Polynesian Art

The Polynesian Art combines a multitude of activities the undeniable sign of an ancestral know-how. Massaging, carving, tattooing… are part of the activities which have a very close original link with the period preceding the arrival of Christianity in Polynesia – the Polynesian way of life during that period, their social organization and beliefs. Many of their arts was made originally and improved as time goes.

These people were exceptional boat builders and sailed across the Pacific navigating by currents, stars and cloud formations. They were skilled fisherman and farmers, growing fruit trees and vegetables and raising pigs, chickens, and dogs. Islanders have also accomplished craftspeople and worked in wood, fiber, and feathers to create objects of power and beauty.

Their societies were hierarchical, with the highest ranking people tracing their descent directly from the gods.  These gods were all powerful and present in the world.  Images of them were created in wood, feathers, fiber and stone.  One of the most important items in the Museum’s collections is a carved wood figure of the Hawaiian god, Ku-ka’ilimoku, which stands over two and a half meters tall.

Baroque Art: Exaggerated And Artistic

Baroque art and architecture style began in late 1600, mostly in Italy and Rome, and then spread to other parts of Europe. This period of art can be characterized by artistic style using exaggeration to portray drama, tension, grandeur and so on.

Baroque art and architecture can also be associated with the qualities of vitality, movement and sensuous richness. The term Baroque, which originated from the word barocco, came to be used to describe styles that are irregular, bizarre and out of ordinary.

Some of the arts and architecture during the Baroque period include the “The Triumph of the Immaculate” by Paolo de Matteis, “The Church of Sant'Andrea al Quirinale” designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and St. Nicholas Church in Lesser Town in Prague that was founded in 1703 under the lead of Baroque architect Christoph Dientzenhofer.

RENAISSANCE

The Renaissance art refers to the painting, sculpture and decorative arts that were produced during the Renaissance period. Its root can be traced back in Italy.During that time, there was a great interest in rendering the natural world into arts such as painting, sculptures and decorative pieces

 At the height of the period, there were three names that made it big in Renaissance art—Leonardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo Buonarroti and Raphael Sanzio.

Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa became the most famous painting up until today. Michaelangelo is known for his ceiling frescoes of the Sistine Chapel, and Raphael’s Madonnas are still popular.

CLASSICAL AND CHRISTIAN ART

Greek artists tried to render human forms as realistic as possible during the early fifth century. Sculptures produced at that time show the model posing in a relax way, with one leg or shoulder slightly shifted so they do not look stiff.

Later on, the artists also attempted to depict the emotions of their subject, as well as the age of their body. Then the art transformed into more idealized realism. This means that they create an image of what is ideal, like a normal size of a head, when in reality that is not the case. The face was also depicted as calm.

The old techniques entail artists to do their work straight on a stone. But because they could not achieve realism through that, the use of modelling technique emerged. They used clay on armatures before they copy into stone.

Some of the classical arts include the Bronze Zeus from Cape Artemision, Youth (the ‘Kritian Boy) from Athens Acropolis, and Metope from the temple of Zeus, Olympia.

THE COLOSSEUM

One of the structural arts that had a big role in the ancient period is the Colosseum. It is a massive stone amphitheater commissioned by Emperor Vespasian of the Flavian dynasty as a gift to the Roman people. The structure’s official name was Flavian Amphitheater, which hosted gladiatorial combats and wild animal fights.

Made of stone and concrete, the three-story Colosseum can sit 50,000 audiences. It was used for four hundred years before it fell into neglect, abandoned and destroyed over time.

Today, while two-thirds of the Colosseum had been destroyed by weather, neglect, vandalism, etc., the structure is a popular tourist destination. There were restorations efforts initiated in the 1990s and the following years.

LEONARDO DA VINCI

Renaissance art refers to the painting, sculpture and decorative arts that were produced during the Renaissance period. Its root can be traced back in Italy.

During that time, there was a great interest in rendering the natural world into arts such as painting, sculptures and decorative pieces. At the height of the period, there were three names that made it big in Renaissance art—Leonardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo Buonarroti and Raphael Sanzio.

Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa became the most famous painting up until today. Michaelangelo is known for his ceiling frescoes of the Sistine Chapel, and Raphael’s Madonnas are still popular.

THE MONA LISA

Mona Lisa is dubbed as the world’s most famous painting, surrounded by mysteries and theories. The painting is a work of Leonardo da Vinci between 1503 and 1506, up until 1517. It was a small portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo. Today, the painting is displayed at the Louvre Museum in Paris, which has been its home since 1797.

Leonardo da Vince was not the best painter during his time, and yet the Mona Lisa painting has been so popular. One of the things that made it so famous is the smile of the subject. It is often described as enigmatic, so mysterious that it has generated lots of theories and legends. Add that to her beauty and the use of the background, which is said to have changed art forever.

Another notable thing about the Mona Lisa painting is the lack of eyebrows, which resulted in speculations that da Vinci was not able to finish the artwork. Some say that it was done while other say it was abandoned. There were many studies and research already done to answer the mysteries of the painting. Still, mysteries remain and those make the painting even more famous.