Download ITALIAN ART (13th-18th centuries) (part 2)

ITALIAN ART (part 2)
The greatest painter and the head of the Venetian school was Titian. The
Hermitage possesses a number of splendid paintings by Titian of his later
period. One of them is Danae. According to the myth the oracle predicted
that Danae's father Acrisius, the king of Argos, would die at the hands of his
grandson. Acrisius locked up his daughter in a bronze tower. But he couldn't
escape his fate. The god Zeus, charmed by Danae's beauty, entered her
chamber in the form of golden rain.
Titian was attracted by the chance to show the great power of love and to
praise the beauty of the human body. In the picture he affirms the humanist
idea of the right to love and happiness.
Among the other works by Titian in the Hermitage are the Repentant Mary
Magdalene and Saint Sebastian.
(your story about one of the two paintings)
The features of Renaissance art are expressed in the work of one of the
greatest masters of Italian painting, Raphael (1483-1520). There are two
pictures by Raphael in the Hermitage: the Madonna and Child (or the
Conestabile Madonna) and the Holy Family.
(your story about the Conestabile Madonna)
In 1504 Raphael, already one of the most famous Italian masters of painting
despite his youth, moved from his native Umbria to Florence. There he
became acquainted with Leonardo da Vinci and other Florentine artists,
whose paintings influenced Raphael's work. The picture is marked by the
simplicity of composition and delicate light and shade effects. While the
Conestabile Madonna is calm and lyrical, the Holy Family is monumental
and even ceremonious. The harmony of the figures, their spiritual beauty and
greatness are revealed in the picture. Saint Joseph was traditionally depicted
as a bearded old man, but Raphael portrayed him without a beard, because the
Florentines did not grow beards at that time. That is why the picture is known
as the Madonna and Child with Beardless Joseph.
Michelangelo Buonarroti was the great sculptor, architect, painter and
poet of the Renaissance. The Hermitage possesses his sculpture the
Crouching Boy. It was made to decorate the tomb of the rulers of Florence –
the Dukes of Medici. This is the only work by Michelangelo in Russian
museums. The sculpture was purchased by Empress Catherine II in 1785.
The sculptor created an expressive figure. The head is bowed and you can
hardly see the face, but the back and tense body muscles create an impression
of physical strength and self-discipline, an effort to overcome the pain.
During the crisis of the Renaissance, when Michelangelo realized that the
humanist dreams of man's freedom were not to come true, he turned to
dramatic figures. They no longer possess the calm and harmony that were in
the works of Leonardo and Raphael. Michelangelo's heroes are engaged in a
struggle and often are unable to overcome the hostile forces.