Daniele da Volterra and Michelangelo’s bronze portraits

Tuesday April 12th, 2022 , Artists and Works

Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze – allestimento mostra- foto Guido Cozzi

DANIELE DA VOLTERRA AND MICHELANGELO’S BRONZE PORTRAITS

Daniele Ricciarelli, known as Daniele da Volterra (1509 – 1566), was a friend and pupil of Michelangelo Buonarroti and was present at the master’s death in his Roman home on 18 February 1564.
By virtue of this bond between the pupil and his master, Leonardo Buonarroti, Michelangelo’s nephew, commissioned Daniele da Volterra to produce two bronze portraits of his uncle immediately after the master’s death.

This request was joined by that of the antiquarian Diomede Leoni who asked for a third bronze bust of Michelangelo.
Daniele da Volterra died in 1566, however, and was unable to finish the three busts, of which copies actually exist, leaving many questions open as to their chronology, casting and provenance.

Daniele da Volterra and Michelangelo’s bronze portraits
Continue reading

Anselm Kiefer’s works to get to know

Monday April 11th, 2022 , Artists and Works

ANSELM KIEFER’S WORKS TO GET TO KNOW

Anselm Kiefer’s huge body of work represents a microcosm of collective memory that contains within it a wide range of cultural, literary and philosophical allusions: from the Old and New Testaments, the mysticism of the Kabbalah, Nordic mythology and Wagner’s Ring cycle, to the poetry of Ingeborg Bachmann and Paul Celan.

Born during the last months of World War II, Kiefer reflects on the identity and history of post-war Germany, grappling with the national mythology of the Third Reich.
Fusing art and literature, painting and sculpture, Anselm Kiefer’s works engage the complex events of history and the primordial sagas of life, death and the cosmos. His repertoire of images is only paralleled by the breadth of techniques in his work.

Works by Anselm Kiefer

Judith Beheading Holofernes by Caravaggio

Friday April 1st, 2022 , Artists and Works

Giuditta decapita Oloferne | opere Caravaggio

Michelangelo Merisi detto Caravaggio (Milano, 1571 – Porto Ercole, 1610) Giuditta decapita Oloferne, 1599 circa. Olio su tela, cm 145×195. Roma, Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica – Palazzo Barberini

JUDITH DECAPITATING HOLOFERNES BY CARAVAGGIO

Caravaggio’s Judith Beheading Holofernes is one of Michelangelo Merisi’s masterpieces and one of the most important works of the 17th century.
The work belonged to the banker Ottavio Costa, one of the most famous and wealthy figures in early 17th-century Rome.

Ottavio Costa was so proud of his ownership of Caravaggio’s Judith Beheading Holofernes that he forbade its sale even after his death and discouraged any copies from being made.
Nonetheless, the painting was a huge success among the artists of the time and became a powerful model for the new iconography of the famous biblical heroine.

Judith Beheading Holofernes by Caravaggio

6 major contemporary British artists

Tuesday March 29th, 2022 , Contemporary Art, Artists and Works

6 IMPORTANT CONTEMPORARY BRITISH ARTISTS

Who are the contemporary British artists to know?
It’s hard to make a selection because the British art scene has produced many important artists over the last fifty years.

In this post you will find a list of exceptional artists who have changed the course of art history by blazing a new trail.

contemporary british artists

The Works of Charles Ray Between Realism and Paradox

Monday March 28th, 2022 , Contemporary Art, Artists and Works

Charles Ray

THE WORKS OF CHARLES RAY BETWEEN REALISM AND PARADOX

Realism and paradox are the two elements that characterise Charles Ray’s works.
In his sculptures, human figures and objects are represented in a realistic and almost detached way, but the more you look at them, the more something seems strange: the size, the material, the realism.

In Charles Ray’s work it is as if reality is celebrated and at the same time questioned.

works by Charles Ray