Titian's great late painting of Apollo and Marsyas has been included in several recent exhibitions of Venetian painting in Europe and the United States. In this study, art historian Edith Wyss sheds light on the perception of the theme in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Renaissance artists knew several outstanding antique sculptures representing the myth and drew often on these prestigious models for inspiration. Only from the third decade of the sixteenth century onward did autonomous artistic interpretations of the myth assert themselves. Among the artists who devoted their skills to this myth are Perugino, Raphael, and several of his followers - Giulio Romano, Parmigianino, Bronzino, Salviati, Tintoretto, and Titian. Wyss demonstrates that some depictions encode messages that transcend the obvious exhortation against pride. Taking their cue from a popular edition of the Metamorphoses, some patrons and artists viewed the myth as an allegory of the revelation of truth. Others, following Pythagorean teachings, perceived the sun god's lyre music as the music of the spheres. In this perception, Apollo's victory assures the continued harmonious functioning of the universe, and Marsyas's defiance of the sun god's authority called for the severest retribution. In a few instances the author demonstrates that the Pythagorean allegorical reading of the myth was borrowed for political ends, with Apollo's victorious lyre standing as metaphor for the supposedly harmonious government of the ruling power. The discussion allows the Marsyas myth to unfold in a theme of extraordinary richness and depth and touches on issues that were at the core of the Renaissance culture.
Setting / LocationGlobal
Story EraModern Era
Protagonist / CoreThe myth of Apollo and Marsyas in the art of the Italian Renaissance Lead Character
A glance at the pages of Art in Renaissance Italy shows at once its freshness and breadth of approach, which includes: How and why works at art, buildings, prints, and other kinds of art came to be; how men and women of the Renaissance regarded art and artists; and why works of Renaissance art look the way they do, and what this means to us. Unlike other books on the subject, this one covers not only Florence and Rome. Here too are Venice and the Veneto, Assisi, Siena, Milan, Pavia, Padua, Mantua, Verona, Ferrara, Urbino, and Naples - each governed in a distinctly different manner, every one with its own political and social structures that inevitably affected artistic styles. Spanning more than three centuries, the narrative brings to life the rich tapestry of Italian Renaissance society and the art works that are its enduring legacy. Throughout, special features evoke and document the people and places of this dynamic age.
Examines the evolution, physical characteristics, geographic range, way of life, and disappearance of the mammoth; discussing information culled from studies of fossilized remains, photographs and depictions of mammoths in prehistoric art, and illustrations of them in their habitat.
Detailing has traditionally been relegated to the lowest tier in an architectural office - the apprentices, interns, and newly licensed. And yet architectural detailing has the ability to elevate projects to the highest level of aesthetic expression. Now, for the first time in book form, there's a collection of projects displaying the "nuts and bolts" of creative architectural detailing in building design - one that offers a treasure of examples for creating richer detailing using state-of-the-art techniques. Putting the lie to the common assumption that quality detailing is either prohibitively expensive or that it requires an obsession with technology, the book shows how architects address practical architectural needs with aggressively innovative and aesthetically expressive solutions. Among its special features schematics, working drawings, and photographs of actual built details - all in one place; depictions of details that can be created with readily available materials; easy-to-follow classification of details by function and use; and examples of state-of-the-art technology and materials for a wide variety of situations. On display are details that add touches to buildings that go far beyond the commonplace moldings, trim, eaves, and flashing of typical construction. Projects represent a wide range of budgets. The detailing of walls, ceilings, roofs, doors, windows, kitchens, bathrooms, siding and exterior trim, millwork, mantelpieces, and light fixtures are all examined in a wide variety of approaches by some of America's leading architects. Lavishly illustrated with 350 line drawings and photographs, this book shows the architectural detailing work of some of our country's most gifted architects at the peak of their abilities. The art of creating details that are expressive as well as technologically sound is featured from such masters as Stanley Tigerman, Peter Bohlin, James Cutler, George Ranalli, Alfredo De Vido, and many more of today's most exciting and innovative designers.
"Spain's greatest baroque painter, Velazquez was an artist of tremendous gifts who painted portraits of Spanish nobility that imbued his subjects with mystery, as well as quotidian scenes of cheerful and satisfying domestic activities. For more than thirty years, Velazquez resided in the palace of his patron, King Philip IV, as a court painter, executing portraits of the king and members of the royal family and court, some of whom are most famously depicted in his towering masterpiece Las Meninas (The Ladies-in-Waiting), of 1656, a veritable theater of perspective interplay and baroque illusion." "Like all books in The Rizzoli Art Classics series, this book is a beautifully illustrated monograph, offering high-quality reproductions in a compact, accessible volume. This book features a literary introduction by a renowned art historian, a thoroughly researched essay, and captions describing the artist's most famous canvases. A useful appendix section includes an extensive chronology of the artist's life and important historical events of his time; a compilation of writings by well-known historians, insight into each painter's stylistic development; a geographical table detailing the location of each painting in the book; and a concise bibliography with suggested further readings."--Jacket.
The myth of Apollo and Marsyas in the art of the Italian Renaissance by Edith Wyss | Literally Just Books
