Arrotino
The ''Arrotino'' (Italian - the "Blade-Sharpener"), or formerly the ''Scythian'', thought to be a figure from a group representing the '' Flaying of Marsyas'' is a Hellenistic-Roman sculpture ( Pergamene school) of a man crouching to sharpen a knife on a whetstone. Discovery and ownership The sculpture was likely excavated in the early sixteenth century, since it is recognizable in an inventory made after the death of Agostino Chigi in 1520 of his villa in Trastevere, which would become the Villa Farnesina. Later the sculpture formed part of the garden of sculptures and antiquities that Paolantonio Soderini inherited from his brother, Monsignor Francesco Soderini, who had arranged them in the Mausoleum of Augustus; Paolantonio noted in a letter of 1561 that ''il mio villano''— "my peasant"— had gone away, and it is known that a member of the Mignanelli family sold the ''Arrotino'' to Cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici. It was removed to the Villa Medici, where it was displayed ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Uffizi
The Uffizi Gallery ( ; , ) is a prominent art museum adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums and the most visited, it is also one of the largest and best-known in the world and holds a collection of priceless works, particularly from the period of the Italian Renaissance painting, Italian Renaissance. After the ruling House of Medici died out, their art collections were given to the city of Florence under the famous ''Patto di famiglia'' negotiated by Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, Anna Maria Luisa, the last Medici heiress. The Uffizi is one of the first modern museums. The gallery had been open to visitors by request since the sixteenth century, and in 1769 it was officially opened to the public, formally becoming a museum in 1865. History The building of the Uffizi complex was begun by Giorgio Vasari in 1560 for Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo I de' M ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Crouching Venus
The ''Crouching Venus'' is a Hellenistic model of Venus surprised at her bath. Venus crouches with her right knee close to the ground, turns her head to the right and, in most versions, reaches her right arm over to her left shoulder to cover her breasts. To judge by the number of copies that have been excavated on Roman sites in Italy and France, this variant on Venus seems to have been popular. A number of examples of the ''Crouching Venus'' in prominent collections have influenced modern sculptors since Giambologna and have been drawn by artists since Martin Heemskerck, who made a drawing of the Farnese ''Crouching Venus'' that is now in Naples. Attribution The model is often related to a corrupt passage in Pliny the Elder's ''Natural History'' (xxxvi.4), enumerating sculptures in the Temple of Jupiter Stator in the Portico of Octavia, near the Roman Forum; the text has been emended to a mention of ''Venerem lavantem sese Daedalsas, stantem Polycharmus'' ("Venus washing ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Villa Medici
The Villa Medici () is a sixteenth-century Italian Mannerist villa and an architectural complex with 7-hectare Italian garden, contiguous with the more extensive Borghese gardens, on the Pincian Hill next to Trinità dei Monti in the historic centre of Rome, Italy. The Villa Medici, founded by Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and now property of the French State, has housed the French Academy in Rome and has welcomed winners of the Rome Prize since 1803, to promote and represent artistic creation in all its fields, an instance being the musical evocation of its garden fountains features in Ottorino Respighi's '' Fountains of Rome''. The Villa Medici lies within the historic district of Rome, inside the perimeter walls built by Emperor Aurelian in the third century, and the Gianicolense walls built by Pope Urban VIII in 1643, which was declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1980, though ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (Layered intrusion, layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphosed limestone, but its use in stonemasonry more broadly encompasses unmetamorphosed limestone. The extraction of marble is performed by quarrying. Marble production is dominated by four countries: China, Italy, India and Spain, which account for almost half of world production of marble and decorative stone. Because of its high hardness and strong wear resistance, and because it will not be deformed by temperature, marble is often used in Marble sculpture, sculpture and construction. Etymology The word "marble" derives from the Ancient Greek (), from (), "crystalline rock, shin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Hellenistic
In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the Roman conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt the following year, which eliminated the last major Hellenistic kingdom. Its name stems from the Ancient Greek word ''Hellas'' (, ''Hellás''), which was gradually recognized as the name for Greece, from which the modern historiographical term ''Hellenistic'' was derived. The term "Hellenistic" is to be distinguished from "Hellenic" in that the latter refers to Greece itself, while the former encompasses all the ancient territories of the period that had come under significant Greek influence, particularly the Hellenized Middle East, after the conquests of Alexander the Great. After the Macedonian conquest of the Achaemenid Empire in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Hellenistic Art
Hellenistic art is the art of the Hellenistic period generally taken to begin with the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and end with the Roman Greece, conquest of the Greek world by the Romans, a process well underway by 146 BC, when the Greek mainland was taken, and essentially ending in 30 BC with the conquest of Ptolemaic Kingdom, Ptolemaic Egypt following the Battle of Actium. A number of the best-known works of Greek sculpture belong to this period, including ''Laocoön and His Sons'', ''Dying Gaul'', ''Venus de Milo'', and the ''Winged Victory of Samothrace''. It follows the period of Ancient Greek art, Classical Greek art, while the succeeding Roman art, Greco-Roman art was very largely a continuation of Hellenistic trends. The term ''Hellenistic'' refers to the expansion of Greek influence and dissemination of its ideas following the death of Alexander – the "Hellenizing" of the world, with Koine Greek as a common language. The term is a modern invention; the Hell ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Étienne Allegrain
Étienne Allegrain (1644 – 2 April 1736) was a French topographical painter. Inspired by Nicolas Poussin, he evoked still ambiences and atmospherics bathed in a deep play of light and shade. His grand-son Christophe-Gabriel Allegrain became a famous sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc .... External links Étienne Allegrain in Artcyclopedia References * Anne Lossel-Guillien, ''À la recherche de l'Å“uvre d'Etienne Allegrain, paysagiste de la fin du règne de Louis XIV'', Histoire de l'art, n° 4 1998. 1644 births 1736 deaths 17th-century French painters French male painters 18th-century French painters 18th-century French male artists Members of the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture {{France-painter-17thC-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Courtauld Institute Of Art
The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. The art collection is known particularly for its French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings and is housed in the Courtauld Gallery. The Courtauld is based in Somerset House, in the Strand in London. In 2019, the Courtauld's teaching and research activities temporarily relocated to Vernon Square, London, while its Somerset House site underwent a major regeneration project. History The Courtauld was founded in 1932 through the philanthropic efforts of the industrialist and art collector Samuel Courtauld, the diplomat and collector Lord Lee of Fareham, and the art historian Sir Robert Witt. Originally the Courtauld was based in Home House, a townhouse designed by Robert Adam in Portman Square, Marylebone. The Strand block of Somerset House, designed by William Ch ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and appreciation of the fine arts through exhibitions, education and debate. History The origin of the Royal Academy of Arts lies in an attempt in 1755 by members of the Royal Society of Arts, Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, principally the sculptor Henry Cheere, to found an autonomous academy of arts. Before this, several artists were members of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, including Cheere and William Hogarth, or were involved in small-scale private art academies, such as the St Martin's Lane Academy. Although Cheere's attempt failed, the eventual charter, called an 'Instrument', used to establish the Royal Academy of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Engraved Gem
An engraved gem, frequently referred to as an intaglio, is a small and usually semi-precious gemstone that has been carved, in the Western tradition normally with images or inscriptions only on one face. The engraving of gemstones was a major luxury art form in the Ancient history, ancient world, and an important one in some later periods. Strictly speaking, ''engraving'' means carving ''in intaglio'' (with the design cut ''into'' the flat background of the stone), but relief carvings (with the design projecting ''out of'' the background as in nearly all cameo (carving), cameos) are also covered by the term. This article uses ''cameo'' in its strict sense, to denote a carving exploiting layers of differently coloured stone. The activity is also called ''gem carving'' and the artists ''gem-cutters''. References to antique gems and intaglios in a jewellery context will almost always mean carved gems; when referring to monumental sculpture, the term counter-relief, meaning the same a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Leonardo Agostini
Leonardo Agostini (19 September 1593 – August 1676) was an Italian antiquary of the 17th century, born in Boccheggiano, near Grosseto. Life Agostino was employed for some time as ''antiquario'' to Cardinal Francesco Barberini to collect works of art for the recently constructed Palazzo Barberini. His letters to the Barberini family during their period of disgrace and exile (1646–50) have provided art historians with information on the archaeological activity of the time. Appointed superintendent of antiquities in the Papal States by Pope Alexander VII, he directed excavations in Rome at the Forum and at the thermae near the church of San Lorenzo in Panisperna, where he discovered the " Barberini Hera". In 1649 he issued a new edition of Filippo Paruta's ''Sicilian Medals'', with engravings of 400 additional specimens. In conjunction with Gian Pietro Bellori (1615–1696) he published ''Gemme antiche figurate'', a work on antique engraved gems, in two volumes (Rome, 1657 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Dying Gaul
Dying is the final stage of life which will eventually lead to death. Diagnosing dying is a complex process of clinical decision-making, and most practice checklists facilitating this diagnosis are based on cancer diagnoses. Signs of dying The National Cancer Institute in the United States advises that the presence of some of the following signs may indicate that death is approaching: * Drowsiness, increased sleep, and/or unresponsiveness (caused by changes in the patient's metabolism). * Confusion about time, place, and/or identity of loved ones; restlessness; visions of people and places that are not present; pulling at bed linens or clothing (caused in part by changes in the patient's metabolism). * Decreased socialization and withdrawal (caused by decreased oxygen to the brain, decreased blood flow, and mental preparation for dying). * Decreased need for food and fluids, and loss of appetite (caused by the body's need to conserve energy and its decreasing ability to us ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |