1000 Erotic Works of Genius. Victoria Charles
later). The mature goddess has just been born from the sea, blown ashore by Zephyr (The West Wind), and his abducted nymph Chloris. The stylised waves of the sea bring the shell-boat forward and counter-clockwise to The Hour waiting on the shore. The sea has somehow already provided a ribbon for her hair. Her introspective expression is typical of the central figures in the painter’s work (See Portrait of a Man (1417)). The Hour, symbolising Spring and rebirth, begins to clothe the naked, new-born goddess with an elegant, high fashion robe covered in flowers, similar to her own gown on which there are corn flowers. Several spring flowers are sprinkled throughout the scene: orange blossoms in the upper right; evergreen myrtle around The Hour’s neck and waist; a single blue anemone between The Hour’s feet; over two dozen pink roses accompany Zephyr and Chloris. Cattails in the lower left balance the strong verticals of the orange trees. Each of the figures is outlined in thin black lines, characteristic of the artist. Sometimes the artist doesn’t follow his outline, but doesn’t cover it up either; as we see along the right arm of Venus, the outline has become visible over the years.
143. Sandro Botticelli (Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi), Venus and Mars, c. 1485. Tempera and oil on panel, 69.2 × 173.4 cm. The National Gallery, London (United Kingdom).
144. Pietro Perugino, St Sebastian, c. 1490–1500. Oil on wood, 176 × 116 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris (France).
Pietro PERUGINO
(Citta della Pieve, 1450 – Perugia, 1523)
Perugino’s art, like Fra Angelico’s, had its roots in the old Byzantine tradition of painting. The latter had departed further and further from any representation of the human form, until it became merely a symbol of religious ideas. Perugino, working under the influence of his time, restored body and substance to the figures, but still made them, as of old, primarily the symbols of an ideal. It was not until the seventeenth century that artists began to paint landscape for its own sake.
However, the union of landscape and figures counts very much for Perugino, because one of the secrets of composition is the balancing of what artists call the full and empty spaces. A composition crowded with figures is apt to produce a sensation of stuffiness and fatigue; whereas the combination of a few figures with ample open spaces gives one a sense of exhilaration and repose. It is in the degree to which an artist stimulates our imagination through our physical experiences that he seizes and holds our interest. When Perugino left Perugia to complete his education in Florence he was a fellow-pupil of Leonardo da Vinci in the sculptor’s bottegha. If he gained from the master something of the calm of sculpture, he certainly gained nothing of its force. It is as the painter of sentiment that he excelled; though this beautiful quality is confined mainly to his earlier works. For with popularity he became avaricious, turning out repetitions of his favourite themes until they became more and more affected in sentiment.
145. Hans Memling, King David Spies on Bathsheba, 1485–1500. Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart (Germany).
146. Lorenzo di Credi, Venus, c. 1493. Oil on panel, 151 × 69 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence (Italy).
147. Andrea Mantegna, St Sebastian, c. 1495–1505. Tempera on canvas, 210 × 91 cm. Galleria Franchetti, Ca’ d’Oro, Venice (Italy).
148. Pier Jacopo Alari-Bonacolsi, known as Antico, Apollo, end of the 15th century. Bronze and silver, h: 54.6 cm. Ca’ d’Oro, Venice (Italy).
The sculptor Pier Jacopo Alara-Bonacolsi was called “Antico” because of the references to antique sculpture found in his work. He would have not only seen Greek and Roman statues that had recently been rediscovered and curated, but he also made copies of them and even worked on the restoration of some pieces. Classical subjects and forms inform his work. He is best known for small bronzes such as this one of the archer Apollo, a god of the Greek pantheon. Like some of the bronze statues that survive from Antiquity, Antico’s bronze are often accented with other metals, such as silver in the eyes or gilding on details. Here, Apollo’s cloak, sandals, and his golden hair are gilded, providing a decorative contrast to the duller bronze of the body. Antico took advantage of the technology of his chosen medium and sometimes cast not only the original figurine, but also copies. There are three known versions of this piece.
149. Michelangelo (Michelangelo Buonarroti), Bacchus, 1496–1497. Marble, h: 203 cm. Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence (Italy).
150. Michelangelo (Michelangelo Buonarroti), David, 1501–1504. Marble, h: 410 cm. Gallerie dell’Accademia, Florence (Italy).
151. Albrecht Dürer, Four Naked Women (The Four Witches), 1497. Engraving, 19 × 13.1 cm. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (United States).
Albrecht DURER
(Nuremberg, 1471–1528)
Dürer is the greatest of German artists and most representative of the German mind. He, like Leonardo, was a man of striking physical attractiveness, great charm of manner and conversation, and mental accomplishment, being well grounded in the sciences and mathematics of the day. His skill in draughtsmanship was extraordinary; Dürer is even more celebrated for his engravings on wood and copper than for his paintings. With both, the skill of his hand was at the service of the most minute observation and analytical research into the character and structure of form. Dürer, however, had not the feeling for abstract beauty and ideal grace that Leonardo possessed; but instead, a profound earnestness, a closer interest in humanity, and a more dramatic invention. Dürer was a great admirer of Luther; and in his own work is the equivalent of what was mighty in the Reformer. It is very serious and sincere; very human, and addressed the hearts and understanding of the masses. Nuremberg, his hometown, had become a great centre of printing and the chief distributor of books throughout Europe. Consequently, the art of engraving upon wood and copper, which may be called the pictorial branch of printing, was much encouraged. Of this opportunity Dürer took full advantage.
The Renaissance in Germany was more a moral and intellectual than an artistic movement, partly due to northern conditions. The feeling for ideal grace and beauty is fostered by the study of the human form, and this had been flourishing predominantly in southern Europe. But Albrecht Dürer had a genius too powerful to be conquered. He remained profoundly Germanic in his stormy penchant for drama, as was his contemporary Mathias Grünewald, a fantastic visionary and rebel against all Italian seductions. Dürer, in spite of all his tense energy, dominated conflicting passions by a sovereign and speculative intelligence comparable with that of Leonardo. He, too, was on the border of two worlds, that of the Gothic age and that of the modern age, and on the border of two arts, being an engraver and draughtsman rather than a painter.
152. Piero di Cosimo, Venus, Mars and Cupid, c. 1500. Oil on panel, 72 × 182 cm. Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin (Germany).
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