Michelangelo | Oil Painting Express

10 Movies You Should See About Artists: #4 - The Agony and the Ecstasy

07

March

2010

The Agony and the Ecstasy, Movie Poster, 1956

The Agony and the Ecstasy

Starring: Charlton Heston, Rex Harrison

Release: 1965

Through the lens of modern art history, watching The Agony and the Ecstasy is a strange experience. Centered on Michelangelo's relationship with Pope Julius II, for whom he painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling, the film purports to present historical accuracy, but just as often as it pleases, it disappoints. Ordinarily, I wouldn't get too offended by a filmmaker's historical revisionism, but when a film sets itself up as a historical record, it opens itself up to those criticisms. The Agony and the Ecstasy tries to blend its fictional representation into fact – so much so that the film opens with a twelve minutes documentary about Michelangelo's birth and early tutelage under Lorenzo de' Medici in Florence, showing chronological facts of his life alongside interpretations of his sculpted works. From this sort of prologue, the film transitions to footage of the marble quarries in Carrara, not as they existed in 1965 but as they existed in Michelangelo's day, and then to the plot of the film. It establishes the film as a continuation of the established facts.

What Story Do Your Pictures Tell?

04

December

2009

When it comes to painting, do you prefer an image that shows an episode in action or one that presents the individual in a still, concentrated pose? Do you prefer an active scene or a portrait? Regardless of which you prefer, both formats convey stories.

Every painting tells a story. Narrative was injected into Western art with the advent of the technique of perspective that emerged during the late middle ages and was perfected with the Renassaiance masters. Prior to that time, most high art was paid for by religious or noble institutions and focused not on drama and story as with presenting the viewer, usually illiterate peasants, with an ordered philosophical view of the world -- dogmatic non-fiction. However, as the mimetic quality of the artist’s technique improved, the realm of visual arts became more experimental, and artists could expand their work’s narrative potential. Michelangelo’s Last Judgment, while officially an altarpiece showing the Armageddon, could very well have been a graphic novel or comic book.

Why the Insistence on "Mad" Geniuses?

06

November

2009

This evening, I read a review in the Wall Street Journal of a new collection of Van Gogh’s letters that suggests that the painter wasn’t quite the mad genius legend purports him to be. His genius is of course not up for dispute – it’s the mad part that’s up for debate. Yes, the collection argues, he was mentally ill (he was by his contemporaries dubbed “epileptic,” which at the time was a term used to identify a variety of mental illnesses, including bipolar disorder), but his illness wasn’t necessarily tied to the innovation he demonstrated in his work. In fact, the piece says, he didn’t paint or even write during his particularly bad episodes. When his illness was the worst, his creativity disappeared.

That idea surprised me – that Van Gogh’s thickly painted images of flowers and the French countryside might not have been painted in fits of mad passion completely contradicted every idea I had about the artist. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I was a little disappointed...but why? Why would the suggestion that he wasn’t gesticulating furiously as he painted, driven only by his obsession to create, disappoint me?

Art - Humanity's Connection to Humanity

23

October

2009

This week I received an email from an old roommate to inform me that an art history professor of ours from the semester we spent in Italy had unexpectedly died over the weekend. The news surprised me; I hadn’t really known him very well, even when I was a student of his, but he was easily one of the best teachers I ever had. The enthusiasm and knowledge he demonstrated in on-site lectures were unmatched, and at every site we visited, small groups of tourists would inevitably start listening in and following us at a distance, until he laughingly told them there was no need to be shy; they were welcome to join us. More than once, the ends of his lectures were met with rounds of applause from people none of us knew at all.

One thing he made his students understand is that art is about connections between people. Just as his love of art united those unknown tourists – Australian and Japanese vacationers wandering through the Roman Forum or Vatican City – to us – American students sipping espresso and imagining ourselves very cosmopolitan – he showed us that art could connect us to people across time and space. As we stood in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi staring in awe at Caravaggio’s energetic paintings of the life of St. Matthew, he made us understand what those first viewers must have felt as they gasped in fascinated awe and shock at the unconventional and humane representations of such an auspicious saint. When we studied the cold, fascist sculptures in Mussolini’s EUR section of the city, we shared the chilled, stark apprehension that people felt decades ago.

The Renaissance Dandy: Raphael

12

October

2009

The working environment during early 1500’s Renaissance Rome could be compared to any modern emerging city of today. For, Pope Julius II was interested in both rebuilding and embellishing the Vatican. It was the place to be for journeymen of all trades or artists desirous of job procurements.

Raphael (1483-1520) was the only son born to a court painter and as a young child he was encouraged and supported by his father to develop his artistic skills. The young artist was building a successful painting career in Florence when in 1508 at the age of twenty-five he was commissioned by the Pope to fresco his private living chambers of the Vatican.

The young, charismatic Raphael soon was included along with Leonardo daVinci, Michelangelo, and Titian into the tight painting circle during the High Renaissance. You could say that this elite popular group of masters have been considered then and now as the “Fab Four”. His pleasing personality, exquisite manners and unequaled charm helped secure his position with wealthy patrons. After completing and proving himself with his first successful executed fresco for Pope Julius II, Raphael’s genius was demonstrated and his financial future secured. Soon the artist was in such demand that Raphael needed several studios and numerous assistants to help fulfill the never-ending contractual agreements. As his popularity grew among wealthy patrons his career advanced so much so that Raphael had only the time to draw the compositions in his studio and needed to rely on his many assistants to complete the frescos on site.

A simple man or a Renaissance myth: Michelangelo

28

September

2009

Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel are as recognizable as McDonalds and their Golden Arches. This Renaissance Master is positioned high above all others while most have never given a second thought to the man behind the myth. Michelangelo’s masterful contributions to the art world might be the only things most of us know about him. However, if we go beyond the bigger than life persona insight can be given into understanding the complex artistic personality and reveal complex family secrets. Throughout his lifetime these dynamics had a profound affect on Michelangelo the man.

Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) was the second of five sons. His mother died when he was not yet ten years old, after she gave birth to his youngest brother. His position within the family was one of the caretaker. The clan demanded the artist to support the father, four brothers, aunt and uncle both financially and emotionally.

Early in his artistic career Michelangelo established himself with the reputation as being an industrious enterprising craftsman and not above forgery. He arrived dramatically upon the scene when he reportedly unearthed and subsequently sold an ancient Roman statue to Cardinal Raffael Riario. Soon it was exposed as a fake; for, it was discovered that Michelangelo himself had copied the statute and buried it in a local garden. However, the outcome proved favorable to the artist because the Cardinal was impressed with his talents and agreed to sponsor and become the patron of the young Michelangelo.

Oil Painting through the Ages: The Renaissance Age

09

September

2009

This week's installment of oil painting through the ages will explore what is often referred to as the “golden era” of art history, the renaissance age. This was also the introduction of oil paint as we know it today, a glorious heyday of the medium.

This “revival” or cultural “rebirth” (the very definition of Renaissance) took place between the 14th and 15th centuries, namely in Italy but also spanning over Europe. This was a time of renewed interest in the intellectual: in science, philosophy and educational reform. This era is also often noted as the bridge between the medieval and modern ages.

This era was the dawn of realism in art. Science had taught the artist to show linear perspective (a form of perspective in art that gives the illusion of distance and depth.) The great painters of this time moved towards hyper realistic renderings by also studying light, shadow and human anatomy, giving a full appearance in their paintings.