Archive for October, 2007
A pieta is an Italian word for artworks that depict the Virgin Mary cradling the body of the dead Jesus. There are many notable pietas that have been made by various artists throughout history. Probably the most well known of all is La Pieta by Michelangelo.
Michelangelo’s La Pieta can be found in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. It is the only work of the famed artist that contained his signature (found on a diagonal ribbon that is carved across the Virgin Mary’s breast). His signature on the La Pieta may be an indication of his satisfaction with his work.
Prior to creating the Pieta, Michelangelo was a relative unknown in the art world. He was then in his early twenties when he was commissioned in 1498 by the French cardinal Jean de Billheres to make one as the cardinal’s funeral monument. It eventually became one of the four pietas that Michelangelo made and the only one that he was able to finish completely.
Michelangelo was able to carve out the famous La Pieta from a single slab of marble. It took him less than two years to complete what is probably one of the most magnificent sculptures ever made. This masterpiece sculpture was unique in several way to some of the pietas that were done before it. The La Pieta is an artwork that was the first to strike a balance between the Renaissance ideals of classical beauty with that of naturalism. It was also one of the first pietas made in Italy that depict the body of Jesus lying on the lap of the Virgin Mary after the Crucifixion. The La Pieta by Michelangelo was also one of the first pietas to depict a youthful and serene Virgin Mary instead of o broken hearted and more mature woman.
The structure of Michelangelo’s La Pieta is said to be pyramidal with its vertex marked to coincide with the Virgin Mary’s head. The sculpture then widens gradually towards the bottom. The figures of the statue seem to be out of proportion since it may have been difficult for the artist to exhibit a full-grown Jesus cradled in the Virgin Mary’s lap. But aside from this, the relationship between the two figures appears to be quite natural.
After the La Pieta was finished, its first home was the Chapel of Santa Petronilla which is a Roman mausoleum located at the south precept of St. Peter’s. It was later transferred to another chapel in the Basilica because rebuilding plans by Bramante required its previous location to be demolished.
The famed statue also sustained some damage during the subsequent years. The four fingers on the Virgin Mary’s left hand required restoration in 1736 after they were broken while being moved. On May 21, 1972, the statue was vandalized by a mentally deranged geologist named Lazlo Toth who used a hammer to sustain certain damage on the features of the Virgin Mary. After the sculpture was painstakingly restored it was returned to its location and protected with a bullet-proof acrylic glass panel to prevent further damage from vandals.
October 31st, 2007
Francois Auguste Rene Rodin was a notable French artist who became more famous for his wonderful sculptures. He was considered as one of the few sculptors who were able to gain wide recognition outside the visual arts world. Rodin was also considered as pioneer of modern sculpture. His works clashed with the rules set out by figure sculpture tradition.
Rodin was born on November 12, 1840 in Paris, France. He was the second child to Jean Baptiste and Marie Cheffer Rodin, a working class family. Rodin’s father worked as a clerk for the French police department. Rodin was largely self-educated during his younger years and taught himself to draw at age ten. He was schooled in Petite Ecole when he was between 14 and 17, where he dabbled in drawing and painting.
Later on, Rodin wanted to enter into the Grand Ecole in 1857 by submitting a clay model of a friend in the hopes of gaining entrance to the school. Unfortunately, he was denied entry along with two other applications in other schools. Rodin’s failure to gain entrance to such schools were said to be due to the school’s Neoclassical tastes while Rodin was schooled in light 18th Century sculptures. With these setbacks, Rodin began to earn a living by being a craftsman making decorative objects and architectural ornaments.
Rodin also joined a Catholic order for a short period of time after the death of his sister Maria. Deciding to turn away from art, Rodin was encouraged by a fellow priest in the order who recognized his talent to continue on. Rodin left the order and worked as a decorator while taking classes for animal sculpture with Antoine-Louis Barye.
In 1864, Rodin offered his first sculpture for exhibit and was able to enter the studio of Albert Ernest Carrier-Belleuse who was then a mass producer of objects d’art. Rodin became a chief assistant to Carrier-Belleuse until 1870. During the Franco-Prussian War, Rodin experienced some struggles since work became scarce. Rodin went to Belgium and there he stayed for 6 years as a craftsman.
After acquiring enough money, Rodin went on a trip to Italy where he was enticed by the works of Michelangelo and Donatello. The experience had a lasting effect on the later works of Rodin. The 1880’s saw Rodin again joining up with Carrier-Belleuse who already became the art director of a porcelain factory. He gave Rodin a part time job as a designer. His vase and table ornament designs in the factory made the factory earn some recognition across Europe. As Rodin became known for his work at the porcelain factory, he was also able to capture the eye of some of the important people in Paris which led him to be awarded a number of art commissions.
Through these meetings, Rodin was given the commission to create a portal for a museum. There Rodin gave his energies to create his elaborate Gates of Hell. It took about four decades of Rodin’s time and yet the portal remained unfinished, primarily due to the fact that the museum it was made for was never built. But this led to Rodin being able to create some of his most famous sculptures. The many figures that comprise the elaborate Gates of Hell became independent sculptures in their own right. Most notable of Rodin’s work was The Thinker and The Kiss.
October 24th, 2007
Fallingwater is a well known architectural masterpiece that is located in rural southwestern Pennsylvania. It is a house that was designed by well-known American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935. It was unique in that the home was built partly over a waterfall and features other architectural designs that were quite distinctive during its time.
Fallingwater was a home that was initially owned by Edgar Kaufmann Sr. who was a successful businessman in Pittsburg. The Kaufmanns owned a property in Pittsburg that contained a waterfall and some cabins that needed to be rebuilt. Mr. Kaufmann contacted Wright to the task of designing or rebuilding the property. What the Kaufmanns initially wanted was a home that overlooks the waterfall in their property. But the famed Wright had other plans. He suggested that the home be built over the waterfall. The result was an extraordinary home that became one of the most unique pieces of architecture ever seen.
What makes Fallingwater quite an interesting architectural masterpiece is that it was designed in a way that helps it become part of its surroundings, never standing out over the striking beauty of natural scenery. The house was built over an active waterfall that flows beneath it. Even the boulders of the site were integrated into the home interior instead of being cleared out during construction. The fireplace hearth, for instance, is made up of a group of boulders that was found on the site. A set of boulders protrude over the living room floor and became a part of the home.
There are stairways designed that lead directly to the water. There is a natural boulder that drips water inside from the bridge that connects the main house to the guest and servant’s buildings. The water is then directed back out, creating a stream of water that seems to go inside the room from the outside. The terraces that jut out from the waterfall below it are cantilevered to resemble the rock formations nearby. The active stream as well as the waterfall can be heard all around the home although one may not be able to see it unless one goes outside. The hoe also makes use of wide expanses of windows and balconies that give the visitor or guest have a sense of closeness with the surroundings. Every part of the home was designed according to Wright’s aim to make the home as organic as possible and integrating the man-made structures as part of the natural surroundings.
Although Fallingwater may have very unique architectural features, it also has its own set of problem areas. It seems that during the design process, the cantilever system was hastily designed and was weak to hold the balconies that were made out of reinforced concrete. The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, the current owner of the home-turned-museum, did a detailed analysis of the problem concerning the gradual sagging of the prominent balconies in the home. The structural work to temporarily reinforce the home’s cantilevers was completed in 2002. Aside from that, the home also has a serious problem of mold growth brought about by excess moisture all around the home.
October 17th, 2007
When you find yourself somewhere in the vicinity of London’s financial district, you may notice an odd-looking building that towers above the maze of other buildings in the area. Its unique oblong shape has made it quite a noticeable landmark in the city. It is a building known as 30 St. Mary Axe, more popularly known as “The Gherkin”.
The Gherkin is a 180-meter tall building located in London’s busy financial district, also considered as the city’s second tallest building after Tower 42. Its principal architect is from the firm Foster and Partners, headed by Pritzker Prize winner Lord Foster and Ken Shuttleworth along with Arup engineers. The building stands on the former site of the historic Baltic Exchange building which was then severely damaged by an IRA bomb sometime in 1992. The site required a new building that would take the place of the Baltic Exchange, which was then discovered to have sustained damage that was too severe to undergo any full restoration.
The building was constructed by Skanska and took from 2001 to 2004 to finish. The building made use of modern energy-saving construction and design methods in order to make the whole building more energy efficient. It allowed the building to eventually consume only half of the power that a similar conventional structure would normally consume.
The gaps that are designed on each floor create six shafts that act as part of the natural ventilation system of the building. These shafts works by trying to sandwich air between two layers of glazing to create a giant double glazing effect and provide insulation for the internal spaces of the building. The shafts also pull warm air out of the building during the summer and helps warm the building during the winter by using passive solar heating. The shafts also allow more sunlight to pass through the building interiors, providing more natural light and keeping the lighting costs down.
The building’s fully triangulated perimeter structure allows the building to have sufficient stiffness to go against structure sways as a result of wind force. Other buildings of the same size would have made use of reinforced core columns to increase lateral stability or stiffness or make use of active mass dampers, which The Gherkin never used in its design. And despite the building having that overall curved glass shape, there is, surprisingly, only one piece of curved glass used throughout the structure. It can be found on the lens-shaped cap at the very top of the structure.
The Gherkin has been considered as one of the most noticeable landmarks of London today. Its design features have made it one of the most unique buildings in the world. Not only that, The Gherkin has been voted in December of 2005 as one of the most admired new buildings in the world, from a survey of some of the largest and most prestigious architectural firms in the world.
October 10th, 2007
The Venus de Milo is an ancient Greek statue that is one of the most recognizable sculptures in the world. Also known as the Aphrodite of Milos, this marble sculpture is said to depict the Greek goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite. It stands at about 80 inches high, making it slightly larger than life size. Aside from its form, the statue is made recognizable by its missing arms. This sculpture was said to be the work of Alexandros of Antioch as was found out from an inscription written on the statue’s original plinth.
The Venus de Milo was discovered in 1820 buried within the ancient city ruins of Milos in the Aegean Island of Melos or Milo. It was found by a peasant and was found in two main pieces, the one being the upper torso while the other composed of the lower draped legs. Fragments of the upper left arm as well as the left hand holding an apple was found with the statue along with an inscribed plinth. The peasant later on sold it to French soldiers who were exploring on the island. As it was being transported, the French sailors had to fight off some Greek brigands who also wanted possession of the statue. In the process, the statue was dragged into some rocks as it was being led to the ship, breaking off both of the arms.
After the statue arrived in France, it was sent to the Louvre where the statue was reassembled. There the statue was discovered to have been made out of six to seven blocks of marble that was pieced together, as was the practice of sculptors during that era. The left arm and hand holding an apple was not reassembled to the whole statue as the restorers found this part of the statue to be not as well finished as the rest of the statue, making them believe that it may not have been a part of the original.
A plinth that came with the statue was found to fit perfectly with it. The inscription on the plinth has stated that Alexandros of Antioch made the statue and not the artist Praxiteles as was being publicized by some of the experts then. The plinth mysteriously disappeared before the statue was to be presented to King Louis XVII in 1821. What remains of the proof today are two drawings and an early description of the lost plinth.
The style of the statue was indicative of the late Hellenistic Period in Greek art, which was a mixture of the revival of classical themes with innovation. The slipping drapery that is evident in the statue shows a closed stance and introduces a different look to the figure. It also aims to hide the joint made by the two blocks of marble that were sculpted separately. The same was also done to the left arm and leg.
October 3rd, 2007