge crush on Ares. He was more than a fling of hers. When punishment for Ares were discussed every other god admitted that they would try to bed her even there was a severe punishment.

Hephaestus: Husband of Aphrodite, ugly as hell, god of volcanoes, fire, metalworking. He is the son of Hera. Depicted with a badass hammer and sometimes with tongs (representing the tools of smith). When he was born the poor god was thrown from the Mount Olympus by Hera, because he was ugly. He is constantly  cheated by Aphrodite with other men and some say also with women.

Dionysos: He is the god of wine (and also drunkenness, no surprise there). There are two opposite visualizations of him; a feminine, long haired man or an old bearded guy. Generally the effeminate image of him is known and used in books, labels… Like you recognize Poseidon because of his trident you would recognize Dionysos thanks to several items such as grapes, wine cup and also a crown of ivy (you know the leaf crown thingy) and a thyrsos.

Chronos: The god of time, keeper of time (also known as father time) or more like the personification of time. He has 2 forms, one is like an ordinary human, old man with white beard sometimes with wings and sometimes not. His second forms is of a serpentine with three heads; a bull a lion and a man. His spouse was Ananke (the personification of destiny, fate). He is not one of the Olympian gods but of Protogenoi. Meaning he is one of the first borns, the first deities born in the beginning of universe. So he is like before Zeus, Titans and all the others. Protogenoi gods are the first gods and goddesses that all the other beings descend from. Such as Ananke, Chaos, Nyx, Uranus, Gaia, Eros and many more… If you want me to write on Protogenoi just leave a comment and I’ll make a new post =)

Cronus/Kronos: He is the leader of the Titans .His father was the ruler of the universe; Uranus and his mother was Gaia. Cronus is the father of Zeus, Hades and Poseidon. He was overthrown by his sons just like he overthrew his father. He was married to his sister Rhea who was one of the Twelve Titans (apparently it was a common thing to marry your brother or sister). He is not a god but he is an important Titan (and he is the father of the most feared gods so I felt like I had to mention him)

Mythology – Goddesses

I’m quite into gods and goddess’ ^^

Hera: Generally she is known to be the queen of gods, wife of Zeus. But she is actually the goddess of marriage. She is also known for her temper as Zeus makes her jelaous all the time. She kind of hates Hercules because he was a fruit of love of Zeus and another woman.

Aphrodite: As we all know she is the goddess of love, sexuality and of course beauty. She is also known as Cyprian. She is the mother of Eros (also known as Cupid, the winged boy we all see in renaissance paintings ^^) She is never faithful to her husband Hephaestus (who by the way is very ugly, actually he is the god of volcanoes but he is known for being the ugliest god) Her lovers are not only gods but also mortals.

Athena (Nike): The goddess of wisdom. She is also a goddess of arts and crafts. She is her daddy’s favourite daughter, the god of all gods Zeus. You would remember her from the Acropolis. A very important goddess for the people of Athens (she is the patron goddess of Athen’s).  Her huge sculpture was situated in the southwest corner of the Propylaea. She is a war goddess but she focuses on strategy more than bloodshed.

Artemis: Twin of Apollo. She is a virgin like unlike Aphtodite.  She is the one you would call in need of help. The goddess of transition. She is also known to be a hunter (the virgin hunter to be exact)

Ceres (Demeter): She is the goddess grain. Also a goddess of fertility and agriculture. Thanks to her mankind  learned about agriculture. She is also the one who created winter. How she created winter well when her daughter is Persephone went missing she grieved and nothing grew, Ceres refused to do her job and that was winter for the mankind.

Selene: She is the moon goddess. Sister of Helios and Eosç She was worshiped on the days of full and new moons. She was in love with Endymion. Go watch the anime Sailor Moon it is all about Selene and the undying love of Endymion ^_~

Gaia: The goddess of earth.

Hecate (Hekate): She is an underworld goddess. Later she became the queen of underworld,she was associated with sorcery and thus she was sometimes called a  “a witch” by humans.

Illustrations by Gonzalo Arias and Neal Jany

Mucha

I know what is Leia from Star Wars is doing in a Mucha post! Well before talking about Mucha I wanted to show this amazing print of Adam Hughes; Nouveau Leia. Isn’t his work admirable? I wish to do works like this in the future (maybe I’ll add here one of my works in the future, who knows ^^) His other works are great to so make sure you visit his website.

Alfons Mucha is one of my favorite poster designer. I can not resist to collect his prints whenever I see one ^^ I like how he uses colors and how his line-art is sometimes bold and sometimes transparent and sometimes both. They are somehow a mixture of traditional and computer-made art. Doesn’t they seem (not all of them but some parts) like illustrations that one has made in photoshop ^^ The quality of his lines and the symmetry always attracts my interest.

His way of drawing fabric and hair has always made me jealous. He actually makes them flow in the paper. The gradation is always smooth, lines so perfect. It is almost impossible not to adore his illustrations.

All the information in this post will be copy paste because I wanted to add his other illustrations that weren’t in citrinitas.

“Alphonse Maria Mucha (1860-1939) is most often remembered for the prominent role he played in shaping the aesthetics of French Art Nouveau at the turn of the century. As a struggling and relatively unknown artist of Czech origin living in Paris, Mucha achieved immediate fame when, in December 1894, he accepted a commission to create a poster for one of the greatest actresses of this time, Sarah Bernhardt. Though the printer was apprehensive about submitting Mucha´s final design because of its new unconventional style, Bernhardt loved it and so did the public. ´Le style Mucha´, as Art Nouveau was known in its earliest days, was born.”

This is the famous poster of Sarah Bernhardt;

“The success of that first poster brought a 6 years contract between Bernhardt and Mucha and in the following years his work for her and others included costumes and stage decorations, designs for magazines and book covers, jewelry and furniture and numerous posters.” (link)

1860	Born in Ivančice in Southern Moravia on 24th July.
1879	Goes to Vienna to work as a theatrical scene painter.
1883	Invited by Count Khuen-Belassi to decorate his castle at Emmahof in Austria.
1885	Begins studies at the Münich Academy of Arts, sponsored by Count Khuen-Belassi.
1887	Moves to Paris to study at the Académie Julian.
1892	Commissioned to illustrate “Scenés et épisodes de l’histoire d’Allemagne” by Charles Seignobos.
1894	Designs his first poster for Sarah Bernhardt, Gismonda, a play by Victor Sardou. This success leads to a six year contract with “la divine Sarah”.
1896	Mucha’s first decorative panels “The Four Seasons” are printed.
1897	February: first one man exhibition at the Bodiniére Gallery, Paris, showing 107 works, followed in May by the Salon des Cent’s Mucha exhibition, which shows 448 works.
1899	Receives commission from the Austro-Hungarien Government for the 1900 Paris Universal Exhibition.
1900	Begins to work on designs for Georges Fouquet’s jewellery shop, one of the outstanding Art Nouveau interiors.
1902	Publishes “Documents Décoratifs”, a hand book for craftsmen.
1905	“Figures Décoratives” is published.
1906	Mucha moves to America, where he teaches and paints many oil portraits.
1910	Returns to Prague to work on the “Slav Epic”.
1911	Completes the murals for the Prague Town Hall (Obecní dům), the last major interior decoration in the Art Nouveau style in Prague.
1918	The independent state of Czechoslovakia is created. Mucha designs postage stamps and bank notes.
1921	Successful exhibition of Mucha’s work at the Brooklyn Museum, New York.
1928	The complete cycle of the “Slav Epic” is officially presented to the Czech people and the City of Prague.
1931	Commissioned to design a stained glass window for the St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague.
1939	Mucha is among the first to be arrested by the Gestapo when the Germans invade Czechoslovakia. He is allowed to return home but his health is impaired by the ordeal. 14. July, Mucha dies in Prague and is buried at Vyšehrad cemetery.