Vigee Le Brun Essay Example For Students

Vigee Le Brun Essay Elizabeth-Louise Vigee-Le Brun is noted as a very prominent woman/artist in theWorld of the Eighteenth Century art. She is known for her work as a portraitpainter. Her most famous works are included in the series that she had paintedat age twenty-four of Queen Marie-Antoinette. Vigee-Le Brun was a woman of somany talents. Before she died at eighty-seven years old, she was an accomplishedartist, exceptional musician, and a loving mother to her daughter Julie. Vigee-LeBrun was an unusually unattractive woman. She was charming and self-confidentwith an ability to present her sitters personas most advantageously. Vigee-LeBrun was very reputable because she managed to keep her head and professionalreputation in a time of political upheaval. (French Revolution). This allowedher to gain fame in France, Italy, Austria, and Russia. Vigee-Le Brun was suchan endowed artist that by the age of fifteen she could have supported herselfand her family, if her funds werent taken away from her by her s tepfather andunruly husband. Just nine years later she began her most famous portrait seriesof Marie-Antoinette. This series included Marie-Antoinette and herchildren at Versailles -1788, (shown below) the last portrait of thirtythat Vigee-Le Brun painted of the doomed queen. This painting still hangs atVersailles. Louis XVI said to Vigee-Le Brun, I have no knowledge ofpainting, but you make me fond of it. (Levey 280). Notice the paintingshown on the pervious page. Vigee-Le Brun was a painter of the Rococo period. We will write a custom essay on Vigee Le Brun specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Rococo is best described as an eighteenth century art style that placed emphasison portraying the carefree life of the aristocracy rather than on grand heroesor pious martyrs. Love and romance were considered to be better subjects for artthan historical or religious subjects. The style was characterized by a free,graceful movement; a playful use of line; and delicate colors. This isrepresented it the work Marie-Antoinette and her children at Versailles-1788. To describe the work in great detail you must first look atMarie-Antoinette. Her complexion is very fair and she is portrayed as anextremely feminine woman. Her femininity is also shown by her dress. The dressis a rich, red color with a low neckline, and surrounded by lace and ribbons. This could represent a life-line between Marie-Antoinette and theyoungest of her children because the baby boy is holding on to it for support. All babies need to feel this closeness with their mothers. Vigee-Le Brun couldhave used that to show Marie-Antoinette as a good motherly figure to the othermothers whom would have seen this work. Another symbol of her motherliness isshown because she is holding her children next to what could be the bed of oneof the children, most likely the babys crib. The dress is harboring a skirtthat is more than enough trouble for Marie-Antoinette to handle in one day. Thisgown is a representation of the aristocracy and of a womans power. She iswearing a large, matching hat with overbearing feathers. This is also arepresentation of power. The hat is a frequent characteristic in the series ofMarie-Antoinette. Another characteristic of the series is shown byMarie-Antoinettes legs and feet being rested upon a very decorated pillow. Thiscould show that she was of the aristocracy and her feet should be above the dirton the floor. Now we move on to the children in the painting. They are allwearing fan cy clothes, just as children of the aristocracy would. The oldestchild is looking up with a gaze in her eyes of admiration for her mother. Shelooks as if she is being shown as a young Marie-Antoinette. The young girlsdress is also like that of her mothers. It too, is a deep red color with asmall outline of lace and ribbon around the neck. The dress has an added bowaround the waist. This is done to show the dress as a dress of less maturity. .u388832d968a2222abe723b1980136e34 , .u388832d968a2222abe723b1980136e34 .postImageUrl , .u388832d968a2222abe723b1980136e34 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u388832d968a2222abe723b1980136e34 , .u388832d968a2222abe723b1980136e34:hover , .u388832d968a2222abe723b1980136e34:visited , .u388832d968a2222abe723b1980136e34:active { border:0!important; } .u388832d968a2222abe723b1980136e34 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u388832d968a2222abe723b1980136e34 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u388832d968a2222abe723b1980136e34:active , .u388832d968a2222abe723b1980136e34:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u388832d968a2222abe723b1980136e34 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u388832d968a2222abe723b1980136e34 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u388832d968a2222abe723b1980136e34 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u388832d968a2222abe723b1980136e34 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u388832d968a2222abe723b1980136e34:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u388832d968a2222abe723b1980136e34 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u388832d968a2222abe723b1980136e34 .u388832d968a2222abe723b1980136e34-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u388832d968a2222abe723b1980136e34:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Tourism In Asia EssayThe daughter does look like a young version of her mother, yes; but she can notbe shown as overly mature because she is still a young lady. The bow simply downplays the power because of the child-like characteristic. The baby boy in thepicture is, as noted in the first paragraph, holding onto his mother with anurgency to fulfill the need of the mothers love and presence. The young boy,the middle child, is standing next to the crib of the baby boy with his fingerpointing to the crib of his younger brother. The young boy has very niceposture. His attire is also that of an aristocratic child. This is a symbol ofstrength and masculinity. (At least enough f or his age.) All of the children arenicely dressed and they all have very detailed faces; each is showing adifferent expression. (An expression that would relate to their ages.) They areall very beautiful children. It is difficult to convey an idea today ofthe urbanity, the graceful ease, in a word the affability of manners which madethe charm of Parisian society forty years ago. The women reigned then: theRevolution dethroned them. Elisabeth Vige-Le Brun, 1835. The theme ofthe work is to portray Marie-Antoinette through Vigee-Le Bruns portrait asmother-like to the other mothers and to the public whom would view her pictures. Elizabeth-Louise Vigee-Le Bruns goal through Marie-Antoinette and HerChildren was to create an image of the Queen that would appeal to thecommon folk. The composition of the portrait shows good relations between thechildren and their mother. The Rococo movement that is in play through this workhas that palette of the typical Rococo painting. It demonstrates the soft colorsand a playful use of the line. It shows the delicacy between each object andperson in the entire work. Through the series of Marie-Antoinettes portraits,Vigee-Le Brun had developed a relationship with the Queen. This, of course, hadits obvious advantages for Vigee-Le Brun. Through this relationship, Vigee-LeBrun was granted an acceptance into the Royal Academy. This was a greatadvantage for her because she was technically barred from the academy due to herhusbands profession. But, Vigee-Le Bruns relationship had made her presencearound the Queen in France too dangerous because of the Revolution. Due to this,she and her nine year-old daughter made a dramatic escape from Paris. Her timingwas so close that the night that she left was the same night thatMarie-Antoinette and Louis XVI were arrested. From this escape, she and herdaughter began twelve years of exile. Throughout these twelve years, she againcaptivated the nobilitys attention with her works. Her talent again gained heradmissions into several academies. One quote from a recent writer serves ascomplete closing for Elizabeth-Louise Vigee-Le Brun when her art ischaracterized as a conspicuous anachronism, typifying the final attempt byAncient Regime society to shut its eyes to unwelcomed realities, and to takerefuge in a world of make-believe and fancy dress. (Heller 60). BibliographyFiero, Gloria. The Humanistic Tradition: Faith, Reason, and Power in theEarly Modern World. 3 rd ed. Vol. 4. New York: McGraw Hill, 1998. 143-6. Heller,Nancy. Women Artists: An Illustrated History. New York: Abbeville PublishingGroup, 1991. 55, 58-66. Levey, Michael. Levey: Painting and Sculpture in France1700-1789. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993. 278-96. Eighteenth Century. The National Museum of Women in the Arts. 24 Feb. 2000 (http://www.nmwa.org/index.htn). .

Measuring Earthquake Intensities Using Seismic Scales

Measuring Earthquake Intensities Using Seismic Scales The first measuring tool invented for earthquakes was the seismic intensity scale. This is a rough numerical scale to describe how severe an earthquake is in the place where youre standing- how bad it is on a scale of 1 to 10. Its not hard to come up with a set of descriptions for intensity 1 (I could barely feel it) and 10 (Everything around me fell down!) and the gradations in between. A scale of this kind, when its carefully made and consistently applied, is useful even though its based entirely on descriptions, not measurements. Scales of earthquake magnitude (the total energy of a quake) came later, the result of many advances in seismometers and decades of data collection. While seismic magnitude is interesting, seismic intensity is more important: its about the strong motions that actually affect people and buildings. Intensity maps are prized for practical things like city planning, building codes, and emergency response. To Mercalli and Beyond Dozens of seismic intensity scales have been devised. The first to be widely used was made by Michele de Rossi and Francois Forel in 1883, and before seismographs were widespread the Rossi-Forel scale was the best scientific tool we had. It used roman numerals, from intensity I to X. In Japan, Fusakichi Omori developed a scale based on the types of structures there, such as stone lanterns and Buddhist temples. The seven-point Omori scale still underlies the Japanese Meteorological Agencys official seismic intensity scale. Other scales came into use in many other countries. In Italy, a 10-point intensity scale developed in 1902 by Giuseppe Mercalli was adapted by a succession of people. When H. O. Wood and Frank Neumann translated one version into English in 1931, they called it the Modified Mercalli scale. That has been the American standard ever since. The Modified Mercalli scale consists of descriptions that range from the innocuous (I. Not felt except by a very few) to the terrifying (XII. Damage total . . . Objects thrown upward into the air). It includes the behavior of people, the responses of houses and larger buildings, and natural phenomena. For instance, peoples responses range from barely feeling ground motion at intensity I to everyone running outdoors at intensity VII, the same intensity at which chimneys begin to break. At intensity VIII, sand and mud are ejected from the ground and heavy furniture overturns. Mapping Seismic Intensity Turning human reports into consistent maps happen online today, but it used to be quite laborious. During the aftermath of a quake, scientists collected intensity reports as fast as they could. Postmasters in the United States sent the government a report every time a quake struck. Private citizens and local geologists did the same. If youre into earthquake preparedness, consider learning more about what quake investigators do by downloading their official field manual. With these reports in hand, investigators of the U.S. Geological Survey then interviewed other expert witnesses, such as building engineers and inspectors, to help them map zones of equivalent intensity. Eventually, a contour map showing the intensity zones was finalized and published. An intensity map can show some useful things. It can delineate the fault that caused the quake. It can also show areas of unusually strong shaking far from the fault. These areas of bad ground are important when it comes to zoning, for instance, or disaster planning or deciding where to route freeways and other infrastructure. Advances In 1992, a European committee set out to refine the seismic intensity scale in the light of new knowledge. In particular, we have learned a great deal about how different kinds of buildings respond to shaking- in effect, we can treat them like amateur seismographs. In 1995 the European Macroseismic Scale (EMS) was widely adopted across Europe. It has 12 points, the same as the Mercalli scale, but it is much more detailed and precise. It includes many pictures of damaged buildings, for instance. Another advance was being able to assign harder numbers to intensities. The EMS includes specific values of ground acceleration for each intensity rank. (So does the latest Japanese scale.) The new scale cannot be taught in a single lab exercise, the way the Mercalli scale is taught in the United States. But those who master it will be the best in the world at extracting good data from the rubble and confusion of an earthquakes aftermath. Why Old Research Methods Are Still Important The study of earthquakes gets more sophisticated every year, and thanks to these advances the oldest research methods work better than ever. The nice machines and clean data make for good fundamental science. But one great practical benefit is that we can calibrate all kinds of earthquake damages against the seismograph. Now we can extract good data from human records where- and when- there are no seismometers. Intensities can be estimated for earthquakes all the way through history, using old records like diaries and newspapers. Earth is a slow-moving place, and in many places the typical earthquake cycle takes centuries. We dont have centuries to wait, so deriving reliable information about the past is a valuable task. Ancient human records are much better than nothing, and sometimes what we learn about past seismic events is almost as good as having seismographs there.

Analyse Political Discourse in One or More of the comedias you have Essay

Analyse Political Discourse in One or More of the comedias you have studied - Essay Example This creates a weakness in the comedy and changes the value of the play as it is depicted in different times. The main association with Vega is not only associated with the politics of the time. More important, Vega is concerned with creating dramatic effects, showing opinions and working as a motivational and entertaining force for the culture of his time period. Fuentovejuna and Political Discourse The comedy by Vega is one which is defined by political discourse first. The play is one which is defined by the time frame in which it is written and the politics which were taking place at this time. The play begins with describing an event which occurred in 1476 in Spain, located in a small village in Fuente Obejuna in Castile. The main depiction is from the Order of Calatrava, who was a commander at the time and which mistreated the villagers by branding and killing them. The massacre which occurred gathered the attention of King Ferdinand II of Aragon to investigate the villagers. E ven when tortured, none would give the information of the ill treatment and would only respond by stating that â€Å"Fuentovejuna did it.† This depiction is then told in Vega’s description of the play and is shown in the writing from 1612-1614. The main point of this specific event is one which was passed down to several with political discourse, specifically because of the silent rebellion which the peasants took over the king and which didn’t allow the king to have a specific amount of power over the village. The legend became one which was essential in the changes which began to occur in Spain at later dates, specifically with noticed victories that were from the peasants (Edwards, 7). The main depiction of the political discourse is one which is noted throughout the play; however, there are many controversial concepts which are associated with the way in which Vega displays the information. Throughout the play, Vega uses specific characters to represent the historical incident and to show what has occurred during this time frame. However, the discourse is one which is combined with both comedy and with opinions of what has occurred during this time. The result is the understanding of what has occurred with representations of what the politics meant during this time as well as what was most important to the author. More important, more universal themes, such as justice, ending the incident and developing the plot and character become more relevant than the political facts which are associated with the play (Blue, 295). The opinion and the discourse as one which is specific to universal themes and opinions throughout the play are seen from the first portion of the play. For instance, when the commander is speaking about the king, he speaks not of the history which occurred during this incident, but instead alludes to the opinions of the ruler and what was expected during this time. â€Å"Grand Master Don Rodrigo / Tellez Giron, you who have been bourne to this exalted station by the valor of that famous father of yours who, when you were eight, renounced the position of Master in your favor†¦ understand that your honor demands that in this situation you adhere to your kinsmen’