Fuck Yeah Renaissance History

obscuress: “Here, in a scant piece of earth, lies he whom all...

gloriavictoria — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:20:23 -0400

obscuress:

“Here, in a scant piece of earth, lies he whom all the world feared.”

Tomb of Cesare Borgia, Navarrete, Spain.

fyaakov: Saint Sebastian - Cima da...

gloriavictoria — Sat, 18 May 2013 12:20:24 -0400

fyaakov:

Saint Sebastian - Cima da Conegliano, c.1502

Style: High Renaissance

dutch-and-flemish-painters: attributed to Jan van Scorel...

gloriavictoria — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:40:26 -0400

dutch-and-flemish-painters:

attributed to Jan van Scorel - Portrait of Reinoud III van Brederode (1492-1556) - circa 1545

oil on oak panel, 78.6 × 67 cm (30.9 × 26.4 in)

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, the Netherlands

theotherfandomgirl: Three Ladies Making Music by Master of the...

gloriavictoria — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:20:24 -0400

theotherfandomgirl:

Three Ladies Making Music by Master of the Female Half-Length Portraits - 1530-1550

lovelymisssummer: Cassandra Agnolo Bronzino, Sacra Famiglia,...

gloriavictoria — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:40:10 -0400

lovelymisssummer:

Cassandra

Agnolo Bronzino, Sacra Famiglia, particolare

theotherfandomgirl: Head of a Woman (Study) by Leonardo da...

gloriavictoria — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:20:10 -0400

theotherfandomgirl:

Head of a Woman (Study) by Leonardo da Vinci - 1470s

tierradentro: “David”, Michelangelo. Galleria dell’Accademia,...

gloriavictoria — Wed, 15 May 2013 12:40:22 -0400

tierradentro:

“David”, Michelangelo. Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence, Italy. by/via.

showmethe-monet: Jan van Eyck, The Lucca Madonna 1436

gloriavictoria — Wed, 15 May 2013 12:20:15 -0400

showmethe-monet:

Jan van Eyck, The Lucca Madonna 1436

Masaccio : Saint Peter Baptising the Neophytes...

gloriavictoria — Tue, 14 May 2013 12:40:47 -0400

Masaccio : Saint Peter Baptising the Neophytes (detail) : c. 1427

Portrait of Anne of Austria, Queen of Spain (detail) by Alonso...

gloriavictoria — Tue, 14 May 2013 12:20:20 -0400

Portrait of Anne of Austria, Queen of Spain (detail) by Alonso Sánchez Coello (1532-1588)

oil on canvas, 1571

iareart: Knight, Death and the Devil, Dürer, 1513.

gloriavictoria — Mon, 13 May 2013 12:40:19 -0400

iareart:

Knight, Death and the Devil, Dürer, 1513.

teotihuacan: Correggio, Noli me tangere, c.1525

gloriavictoria — Mon, 13 May 2013 12:20:27 -0400

teotihuacan:

Correggio, Noli me tangere, c.1525

Portrait of a Woman by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553) oil...

gloriavictoria — Sun, 12 May 2013 12:40:29 -0400

Portrait of a Woman by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553)

oil on oak, c.1508-1510

Madonna under the Fir Tree by Lucas Cranach the Elder...

gloriavictoria — Sun, 12 May 2013 12:20:30 -0400

Madonna under the Fir Tree by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553)

oil on panel, 1510

artispretentious: Domenico Robusti (Venice, 1560-1635),...

gloriavictoria — Sat, 11 May 2013 22:22:38 -0400

artispretentious:

Domenico Robusti (Venice, 1560-1635), Portrait of the Doge Giovanni Bembo.

fuckyeahrenaissancewomen: This is pretty cool. A couple of...

gloriavictoria — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 12:20:11 -0400

fuckyeahrenaissancewomen:

This is pretty cool. A couple of years ago, a cosmetics study day titled Making Up the Renaissance was held in Edinburgh. Among other events, they ran a workshop which put to the test various cosmetic recipes for the skin, hair and teeth from Caterina Sforza’s Gli Experimenti. Jackie Spicer writes,

Many of Caterina Sforza’s recipes are vague about ingredient quantities and preparation methods, so sometimes the only way to figure out the desired effect was to try it out and see what worked. …

It turns out that many of the recipes may have been more effective than appearances imply—the greenish water from nettle to ‘make your skin white’ wouldn’t have been a dye or cover-up, but would have worked to return skin to a normal shade if it had been reddened due to hives or other allergic rashes. Likewise, the sensory experience was not disappointing, and often revealed why various recipes would have been thought to be effective. Our participants experienced tightening sensation in their gums with the tragacanth gum-putty, the numbing mouthwash-like effect of the cure for bad breath, and tingling cheeks brought on by the reduced acqua vita mixture (we used brandy!) for a well-coloured complexion.

It’s often unclear from just reading what these ideas of beauty would have actually looked like to the everyday person, and what they might have tried to emulate. Paintings might show an idealized form, but what did people look for and see in each other? For example, writers used terms like ‘fair’ and ‘glistening’ to describe a certain beautiful sheen that doesn’t translate easily to our modern beauty standards. At the time, being fair was different than just being pale; it resembled ivory and marble, but not snow, and might also include a ‘well coloured’ complexion. By trying out the recipes, we were able to observe with our own eyes what this might have looked like, in the slight gleam of and egg white finishing wash or the glistening oily effect of white lead face cream.

This in turn helps inform our understanding of artwork, and how images might be read, because we can begin to see how much artistic idealization resembles actual effects and vice versa. We were surprised and delighted to see that the very white face cream and rather orange rouge water, when made-up on our models gave them a colouration that almost exactly matched the Bordone painting.

There’s more information about the workshop, and Caterina’s recipes, on their website. It’s quite an interesting read.

hauntedranch: St. Margaret, c. 1400. Artist Unknown

gloriavictoria — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:40:16 -0400

hauntedranch:

St. Margaret, c. 1400. Artist Unknown

hauntedranch: Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio, Study of Drapery, c....

gloriavictoria — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:20:30 -0400

hauntedranch:

Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio, Study of Drapery, c. 1480

hauntedranch: Jacopo Ligozzi, Gerbil. c. 1580

gloriavictoria — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:40:18 -0400

hauntedranch:

Jacopo Ligozzi, Gerbil. c. 1580

hauntedranch: A Young Daughter of the Picts, c. 1585....

gloriavictoria — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:20:44 -0400

hauntedranch:

A Young Daughter of the Picts, c. 1585. Attributed to Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues. Watercolour and gouache touched with gold.