History Painting Archive
Art forms defined by subject matter rather than an artistic style, including narrative religious mythological and allegorical subjects
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The Assumption of the Virgin (or Assanta in Italian) by Titian is the considerably the best production of the holy instance of assumption by any artist. It is an altarpiece and hangs in the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice. It is one of the important churches in Venice and is solely dedicated to The Assumption. The church also holds possession on other big art pieces such as St. John the Baptist by Donatello and Pesaro Madonna by Titian. The Assumption was completed in 1518 after two years of work and ranks among Titian’s finest works. The Assumption of Mother Mary The Assumption is said to be the end of the Mother Mary’s earthly life. After that she was taken to the […]
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Altarpiece, Angel, Apostle, Assumption, Cherub, Clouds, Famous, God, Jesus Christ, Mother Mary, Renaissance, Virgin
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In some stories the most vital moments aren’t filled with armies battling or acquiring the throne. In the deep look, vital moments in such stories are those which bear the possibility of eliminating the subsequent havoc happened and after which is crossed, there is no turning back. Greek mythological story of Oedipus has many such moments in his life. The direst one is represented in the current painting by the French painter. Oedipus’ prophecy of killing his father and marrying his own mother Oedipus was the son of King Laius and Queen Jacasta of Thebes. On his birth the king knew about the prophecy which stated that Oedipus will kill his father and marry his own mother. To eliminate such horrible possibilities, the king left […]
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French, Greek, Greek Mythology, King, Neoclassical, Oedipus, Sphinx
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Indian artists aren’t as much known as the western artist. Though, if we think about India one name comes in our mind, Raja Ravi Varma. One of the few 19th century Indian painter who had the caliber to stand alongside the top level western artists. Here is presented one of the best art works by Raja Ravi Varma. He was known, mostly, for depicting the scenes from either Ramayana or Mahabharata, two grand Indian epic poems, which are often equaled with Iliad and Odyssey by Homer. But, in reality, such comparisons are baseless. Subject of the current painting is taken from the Indian epic poem Ramayana. Literal meaning of Jatayu Vadham from Sanskrit is the killing of Jatayu. Story of Jatayu Vadha (The Killing of […]
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Bird, Epic, Epic Poem, Jatayu, killing, Ravana, Sita
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The first version of Massacre of the Innocents by Rubens was made in 1612. Here is represented the second version made in 1638, which resembles some similarities to the original while brutalizes some aspects even more than the first one. The subject matter and the scene is elaborately described in the first version’s iconography. The second version is painted after 25 years of the first one and it hasn’t lost its impact. Actually, Rubens has made it more intense and gruesome than the first one. More realistic approach than the first version In here, the emphasis is on the use of weaponry to kill infant. In the first version, soldiers were depicted in a moment in which they were killing either snatching the infants from […]
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Angel, Children, Famous, Flemish, Flemish Baroque, Jewish, Man, Mother, Motherhood, Soldier, Woman
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In The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci, there are total of 13 apparent figures apparent – if we ignore the controversial and sometimes conjured up figures in the painting. Twelve of them are the 12 apostles of Jesus while the central figure is Jesus Christ himself. The 12 apostles are grouped into the team of 3. Thus, total of 4 groups of Apostles are there. In the second group made of Judas, Peter and John is where the most controversies circles around. It holds the two characters that had radical impacts on Jesus’s life. As everybody knows, Judas was the reason to make this supper of Jesus the last supper. Here is brief information on each of the characters: 1. Bartholomew Born and died: […]
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Famous, Jesus Christ, Last Supper, Religious
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Athens is the largest city in Greece and has been respected as one of the important cities in the Greek history. It was epicenter of arts and philosophy in Greece and thus many big minds had gathered in the city time to time. Big philosophers like Plato and his student Aristotle were active in the city in their times. Athens has been the pivotal point in the Greek history and has seen the presence of the greatest minds of the country. Here, Raphael has smartly included all the big figures from the Greek history in a “school” which could represent the Greece’s history, Greece or the city of Athens where these great minds came across at least for once in their lifetime. Convergence of Great […]
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Alexander the Great, Apollo, Athena, Famous, God, Goddess, Greek, Italian, Italian Renaissance, Mathematician, Philosopher, Renaissance, Roman
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The Birth of Venus is equally famous work of Sandro Botticelli with Primavera. It simply depicts the moment of the birth of the love-goddess Venus in renaissance era style. It holds a much lesser approach of the renaissance era’s masculine and somewhat three-dimensional depictions. The painting seems more linear and flat in comparison to the other famous works from the same era. In Roman mythology Venus (Aphrodite in Greek mythology) is the goddess of divine love, sex, beauty, seduction and all the persuasive feminine aspects. She symbolizes the intellectual and physical love, attractions. Sometimes she is referred as the heavenly goddess of intellectual love and at many places she is said to be the earthly goddess of physical love or sex. Myth of Birth of […]
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Angel, Birth, Contrapposto, Famous, Flower, Goddess, Greek Mythology, Nude Lady, Nymph, Roman Mythology, Sea, Sea Shore, Seashells, Venus
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The Creation of Adam is a part of the Sistine Chapel ceiling fresco created by Michelangelo. It is the most famous part of the whole ceiling. The depiction represents God accompanied by angles giving the ‘touch of life’ to Adam. It is a visual representation of the event from the Book of Genesis when on the sixth day, god created Adam, eve and other flora and fauna. Story of Creation of Adam and Eve According to the Book of Genesis (the first book of the Hebrew Bible), God first created Adam on the sixth day. He put him in the Garden of Eden and went away to create other things like animals, trees, rivers, etc. (including trees of knowledge and life). Then after he brought […]
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Adam, Angel, Biblical, Famous, God, Iconic, Italian, Mythology, Nude Man, Sistine Chapel Ceiling
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Peter Paul Rubens, the 17th century Flemish Baroque painter painted the first version of the biblical subject Massacre of the Innocents in 1612. It took him two years to finish the painting. It showcases the intense scene of King Herod’s (Herod the Great) soldiers killing the infants of Bethlehem during his reign. Massacre of the Innocents The subject of the painting is the intense massacre of the infants during the time of Herod the Great who after a prophecy, got furious that a Jew boy (Jesus) would uproot his grand reign. After getting outwitted by the Magi, and not knowing which baby would be the reason of his diminishing reign, in fury, he ordered to kill all the infants under age of two. It was […]
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Biblical, Children, Expensive, Famous, Flemish Baroque, Infants, Innocent, Massacre, Mother, Motherhood, Nude, Soldier
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Leonardo executed very few works during his lifetime compared to other renaissance artists. A major reason is that, he was involved in way too much other works associated with science of human anatomy, botany, physics, armory, architecture and many others. But, on the other hand, his deep research and observation in each field helped him between his various fields at some points. The field of painting includes almost everything the nature has to offer and Leonardo just observed everything from fossils, mountains to the moon. Deriving information and hidden facts (for his time) from sources, mostly his every painting came out as a masterpiece from the artistic view point. His every new composition, color, style and new techniques were followed by the Leonardeschi. Sfumato After […]
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Angel, Children, Famous, High Renaissance, Italian, Madonna, Madonna and Child, Rock, Sfumato, Virgin
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