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Adoration Of The Magi (Gentile Da Fabriano)
The ''Adoration of the Magi'' is a painting by the Italian painter Gentile da Fabriano. The work, housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy, is considered his finest work, and has been described as "the culminating work of International Gothic painting". The artwork was commissioned by the famous banker Palla Strozzi and incorporates many notable elements. The choice of materials including the vibrant colors, gold leaf, and silver used in the painting creates a brilliant and attractive effect. Techniques such as lighting, depth, and three-dimensionality are prevalent in the work and were novel for the time. The frame, along with the painting, is a work of art in itself, specifically because of the intricate, Gothic, and ornamental architectural designs incorporated into it. Other elements of the altarpiece draw upon European conceptions, beliefs and imagery about the Orient. Exotic animals such as monkeys, horses, camels, and lions signify the patron's wealth and status, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gentile Da Fabriano
Gentile da Fabriano ( – 1427) was an Italian painter known for his participation in the International Gothic painter style. He worked in various places in central Italy, mostly in Tuscany. His best-known works are his ''Adoration of the Magi'' from the ''Strozzi Altarpiece'' (1423), and the ''Flight into Egypt''. Following a visit to Florence in the 1419, he came in contact with humanism, which influenced his work throughout the rest of his career. He became highly influential for other painters in Florence, especially because of his use of detail based on the observations he made of the natural world. Bibliography Early life in Fabriano (c. 1370-1400) Gentile (di Niccolò di Massio) da Fabriano was born around 1370 in or near Fabriano, in the Marche. Despite having several family members who took part in different civic and religious organizations in the city, much of Gentile's early life remains undocumented. His mother died some point before 1380, and his father, Nicco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bethlehem
Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the State of Palestine. The economy is primarily tourist-driven, peaking during the Christmas season, when Christians make pilgrimage to the Church of the Nativity. The important holy site of Rachel's Tomb is at the northern entrance of Bethlehem, though not freely accessible to the city's own inhabitants and in general Palestinians living in the Israeli-occupied West Bank due to the Israeli West Bank barrier. The earliest known mention of Bethlehem was in the Amarna correspondence of 1350–1330 BCE when the town was inhabited by the Canaanites. The Hebrew Bible, which says that the city of Bethlehem was built up as a fortified city by Rehoboam, identifies it as the city David was from and where h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silver
Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. The metal is found in the Earth's crust in the pure, free elemental form ("native silver"), as an alloy with gold and other metals, and in minerals such as argentite and chlorargyrite. Most silver is produced as a byproduct of copper, gold, lead, and zinc refining. Silver has long been valued as a precious metal. Silver metal is used in many bullion coins, sometimes alongside gold: while it is more abundant than gold, it is much less abundant as a native metal. Its purity is typically measured on a per-mille basis; a 94%-pure alloy is described as "0.940 fine". As one of the seven metals of antiquity, silver has had an enduring role in most human cultures. Oth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pastiglia
''Pastiglia'' , an Italian term meaning "pastework", is low relief decoration, normally modelled in gesso or white lead, applied to build up a surface that may then be gilded or painted, or left plain. The technique was used in a variety of ways in Italy during the Renaissance. The term is mostly found in English applied to gilded work on picture frames or small pieces of furniture such as wooden caskets and cassoni, and also on areas of panel paintings, but there is some divergence as to the meaning of the term between these specialisms. On frames and furniture the technique is in origin a cheaper imitation of woodcarving, metalwork or ivory carving techniques. Within paintings, the technique gives areas with a three-dimensional effect, usually those representing inanimate objects, such as foliage decoration on architectural surrounds, halos and details of dress, rather than parts of figures. In white lead pastiglia on caskets, the subject matter is usually classical, with a s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal in a pure form. Chemically, gold is a transition metal and a group 11 element. It is one of the least reactive chemical elements and is solid under standard conditions. Gold often occurs in free elemental ( native state), as nuggets or grains, in rocks, veins, and alluvial deposits. It occurs in a solid solution series with the native element silver (as electrum), naturally alloyed with other metals like copper and palladium, and mineral inclusions such as within pyrite. Less commonly, it occurs in minerals as gold compounds, often with tellurium ( gold tellurides). Gold is resistant to most acids, though it does dissolve in aqua regia (a mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid), forming a soluble tetrachloro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ultramarine
Ultramarine is a deep blue color pigment which was originally made by grinding lapis lazuli into a powder. The name comes from the Latin ''ultramarinus'', literally 'beyond the sea', because the pigment was imported into Europe from mines in Afghanistan by Italian traders during the 14th and 15th centuries. Ultramarine was the finest and most expensive blue used by Renaissance painters. It was often used for the robes of the Virgin Mary and symbolized holiness and humility. It remained an extremely expensive pigment until a synthetic ultramarine was invented in 1826. Structure The pigment consists primarily of a zeolite-based mineral containing small amounts of polysulfides. It occurs in nature as a proximate component of lapis lazuli containing a blue cubic mineral called lazurite. In the Colour Index International, the pigment of ultramarine is identified as P. Blue 29 77007. The major component of lazurite is a complex sulfur-containing sodium-silicate (Na8–10Al6Si6 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lion
The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus '' Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult male lions are larger than females and have a prominent mane. It is a social species, forming groups called ''prides''. A lion's pride consists of a few adult males, related females, and cubs. Groups of female lions usually hunt together, preying mostly on large ungulates. The lion is an apex and keystone predator; although some lions scavenge when opportunities occur and have been known to hunt humans, lions typically don't actively seek out and prey on humans. The lion inhabits grasslands, savannas and shrublands. It is usually more diurnal than other wild cats, but when persecuted, it adapts to being active at night and at twilight. During the Neolithic period, the lion ranged throughout Africa and Eurasia from Southeast Euro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dromedary
The dromedary (''Camelus dromedarius'' or ;), also known as the dromedary camel, Arabian camel, or one-humped camel, is a large even-toed ungulate, of the genus '' Camelus'', with one hump on its back. It is the tallest of the three species of camel; adult males stand at the shoulder, while females are tall. Males typically weigh between , and females weigh between . The species' distinctive features include its long, curved neck, narrow chest, a single hump (compared with two on the Bactrian camel and wild Bactrian camel), and long hairs on the throat, shoulders and hump. The coat is generally a shade of brown. The hump, tall or more, is made of fat bound together by fibrous tissue. Dromedaries are mainly active during daylight hours. They form herds of about 20 individuals, which are led by a dominant male. They feed on foliage and desert vegetation; several adaptations, such as the ability to tolerate losing more than 30% of its total water content, allow it to thriv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leopard
The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, and on the Indian subcontinent to Southeast and East Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because leopard populations are threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, and are declining in large parts of the global range. The leopard is considered locally extinct in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Jordan, Morocco, Togo, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Kuwait, Syria, Libya, Tunisia and most likely in North Korea, Gambia, Laos, Lesotho, Tajikistan, Vietnam and Israel. Contemporary records suggest that the leopard occurs in only 25% of its historical global range. Compared to other wild cats, the leopard has relatively short legs and a long body with a large skull. Its fur is marked with ro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christ Child
The Christ Child, also known as Divine Infant, Baby Jesus, Infant Jesus, the Divine Child, Child Jesus, the Holy Child, Santo Niño, and to some as Señor Noemi refers to Jesus Christ from his nativity to age 12. The four canonical gospels, accepted by most Christians today, lack any narration of the years between Jesus' infancy and the Finding in the Temple when he was 12. Liturgical feasts Liturgical feasts relating to Christ's infancy and childhood include: * The Feast of the Nativity of Jesus Christ (25 December); * The Feast of the Circumcision of Christ (1 January – Eastern Orthodox Church, Latin Rite- Extraordinary Form); * The Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus (3 January – Latin Rite; others – various); * The Feast of the Epiphany (6 January or 19 January in the Gregorian equivalent of the Julian calendar) * The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord (2 February) Depictions in art From about the third or fourth century onwards, the child Jesus is frequently s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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