gksihat@gmail.com
GET IN TOUCH
In search of a recommendation? Have a recommendation for me? Do you have a question about art, history or something related to it? Are you in search of a writer or just popping by to say 'hello'? Get in touch! If I don't have the answer you're looking for, I'll be happy to point you in the right direction or get you in touch with someone who can.
![“And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.”
Judges 15:15 King James Bible
As a pendant piece to his David, Michelangelo created Samson and Two Philistines. He never executed the piece in marble, but the piece was reproduced in models, sketches and bronze statuettes, multiplying in the 1550s.
Though he removes the corpse from beneath Samson’s feet, Giambologna derives his own sculpture, Samson Slaying a Philistine, from Michelangelo’s composition. While you can still see the High Renaissance master’s concept, the piece is very much Giambologna’s, showing off the sense of action and movement he was known for, with the winding figures which encourage you to view the piece from multiple perspectives rather than one main position.
The piece is one of the earliest great marble sculptures the Flemish-born Medici court artist created for his patrons, and happens to be the only substantial work by him to leave Italy. Commissioned by the second Duke of Tuscany, Francesco de’ Medici, for a fountain the botanical gardens, the piece depicts the moment Samson snatches up a jawbone and strikes down the Philistines.
Through this one piece, you can truly see why Giambologna is considered the artist who bridges the works of Michelangelo and Bernini (best known for his sculptures Apollo and Daphne, The Rape of Proserpina, and Ecstasy of Saint Teresa).
🖼 Samson Slaying a Philistine
🖌 Giambologna [1562]
🏫 Victoria and Albert Museum (@vamuseum)
#Flemish #EuropeanArt #Sculpture #Sculptor #Giambologna #Michelangelo #Bernini #Samson #SamsonAndDelilah #Philistines #Bible #BiblicalArt #InstaArtHistory #ArtHistory #ArtGram #ArtOfInstagram #ArtHistoryNerd #HistoriaDelArte #HistoryOfArt #ClassicalArt #Antiquity #OldMasters #ArtOfTheDay #Sculptures #Scultura](https://scontent-lhr8-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.2885-15/279125388_391879716119763_1048704750986708714_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=8ae9d6&_nc_ohc=KbXdcghMYKgAX8CMZRx&_nc_ht=scontent-lhr8-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&oh=00_AfCw_rNqdyshhioLS_PJIYIYwSSxccZY_ugjMZV5YDQYZQ&oe=642D8BD2)
![“I find myself old and ailing, my wife is ill, and I can no longer work.”
It was these words Paolo Uccello wrote on his tax return in 1469. It was followed by six years of loneliness; an artist, and man, forgotten. The Hunt in the Forest was his last known painting.
As with the Battle of San Romano, Uccello creates a carefully constructed composition while playing with perspective. There’s a mathematical order to the chaos of the hunt, with the crisscross grid of spears and branches, and receding forms racing towards the depths of the forest.
Also known as The Hunt or The Hunt by Night, the image depicts a nocturnal landscape. The idea of hunting at night is more symbolic than realistic. The crescent moon, after all, is a symbol of Diana, Goddess of the Hunt. Hunting was the hobby of nobility, and though the patron is unknown, it’s likely the piece was made for nobility either in Urbino or Florence, as it was created on the cusp of Uccello’s periods in those places.
It's also likely the piece was a spalliera; usually displayed as the headboard to a bed or placed above a cassone (a wooden storage chest). This is reinforced by the golden flicks in the tree’s foliage as spalliera are usually gilded. Can you imagine how beautiful the trees would look in candlelight?
Some historians believe the hunt to be based on a real event conducted by Lorenzo de’ Medici. If this is true, it makes it one of the earliest genre paintings. Others see it merely as an exercise in mathematical perspective, though it may also be taken as an allegory. I suppose the meaning is truly a matter of perspective…
🖼 The Hunt in the Forest
🖌 Paolo Uccello [circa 1470]
🏫 Ashmolean Museum (@ashmoleanmuseum)
#ArtOfTheDay #PaoloUccello #Hunting #TheHunt #Diana #AshmoleanMuseum #Perspective #ItalianArt #ItalianPainter #ItalianArtist #ArtHistoryNerd #HistoryOfArt #ArtHistory #HistoriaDelArte #ArtWorld #ClassicalArt #Renaissance #OldMasters #ArtGallery #InstaArt #InstaPainting #InstaArtHistory #ArtGram #ArtOfInstagram](https://scontent-lhr8-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.2885-15/278948541_1455089941582789_5506333020568383925_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=8ae9d6&_nc_ohc=iWlJFjA-deYAX94XSkA&_nc_ht=scontent-lhr8-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&oh=00_AfB0sDBmptQg_33_sr0fbuHL3NFonSBlnWTl1npv4lSV2g&oe=642CDB7E)
