Florence Ballard

Machiavelli, in The Prince, claims that “it is much safer to be feared than loved, if one has to lack one of the two.” Trump chose fear, but he disregarded being loved as a component. The fear was accompanied with hate, leading to an unsuccessful attempt of Machiavelli’s thought within his current presidency. Machiavelli believed that “since men love at their convenience and fear at the convenience of the prince, a wise prince should found himself on what is his.” The people will not rise up…

1. How did Masaccio impact 15th century Florence? ANSWER: Masaccio became known as the best painter of his time. He was known for his ability to depicting nature in a realistic manner and recreating lifelike figures. He was also able to depict movement in his art as seen in his piece, The Tribute Money. Masaccio was also well known for his ability to create three dimensional figures by casting shadows and other various art techniques that reflected three dimensionality. Masaccio was also…

During the fifteenth century, Florence was filled with artistic, humanistic, technological, and scientific achievements, in the midst of a period known as the Renaissance. Founded on the rediscovery of the classical world, Renaissance culture focused on hero ideals and promoted the study of the liberal arts, largely centering on the individual’s intellectual potential. At this time, Florence was influenced largely by the powerful Medici family, who had political and financial influence over most…

The Alhambra, translating to “the red” in the Arabic language represents the shade of red the palace reflects when the sun is setting for the day. The palace is located in Granada, Spain and it is the most recognized architectural piece of Islamic art. The red castle has been the symbol of the city for nearly 800 years. The Alhambra was constructed during the 13th and 14th century on its red hill-top during the ruling of Ibn al-Ahmar (Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica). It was last…

Introduction The 19th century movement towards Italian unification which concluded in the establishment of The Kingdom of Italy on March 4th 1861 is called ‘’the Risorgimento’’. ‘’The Risorgimento was an ideological and literary movement that helped to arouse the national consciousness of the Italian people, and it led to a series of political events that freed the Italian states from foreign domination and united them politically.’’ (Risorgimento | Italian history | Britannica.com. 2015) The…

Galileo Galilei once said “All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.” Born in Pisa, Italy on February 15, 1564 Galilei was an Italian astronomer, mathematician, and physicist. Who then died on January 8, 1642. He was a man of many talents who was able to invent his own telescope. He invented his first telescope in 1609, Galileo built on the work of others to create a telescope with around 3x magnification, he later improved on this to make…

Born: • Michelangelo di Lodovico Buenarroti Simoni. • 6 March 1474. • Capresse near Arezzo, Republic of Florence, Tuscany. Died: • 18th of February 1564 (Aged 64) • Rome, Papal States Known for: • Sculpture • Painting • Architecture • Poetry Notable Work • David • Pieta • The last judgement • Sistine Chapel ceiling Studies: • In 1488-92 Michelangelo was sent to Florence to study grammar under the humanist Francesco da Urbino. • Michelangelo didn’t care about his studies so he copied…

The Charioteer The themes present in Oryx and Crake can be found in numerous theories by great thinkers from the ancient and modern times. One example is Plato’s theory of the tripartite psyche, which appears in his famous books Republic and Phaedrus and his illustrious chariot allegory. It depicts humans as a chariot pulled by two winged horses: the body and the soul. The chariot is…

Tiziano Vecellio, better known as Titian, painted Venus and Adonis in about 1554; during a period known as the High Renaissance. Venus and Adonis is a workshop copy of one of Titian’s earlier paintings of the same name, created as a part of a six-piece series commissioned by King Phillip II of Spain. Titian called the paintings in this series ‘poesie’, or poems, because each illustrates a mythological story inspired by ‘Metamorphoses’ by the Roman poet Ovid. Titian’s other works in this series…

The renaissance is the re-birth of classical ideas. Many artists of this period were influenced by the Roman and Greek culture and wanted to re-create their works by adding their own touch and thoughts. Also, at this time, art began to flourish and patrons commissioned many artists. Artists like Michelangelo Buonarroti and Hieronymus Bosch were and still are very famous for their works. In this essay, I will discuss “The Last Judgment” done by both Michelangelo and Bosch. Michelangelo was from…