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Chess in Art
Chess has its roots in India. A Persian King introduced the game to visiting ambassadors. From the 800, and on, Chess became a staple in Persian courts. This game eventually made its way through Europe thanks to the Moor invaders that were hanging out in Spain. In 1200, King Alfonso published a book of games. This book prominently featured the game of Chess. From this point on, chess became quite common in European courts. It eventually tricked down to noble men and Renaissance artist. Its popularity waned in the Rococo and Baroque period. It made a bit comeback in the...
Wheelchairs in Art
It was a difficult topic to research. There are not of lot of paintings featuring wheelchairs in western art. There are a couple of vases from Greek Times. They made a resurgence during the Renaissance. The wheelchair went through a lot of revisions, until it acquired its modern form. The folks depicted in these paintings are a King, a Cardinal and a few painters. Sometimes folks were pulled from the back and then from the front. It was close to the 19th century, when the wheelchair that doesn’t require a person to push it was invented. It was commonly used by...
Blindness in Art
One of the first blind persons that was depicted in art appeared in an Egyptian mural. They started the cliché of blind musicians. Homer was another blind folk that was depicted often in ancient art, and even in neoclassical paintings. During medieval times, only blind folk that appeared in the bible were depicted. This changed with the Renaissance period. Mythological folks and poor blind folks started appearing in western art. Sometimes they were depicted in satirical fashion. Europeans were quite meanspirited back in the day. They would love to poke fun at anyone that was blind. Blind folk depictions started...
Clever Use of Mirrors in Art
Mirrors have made sporadic appearances in art, since their inception. Around the Renaissance period, mirrors started to be used to have paintings within paintings. They were also used to engage the audience. In the Arnolfini wedding, the tiny mirror shows the spectators of the wedding. We are also there within it. In Caravaggio’s Narcissus, the mirror effect is done with the lake. Based on the angle, he is seeing a shimmering reflection of the audience. The same thing was done in the Mirror of Venus of Rubens. In Las Meninas, it uses a mirror similar to the Arnolfini wedding. In...
The Old Plantation - Jose Rose 1785
The Old Plantation is a late 18th-century watercolor painting attributed to John Rose, dated between 1785 and 1795, and currently held at the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum in Williamsburg, Virginia.