-
Michelangelo’s Pieta
Shortly after 23-year-old Michelangelo Buonarroti arrived in Rome in 1497, he was approached by French Cardinal Jean Bilhères de Lagraulas for a special task. Cardinal Bilhères wanted an extraordinary sculpture made for his mausoleum in the Chapel of Santa Petronilla, the chapel for the King of France in St. Peter’s Basilica, and he wanted the very young and very talented Michelangelo to create it for him. Michelangelo accepted the commission and promised to create “the most beautiful work of marble in Rome, one that no living artist could better” (Jansen, 459). After returning from a short trip to Carrara, Italy, in 1498 to secure the best marble he could find,…
-
The Caryatid of the Erechtheion
In the time around 420 BC in Athens, the creation of one of the world’s most classic pieces of architecture was taking place. The Persians had destroyed much of the city during a recent invasion, so Pericles, the general of Athens from 461-429 BC, commissioned two men to restore the damaged buildings atop the Acropolis. Along with restoring the sacred religious building the Persians had destroyed, Pericles also requested that they build another building, The Erechtheion. It was then that Mnesicles, an architect, and Phidias, a sculptor and mason, created what is now known as The Caryatid of the Erechtheion (khanacademy.org; Ross). Purpose The purpose for the Erechtheion is lightly…
-
The Stavelot Triptych
During the Middle Ages, religious travel was becoming popular. As more people began pilgrimages to seek out religious relics, different churches and monasteries began working to draw visitors and gain additional funding through donations left by the devout. Since very few churches or cities could lay claim to such renowned relics as were in Jerusalem and Rome, many commissioned elaborate housings for the small relics they did have in an attempt to draw visitors. It was during this time, roughly 1156 AD, that a small abbey in what is now known as Belgium commissioned local Mosan artists to create a reliquary to hold their small, precious relics. This is now…
-
Army of the First Emperor Qin Presentation
Want to know what makes the Terracotta Warriors so fascinating? Is it their size? Their mass quantity? Or is it that they are so old? For my Art History class we had to pick an ancient work of art to create a presentation about why it is so important. Watch my video to see what it is that makes the Terracotta Warriors so special.
