On 22 Jun, 2010 With
The origin of the Arch is very uncertain. It was unknown to the Egyptians, for their chambers were roofed with long flat stones, and sometimes the upper layers of stones form projections, so as to diminish the roof surface. It is also supposed that it was unknown to the Greeks, when they constructed their most beautiful temples, in the 5th, 4th, and 3d centuries B. C., as no structure answering to the true character of the Arch has been found in any of these works. Minutoli has given specimens of arches at Thebes; circular, and formed of four courses of bricks, and it is maintained that these belonged to a very ancient period, long before the Greek occupancy of that…
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On 21 Jun, 2010 With
Drawing clothing can be quite challenging. The challenge usually centers on the drawing of the folds. There is a lot of reflected light, lots of darks, and many lights. But it is exactly this variety of values that makes the drawing of clothes very attractive but also challenging. Learning to draw fabric well requires a concerted effort and a good deal of practice. Here are a few tips to memorize: * Folds – There are five types of folds we must recognize when drawing clothing: 1. The column fold 2. The drape fold 3. The inert fold 4. The coil fold 5. The interlocking fold Of course, in a typical situation, more than one of these fold types are present….
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On 21 Jun, 2010 With
Walter Mixa, who was forced to step down as bishop of Augsburg under allegations of fraud and child abuse, is now accused of using church money to purchase a likely phony engraving LONDON. Walter Mixa, who was forced to step down as bishop of Augsburg in southern Germany after five ex-pupils accused him of physical abuse in March, faces another allegation. He is accused of using money intended for a Catholic orphanage to buy a Piranesi engraving that is likely to be fake. In January 1995, the former priest of the Bavarian city of Schrobenhausen was given a receipt in Rome to confirm his purchase of an “original engraving by G.B. Piranesi (1707)”—worth DM43,000 (€20,000). The money came from a budget…
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On 21 Jun, 2010 With
“For very many centuries, the hoary monuments of Egypt—its temples, its obelisks, and its tombs—have presented to the eye of the beholder strange forms of sculpture and of language; the import of which none could tell. The wild valleys of Sinai, too, exhibited upon their rocky sides the unknown writings of a former people; whose name and existence none could trace. Among the ruined halls of Persepolis, and on the rock-hewn tablets of the surrounding regions, long inscriptions in forgotten characters seemed to enrol the deeds and conquests of mighty sovereigns; but none could read the record. Thanks to the skill and persevering zeal of scholars of the 19th century, the key of these locked up treasures has been found;…
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On 21 Jun, 2010 With
This famous antique fresco was discovered in the time of Clement VIII., not far from the church of S. Maria Maggiore, in the place where were the gardens of Mæcenas. It was carried from thence into the villa of the princely house of the Aldobrandini; hence its name. It is very beautifully executed, and evidently intended to represent or celebrate a wedding. Winckelmann supposes it to be the wedding of Peleus and Thetis; the Count Bondi, that of Manlius and Julia.
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On 21 Jun, 2010 With
A grand mosaic, representing as some say the Battle of Platæa, and others, with more probability one of the victories of Alexander, is now in the Academy at Naples. It was discovered at Pompeii, and covered the whole side of the apartment where it was found. This great work is the admiration of connoisseurs and the learned, not only for its antiquity, but for the beauty of its execution. The most probable supposition is, that it is a copy of the celebrated Victory of Arbela, painted by Philoxenes, and described by Pliny as one of the most remarkable works of antiquity, with whose description the mosaic accords.
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On 21 Jun, 2010 With
The Colosseum, or Coliseum, was commenced by Vespasian, and completed by Titus, (A. D. 79.) This enormous building occupied only three years in its erection. Cassiodorus affirms that this magnificent monument of folly cost as much as would have been required to build a capital city. We have the means of distinctly ascertaining its dimensions and its accommodations from the great mass of wall that still remains entire; and although the very clamps of iron and brass that held together the ponderous stones of this wonderful edifice were removed by Gothic plunderers, and succeeding generations have resorted to it as to a quarry for their temples and their palaces—yet the “enormous skeleton” still stands to show what prodigious works may…
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On 20 Jun, 2010 With
In this day and age when millions of average people across the globe are feeling isolated and are reaching out to each other through social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Friendster and other similar sites, there are emerging social networking sites for groups of people based on their professions like musicians, artists, actors and business people as well as social networking sites for groups based on their hobbies. This is a new and rapidly growing phenomena on the internet. Artists need a place to show off their creative talents and see what other artists are up to and to just hang out and chill and chat with other artists and make new contacts and make new friends. There…
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On 20 Jun, 2010 With
The ancients well understood the arts of painting both in fresco and mosaic, as is evinced by the discoveries made at Rome, but more especially at Pompeii. The most remarkable pictures discovered at Pompeii have been sawed from the walls, and deposited in the Royal Museums at Naples and Portici, for their preservation. Not only mosaic floors and pavements are numerous in the mansions of the wealthy at Pompeii, but some walls are decorated with pictures in mosaic.
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On 20 Jun, 2010 With
The following curious account of the removal of the obelisk in the Circus Vaticanus to the centre of St. Peter’s square, by Domenico Fontana, is extracted from Milizia’s life of that famous architect. It shows plainly that the Egyptians must have attained great skill and perfection in mechanics and engineering, to have been able to quarry out obelisks at least a third larger, and convey them often several hundred miles, to the places where they erected them. “Sixtus V. was now desirous of raising in the centre of the square of St. Peter’s the only obelisk which remained standing, but partly interred, near the wall of the Sacristy, where was formerly the Circus of Nero. Other pontiffs had had the…
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