The House of Alba is one of the most prominent aristocratic families in Europe with ties to the Spanish monarchy. The Alba heritage is one the family has worked to preserve for over 500 years. Normally in order to see pieces from the Alba collection, one would need to visit one of the families’ palaces around the world. Therefore, it was such a privilege to observe more than 130 works of art created by a handful of master artists throughout Europe. Impeccable pieces from the Antiquity, Renaissance, Baroque and even the Twenty-First century were on display. The works presented are compelling enough to stand alone, but together, the Alba collection offers an insight into the role the family had on world history. Fernando Álvarez de Toledo,
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The artists in this time period began to elaborately experiment with methods of creating art and artists started to consider themselves as skilled craftsmen. Artists were held to the same principles as those who practiced the sciences or mathematics. According to the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, “Innovations such as linear perspective, which employs mathematics and optics, aligned artists with the sciences, as did practices such as closely studying human anatomy.” In The Last Supper, Titian applies linear perspective to the composition by utilizing the lines of the tiled floor; these lines all point to a vanishing point on the horizon. As most Renaissance artists hoped to achieve, he used this technique to convey depth and/or make the composition realistic. The concept that artists should visually represent biblical or historical subject matter is referred to as istoria. Titian achieves biblical subject matter in The Last Supper. Christ is shown amongst his twelve apostles posed in the traditional manner. However, Titian dramatizes the original narrative by giving the painting a refreshing twist: placing eleven of the apostles near Christ while Judas sits on the opposite side. Accordingly, a bag of silver placed in Judas’ hand furthermore implying he has already betrayed Christ. It was quite astonishing to witness such a piece in person. It exemplifies a work that can stand alone and being amongst other magnificent pieces only adds to its
The artists in this time period began to elaborately experiment with methods of creating art and artists started to consider themselves as skilled craftsmen. Artists were held to the same principles as those who practiced the sciences or mathematics. According to the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, “Innovations such as linear perspective, which employs mathematics and optics, aligned artists with the sciences, as did practices such as closely studying human anatomy.” In The Last Supper, Titian applies linear perspective to the composition by utilizing the lines of the tiled floor; these lines all point to a vanishing point on the horizon. As most Renaissance artists hoped to achieve, he used this technique to convey depth and/or make the composition realistic. The concept that artists should visually represent biblical or historical subject matter is referred to as istoria. Titian achieves biblical subject matter in The Last Supper. Christ is shown amongst his twelve apostles posed in the traditional manner. However, Titian dramatizes the original narrative by giving the painting a refreshing twist: placing eleven of the apostles near Christ while Judas sits on the opposite side. Accordingly, a bag of silver placed in Judas’ hand furthermore implying he has already betrayed Christ. It was quite astonishing to witness such a piece in person. It exemplifies a work that can stand alone and being amongst other magnificent pieces only adds to its