Diptychs and Triptychs

A diptych is a painting or artwork that is two flat pieces hinged or attached together. Below is a diptych that has a blend of the principles of art: balance, harmony, and gradation. The balance comes from the use of the same colors, brush strokes, and intense disproportion of the characters. The harmony is that they are clearly from the same universe and they compliment each other. The painting plays around with gradation: small eyes to large ones, warped head shapes, light colors on the face compared to the dark background.

Triptychs are the same as diptychs, but instead of two pieces of artwork, it's three. Below is a triptych that follows the same principles of art. The fact that the three pieces are connected by universe and interact with each other means that the artist is using harmony. The painting has balance because of the way the artist set up the two adults to be beside each other. It also has gradation because of the use of dark and light colors surrounding the people.

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Giotto

Giotto di Bondone was born in the year of 1276 in Vespignano, near Florence, Italy. He is known as the as the most important Italian painter of the 14th century. His work plays a part to the famous Renaissance developed a century later. For almost seven centuries, Giotto has been known as the father of European painting and one of the first of the great masters of art. Unfortunately, Giotto died on January 8, 1337. However, he lived a full artistic life: he painted frescoes in the Upper Church at Assisi, in the Lower Church of the Basilica of St. Francis, and across Italy's historic churches. He primarily worked with frescoes and the theme of his art is focused on events from the bible. His art style is has very dark and earthy tones and he doesn't shy away from using intense imagery like blood and death. Above is The Lamentation by Giotto and can be seen in the Arena Chapel in Padua. This painting is known for the dark tones and the overwhelming sadness. It showcases the ...

Masks

Painted Masks: Painted masks start off with a basic form of a face then the details are painted on. Sculptural Masks: Sculptural masks are carved or molded into a face along with some extreme detail. Ancient Greek Masks: Ancient Greek masks are a form of sculptural masks, but they are far from human likeness. In comedy plays, the masks are so deformed to a specific emotion that they look ridiculous regardless of what they are trying to express. In tragedies, however, masks look more life-like to represent a person instead of a joke. All masks had their mouths wide open so that the actor could talk. They also had hair, nostrils, and large openings for the eyes built in for the actor to breathe and see.

Jan Van Eyck

Jan Van Eyck was born in the year of 1395 and was a prominent figure of the Early Netherlandish art of his time. Van Eyck served as an official to the ruler of Holland, John of Bavaria-Straubing. By this time he had assembled a small workshop and was involved in redecorating the Binnenhof palace. After John's death in 1425, he moved to Bruges and came to the attention of Philip the Good, and he was freed from commissions because of the court's salary. He used oils for his paintings and Van Eyck often conveyed what he saw as a harmony of the spiritual and material worlds using iconographic elements. The painting above is called the Arnolfini Portrait done by Jan Van Eyck. It forms a full-length double portrait, believed to showcase an Italian merchant named Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his wife. This oil painting has unique feature that was revolutionary at the time: a mirror. In the background, you can see a mirror reflecting the couple in the portrait. This was not ...

Some Art Opinions with Mack

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