Showing posts with label Renaissance Art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Renaissance Art. Show all posts

Saturday, July 29, 2017

Medal of John VIII Palaeologus - Pisanello


We just learned about the Madonna and Child by Francesco Laurana.

Another famous Renaissance sculpture is the Medal of John VIII Palaeologus by Pisanello in 1439.
It is like a coin about 4 inches wide.
The picture is of the Eastern Roman Emperor John VIII Palaeologus.
The words on the coin say "John, king and emperor of the Romans, the Palaeologus"

Pisanello was also known as Antonio di Puccio Pisano or Antonio di Puccio da Cereto.
He was the first to start making medals like this of famous people like the Emperor, and this is believed to be the first one made during the Renaissance.
After he made this, many other people started making medals, but Pisanello was thought to be the best one.



(from: wikipedia - medal of john viii palaeologus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Alexander Sarcophagus

Saturday, July 22, 2017

Madonna and Child - Laurana


We just learned about the sculpture of David by Donatello.

Another Renaissance art sculpture is the Madonna and Child made by Francesco Laurana in 1471 AD.

Francesco was a very famous sculptor during this time, and his style was a little different than many of the other artists at the time, including his scupltures work that changed after he moved to work in France.

(from: wikipedia - francesco laurana)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lady in Blue

Saturday, July 15, 2017

David - Donatello


We just learned about Leonardo's Horse.

Another famous Renaissance art sculpture is David by Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi in the early 1400s in Florence.

Donatello was a very famous sculptor, and the marble sculpture of David is the first job that he was given for an important sculpture.

There is another statue of David that Donatello made out of bronze that was also very famous, party because no one else was making standing statues of bronze at the time.

Both statues are of a young David who does not look very strong, standing above a defeated Goliath who looks very strong.
This is supposed to show that David's strength was in God, not his own body.

(from: wikipedia - david (donatello))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Athena Parthenos

Saturday, July 8, 2017

Leonardo's Horse


We just learned about the Equestrian Statue of Bartolomeo.

Another famous Renaissance sculpture is Leonardo's Horse in Milan in 1482.
Leonardo Da Vinci was working on a large sculpture of a horse, and he built a model out of clay but it was destroyed in a war before it could be made into a metal statue.

His notes and drawings for how to make the horse were saved, so a few people have made real copies of the sculpture.


(from: wikipedia - leonardo's horse)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Poseidon of Melos

Saturday, July 1, 2017

Equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni - Verrocchio


We just learned about the statue of Christ and St. Thomas, by Andrea del Verrocchio.

Another famous sculpture by Andrea del Verrocchio is the Equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni made in Venice, Italy in 1488 AD.

When the noble person Bartolomeo Colleoni died, he had left some money for a statue to be made of him.
There was a competition between three sculptors who had to make samples of what they wanted to put up, and Andrea del Verrocchio won the competition.

He made the statue to be like the famous Donatello statue The Equestrian Statue of Gattamelata.

The statue is made to look like a very strong and powerful military commander.


(from: wikipedia - equestrian statue of bartolomeo colleoni)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Statue of Zeus at Olympia

Saturday, June 24, 2017

Christ and St. Thomas - Verrocchio


We just learned about the Cantoria bu Luca Della Robbia.

Another famous Renaissance sculpture is the bronze statue of Christ and St. Thomas, sculpted by Andrea del Verrocchio in 1483 in Florence.

These statues tell the story of Christ when the Apostle Thomas doubted that Jesus had risen from the dead, and said he would only believe if he saw him with his own eyes.

The statue shows Christ standing confident and strong, and Thomas looking very nervous and embarrassed.

When it was sculpted it was made to be seen only from the front side, so the back is not sculpted.
This helped make it easier to do, and also saved on using up bronze.

(from: wikipedia - christ and st. thomas (verrocchio))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Elgin Marbles

Saturday, June 17, 2017

Cantoria - Luca della Robbia


We just learned about the Gates of Paradise.

Another famous Renaissance sculpture is the Cantoria organ loft in the Cathedral of Florence, sculpted in 1438 by Luca della Robbia.
These marble sculptures showed a group of people singing and dancing and making music to praise the Lord, in the words of Psalm 150 from the Bible.

The Psalm says to praise God with the trumpet, harp, lyre, timbral, dancing, strings, pipe and cymbals.
This sculpture shows people doing all of these different things to praise God.


(from: wikipedia - luca della robbia)


(from: wikipedia - luca della robbia)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jockey of Artemision

Saturday, June 10, 2017

Gates of Paradise - Ghiberti


We just learned about the famous sculpture Judith and Holofernes by Donatello.

Another Renaissance art sculpture is the Gates of Paradise by Lorenzo Ghiberti in Florence Italy in 1401 AD.

These doors are at the Florence Baptistry, and have ten different panels, each one of them carved to show a story from the Old Testament in the Bible: Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac with Esau and Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

When Michelangelo saw these doors with golden carvings on them, he called them the "Gates of Paradise", and everyone always called the doors by that name.

Ghiberti also made another set of doors for this church that showed scenes from the New Testament.


(from: wikipedia - florence baptistery)


(from: wikipedia - lorenzo Ghiberti)


(from: wikipedia - florence baptistery)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Moschophoros

Saturday, June 3, 2017

Judith and Holofernes - Donatello


We just learned about the Renaissance sculpture of David by Michelangelo.

Another famous sculpture from this time is Judith and Holofernes by Donatello in 1464 in Italy.

This sculpture was different because it was meant to be looked at from all sides, not just the front.
It is a sculpture of a woman named Judith.
In the story of Judith, there was a man named Holofernes who was the leader of an army that wanted to kill her people.
She tricked him into thinking that she liked him, and then when he was sleeping she killed him to save her people and stop the war.

Some people from the town of Florence look at this story as an example of a humble servant winning the battle against a wicked person full of pride.

(from: wikipedia - judith and holofernes (donatello))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Winged Victory of Samothrace

Saturday, May 27, 2017

David - Michelangelo


We just learned about the Tomb of Pope Julius II.

Another Renaissance Art sculpture is David by Michelangelo in Florence, in 1504 AD.

This is a sculpture of David from the Bible, and the eyes of David are looking toward Rome, as a way to defend the city of Florence from other stronger cities.

The sculpture is 17 feet tall and made of marble.


(from: wikipedia - david (michelangelo))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Peplos Kore

Saturday, May 20, 2017

Tomb of Pope Julius II - Michelangelo


We just learned about the PietĂ  by Michelangelo Buonarroti.

Another Renaissance Art sculpture is the Tomb of Pope Julius II by Michelangelo.

Michelangelo had great plans to build a gigantic three story wall with 40 statues in it, but sadly he was told to make it a lot smaller and only put in a few statues.

The most famous of his statues in this tomb is a large almost 8 foot tall Moses sitting and holding the tablets of the Ten Commandments in his one hand.
In this sculpture Moses has horns on his head, because when Moses came down from the mountain after seeing God, his face was enlightened, and some people thought that meant he had horns on his head like rays of light pointing to heaven.
Michelangelo was so proud of his sculpture of Moses that when he was done he hit it on the knee and shouted "NOW SPEAK" because it looked so lifelike almost like it was real.

There are also statues of the sisters Rachel and Leah next to Moses.

The other sculptures above Moses were made by another sculptor.



(from: wikipedia - tomb of pope julius ii)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Sphinx of Naxos

Saturday, May 13, 2017

PietĂ  - Michelangelo Buonarroti


We just learned about the Bamberg Horseman.

Another famous sculpture is the PietĂ  by Michelangelo Buonarroti in 1498 AD.
Michelangelo is one of the most famous Renaissance art sculptors of all time.
The Renaissance was a time when many artists from all over the continent of Europe got together and worked to share and create many masterpieces of art and music.

The word pietĂ  means pity, and this is a sculpture of Mary the mother of Jesus sadly holding him on her lap after he was crucified.



(from: wikipedia - pietĂ  (michelangelo))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Charioteer of Delphi