Michelangelo’s - David David is standing “Contraposto”. Like many classical statues, David is a nude. David defiantly faces Goliath.

Raphael’s - School of Athens

Renaissance artists used perspective.

Raphael’s – School of Athens Depicts a gathering of ancient philosophers from various eras. The toga clad figures of Plato and Aristotle dominate the center of the painting. Plato is a portrait of Leonardo Da Vinci. Raphael painted himself on the far right, looking out at the viewer. Michelangelo Brilliantly illustrates the Renaissance ideals of order, unity, and symmetry.

Northern Renaissance Art Arnolfini Wedding By Jan Van Eyck What does the dog represent? What does the convex mirror represent? What does the single lit candle represent? Who is reflected in the convex mirror?

Northern Renaissance Art Arnolfini Wedding By Jan Van Eyck The discarded shoes are a sign that a religious ceremony is taking place. People believed that touching the ground with bare feet insured fertility. The artist, Jan Van Eyck is reflected in the convex mirror. The solitary flame represents a bridal candle.

Jean Honore Fragonard – The Swing Rococo Art The painting depicts a young man hidden in the bushes, watching a woman on a swing, being pushed by her husband. Her husband is hidden in the shadow, as he is unaware of the affair. (The Baron had requested a portrait of his mistress seated on a swing being pushed by a bishop, which Fragonard later replaced with a smiling husband.) As the lady goes high on the swing, she lets the young man take a furtive peep under her dress, all while flicking her own shoe off in the direction of a Cupid and turning her back to two angelic cherubim on the side of her clueless husband.swing

Cupid as a captive – by Francois Boucher Rococo Art Boucher was known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes.

Oath of the Horatii – by Jacques Louis David

The painting depicts the Roman Horatius family, who, according to Titius Livius‘ Ab Urbe Condita (From the Founding of the City) had been chosen for a ritual duel against three members of the Curiatii, a family from Alba Longa, in order to settle disputes between the Romans and the latter city. As revolution in France loomed, paintings urging loyalty to the state rather than to clan or clergy abounded. Although it was painted nearly five years before the revolution in France, the Oath of the Horatii became one of the defining images of the time. In the painting, the three brothers express their loyalty and solidarity with Rome before battle, wholly supported by their father. These are men willing to lay down their lives out of patriotic duty. With their resolute gaze and taut, outstretched limbs, they are citadels of patriotism. They are symbols of the highest virtues of Rome. Their clarity of purpose, mirrored by David's simple yet powerful use of tonal contrasts, lends the painting, and its message about the nobility of patriotic sacrifice, an electric intensity. This is all in contrast to the tender-hearted women who lie weeping and mourning, awaiting the results of the fighting. Jacques Louis David Neo-Classical Art

Napoleon Crossing the Alps – by Jacques Louis David Neo-Classical Art