Boticelli

I can't believe I've never done a post on Sandro Botticelli before. I mean, I've been worshiping this guy on my hands and knees for years! Well no, I was exaggerating. But you get the point.

Anyway, born in Firenze - which is pretty much self-explanatory - in the 1400s he was one of the most famous painters in the early Renaissance. But ahh, influenced heavily by Savonarola he burned most of his pagan themed paintings in the Bonfire of Vanities. I can't even describe how strongly I feel against this. I mean, art is art! You can't burn good art, you akjnfjdnfrelkfmeo.

Okay, I shall stop talking about it now lest I begin to swear in a most unsightly fashion. And why am I talking like this?

The Birth of Venus

I'm not sure why The Birth of Venus, Primavera and Venus and Mars weren't burned in the Bonfire of Vanities but I intend to find out. And when I do I'll give a lecture on art history, haha.

Primavera

I would say that this is one of my all-time favorite painting, along with The Triumph of Death by Pieter Bruegel the Elder and The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch and Caravaggio'sDavid and Goliath.

The Return of Judith to Bethulia

The Virgin and Child with Three Angels

I love how dark it is in this painting, because normally his paintings of Madonna and her Child are lighter. Like, the Divine Light shines upon them or something and they're beautiful too but I like something different. Maybe it's just me.

Calumny of Apelles

This is a large painting so you have to enlarge it and zoom in on every aspect of it. You'll see how breathtaking it is. (Find the 3200 x 2220 pixel one in wikipedia, and go over every small detail!)

Botticelli

I can't believe I've never done a post on Sandro Botticelli before. I mean, I've been worshiping this guy on my hands and knees for years! Well no, I was exaggerating. But you get the point.

Anyway, born in Firenze - which is pretty much self-explanatory - in the 1400s he was one of the most famous painters in the early Renaissance. But ahh, influenced heavily by Savonarola he burned most of his pagan themed paintings in the Bonfire of Vanities. I can't even describe how strongly I feel against this. I mean, art is art! You can't burn good art, you akjnfjdnfrelkfmeo.

Okay, I shall stop talking about it now lest I begin to swear in a most unsightly fashion. And why am I talking like this?

The Birth of Venus

I'm not sure why The Birth of Venus, Primavera and Venus and Mars weren't burned in the Bonfire of Vanities but I intend to find out. And when I do I'll give a lecture on art history, haha.

Primavera

I would say that this is one of my all-time favorite painting, along with The Triumph of Death by Pieter Bruegel the Elder and The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch and Caravaggio'sDavid and Goliath.

The Return of Judith to Bethulia

The Virgin and Child with Three Angels

I love how dark it is in this painting, because normally his paintings of Madonna and her Child are lighter. Like, the Divine Light shines upon them or something and they're beautiful too but I like something different. Maybe it's just me.

Calumny of Apelles

This is a large painting so you have to enlarge it and zoom in on every aspect of it. You'll see how breathtaking it is. (Find the 3200 x 2220 pixel one in wikipedia, and go over every small detail!)

Caravaggio

I only started to really like Caravaggio when I was 15, having read this amazing book by David Hewson - The Garden of Evil. And since then, I've been a faithful admirer. =)

Judith Beheading Holofernes

David and Goliath

Amor Victorious

Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy

I have to say, his rendition of David and Goliath is one of my favorites. In fact, it's only second to Gustave Dore's.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini

I've always had a thing for statues and Bernini contributed to this penchant of mine. Bernini is arguably the best sculptor, again in my opinion. And I dedicate a stanza of this poem, Sculptor by Sylvia Plath to his magnificence.

" To his house the bodiless
  Come to barter endlessly
  Vision, wisdom for bodies
  Palpable as his, and weighty. "

Selected favourites:

Trevi Fountain

Apollo and Daphne

Ecstasy of St. Teresa

The Rape of Proserpina

And a close detail of The Rape of Proserpina which shows realistic dents in the flesh

Alexander McQueen

Of all the many fashion designers who are talented beyond imagination these days, I have to say that I have a penchant for Alexander McQueen. I guess it's because his designs are comparatively darker. It has an obsessive and morbid nature if you look beneath the gilded sequins and elaborate fabric and in a way some of it is almost, grotesque. And you know, that there is nothing I like more than grotesquery.

Besides, his designs have a romantic and sometimes medieval feel to it. Even when he designs something futuristic, there are the telltale details that suggest ancient origins. Also, I love the theatricality of his intricate and almost labyrinthine gowns. Every piece seems to hint at a mystery or a clandestine secret behind its folds. Oh God I could die in his glorious gowns. Anyway, a few of my favourites:

Autumn/Winter collection 2009

Autumn/Winter collection 2010

Savage Beauty collection: Romantic Nationalism

Miscellaneous

Leonardo da Vinci

Alright, everyone who knows me knows that I'm absolutely fanatic about Leonardo da Vinci. Yet I don't know why I've never written about his work in my blog before. Until now, that is.

He's the most ingenious man ever lived (in my opinion anyway), surpassing even Newton. Not only was he a painter and sculptor, as we know him to be, he was also an architect, musician, writer, botanist, mathematician, engineer, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, inventor and scientist. I know, that man has a kick-ass resume.

Anyway, these are a few of his paintings and sketches that I adore:

Virgin of the Rocks

St. Jerome in the Wilderness

St John the Baptist

La Scapigliata

The Battle of Anghiari

Leda and the Swan

And of course,

Mona Lisa

Herbert Draper

He's another one of my numerous - I admit - favourite painters, famous for depicting mythological scenes from ancient Greece.

The Foam Sprite

Lamia

Ulysses and the Sirens

Il Fiorno e la Stella del Tramonto

Study for Autumn

Le Tre Madri

So after fretting so much about what I'm going to dress up as for Halloween, I finally got it. I'm going to be Mater Tenebrarum, literal translation Mother of Darkness but more commonly known as Lady of Darkness.

Okay, so basically it's the story of The Three Mothers, who are three sisters who created the art of witchcraft in the early 11th century. They are extremely powerful and evil and are often thought to be Death personified. The eldest and wisest is Mater Suspiriorum, Lady of Sighs aka The Black Queen. The second sister is Mater Lachrymarum, Lady of Tears, most beautiful of the three. And the youngest sister is Mater Tenebrarum, Lady of Darkness, most cruel of the three.

I've got most of the makeup figured out, but I still need a long black dress. So anyone, if you have, pleaaaassee. =) Gosh, I'm so excited! This is going to be one of my last Halloweens here and it's gotta be awesome.

Lyrics of Mater Tenebrarum, courtesy of my favourite death metal band, Theatre des Vampires:
But the third sister, who is also the youngest !
Hush ! Whisper whilst we talk of her !
Her kingdom is not large, or else no flesh should live ; but within that kingdom all power is hers.
She droops not ; and her eyes rising so high might be hidden by distance.
She is the defier of God. She is also the mother of lunacies, and the suggestress of suicides.
Deep lie the roots of her power ; but narrow is the nation that she rules.
And her name is Mater Tenebrarum - Our Lady of Darkness.

Hieronymus Bosch

This is one of my favourite classical painters: Hieronymus Bosch, who is Dutch. Among all his fantabulous paintings, my favourite would undoubtedly be The Garden of Earthly Delights. I mean, come on, even the name is totally my style.

Umm, it's really blur here because it's a really, really big painting. It's divine, I tell you. It's... enlightening. The first time I looked at it, I felt as if someone just tipped all the knowledge in the world into my head and my head's just swelling to the point of bursting. (You know, like in Indiana Jones?) I felt a spiritual awakening when I looked at this painting. It's not Christian, Catholic, Buddhism, Islamic or any religion known to the world. It's just... celestial. Here's the link to a bigger painting.

Ming says that this painting is creepy. I don't really see why, apart from it being too godly to be produced by human hands. God, I love this phrase: not by human hands. People used to describe what Armand drew as "not by human hands" too. Anyway, back to Hieronymus Bosch. I know that it's different from the usual paintings by classical artists I love, you know, Raphael, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci... But for some unfathomable reason, I find myself obsessed with this painting.

He has other works too but I love this the most. =)

The Temptation of St. Anthony

The Last Judgement

Visions of the Hereafter

Well, alright, I love Visions of the Hereafter too.