Madonna and the Child with Saint Peter and Saint John

The National Gallery of Art in Washington D. C. holds a wide selection of works of art from ancient times. Among these are Madonna and the Child (expressed in tempera on panel) and Madonna and the Child with Saint Peter and Saint John the Evangelist (also expressed in tempera on panel). The themes of both works are similar in that both contain an interpretation of the Virgin Mary (Madonna) and her interaction with the Christ Child. However, the differing contexts in which these are placed add further levels of meaning to each individual piece as depicted by each artist. Despite this, similarities also exist between the two paintings, and these similarities range from the use of color and lighting, to the sizes and perspectives used by the artists. Therefore, superimposed upon the differences in style, context and (to an extent) subject matter; similarities of color, lighting and perspective are to be found in these two works of art. The work Madonna and the Child was most likely painted some time between 1320 and 1330 AD. This was done in the late Byzantine Period in Italy by the artist Giotto, whose style is considered to be anticipatory of naturalism. The panel that holds this particular work represents Giotto in the later stages of his career and demonstrates the sobriety and restraint of an artist that had already spent his enthusiastic flare. Nardo (who died in his twenties), on the other hand, displays his 1360 painting in much brighter and vibrant colors that are typical of his youth and enthusiasm. While in Giotto’s work one detects the deliberate strokes of a talented artist that seeks to display the natural portrait of a woman and her baby caught in motion, in Nardo one also sees the talent, but with a less naturalistic tint. Nardo represents a return to the more traditional portrait-like paintings where subjects appeared poised specifically to be captured in the medium. Therefore, whereas in Giotto’s painting, the hands of the mother and child are caught in the act of brushing by her chest, Nardo’s painting depicts mother and child in absence of motion. Furthermore, Nardo’s painting includes the apostles on the side in adoration of these persons as saints, while Giotto represents them more on the side of human persons spontaneously experiencing life in solitude. The colors and lighting techniques used by these two artists offer themselves up for scrutiny. Contrast and conceptualization are used to a large extent in both the Giotto and the Nardo paintings. Giotto uses a method of alternating between gold and black to emphasize the importance of the Madonna. A conceptual interpretation of the colors might also demonstrate that the Madonna is herself covered by a black shroud of humanity, though her gold-tinted skin demonstrates the worth of the person within the shroud. The colors used for the Christ child corroborate this and elevate Him in relation to his mother, as he is given no dark-colored garment to attenuate the golden nature represented in the color of his body. In a similar fashion, the Nardo depiction of the Madonna, Peter and John features a stark black background that has the effect of focusing the eyes of the viewer upon the portraits within. Yet, the pictures of Peter and John on either side of the Virgin take on less significance because of a reduction in their sizes and of the contrast between their color and that of the wall in front of which they stand. This has conceptual value in that is denotes that the Madonna and the Christ Child take more precedence than the apostles. The mother and child’s position at the center also highlights this idea. One gets several feelings when one views these two paintings in the gallery. The immensity of the subject and the beauty of the golden and reddish colors give the idea that one is in the presence of highly exalted persons. Yet, one also gets the idea that the persons being viewed (especially in the Giotto painting) are also natural and in the middle of living their lives. With Giotto, the viewer has the sense that he/she witnesses â€Å"a quite drama† in which occurs â€Å"the human interaction between a mother and a child† (National Gallery). In contrast with this, the Nardo portrait gives a more contrived picture which resembles the posing of the two for a portrait. According to interpretation by the Gallery’s art historians, â€Å"Nardo’s Virgin, despite her soft expression, appears removed from human concerns.† The Virgin is, in this picture, aware of being under the scrutiny of others: the Saints Peter and John that flank her on each side, and the artist himself for whom she poses. Works Cited Giotto. Madonna and the Child. (Tempera on Panel). Samuel H. Cress Collection. National   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gallery of Art. Washington D. C., 1320/1330. Nardo di Cione. Madonna and the Child with Saint Peter and Saint John the Evangelist. Samuel   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   H. Cress Collection. National Gallery of Art. Washington D. C., 1360. National Gallery of Art. â€Å"Byzantine Art and Painting in Italy during the 1200s and 1300s.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Madonna and the Child. (Giotto.) Samuel H. Cress Collection. National Gallery of Art. Washington D. C., 1320/1330.      

Chemistry and Biotechnology

1. What specific topic did you choose to research and evaluate? I decided to conduct research on stem cells for medical use.2. List the resources that you used in your research of your topic.http://www.ama-assn.org//ama/pub/physician-resources/medical-science/genetics-molecular-medicine/related-policy-topics/stem-cell-research/basics-stem-cell-research.page http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/pages/basics6.aspx3. Describe, in a few paragraphs, the biotechnology that you researched. How is it currently being used and/or what are the hopes for its use in the future?Stem cell research is a fairly new study which has gained a large amount of popularity lately. Stem cells are cells that have the potential to become specialized into different types of cells within the body. What this can do is help replace damaged cells with healthy new cells since stem cells are able to adapt to what is needed. The research going on is to discover how this can be used medically to help cure major disease s out there in the world.There are many ways to acquire stem cells. The most popular form is through the umbilical cord from the birth process. The other way to acquire this is through the bone marrow and from blood. Some other minor methods include germ cells or organs of an aborted fetus, embryos made by in vitro fertilization and mature adult tissue cells reprogrammed to behave like stem cells. Most commonly however, stem cells are acquired through bone marrow and umbilical cords.4. Describe the positive aspects of this biotechnology, being as specific as possible.The positive outcomes of this can include a wide variety of possibilities. This has the potential to create multiple cures for diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, vision/hearing loss and much more. Also, if a soldier was to be wounded with a burn or fatal injury, stem cells may be able to repair these problems and help lower casualty and death rates in our military. In addition, with how convenient bone marrow can be found (seeing as every person has it), this can help those people, who are in need of stem cells, easily acquire it on such short notice.5. Describe the negative  aspects of this biotechnology, being as specific as possible.There is currently not enough research on stem cells to fully determine their potential as to what they can do. This is bad on both ends of the spectrum. If stem cells were to be proven useless, this would be considered a waste of time and money. If they prove to be extremely powerful and can transform into any cell possible, there may be talk that this kind of technology can be overwhelming. Overwhelming in the sense that what if these stem cells are powerful enough to make a brand new human being? What if people use these stem cells on themselves to make themselves look 21 years old until they die or remodel certain aspects of their body to make it so it fits their desire? It will be a sense of cheating out life by just getting the easy way out of a lot of issues. 6. Based on your research, what is your conclusion about whether or not this biotechnology should be used? Be sure to explain your answer.After conducting my own research I believe stem cells should have more research put into them to discover their complete potential. If proven to be used for medical reasons such as to cure certain diseases, this should definitely be implemented into the medical field (assuming there are no major side effects). This can be a huge advancement in the medical field and may be a breakthrough in saving many lives of dying individuals. I do believe that regardless of its potential, whether stem cells prove to be useful or useless, they should be kept away from the public and should only be kept in medical facilities and only used for medical purposes. I would not feel comfortable having people running around the streets with stem cells in their back pocket not knowing what they can do with them.

Biography of Nikki Giovanni Essay

Biography of Nikki Giovanni Essay Nikki Giovanni was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, on June 7, 1943.Giovanni is the youngest oftwosisters, spent her childhood with her parents older sister Gary. Shortly after her birth, the family moved first to Woodlawn,Ohio, then to Wyoming, Ohio, and ultimately to the black community of Lincoln Heights, Ohio.In 1960, enrolled early at Fisk University, a prestigious, all-black college in Nashville, Tennessee.After receiving her bachelor of arts degree in 1967, she organized the Black Arts Festival in Cincinnati before entering graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University. In 1969, Giovanni took a teaching position at Rutgers University. That year she also gave birth to her son, Thomas. Giovannis work shifted focus after the birth of her son and she made several recordings of her poetry. After her sons birth, Giovanni rearranged her priorities around him and has stated that she would give her life for him. Nikki Giovanni is a well known African-American poet and a civil rights activist.Giovannis poetry expresses strong racial pride and respect for family. Thecivil rightsandBlack powermovements inspired her early poetry that was collected inBlack Feeling, Black Talk(1967),Black Judgement(1968), andReCreation(1970). Giovannis first published volumes of poetry grew out of her response to the assassinations of such figures as Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, and Robert Kennedy, and the need she saw to raise awareness of the rights of black people. Nikki Giovanni accomplished many things,Keys to more than two dozen American cities, including New York, Miami, Los Angeles, and New Orleans, American Book Award, The Rosa Parks Woman of Courage Award, first recipient, and others as well.Giovanni has received numerous awards and accolades for her work including multiple NAACP Image Awards, the Langston Hughes Award for Distinguished Contributions to Arts and Letters and many more. Giovanni has been known for many of her poem s. For exampleLove is, Choices, You came, too and Life cycles,many more. Many of Giovannis poems were about life and her life. Giovannis poems were inspired by her family, but especially her grandmother which has been a great influence for writing her poems and being a civil rights activist. Giovanni is currently working at the University Professor atVirginia Tech.In 2007, TheVirginia Tech shooting occurred andshe delivered a chant-poem at a memorial for the shooting victims.

IPC PAPER Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

IPC PAPER - Essay Example This is an early indication of depreciating relationship in that the first three stages of the Knapp’s model – initiating, experimenting, and intensifying – skipped into the last three stages of the model: stagnating and avoiding, and almost terminating. But Danny decided to salvage his relationship with Palmer by telling her that he is getting a divorce soon and to prove this he asked his long-time friend and office manager, Katherine, to pretend as his wife. Danny and Katherine planned that Katherine would grant what Danny wanted when the three of them meet. At this point, it seems like the relationships in a film are going in circles: first, it goes through the increasing intimacy of the characters such as when Danny and Palmer met and they had slept together. But it was followed by rather degradation of relationship or a decreased intimacy after Palmer learned that Danny is married. In other words, this is to say that Knapp’s model does not necessarily describe relational developments in a way that it follows the order of the model perfectly but it could skip one stage to another. Danny was able to convince Palmer that he and his made-over wife Katherine will get a divorce soon and this has been done by Katherine telling Palmer and Danny that she is happy for both of them. At this point, the relationship of Danny and Palmer is restored and they both got to the increasing intimacy of their relationship. Danny and Palmer reached the level of integrating wherein Palmer is being introduced to Danny’s made-over family. Palmer even met up with Danny’s children, Maggie and Michael. The level of bonding in the film is quite confusing and complex in the film. This is because although it is Danny and Palmer that is having a relationship, Katherine also pretended to Devlin – Danny’s former girlfriend – that Danny is her husband. Because of this, the level of

Causes of the French Revolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Causes of the French Revolution - Essay Example Under the shadow of this dilemmatic political concern, French feudal lords proved to be a focus of attention by limiting the power and freedom of a common man. Although, the Lords were a principal target of rural insurrection; they remained on centre stage in the National Assembly's dramatic renunciation of privilege of 1789 thereby forming a continual bone of contention between rural communities who found the early enactments of the legislators to be thoroughly inadequate along with legislators facing continuing rural turbulence; therefore they were an essential element in the revolutionaries' notions of the "feudal regime" being dismantled; they were the concrete subject matter addressed in the first legislation that tested the tensions inherent in the thorny constitutional issue of a royal veto (and they thereby contributed to the difficulty of embodying the Revolution in some monarchical form); they were invoked in the rhetoric with which those in high places addressed the growin g international tension surrounding the revolutionary state, a rhetoric which imbued the revolutionaries with a self-righteous sense of a national mission to liberate the victims of feudalism outside of France, altering the character of European warfare. (Markoff, 1996, p. 3) The best example is the involvement of British and German governments in this concern of revolution. One of the main reasons for the revolution is the authority practiced by Lords which let arrears accumulate on periodic dues for years, then demand that peasants pay up, and accept a land-for-debt swap; under retrait, a lord had the optional right to substitute himself for the purchaser of peasant land; and lords might hold or fabricate a claim on a portion of common land. Many seigniorial rights could thus be put at the service of landholders oriented to a growing agricultural market, to such an extent that some historians have wondered whether peasant contestation might not be better described as a losing, rear-guard struggle against a growing capitalism than a vanguard battle against a dying feudalism in conjunction' with the victorious bourgeoisie. (Markoff, 1996, p. 77) Another factor that leads one to think as the cause of revolution was the corruption of the Lords and noble people, who were not liable to any of the (heavy or normal) taxation system implemented by the government, for being an authoritative privileged class. The dilemma lied within their perception according to which they were not answerable to any official in case of denial of any rule. Financial Downfall Right from Louis XIV to Louis XVI, all the noble personnel enjoyed undue privileges and advantages particularly in the financial matters. These include: 1. Lack of financial accountability in response to government questions, and they never use to bother about it. 2. They had access to government loans with the right to acquire

Photographers of the Mixed Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Photographers of the Mixed Media - Essay Example It can be stated, however, that the main genre of her photos, produced with a means of combined media, is a child’s portrait. Many researchers insist on rich theoretical and practical backgrounds of her production, widely ranged from Renaissance (Bronzino), Baroque (Velasquez), Romanticism (Ruge and Friedrich) to Victorian (Carroll) sources of her works. After the brief introduction into her working methodologies and using of mixed media (i.e. combination of painting, analogue photo, and digital manipulation), we need to discuss them on a more solid basis, long before the discussion of how this influenced her work in terms of narrative and perception. ... Then, as it were mentioned constantly by the researchers, she used to exploit in her works a combination of painting, analogue photo techniques, and digital manipulation.  «In fact, Ms. Lux has carefully costumed and photographed her subjects and, after scanning the image, dropped the figures into a separately scanned background often taken from one of her paintings ». (Tully, 2005) So, Lux used analogue technoque firstly, and, getting the figures, dropped them into a seprately scanned background secondly, (i.e. digital manipulation) which is taken from her own paintings. Specifically, her paintings and analogue photos become the main sources for an appropriation, gitting scanned and ultimately combined with a means of Photoshop (for example,  «... Levels control to give the children and their settings a distinctive pallor). (Woodward, 2004) Ultimately, from a point of narration and perception, it should be stated that works of Loretta Lux are organized very well in a classic m anner. Using many old masters as her citation field, she managed to create an atmosphere of mystery. Being mediated by a wide range of techniques, both analogue and digital, and assisted by using of mixed media, her surrealistic children sitting on a sofa of eternity provoke a reader to find an answer to a riddle of absolute in a broad set of interpretations. Paul Shambroom Describing the working methodologies of given photographers, we must begin from the biographical details, then going to a discussion of the chosen formats – analogue, digital or both. Afterwards, are to give our explanations on how this has influenced the works in terms of narrative and perception. Primarily,

ISMG Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

ISMG - Essay Example The supply is controlled by the weather while the demand is controlled by spikes and shifts in demand like for other manufacturers. Due to the supply being clustered in one area and the processes after harvest being too many it raised a lot of problems for the company in terms of costs. The company needed a system that could solve the problem of line utilization, scheduling, reducing inventory, transportation costs and lead time. The sales and operations (S&OP) program was adopted to help alleviate these problems. It was meant to handle problems such as unanticipated demand, shortages in supply, and production disruptions. The paper-based spreadsheet system that the company previously used became inadequate in supporting the complex nature of the business while also not meeting demands of the company. This is mainly because the company was too big and more complex while the spreadsheets relied on outdated data that required a lot of effort to analyze. The S&OP program is implemented in different stages with the first stage being scrubbing all the previous data and unifying it in one database. This step was mainly meant to ensure that all the participants of the supply chain worked together with each other and understood the other departments accordingly. This was followed by a five phase implementation program to show value of S&OP program early in the transformation. The first phase required improving demand visibility that necessitated better communication at the decision making level while also ensuring that every member of the group gained same data and each other’s goals. The program also helped in training the users of the program while also testing the scalability of the program without disrupting the company’s existing workflow. The statistical forecasts and preparing plans for price changes and promotions in future and an analysis of demand data was also improved thereby