Rembrandt and the Night Watch Author Catherine Garney

Among the painters who mastered the art of the exact portrait, bringing with it not only a depiction of the subject but incorporating their life, history and personality, nobody stands above the Dutch master painter Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn.

Born in Leiden in the Dutch republic in 1606, Rembrandt showed an early affinity for painting, and choose to develop his skill further. He had early success as a painter and despite financial hardships in later years, Rembrandt continued to be a popular painter in his day. He also took on a number of apprentices and through them was tremendously influential for not just his own generation of artists but also the coming ones. His understanding of the psychology of human beings led to a never before seen depth to the portraits and situations painted by Rembrandt. He also managed to blend the human and the spiritual seamlessly in his art, with a skill not seen before in western art. His favorite subjects were the portrait, the landscape and the story. In his own words, he sought "the greatest and most natural movement" which helped enliven even his still portraits.

To this day, there are still ongoing discussions about the works of Rembrandt, particularly which ones he himself actually painted and which ones were done by apprentices. As such, the number of paintings attributed to Rembrandt ranges between 300 and 600. However, one painting that is not only a true Rembrandt but also his largest painting is The Night Watch. Originally titled "The Militia Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq", the painting was given its more famous title by Sir Joshua Reynolds when he discovered it. The reason for the title was the darkness into which the figures in the painting were stepping. However, as it turned out, this was due to the painting being coated with a dark varnish. In fact, "The Militia Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq" shows the militia preparing for a mission. In the painting they are in fact stepping into the sun. Rembrandt used the sun and shade to highlight the importance of the three central figures in the painting.

As such, the famous Night Watch depicts not a night watch but a day time patrol preparing to set out. This notwithstanding, The Night Watch is considered the most famous master piece of Rembrandt. It can today be found at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Holland, where it is the most famous painting on display.

The Night Watch not only presents a dedicated and exact portrait of the subject. It also brings movement into what would traditionally be a still military portrait. This second fact adds to its appeal, and also makes that appeal equally relevant today. There should still be a place for this level of exact depiction, and there is. Photography or not, any portrait executed with such skill will still look amazing on the wall.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/art-articles/rembrandt-and-the-night-watch-3766331.html

About the Author

To see a large selection of hand painted oil painting reproductions from all the great artists please check out art reproductions or for Rembrandt Reproductions.

http://www.articlesbase.com/art-articles/rembrandt-and-the-night-watch-3766331.html

Renaissance Art and the Depiction of Archangles author Rob Mabry

Archangels were a commonplace subject for artists from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance Period. As Angels of Presence, with the permission to enter the presence of God, the four Archangels - Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael and Michael were recognized across the religions of Christianity, Juadaism and Islam, although their greatest roles were often documented in apocryphal writings.

The most well known depiction of the Archangel Michael resides in the Santa Maria della Concezione, in the first chael. The work is from Renaissance painter Guido Reni, who was a master of the Baroque style which evolved from the Roman Catholic Churches edict that religious art should engage the commoner with dramatic and emotional appeal. Reni's The Archangel Michael shows the fair haired, musculatured angel with androgynous features hovering over the Devil, with his foot against the demon's head forcing him into submission. The painting depicts a scene from the book of Revelations where Archangel Michael commands an Angel Army against Lucifer and binds him for 1000 years. It is often referred to as Archangel Michael Slaying the Devil.

The Archangel Gabriel was the angel who announced to the Virgin Mary that she would have a son by God. This biblical event is referred to as The Annunciation and is a frequent subject of Renaissance art. Two works stand out as iconic paintings on the subject. Da Vinci's the Annunciation was painted from 1472-1475 and is credited to both Da Vinci and his mentor Andrea del Verrocchio. In the painting Archangel Gabriel kneels before Mary, a Madonna lily in hand which historians believe symbolizes Mary's virginity.

Botticelli's Cestello Annunciation, commissioned in 1489, captures the same event with similar imagery. The painting is noted for its use of perspective in the tiles that lead the eye to the landscape. Botticelli paints Gabriel with mouth open, to represent his words from the Gospel of Luke which were added into the paintings original frame. Today both paintings can be seen in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy.

The angel Raphael was most often captured in oil as the guardian of Tobias, son of Tobit on his journey to recover hidden money for his blind father, a passage from the Book of Tobit. His role as god of healing and protector is evident in these paintings that show him leading the boy by his hand. Filippino Lippi's version of Tobias and the Angel can be seen at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. Rembrandt took great interest in the Book of Tobit and the Archangel Raphael, making it a frequent subject of his work.

Da Vinci used Archangel Uriel as the subject of two nearly identical paintings titled Virgin of the Rocks or Madonna of the Rocks. The painting displays a scene where the baby Jesus encounters his cousin John the Baptist as an infant. In the paintings, the Archangel Gabriel is seated to the Mary's left holding the baby Jesus. Subtle variations can be seen in Da Vinci's two paintings. In the version of the painting on display in the National Gallery in London, Mary, Jesus and John are haloed. In the version that can be seen in the Lourve, Uriel points at John. While the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown has created some controversy around these paintings and the true identity of Jesus in the image - art historians surmise that the original where Uriel points at John who is closest to Mary did create confusion and the second painting by Da Vinci removed this gesture.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/religion-articles/renaissance-art-and-the-depiction-of-archangels-1404375.html
About the Author

Archangels were a popular subject of artists from the Renaissance period who captured the angels in both paintings and Archangel Statues. Rob Mabry is a former military journalist living in San Antonio. He writes about travel, technology, history and film. He is the owner of Your Museum Store where you can find reproductions of famous museum artifacts.

http://www.articlesbase.com/religion-articles/renaissance-art-and-the-depiction-of-archangels-1404375.html

Abstract Art: A Breakthrough in Artistic Expression

The origin of abstract art can rightly be attributed to the imagination of man. Abstract art is distinguishable from fantasy art, which makes imaginative characters and myths its subject. It is closer to reality as it reflects the real in figurative terms. In other words, abstract art depicts real forms in a simplified or rather reduced way, keeping the original subject the same.

Abstract art did not originate all of a sudden nor is it the outcome of the 20th century thinkers. In the Jewish and Islamic religion, depiction of human beings was banned. As such, they took recourse to all forms of decorative and non-figurative arts or calligraphy.

Wassily Kandinsky is regarded as the inventor of non-figurative art in the 20th century. Gradually, his paintings moved out of figurative subjects. In 1910, he created the first figurative work of art- a watercolor sans any reference to reality. Kandinsky not only became the first abstract artist, he also took pains to promote it as a theorist. After Kandinsky, it was the Russian painter, Kasimir Malewich, who took abstract art to the next level. Melewich�s paintings mostly focused on simple geometrical forms.

The landmark events in the mid-twentieth century changed the course of abstract art. The World War II, persecution of Jewish people by Hitler, and denunciation of modern art by the Nazis led to the immigration of hundreds of avant-garde European artists into the United States of America, especially New York. This created a new wave in the American art scenario prompting the birth of Abstract Expressionism.

Abstract expressionism is more a concept of performing art than a style. This movement stresses the trend of pushing the conventional boundaries beyond all limits. Some of the famous artists of this movement are Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko.

Currently, there are two primary segments of abstract art. One segment, known as Color Field Abstract Art, features unified blocks of color. Mark Rothko is one of the pioneers of this genre. The second segment includes multiple genres- Surrealism, Expressionism, Cubism, and Action painting. Regardless of all these influences, the core of abstract art paintings remains the capturing of the essence of the artist�s subconscious on canvas.

Suzanne Macguire is an expert writer and art connoisseur. Her articles have covered a lot of information on fine art and abstract art gallery.