Awkward First Kiss: The Kiss

Awkward First Kiss
Gustav Klimt, The Kiss, 1907

Awkward First Kiss
By ELIZABETH ELLIS

Klimt’s painting evokes the comfort and pureness of the couple embracing. The Kiss was created during Klimt’s “Golden Period” where he used oil paint with layers of gold leaf when combining the Art Nouveau style with more organic forms. He leaves the couple enfolded in gold and flat patterns while highlighting the realistic form of the figures. Klimt was inspired to focus on gold a trip he made in Italy and the Byzantine style that focused on flat, depth-lacking figures and gold. Klimt combines and contrasts the two styles. He focuses on the flat patterns covering the gold to give detail to the painting, while giving a soft shadow and lightness to the realistic figures. 

His composition is linear, with the couple almost seems to jut up against the flowers and the woman’s feet forming a right angle, while the patterns he uses also following a linear direction. While the composition is very strict, Klimt softens the painting with his detailed flowers and his contrasting, harsh black lines on the man and softer circles on the woman. He also adds shadows to his gold background by adding a shimmery layer to the darker background, softening the sharp effect of the gold and linear composition and giving the painting a simultaneous modern and ethereal effect. 

The flowers surrounding the couple add a natural effect to the painting, even as Klimt uses flatter colors to emphasize the pattern. Klimt’s use of gold and full, colorful patterns adds to the emotion of the painting and the dreamy quality of the couple embracing. The quiet intimacy can be seen is the soft features of the woman’s face, eyes closed in trust and hands clasped around the man’s hand and neck. The man cradles the woman’s face delicately and seems content to just hold her. The emotions Klimt shows transcends the simple act of a kiss and shows the love and trust between the lovers.
  • 7:00 AM

Awkward First Kiss: The Kiss of Judas

Awkward First Kiss
Giotto, The Kiss of Judas, 1303
Awkward First Kiss
By ELIZABETH ELLIS

Judas and Jesus’ kiss is arguably the most awkward kiss of all time. Giotto’s painting, The Kiss of Judas, depicts Jesus and Judas in the garden of Gethsemane as Judas identifies Jesus by kissing him, alerting the Roman soldiers lying in wait to arrest Jesus. This betrayal is the turning point in Judas and Jesus’ bromance and one of the most important scenes in the Bible. Giotto emphasizes Judas and Jesus’ embrace by giving Jesus a golden halo and Judas a golden cloak. 

He balances the golden yellow at the center of the painting with the blue and red cloaks on each side of the painting. The golden spears and fire held by the Romans break up Giotto’s signature ultramarine blue sky. Giotto’s painting technique combines the Byzantine style of flat figures and affinity for gold with a more naturalistic style that would pave the way for the Pre-Renaissance. Giotto’s use of color, clothing, and ability to show characterization in his figures sets Giotto’s paintings apart from his mentor, Cimabue. His colors come through more vibrantly on his figures due to his shadows and folds in his clothing. Giotto adds depth to his painting with the placement of the figure’s feet at the bottom to show distance to combat the flatness of the figures at the top of the painting at their heads. 

Giotto tells the story in his paintings through his faces. His faces have clear, definitive emotions that clearly show each of their motivations and set each of the figures apart. Giotto’s style comes through most vibrantly with the pure emotion between Judas and Jesus, embraced and staring into each other’s eyes as soldiers come angrily into the scene. Judas’ briss, or “bro-kiss,” is considered one of the worst betrayals of all time, making it onto this list of the most awkward kisses in art history.
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Awkward First Kiss: Krishna Revels with the Gopis

Elizabeth Ellis
Unknown, Krishna Revels with the Gopis: Pages from a Dispersed Gita Govinda, 1605
Awkward First Kiss
By ELIZABETH ELLIS

This painting shows an illustration of a part of the text from the Gita Govinda. The painting has the god Krishna on the bank of a river surrounded by gopis, maids who herded cows who were known for their unconditional devotion to Krishna in the stories of the Bhagavata Purana. The text above the painting sets the scene for the painting:

"A girl with curving hips, bending to whisper in his ear,
Cherishes her kiss on her lover’s tingling cheek.
Hari revels here as the crowd of charming girls
Revels in seducing him to play."
—Gita Govinda, canto 1, verse 41

This painting, similar to the illuminated manuscripts from medieval art, shows a scene from a larger story in the Gita Govinda, a work composed by the Indian poet, Jayadeva, in the twelfth century. He details the story between Krishna and the gopis of Vrindavana, and the girl he falls in love with, Radha. The story is written in couplets grouped in eights, called the ashtapadis.

Jayadeva’s story described the Krishnu’s love for Radha, how he turns away from her, and his final return to her. His story meant to show the human soul straying from God, but eventually returning to him at the end. The painting itself is an opaque watercolor and silver on paper. The bright colors within the painting and animals bring life to it. The distinct patterns on the painting gives detailing to catch the eye. The whirling of the waves in the water, the differences in leaf patterns on the trees, and layering of the opaque skirts of the stripes all add a sense of dimension to the painting and a place for the eye to fall. The monkeys and birds in the trees add to the sense of fun and liveliness of the scene. The playfulness of the scene is shown in the bright, contrasting colors, fun patterns, and full composition. 
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Awkward First Kiss: The Stolen Kiss

Awkward First Kiss
Jean-Honoré Fragonard, The Stolen Kiss, 17
Awkward First Kiss
By ELIZABETH ELLIS

In Fragonard’s The Stolen Kiss, a young girl and boy attempt to steal a kiss hidden away in shadow. The young woman seems nervous in the painting, leaning towards the boy while refusing to make eye contact, scanning the room for anyone who could catch them in the act. The boy is hidden behind the door while trying to reel her in by the wrist. Everything in the room seems set to be romantic and dreamy; the light falls gently on the young couple, there is a softness of emotion in their faces, and the focus on clothing adds detail to an otherwise smoothness in the painting. 

Fragonard adds the sense of nervousness and intrigue to the painting by focusing on the emotion and body set of the young lady, leaning towards the boy while watching for the women at the party who could walk in at any time. Fragonard paints in the Rococo style with his attention to the detailing of the clothing. The focus on the painting goes from the smoothness of the young lady’s skin directly down to the satin sheen and heavy folds of her dress and then is drawn right by the blue-stripped cloth and shows the drama of the painting: the danger of being caught by the ladies on the far right, hidden in shadow. Fragonard’s focus on the heavy cloth extends to the pink heavy curtains on the doors, to the heavy cloth draped behind the chair, and finally ending on the embroidered, stylized rug. He adds to the intimate scene of the room by bathing it in warm light and keeping the room smaller to contrast to the darker tones of the hidden room on the right and the cool, intricate white detail of architecture above the party.

Fragonard’s painting seems romantic, but also shows the innocence of young love set in a court where gossip ruled and the emotion of the young girl shines through the cloud-like nature of the rest of the painting. 
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Awkward First Kiss: Death and the Maiden

Death and the Maiden
Hans Baldung, Death and the Maiden, 1545
Awkward First Kiss
By ELIZABETH ELLIS

We’ve all been there before: you’re dancing in the club, having a good time, when you feel some drunk guy start grinding into you from behind and grabbing at you to the beat of DJ Khalid’s new single, “I’m the One.” Your mood plummets from a twelve to about a three as you get pushed off the dance floor by the guy’s enthusiastic hip thrusts. Now imagine this time you turn around and the guy is a strangely muscular zombie-man with Trump hair and the dance floor isn’t a poorly lit room with a mass of writhing bodies but a desolate graveyard and your sequin dress has turned into a white sheet.

This is what life is like for the young girl in Death and the Maiden. Death has appeared behind her and starts to pull her into the grave burial place at the right bottom corner of the painting. Death tangles his hand in her hair to tip her face back and give her the kiss of death. He gropes at the skin by her breast which shows the tainting of the maiden’s innocent life by the plague and death spreading through Europe. As Death starts grabbing her, he grabs at the life within her as well. Her skin turns pallid and as pale as the bed sheet she wears around her waist. Her body seems to weaken from his grasp and her limbs go akimbo as she collapses. The emotional and physical turmoil within the maiden manifests itself as the bloody tears that leak down her face. This image of death and a maiden stems from the myth of the abduction of Persephone by Hades. Hades, god of the underworld, appeared from a crevice where Persephone had plucked a flower and took her to the underworld. The influence from the myth is plainly seen, as Death embodied tries to drag the young girl into her grave with his romantic advances.

For all the girls out there, remember, the  next time a guy is trying to hit it from behind in the club and fistbump you in the back of the head, he could be a ripped tan death zombie with surfer hair trying to pull you into a grave and you could be a maiden in the 1500s Germany, afraid of dying of the plague before you reach fifteen years old. So take that dude outside and bodyslam’em into an open grave.
  • 7:00 AM

Les FC Paqueté à la party

Elizabeth Ellis


Band Name: Les FC
Album Name: paqueté à la party 


Les FC are a Canadian pop punk band new onto the Quebec scene this summer.  Their name, Les FC, stands for "The French Canadiens." They're emerging with their first album, paqueté à la party (wasted at the party), that combines hard hitting beats, life of the party troubles, and French Canadian slang with songs like "Habs and Dabs" and "SCW" (Stanley Cup Woes). The album art is just as eye-catching as the songs on the album. Les FC, in an interview with Rolling Stone, said they choose the art because of the vibrant red, reminiscent of the Canadian Flag, the muscular man with the physique of a hockey player, and the sick eagle. 

This album's reignited the Canadian pop punk genre, calling back to bands like Jersey and Avril Lavigne. Their smooth song "je m'en sacre" features maple-syrupy-slow lyrics and a French chorus that will have you singing along on those late night drives. This unapologetically Canadian band will have you singing along to "Sorry, eh" while eating poutine.

Editor's Note: Students happened upon a cache of hidden records with cover art from the Baroque masters. They were charged to investigate the vinyls. The above are their findings. 


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Fray Hortensio Felix Paravicino - rte

El Greco
Fray Hortensio Félix Paravicino, El Greco, 1609
By ELIZABETH ELLIS 


In his earlier style of painting, El Greco depicts the Fray Hortensio Felix Paravicino, a famous poet and orator. It is one of his more stylized portraits, showing Paravicino head-on, his head tilted slightly to give an air of superiority with his books balanced on his hip. El Greco adds warmer tones of brown and red rather than focusing solely on colder blacks, as seen in his earlier portraits. The warm tones from the background and his books adds the glow in his skin and makes him seem more lifelike. 

The body language in the portrait and El Greco's use of rough strokes and shadows in the clothing and hair add to the emotional drama of the painting. El Greco is only beginning to develop his style with this portrait. We can start to see the emergence of his later glossy and thick painting style with the slight smudging of color around Paravicino's head and shoulders, giving his a slight glow. 

El Greco is also becoming more talented in his use of whites, making the white of Paravicino's collar brighter and highlighting his face so that the contrast between the black and white is sharper, in contrast to the rough off-white of his robe. His use of white gives the impression that the two white cloths are different types of cloth. El Greco is only starting to develop his style and talent as a painter with the portrait, as his human form is not quite lifelike, his painting style has not developed into the brighter and glossier technique he's well known for, and he has not yet pushed into more religious subjects. Still, El Greco's talent as a painter comes through in this portrait with its emotional depth seen in Paravicino's face. 
  • 7:00 AM

Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi-rte

Bernini
Bernini, Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, 1651
By ELIZABETH ELLIS

The commission of the design for the fountain meant to be at the center of the Piazza Navona furthered the intense rivalry between Borromini and Bernini. Pope Innocent X asked Borromini to engineer a new pipeline, redirecting the water from the Fontana di Trevi commissioned by Pope Urban VIII. The pope said that if Borromini could redirect the water, the commission for the design of the fountain would essentially be his, even while the Pope would hold a small competition for the commission. Upon learning about the engineering feat he would have to perform, Borrimini decided to base his design of the idea of all four rivers of the known world meeting in the fountain; the Ganges, the Danube, the Nile, and the Plata in South America. 

However, once Borromini presented the design, the pope was less than impressed. The drawing that Borromini is credited with creating was so uninspiring that some experts maintain that it was not his drawing at all. Looking to get back into the new Pope's favor, Bernini sent in his design for the fountain. His design featured the human personifications of major rivers of the four known continents of the world, even though it had been Borromini's idea to feature the four rivers coming together with a tall obelisk in the center with a dove on top. The Pope was so moved and excited by Bernini's plans that he immediately gave Bernini the commission. 

In Bernini's design, the four corners of the fountain each represented one of the rivers. In one corner there is the Ganges, represented by a man with an oar to represent the ability to move across the land on river with a dragon swimming in the water beneath him. In the next corner, there is Danube, represented by a Christian style coat of arms, a sword, and a horse emerging from the crevice underneath the obelisk. In the next corner, there is the Plata. This is likely the most recognizably different styled men. His head is shaped almost like that of a child, with his hair shaved and a curiously formed beard. He looks above and seems to almost shield himself from the snake looming, while gold coins are scattered below him to represent the wealth of the New World. 

Lastly there is the corner of the Nile. The man is pulling a cloth over his head to represent that the source of the Nile was unknown. There is a palm tree and a lion crouching in the crevice in the water. The obelisk in the center pushes up seemingly endlessly into the sky when standing at the base with a dove perched on top with an olive branch in its beak. 

Bernini was able to use his fountain to get back into the favor in grand fashion: 3,000 scudi, almost a tenth of the fountain's total cost. The Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi was the climax project of both Bernini and Borromini's careers, rocketing Bernini back into popularity and essentially finishing Borromini's career.

  • 7:00 AM

The Martyrdom of St. Matthew

Caravaggio


The Martyrdom of St. Matthew, Caravaggio, 1599-1600
By ELIZABETH ELLIS
The story of the painting is one from the Bible. Hirticus, a king, wanted to marry the niece of St. Matthew, Iphigenia. However, because she had been resurrected by St. Matthew and was an abbess of a convent, St. Matthew refused the marriage. Enraged by his refusal, Hirticus had him killed. Caravaggio was known for mixing religious devotion with the chaotic modern world, in which death, cheating, and murder happened daily.


Caravaggio's painting depicts the inside of a dark, vast church, where converts wait, undressed and prepared for their baptism. Despite the religious precedents for this painting, in which they focus on the ascension of St. Matthew as the center of the painting, Caravaggio chooses to place the assassin at the center of the painting, light falling on him, as his figure and the figure of St. Matthew form a triangle at the center of the painting. This is an odd irony; the light falls, godlike, on the killer, while St. Matthew's body seems almost ready to fall backwards into the abyss below him. As the assassin prepares the killing blow, the figures of the converted scatter and flee, while the only one to stay is the angel descending, ready to place the palm of the martyr into St. Matthew's outstretched hand.
  • 7:00 AM

Visione della Croce

Elizabeth Ellis
Image result for adlocutio giulio romano
 Giulio Romano, Visione della Croce, 1520-1524
By ELIZABETH ELLIS

Giulio Romano was scrambling for control after Raphael's death in 1520. A well-oil machine before his death, Raphael's workshop was in shambles. Artists were fighting to take control of the workshop, unable to work together. Commissions were slipping away at the same time as people doubted whether the workshop could keep producing high quality works without the master to lead them. Romano and the workshop had to prove themselves if they wanted to stay in business.

A commission came in from the court of Leo X for the Sala di Constantino. But they had some competition this time around. Michelangelo, Raphael's rival, was supporting another artist, Sebastiano del Piombo, to get the commission. Fortunately, Romano and the workshop were able to procure some of Raphael's drafts and get the commission. The artists of the workshop used some the original drawings, but most of the art was created from under Romano's influence, rather than Raphael.

The painting is scrambled, figures melting into each other, and a general chaos reigning over the scene. Romano's figures are in the classical type, bulging muscles and open body forms. His propensity for including the mythological is also in the painting, seen in the foreground where a little troll smashes a vase. Romano's theme of Roman history combined with a more present theme of Christianity extends to many of his other works as well.
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Parable of the Blind

Elizabeth Ellis
Pieter Bruegel, Parable of the Blind, 1568
By ELIZABETH ELLIS 

Composition-wise,  Parable of the Blind is a clear example of Bruegel stylistic tones and subject choices. His earthy color choices and painting techniques give a humanistic realism to the scene. He painted so that his people seem to be stepping lightly and that the entire painting is slightly translucent and light. Bruegel's composition has the line of blind men cutting diagonally across painting in the foreground. Bruegel places the Sint-Anna Church in the background and, true to Bruegel's previous compositions, has a faded horizon deep into the painting. 


Despite the religious influences of the painting, Bruegel still maintains the human empathy and feeling he is known for. Bruegel emphasizes the people, rather than the religious aspects of the painting by placing the church in the background. The painting features a scene taken from the Bible, from the Gospel of Matthew 15:14. Jesus explains, "Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit."  He uses accurate depictions of the blind in his artwork, through use of different afflictions for the figures, their use of poles, and their body language. Each of the figures has a different eye problem, including removed eyes, atrophy of globe, and corneal leukoma. Their faces are tilted upward, to make better use of their other senses, like smell. Bruegel brings to life the chosen passage from the Bible with his color choices, composition, and realistic aspects of the passage.
  • 7:00 AM

Self-Portrait Nude

Albrecht Durer
Durer, Self-Portrait Nude, 1471-1528
By ELIZABETH ELLIS

In the first full-length nude self-study, Durer portrays himself in only a hairnet or cap. There are two focus points in his nude drawing:  Durer's face and his, ah-hem, genitals capture the gaze. His muscles bulge as his gaze travels beyond the painting, a simple background giving greater attention to the whorls of lines and shadows covering his body.

What's perhaps rather ironic about his portrayal of himself is that Durer was sick in 1503, when he was creating this peace, and yet drew himself as a powerful and bold younger man. Only his face, eyes slightly sunken in and cheeks hollowed, give away any hints of sickness. Of course, Durer's obsession with drawing himself as slightly better than ideal came from even before the Self-Portrait Nude. His body and pose in Self-Portrait Nude is reminiscent of Apollo from Durer's earlier work, Apollo and Diana. In addition to this idea of being one of the gods, the practice of imitatio Christi was already popular in Europe, where artists changed their own features to take on the features of Christ.

In previous works, Durer had changed the color of his hair, the shape of his face, and placed his arms in the symbol of blessing, all to mimic Christ and bring holiness and a sense of immortality to his works and himself. The pride behind using imitation Christ fills all of Durer's works, from Adam and Eve (The Fall of Man), where Durer inserted his cartellino into the painting, to Self-Portrait, where Durer shows himself practically as Christ. His hair is darkened, and split into the style of Jesus Christ, and he wears luxurious furs. To bring all of this together in reference to his Self-Portrait Nude, I believe that rather than focusing on correct proportions, Durer gave into his ego when creating this carving. Durer drew what he knew, or thought, rather than what he saw in the mirror. 
  • 7:00 AM

The Horse Fair

Elizabeth Ellis
Rosa Bonheur, The Horse Fair, 1855
"The Horse" 
By WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS

 The horse moves
independently
without reference
to his load

 He has eyes
like a woman and
turns them
about, throws

 back his ears
and is generally 
conscious of
the world. Yet

 he pulls when 
he must and
pulls well, blowing 
fog from

 his nostrils
like fumes from
the twin
exhausts of a car. 

 Editor's Note: Students were asked to pair a poem and painting with no explanation of the connection. 
  • 7:00 AM

La Grande Odalisque

Elizabeth Ellis
Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, La Grande Odalisque, 1814
By ELIZABETH ELLIS

Dear Mom,

This year I'm gifting you with La Grande Odalisque by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres. I'll never forget seeing the work in the Louvre with you and how you proclaimed it your favorite. At the time, I thought the painting was good, unremarkable, but good. It just couldn't compare to the rest of the magnificent pieces of featuring Napoleon that lined the gallery, bright reds, wild horses, and bold detailing.

Looking back on it now, I can see why you would have liked it. Her demure gaze remarks upon your entrance into her room while also dismissing you in a single glance, daring you to criticize her nudity. She is a proud woman with her hair swept off of her slim neck, the sumptuous furs, feather fan, and thick curtains that shine, even as she shows her weaknesses: the soft curve of her back as she uses her elbow to get up and the delicate touch and shadows of her feet. She is the ultimate dichotomy of a woman, both powerful and gentle at the same time.

And finally, just so you know, an odalisque is the word for a concubine in French. I've chosen to give you this painting to put up in the living room so that whenever relatives come over, we have something to talk about that's not politics or my college search.

Your loving daughter, 

Elizabeth     
  • 7:00 AM

San Giobbe Altarpiece

Elizabeth Ellis
Giovanni Bellini, San Giobbe Altarpiece, 1487
By ELIZABETH ELLIS

Bellini wanted to create a compound experience for those who entered the San Giobbe cathedral and viewed the San Giobbe Alterpiece. His painting had to convey the intimacy of the scene within the painting and resonate throughout the church and invoke feelings of reverence, comfort, and belonging, while also showing his talent as an artist with the perspective, composition, and faithfully telling the story of the painting.

Hand gestures are a critical part of the San Giobbe Alterpiece as a way of welcoming visitors into the cathedral. Mary gazes off into the distance in an almost divine, detached way while her torso faces the viewer with her upraised hand, palm facing forward, inviting them into the church. St. Francis' outstretched hand welcomes the beholder into the scene itself to view the baby Jesus and complete the circle of saints around enthroned Mary. Mary is the protector of the painting, meant to invoke comfort and strength, while St. Francis grounds the painting, inviting the viewer into the painting and calling forth a feeling of religious belonging and simple faith.

The two levels of devotion that Bellini uses are dulia and hyperdulia to invoke the religious meaning to those viewing it. Dulia, in Roman Catholic theology, is the reverence accorded to saints and angels. He shows dulia with the half crescent of saints, from left to right: St. Francis, John the Baptist, Job, St. Dominic, St. Sebastian, and Louis of Toulouse, as well as with the angels seated at the throne of Mary. Hyperdulia is reverence reserved for the Virgin alone. By having Mary in majesty with the angels at her feet and saints facing her in reverence, Bellini shows hyperdulia. Bellini uses dulia and hyperdulia, as the San Giobbe Altarpiece is the first to be seen when entering the cathedral, and he needs to include these themes when welcoming church-goers so they enter a religiously faithful and pious state of mind.

Bellini uses the theological code for his color choices as a way of differing his saints and giving significance to the painting. The theological code, as argued by St. Antoninus, is that black represents humility, white represents purity, red represents charity, and yellow-gold represents dignity. He uses black and brown for St. Dominic and St. Francis respectively to show the faith and humbleness of the saints. He places them on opposite sides of Mary to maintain the symmetrical composition. Bellini uses the same technique for Job and St. Sebastian. Both are clothed in white, Job shown with a white beard, and St. Sebastian, clean-shaven and youthful, to keep the balance while their differences in age and body position give variety to the painting. By using yellow-gold to accent different parts of the building behind and above the throne, Bellini adds a grandeur to the painting.

Perspective within the San Giobbe Altarpiece gives an importance to the figures in the painting while also showing the depth of area within the painting. Bellini uses perspective on the painting when placing Mary on the throne in comparison to the room around her, giving her a place of importance with the light falling on her face. However, the saints in the foreground are too large next to the throne and in comparison to the pillars framing the painting. Bellini could have done this on purpose to emphasize the importance of the saints and make them more life-size next to the people viewing the painting. Through shadowing and placement of Mary, Bellini adds expanse and depth by using the pillars to hold the saints in place and provide a comparison to the shadows and space behind the throne. 
  • 7:00 AM

Art History Hotties: Gabrielle d'Estrée and One of Her Sisters

Elizabeth Ellis
Unknown, Gabrielle d'Estrée and One of Her Sisters, 1594
By ELIZABETH ELLIS

The two girls-gone-wild in the painting are Gabrielle d'Estrée, on the right, and one of her sisters, Madame de Balagny. Gabrielle, or Gaby, was one of the Henry IV's favorite consorts. The painting itself was created to showcase her new pregnancy with his illegitimate son. 

Both women have flawless ivory skin, delicate facial features, brows on fleek, voluminous perms, and, of course, surprisingly perky breasts. Gaby's sister brings attention to her sister's pregnancy as she gently pinches her nipple, signifying fertility. Another symbol of her upcoming pregnancy resides in the background of the painting as an unnamed woman sews a fashionable layette for the baby boy. These shirtless hotties are also wearing the newest trends in jewelry. They've got gorgeous pearl drop earrings paired with a ring held between two perfectly manicured fingers. Gabrielle and her sister's jewelry ensemble complements their bare chests to present an aesthetic of modern simplicity and powerful sexuality as they stare directly at the viewer, daring you to say something.  All in all, these titillating girls are the total package. 

Here I am, gently giving Gaby a twist during my excursion at the Louvre.
During my vacation in Paris, I was lucky enough to visit the Louvre. I was astounded by all of the glorious paintings and glowing statues as I traveled through six of the nine wings of the museum. Finally, exhausted after walking up an extra two flights of stairs, we stumbled through a wing that was totally empty and still in renovation and came upon this painting. The image was innovative and powerful compared to all of the ladies we had seen covered up or with their backs turned in an effort to preserve their modesty. Gabrielle d'Estrée and One of Her Sisters was the pièce de résistance to culminate our trip.

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Hercules and Antaeus

Antonio del Pollaiolo
Antonio del Pollaiolo, Hercules and Antaeus, 1470s
By ELIZABETH ELLIS

"A prince being thus obliged to know well how to act as a beast must imitate the fox and the lion, for the lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves." 
- Niccolo Machiavelli

Antonio del Pollaiolo's sculpture depicts the wresting match between Hercules and Antaeus, with Hercules lifting Antaeus, flailing and yelling, and crushing him to death in a bear hug. As a part of his Twelve Labors, Hercules had to defeat Antaeus and pin him to the ground. Antaeus, whose mother was Gaia, goddess of the earth, was invincible so long as he could maintain contact with the ground and draw strength from his mother. Hercules realized he could not defeat Antaeus by forcing him to the ground and instead lifted him into the air and crushed him to death.

In The Prince, Machiavelli gives political theory and advice about the different ways princes must act if they want to maintain power. Machiavelli argues that rulers must separate their ethics and religion from their politics. Princes should be, in a perfect world, virtuous. However, they must be willing to abandon his ideals if necessary. A prince may only seem to be merciful, honest, religious, and faithful, but he cannot have these virtues in actuality because he will have to act against them. The quote above speaks to the values princes must have: the values of beasts and men, strength and power, as well as craftiness and intelligence. The story of Hercules and Antaeus illustrates Machiavelli's point - rulers who rely only on strength or wit will be overthrown, while rulers who can use each will be successful in the end. 
  • 7:00 AM

The Three Living and the Three Dead, The Triumph of Death, The Last Judgment and Hell

Buonamico Buffalmacco
Buonamico Buffalmacco's The Three Living and the Three Dead, The Triumph of Death, The Last Judgement and Hell, 1330
by ELIZABETH ELLIS 

Buonamico Buffalmacco's The Three Living and the Three Dead, The Triumph of Death, The Last Judgement and Hell features angels carrying the fortunate away, demons casting the unfortunates into a bloody mass grave while a garden party goes on, and clergy members tucked away into the countryside while a funeral procession for royalty passes by below them. Buffalmacco's only surviving artwork predicts the Black Death that would soon come to decimate cities while those in the countryside survived. His iconography of the angels and demons reflects the thoughts at time; God was punishing people and death would overtake everyone. 

"Since prosperity has completely deserted us, O Death, you who are the medicine for all pain, come to give us our last supper." 

This phrase is written on scrolls held up by angels over the heads of beggars. It exemplifies the desperate tone of the stricken people suffering from disease, poverty, and death surrounding them in direct comparison to the levity of the youths enjoying themselves in nature and peacefulness of the religious members in the upper lefthand corner. 

Buffalmacco's painting of the group of young people in a garden in the lower righthand corner likely inspired the basis for Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron, which features a group of young adults who travel to the countryside to avoid the plague and sit around telling stories. In fact, Buffalmacco appears as a main character and trickster in three of Boccaccio's stories in Decameron.

Buffalmacco's frescoes are currently located at the Camposanto Veccio in Pisa, Italy. I am lucky enough to have been able to travel there, though I was unable to go inside the building because of renovations. I would have loved to see his frescoes and experience the contrasting imagery in person. 
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