Month: September 2019

Sir Anthony Van Dyck

Flemish painter anthony Van Dyck was greatly inspired by old master Titian. He specialized in portraiture, european aristocratic portraiture, and paintings with italian religious and mythological themes. He was also an accomplished etcher but is more commonly known for his paintings during the Baroque movement. His talent was noticed early on in his life, at the age of 17 he was already finishing full paintings. He worked mostly in Genoa but traveled extensively for work and doing portraits for King James I of England and other royal families.

Van Dyck liked to work with models in fabrics that reflected light rather than absorb it like different types of silk. Most of his models were known to wear the Van Dyck beard, a popular style of the time that was later named after the facial hair most of Van Dyck’s portrait subjects were known to have.

To many, the Nile River is nothing more than an icon of egypt alongside the pyramids, but to ancient Egypt it was a vital lifesource and ruler. After the last ice age Africa had a much wetter climate then we know today. Over time it began to dry out, previously thriving lands were now uninhabitable pushing civilization closer together in search of water. Where they had settled was what we now what we call Egypt. Egypt being surrounded by the nile river had life that wasn’t just living, but flourishing. 

Although the river seemed like a blessing it easily proved itself difficult to farmers often leaving communities famished. Later early Egyptians created an irrigation system which proved useful for more predictable farming and crops for the future. 

Pharaohs were believed to be appointed by Horus, the god of the sky. Pharaohs were in charge of the distribution of crops, were the “…political and religious {leaders}” and the defenders of their city in battle (4). The Nile  River played a huge role in the lives of the people of the time and was a ruling factor in the decisions made by the Pharaohs as the Nile controlled the success of crops and wildlife. Without the Nile River Egyptian civilization would be barren from the fruits of history leaving the rich egyption history behind.

– Hans Holbein –

Hans Holbein was born in Augsburg Germany in 1497 and is one of the more accomplishes painters of the 16th century. His artistic talents were passed on from his father at a young age. Early in his career he mainly painted religious subjects, designed stained glass and was know to do some metalwork and jewelry. Holbein travelled often to Italy or France for work and produced many frescos during this time in his life. He followed his career in London in 1532 and in 1535 he was the painter for King Henry VIII and painted one of his more notable pieces Portrait of Henry VIII later in his life. He died in London of the Great Plauge. 

-Fra Fillippo-

Born in 1406, Fra Fillippo was an Italian painter known for his paintings and fresco’s as apart of the Early Renaissance movement. He took heavy influence after painter Masaccio in his early work. Later his work had created interest from the Medici family and later was commissioned by the Medici family to do The Annunciation and the Seven Saints. Fillippo mainly specialized in religious paintings (e.g. Madonna and child ) but also was a skilled illustrator and created many larger scale paintings in his time.