Author: xerkss

Other than beauty: art history has often seen fierce, violent, and brutal paintings. We see in this post three of the most violent and brutal paintings in the whole history of art.

Between myth and narration: the most brutal paintings

Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith beheading Holofernes

The Judith, who beheads Holofernes by Artemisia Gentileschi (Rome, 1593 – Naples, 1654), has become almost a symbol of seventeenth-century violent art. This, especially since the author of the painting, is a woman. The scene refers to the most famous episode of the history of the biblical heroine, Jewish leader and opponent of the Assyrian army, commanded by Holofernes.

Artemisia Gentileschi made a couple of versions of this painting: both produced in Florence. That of Naples was painted for the noblewoman Laura Corsini. That of the Uffizi in Florence was destined to the Grand Duke Cosimo II de ‘Medici.

Rembrandt, The Blinding of Samson

The story of the biblical hero Samson is in the Book of Judges: a man of proverbial and impressive strength. He had married a Philistine woman, but the marriage was contrary to the wishes of her parents. The reason was that Samson, as Jew, was naturally an enemy of the people of the Philistines.

The clash between the beloved’s father and Samson will lead to chilling consequences, including the killing of more than 1000 Philistines and the blinding of Samson.

In this painting, preserved in Frankfurt, Rembrandt van Rijn (Leiden, 1606 – Amsterdam, 1669) depicts the episode of blindness. Some Philistine soldiers hold him while another threatens him with a pike. One is poking an eye with a dagger, while Samson writhes in pain. The violence of the episode is even stronger thanks to the chiaroscuro with strong gradations, typical of the Rembrandt of the thirties.

Francisco Goya, Saturn Devouring His Son

The God Saturn (Cronus for the Greeks), king of the gods, having learned from his parents Gea and Uranus that one of his children would have ousted him, had the idea of ​​devouring them so as not to let any of them chase him from the throne. However, his destiny will be inevitable. Jupiter (Zeus) managed to escape secretly from the massacre (Saturn’s wife, Rhea, begot him) and, when he became an adult, he returned to defeat his father.

The work is part of the cycle that went down in history as the Pinturas Negras (“black paintings”) because they are all characterized by the use of very dark colors.

For this painting, interpretations have been provided that go beyond the mere mythological episode and its more traditional readings. Saturn is also God of time, and myth is a metaphor of time that devours everything. In particular, it could be an allegory of madness or even a sarcastic reading of the political situation of the time.

Sensitive and refined artist, Paul Klee manages to realize the dream of transfiguring every kind of experience thanks to an in-depth study of the magical relationships between forms, ideas, places, and colors. He uses a new expressive language in which the abstract and the figurative give the observer the sensations of a composition in which objects appear immersed in a dreamy and evocative atmosphere.

Paul Klee: life and career

Raised with German father, musician, Klee begins to manifest his art precisely in music. He graduated from the Stuttgart Conservatory and became a violin teacher at the Bern Academy. Her passion for drawing, however, manifests itself since her childhood.

At the age of 20, he moved to Bavaria and to attend the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. He held his first important exhibitions in Bern and Berlin. We are in the avant-garde years, where German expressionism mixes with the play of light and French colors.

The trip to Tunisia in 1914 was fundamental for the artist. Following this, there was a phase of a prolific production of watercolors. Klee didn’t stop painting even during the two years of enlistment.

In fact, he began to exhibit his works during the First World War. In 1920 he was invited by Walter Gropius to teach in his school of architecture, art and design in Germany.

But when Hilter came to power, the artist was forced to resign. The Nazi regime considered his art “degenerate.” He later left Germany and returned to his hometown.

The mysterious painting

An artist of intense spirituality, Klee believed that the material world represents only one of the many windows open to human knowledge. His use of drawing, of color, reveal his attempts to use art as an instrument of his philosophical conception.

Delacroix inspired the painter. Also impactful were Kandinsky and Goethe’s theories on color. These focus his attention on the “circular rhythm of color” in which there is a focus on the fundamental chromatic relationships.

Together with Macke, Kandinskij, and Marc he gives life to a movement called “Blue Cavalier” which aims to create art that presupposes an abstraction from reality without, however, precluding the immense range of human feelings.

Over the years, he manifested an interest in primitive art, childish expressiveness, and archaic cultures. These will give life to other enchanting and singular paintings. In these, in particular, the inspiration for an art dictated by an emotional need is manifested.

Klee’s artistic production has indelibly changed the course of modern art and influenced generations of painters. In fact, the artist is today among the great masters of art history.

Metaphysical Painting is one of Italy’s significant contributions to the historical avant-gardes of the 1900s, an indispensable passage for the birth of Surrealism.
In those years, Futurism was emerging, and Metaphysical Painting was the exact opposite. For example, in Futurism, it is all dynamism and speed; in Metaphysical dominates absolute immobility.

Defining Metaphysical Painting

The term “Metaphysical Painting” indicates the particular relationship of this painting movement towards reality. Compared to other pictorial currents that were emerging in the early twentieth century, Metaphysical Painting is characterized by its order and compositional clarity.

The paintings depict recognizable objects and shapes, placed in well-defined spaces from an architectural point of view. Still, the various elements mix in an absurd way, without an apparent connection between them.

The Metaphysical paintings recall stages, on which are both strange and paradoxical representations: the background itself emphasizes the silence and stillness of the air.

The perfection of real objects placed in this way sets these works of art outside reality, hence the name “Metaphysics.”

History of metaphysical Painting

Metaphysical Painting is one of the leading Italian artistic trends of the first half of the 1900s. This presents an evident charge of suggestion, rich in magical and enigmatic atmospheres, where absolute silence is manifests itself

We cannot define it as a real movement, but rather a current. In fact, it is not based on a manifesto or a programmatic document. It does not assume the countenance of a group. It is not even possible to set a precise debut date.
Like all currents, on the other hand, its poetics and characteristic elements can be defined.

The features of Metaphysical Painting

The objects in metaphysical paintings can be mannequins, torsos of sculptures, metronomes, toys, bottles, boxes, spheres, artist’s tools, etc. Its main features are stylized and schematic physiognomy, sharp contours, two to thin black lines, simplified surfaces with elementary chiaroscuro, and mostly monochrome shadows. The spaces that form the backdrop to the objects present typologies that differ according to the author.

Almost all the paintings of Carrà, Morandi, De Pisis, and some of De Chirico, depict interiors of rooms. There are, however, many exceptions, mainly consisting of Giorgio de Chirico and Alberto Savinio. And also Giorgio Morandi deserves a separate discussion.

Open spaces often resemble De Chirico’s canvases, similar to squares, terraces, glimpses of arches. Particularly famous are the so-called “squares of Italy”: visions of open spaces on the horizon, delimited by arched buildings, towers, and more or less known architectures, with ancient sculptures placed in the foreground.

Giorgio Morandi‘s canvases from 1918-19 are, instead, metaphysical still lifes, in which objects appear arranged on tables.
The main characteristics of the spaces that form the background are clarity and clarity of the composition, schematic and simplification of architectural structures, presence of forced perspectives and improbable escape lines, and use of warm and earthy colors.

The idea of ​​preserving objects of cultural and historical importance began thousands of years ago. These institutions make use of artifacts stored for viewing through their temporary or permanent exhibitions around the world. The oldest museum, built by the Babylonians over 2,500 years ago, was discovered by Leonard Wooley. The following there are some of the oldest museums in the world.

Discovering the oldest Museums in the world

Louvre museum

The Louvre is not only a historical monument but also the most visited art museum in the world. In particular, the museum houses 35,000 objects exhibited in the prehistoric era. It is surely considered the landmark of Paris and one of the best museums in the world. At first, during the late 12th century it was a fortress. Later the monarch Philip II transformed it into the home of the French king in 1546. The museum opened in 1793, with a collection of 573 paintings. The collection grew particularly during Napoleon’s reign.

Musée des Beaux-Arts and d’Archéologie de Besançon

The Musée des Beaux-Arts and d’Archéologie de Besançon (Museum of Fine Arts and Archeology) in Besançon, is the oldest museum of fine arts and archeology in France. In fact, the museum opened in 1694 after Jean Baptiste contributed his collection to the city. The curators have divided the artifacts in this institution into three categories: drawing, painting, and archeology.

Belvedere Museum

The Belvedere Museum is a historical complex with two Baroque palaces (the low and the high), the stables of the palace, and the Orangery. The Belvedere is in the landscape of the baroque park in the 3rd district of Vienna. In particular, this museum houses the most extensive collection of paintings by Gustav Klint and Austrian art collection.

Royal Armories

The Royal Armories in London is the oldest museum in Britain. In particular, the Tower of London is home to the largest collection of armories in the world. This was the first attraction for specific visitors who paid for the privilege of seeing the Royal collection. The museum opened in 1660. The armories were subsequently divided and placed in three different locations across Britain with the primary goal of building museums in West Yorkshire, Leeds, and the Victorian fort in Portsmouth.

Capitoline Museums

Located in the Plazza del Campidoglio on the Campidoglio in Rome, this museum has a collection of archaeological and fine arts exhibits. The history of the Capitoline Museums starts in 1471. In particular, Pope Sixtus IV contributed with a series of critical prehistoric bronzes in Rome and placed them on the Capitol. Later the collection grew thanks to numerous ancient Roman inscriptions and statues, as well as a set of Renaissance and medieval art. The Capitoline Museums opened in 1734.