Academic blog

 However, more often the basis was still the figure of an angel (in the usual sense of the word for us), to which the other three heads joined. Sometimes , in an effort to emphasize the special nature of the tetramorph and, possibly, downplay its monstrousness, the masters tried to disguise the three animal mouths, drawing them, for example, as part of the cherub's hairstyle.  However, not all tetramorphs are constructed on the basis of the human figure. There are many images where they appear in animal guise - as bull-like beasts with four different heads, wings and arms growing directly from the body, or as a winged hybrid with four legs and four heads, which rather resembles not a living creature, but an object of temple utensils.  Since the 12th century, such Divine monsters have sometimes been opposed to devilish ones, for example, the beast with seven heads and ten horns, which in the Revelation of John the Theologian serves as a throne for the Babylonian harlot. ...

 In addition, in the Roman pre-Christian tradition , there were suitable iconographic prototypes, for example, the image of the winged goddess of victory Nike, dressed in ashes. She regularly appeared on the reverse of gold coins between portraits of Roman or early Byzantine co-throne emperors with crowns and halos - for example, between Valens and Valentinian I. These images served as the basis for the first Christian images of saints, and then the Trinity.  For example, on one gold bottom, Christ crowns the apostles Peter and Paul. This scene is exactly copied from the coin, where the goddess Nika takes the place of the Savior. With Roman money, the image of the royal trinity with a central winged character, in turn, could have come from ancient Egyptian art, where in the same manner as early as the 2nd century BC. e. on stone gems Bait (one of the incarnations of Horus), Hathor (the patroness of motherhood) and Akori (the goddess of power of the pharaoh) were depicted. ...

 Beard, bald head and wheel with eyes: how the image of angels changed from Antiquity to the present day  Until the 4th century , angels were depicted as bearded or bald men, and it never occurred to anyone to draw them with wings - but then the heavenly messengers suddenly became winged and in halos. In the Middle Ages, angels were sometimes presented as creatures in the form of wheels, consisting of only wings and eyes, and sometimes cherubs grew four animal heads. Historian Sergei Zotov, author of the book "History of Alchemy" and co-author of the bestseller "The Suffering Middle Ages", tells about the evolution of the iconography of angels from Antiquity to the present.  The modern image of an angel in the mass consciousness is a young man in a white tunic and a thin golden halo with huge bird wings. However, artists did not immediately begin to draw the heavenly messengers just like that. Although they are mentioned 273 times in the Bible, all descriptions of ...

 The first half of the 20th century: the color of the French savages  The beginning of the 20th century is a time of great discoveries. Artists suddenly turn their attention to colonial art, reinterpret children's drawing, and actively experiment with color and shape.  The Impressionists spoke of separate brushstroke and painting in pure color. Now artists of the next generation are pushing these same attitudes to the limit. The master conveys a shade with a blue tint with pure turquoise, and a slight blush on the girl's cheeks with a crimson spot.  A whole movement of painters appeared , interested only in coloristic tasks. For their love of bright colors they were called Fauves (from the French fauves - "savages").  Henri Matisse, the main ideologist of Fauvism, believed that the main thing in a painting is the harmony of color. He built all his compositions on the ratio of contrasting colors, which gave a major tone to his static subjects.  He original...

 XVIII century: red is a secular compliment  After the stormy baroque passions, the artists wanted peace and harmony. The scenes of big celebrations were replaced by an intimate atmosphere , and at this time the portrait genre was gaining popularity. Wide windows and large doors appear on the canvases, which means that it becomes much easier to see the color. Light shades and gentle pastel colors are now in fashion. But in England and Russia, red remains popular with the most advanced artists.  Joshua Reynolds, the first president of the Royal Academy of Arts in London, was an incredibly sought-after portrait painter. He could accurately convey the main features of his models and at the same time flatter them accurately. It is not surprising that among his customers were the most prominent people of their time: members of the royal family, society ladies, politicians, artists and writers. Almost every portrait has an expressive spot of red.  Joshua Reynolds "Self-po...

 Red in painting : from sexuality to power  In secular images, red is no less important than in icons. Often, the artist uses red to make a dramatic accent, to draw the viewer's attention to a specific detail in a landscape or character's clothing.  XV century: new possibilities of red  In the Renaissance, religious images are gradually replaced by secular ones, and the place of pious Madonnas is taken by naked Venuses.  The technique of painting is also evolving : artists are moving from tempera to oil paints. The fact is that tempera was made from a mixture of powdered pigments and egg yolk, so the paint dried instantly. The artist had to apply color very quickly and could not allow mistakes in the drawing: it was almost impossible to correct something later.  Oil paints are another matter: they can be applied in a thin layer, superimposed one color on top of another, and thus achieve a depth of color never seen before. Oil painting can be easily correc...

Passion of Christ , female sexuality, blood of war and a symbol of power. What did red mean in the art of different eras  The first color in human history to be named was red. The Knife tells what this color has symbolized at different times - from rock paintings to contemporary art objects - and which artists have endowed it with new meanings.  Origin of red  The first dyes were exactly red. In some languages, for example in Russian, both "paint" and "red" come from the same word - "beauty".  The fabric, which was specially dyed, made its wearer stand out among people. Changing the natural color of the canvas to bright red was not only difficult, but also very expensive. To get 1 gram of dye, it was necessary to catch, boil and crush tens of thousands of mollusks, and about 200 grams of one ancient Roman toga (about 6 meters of fabric) took! It is logical that in ancient drawings this color was often associated with power and sacred rites, and only rul...