The Wedding of Thetis and Peleus – Bartolomeo di Giovanni
Bartolomeo di Giovanni, also known as Alunno di Domenico, was an early renaissance Italian painter of the Florentine School who was active from about 1480 until his death in 1501. He studied with and assisted Domenico Ghirlandaio, painting the predella of Ghirlandaio’s Adoration of the Magi in the Ospedale degli Innocenti (Foundling Hospital) in Florence, […]
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
Its been just under twenty years since the United States invaded Afghanistan, and now, the United States has been driven out of Afghanistan. United States Embassy staff, many will argue, are not just being driven out, but are fleeing for their lives. Reuters has reported that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled first from the country […]
Impressions of the World Community Exhibitions
The Impressions of the World exhibition celebrates cultural heritage and social diversity while revitalizing and fostering artistic talents within communities across California. To engage broader audiences and underserved communities, the exhibiton featured at venues that are part of everyday life, in small towns where there is lack of access to fine art, as well as […]
Over Consumption is Decimating Our Future
During the Covid pandemic, many of us have become familiar with the pictures of people cramming their storage rooms with toilet paper, hand sanitizers, and other products. Some of us might criticize the so-called “hoarders.” But only a few of us are aware that we have been overbuying long before the pandemic. In the nineteenth […]
Austria’s Countryside
I received an opportunity to travel to Austria’s countryside for a work trip. The place that welcomed me was Irrsee, a lake 30 kilometers outside of Salzburg, Austria. At 1:14 PM on the 17th of October, I boarded the train Railjet 166 at Vienna’s Wien Westbahnhof railway station. The train headed for Zurich, Switzerland, a […]
Hercules and the Hydra – Antonio del Pollaiuolo
This small panel, the companion-piece to “Hercules and Antaeus”, refers to three panels representing the Labours of Hercules which Antonio del Pollaiuolo painted for Lorenzo de’ Medici around 1460, lost works we know about only from later versions. Here too is represented a ferocious fight between the hero, his body tensed into an agile, muscular […]
Virgin Annunciate – Antonello da Messina
The Virgin Annunciate is perhaps the most famous of the Sicilian painter’s works and is one of the art icons of all time, dating back to Antonello’s stay in Venice. The former enchants and surprises in its masterly orchestration of light sources, generating an interplay of backlight and, at the same time, wholly unifying the […]
The Adoration of the Magi – Andrea Mantegna
In 1985, Mantegna’s masterpiece, The Adoration of the Magi became the most expensive old Master painting ever sold at Christie’s (at the time for £8.1 million). The Adoration of the Magi or Uffizi Triptych is a group of three tempera-on-panel paintings by Andrea Mantegna, dating to around 1460. Their three subjects are the Ascension of […]
Coronation of the Virgin – Andrea di Bartolo
Andrea di Bartolo was an Italian painter, active in Siena between 1389-1428. It is very probable that he was the master of Sano di Pietro. Andrea di Bartolo was the son and pupil of Bartolo di Fredi, a very prominent painter in Siena. His youth was spent working in his father’s workshop which received many […]
Sposalizio Mistico di Santa Caterina – Andrea del Sarto
Andrea del Sarto The Italian painter Andrea del Sarto (1486-1530) was one of the most important painters of the High Renaissance. His highly expressive use of color is unsurpassed in Florentine painting. Though highly regarded during his lifetime as artisat senza errori (“without errors”), his renown was eclipsed after his untimely death by that of […]