get to know the world

During my virtual tour in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid, Spain. I noticed this self-portrait of Rembrandt , wearing a hat and two chains. Among all of the beautiful arts in the museum, my somatic reading of this self-portrait is that the figure is static, calm, and have high social status. When I did more research on Rembrandt. His  life story from being the most successful artist that all aristocrats want in  Amsterdam  to bankrupt and die in poor. Rembrandt's art and his life story has impacted on how I understand art, and he also had huge impact on the Northern Renaissance.                                                                    Self-portrait wearing a hat and two chains  Harmensz. Van Rijn Rembrandt, c. 1642-1643       oil on panel, Museo Nacion...

I have select Susanna in the Marriage of Figaro .  Susanna is a maid to the Countess, and she is Figaro's fiancee. Figaro is also a servant in the count's house. I chose Susanna is  because she is smart, intelligent, honorable and witty. She knows that the count has evil thought about her, and she is brave to convince Figaro not taking the room next to the count. Susanna also told the Countess of the Count's intentions towards her. In order to prove it, she carefully protect herself without Count forbid she to marry Figaro. Susanna created a conspire against the Count, to prove his evil thoughts, and she is successfully married to the person she wants, Figaro.  In the Marriage of Figaro, it demonstrate the inequality in woman's right, and women holds low social status in the Middle Age. For example, Susanna is not allowed to marry Figaro unless her uncle allows it.  The satire is when Susanna told Figaro that the count wants driot de seigneur. Figaro was shocked and ...

I read the journal article " Caravaggio and Vasari's Lives" wrote by Sharon Gregory. IN this article, Gregory first summarized Caravaggio's biography and highlighted why Caravaggio is different compared to the contemporary High Renaissance artists. Then, Gregory discussed Caravaggio’s intense realism and tenebrism artistic style by listing his artworks, lastly, Sharon Gregory expressed her opinion that Caravaggio was, instead, competing on his own terms with artists whose fame was assuredl to this end, he responded to passages in Vasari’s Lives. ( Gregory 172).                                                                                                                          ...

In Martin Conway's article 'A portrait of Henry VIII," it described a portrait of the King of England Henry VIII as: "No other example of this type of portrait of the King is Known, so far as I have been able to discover (Conway 42)." It matched with my semester theme which is art is one of the most important humanity.  Henry VIII (28 June 1491 -28 Jan 1547) was King of England. He reigned 38 years in England from 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry was the son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. He was well educated and had earned a lot of title when he was young. However, he was never expected to become king because his older brother Arthur was the successor of the Henry VII. However, Arthur dead so Henry became the successor of their father, Henry VII. In 1509, Henry VII died and Henry VIII succeeded him as king. During Henry VIII's 38 years reign, people liked him. Per the six wives of Henry VIII wrote by Dr. David Starkey, he stated that Henry VIII was ...

In the book of Hamlet, written by English writer William Shakespeare . It is a story about Hamlet, the prince of Denmark returned back home due to his father, the King of Denmark, was dead. His uncle Claudius became the new King and marry to the old Queen. The old King became a ghost and told Hamlet the truth of his death and wanted Hamlet to take revenge on Claudius.                                  A scene from Hamlet, the ghost is telling Hamlet about his murder (Act I Scene 4) Hamlet started to act crazy and broke up with his girlfriend Ophelia  to confirm that Claudius is the murderer. He confirmed that Claudius is the killer of his father; but he accidentally killed Ophelia's father Polonius. Claudius exiled Hamlet to go to England. At the meanwhile Ophelia suicide because of her father was killed by her lover Hamlet, and Hamlet was exiled.  When Hamlet sneak back to Denmark, he got cha...

Albert Durer (1471-1528) was one of the most influential artists in German Renaissance. He was specialized in woodcut printmaking and engraving. In this blog, we will first discuss Albert Durer's career, then we will discuss his contemporaries artist Raphael (1483-1520) from Italy and  Matthias Grunewald (1470-1528) from German. Lastly, we will summarize how Albert Durer impact the Northern Renaissance. Like  Cunningham  said: Durer was strongly influenced by Italian artistic styles and , through Italian models, by Classical ideas. ( Cunningham  335).                                        Albrecht Durer (1471-1528), Self-Portrait, c. 1500 Durer visited Italy twice and he learned the new technique of linear perspective there. Also, Italian Renaissance humanism had impacted on Durer. He  developed his idea of woodcuts and engraving.  Cunningham ...