Origin of Art David Sculptures David, who was destined to be the second king of Israel, destroyed the Philistine giant Goliath with a stone and a sling. ... Cast over his shoulder is David's sling, and the stone is clutched in his right hand, his veins in chief anticipation of the fight. ... His hero is full-grown and fully engaged-both physically and psychologically-as he takes aim and twists his tensed, muscular body a split second before slinging the stone, grasped in his left hand. ...

• Word Count: 890
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

One of the greatest artists of the Italian renaissance was Michelangelo. His full name was Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni and he was a magnificent sculptor, painter, architect and poet. He was the greatest sculptor since the Roman times. Michelangelo was born March the 6th, 1475 i...

• Word Count: 561
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

The dome's structure consists of inner and outer octagonal shells of brick and stone that culminate in an oculus, the point at the top of the dome. The shells are supported by large vertical stone ribs, or ogival arches, at each of the shells" eight octagonal points. ...

• Word Count: 495
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

When looking at the life of one of history's greatest men, the lessons we might learn are countless, despite Irving Stone's fictional twists. Before we can begin to examine The Agony and the Ecstasy, we must understand Michelangelo and other artists as Stone saw them. Stone considered the artist a creator as well as a part of creation, just as God is seen in many of today's ideologies. ... With the birthday stone, Michael carved a Cupid forged to look like a classical Roman statue. ...

• Word Count: 1898
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Stone houses are clustered together around the protective battlements of a castle. ... For example, the rings in a tree trunk resemble the ripples made by a stone dropped in water. ... Verrocchio also taught him to sculpt in wood, stone and clay, and how to cast metal objects in silver and gold. ...

• Word Count: 1626
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

It is not known how he began his career, but it seems likely that he learned stone carving from one of the sculptors working for the cathedral of Florence about 1400. ... In his David (1623-24; Borghese Gallery), Bernini depicts the figure casting a stone at an unseen adversary. ...

• Word Count: 1406
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Under Medici domination, Florence became a signorial power and a cultural gem stone. ... One of his greatest works, School of Athens, shows a humanistic influence of classical Greek and Roman models through depicting a group of Greek philosophers studying about a group of stone pillars. ...

• Word Count: 1908
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Buonarroti's mother, Francesca Neri, was too sick and frail to nurse Michelangelo, so he was placed with a wet nurse, in a family of stone cutters, where he, "sucked in the craft of hammer and chisel with my foster mother's milk. ...

• Word Count: 1176
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The Renaissance Period Perhaps one of the most famous Renaissance paintings is the Mona Lisa, painted by Italian artist, Leonardo da Vinci. It is a typical Renaissance painting. It is famous for her haunting, inexplicable smile. The Renaissance/Early Modern Period is distinguished from other periods in European history almost entirely in intellectual or cultural terms. The period is more or less considered as playing out what had been set up in the later Middle Ages. ...

• Word Count: 1970
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate