Many Genres of Italian Art Influence World

Italian culture and society have influences stretching far passed the boundaries of Italy. From its performing arts to its visual arts, the affects of Italian masters of artistic crafts can be found in nearly every corner of the globe. Italian art of every kind has been appreciated by people for many hundreds of years.

Performing artists from Italy have certainly made their marks on the global society. Pavarotti and Andrea Bocelli are just two of the most world-renowned tenors and both are from Italy. Many other Italian musicians have been influencing the world through sound for centuries.

Some of the most well-crafted musical instruments have been handmade in Italy. Italian-made pianos and violins are considered to be the best available anywhere. Two Italian ballet training methods, that of La Scala Theater Ballet School and the Cecchetti Method, are among the most widely practiced forms of teaching the style of dance. Some people even believe ballet originated in Italy before it spread into regions of France.

Singers, composers, dancers, actors and instrument artisans have all had a lasting impact on music, mixing Italian culture and traditions with their musical creations. Other forms of Italian art have had a wide-ranging affect on the global culture, as well.

Visual artists from Italy have been making impacts in the art world for centuries. From the Statue of David, Mona Lisa and The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci to contemporary Italian artists today, Italy’s fine art has infiltrated and influenced artistic tastes and values throughout the world.

Painters, sculptors and sketch artists have intertwined Italian culture with their personal talents, skills and ideas to create passionate, detailed masterpieces. People everywhere appreciate the artistic value of Italian visual artists-creations.
The rich history and full culture of Italy continues to impact the art world even after centuries of influence to many different artistic genres.

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Italy’s Michelangelo Still Influences Fine Art

Michelangelo Buonarroti is quite possibly one of the most influential and recognized artists of all time. He was born in a little Tuscan village, Caprese, in Italy. His mother died when the artist was very young and father, a village official, hoped Michangelo’s studies would lead him to a career in business where he could preserve the family’s dwindling fortune.

As Michelangelo studied, he continued to develop his love of art, especially that of the human form. He described this form as spiritual and earthly, and said this passion made caused him to be “at war” with his religious faith.

By the age of 16, Michelangelo had already begun sculpting, much to his father’s disappointment. By age 25, he created the marble sculpture Pieta, which is still displayed in St. Peter’s Basilica today. Many still believe this masterpiece to be the best fine art sculpture ever created.

In 1508, Michelangelo was commissioned to create one of the most breathtaking masterpieces of visual art to ever be painted. The Italian artist’s vision transformed the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel at the request of the pope.
Michelangelo, inspired by his lifelong interest in human anatomy, painted more than 400 figures at larger-than-life size at the top of the chapel.

The work took several years to complete and Michelangelo claimed the masterpiece of Italian fine art to be grueling on him, both physically and emotionally. He said the project aged him to the point that, while only 37, his friends would not recognize him when the ceiling painting was finished.

Michelangelo was commissioned to complete more fresco artwork at the Sistine Chapel when another pope asked him to paint the Last Judgment at the location more than 20 years after he started the original ceiling masterpiece.

The elaborate history and intricate work by Michelangelo remains respected and appreciated in the fine art world today. This Italian artist made one of the single-most lasting impressions of any artist to ever create a piece of work to this day.

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What is Art?

Roma | Piazza di Spagna | Barcaccia | HDR
Image by Any.colour.you.like via Flickr
Art is generally used to express something of skill, which creates an aesthetic outcome, but there is not a common definition to describe art. There are no clear lines that differentiate a handmade statue and a beautiful painting that is mass-produced. Some scholars believe that art have need of a creative drive and thought, but this tends to raise more questions then answers. The definition of art is hard to agree upon because there is a vast amount of forms, genres, and types.
Art is not localized to one era or country. It is a global movement with a collection of disciplines. Fine, liberal, visual, decorative, applied, design, crafts, performing are all forms of art each with its own rules. Many categories are narrowed down based on the materials used such as drawing and painting, glass and metal art, photography, wood and porcelain. The list does not stop there. Art has subcategories to include different genres like narrative, landscape, and still life. In addition to the art forms that have been around for centuries, new types of art have appeared in the 20th century ranging from conceptualism, earthworks, collage, video, and graffiti.
The awareness of the culture and period from which the art was created adds more questions than answers in accurately defining art. Comparing prehistoric wall paintings or African art to styles such as Expressionism, Surrealism, and Dada would be like comparing a tiger to a fish. Cultural distinction act as a border to different types of art and religion plays a major role in the artistic styles of the East and the West.
Whatever meaning of art that is arrived upon, it is limited to our own culture. Art is multifaceted in terms of forms and types and its cultural and historical ancestry. A straightforward definition has proven highly indefinable.

Art is generally used to express something of skill, which creates an aesthetic outcome, but there is not a common definition to describe art. There are no clear lines that differentiate a handmade statue and a beautiful painting that is mass-produced. Some scholars believe that art have need of a creative drive and thought, but this tends to raise more questions then answers. The definition of art is hard to agree upon because there is a vast amount of forms, genres, and types.
Art is not localized to one era or country. It is a global movement with a collection of disciplines. Fine, liberal, visual, decorative, applied, design, crafts, performing are all forms of art each with its own rules. Many categories are narrowed down based on the materials used such as drawing and painting, glass and metal art, photography, wood and porcelain. The list does not stop there. Art has subcategories to include different genres like narrative, landscape, and still life. In addition to the art forms that have been around for centuries, new types of art have appeared in the 20th century ranging from conceptualism, earthworks, collage, video, and graffiti.
The awareness of the culture and period from which the art was created adds more questions than answers in accurately defining art. Comparing prehistoric wall paintings or African art to styles such as Expressionism, Surrealism, and Dada would be like comparing a tiger to a fish. Cultural distinction act as a border to different types of art and religion plays a major role in the artistic styles of the East and the West.
Whatever meaning of art that is arrived upon, it is limited to our own culture. Art is multifaceted in terms of forms and types and its cultural and historical ancestry. A straightforward definition has proven highly indefinable.

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Filed Under: Italian Art, Italian Fine arts Tagged With: , ,

Sofonisba Anguilssola: Live Beyond Expectations

Bernardino Campi painting Sofonisba Anguissola...
Image via Wikipedia

Throughout the course of history, women have had their place. While until recent times, that place was often in the background or in the home, there have been women through the ages who refused to stand back or stay home. In the world of Italian Art, there were several women artists, who worked diligently to open the doors for women of the future. Sofonisba Anguissola was one of these amazing, brave female artists.

Born in 1531, Sofonisba Anguissola was the first of what would be seven children from her mother and father’s union. Of her seven siblings, only one sister held similar artistic talent. Unfortunately that talent was never realized, as that sister died at an early age. Sofonisba was encouraged by her father to pursue her artistic desires despite the fact she was female. She first studied at the Bernardino Campi workshop and moved on to the Bernardino Gratti studio to further hone her skills.

Sofonisba was revered to be one of the first celebrated female painters of the Renaissance as she gained notoriety. More than fifty paintings have been recognized as belonging to her, making her a very productive painter. Sofonisba’s art was known for its attention to detail, but was considered distinctive because while she painted portraits for income, she did nothing to compliment the subject. It was her skill and immense focus on the tiniest details that lent her portraits to become so realistic one could expect them to move at any moment.

Of all the portraits she’d painted, Sofonisba’s self portraits clamored for the focus of attention to be drawn to who she was as a person, rather than merely her profession. Never seen as an artist in self portraits, Sofonisba rather portrayed herself as a prominent woman surrounded by a culture and immersed in status. It seems she would rather have been seen as an intelligent, refined woman who is confident, educated, and sophisticated than merely as an artist alone. Sofonisba Anguissola may have lived over 300 years ago, but her desire to live beyond expectations is echoed even today.

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Fresco is here to stay

Last Judgement - painted by Michelangelo and h...
Image via Wikipedia

The world today is so fast paced that time passes at a blur, so over stimulating that even a car ride can contain simultaneous imagery, and so commercialized that every month has a “holiday”. These times are hectic and a person doesn’t have to look far to see the effects of society’s pace. Even in the art world the effects can be seen. Instead of glorious, hand-painted portraits and intricate sculptures, people today are surrounded by frenzied works of energetic colors and lines. It’s amazing that the labor-intensive art of Fresco has passed into this century at all.

The art of fresco has been around for thousands of years; the earliest dates 30,000 years ago. While its demand for fresco has experienced peaks and valleys, the art form was never more revered than during the Italian Renaissance. The most notable fresco, Michelangelo’s work on the Sistine Chapel, was painted during this time, but it was not a singular work of art. Italy is home to a plethora of frescos, many dating from the 12th through the 15th centuries. From Florence to Pompeii, the lasting beauty of fresco is seen in on the walls of chapels and villas throughout Italy.

Fresco is not merely an artist picking up a brush and brushing a few strokes, it’s a multi-step process that’s quite involved. At every step, the utmost care must be taken to ensure the quality of the entire piece. Mortar is prepared, painted with premixed, exact pigments, smoothed and transferred—and that’s not all the steps. Each step takes intricate preplanning and accuracy; one mistake at any point can ruin an entire piece. Artists spend years, even decades, mastering this technique before finished work will be deemed acceptable. Fresco is not for the faint hearted, it’s a time-honored skill that takes persistence and a meticulous nature. While it’s unlikely that fresco would become as popular as it once was, it’s easy to see why these amazing works of art took people’s breath back then because they still do today.

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