High Renaissance Essay Example for Free

High Renaissance Essay High Renaissance art in Florence, Italy did not last very long, but made an enormous impact on the art world. In the paintings of this era, artists put emphasis on personality and the mental state. Perspective, classical cultures, and anatomy were of a greater interest to the artists of this era. The analysis of Guido Renis Portrait of Cardinal Roberto Ubaldino, Papal Legate to Bologna, Leonardo Da Vincis Mona Lisa, Michaelangelos David, and Raphaels Baldassare Castiglione could offer insight into the paintings of the High Renaissance artists in Italy with respect to personality and the mental state, detail, and use of color. â€Å"High style† was the mainstay of this period of the Renaissance. High style art was characterized as the idealistic, perhaps heavenly. High style had a respect for ancient imperial standards of wealth, magnificence, and grandeur. (Emison, xxx) During the Early Renaissance, artists had to choose between realism and spirituality. During the Early Renaissance, figures were painted to look so real that many thought they lost their spirituality. From then on, an artist had to choose to either make his figures realistic or spiritual. When the High Renaissance began, Leonardo Da Vinci believed that an artist did not have to make that choice. For example, when Da Vinci painted the Last Supper, he made the figures in his painting realistic, however the figures had an undeniable spirituality about them. Da Vinci did not choose between realism and spirituality, he used both. (â€Å"High Renaissance†) The High Renaissance lasted from about 1490 to 1530. This era unfolded amidst a fury of mounting political and religious tension. This affected artists, as well as patrons of the arts, throughout Italy. Political tensions were high. In 1512, Copernicus determined that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the universe. Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas in 1492 and Magellan circumnavigated the world in 1522, which dismissed the idea of a flat earth. All of these discoveries changed many assumptions about human life and rocked the foundation of theology. (â€Å"Italian High Renaissance Period†) In those years, the masters created a new profession with its own rights of expression and its own character. Regional differences existed during this time, not only between Northern Europe and Italy, but within Italy, with the leading artistic centers being Rome and Florence. During the High Renaissance period in Italy, most artists worked for the papacy. These artists explored an interest in perspective, personality, and anatomy that became the main characteristics of the High Renaissance era. In Florence, artists emphasized preliminary drawings, based on careful and detailed preparation, before the painting began, whereas in other parts of Europe, artists just began painting. This is part of the reason why so many regard Italian Renaissance art as the finest art in the world. (Kleiner, 579-623) This artistic period represented a culmination. The High Renaissance artists took all of the artistic explorations of the Proto-Renaissance artists, which flourished during the Early Renaissance, and used these explorations to its full capability. (Esaak) Guido Renis Portrait of Cardinal Roberto Ubaldino, Papal Legate to Bologna was painted in 1627. Oil on canvas and 77 ? by 58 ? inches, it resides at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The subject was placed in front of a purple cloth, which insinuated honor, next to a velvet-covered table. The subject had obviously been writing, noting the letter and quill pen in the inkwell. The room opened to the left, revealing a courtyard. Rich colors, depth, and great detail add to the perception of the artist and the personality of the subject. The juxtaposition of the brightly-colored clothing with the dark background keeps the viewers eye on the subject. The subject looks thoughtful, looking at the viewer, giving the air of an intelligent man. Great detail was used by Reni. For example, the flecks of white in the subjects beard, the lines on his hands, the patterns and sheen of the clothing, and the fringe on the bottom of the chair shows that Reni wanted to capture every aspect of the subjects personality. It shows that the subject enjoyed the finer things in life, while looking perhaps within himself for the answers to lifes mysteries. Raphaels Baldassare Castiglione, painted around 1514, oil on canvas, with the dimensions of 2 6 ? † by 2 2 ? †, typifies High Renaissance portraits in the attention the artist paid to the subjects personality and mental state. The painting makes use of muted tones and Raphael favored clarity over obscurity. The muted tones fit the mood and temper of the subject. (Kleiner, 587, 623) The subjects facial features are clear, lending to the notion that Raphael focused on the subjects personality. The subject is dressed soberly, yet splendidly, and looks directly at the viewer. He has a thoughtful and kind gaze. This shows his humanity and lends an emotional openness to the painting. The subject looks sensitive and vulnerable, and his clothing suggest a certain softness to his character. This gives the viewer the feeling that the subject is equal to the viewer. The subject seems open enough to sit with and have an intellectual conversation. (Jones) Leonardo Da Vincis Mona Lisa, painted in the sixteenth century, is an oil painting on poplar panel. The painting depicts a woman with an ambiguous expression. This work has been at the center of study, scrutiny, parody, and myth for many years because of the fascination with the mysterious woman. The subjects expression seems mischievous, and she is looking directly at the viewer, a quality of High Renaissance art. The colors are dark, lending to the mysterious notion of the woman subject. The subject is seated on a marble chair, and behind her, a body of water with some rocks visible create the backdrop. The juxtaposition of the dark background and the skin of the subject tends to keep the viewers eye on the subject. Michelangelos David statue, carved from a single piece of marble and finished in 1504, is the representation of physical male perfection. The Cathedral of Florence commissioned Michelangelo to sculpt the statue from a block of marble that was originally from another project. David was to originally be put up on top of one of the buttresses of the Cathedral, however, when the sculpture was finished, they decided to put it in front of the main government building in Florence, Italy. (â€Å"Michelangelo, David, 1501-4†) All of these artworks are portraits. An great artist who paints portraits must have the skill necessary to depict something beyond its physical appearance to convey the subjects life and character. All of these artists imbued their works with psychological insight and authenticity that other artists of the day could not match. This is what made these particular artworks part of the High Renaissance era of Italy. (â€Å"Captured Emotions†, 3) Figures in portraits that were painted during the Early Renaissance were in profile and cut off at the bust. This was not so with portraits of the High Renaissance. These portraits, such as the Mona Lisa and Baldassare Castiglione, were not painted in profile, but with the face frontal, and the shoulders ? , with hands included. This was done instead of the profile because when the face is frontal, the viewer gets a better sense of the subjects personality. This revealing of the personality in paintings was a main interest during the High Renaissance and in artwork since. (â€Å"Leonardos Mona Lisa†) As was explained through these four examples, High Renaissance art in Florence, Italy focused on subjects personality and minds. The artists wanted to capture what the subject was really like and how they thought. The point of the High Renaissance was to delve deeper, to bring out qualities, not only in the subject, but also in technique and color use, that made the work stand out and say something. High Renaissance artwork has influenced the world of art ever since. For example, when children sit to have their school photo taken, they sit the way the subject in the Mona Lisa did. These works have withstood the test of time and continue to provide insight into not only the subjects personalities and minds, but also the artists.

Islamic Art :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Islamic Art   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Islamic art is perhaps the most accessible manifestation of a complex civilization that often seems enigmatic to outsiders. Through its brilliant use of color and its superb balance between design and form, Islamic art creates an immediate visual impact. Its strong aesthetic appeal transcends distances in time and space, as well as differences in language, culture, and creed. Islamic art not only invites a closer look but also beckons the viewer to learn more.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The term Islamic art may be confusing to some. It not only describes the art created specifically in the service of , but it also characterizes secular art produced in lands under Islamic rule or influence, whatever the artist’s or the patron’s religious affiliation. The term suggests an art unified in style and purpose, and indeed there are certain common features that distinguish the arts of all Islamic lands.†1 Although this is a highly dynamic art, which is often marked by strong regional characteristics as well as by significant influences from other cultures, it retains an overall coherence that is remarkable given its vast geographic and temporal boundaries. Of paramount concern to the development of this singular art is Islam itself, which fostered the creation of a distinctive visual culture with its own unique artistic language. Calligraphy is the most important and pervasive element in Islamic art. It has always been considered the noblest form of art because of its association with the , the Muslim holy book, which is written in Arabic. This preoccupation with beautiful writing extended to all arts including secular manuscripts; inscriptions on palaces; and those applied to metalwork, pottery, stone, glass, wood, and textiles and to non-Arabic-speaking peoples within the Islamic commonwealth whose languages such as Persian, Turkish, and Urdu were written in the Arabic script. Another characteristic of Islamic art is a preference for covering surfaces with patterns composed of geometric or vegetal elements. Complex geometric designs, as well as intricate patterns of vegetal ornament (such as the arabesque), create the impression of unending repetition, which is believed by some to be an inducement to contemplate the infinite nature of God. This type of nonrepresentational decoration may have been developed to such a high degree in Islamic art because of the absence of figural imagery, at least within a religious context.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Contrary to a popular misconception, however, figural imagery is an important aspect of Islamic art. Such images occur primarily in secular and especially courtly arts and appear in a wide variety of media and in most periods and places in which Islam flourished. It is important to note, nevertheless, that

Medicine in Colonial America

Medicine in Colonial America was much different from today, but gave us a lot of insight in the human body’s needs. Due to lack of education, experience, proper tools, and hygiene, many patients died. However, there were also many people who were saved through the medical procedures and lived full and healthy lives. Few doctors in Colonial America actually received a formal education through a medical school, because there was really only one school: the Pennsylvania Hospital (Rorke, n. d. ). This program was far too expensive and for some located too far away, thus they could not attend.Furthermore, because of the lack of complete knowledge, these schools would not have provided any more information than one would obtain by learning from another doctor, which in most cases would be a much cheaper education, thus, most doctors learned through apprenticeships. They had to complete a 7 year apprenticeship before being considered a doctor. Of course there were Quacks, or citizens who pretended to have medical knowledge just to make a profit. Moreover, there were female medical practitioners, called midwives.They received no formal education and learned through apprenticeships as well. They birthed children and cared for the ill that could not afford a doctor’s care, or lived too far from a medical facility. When not even a midwife was available to treat a patient, the women of the households were responsible for the family health. Another group that provided medical care was Catholic monks who came over from Europe and brought along their wisdom of operating techniques, healing herbs and essential oils. These monks had a special way of numbing their patients with a plant called henbane.Their patients overcame the operations more quickly while less of them died in contrast to using barbaric operation and healing techniques that many colonial doctors were using. Today, we have many medical schools that are still very expensive and vigorous, but provide a more well-rounded education. Just like the doctors of Colonial America, doctors today undergo a sort of required apprenticeship after medical school, called a residency, which, for a surgeon ranges from five to eight years, depending on their specialty.Midwives are still available, but usually take care of pregnancies. Today, midwives must go through special training to become either a CNM- certified nurse midwife, or a CM- certified midwife. There have been great advances in medical procedures since the late 1700’s. For example, according to Rorke (n. d. ) to amputate a limb, doctors in colonial times would first numb the patients’ pain by intoxicating them with brandy or rum and have them bite on a wooden stick.Then, the medical team would hold them down on the table, while the doctor tied a leather tourniquet around the patients’ limb. The surgeon would start to cut through the flesh with his amputation knife and then saw through the bone itself using an a mputation saw. Subsequently, the bone shavings were removed by pouring whiskey or just plain water over the wound. Conversely, the remaining limb was burned with a hot iron to close the blood vessels and veins. They could then wrap the stump with pure cotton bandages and let it heal. Only approximately 35% of patients survived this procedure!The procedure itself sounds cruel, but the patients’ lives might have been at risk if it had not taken place, such as the rotting of the flesh, or blood poisoning, caused by an accident, or being shot with a bullet or poisoned arrow. Another example would be dentistry. Most colonists had awful teeth, because they did not have toothbrushes and toothpaste. Thus, teeth needed to be pulled. Because there are no anesthetics, having your teeth pulled was a very painful process. The dentist would hold the patient down on a chair and yank the tooth out using a pair of everyday pliers.Once again, there were many quacks in this field that would pul l good teeth from patients and sell them to people who wanted real-tooth dentures. Moreover, in 2009, archeological teams found human remains where someone, presumably a doctor, had drilled three holes into the skull. This may have been done to relieve the skull of pressure caused by a blow to the head. Archeologists believe that this could have been the first attempt at brain surgery and may have planted the seed for today’s brain surgery procedures (CBSnews. com, 11 Feb. 2009).Hermann Boerhaave’s theory of wellbeing was that a person has four humors: bile, phlegm, blood and urine. If these humors were imbalanced, a person would become ill. To make him or her feel better, you must balance the humors (Brinkley, 2004). According to Rorke, â€Å"one must sweeten acids, purify the stomach, and rid impurities by bleeding and purging† or by using leeches to increase blood production, to balance these again. Most doctors actually let patients bleed out, because their â€Å"humors† were not balanced, whereas midwives prescribed laxatives to remove bile.Furthermore, Boerhaave believed that a â€Å"fever was the body’s attempt to keep from dying,† even though we now know that it is actually the body’s response to killing whatever is making the body sick. Although this sounds absurd when considering our knowledge with today’s medicine, many doctors and midwives used this theory to aid the ill and actually succeeded in some cases. Hygiene was the one major contribution to nosocomial, or hospital obtained, infections. Because doctors in the colonial times did not know about bacteria, viruses, and contagious diseases, they did not clean the equipment or even their hands.Today, doctors and surgical staffs take extra care to clean everything. Surgeons take an average of five minutes to wash, scrub, and sanitize hands, whereas surgeons in colonial times took an average of zero seconds. Doctors would not even wash their h ands when rotating between patients. As discussed in class, doctors would go from a person with a severe flu to a woman giving birth without washing their hands. This could not only sicken the woman, but also make the child ill. The death rate of women suffering from Puerperal fever was extremely high.This fever is caused by a bacterial infection from unsterile equipment and conditions during childbirth, and the woman’s body not being able to rid the toxins from childbirth fast enough. This could ultimately lead to death. One cannot stress the importance of hand washing and personal hygiene enough! Obviously, or at least it is obvious today, one must clean any equipment that touched a person, even if it’s just a stethoscope. Disease could spread from such an object to another person causing them to become ill as well. Scalpels, saws, drills, anything that goes into a person, must be sanitized.Today, hospitals heat the instruments so that almost all of the bacteria die, and then they soak them in an antibacterial solution to ensure there are no harmful things on them. Furthermore, some hospitals send the tools to be sanitized to a company that sanitizes them for the hospital. This cuts back on hours cleaning and provides security that the equipment is safe and clean, resulting in happy patients and staff. I believe today’s health care is mostly based around customer service. You want to make sure the patient is happy, healthy, and satisfied with your performance.The patient even has a choice to live or die by signing a DNR- do not resuscitate- form. In colonial America, however, the doctor really did not care if you enjoyed their service or not, they were trying to help you in the long run. Doctors also had more freedom to refuse treatment than they do today. In some ways I would like our health care to be like that of colonial America in regards to customer service, because there are so many people going to the emergency room who have a mi ld cold and hold up the patients who are in critical condition and really need to be seen as soon as possible.I am indifferent to DNR’s. I believe a person must be in critical condition, such as terminal cancer, to be eligible to sign this form. As previously mentioned, medicine has evolved tremendously between colonial America and now. It is still ever-changing, because we find a cure to diseases, such as Alzheimer’s. Doctors can achieve great things, but only with the help of education, experience, sterile tools, and personal hygiene.

The Myth About Learning How to Make Ricin from the Internet

As the story unfolds about the man associated with the ricin found in the Las Vegas hotel room, questions arise as to what he was doing with the ricin and the castor beans. The answers to those question are unknown. It is not even certain the man knew about the ricin in the room. Since he remains in a coma, those questions will have to wait. What We Know So far we know the occupant of the hotel room who was hospitalized for respiratory problems was a 57-year-old-man. There were three pets found in the room. One pet is deceased, apparently due to lack of food and water and not from ricin poisoning. The other two animals are fine. According to a CNN report, in addition to a vial containing ricin, the room also contained castor beans, guns, and an anarchist type textbook.   Bad Advice When I started writing about the chemistry behind AMCs Breaking Bad tv show, I learned that it really is true you can learn how to make crystal meth from instructions freely available on the Internet. Would anyone want to use those instructions? Id hope not... I tried to describe all the reasons making meth is dangerous to yourself and others. The question has arisen as to whether a person could learn to make ricin from information freely available on the internet. Im not going to give you a definitive no since I didnt follow every single link on the subject, but I will say the top links that supposedly tell you how to purify ricin using lye and acetone contain many factual errors. Probably the only good advice given in the instructions is to remove the coat from the seeds. Also, any website that tells you ricin can be obtained from castor oil is wrong. Castor oil is essentially free from the toxin. If you are a terrorist or looking to purify the toxin for other purposes, youre a stu pid terrorist if you think instructions posted on the web by an anonymous source are reliable or that duplicating erroneous instructions across multiple websites magically makes the instructions correct. Can you learn how to make ricin from a Google search? I didnt see any accurate instructions. Can you poison yourself with castor beans? You could, but you can poison yourself with rhubarb or death cap mushrooms, too. In my opinion, ricin is sensationalized because its so very toxic. Would I stay in the Las Vegas hotel room after they clean it up? No. Am I worried about wackos suddenly making ricin because its newsy? No. Even if they wanted to, the instructions are not readily available.Update on Ricin in Las VegasRicin Found at a Las Vegas MotelRicin RCA from Castor Beans | What You Need to Know about Chemical Weapons