As Christianity began to spread during the Middle Ages, a series of free standing, stone Celtic crosses were erected across the Irish country side. Usually placed in monasteries or other holy sites, these crosses took on a plethora of different roles: meeting points, pilgrimage trail markers, and a way to spread Christianity to the warrior tribes. Unlike the other preserved remnants of art from the early Middle Ages that tended to be small and portable due to their creators' nomadic lifestyle, these crosses typically were over fifteen feet high.
An example of these monumental works is the "High Cross of Muiredach" in southern Ireland. Probably created in remembrance of particular abbot named Muiredach, this particular cross, fashioned in 923 C.E. and approximately eighteen feet in height, presides over a burial ground. On the Western face, there stands a depiction of the Crucifixion, whereas on its Eastern face, one can see risen Christ as the judge over dead souls, standing over four registers portraying those souls about to be weighed.
In order to gain support in the nomadic warrior tribes inhabiting the Irish countryside, Christians began to stylize these High Crosses. The crosses took on a Celtic shape with concave arms, all connected by arches to form a loop, which some say may represent the sun's power.
Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus differs in style from those of his contemporaries, as it seems to ignore the recent knowledge of anatomy and perspective. Painted on canvas using tempura circa 1484-1486, Botticelli depicts the mythical scene of the birth of the Greek goddess of love and beauty, Venus. Floating atop a cockleshell, recently borne from the foam of the sea, Venus is lead ashore to her sacred Cyprus by the breath of the wind goddess, Zephyrus, accompanied by his wife, the flower goddess, Chloris. Eagerly anticipating the goddess’s arrival, the nymph Pomona stands on the shore’s edge, ready to swath the newborn, more powerful goddess, cloak in hand.
Botticelli illustrates Venus in the center of the painting, larger than life, nude and starkly white in color, deliberately gaining the viewers immediate attention. The artist streams light from some unseen sun, radiating from right to left. Even with the overall brightness of the painting, Botticelli emphasizes Venus’s importance further as he illuminates the right side of her figure, allowing the sun’s rays to adorn her with a slightly orange glow. Complemented by the orange tint of her long, wavy hair, this glow contrasts greatly with the light blue of the sea as well as the light blue of the ribbon in her hair. Thus, Botticelli again emphasizes the goddess’s importance. The goddess represents arrant perfection; her soft, yet moderately toned physique, embodies a powerful youthfulness. Botticelli adds to the love goddess’s girlishness by depicting her with flushed cheeks, pinkish lips, and bright eyes. Magnifying her innocence further, the artist places her right arm over her breast, and the left over her “mons veneris”, creating the illusion of embarrassment. Her head is inclined faintly to the left, back towards the sea, but the rest of her body seems to be leaning toward the shore on the right; her left leg is cocked back as if she is about to step off the shell, and onto the shore next to Pomona.
Botticelli combines two major elements of composition in his masterpiece: the golden ratio as well as a hint of an oval composition. The unnaturally large Venus sits in the center of the painting, and from feet to toes, she almost spans the entire width of the canvas. The canvas’s dimensions themselves are that of the golden mean (1.6). Botticelli exemplifies Venus’s importance yet again as he creates the illusion of oval composition: beginning with Pomona’s head, the cloak and the nymph’s arm’s curve up towards the head of Venus; the line continues as it bends over the top of the conjoined Zephyrus and Chloris’s heads; then with Zephyrus’s outstretched, arched left arm, followed by a bent wrist and fingers; all finished by the fluid meander of the cockle shell, and the fold of Pomona’s right knee.
Botticelli adds to the mystical feel of the painting as he refuses to follow the scientifically correct rules of perception. Venus’s size is about equal to the body of the male Zephyrus, despite the fact that Zephyrus is behind the goddess, so that he is able to push her ashore. The angle of Chloris’s knee, wrapped around her husband’s body, is not anatomically possible. Her feet are the same size, although one is clearly intended to be in closer to the viewer than the other. Even the artist’s atmospheric perception is inaccurate: the waves in the distance are far too large in comparison to those in the foreground; the brown tree trunks ashore are all approximately the same width, despite the obvious deviations in location.
For the last few months, Nashville's botanical garden and art museum, Cheekwood, has hosted the work of the world renown glass blower, Dale Chihuly. Chihuly studied the art of glass blowing at the University of Washington, University of Wisconsin, finishing at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). With his passion for the the art of glassblowing, Chihuly co-founded the Pilchuck Glass School in Washington in order to teach others his interesting techniques. Since the beginning of his career, Chihuly's work has been exhibited in over two hundred museums worldwide.
As soon as one steps foot onto the the gardens of Cheekwood, it is impossible not to lose your breath at the sight of the magnificent glass sculptures. Chihuly impossibly composes his art in such a way that it blends in with the landscape seamlessly, yet it draws your eyes immediately. Through his use of color, he adds vibrancy and life to the landscape without creating any sense of superficiality. His piece, "The Sun", sit in the front lawn of the museum's gardens. Made out of thousands of individually crafted glass pieces, ranging in the color spectrum form vibrant reds to sunny yellows, Chihuly's work exudes a powerful sense of cheerful fun. The unique assemblage of the components captures the illusion of movement as light dances in every direction. Through his use of blown three dimensional composition, he allows the viewer to experience the art from all perspectives. The organically shaped structure creates a strikingly beautiful atmosphere, as Chihuly combines aspects of the environment, nature, and art.
