For today's post I thought I'd might do something art related so I'm sharing what I'm working on at the moment for my big essay as that's the only thing I have on my mind at the moment.
I'm looking at the Poesie paintings that were commissioned by Philip II of Spain and done by Titian.
Danaë with a Nurse, 1553-54
Venus and Adonis, 1554
Diana and Actaeon, 1556-59
Diana and Callisto, 1556-59
Perseus and Andromeda, 1554-56
Rape of Europa, 1559-62
(Images from Web Gallery of Art)
It took me a while to come up with an angle that hadn't been done before. The most common angle is comparing the paintings to the poems of Ovid which the subject matter is derived from. Other avenues include looking at the paintings as visual poetry, tragedies and the iconography.
After much stress and panic I think I've settled into looking at the paintings as messengers of power. They were for Philip II of Spain, son of Charles V the Holy Roman Emperor, and were commissioned not long before he was betrothed and married to Queen Mary I of England. Portraits were usually used to show power but I've thought of a couple of ways in which these paintings convey Philip's power as King of both Spain and then England.
Hope you all enjoyed this post! This is pretty much what my life revolves around plus all the other assignments I have. At least they're pretty to look at. xx
No comments
Feel free to comment. I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas.