Michelangelo Buonarroti Essays (1956 words) - David, Michelangelo

Michelangelo Buonarroti The greatest artist has no conception which a single block of marble does not potentially contain within its mass, but only a hand obedient to the mind can penetrate to this image. ~ Michelangelo Buonarroti Michelangelo describes in the above quote what it is like to carve a likeness of a person out of a large block of marble. As we know from seeing his work, he did an excellent job with this task. Bernini did just as fine a job on his, but in a much different way as you will see in the following pages. Michelangelo Michelangelo was born on March 6, 1475, in Caprese, Italy, a tiny village, owned by the nearby city-state of Florence. His father was the mayor. He attended school in Florence, but he was preoccupied by art. When he was 13, his father agreed to apprentice him to some well-known painters in Florence. Michelangelo was unsatisfied with these artists, because they would not teach him their artistic secrets. He went to work under another sculptor hired by Lorenzo de Medici. When Michelangelo was 21, he went to Rome, where he was commissioned to carve a group of marble statues showing the Virgin Mary supporting the dead Christ on her knees. His sculpture was called Madonna Della Pieta, and it made Michelangelo famous. A few years later, in 1501, he accepted a commission for a statue of David. He took on the challenge of carving this beautiful work out of a huge oblong chunk of pure white unflawed Carrara marble some 18 feet high and weighing several tons - that had been badly block out and then abandoned by an earlier sculptor (Coughlan 85). This piece had always fascinated Michelangelo, but neither he, nor anyone else, could think of what to carve from it, until now (Coughlan 85). Thus began a new era in art, the High Renaissance. He began carving this statue for the city of Florence. It would become a symbol of this city, a city willing to take on all comers in defense of its liberty (Coughlan 91). The statue acquired this meaning by the way Michelangelo depicted this biblical character. Instead of presenting us with the winner of the battle, with the giants head at his feet and a sword in his hand like Donatello did many years before, he portrays David right before the battle begins. David is in the moment where his people are hesitating and Goliath is mocking him. He is placed in perfect contrapusto; in the same manner the Greeks represented their heroes (Heusinger 17). The right-hand side of the figure is composed, while the left side, from the outstretched foot all the way up to the disheveled hair, is openly active and dynamic (Heusinger 18). Frederick Hartt does an excellent job of describing the essence of the statue: Throughout the statue, but especially in the head, the conflict between line and form is intensified and deepened. The features are more deeply undercut than in any of the earlier works, possibly because of the height from which the statue was originally intended to be seen. The enormous eyes seem at once liquid and fiery. The flat planes joining at determined angles underlie all the construction of the David, not only in the squared-off masses of the features but throughout the knotty, bony, sinewy, half- developed, and unprecedentedly beautiful torso and legs. For the first time Michelangelo is able to embody in the quality of a single human body all the passionate drama of a mans inner nature. The sinews of the neck seem to tense and relax, the veins of the neck, hands and wrists to fill, the nostrils to pinch, the belly muscles to contract and the chest to lift with the intake of breath, the nipples to shrink and erect, the whole proud being to quiver like a war horse that smells the battle. But the nature of the battle there is no indication whatever; it is eternal and in every man (Hartt 112). Once the statue was completed, a committee of citizens and artists convened to decide where the statue should be placed. Some thought it should go near the steps or the church of San Piero Scheraggio, others

Sample Essay Topics - Tips on How to Avoid Procrastination in Writing an Essay

Sample Essay Topics - Tips on How to Avoid Procrastination in Writing an EssaySample essay topics have proven to be highly effective tools for procrastination. This is because most people want to put their efforts into writing a great article, but they have the tendency to postpone this process. As a result, they fail to achieve their dream of having an article published. Instead, they go for the next best thing and procrastinate until the time is right to write that perfect article.If you want to be sure that you will not let procrastination rule your life, you should make sure that you have a perfect template of essay. Make it a habit to write down all the information about your project before you start working on it. Moreover, do not put too much work in at once because if you do, you will never get the right kind of results.When you decide to write a sample essay topic, remember that a bit of research is not a bad thing. Research helps you prepare yourself by making you aware of what you are writing about. Researching your topic also makes you more familiar with the topic so that you can make a sound judgment before you actually write the article. It also helps you choose the right words when you have to choose one from a pile of words.The main concern in researching an essay topic is the proper use of the words. You need to make sure that you do not use too many words. Remember that this will not be read by anyone. Hence, the usage of good English is extremely important.You should start working on your sample essay topic when you have got your research completed. This will allow you to start the writing process. This is done by creating the outline of the article. The outline gives you a good overview of the contents of the article and it will give you a point of reference as you move along.Make sure that you write only the things that you know. If you read lots of books from your local library, this will only waste your time and effort. You should focus y our efforts on the stuff that you already know. This way, you will not waste your time in reading the kind of literature that is not suited for an essay topic.Once you have prepared your outline of the article, you can now start writing. Always start with the most essential information first. This is because there is always something in every article that requires research. Hence, you will know exactly what you are supposed to write about before you start writing.Once you have written the first few sentences, you can now proceed to the next step in the writing process. Remember that procrastination is commonly associated with writing. A good writing experience requires good research. This is the most effective way to avoid procrastination. As a result, you can start writing your great article today.