Something Beautiful

Statues of the Great Florentines

Yesterday and today, this set of inspiring statutes keeps coming to mind -- Uffizi courtyard statues of great Florentines.

Sculptured Altarpiece (Riemenschneider)

Medieval German wood sculptor Tilman Riemenschneider has long been a favorite of mine. Even so, I was unfamiliar with this sculptured altarpiece which Riemenschneider and his workshop carved in, probably, the early 1500s. The main figures are: St. Sebastian, Emperor Henry II, and St. Stephanus. The altarpiece is in Bamberg Cathedral, Germany, where it is seen by thousands of tourists each year.

della Robbia

There's just something about this Virgin adoring the Christ Child, c. 1483, a sculpture in glazed terracotta by Andrea della Robbia. It's at the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland.

Ghiberti's Doors

I've been doing some research on Florence, Italy, and my attention is naturally drawn again and again to the Baptistery eastern doors fashioned by Lorenzo Ghiberti in the early 1400s. The doors as a whole command one's attention. Only by examining them one by one, though, can we really appreciate their artistry, their sheer mastery.   From top to bottom, and left to right, the ten scenes are as follows:

Adam and Eve;  Cain and Abel;

Noah;               Abraham;

Isaac & sons;    Joseph;

Moses;             Joshua;

David;              Solomon & Queen. 

Two additional sets of photos are at Mary Ann Sullivan's site.  One set provides close-ups of the facsimile doors which are today actually on the Baptistery.   Another set shows the original doors. 

If you become as entranced as I am by the doors, you can download and view the extraordinary 10.8 MB version of these bronze doors at Wikipedia.  It shows not only the bronze plaques, but also all the surrounding figures and other decoration. 

St Gaudens exhibition

The Metropolitan Museum site presents an exhibition of works by Augustus St Gaudens. Many of the images are quite lovely. Don't miss this painting by Kenyon Cox of the sculptor at work. Or, for that matter, this sculpture of the artist by John Flanagan.

Nativity (limewood)

Here's one more set of wood sculptures -- Nativity with Angels and Shepherds, ca. 1485 (limewood, polychromy). It's at the Rijksmuseum, in Amsterdam.

Arenburg Lamentation (wood sculpture)

The Detroit Institute of Arts site has a wonderful zoom feature that enables you to get quite close to any given work of art. Try it on the excellent Arenburg Lamentation, ca. 1460, by an unknown Flemish master (oak with traces of polychromy).

Assyrian sculpture

What is it about Assyrian sculpture that so absolutely sends me? Here's an example at the Louvre.

Here's a similar one at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

Chinard bust (terracotta)

I had never before heard of sculptor Joseph Chinard, but I think his terracotta bust of Etienne-Vincent Marniola, 1809, is simply beautiful.   (Again, only the zoom will enable you to appreciate this work.) 

Della Robbia

It's always hard for me to believe that something so excellent as this Madonna and Child, ca. 1455, by Luca Della Robbia, can be made from terracotta.