Abstract This paper explains that BattistaSforza, Duchess of Urbino, was very much a woman of her time; she encapsulated all the ideals of the Renaissance. The author stresses that, although women were restricted from activities outside of traditional women's activities, she eagerly devoured all that learning had to offer, patronized great artists, and corresponded with brilliant men like Leonardo Bruni. The paper relates that, most significantly, she taught other women that, not only could they run their own lives and make their own decisions, they could contribute to the world around them and on their own terms.
From the Paper "In other words, the arts of rhetoric and reasoned debate are a waste of time for women, simply because women have no place in the "forum" i.e. in public life. The woman who spends her time studying all the techniques of public speaking, who learns all the special phrases, the emotional pauses and gestures, the persuasive powers of yelling loudly or speaking in a faint, but meaningful whisper will have accomplished absolutely nothing. A woman's rhetoric is like the sound of a tree falling in an uninhabited forest ? it makes a loud noise, but there is no one around to hear it."
Abstract This paper compares two paintings, the Altarpiece known as "Madonna and Child with Saint Roch and a Donor" by the Master of Sforza (c. 1460), and the "Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist" by Giuliano Bugiardini.
An analysis of Christian iconographic symbolism in the Mannerist Movement within Giovanni Battista di Jacopo's (Rosso Fiorentino) 'Allegory of Salvation' with the Virgin and Christ Child.
1,575 words (approx. 6.3 pages), 4 sources, 2006, $ 62.95
Abstract This paper discusses how the biographical account of Rosso Fionrentino's artistry has been conveyed through the painting Allegory of Salvation with the Virgin and Christ Child. By realizing the growing rift between classical painters and the new Mannerism of the High Renaissance, one can realize how the various anatomy, form, color, and lighting play into the intellectual stylistics of this work. The paper further discusses how the symbolic representation of Mary and Jesus becomes a distorted and often bizarre account of the Bible, which seeks deeper intellectual qualities that depict a more abstract religious experience.
From the Paper "This art study will examine the nature of Mannerist painting within the work of Giovanni Battista di Jacopo's (Rosso Fiorentino) "Allegory of Salvation with the Virgin and Christ Child." By realizing the painter's biographical background, one can realize the Christian symbols and motifs that reside within this painting. The sense of In comparing this painting to his other works, the Mannerist dictates of style often allowed these deviations from form and anatomy, which Mary and Christ invoke in this work. Although this work would be considered of his middle period, the trends in his painting did not deviate too far from the Mannerism that he enjoyed so much in his stylistics. "
Abstract This paper discusses how Giovanni Battista Moroni's "Gian Lodovico Madruzzo" and Francisco de Goya's "Portrait of General Jose Manuel Romero" exhibit a number of similarities and differences. It looks at how both paintings depict a similar type of subject in the same medium of oil on canvas as well as how, despite these similarities, the paintings are quite different in terms of style and the ways that the subject is shown. More specifically, the paper relates that Moroni attempts to show the personal side of his subject while still maintaining respectability. but Goya emphasizes the military and social role of his subject by minimizing his subject's surroundings and maximizing the subject's image within the framed portrait.
From the Paper "The posing of each figure is also important and is closely related to their placement. The long robes of Moroni's subject are most effective in a standing subject. Here, he poses without implied action of any sort, allowing the long lines of the robe fabric drape naturally around his person. His hands are visible, with his left hand pointing slightly to extend the lines of his arm, again lengthening him within the canvas. Much of the positioning of the subject is done to improve his image within the painting. Much more simply, Goya's subject stands in a formal military pose with his right hand tucked into his sash. This very clear and simple pose does well to again emphasize Goya's ambivalence toward his subject as he attempts to paint him as he truly appears. "
The paper discusses Evelyn Welch's illustration of the history of art and architecture during the rule of the two dynasties, the Visconti and Sforza, in her book, "Art and Authority in Renaissance Milan."
1,560 words (approx. 6.2 pages), 0 sources, 2001, $ 51.95
Abstract This paper examines the tensions and arrangements between the city government and the court in Evelyn Welch's "Art and Authority in Renaissance Milan." Images are used to legitimize the authority of the dukes as well as the details of the multitude of problems that occurred during the constructions of the monumental cathedral of Santa Maria Maggiore, the Ospedale Maggiore, and the Castello di Porta Giovia along with the grievances that the artists and architects had with the Milanese court and government.
From the Paper "In the first chapter, Welch discusses the images that were used to claim authority in Milan. Unlike the King of France, the signori of Milan in the fourteenth and fifteenth-century could not declare their authority as God-given. The Milan rulers, from the first duke (Gian Galeazzo Visconti) to the last (Ludovico Maria Sforza), used various sources of confirmation of their position from distant papal or imperial investitures. But the most effective means of imposing authority over the Milanese citizens and residents of the surrounding countryside was to produce countless images that asserted ducal ownership of buildings, works of art, and people. Some of these images took the form of family arms, portraits, and color codes. Bridges and towers were branded with a coat of arms when absorbed under new dominions. Some signori asserted their authority with equestrian portraits. Images were represented differently in art and literature depending on the audience and the time. Art was used as a collaborator for political control (which was not uncommon). There was a constant transition in leadership. Two dynasties controlled Milan - the Visconti and the Sforza. The Viscontis, native Milanese, were based in the surrounding countryside. The Sforzas, originally mercenary soldiers, were from the Romagna and acquired their rights over Milan through a marriage to the daughter of the last Visconti duke. In art, historical armed conflict was disguised. Successive rulers changed ancestral histories. A leader that became powerful through tyranny was transformed as reverent. But regardless of even great court commissions, the images of authority were only effective if their audiences were predisposed to accept the court's authority. There was a reciprocal relationship between the art and the audience. "
Tags: photographs, buildings, paintings, sculptures, other, items, greatly, enhances, story
Abstract Impelled by a mixture of motives, republican Italy seized control of the northern coast of Libya in 1911-1912. This research paper discusses the colonization of Libya by Italy between 1911 and 1943 and the implications of that process for contemporary Libya. The paper also discusses the current status of relations between the two nations.
From the Paper "To the Italians' consternation, the Young Turks in Constantinople resisted the Italian invasion. They dispatched an able young officer, Mustafa Kemal, to organize defenses inland from the coastal beachheads initially seized by the Italians. Preoccupied with the threat posed by the First Balkan War and aided by the intervention of the great powers, Turkey under the Treaty of Ouchy of October 1912 granted independence to Tripolitania and Cyrenaica while Italy simultaneously announced their annexation. A six year war then followed between the Italians and Tripolitanian nationalists and bedouin (Sanusi) tribesmen in Cyrenaica. Italian forces in Libya suffered many defeats at the hands of the Sanusi in Fezzan in the southwest and in the central Sirtica desert. Metz (1989) said "Italian forces [in Libya] at the end of World War I were still confined to the coastal enclaves, sometimes under conditions of siege" (p. 25)."
Abstract Niccolo Machiavelli is often credited with either advocating republicanism or despotism. This paper argues that he was first and foremost advocating radical revolution for a potential Italian state. By comparing Machiavelli's writings in "The Discourses" and "The Prince" with the works of Max Weber, Freidrich Nietzshe, Vladimir Lenin and Napoleon Bonaparte, this paper displays the radicalism advocated in his 16th century works. Furthermore, it links an important level of influence between Machiavelli and the aforementioned authors.
From the Paper "The creation of a nation-state is the first obstacle in implementing Machiavelli's next more explicit goal, the end of reliance upon foreign mercenaries. As implied, only an Italian state could provide the resources needed to field the manpower requirement to shift from mercenaries to citizen-militias. Machiavelli's ideas about the utility, and experience during the Florentine Republic, of implementing citizen-militia armies was a relatively new notion in Europe. While a shift from medieval knightly warfare began to occur across the continent prior to Machiavelli's writings, the contemporary idea of an entirely conscripted citizen-militias appears to be relatively original. Machiavelli's assumptions seemed logical after his observation of the contemporary Italian situation in which mercenary armies have so defined peninsular warfare. These armies were treated as independent actors and therefore developed new customary rules of engagement. This left the peninsula at a severe disadvantage when it encountered the armies of the other European nation states."
Abstract This paper explores the works of Leon Battista Alberti, Adolf Loos, and Jennifer Bloome and compares and contrasts their opinions on combining different forms of art and architecture. It also examines why it is important for architecture to be aesthetic and practical.
From the paper:
"According to the AOL World Book Encyclopedia's definition of
architecture, architecture is an art form like painting or poetry writing. However, architecture is not entirely like these arts in its practice. The World Book states one of the essential differences between architects and other artists is the fact that while other artists have a certain amount of creative control in the fashioning of "rough drafts" of their work, architects face additional constraints because their work costs so much money to fashion."
From the Paper " Though both Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472) and Victor Marie Hugo (1802-1885) looked to the past for examples for contemporary architecture, they approached the problem in a completely different spirit. Where Alberti, the Renaissance architect and theorist, wished to impose greater rationality on architecture, and on the disorder of the Medieval city, Hugo, the Romantic novelist, saw a need to remain true to the organic, homogeneous nature of the city of the Middle Ages. The two men were similar in their perception of the Medieval city as an example of uncontrolled growth. But they placed an entirely different value on this fact. Anthony Blunt's remark about Renaissance classicism sums up this difference: "in architecture the revival of Roman forms was used to create a style which answered to the demands of human reason rather than to the more.."
A discussion of three artistic styles - Catholic, Protestant, and academic art - that show different aspects of the artistic concerns of the Baroque era.
Abstract This paper examines different styles within the Baroque era focusing on three major types: Catholic, Protestant, and academic art. The paper then discusses an example of each type of artistic style. The first is Dutch art of the Protestant Reformation, best represented in the works of Rembrandt van Rijn, especially his important work the "Christ Preaching". The paper explains that the second painting is representative of the Catholic Counter-Reformation, embodied in the work by Jacopo da Empoli called "Three Maries at the Tomb" (1570s). The paper then points out another style that is identified with academic traditions in Italy and France, with examples shown in classical, academic landscapes and allegorical personifications, as in Giovanni Battista Passeri's "Musical Party in a Garden" from the 1640s, oil on canvas. The paper further explains that this differs in that there is no religious iconography or scriptural subject matter in the scene described by the title, set on the outskirts of Rome. The paper concludes that religion was an inspiration and a subject matter, and the particular theological background of the era contrasted Protestant and Catholic images, often of the same biblical passages, and that the academic interest was more in the formal structures of art.
From the Paper "The religious subject matter is common in the Baroque era and is treated here in a rather formal style. Rembrandt was noted for his etchings and his drawings, and they are noted for their spontaneity and immediacy. He used drawing first as a means of studying the visual world and of storing motifs for use in paintings and etchings. More than this, though, he saw drawing as an art for its own sake. His draughtsman ship was marked by linear and tonal accents such as are seen in the Self-Portrait and again in Christ Preaching, with both marked by the careful formation of tonal accents, seen here especially in the clothing worn and in the relationship among the numerous people in the audience and Christ, standing in the center of the frame with hands raised as he explains some concept to the throng."
Abstract This paper compares William Shakespeare's "Othello" with Cinthio's (Giovanni Battista Giraldi) story, "Gli Hecatommithi." The paper compares the themes of the two works and contrasts the way the works are focused on either the characters or the plot. The paper concludes that "Othello" was created by Shakespeare under the heavy influence of "Gli Hecatommithi."
From the Paper "In Gli Hecatommithi and Othello both Desdemona and Othello used poor judgment and allowed themselves to be under Iago's spell. Both failed to think for themselves or to use reason in assessing each other's actions. Both acted in extremes and failed to take a more reasonable route. Both loved with all their hearts, and it is clear that Othello sought vengeance in the end stemming from his love for Desdemona. Cintho's story ends differently than Shakespeare's, having the Ensign tortured and the Moor banished. Shakespeare's story ends with Othello's suicide and the reinforcement that he will always be an outsider with his speech about the Turks. However, both end tragically and seemingly almost abrupt, leaving curiosity about the fate of the other characters up in the air."
