The Ambassadors - Art Analysis
An affinity for all things Renaissance drew me to this Art option for my analysis. My initial reaction is that it is quite a busy painting. There is so much to look at that I 'm not certain where to start. There are two men in the picture and assumption would dictate that they must be 'ambassadors ', then you have a piece of furniture cluttered with paraphernalia in the center. Is it there to show how wealthy they are? I don’t doubt there is a significance to every item on these shelves, however there is also a strange object at the bottom of the painting which is undefinable. I thought it was a feather but closer scrutiny ruled that out. It is a an odd object that looks distorted, compared to everything …show more content…
Artists used mathematical insight to create differing perspective. The Ambassadors is divided almost perfectly by the plumbline at the centre of the upper table and the globe on the lower table - the exact geometrical centre of the image is Rome (Quaesitor, 2009). There was one very specific way that Holbein used mathematical principles in this painting and is one of the reasons it is so famous. He used anamorphosis which is a distorted projection or drawing that appears normal when viewed from a particular point. The distorted object discussed earlier becomes a skull when viewed from the right side of the …show more content…
The artist’s detachment and his refusal to submit to an authority that might inhibit his own creative (but very worldly) powers enabled him to produce paintings whose beauty and brilliance have never been questioned (Harbison,n.d.). This ties in brilliantly with period themes of individuality and humanism
Holbein had an attention to detail that was extraordinary. He was able to make the clothing in his portraits look like velvet, fur, or feathers. In the Ambassadors you can see this application in all the little effects that you miss when you just glance at the piece. The richness of the clothing, the birth dates of the men concealed in plain site, the crucifix half hidden behind the curtain, the broken string on the lute, the placement of the scientific instruments and every other object with every item showing its structures and nuances. What an amazing resource for the impressionists of
An affinity for all things Renaissance drew me to this Art option for my analysis. My initial reaction is that it is quite a busy painting. There is so much to look at that I 'm not certain where to start. There are two men in the picture and assumption would dictate that they must be 'ambassadors ', then you have a piece of furniture cluttered with paraphernalia in the center. Is it there to show how wealthy they are? I don’t doubt there is a significance to every item on these shelves, however there is also a strange object at the bottom of the painting which is undefinable. I thought it was a feather but closer scrutiny ruled that out. It is a an odd object that looks distorted, compared to everything …show more content…
Artists used mathematical insight to create differing perspective. The Ambassadors is divided almost perfectly by the plumbline at the centre of the upper table and the globe on the lower table - the exact geometrical centre of the image is Rome (Quaesitor, 2009). There was one very specific way that Holbein used mathematical principles in this painting and is one of the reasons it is so famous. He used anamorphosis which is a distorted projection or drawing that appears normal when viewed from a particular point. The distorted object discussed earlier becomes a skull when viewed from the right side of the …show more content…
The artist’s detachment and his refusal to submit to an authority that might inhibit his own creative (but very worldly) powers enabled him to produce paintings whose beauty and brilliance have never been questioned (Harbison,n.d.). This ties in brilliantly with period themes of individuality and humanism
Holbein had an attention to detail that was extraordinary. He was able to make the clothing in his portraits look like velvet, fur, or feathers. In the Ambassadors you can see this application in all the little effects that you miss when you just glance at the piece. The richness of the clothing, the birth dates of the men concealed in plain site, the crucifix half hidden behind the curtain, the broken string on the lute, the placement of the scientific instruments and every other object with every item showing its structures and nuances. What an amazing resource for the impressionists of