Scenes from an Execution placed in 1620.
Some of this information is lengthy, but all important. In bold are maybe the more memorable statements.
"In Germany, the Thirty Years' War broke out in 1618, pitting German Protestants and allies such as Lutheran Sweden against the holy Roman Emporer, backed by Spain.
"One historian has estimated that by about 1600 the average Western peasant or artisan owned five times as many "things" as his or her counterpart."
Johannes Kepler is an important figure in the study of planetary motion. Also around 1600, anatomical work by the Belgian Vesalius gained great percision.
"World Civilizations- The Global Experience by Peter N. Stearns*
Battle of Lepanto
The greatest moment in the history of Venice occurred on the morning of October 7, 1570 at Lepanto. The Turks who had threatened many times to conquer Italy and Europe had amassed an armada of ships in the Gulf of Patras and yet again a divided Europe left Venice to take up the challenge.
Both sides were evenly matched, and the Christians led by the Venetians immediately attacked the Turkish fleet. Over 200 galleons engaged in head-to-head combat. The battle raged all day, as each of the opposing forces tried to out-manoevure the other, appalling loses were sustained by both sides. It was estimated that the Christians lost 15,000 men, the Turks twice as many.
Finally, as the flagship of the Turkish fleet was taken and the admiral beheaded the battle drew to an end. With their flagship taken and their admiral dead, the Turks lost heart and tried to flee. Over 8,000 of them were taken prisoner by the Christians.
On October, a Venetian galley entered the bay of San Marco trailing the Turkish banners in the water behind her stern, with her deck piled high with trophies. Within an hour the whole of Venice was celebrating the victory.
Upon hearing the news, the Pope ordered the church bells of all the churches to ring at midday to celebrate the victory. As so today, at the stroke of midday, the chimes of the bells ring out still celebrating this famous Venetian victory.
The Decline of Italy.
After the Italian turmoil of the early 16th century, Venice enters a long and gradual period of decline. This is in no way diminishes the artistic brilliance of the city. The Venetian school of the 16th century includes Giorgione, Titian, Veronese and Tintoretto; two centuries later Venice is home to Tiepolo, Canaletto and Guardi. But politically the great days are over.This is evident in the fact that the republic, once so pugnacious, maintains a cautious neutrality from the mid-16th century onwards. Venice now fights only to defend its Mediterranean possessions from the Turks. In the long run even this proves a hopeless battle.
At first the omens seem good on the Mediterranean front. The Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1570 prompts a vigorous Christian response. A joint Spanish and Venetian fleet defeats the Turks decisively at Lepanto in 1571. But it proves a hollow victory. Only two years later, in 1573, Venice cedes the island to Turkey. A century later, in 1669, the Turks finally evict the Venetians from another great prize, Crete. Of the island staging posts to the east, so carefully accumulated by Venice, only the Ionian group (including Corfu, Cephalonia and Zante) escapes Turkish
Losing its political will, Venice finds the new role which it has enjoyed ever since - as a place of pleasure and delight, Europe's most sparkling tourist attraction. The city has the world's first public opera house, which opens in 1637. It has the pageantry seen in Canaletto, the titillating tradition of masked women who feature in paintings by Longhi, the social comedy of the plays of Goldoni.
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=435&HistoryID=aa43
-I think understanding the Italian Renaissance is key, eventhough it is on the downward slope.
Just as with Florence, Venice was a Republic during the Renaissance. Actually, Venice was an empire that controlled land in modern day Italy, a whole lot of sea coast down the Adriatic and countless islands. It enjoyed a stable political climate and thriving trade economy, both of which survived outbreaks of the Black Death and the fall of Constantinople (a major trading partner). Venice was, in fact, so prosperous and healthy that it took someone named Napoleon to undo its empire status...but, that was quite a while after the Renaissance had faded away and had nothing to do with art.
The important part is, Venice (again, like Florence) had the economy to support art and artists, and did so in a big way.
As a major port of trade, Venice was able to find ready markets for whatever decorative arts Venetian craftsmen could produce. The whole Republic was crawling with ceramists, glassworkers, woodworkers, lace makers and sculptors (in addition to painters), all of whom made entirely satisfactory livings.
The state and religious communities of Venice sponsored massive amounts of building and decorating, not to mention public statuary. Many private residences (palaces, really) had to have grand facades on at least two sides, since they can be seen from the water as well as land. To the present day, Venice is one of the most beautiful cities on earth because of this building campaign.
Artisan guilds - and there were lots of these (wood carvers, stone carvers, painters, etc.) - helped ensure that artists and craftsmen were properly compensated. When we speak of the Venetian "School" of painting, it's not just a handy descriptive phrase. There were actual schools ("scuola") and they were highly selective about who could (or couldn't) belong to each. Collectively, they guarded the Venetian art market zealously, to the point that one did not purchase paintings produced outside of the schools. It simply wasn't done. (Modern labor unions have nothing on the control these schools employed.)
Venice's geographic location made it less susceptible to outside influences - another factor which contributed to its unique artistic style. Something about the light in Venice, too, made a difference. This was an intangible variable, to be sure, but it had an enormous impact.
For all of these reasons, during the Renaissance Venice gave birth to a distinct school of painting.
What are the key characteristics of the Venetian School?
The main word here is "light". Four hundred years prior to Impressionism, the Venetian painters were keenly interested in the relationship between light and color. All of their canvases clearly explore this interplay.
Additionally, the Venetian painters had a distinct method of brushwork. It's rather smooth, and makes for a velvety surface texture.
It seems, too, that Venice's geographic isolation allowed for a somewhat relaxed attitude toward subject matter. A great deal of painting dealt with religious themes; there was no getting around that. Certain wealthy Venetian patrons, however, created quite a market for what we refer to as "Venus" scenes. (Oh, all right - they were paintings of naked ladies.)
The Venetian School had a brief fling with Mannerism, but mostly resisted depicting the contorted bodies and torturous emotion Mannerism is known for. Instead, Venetian Mannerism relied on vividly painted light and color to achieve its drama.
Venice, more than any other location, helped make oil paint popular as a medium. The city is, as you know, constructed on a lagoon which makes for a built-in dampness factor. Venetian painters needed something durable! By the way, the Venetian School is not known for its frescoes...
When did the Venetian School arise?
In the mid to late 15th century. Pioneers of the Venetian School were the Bellini and Vivarini (descendants of those marvelous Murano glassworkers) families. The Bellini were of particular importance, for it is they who are credited with bringing the Renaissance "style" to Venetian painting.
Who were the important artists?
Well, there were the Bellini and Vivarini families, as mentioned. They got the ball rolling. Andrea Mantegna, though from nearby Padua (not Venice) was an influential member of the Venetian School during the 15th-century.
Giorgione ushered in 16th century Venetian painting, and is rightly known as its first really big "name". He inspired notable followers such as Titian, Tintoretto, Paolo Veronese and Lorenzo Lotto.
Additionally, a lot of famous artists traveled to Venice, thanks to its reputation, and spent time in the workshops there. Antonello da Messina, El Greco and even Albrecht Dürer - to name but a few - all studied in Venice during the 15th and 16th centuries.
http://arthistory.about.com/cs/arthistory10one/a/ven_ren.htm
The characters in this show are basically trying to uphold tradition and history or trying to make something new. This is basically Galactia against everyone else. She holds truth and honesty and reality above just about everything. She is challenged by her daughters, the church, her lover, and the politics of the time. Galactia feels that nothing is so important whether it be religion or a war that should interfere with her painting and the truth that it will tell. She seems to be trying to tell this epic story not for all women and in favor of feminism. It's almost as if she doesn't see herself as a woman, but regardless of her intent, she is definitely telling the struggle of women at this time. She is trying to have her voice heard through a story full of men.
