The Rape of Proserpina by Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, a prominent Baroque sculptor, has created plenty of brilliant works. The tradition of the Baroque period is captured best in “The Rape of Proserpina.” This essay is concerned with the detailed analysis of the given sculpture. More specifically, this paper explores techniques and materials used to create it as well as its subject matter and composition. It is concentrated on the research of the methods used by Bernini while creating his works and details that distinguish his pieces in particular. Furthermore, this paper will explore the particular stylistic and thematic features of Italian sculpture and Baroque period as a whole.
For the Baroque period, coming right after the
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“The Rape of Proserpina” was carved out of marble, which was a traditional choice in Baroque Italy. Every feature captured in stone illustrates genuine emotions and dramatic
expressions. The style of work closely followed the main features discussed earlier, but Bernini, of course, added his personal touch.
The detail of the work is uncanny; he captured the look of terror on Proserpina’s face, the moment she realizes that escape is impossible. Her pursed lips and furrowed eyebrows suggest anger, desperation, and fear. The force of Pluto’s grip on her hips leaves traces, and her forceful push does almost nothing in this situation. Pluto’s face shows precisely the opposite mood. His look reveals amusement at her struggles and lust for the fact that she revolts against his touch. Proserpina’s legs do not touch the floor, you can see the exact moment of movement, when the god was capturing her,
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The patron acknowledged Bernini’s talent, while he was still young. Many of his most famous works were created under the patronage of Cardinal Borghese, “The Rape of Proserpina” included. The Classical motives in art were popular among the patrons, as it was fashionable to be educated and sophisticated enough to have knowledge of classical mythology. After the order was finished, the sculpture stayed in Borghese’s possession for a little while. However, hoping to content his nemesis, Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi, Borghese gifted him with “The Rape of Proserpina.” Now it is one of the prominent showpieces displayed in the Galleria Borghese (former Borghese villa) in
Brunelleschi’s mysterious design touched their imagination. As a boy, during his goldsmith’s apprenticeship, he mastered drawing and painting, wood carving, sculpture in silver and bronze,
The Ecstasy of St. Theresa was created by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and is found in the Cornaro Chapel. This sculpture illustrates many aspects of Counter Reformation architecture: different ecclesiastical orders, use of saint, intercession, and dramatic use of lighting. Since intercession was depicted in Bernini's work, it didn’t evade scrutiny of the actual Inquisition. The Counter Reformation Church used this so that they could monitor all of the religious art. They did this to make sure that it followed the correct guidelines of the Council. Another aspect that Bernini’s sculpture demonstrated was the Council's desire for emotions to be shown to the viewers.
In this essay, the difference between Northern Baroque and Italian Baroque styles of painting, the differences between a male and a female interpretation, the narrative differences, and the psychological dilemmas they present to the viewer will be discussed.
When he was a boy, he might have apprenticed as a goldsmith and then entered the studio in Florence of Fra Filippo Lippi who taught him to paint. By his forties, Botticelli was a master and contributed to the decoration the Sistine Chapel (Artble). He was one of the greatest poets of the line and the drawing. It is worth to mention the excellent technique and the fine materials used to achieve the work (Birth of Venus by Botticelli). In this paper, I will be talking about one of his best known works “The Birth of Venus”. This piece depicts a nude woman emerging from the sea, standing on a sea shell shyly covering her genitals with her beautiful long golden hair and her right her covering her breasts. There two winged figures on her left wrapped around each other leaning towards her which draws the viewer’s eyes towards the goddess Venus and on her right, there is another female that it looks like if she is trying to help Venus cover herself. Venus is depicted incredibility beautiful with smooth and pale skin. Her curves, thick legs and arms and her pudgy belly depict her as the ideal beautiful female form of that time. In this piece, we can see that Venus is placed in the center while the other figures are placed on her sides looking at her. Botticelli uses lighter colors in the middle and to paint Venus while using darker colors around it making Venus the main focus. It is believed that Botticelli would have known of Polizanio’s poem when he painted this piece (Birth of Venus by
This paper will compare the themes found in the paintings “Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist and an Angel” by Domenico di Bartolomeo Ubaldini (Puligo) and “Madonna Enthroned” by Giotto. Both paintings deal with fables from the Christian faith but were executed during different periods in art. The Giotto painting was created around 1310 and the Puglio painting was executed between 1518 – 1520. Here, these two paintings have similar themes both at the extreme beginnings and endings of the Italian Renaissance, and as such they serve to present an exceptional example of the developments in art that occurred within that time. This paper shall compare
Peters basilica, and other famous works. Bernini sculpted a portrait of the wife of Matteo Bonarelli, who was his studio right hand man. This was Bernini’s only non-commission private portrait and possibly the first portrait of a middle class woman for the time period. The sitter was Costanza Bonarelli and was sculpted with marble in the late 1630’s. Gian Lorenzo Bernini is one of the most well known sculptors and the back story of the relationship between Bernini and the sitter is interesting. Bernini fell madly in love with Costanza Bonarelli, who at the time was married to his assistance. The passion Bernini had for the sitter is expressed all throughout the bust. Her head is slightly turned, eyes wide open, and lips just slightly parted. Bernini does an excellent job of catching the sitter right in the moment, he illustrates her not in a pose but in real life reaction to express the passion and life in the bust. Bernini creates movement in sculptures, in this bust he does it through her hair and clothes. Her dress is wrinkled, un buttoned, and blowing revealing her chest. Bernini has a painterly effect to the sculpture, almost as if it is a sketch. The loose blouse is suggestive and accentuates the passion, Bernini creates a strong emotional figure. Bernini’s infatuation did not stop at the extremely sensual bust of Bonarelli, but there was a rumored affair and a drama filled falling out between the two. Bernini using sensual and movement in a sculpture was new and many others tried to imitate
In the 17th century working with materials such as marble was no easy task considering the limited number of tools that were available at that time. Many people when they think of a sculpture imagine Michelangelo’s David standing composed in a stiff, thoughtful, contrapposto pose. However, Michelangelo was not the only sculptor in the 17th century who was able to create beautiful works from such cold-hardy stone. Gian Lorenzo Bernini, born around ten years after Michelangelo’s death, was also a 17th century sculptor who expounded on Michelangelo’s skill, ideas, and execution of marble material. In Bernini’s works he was able to add movement, intensity, and a sense of push and pull amongst the figures that were formed from the marble.
Twelve years after the last session of the Council of Trent initiated the slow transition to the Baroque period, Guido Reni was born. The boy from Bologna would grow to become one of the predominant figures of this period that came into existence when he was a teenager. As a classicizing Baroque artist, the almost divine grace and elegance that Reni is able to portray in his artwork marks his presence and contributions to the Baroque era essential, even as his style and the expectation of artists developed and changed. Born to Ginevra Pozzi and music master Daniele Reni during the Holy Year of 1575, Guido Reni was thoroughly immersed in the arts from a young age.
Primavera is a painting developed by Botticelli in 1482 with the help of allegorical styles. The work was produced in the Italian Renaissance expressing different practices of the Italians from the family unit to the royal house. The method employed in this painting is quite difficult and uncertain to understand. The difficulty comes from a mixture of religious and secular features resulting in confusion on the entire picture. However, the use of various features such as meadow flowers, blending of colors, and poetic nature of the work and elegance of the images has made the artwork mesmerizing worldwide. The work clearly brings out a humanistic meaning, explaining how man has his life intertwined between the physical and the spiritual (Orchestra 271 &Fossi 1).
The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance – Aristotle. And this saying goes for Pietro Lorenzetti, Enthroned Virgin and Child with a Kneeling Donor and Angels. It is an Italian Proto Renaissance and International Gothic painting, painted on wood with tempera. The focus of this piece is on its religious meaning and significance rather than on depicting an accurate scene. We see this by the colors used and the positioning of the characters and who they are. As well as the reasoning being, this work was commissioned.
He adds a story to his portrait, and has intense detailed style to the face of the sitter without losing beauty and passion. Finelli’s bust is elegantly beautiful, but is not done natural. Finelli fails to focus on anything about his sitters face which leaves her looking like just another wealthy woman with no depth to her. Algardi adds detail to the face of his sitter, but instead of portraying at her best moment, takes a naturalistic approach which makes the portrait unflattering. Bernini added detail needed, but still managed to make the portrait look like the best version of the sitter. Although, this may represent the beauty of the sitter more than the skill of the artist. Bernini, Algardi, and Finelli are all infatuated with detail, this is what makes their portraits stand out from all of the others. These are some of the first portraits of woman sculpted, and it is fitting to the time that the focus on detail is used on accessories or sexuality. The artists focus on detail, but each to different parts of their works to create different qualities. Finelli has fine detail to accessories, and intrinsic drill work. While Bernini is at the other spectrum, detail to face but faster drill work, and Algardi falls in the middle of this. Bernini, Algardi, and Finelli are all well respected and each bring their own unique style to baroque period, but Bernini goes above and beyond. Bernini’s
Our first piece of art, on the left, is titled Rape of a Sabine by Giambologna in 1583. This is a three-dimensional sculpture that has many curves and points of view. You can circle around this sculpture and find aspects of it you couldn’t visualize at one point. The faces of the sculptured men and woman have a look of despair, sorrow, and misery that create for a very dramatic piece. Rape of the Sabine tells a story of roman men seizing Sabine women to marry them in order for the city of Rome to grow and become more powerful than it was.
Please allow me to introduce myself. I am a former high school student of the Art Institute of Treviso, and a former college student of Nullo Pirazzoli and Manfredo Tafuri-- professors at the Institute of Architecture of Venice, valuable historians, and your estimable colleagues in books such as The Renaissance Portrait: From Donatello to Bellini, and Heresy, Culture, and Religion in Early Modern Italy: Contexts and Contestations. Those books along with your books Il Sogno della Pittura and L ’Italia delle Meraviglie are priceless treasures of our Italian culture. I thank you for writing those inestimable treasures—valuable books for college students and for art teachers. Even now that I live and
This paper will compare the themes found in the paintings "Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist and an Angel" by Domenico di Bartolomeo Ubaldini (Puligo) and "Madonna Enthroned" by Giotto. Both paintings deal with fables from the Christian faith but were executed during different periods in art. The Giotto painting was created around 1310 and the Puglio painting was executed between 1518 1520. Here, these two paintings have similar themes both at the extreme beginnings and endings of the Italian Renaissance, and as such they serve to present an exceptional example of the developments in art that occurred within that time. This paper shall compare
The details of the sculpture itself are awe-inspiring. The indention Bernini made of Pluto’s fingers into the flesh of Proserpina's thigh appears to be realistic. The tears carved into Proserpina’s face also give the element of realism and the added depth of just how much she is struggling to break free. Although, the myth of Pluto and Proserpina is fake, after viewing the sculpture one would think Bernini carved this event as he watched it happen. Bernini had