The Blue Rose

 Hello everyone! I hope you guys are in the mood for some more art today because we'll be talking about my favorite painting in the El Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza in Spain. The See-Saw Jean Honore Fragonard 1750-1752     The See-Saw is an oil piece painted by  Jean Honore Fragonard  (1732-1806) from 1750 to 1752. This painting clearly follows the Rococo style of art that manifested around the time Fragonard was born. In this painting, he has a perspective view from below on the children playing at the see-saw, and the focus is especially on the girl in the dress. Looking from below makes the girl elevated to represent the cheery mood this painting is meant to give off. At the museum, this piece of art stood out to me the most, as it gives a sense of comfort and a hopeful tone as the painting has written underneath it "In The See-Saw the movements and gestures as well as the colour and manner of applying it create an image filled with life"(El Museo Nacional ).    

Hello everyone! I hope everybody's enjoyed their thanksgiving break and is excited about the winter break, I know I, for one, am very ready to catch a break. Today, we're talking about the Marriage of Figaro ! The Marriage of Figaro (1784) Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais      In  reading   The Marriage of Figaro , Suzanne immediately caught my attention, as her character came to life from the first page. The line "Giving a reason implies I can be wrong. Are you on my side or not?"(Act I, Page 10). I was impressed with her character's wit and stubbornness, which were characteristics I always love in female characters.      To be more clear, Suzanne is Figaro's Fiance, and also the Countess' chambermaid, which makes her a part of the castle's peasants. Though this is only her technical status, as she has her own influence on the count himself, who is in love with her, or in other words, has fallen to limerence, and he seeks it in her. Not only this

    Hello everyone! I hope you are having a good day, and that you've had enough water. Today's topic will be one of Europe's earliest famous female artists. Though I would like to add a trigger warning for the topic of sexual assault and rape. If you do not feel comfortable reading about it, please refrain from continuing through this blog. Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653) Judith and  Holofernes  (1612-13) Museo Capodimonte, Naples, Italy      An article titled "Artemisia Gentileschi: Further Notes" written by Joseph Wm. Slap for American Imago. This article is mainly focused on analyzing Gentileschi 's art in comparison to her life, taking into context important figures taking place in her story. More specifically, Joseph Slap links the art to the rape incident that took place during her teen years. Though it is not an objective fact, as Joseph explains "there is not enough primary evidence for a fully satisfactory explanation of the relationship betwe

 Hello everyone! I'll be talking a bit about the original Queen Elizabeth, I hope you like the blog. Rainbow portrait of Queen Elizabeth I  1600, Hartfield House Queen Elizabeth I , was the official ruler over England from the years 1558 through 1603 when she passed. She was born to the Royal house of Tudor in the year 1533. I will be discussing a specific article by Jackie Eales titled "Polychronicon: Interpreting Elizabeth I" and the way it discusses her achievements that were ahead of their time. While she ruled, that time was known for being a golden age for England, she was not only admired but almost worshipped. Eales goes "The adulation of Elizabeth started during her own lifetime when she was praised as a goddess and even as a celestial being"(Eales, page 38). He also makes a note of how famous she is even to this day, hence, me being one of the people talking about her still.  The portrait that I chose is known as the  Rainbow Portrait of Elizabeth I, a

 Hello everyone! I'm going to be reviewing Hamlet today, as the first Shakespeare writing I've ever read.  William Shakespeare (1564-1616)   William Shakespeare 's Hamlet is one of the most known works in writing history, and yet I'd never read it before. This piece was written to be a play in 1609; It gained quite massive success and was performed a lot. As much of Shakspeare's writing, this one represents Elizabethian England. Briefly, it is about Hamlet, a young prince who lost his father and is torn by grief. He is also all alone as he feels betrayed by his mother who has married his uncle not even two months after his father's death, which in turn also deprived him of the throne as it was given to the uncle. He finds purpose once he finds out that his father was murdered by his uncle and sets his mind on revenge. He says "Haste me to know't, that I, with wings as swift As meditation or the thoughts of love, May sweep to my revenge"(Act I, Sce

Tabarek Aldabbagh, What is up everyone? How's your day? I have been doing nothing but homework, eating, and sleeping. So, I guess blogging is breaking that routine. Today, I will be blogging about how technology, and especially the printing press, affected the spread of humanism in Europe. I hope you like it! Old Printer, Drawing      I chose Jeremiah E. Dittmar's article "Information Technology and Economic Change: The Impact of the Printing Press" to discuss today. It's clear from the beginning as it goes, "This article examines these spillovers by exploring new, city-level data on the adoption of the movable type printing press in fifteenth-century Europe"(Dittmar, 1134). Though this article does discuss the printing press in Europe, it doesn't formally address the effect on humanism. This is where Cunnigham & Reich's Cultures and Values Volume 2 comes in to link both topics of the printing press and humanism. Chapter 14 focuses on Humanis