Celebrated the world over for dexterous works across the arts, Benvenuto Cellini struck a virtuoso performance through the skill of his hand and the intricate workings of his mind. That ‘the devil is in the detail’ duly applies to this polymath. For example, consider Perseus with the head of Medusa, a feat in bronze with … Continue reading Pass the Salt: Cellini’s Famed Salt Cellar
From 1570 – 1620 one can chart the ‘Elizabethan building boom’[1]. Here, we see an unprecedented rise in the building of ‘proud, ambitious heaps’[2] and the beginnings of the ‘architect’ as an entity in the cultural, economic and social landscape. Architectural historian Sir John Summerson credits ‘the most daring of all English buildings’[3] as the … Continue reading The Elizabethan Country House And The Cult Of Sovereignty
Patron’s, either from the public or private spheres, commission the creation of works for a number of reasons: the work of art may be an assertion of status, commemorative or designed for civic purposes. The mentality? If you're going to invest a large sum, it ought to make a statement on a grand scale, especially, … Continue reading Napoleonic Patronage: Canova and the Bonapartes
Sandro Botticelli (1445 - 1510) paints Primavera in the second half of the 15th century, Florence - speculated to be the year 1482. Here, he works on a commission from his principal patrons, the Medici dynasty, having found favour with it’s burgeoning intelligentsia. Botticelli presents Primavera as a large-scale mythological painting playing on popular literary, … Continue reading In the Frame: Botticelli’s Primavera
