Gardners Art Through The Ages - Essay Example

Gardner’s Art Through The Ages The book Gardener’s art through the ages clearly demonstrates the theme of poverty and wealth in our society. This is because most of the artistic works of the earlier period aimed at separating the poor from the rich. Most of the artistic works in the book try to show that those who requested some artistic works wanted to separate themselves from the poor. In our world today, human beings do everything to separate themselves from the poor and associate themselves with the rich. It is ironical that those who made some of the luxurious art works that cost a lot of money were poor. Those who managed to order artistic works were people who were wealthy. From the building of pope’s palace by pope Paul, it clearly shows that it is all about wealth. This is because he ordered a luxurious palace. Thus, from the beginning, human beings do things in order to separate themselves from the poor. Some even do things not because they like it but because they want to show to the world that they are wealthy. In the current era of civilization, it is also inevitable to talk about wealth and poverty. This is because there is increasing gap between the wealthy and the poor. Rich always do things that separate them from the poor. They will rather buy meal in an expensive hotel than mix with the poor in an ordinary hotel. Expensive cars, expensive mobile phones, expensive jewelry and other expensive materials aim at separating the rich from the poor. In the current civilization, it is evident that the poor have no place. All that people do in the current era of civilization closely relate with money. Those who are poor face stigma as people see them as lazy people. We shall look at ten artistic works from this book to illustrate the theme of wealth and poverty. The first art works from the book is the building of new Saint Peters. This was mainly because the previous one had gone to a state beyond repair. Furthermore, the pope wanted something good and comfortable to stay. Pope Julius the second facilitated this project because his ambition was to see a lavish palace. He wanted to take over Italy, and the first step was to make palace extraordinarily beautiful. Pope Julius wanted an ambitious design that will portray Rome as a beautiful place. He even hired Bramante, a renowned artist and architect, to design it. This portrays the theme of wealth. This is because Pope Julius did not want to portray Rome as poor, but rich, and that is why he aimed at beautifying Rome. He even went further to design his own tomb, which took a lot of artistic work. All this was because of wealth since wealth ensured that artistic works of such caliber went to completion (Gardner and Kleiner 259). Another artistic work is the construction of lavish palace called Palazzo Farnese by Michelangelo. This was after Pope Paul III requested its creation. This was a sophisticated design to match the standard of the pope. Pope wanted to make Rome a splendid place and that is why he sought architectural prowess from recognized artists. The palace was three-dimensional mass just to show how lavish it was. It also constituted overlapping pilasters just to make it lavish and sophisticated. This splendid artwork was the one that set the pace for Italian palace. This showed an extent people could go to make earth their heaven. It is evident from the description of this artwork that wealth played a crucial role. Wealth ensured that the beautiful pope palace reached its completion. Thus, this artistic work depicts theme of wealth and poverty. The other artistic work is the building of Villa Rotonda by Palladio. This artistic work involved constructing the building at the top of the hill. This aimed at providing a beautiful view. It contained four identical facades resembling the four compass planes. Each porch provided a different view. It closely resembled the roman ionic temple. This artwork is splendid in that it enables one to have different views of the landscape within one point as you could use these porches to get different views. From the description, the conclusion is that it was a luxurious artwork. This shows that the advancement of the finest art works received influence from wealth. Another artistic work from the book is the construction of San Zaccaria Altarpiece by Bellini. This artistic work gained popularity as theme of religious paintings. This is because it contained careful painting that was beautiful end contained sophisticated artistic works. It contained the drawing of Mary holding Jesus after the death of Jesus. It also contained the drawings of the saints like Saint Lucy, Saint Peter, and Saint Catherine among others. Although this work is religious, it had sophistication in it. The colors were bright and beautiful. This shows that it was not an ordinary work. This shows that wealth played a crucial role in designing it. Thus, we can see the theme of wealth and poverty (Kleiner, 288). Artistic work that depicts the theme of poverty is the painting of Feast of the Gods by Bellini. This painting involved paintings of Olympian god who appears as peasant enjoying a picnic in a rural place. It also shows painting that portrays simplicity and peace. This artistic work shows how the poor exist. They always live an ordinary life full of peace. Thus, from the paintings of Bellini, we can see clearly how poor people live. The theme of poverty is evident from this painting. The other painting is opposed to the previous one this is because it takes another setting that is lavish. This portrays the pleasure that immortal gods enjoy. Thus, from this painting, we can deduce that there are two classes, the poor and the rich. Thus, we clearly see the theme of poverty and wealth. The other artistic work is the painting of Pesaro Madonna. This artistic work is one of best paintings. This is because it used rich surface textures and bold brilliant colors. It included the drawings of saints and Mary, mother of Jesus. This aimed at showing the reputation of Titians. From this drawing, we can deduce that early artworks received inspiration from luxury and pleasure. This illustration is clear from the description of all the artworks. The other artistic is the painting of Venus of Urbino. This painting employed good drawing of a woman. Although it is a naked painting, it has a theme of wealth. This is because the painting shows Venus with luxurious pillow couch, servants bent over to serve her and clothe her. The painting shows how the rich live with expensive garments and servants bend to serve them. Thus, in this painting, the theme of wealth is well depicted because the poor cannot enjoy or live the way the rich live. The deep colors used in the drawing and the clothes of silky fabrics of Venus’s dress serve to show how rich people live. Many paintings in this book have almost the same resemblance. This is because it centers on wealth and poverty. From the expensive drawings to state of art architectural designs, we can clearly see the theme of wealth. From the paintings of different artists, we can see how they try to show the theme of poverty. This is by paintings people of different classes to show how the poor and the rich live. Due to the illustrations from this book, we can see that there is no similarity between the two classes. The poor live a life of simplicity with less sophistication. On the other hand, the rich live a lavish life. They buy expensive commodities as compared to the poor. They clothe themselves with clothes of expensive fabrics. They also have servants to serve them whenever they want their service. From this book, it is clear that right from the early period there was a gap between the poor and the rich. The rich will always run away from the poor as much as possible. The rich will always do things to separate themselves from the poor. In conclusion, this good book explores the beauty of art. It shows the effect of art on various areas like religion and architecture. It is also evident from this book that art can communicate feelings of a human being through paintings and drawings. It is also evident that art is pervasive and, we cannot do without art. In our focus, we have narrowed on how all art contribution can portray the theme of wealth and poverty. We have dealt with various artistic works that portray this theme. We can relate this to our current era of civilization where it is a replica of what is in this book. There is still a gap between the wealthy and the poor. Everyone is trying to show to the whole world how wealthy he or she is. Nobody wants to be associated with the poor. Human beings nowadays think of only generating income and more money that having touch with others. Works Cited Gardner, Helen and Fred Kleiner. Gardner's Art Through the Ages: A Global History. Australia. Cengage Learning 2009. Print. Kleiner, Fred. Gardner's Art Through the Ages: A Global History. Australia. Cengage Learning 2010. Print. Read More