Raphael, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci were the three Italian creators of the High Renaissance. Raphael, the youngest, was the one who most vividly expressed its ideals. Throughout his brief career, Raphael was very much associated with the image of the Madonna. More than 20 museums worldwide have a Madonna by him. In Raphael’s time, [...]
The challenge of creating a good likeness has proved irresistible to artists down through the ages. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is the most renowned example in literature of an image so powerful that it becomes a substitute for the person. In the story, the picture ages and degenerates but Dorian Gray [...]
Two of the striking phenomena in Tuscany over the last decade are the ubiquity of Irish voices and the growth of Etruscan Museums. For the former, we have to thank the vision of the late Tony Ryan and Ryanair. The latter is, in part, due to the continuous endeavours of Italian and international scholarship, but [...]
Walter Osbourne was born at 5 Castlewood Ave, Rathmines in Dublin in 1859 to a family that produced doctors and the occasional writer or painter. His father, who was also an artist, specialised in painting animals and made a modest living doing so. The family were nationalist and, unusually, also ‘high church’ Anglican. h4. Wickedness [...]
The art dealer Ambroise Vollard played a decisive role in the development of modern art. Incredibly foresighted, he defended unknown or ‘banned’ artists and was the first to organise a one-man show devoted to Paul Cezanne. He also supported the French artist, Rouault, who in turn had a significant influence on Irish artists, Evie Hone, [...]
This summer Dublin will feel the presence of one of history’s greatest figures when a Leonardo da Vinci Codex takes up residence in an exhibition in the city centre. The ghost of Leonardo da Vinci, who some have called the first modern scientist and part-time artist, hovers north and south of the River Liffey. To [...]
This book on the relationship between art and medicine explores the evolution of treatments, physical and psychological, from ancient to modern times, and records how artists illustrated these advances. Surgical And Medical Treatment in Art is written by Prof Alan Emery, who is emeritus professor of human genetics at Edinburgh University, and has had a [...]
With so much talk about a new national children’s hospital, and the inadequacies, vested interests, politics and philosophy surrounding our national healthcare system, it might be instructive to look at the one of the world’s oldest hospitals- Santa Maria della Scala. Located in the heart of the medieval city of Siena opposite the Duomo cathedral [...]
The most important Irish exhibition of the year, Irish Paintings from the Ulster Museum, will be held at the National Gallery of Ireland in March. Also starting in March, is a significant exhibition at the Musee d’Orsay in Paris on the paintings of Jules Bastien-Lepage, a French artist who had a profound influence on a [...]
Paolo Uccello is regarded as one of the most distinctive artists of the early Renaissance period and his painting Virgin and Child in the Irish National Gallery is regarded as one of his masterpieces. He was called ‘Uccello’, meaning ‘bird’ as he loved animals and kept many paintings of birds in his studio. Our first [...]
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