Portrait painting

Artemisia Gentileschi’s Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting Surrounded by portraits of and by male artists, Artemisia Gentileschi’s (1593-1652) oil on canvas Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting (La Pittura) 1638-39 stands out in the midst of Vancouver Art Gallery’s “The Royal Collections: Portrait of the Artist” exhibition. As one of the only woman artist portraits, it pronounces itself in entirety to symbolise the prominence she has given females in history as she paints herself as La Pittura. She depicts herself not as females had been seen before, but as a hard working artist in the MIDST of creating a work of art. One of the most recognizable writers of Artemisia’s Self-Portrait and Biography Mary D. Garrard had stated “[she] made an audacious claim upon the core of artistic tradition, to create an entirely new image that was quite literally unavailable to any male artist]”, and this is dominant reasoning for the intrigue Artemisia contains as a historical female figure…

Artemisia Gentileschi's Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting Gentileschi used the symbols written in Cesare Ripa's Iconologia to personify females in her painting. The gold chain with pendant mask represents imitation The unruly hair strands represent “divine frenzy of artistic temperament” The garments with changing colors represent painter’s skill The themes of the painting were hard for male viewers to interpret but female viewers can identify themselves with the portrait. Pittura- “the…

piece is a fresco painting, the genre being religious and scientific, which was typical during the Early Renaissance. It is a perfect depiction of linear perspective with Jesus Christ centered right above the vanishing point. It is truly eye-catching and the symmetry in the painting is near-perfect. While this painting is a clear representation of linear perspective, another artist, Diego Velasquez, had a different style of art. In this painting, Las Meninas represents a very radical…

The double portrait of Mr. and Mrs. I. N. Phelps Stokes, titled after its subjects, is a work of art created by the renowned portraitist John Singer Sargent. Both in its composition and artistic elements, it is, truly, an exceedingly good example of a work of art by its artist, for it depicts many of the stylistic characteristics that Sargent used so frequently that these elements became a part of his distinctive style. This double portrait portrays, as noted in the title, a husband and wife.…

Rembrandt van Rijin’s Portrait of a Man With Arms Akimbo reflects his personal technique as well as the Dutch Baroque style, which lasted throughout the 17th Century. This piece features an unidentified man depicted in a position of strength and superiority. This is established through Rembrandt’s use of composition and light, using effects common to the Baroque era such as tenebrism. To better understand the identity of the man pictured, physical qualities such as style of dress can be used to…

Marie-Louise-Elisabeth Vigée Lebrun was a painter, she made historic paintings and were sought after her work especially from women, she was a favorite artist of aristocratic patrons throughout Europe at the end of the eighteenth century including Marie Antoinette, and had a predominant sense of style and skill in her painting’s. The spark of her passion started at a young age with the art’s. She proved that she was somewhat of a prodigy with her talents. In her teen years, her fame inclined,…

“Self Portrait in a Convex Mirror” by John Ashbery is a work of convoluted reflections engaging Renaissance painter Parmigiano, his painting “Self Portrait in a Convex Mirror”, Ashbery himself, and the soul. The poem’s source of inspiration is a physical piece of art, suggesting the poem belongs in the ekphrasis tradition. Immediate tension arises as the painting and the poem belong to vastly different traditions. The technique of ekphrasis in a postmodern tradition has challenged scholars as it…

While returning to the Museum of Fine Arts, in Boston, I stumbled on a painting that was in our book Gardner’s Art through the Ages by Fred S. Kleiner on page 705. The composition intrigued me a hundred times more in real life then it did in my book. I wanted to know the story, who are the girls, where are they and why is there no certainty in the painting? Are the girls in an insane asylum, a museum, a house? The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit, captivated me, it is like no other piece of art…

The 16th-century artist Leonardo da Vinci produced what is perhaps the utmost famous painting in the history of Western art. The net worth of the painting is in the billions of dollars. The art quality produced looks comparable to a real person and it is a portrait of a woman named Lisa Gherardini she was married to Francesco Del Giocondo. The smile of the woman remains quite a mystery to countless people it is dated back to the 16th century before painter Leonardo da Vinci died. The painting…

Harmenszoon Van Rijn, commonly referred to simply as Rembrandt, is a legendary artist who spent most of his lifetime painting and etching. Born in Leiden,…