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Medusa Rondanini
The over-lifesize ''Medusa Rondanini'', the best late Hellenistic or Augustan Roman marble copy of the head of Medusa, is rendered more humanized and beautiful than the always grotesque apotropaic head of Medusa that appeared as the '' Gorgoneion'' on the aegis of Athena. The ''Medusa Rondanini'' is located in the Glyptothek in Munich, Germany, having been purchased by the art-loving king Ludwig of Bavaria from the heirs of the marchese Rondanini, during his Grand Tour of Italy as a prince. History The Medusa Rondanini was formerly exhibited in Palazzo Rondanini in the upper end of via del Corso, Rome, where it was overlooked by the great art historian Johann Joachim Winckelmann, perhaps distracted by Michelangelo's Rondanini Pietà in the same collection. It was much admired, nevertheless, by Goethe, who was struck by its "unspeakable anguished stare of death" and said of it, when first bringing it to the attention of art historians in 1786, that "the mere knowledge that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspired by models from classical antiquity and had a lasting influence on Western art. Michelangelo's creative abilities and mastery in a range of artistic arenas define him as an archetypal Renaissance man, along with his rival and elder contemporary, Leonardo da Vinci. Given the sheer volume of surviving correspondence, sketches, and reminiscences, Michelangelo is one of the best-documented artists of the 16th century. He was lauded by contemporary biographers as the most accomplished artist of his era. Michelangelo achieved fame early. Two of his best-known works, the ''Pietà (Michelangelo), Pietà'' and ''David (Michelangelo), David'', were sculpted before the age of 30. Although he did not consider himself a painter, Michelangelo created ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pausanias (geographer)
Pausanias ( ; ; ) was a Greek traveler and geographer of the second century AD. He is famous for his '' Description of Greece'' (, ), a lengthy work that describes ancient Greece from his firsthand observations. ''Description of Greece'' provides crucial information for making links between classical literature and modern archaeology, which is providing evidence of the sites and cultural details he mentions although knowledge of their existence may have become lost or relegated to myth or legend. Biography Nothing is known about Pausanias apart from what historians can piece together from his own writing. However, it is probable that he was born into a Greek family and was probably a native of Lydia in Asia Minor. From until his death around 180, Pausanias travelled throughout the mainland of Greece, writing about various monuments, sacred spaces, and significant geographical sites along the way. In writing his '' Description of Greece'', Pausanias sought to put together ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acropolis Of Athens
The Acropolis of Athens (; ) is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens, Greece, and contains the remains of several Ancient Greek architecture, ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, the most famous being the Parthenon. The word ''Acropolis'' is . The term acropolis is generic and there are many other acropoleis in Greece. During ancient times the Acropolis of Athens was also more properly known as Cecropia, after the legendary serpent-man Cecrops I, Cecrops, the supposed first Athenian king. While there is evidence that the hill was inhabited as early as the 4th millennium BC, it was Pericles (–429 BC) in the fifth century BC who coordinated the construction of the buildings whose present remains are the site's most important ones, including the Parthenon, the Propylaia_(Acropolis_of_Athens), Propylaea, the Erechtheion and the Temple of Athena Nike. The Parthenon and the other buildings were seriously damaged during ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antiochus IV
Antiochus IV Epiphanes ( 215 BC–November/December 164 BC) was king of the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his death in 164 BC. Notable events during Antiochus' reign include his near-conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt, his persecution of the Jews of Judea and Samaria, and the rebellion of the Jewish Maccabees. The son of King Antiochus III the Great, Antiochus IV accession to the throne was controversial, as he was seen as a usurper by some. After the death of his brother Seleucus IV Philopator in 175 BC, the "true" heir should have been Seleucus's son Demetrius I. However, Demetrius I was very young and a hostage in Rome at the time, and Antiochus seized the opportunity to declare himself king instead, successfully rallying enough of the Greek ruling class in Antioch to support his claim. This helped set a destabilizing trend in the Seleucid Empire in subsequent generations, as an increasing number of claimants tried to usurp the throne. After his own death, power struggles betwe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ex-voto
An ex-voto is a votive offering to a saint or a divinity, given in fulfillment of a vow (hence the Latin term, short for ''ex voto suscepto'', "from the vow made") or in gratitude or devotion. The term is usually restricted to Christian examples. Definition Ex-votos are placed in a Church (building), church or chapel where the worshiper seeks grace or wishes to give thanks. The destinations of pilgrimages often include shrines decorated with ex-votos. Ex-votos can take a wide variety of forms. They are not only intended for the invocated, but also as a testimony to later visitors of the received help. As such they may include texts explaining a miracle attributed to the helper, or symbols such as a painted or modeled reproduction of a miraculously healed body part, or a directly related item such as a crutch given by a person formerly lame. There are places where a very old tradition of depositing ex-votos existed, such as Abydos, Egypt, Abydos in ancient Egypt. Ex-voto paint ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martin Robertson
Charles Martin Robertson (11 September 1911 – 26 December 2004), known as Martin Robertson, was a British classical scholar and poet. He specialised in the art and archaeology of Ancient Greece, and was best known for his 1975 publication, ''A History of Greek Art.'' Born in Pangbourne, Robertson was the son of a classicist and the brother of a noted art historian. He was educated at The Leys School and Trinity College, Cambridge, and took part in archaeological excavations from 1930. After a period at the British School at Athens, he joined the British Museum in 1936, where he became an apprentice of the art historian Bernard Ashmole. During the Second World War, Robertson served briefly in the Royal Signals before being transferred to intelligence work, in which capacity he was a subordinate of the archaeologist Alan Wace and a colleague of the Soviet double agent Kim Philby. Robertson succeeded Ashmole as Yates Professor of Classical Art and Archaeology at University Co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phidias
Phidias or Pheidias (; , ''Pheidias''; ) was an Ancient Greek sculptor, painter, and architect, active in the 5th century BC. His Statue of Zeus at Olympia was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Phidias also designed the statues of the goddess Athena on the Acropolis, Athens, Athenian Acropolis, namely the ''Athena Parthenos'' inside the Parthenon, and the ''Athena Promachos'', a colossal bronze which stood between it and the Propylaea (Acropolis of Athens), Propylaea, a monumental gateway that served as the entrance to the Acropolis in Athens. Phidias was the son of Charmides of Athens. The ancients believed that his masters were Hegias of Athens, Hegias and Ageladas. Plutarch discusses Phidias's friendship with the Greek statesman Pericles, recording that enemies of Pericles tried to attack him through Phidias – who was accused of stealing gold intended for the Parthenon's statue of Athena, and of impiously portraying himself and Pericles on the shield of the sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adolph Furtwängler
Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo, and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name with German origins. The name is a compound derived from the Old High German ''Athalwolf'' (or ''Hadulf''), a composition of ''athal'', or ''adal'', meaning "noble" (or '' had(u)''-, meaning "battle, combat"), and ''wolf''. The name is cognate to the Anglo-Saxon name '' Æthelwulf'' (also Eadulf or Eadwulf). The name can also be derived from the ancient Germanic elements "Wald" meaning "power", "brightness" and wolf (Waldwulf). Due to its extremely negative associations with the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, the name has greatly declined in popularity since the end of World War II. Similar names include Lithuanian Adolfas and Latvian Ādolfs. The female forms Adolphine and Adolpha are far more rare than the male names. Adolphus can also appear as a surname, as in John Adolphus, the English historian. Popularity and usage During the 19th and early 20th centuries, Adolf was a popular name f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apollo Belvedere
The ''Apollo Belvedere'' (also called the ''Belvedere Apollo'', ''Apollo of the Belvedere'', or ''Pythian Apollo'') is a celebrated marble sculpture from classical antiquity. The work has been dated to mid-way through the 2nd century A.D. and is considered to be a Roman copy of an original bronze statue created between 330 and 320 B.C. by the Greek sculptor Leochares. It was rediscovered in central Italy in the late 15th century during the Italian Renaissance and was placed on semi-public display in the Vatican Palace in 1511, where it remains. It is now in the ''Cortile del Belvedere'' of the Pio-Clementine Museum of the Vatican Museums complex. From the mid-18th century it was considered the greatest ancient sculpture by ardent Neoclassicism, neoclassicists, and for centuries it epitomized the ideals of perfection#Aesthetics, aesthetic perfection for Europeans and westernized parts of the world. Description The Greek god Apollo is depicted as a standing Archery, archer havi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antonio Canova
Antonio Canova (; 1 November 1757 – 13 October 1822) was an Italians, Italian Neoclassical sculpture, Neoclassical sculptor, famous for his marble sculptures. Often regarded as the greatest of the Neoclassical artists,. his sculpture was inspired by the Baroque and the classical revival, and has been characterised as having avoided the melodramatics of the former, and the cold artificiality of the latter.Jean Martineau & Andrew Robinson, ''The Glory of Venice: Art in the Eighteenth Century.'' Yale University Press, 1994. Print. Life Possagno In 1757, Antonio Canova was born in the Republic of Venice, Venetian Republic city of Possagno to Pietro Canova, a stonecutter, and Angela Zardo Fantolin.. In 1761, his father died. A year later, his mother remarried. In 1762, he was put into the care of his paternal grandfather Pasino Canova, who was a stonemasonry, stonemason, owner of a quarry, and was a "sculptor who specialized in altars with statues and low reliefs in late Baroq ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
