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Mary’s life is a noble one, or so believed Uccelo. Overlooking controversies like the Mary’s marital role or Jesus’ marriage is the imposing fresco, done by master-painter who has made it very easy for us to realize the importance of Jesus in times of constant fear, famine and war. Uccelo lived in the early medieval period, in which the masses had none to look forward to, but a hero to look back upon, only in the hope of the peace he wished would prevail. While Uccelo has been an avid presenter of biblical stories in fresco, he has also been one of the most respected personalities in his genre – which has evidently bolted through the next few centuries like rock n roll! The adolescent […]

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Italian, Religious, St Mary, Temple

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Being one of the most important biblical events, “the birth of the virgin”, or the birth of Mary, is a source of inspiration for many artists in history and contemporary times. Uccelo’s fascination with the Christian stories, and those, which marked his times, often resonate with each other in his Italian old-town frescoes. Here, the birth of the virgin is momentous, in which the kin folk and everyone else around are all up and about to make things easier, better and happier. Notice the lady swishing down the steps with the needed items, and the well-attended room in which The Virgin is getting blessed by almost everybody. It is easy to imagine why Uccelo’s imagination about the birth of Mary coincides and shows up as […]

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Italian, Madonna and Child, Mother and Child, Religious, Virgin, Woman

(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)

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One of Paolo Uccelo’s works in fresco is perhaps the biggest St. Stephen moment, and probably the most inspiring biblical story by the medieval painter. An Italian masterpiece with historical significance is always an attraction for someone interested in European art. The martyrdom of St. Stephen is an inspiring event, which can be seen in contemporary sense as someone sacrificing himself to protect free speech rights under a dictatorship. St. Stephen’s legend spread further and wider than Jesus, and his popularity led to the first trans-continental presence of Christianity. Stephen was in many ways more popular than Jesus, and Uccelo is one of the main protagonists in popularizing the martyrdom, and what it had to contribute to Christian living. Much like a good disciple of […]

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Italian, Man, Religious, St Stephen, Stoning

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No matter how tragic Noah’s story, it is world-shattering enough for biblical painter Paolo Uccelo to have left the legend on a 17 by 9 feet fresco – which actually took Uccelo 4 years to paint in mid-15th century Italy. Noah, or the father of modern humans, is an age-old character, in Christian, Jew as well as Muslim history. According to many historians, the events surrounding Noah’s life, the flood and everything about his drunkenness took place around the 12000-10000 BC period. During this phase, many parts, including India, Antarctic Africa and South America were forced to change their coastlines owing to massive and life-taking floods over centuries. However, Noah could have also lived during the next great flood, which primarily affected northern Africa, ancient […]

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Italian, Man

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Oil on canvas is a frequently used medium for dramatic sceneries, but subtle ones like these usually come in pastel, watercolor and other softer mediums. However, Edmond Yon was a master at bringing out multiple kinds of effects in oil on canvas. The serene waterbed is one of the most striking sceneries, leaving you stalled for a little fantasy. Serene places like these definitely hold a palpable degree of therapeutic value, while it can be fascinating to experience them right there. Paysage De Riviere is a piece of art with enough telling that even someone completely unguarded can enjoy the place all by herself. While I remained a witness to the beauty of this painting for minutes, it precipitously slid into my list of favorites. […]

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French, Houses, Lady, River, Sky

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“Portrait of a Boy” carries the weight of character more than anything else. Besides, the choice of medium by Swynnerton is simply breathtaking. If I were to imagine someone painting a subject like this, watercolor, pastel and ink would be the safest guesses. However, Swynnerton’s subject is all about strength of character. She loved immortalizing young boys, for whom she might have been unable to recollect identities. It is clear that the little boy’s posture is impressive, and there is all the innocence in his good-natured face, which also carries an element of disciplining history. Swynnerton belonged in the times of conservative ideologies, conflicting with leftist ideals of feminism, socialism and equal pay for women. It was a noble thing to be on that side, […]

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Boy, British, English, Little Boy

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The sense of light can be a very special feeling, especially when you have remained indoors, or gained vision by some miracle after blindness. The presence of a miracle is quite obvious in Annie Swynnerton’s painting here in oil-on-canvas, deliberately portrayed through the wings of the angelic woman. However, this has more to do with the woman being an angelic being, rather than just anyone receiving a miraculous decree. The hopeful look into the sky is so unblemished, that she hopes it will culminate into complete euphoria pretty soon. Swynnerton is a woman of courage – something one can find in her paintings. Although she was a major contributor in feminism in the early 1900s, her admiration for miracles, characters, principled people, uniqueness and innocence […]

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Angel, Angelic, Lady with Wings, River, Wings, Woman

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Rhoda Yanow is a master with depiction of contemporary images. His works have left the mid-20th Century abstractness behind, and manage to stand out perhaps as the most real pictures of modern life. In the Unguarded Moment story, there are elements that evoke thoughts of humor, pontification and reality, all passing through your mind like movie trailers. However, this is a rich work, no matter how shabbily priced it might look from far. It has all the elements that tell you this is the work of a great artist when you stand facing it. When I saw this painting from a far end of the room, it never struck me as something out of the ordinary in a contemporary art gallery. However, I did notice the […]

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American, Old Man, Sleeping Man

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Alice Neel’s Roses is a rather morbid depiction of such an auspicious flower. Painted in 1983, the work carries a sense of dereliction in the subject. Although it can be categorized as a still life painting, it is contemporary work nevertheless. As a result, it has to carry something that is a definite part of modern psyche. If you noticed art through the post-Second World War period, there was a sense of renewal in the western world. Government expenditures went down, the economy revived in New York, and Alice Neel was rubbing shoulders with people who lived in avant-garde architecture while she was very young. While we can keep profiling a New York artist endlessly, it is also important to notice the rather overused trend […]

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American, Flower, Glass Vase, Red Rose, Rose, Table

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Peasants are dining while the light in the painting backdrop suggests it is twilight. Valentin de Zubiaurre’s painting has become the hallmark of rural wellbeing, especially with the issues of nutrition in villages across the world today. For me, the painting signifies much to do with world food exchanges through governments. Besides, the rice farming fields had stayed much in dispute over colonists and natives in 19th Century Spain. For the painter born in 1879, such a history definitely spelled inspiration. One can gather a lot about history from Zubiaurre’s works. Spanish rebellion during the 1800s etched local culture with stories of rice fights and self-dependent farming, and the painter saw almost nothing nobler than his rural subject in a period that just followed. Valentin de […]

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Peasant