Artistic Origins Research Articles

Pietro Lorenzetti's Artistic Origin and His Place in Trecento Sienese Painting

Pietro Lorenzetti's Artistic Origin and His Place in Trecento Sienese Painting

"St. Praxedis": New Light on the Early Career of Vermeer

St. Praxedis signed and dated 1655, can be firmly placed among the early works of Johannes Vermeer. This large and striking painting, now in the private collection, New York, is a close copy of a painting by the seventeenth century Florentine artist Felice Ficherelli. While Vermeer closely followed his model, he added a crucifix and gave his figure a stronger physical presence. Although no contemporary documents record the presence of Ficherelli's St. Praxedis in Delft, a number of Italian paintings, and copies of Italian paintings, were in the Netherlands around mid-century. Clearly a market for such works existed. Vermeer may have painted this subject because of his connections with the Jesuits. Technical examinations demonstrate that the paints used are consistent with Dutch practices. The ways in which Vermeer layered his paints and highlighted forms in this work parallel his painting techniques in other early works. This painting, thus, reveals much of Vermeer's working methods and clarifies aspects of h is artistic origins.

Style and style groupings in continental early La Tène art

Abstract Fine metal‐work of La Tene Ia/A1–2 date, mainly associated with early Furstengraber, is examined in an attempt to establish individual ‘schools’ or workshop traditions, particular emphasis being placed on non‐representational motifs of ultimately classical origin. Two general groups of gold‐work are postulated, and consideration is given to related objects exhibiting complex engraved designs. A final section discusses the possible conclusions to be drawn from the distributions of individual classes of objects. Although this paper is not strictly concerned with the non‐Celtic artistic origins of individual styles and motifs, the importance of Italy is emphasized.

The Christchild as Devotional Image in Medieval Italian Sculpture: A Contribution to Ambrogio Lorenzetti Studies

Sienese sculpture of the Trecento appears to have derived all its essential stimuli from two very different sources: One is the sculpture of Nicola and Giovanni Pisano; the other, painting. Several years ago Ulrich Middeldorf and Manfred Wundram traced Andrea Pisano's artistic origins back, in part, to Sienese painting.1 More recently Antje Kosegarten pointed out Giotto's influence on early Trecento sculpture in Siena.2 I myself was able to localize and date a group of Sienese-Umbrian sculptures of the second half of the Trecento by relating them to Sienese paintings attributable to followers of the Lorenzetti.3

Wang Wei’s Original “Wang Chuan tu” and Its Re-creation

Wang Chuan Villa was the private estate of Wang wei (701~761), as the greatest poet and painter of Tang Dynasty. It was in Lantian county of the southeast of Chang’an, the capital city. Wang retired to the countryside villa, where he described in a painting and in a poem of 20 quatrains. Wang’s poetry are rhyming couplets with the poems of fellow poet Pei Di along the natural landscapes of the Wang Chuan (輞川, “Wheel River”). Wang Chuan tu of Wang Wei is related to Caotang Shizhi tu, which depicted the poem of a sequestered life in Song Shan Mountain, by Lu Hong of Tang Dynasty. These works had a decisive effect on Longmian Shan Zhuang tu by the eminent artist Li Gonglin (1049~1106).After the deaths of his wife and his mother, Wang went deep into the study of Buddhism at his country villa. According to some records, Wang Wei painted the original pictorial composition of Wang Chuan Villa on the wall of Qingyuansi temple. Imperial counsellor (御史 大夫) Li Xijun (李栖筠, 719~776) had a Wang Chuan tu that was presented from chief monk of Qingyuansi temple, depicted the temple and the grave tower of Wang’s mother. Huang Tingjian, who was a poet in the Song Dynasty, analyzed two types of Wang Chuan tu, i.e. horizontal scroll and hanging scroll. Huang concluded that the type of horizontal scroll is suitable to paint the landscapes of Wang Chuan Villa. After Song Dynasty, hanging scroll type of Wang Chuan Villa began to appear.Even if Wang stands foremost among the artists to develop the Chinse landscape painting, Wang Wei’s original works can only be inferred from some records and remakes of his paintings. Wang Wei’s combination of masterful painting and poetic skills placed him in the mythic ranks in later generations. In the 17th century Dong Qichang (1555~1636) established Wang Wei as the founder of the Southern School of painter-poets, who concerned with personal expression. Although Wang’s original pictorial composition is not preserved, there are over 30 copies by later artists including Guo Zhongshu depicted the scenic spots in Wang’s poetry. The compositions provide a journey through a spectacular garden filled with sites designed to encourage quiet contemplation.The stone rubbing of Wang Chun composition in 1617 by Guo Shiyuan is the oldest style among the copies of Wang Chuan tu. Names of the special scenic features of the garden are written above each scene, such as Hollow at Meng's Wall, Apricot-Grain Cottage, Bamboo-Midst Cottage, Magnolia Park, Bamboo Hills, Deer Park, North Lodge, South Lodge, Vagary Lake, White Stone Shallows and so on.Even though Wang Chuan composition of the Art Institute of Chicago is considered by Li Gonglin, thickly contoured rocks, tight spatial recession, and other aspects stylistic features are associated with Chinese artists acted in the 15th century.Most existing Wang Chuan tu were reflected the painting style of Wu School in Ming Dynasty rather than Wang’s original style. Wen Zhengming had left a painting expressed with poetic ideas of Wang Wei and fellow poet Pei Di.Wang Chuan tu by Jin Xuejian described scenes of Qingyuansi temple and the grave tower of Wang Wei’s mother. Wang Yunqi referred to Wang Wei’s painting and poetry to guide his inspiration as well as the stone rubbing of Wang Chuan composition in 1617. While Wang Chuan tu was continuously recreated by painters for centuries, it was established itself as the origin of the literary artist's style in Chinese art history.

Emerson and the Bardic Tradition

Emerson saw in the art of poetry a process veiled in mystery, and no one fully acquainted with his writings is unaware of the manifold ways in which Emerson approached that mystery in an attempt to explain it. As early as 1838, he began what he hoped would be a long poem on the poet and his art. Occasionally returning to the composition over a period of some years, in the end he left only fragments of his original plan. The essay entitled “The Poet”, published in 1844, integrated more fully many of the conclusions to which Emerson had come on the subject. But still he was apparently unsatisfied. Further early experiments in suggesting the function of the poet are revealed in four poems in the 1847 collection of verses. In “The Problem”, “Saadi”, and “Bacchus” Emerson viewed in different ways the origin of the artist's and poet's power. And in the last poem, entitled “Merlin”, he turned back, for the embodiment of the ideal poet, to the ancient bard.