'Sorry unable to make the lectures today. Here is your seminar task: Compare and contrast the two paintings.
Comment on the context and the relationship of the image to the idealised and realism ‐500 words. You may work in your groups.'
_1510_XX_Sleeping_Venus.jpg) |
| Giorgione The Sleeping Venus 1510 |
 |
| Manet Olympia 1863 |
Giorgione da Castelfranco was an influential Venetian artist who died at the age of 30 in 1510.
Giorgiones’ painting (The Sleeping Venus 1510) was created during the Renaissance period and portrays Venus (Aphrodite the Greek Goddess of love, beauty and procreation). Venus is always portrayed as a beautiful woman in her prime during this period and her myth as a goddess revolves around her sexuality and beauty. The Goddess Venus was a figure from the Greco-Roman worlds and therefore a figure from ancient history already by the renaissance period. During the renaissance, classical antiquity, philosophy, pagan figures, religious imagery all became tempting opportunities to create narratives and allegorical visual images via painting. Symbolism was greatly used within renaissance painting yet ‘The sleeping Venus’ has less symbolic content than many of the equivalent paintings of this period. The pose, gaze and positioning of the figure make her submissive and mysterious, the white sheet reflecting her perfect figure. She is placed outside as if she is to be considered a natural beauty and her closed eyes make her appear unaware of the viewers gaze, thus making this image voyeuristic in nature. Her skin is pale and thus she appears pure, and one wonders if her hand covers her modesty or indicates as aspect of sexual pleasure or expectation within the image. This image places her on a natural pedestal of rock and soil, with the silken sheets screwed up and highlighting her perfect smooth body. Venus is an icon and therefore idealised and as such she is objectified and mystified by this image, it shows a Goddess in a human form that men would have desired, but I suspect her perfection would have been out of reach of all.
Edourd Manets painting ‘Olympia 1863’ is an all together different image and subject, one of realism. The sitter is no longer an intellectual classical figure from ancient history. She would appear to be a far less virtuous female. The image has far more content and therefore far greater symbolism is made available to the viewer. Manets work such as ‘Dejour sur l’erbe’- ‘Luncheon on the grass’ (along with ‘Olympia’) was controversial ‘modern’ art. It was considered to be authentically modern urban art, produced by a heroically independent artist. But Manets’ work in many ways was homage to the works of Giorione, and Titan from the renaissance period and also much later French 18th century French artworks. ‘Olympia’ shows a female figure that appears far stronger and more in control of her body and sexuality than that of the sleeping Venus. Her gaze it strait at the viewer and she appears to be dominant over her coloured servant. This is a woman in control of not only herself, but her situation, she invites the viewers gaze. She adorns her naked body with jewellery, symbols of sexuality such as her neck adornment, the flower in her hair. She's painted indoors and her very nakedness implies she is there to serve men sexually yet her strength is apparent.
 |
| Informaton source |
 |
| Information source |
No comments:
Post a Comment