Iconography: to see the invisible
From ancient times, icon painting served as a “language for the illiterate” —a special language with its own rules and symbolism. For centuries, master-icon painters have brought it to perfection,…

Continue reading →

Classicism: antiquity as a standard
Classicism firmly established in the 17th century European art, having surrendered its position only in the first third of the next century. The classicists worshiped antiquity, piously believed in the…

Continue reading →

Fayum portraits
These amazing works of art, which are often called “icons before icon painting”, are not just historical values. They can serve as a magnificent and impressive illustration of the mutual…

...

“RUKOGRAFIKA”: THE PHILOSOPHICAL PROJECT OF STANISLAVA ARISTOV
The new project of photographer Stanislav Aristov is dedicated to hand language. What is it - the author ponders: an image folded by hand? Drawings on the wall of eternity,…

...

advertising

Who, where, when: guide to the thin ice of stained glass

Which of the great artists engaged in stained glass art? Where, looking out the window, you can see the picture, through which the light penetrates? Gaudi, Fly, Chagall, Tiffany and not only – the messengers of the rainbow on Earth.
There are many stained glass techniques, but the main ones that have passed through the centuries are two. The first is the fastening of colored glasses with lead straps. It was used in Germany and France in the era of the Gothic (XII-XVI century.) The second – the application of special paint directly on the glass. It was actively used in the Renaissance (from the 16th century). Modern stained glass artists often use the second option, but everything depends on the taste and style of the author – the technique, as we said, is numerous. Continue reading

Gothic: the whole mystic of the Middle Ages

Gothic originated in the middle of the XII century in northern France, in the XIII century, spread to the territory of modern Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Spain, England, and at the end of the XIV century, came to Italy. In Eastern Europe, style came later and lasted the longest – until the XVI century.
This happened because Gothic replaced the Romanesque style, which originated and spread from Italy – the country unconsciously resisted new trends from the outside.
Of course, the Gothic style is most noticeable in architecture. However, in the painting of his frightening greatness also manifested.
Petrus Christus. Our Lady of the Dry Tree Continue reading

Without red sad palette. Color as a symbol in painting

It is impossible not to notice. He is one of the most preferred and expressive. He – the first in the history of art, not to mention the chromatic scale. He attracted attention to himself since ancient times: and because these are the properties of his nature and of human nature; and because it is associated with such vital concepts as blood and fire. Having absorbed natural meanings, red does not part with them throughout the entire history of mankind.
Ever since antiquity, red has been expressing mostly positive values, but it is also not necessary to discount the coded signals of danger and pain coded in it.
For example, in ancient Egypt, red absorbed the qualities of an uninhabited and barren land and therefore became the color of evil. It is for this reason that Seth, the brother and murderer of Osiris, was painted with red ocher. The same color was used to write words that carried unkind omens. Continue reading

The art of digital photography
Now the situation has changed. Every person has a camera. Many have a smartphone with an integrated camera in their pocket. This divided the photograph into two types: reportage photography…

...

Classicism: antiquity as a standard
Classicism firmly established in the 17th century European art, having surrendered its position only in the first third of the next century. The classicists worshiped antiquity, piously believed in the…

...