Italian Art term paper

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“Mary's throne in the Annunciation is of a somewhat exaggerated, though strictly geometrical, structure. It is made up of little square and arched shrines one above the other, and of boxes that are placed at the sides of the niche in which the seat is placed. The considered architecture of the pre-Renaissance Roman mosaic-worker finds perfect expression in this complicated erection raised from the square arms of the throne. It gathers deep shadows in its recesses against which the matron-like figure stands out in bold relief. The coming of the new epoch is to be seen in Cavallini's vivacity of narrative; it is very noticeable in the angelmessenger striding towards the lily-decked chair and in the life-like attitudes of the expectant angels and the questioning shepherd in the next panel. The thoughtful Joseph, the shepherd blowing his hunting horn with inflated cheeks, even the alert dog stealthily watching the movements of the flock are to be studied from the same point of view. Cavallini inherits across the centuries the tendencies of the Roman artist of the nave of Santa Maria Maggiore, and in his well-arranged Cosmatesque theatre with few figures he arranges his restrained scenes calmly and serenely. The space round the four solemn figures advancing for the Presentation in the Temple is defined by a small, turreted house, a long parallelopiped striped vertically with friezes and columns and a Cosmatesque ciborium of two storeys on tall columns protecting the altar and its splendid cloth with a great canopy. Mary walks majestically to make a sacrifice of doves with her trembling husband Joseph, and Anna the prophetess.”
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“When the Futurist manifesto was first launched in 1910 by the painters Boccioni, Carrà and Russolo - with whom Balla and Severini had joined forces - its primary aim was to bring Italian painting on to the European scene and oppose all forms of provincialism. The idea of Futurism had emerged a year earlier with the publication of Marinetti's declaration in the Figaro. In the field of painting Umberto Boccioni was Futurism's main inspirer. For Carrà the movement had no more than experimental value; while Severini, who had graduated through neo-Impressionism and was living in Paris, was painting those static compositions of classical inspiration that linked him with the Cubists. Balla, originally Boccioni's and Severini's master, was the most abstract of them all and remained rather outside the movement, while the impact of Futurism on Soffici, Sironi and Rosai, who joined the movement later, was not sufficiently strong to make them alter their idiom. As for Russolo, there are only one or two of his pictures worth remembering; he was no real painter. In the second phase of the movement, Prampolini was the liveliest figure; but his inclinations led him finally to Abstraction. Was there a Futurist "creed" for painting and sculpture? Were the first Futurists trying to solve the problem of form or the problem of politics? Besides the manifestoes, we can find a clear "statement" in Boccioni's writings, yet even this applies to his own works rather than to any others.”
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“Titian was catapulted to international fame and fortune after executing several full-length portraits of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. The circumstances surrounding these paintings are not entirely clear, nor can their dating be established with certainty. The emperor and artist seem to have first met in Bologna in 1530, when Charles was in the city for his coronation as Holy Roman Emperor. It is possible that Titian's introduction to Charles was facilitated by Federico II Gonzaga of Mantua, one of the artist's most important Italian patrons. According to Vasari, in 1530 Titian painted his first portrait of the emperor, a full-length picture in which Charles was wearing armor. This painting is now lost, but another portrait, done several years later, still survives. It was probably painted in 1533 when Charles was in Italy again, and depicts him full-length with a hound. Charles was so pleased with Titian's work for him that he made the painter Count Palatine and Knight of the Golden Spur. These titles not only ennobled the artist and increased his prestige, but also conferred on him various privileges, such as the right of attendance at court. An identical portrait of the emperor, signed and dated 1532 by the German court artist Jacob Seisenegger, is often cited as the model for Titian's portrait of Charles V. It has been suggested that Charles brought his portrait by Seisenegger on his second trip to Italy. The full-length type does seem to originate in Germany, and it is quite possible that Titian copied from Seisenegger's painting, although the fluidity of the hanging green cloth and the broad, synthetic painting of the clothes seem Venetian in origin.”
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