Hercules and Lichas 1795-1815 Sculpture Marble Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, Rome, Italy
“Hercules and Lichas” was a sculpture that was developed over an extended period due to its size – it stands at just under eleven feet tall – and the turbulent times in which it was made. Commissioned by Onorrato Gaetani, a Neapolitan nobleman, from Canova, Gaetani also proposed the subject be drawn from Greek mythology. Hercules sent his herald Lichas to fetch him a cloak. His wife had dipped it in a magical fluid with the intent of keeping Hercules faithful. Instead, it poisoned him, and driven mad by anger and pain he flung Lichas into the sea.
Antonio Canova 1757-1822
Antonio Canova Neoclassicism, Romanticism Born: 1 November 1757, Veneto, Italy Nationality: Italian Died: 13 October 1822, Venice, Italy
Canova was a Neoclassical sculptor, particularly known for his marble sculptures. His sculpture was inspired by the Baroque and the classical revival; however, he avoided the melodramatics of Baroque and the cold artificiality of the Classical revival
Happy the lab’rer in his Sunday clothes! In light-drab coat, smart waistcoat, well-darn’d hose, Andhat upon his head, to church he goes; As oft, with conscious pride, he downward throws A glance upon the ample cabbage rose That, stuck in button-hole, regales his nose, He envies not the gayest London beaux. In church he takes his seat among the rows, Pays to the place the reverence he owes, Likes best the prayers whose meaning least he knows, Lists to the sermon in a softening doze, And rouses joyous at the welcome close
Jane Austen Born: 16 December 1775, Hampshire, England Nationality: English Died: 18 July 1817, Hampshire, England
Austen was a novelist and poet best known for her six major novels, which interpret, comment upon, and critique the English landed gentry of the late 18th century. Austen’s plots explored the dependence of women on making a good marriage in the pursuit of social standing, respectability, and economic security. Austen’s use of irony, realism, and social commentary has earned acclaim among critics and scholars alike. Her books were published anonymously in her lifetime and Austen gained greater status after her death. Her novels have rarely been out of print
Star, you are unfortunate, I pity you, Beautiful as you are, shining in your glory, Who guide seafaring men through stress and peril And have no recompense from gods or mortals, Love you do not, nor do you know what love is Hours that are aeons urgently conducting Your figures in a dance through the vast heaven, What journey have you ended in this moment, Since lingering in the arms of my beloved I lost memory of you and midnight.
Sweet Stream, that dost with equal Pace Both thyself fly, and thyself chace, Forbear awhile to flow, And listen to my Woe. Then go, and tell the Sea that all its Brine Is fresh compar’d to mine; Inform it that the gentler Dame, Who was the Life of all my Flame, In th’Glory of her Bud Has pass’d the fatal Flood, Death by this only Stroke triumphs above The greatest Power of Love: Alas, alas! I must give o’er, My sighs will let me add no more. Go on, sweet Stream, and henceforth rest More, more than does my troubled Breast; And if my sad Complaints have made thee stay, These Tears, these Tears shall mend thy Way
It is a beauteous evening, calm and free; The holy time is quiet as a Nun Breathless with adoration; the broad sun Is sinking down in its tranquillity; The gentleness of heaven broods o’er the Sea: Listen! the mighty Being is awake, And doth with his eternal motion make A sound like thunder – everlastingly. Dear Child! dear Girl! that walkest with me here, If though appear’st untouched by solemn thought, Thy nature is not therefore less divine: Thou liest in Abraham’s bosom all the year; And worshipp’st at the Temple’s inner shrine, God being with thee when we know it not
Daedalus and Icarus 1777-79 Neoclassicism Marble Museo Correr, Venice, Italy
Canova drew from a story told by the Greek poet Ovid in “Metamorphoses,” depicting the inventor and architect Daedalus and his son Icarus. Daedalus created the Labyrinth imprisoning King Minos of Crete’s stepson, the Minotaur, half man half bull. Daedalus helped Theseus slay the Minotaur and afterward was trapped in the Labyrinth with Icarus by King Minos. To make their escape Daedalus crafted wings made of wax and feathers and the two successfully flew off the island. Icarus, despite his father’s warnings, flew too close to the sun and the wax melted and he fell into the sea and drowned. Canova portrays Daedalus fixing the wings on his son’s shoulders.
Antonio Canova 1757-1822
Antonio Canova Neoclassicism, Romanticism Born: 1 November 1757, Veneto, Italy Nationality: Italian Died: 13 October 1822, Venice, Italy
Canova was a Neoclassical sculptor, particularly known for his marble sculptures. His sculpture was inspired by the Baroque and the classical revival; however, he avoided the melodramatics of Baroque and the cold artificiality of the classical revival
It is a beauteous evening, calm and free; The holy time is quiet as a nun Breathless with adoration; the broad sun Is sinking down in its tranquillity; The gentleness of heaven broods o’er the sea: Listen! the mighty being is awake, And doth with his eternal motion make A sound like thunder – everlastingly. Dear Child! dear Girl! that walkest with me here, If thou appear untouched by solemn thought, Thy nature is not therefore less divine: Thou liest in Abraham’s bosom all the year, And worship’st at the Temple’s inner shrine, God being with thee when we know it not
Chelsea from the Thames at Battersea Reach, London by Canaletto
Chelsea from the Thames at Battersea Reach, London 1751 Capriccio Oil on canvas The Lothian Collection (National Trust), Blickling Hall, England
The River Thames dominates “Chelsea from the Thames at Battersea Reach, London.” From the swath of land in the foreground two boats are being pushed into the river whilst in the background is the view of Chelsea buildings. Canaletto’s approach to English landscape helped his reputation grow in Northern Europe with the River Thames a frequent subject. It shows Canaletto’s characteristic command of perspective, attention to detail and realism.
Canaletto 1697-1768
Canaletto Baroque, Rococo Born: 28 October 1697, Venice, Italy Nationality: Italian Died: 19 April 1768, Venice, Italy
Canaletto was a painter from the Republic of Venice and is considered an important member of the Venetian School of the 18th century. He was a painter of veduta of Venice, Rome, and London as well as imaginary (capricci) views. He was highly successful in England due to the patronage of Joseph “Consul” Smith, a British merchant and connoisseur
Luigi Boccherini Classical Born: 19 February 1743, Lucca, Italy Nationality: Italian Died: 28 May 1805, Madrid, Spain
Luigi Boccherini 1743-1805
Boccherini was a composer and cellist of the Classical era. Even though he matured apart from the major European musical centres his music retained a courtly and galante style. He is best known for a minuet from his String Quartet No.5 in E and the Cello Concerto in B flat major. Boccherini’s oeuvre also includes several guitar quintets
Kobayashi Issa Born: 15 June 1753, Kashiwabara, Japan Nationality: Japanese Died: 5 January 1828, Shinano Province, Japan
Issa was a poet and lay Buddhist priest of the Jōdo Shinshū sect best known for his haiku poems and journals. Known simply as Issa, a pen name meaning Cup-of-tea, he is regarded as one of the Great Four along with Bashō, Buson, and Shiki. A reflection on the popularity in Issa as a man and poet is shown in the Japanese books on Issa are almost equal to those written on Bashō and outnumber those on Buson
Issa was the first son of a farming family in Kashiwabara, now part of Shinano-machi, Shinano Province. His mother died when he was three years old, the first of many challenges to face the young boy. Issa’s grandmother cared for him until five years later when life changed again with his father’s remarriage and two years later the birth of his half-brother. Issa was 14 when his grandmother died and he felt estranged in his own home. A moody, lonely child Issa preferred to wander in the fields to his home life, an attitude that was none too pleasing to his stepmother.
Issa was sent to Edo by his father when he was 15 in order to make a living. Virtually nothing is known of the next decade of his life, however, his name is associated with Kobayashi Chikua of the Nirokuan haiku school. Issa’s father died in 1801 and he fought over his inheritance with his stepmother. He also wrote a journal now known as the “Last Days of Issa’s Father”.
Issa secured rights to half of the property left by his father after years of legal battles. At the age of 49 he returned to his native village and found a wife, Kiku. After a short period of marital bliss, tragedy struck with their first child dying shortly after birth and less than two and half years later their daughter died. A third child died in 1820, In 1823 Kiku became ill and died. Issa married twice later in his life, and despite so much tragedy, he produced a large body of work. His third wife died when he was 61.
Issa died in 1828 in his native village,
Face of the spring moon by Kobayashi Issa
Face of the spring moon– about twelve years old, I’d say.
Veduta ideata with Roman Ruins 1720-21 Baroque, Rococo Oil on canvas Private Collection
“Veduta ideate with Roman Ruins” portrays ancient Roman monuments in various states of decay. In the background, along the Tiber River additional architecture is visible including Trajan’s Column and a faint dome of the Castel Sant’Angelo. It is an early piece of Canaletto turning towards dramatic landscapes after giving up theatrical sceneries.
Canaletto 1697-1768
Canaletto Baroque, Rococo Born: 28 October 1697, Venice, Italy Nationality: Italian Died: 19 April 1768, Venice, Italy
Canaletto was a painter from the Republic of Venice and is considered an important member of the Venetian School of the 18th century. He was a painter of veduta of Venice, Rome, and London as well as imaginary (capriccio) views. He was highly successful in England due to the patronage of Joseph “Consul” Smith, a British merchant and connoisseur
Warwick Castle: The East Front 1752 Baroque, Rococo Pen and brown ink with grey wash Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
Canaletto’s drawing of Warwick Castle features a pastoral landscape and the iconic medieval castle. Canaletto became interested in the castle after leaving the confines of London to venture into the English countryside. His drawings were additions to the five paintings of the castle Canaletto created and reflected the growing market for works produced in real-time instead of a studio.
Canaletto 1697-1768
Canaletto Baroque, Rococo Born: 28 October 1697, Venice, Italy Nationality: Italian Died: 19 April 1768, Venice, Italy
Canaletto was a painter from the Republic of Venice and is considered an important member of the Venetian School of the 18th century. He was a painter of vedutas of Venice, Rome, and London as well as imaginary (capriccio) views. He was highly successful in England due to the patronage of Joseph “Consul” Smith, a British merchant and connoisseur
Joseph Haydn Classical Born: 31 March 1732, Rohrau, Austria Nationality: Austrian Died: 31 May 1809, Vienna, Austria
Joseph Hadyn 1732-1809
Haydn was a composer of the Classical era and instrumental in the development of chamber music. He spent much of his career as a court musician for the remote estate of the Esterházy family. This isolated him from other composers and music trends. However, Haydn’s music was circulated widely and he was the most celebrated composer in Europe
Of a Ministry pitiful, angry, mean, A gallant commander the victim is seen. For promptitude, vigour, success, does he stand Condemn’d to receive a severe reprimand! To his foes I could wish a resemblance in fate: That they, too, may suffer themselves, soon or late, The injustice they warrent. But vain is my spite They cannot so suffer who never do right
Jane Austen 1775-1817
Jane Austen Born: 16 December 1775, Hampshire, England Nationality: English Died: 18 July 1817, Hampshire, England
Austen was a novelist and poet best known for her six major novels, which interpret, comment upon, and critique the English landed gentry of the late 18th century. Austen’s plots explored the dependence of women on making a good marriage in the pursuit of social standing, respectability, and economic security. Austen’s use of irony, realism and social commentary has earned acclaim among critics and scholars alike. Her books were published anonymously in her lifetime and Austen gained greater status after her death. Her novels have rarely been out of print
Ever musing I delight to tread The Paths of honour and the Myrtle Grove Whilst the pale Moon her beams doth shed On disappointed Love. While Philomel on airy hawthorn Bush Sings sweet and Melancholy, And the thrush Converses with the Dove.
2
Gently brawling down the turnpike road, Sweetly noisy falls the Silent Stream– The Moon emerges from behind a Cloud And darts upon the Myrtle Grove her beam. Ah! then what Lovely Scenes appear, The hut, the Cot, the Grot, and Chapel queer, And eke the Abbey to a mouldering heap, Cnceal’d by aged pines her head doth rear And quite invisible doth take a peep.
Jane Austen 1775-1817
Jane Austen Born: 16 December 1775, Hampshire, England Nationality: English Died: 18 July 1817, Hampshire, England
Austen was a novelist and poet best known for her six major novels, which interpret, comment upon, and critique the English landed gentry of the late 18th century. Austen’s plots explored the dependence of women on making a good marriage in the pursuit of social standing, respectability, and economic security. Austen’s use of irony, realism and social commentary has earned acclaim among critics and scholars alike. Her books were published anonymously in her lifetime and Austen gained greater status after her death. Her novels have rarely been out of print
Last time, I think, I’ll brush the flies from my father’s face
Kobayashi Issa 1763-1828
Kobayashi Issa Born: 15 June 1763, Kashiwabara, Japan Nationality: Japanese Died: 5 January 1828, Shinano Province, Japan
Issa was a poet and lay Buddhist priest of the Jōdo Shinshū best known for his haiku poems and journals. Known simply as Issa, meaning a Cup-of-Tea, he is considered one of the ‘Great Four’ haiku masters in Japan
Alessandro Scarlatti Opera Born: 6 May 1660, Sicily Nationality: Sicilian Died: 22 October 1725, Naples, Italy
Alessandro Scarlatti 1660-1725
Scarlatti was a composer, best known for his operas and chamber cantatas. He is considered to be one of the most important composers of the Neapolitan School of Opera. Scarlatti was also the father of the composers Domenico and Pietro Filippo Scarlatti
On the Death of a young Lady of Five Years of Age 1773
From dark abodes to fair etherial light Th’ enraptur’d innocent has wing’d her flight; On the kind bosom of eternal love She finds unknown beatitude above. This known, ye parents, nor her loss deplore, She feels the iron hand of pain no more; The dispensations of unerring grace, Should turn your sorrows into grateful praise; Let then no tears for her henceforward flow, No more distress’d in our dark vale below, Her morning sun, which rose divinely bright, Was quickly mantled with the gloom of night; But hear in heav’n’s blest bow’rs your Nancy fair, And learn to imitate her language there. “Thou, Lord, whom I behold with glory crown’d, “By what sweet name, and in what tuneful sound “Wilt thou be prais’d? Seraphic pow’rs are faint “Infinite love and majesty to paint. “To thee let all their graceful voices raise, “And saints and angels join their songs of praise.” Perfect in bliss she from her heav’nly home Looks down, and smiling beckons you to come; Why then, fond parents, why these fruitless groans? Restrain your tears, and cease your plaintive moans. Freed from a world of sin, and snares, and pain, Why would you wish your daughter back again? No–bow resign’d. Let hope your grief control, And check the rising tumult of the soul. Calm in the prosperous, and adverse day, Adore the God who gives and takes away; Eye him in all, his holy name revere, Upright your actions, and your hearts sincere, Till having sail’d through life’s tempestuous sea, And from its rocks, and boist’rous billows free, Yourselves, safe landed on the blissful shore, Shall join your happy babe to part no more
Phillis Wheatley 1753-1784
Phillis Wheatley Born: 8 May 1753, West Africa Nationality: African-American Died: 5 December 1784, Massachusetts, USA
Wheatley was the first African-American author of a book of poetry. She was born in West Africa, sold into slavery, and transported to North America at the age of seven or eight. Purchased by the Wheatley family, they taught her to read and write, encouraging her poetic talent. On a trip to London with her master’s son in 1773, she was aided in meeting prominent people who became her patrons. The publication of her ‘Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral’ brought her fame in England and the American colonies. Wheatley was emancipated shortly after the publication. She married around 1778 and had three children, two died in infancy. Her husband was imprisoned for debt in 1784 and Wheatley fell into working poverty and died of a resulting illness. Her last son died soon after
And this reft house, the which he built, Lamented Jack! and here his malt he piled, Cautious in vain! these rats, that squeak so wild, Squeak not unconscious of their father’s guilt. Did he not see her gleaming through the glade! Belike ‘twas she, the maiden all forlorn. What though she milk, no cow with crumpled horn, Yet aye she haunts the dale where erst she strayed: And aye beside her stalks her amorous knight! Still on his thighs their wonted brogues are worn, And through those brogues, still tattered and betorn, His hindward charms gleam an unearthly white. Ah! thus through broken clouds at night’s high Noon Peeps in fair fragments forth the full-orbed harvest moon.
Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3rd 1802
Earth has not anything to show more fair: Dull would he be of soul who could pass by A sight so touching in its majesty. The City now doth, like a garment, wear The beauty of the morning; silent, bare, Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie Open unto the fields, and to the sky, All bright and glittering in the smokeless air. Never did sun more beautifully steep In his first splendour valley, rock, or hill; Ne’er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep! The river glideth at his own sweet will: Dear God! the very houses seem asleep, And all that mighty heart is lying still.
Joseph Haydn Classical Born: 31 March 1732, Rohrau, Austria Nationality: Austrian Died: 31 May 1809, Vienna, Austria
Joseph Hadyn
Haydn was a composer of the Classical era and instrumental in the development of chamber music. He spent much of his career as a court musician for the remote estate of the Esterházy family. This isolated him from other composers and music trends. However, Haydn’s music was circulated widely and he was the most celebrated composer in Europe
The Blue Boy 1770 Portraiture Oil on canvas Collection of Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California
Gainsborough’s modernity comes to the forefront with his innovative utilization of colour in “The Blue Boy”. The blue of the boy’s glistening satin outfit is the main colour defining the subject and broke with the established conventions of Western art traditions of the time for using a warm colour palette to effectively advance the subject of the work. “The Blue Boy” is Gainsborough’s first full-length portrait and the boy is positioned against a background of nature-based abstractions of simplified trees and stormy skies.
Thomas Gainsborough
Thomas Gainsborough The Rococo, Realism, Romanticism, Neoclassicism, British Art, Grand Manner Portraiture Born: 14 May 1727, Sudbury, England Nationality: British Died: 2 August 1788, London, England
Gainsborough was a portrait and landscape painter, printmaker, and draughtsman. Along with Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered among the most important British artists of the late 18th century. The works of his mature period are characterized by a light palette and easy brush strokes. He was a prolific portrait painter but Gainsborough himself took greater satisfaction from his landscapes. Gainsborough is a founding member of the Royal Academy
Alessandro Scarlatti Opera Born: 6 May 1660, Sicily Nationality: Sicilian Died: 22 October 1725, Naples, Italy
Alessandro Scarlatti
Scarlatti was a composer, best known for his operas and chamber cantatas. He is considered to be one of the most important composers of the Neapolitan School of Opera. Scarlatti was also the father of the composers Domenico and Pietro Filippo Scarlatti
Thy various works, imperial queen, we see, How bright their forms! how deck’d with pomp by thee! Thy wond’rous acts in beauteous order stand, And all attest how potent is thine hand.
From Helicon’s refulgent heights attend, Ye sacred choir, and my attempts befriend: To tell her glories with a faithful tongue, Ye blooming graces, triumph in my song.
Now here, now there, the roving Fancy flies, Till some lov’d object strikes her wand’ring eyes, Whose silken fetters all the senses bind, And soft captivity involves the mind.
Imagination! who can sing thy force? Or who describe the swiftness of thy course? Soaring through air to find the bright abode, Th’ empyreal palace of the thund’ring God, We on thy pinions can surpass the wind, And leave the rolling universe behind: From star to star the mental optics rove, Measure the skies, and range the realms above. There in one view we grasp the mighty whole, Or with new worlds amaze th’ unbounded soul.
Though Winter frowns to Fancy’s raptur’d eyes The fields may flourish, and gay scenes arise; The frozen deeps may break their iron bands, And bid their waters murmur o’er the sands. Fair Flora may resume her fragrant reign, And with her flow’ry riches deck the plain; Sylvanus may diffuse his honours round, And all the forest may with leaves be crown’d: Show’rs may descend, and dews their gems disclose, And nectar sparkle on the blooming rose.
Such is thy pow’r, nor are thine orders vain, O thou the leader of the mental train: In full perfection all thy works are wrought, And thine the sceptre o’er the realms of thought. Before thy throne the subject-passions bow, Of subject-passions sov’reign ruler thou; At thy command joy rushes on the heart, And through the glowing veins the spirits dart.
Fancy might now her silken pinions try To rise from earth, and sweep th’ expanse on high: From Tithon’s bed now might Aurora rise, Her cheeks all glowing with celestial dies, While a pure stream of light o’erflows the skies. The monarch of the day I might behold, And all the mountains tipt with radiant gold, But I reluctant leave the pleasing views, Which Fancy dresses to delight the Muse; Winter austere forbids me to aspire, And northern tempests damp the rising fire; They chill the tides of Fancy’s flowing sea, Cease then, my song, cease the unequal lay.
Phillis Wheatley
Phillis Wheatley Born: 8 May 1753, West Africa Nationality: African-American Died: 5 December 1784, Massachusetts, USA
Wheatley was the first African-American author of a book of poetry. She was born in West Africa, sold into slavery, and transported to North America at the age of seven or eight. Purchased by the Wheatley family, they taught her to read and write, encouraging her poetic talent. On a trip to London with her master’s son in 1773, she was aided in meeting prominent people who became her patrons. The publication of her ‘Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral’ brought her fame in England and the American colonies. Wheatley was emancipated shortly after the publication. She married around 1778 and had three children, two died in infancy. Her husband was imprisoned for debt in 1784 and Wheatley fell into working poverty and died of a resulting illness. Her last son died soon after
Johann Sebastian Bach Baroque Born: 31 March 1685, Eisenach, Germany Nationality: German Died: 28 July 1750, Leipzig, Germany
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a composer and musician of the Baroque era. Best known for his instrumental compositions such as the Brandenburg Concertos and for vocal music such as St Matthew Passion. Since a Bach revival in the 19th century, he has been regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time
Luigi Boccherini Classical Born: 19 February 1743, Lucca, Italy Nationality: Italian Died: 28 May 1805, Madrid, Spain
Luigi Boccherini
Boccherini was a composer and cellist of the Classical era. Even though he matured apart from the major European musical centres his music retained a courtly and galante style. He is best known for a minuet from his String Quartet No.5 in E and the Cello Concerto in B flat major. Boccherini’s oeuvre also includes several guitar quintets
Kobayashi Issa Born: 15 June 1763, Kashiwabara, Japan Nationality: Japanese Died: 5 January 1828, Shinano Province, Japan
Issa was a poet and lay Buddhist priest of the Jōdo Shinshū best known for his haiku poems and journals,. Known simply as Issa, meaning a Cup-of-Tea, he is considered one of the ‘Great Four’ haiku masters in Japan
A bath when you’re born, a bath when you die, how stupid
Kobayashi Issa
Kobayashi Issa Born: 15 June 1763, Kashiwabara, Japan Nationality: Japanese Died: 5 January 1828, Shinano Province, Japan
Issa was a poet and lay Buddhist priest of the Jōdo Shinshū best known for his haiku poems and journals,. Known simply as Issa, meaning a Cup-of-Tea, he is considered one of the ‘Great Four’ haiku masters in Japan
Pissing in the snow outside my door– it makes a very straight hole
Kobayashi Issa
Kobayashi Issa Born: 15 June 1763, Kashiwabara, Japan Nationality: Japanese Died: 5 January 1828, Shinano Province, Japan
Issa was a poet and lay Buddhist priest of the Jōdo Shinshū best known for his haiku poems and journals,. Known simply as Issa, meaning a Cup-of-Tea, he is considered one of the ‘Great Four’ haiku masters in Japan
That pretty girl– munching and rustling the wrapped-up rice cake
Kobayashi Issa
Kobayashi Issa Born: 15 June 1763, Kashiwabara, Japan Nationality: Japanese Died: 5 January 1828, Shinano Province, Japan
Issa was a poet and lay Buddhist priest of the Jōdo Shinshū best known for his haiku poems and journals,. Known simply as Issa, meaning a Cup-of-Tea, he is considered one of the ‘Great Four’ haiku masters in Japan
Georg Frideric Handel Classical Born: 5 March 1685, Halle, Germany Nationality: German-English Died: 14 April 1759, London, UK
Handel was a Baroque composer who spent most of his career in London, becoming naturalized British in 1727. He was well known for his operas, oratorios, concerti grossi, organ concertos, and anthems. Handel trained in Halle and worked as a composer in Hamburg before settling in London in 1712. He started three opera companies to supply Italian opera to the English nobility. Handel is considered one of the greatest composers of the Baroque era with works such as Messiah, Water Music, Music for the Royal Fireworks, and four coronation anthems; Zadok the Priest, composed for the coronation of George II, has been performed at the coronation of every subsequent coronation during the anointing of the monarch
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Classical Born: 27 January 1756, Salzburg, Austria Nationality: Austrian Died: 5 December 1791, Vienna, Austria
Mozart was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. A child prodigy he was competent on both keyboard and violin from the age of five, performing before European royalty. Mozart was engaged as a musician at the Salzburg court at 17 but grew restless and traveled to find a better position. He was dismissed from his post in 1781 while visiting Vienna where he stayed. During his final years, he composed many of his best-known works, including symphonies, operas, concertos, and parts of the Requiem which was unfinished at the time of his death at just 35
Antonio Vivaldi Baroque Born: 4 March 1678, Venice, Italy Nationality: Italian Died: 28 July 1741, Vienna, Austria
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was a composer, virtuoso violinist, teacher and cleric. He is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and within his lifetime his influence was widespread across Europe. He composed numerous concertos for the violin and other instruments, sacred choral works, and over forty operas. Many of his compositions were written for the all-female music ensemble of the Ospedale della Pietà where he was employed as a Catholic priest from 1703 to 1715 and 1723 to 1740. After meeting Emperor Charles VI, Vivaldi had hoped for a preferment, but the emperor died shortly after Vivaldi’s arrival. He died in poverty less than a year later
Title: Cello Suite No. 1 Date: 1717-23 Era: Baroque
The Cello Suites by Johann Sebastian Bach are among the most recognized solo pieces written for the cello. Most likely written when Bach was a Kapellmeister in Köthen between 1717-23. In keeping with the Baroque musical suite after the prelude the other movements of each suite are based upon Baroque dances.
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach Born: 31 March 1685, Eisenach, Germany Nationality: German Died: 28 July, 1750, Leipzig, Germany
Johann Sebastian Bach was a composer and musician of the Baroque era. Best known for his instrumental compositions such as the Brandenburg Concertos and for vocal music such as St Matthew Passion. Since a Bach revival in the 19th century he has been regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.
I was angry with my friend: I told my wrath, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe: I told it not, my wrath did grow.
And I watered it in fears, Night & morning with my tears; And I sunned it with smiles, And with soft deceitful wiles.
And it grew both day and night, Till it bore an apple bright ; And my foe beheld it shine, And he knew that it was mine,
And into my garden stole When the night had veil’d the pole: In the morning glad I see My foe outstretched beneath the tree.
Poet: William Blake Born: 28 November 1757, London, England Nationality: English Died: 12 August 1827, London, England
William Blake was a poet, painter, and print-maker. He was unrecognized during his lifetime but is now considered a seminal figure of the poetic and visual art of the Romantic Era. He lived his whole life in in London and produced richly diverse works embraced the imagination with the existence of God or the human existence itself.
Poet: Percy Bysshe Shelley Date of Birth: 4 August 1792, Horsham, UK English Date of Death: 8 July 1822, Lerici, Italy
Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is regarded as one of the finest lyric and philosophical poets in the English language. A radical in both his poetry and his social and political views Shelley did not see fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his poetry grew steadily following his death. Shelley was a key member of a circle of visionary poets that included Keats, Hunt, and Byron as well as his second wife, Mary Shelley.
Shelley’s circle of friends included some of the most important progressive thinkers of the time, including his father-in-law, the philosopher William Godwin, and Leigh Hunt. Shelley produced poetry and prose steadily throughout his life, but most publishers declined his work for fear of being arrested for blasphemy or sedition.
Shelley was born in Horsham, West Sussex, England, the eldest son of Sir Timothy Shelley and Elizabeth Pilford. He received his early education at home, tutored by the cleric Evan Edwards. In 1802 he entered the Syon house Academy of Brentford, Middlesex. In 1804 he entered Eton College where he fared poorly and was subjected to bullying daily by the older boys. In 1810 he matriculated at University College, Oxford. He also published his Gothic novel Zastrozzi in 1810, in which he vented his early atheistic world view through the villain. In 1811 he published ‘The Necessity of Atheism’ which was brought to the attention of the university administration and he was called to appear before the college’s fellows. He refused to answer questions on whether he had authored the pamphlet and thus was expelled from Oxford in 1811. On his father’s intervention, Shelley was given a choice to be reinstated to Oxford if he recanted his avowed views. He refused which resulted in a falling-out with his father.
Four months after being sent down the 19-year-old Shelley eloped to Scotland with the 16-year-old Harriet Westbrook. He was convinced he had not long to live and decided to make her his beneficiary. The Westbrooks publicly disapproved of the elopement but secretly encouraged it. Shelley’s father was outraged that his son had married beneath him and cut off Shelley’s allowance and refused to receive the couple at Field Place.
Shelley visited the poet Robert Southey in the Lake District, and he informed Shelley that William Godwin, author of Political Justice, was still alive. Shelley wrote to Godwin offering himself as a devoted disciple and Godwin who saw Shelley as a source to his financial salvation advised him to reconcile with his father. At the same time the Duke of Norfolk and patron to Shelley’s father trying to reconcile father and son. Shelley’s relationship with the Duke influenced his decision to travel to Ireland where he published his ‘Address to the Irish People’ in Dublin pointing out a remedy for the state of Ireland, Catholic Emancipation, and a repeal of the Union Act. His activities e=resulted in the unfavourable attention of the British government.
Increasingly unhappy in his marriage to Harriet Shelly resented the influence of her older sister, Eliza, who had discouraged Harriet from breastfeeding their baby daughter. He accused Harriet of marrying him for money and craving more intellectual female companionship he began spending more time away from home. Eliza and Harriet moved back with their parents. Shelley’s mentor Godwin had three highly educated daughters, including his only biological daughter Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, named after her mother, the feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, author of A Vindication of the Rights of Women. The younger Mary was educated in Scotland and became acquainted with Shelley when she returned to the family home. Shelley fell madly in love with her. In July 1814 Shelley abandoned Harriet, who was pregnant with their son, and he and Mary, accompanied by her sister Claire, ran away to Switzerland. They returned six weeks later, homesick, and destitute, but Mary’s furious father refused to see them, instead demanding money to avoid scandal.
In 1816, prompted by Mary’s sister, the Shelleys made a second trip to Switzerland. Mary’s sister had initiated a liaison with Lord Byron just before his self-exile in Europe. Byron had lost interest in her and she used the opportunity to introduce Mary and Shelley to Byron as bait to lure him in Geneva. Byron and Shelley rented neighbouring houses on the shore of Lake Geneva. The poets inspired and invigorated each other.
In 1816 the body of Shelley’s estranged wife was found drowned in the Serpentine in Hyde Park after being abandoned by her lover in an advanced state of pregnancy. Shelley never alluded to the affair during the custody battle for his children, and the courts awarded custody to foster parents on the grounds Shelley had abandoned his wife and was an atheist. The Shelleys took up residence in Marlow, Buckinghamshire and took part in the literary circle that surround Leigh Hunt. Shelley met John Keats during this time.
Between 1818 and 1820 the Shelleys moved between various Italian cities. Shelley spent mid-1819 writing the tragedy ‘The Cenci’. In this year, he also wrote his best-known political poems: ‘The Masque of Anarchy’ and ‘Men of England’. On hearing of John Keats’ illness in 1820, Shelley wrote a letter inviting him to join him at his home in Pisa. Keats replied with hopes of seeing him. Inspired by the death of Keats in 1821, Shelley wrote the elegy Adonais. In 1822 Shelley invited the British poet and editor Leigh Hunt to come to Italy with his family. He intended for himself, Byron, and Hunt to create a journal which would have been called The Liberal.
In 1822, less than a month his 30th birthday, Shelley was drowned during a storm on the Gulf of La Spezia. His body was washed ashore and later cremated on the beach near Viareggio. His ashes were interred in the Protestant Cemetery in Rome.
Art Thou Pale for Weariness
Art thou pale for weariness Of climbing heaven and gazing on the earth, Wandering companionless Among the stars that have a different birth, And ever changing, like a joyless eye That finds no object worth its constancy?
Le quattro Stagioni (the Four Seasons) is four violin concerti composed by Antonio Vivaldi. Each concerto gives a musical impression to a season of the year and were written around 1716-17. They were a revolution in musical conception as Vivaldi represented flowing creeks, singing birds buzzing flies, storms, frozen landscapes and warm winter fires. Unusually for the time, Vivaldi published the concerti with accompanying sonnets, possibly by the composer himself, that eluded what is in the spirit of each season that his music intended to evoke. Vivaldi divided each concerto into three movements (fast-slow-fast) and similarly with each linked sonnet.
Winter Sonnet
To tremble from cold in the icy snow, In the harsh breath of a horrid wind; To run, stamping one’s feet every moment, Our teeth chattering in the extreme cold
Largo Before the fire to pass peaceful, Contented days while the rain outside pours down.
Allegro We tread the icy path slowly and cautiously, for fear of tripping and falling. Then turn abruptly, slip, crash on the ground and, rising, hasten on across the ice lest it cracks up. We feel the chill north winds course through the home despite the locked and bolted doors… this is winter, which nonetheless brings its own delights.
Composer: Antonio Lucio Vivaldi Movement: Baroque Born: 4 March 1678, Venice, Italy Italian Died: 28 July 1741, Vienna, Austria
Poet: William Blake Date of Birth: 28 November 1757, London, England English Date of Death: 12 August 1827, London, England
William Blake was a poet, painter and printmaker and was largely unrecognised within his own lifetime. Now, he is considered a seminal figure in the history of poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age. He lived his entire life in London, except for three years he spent in Felpham, yet he produced a diverse and rich œuvre of work that embraced the imagination as deity and human existence.
Due to his idiosyncratic views Blake was considered mad by his contemporaries but later critics held his expressiveness and creativity in high regard. A committed Christian he was hostile to the almost all forms of organised religion, Blake was influenced by the ideals and ambitions of the French and American revolutions although he later rejected many of these political beliefs.
William Blake was born in Soho, London, the third of seven children, two of whom died in infancy. He attended school long enough to learn reading and writing, leaving at the age of ten, and was otherwise educated at home by his mother. The Blakes were English Dissenters, however Blake was baptised at St James’ Church, Piccadilly, London. The Bible was an early influence on him and remained a source of inspiration throughout his life.
Blake began engraving copies of drawings of Greek antiquities purchased by his father. It was with these drawings that Blake found classical forms through the work of Raphael, Michelangelo and Dürer. When he was 10 years old Blake was enrolled in drawing classes at Par’s drawing school in the Strand. In 1772 Blake was apprenticed to the engraver James Basire for seven years. At the end of the term at the age of 21 he became a professional engraver.
The Ancient of Days, 1794, wood etching. Located in a private collection
In 1774 Basire sent Blake to copy images from the Gothic churches in London. Blake’s experiences in Westminster Abbey helped form his styles and inspired his ideas. Blake claimed he had visions in the abbey in which he saw Christ and his Apostles and heard a procession of monks and priests chanting.
In 1779, Blake became a student at the Royal Academy in Old Somerset House. He rebelled against the unfinished style of fashionable painters such as Rubens, championed by the school’s president Joshua Reynolds. Blake detested Reynolds’ attitude towards the pursuit of general truth and general beauty. Blake preferred the Classical precision of Michelangelo and Raphael.
In 1780 Blake was walking towards Basire’s shop when he was swept up by a rampaging mob that stormed Newgate Prison. Known as the Gordon Riots the mob attacked the prison gates with shovels and pickaxes , set the building ablaze and released the prisoners. Blake was reportedly in the front rank of the mob during the attack. The riots led to a parliamentary bill revoking sanctions against Roman Catholics and the creation of the first police force.
In 1782 Blake married Catherine Boucher. She signed their marriage certificate with an ‘X’ and he then taught her to read and write. He also trained her as an engraver and throughout his life she proved an invaluable aid, helping to print hi illuminated works and maintaining his spirits through misfortune.
Blake’s first collection of poems, ‘Poetical Sketches’ was printed c.1783. He and former fellow apprentice James Parker opened a print shop in 1784, working with the radical publisher Joseph Johnson. Johnson’s home was a meeting-place for some of the leading English intellectual dissidents of the time, such as Joseph Priestley, John Henry, Mary Wollstonecraft and Thomas Paine. Blake, along with William Wordsworth and William Godwin had great hopes for the French and American revolutions. He wore a Phrygian cap in solidarity with the French revolutionaries but despaired at the rise of Robespierre and the Reign of Terror in France.
Pity, 1795, relief etching. Located in the Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
Despite there being no evidence that they met, Blake illustrated Mary Wollstonecraft’s Original Stories from Real Life in 1791 and he seemed to share the same views on sexual equality and the institution of marriage. In 1793’s Visions of the daughters of Albion, Blake condemned the cruel absurdity of enforced chastity and marriage without love and defended the right of a woman to find complete self-fulfilment.
In 1788 Blake experimented with relief etchings, a method he used to produce most of his books, paintings, pamphlets and poems. The process is perhaps better known as illuminated printing. Illuminated printing involved writing the text of the poems on copper plates with pens and brushes, using an acid- resistant medium. Illustrations appeared alongside words in the manner of earlier illuminated manuscripts. The plates were then etched in acid to dissolve the untreated copper to leave the design standing in relief. This was a reversal of the usual method of etching, where the lines of the design were exposed to the acid, and the plate printed by the intaglio method. Blake is better known for his relief etching; however his commercial work was largely intaglio engraving.
Blake’s marriage to Catherine was a close and devoted partnership. He taught his wife to write and she helped him colour his printed poems. It has been suggested by some scholars that Blake tried to bring a concubine into the marital bed in accordance with the radical beliefs of the Swedenborgian Society, however this is merely conjecture and lacks evidential proof.
Blake moved to a cottage in Felpham, Sussex, in 1800 to take a job illustrating the works of the poet William Hayley. It was in this cottage that he started working on Milton, the preface of which is a poem which became the words for the anthem ‘Jerusalem.’ Over time, Blake came to resent his new patron as he felt Hayley had no interest in true artistry. In 1803 Blake’s trouble with authority came to a head when after an altercation with the soldier John Schofield he was charged with assault and uttering seditious and treasonable expressions against the king. He was cleared of all charges at the Chichester assizes but went on to depict Schofield as wearing mind-forged manacles in an illustration to Jerusalem.
The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, 1799 -1800, watercolour. Located at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
In 1804 Blake returned to London and began writing and illustrating Jerusalem. He approached the dealer Cromek with his concept of portraying the characters of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales to market an engraving and Cromek commissioned Blake’s friend Stathard to execute the concept. On learning that he had been cheated, Blake cut off his friendship with Stathard and set up an independent exhibition in Soho. Balke also gave vigorous expression of his views on art in series of polemical annotations to the Discourses of Sir Joshua Reynolds, denouncing the Royal Academy. Through the artist John Linnell Blake met Samuel Palmer and the Shoreham Ancients, a group of artists who shared the rejection of modern trends and the belief in a spiritual and artistic New Age. At the age of 65 Blake began work on illustrations for the Book of Job. In later life Blake began to sell several of his works, particularly his Bible illustrations, to Thomas Butts.
In 1826 Blake was commissioned to produce a series of engravings for Dante’s Divine Comedy. His death in 1827 cut short the project with only a few watercolours completed and seven of the engravings ready for proof form. Blake worked up until his death, he was buried in a shared grave at the Dissenter’s burial ground in Bunhill Fields, London, UK.
The Chimney Sweeper: A little black thing among the snow by William Blake
A little black thing among the snow, Crying “weep! ‘weep!” in notes of woe! “Where are thy father and mother? say?” “They are both gone up to the church to pray.
Because I was happy upon the heath, And smil’d among the winter’s snow, They clothed me in the clothes of death, And taught me to sing the notes of woe.
And because I am happy and dance and sing, They think they have done me no injury, And are gone to praise God and his Priest and King, Who make up a heaven of our misery.”
Artist: Thomas Jones Born: 26 September 1742, Cefnllys, Wales Nationality: Welsh Died: 29 April 1803, Wales
Thomas Jones was a landscape painter. A pupil of Richard Wilson, he was best known as a painter of Welsh and Italian landscapes. It is only in the 20th century his more unconventional works that were never intended for exhibition came to light. Most notably a series of views of Naples which he painted from 1782 to 1783. His autobiography, Memoirs of Thomas Jones of Pencerrig was unpublished until 1951, and is now recognised as an important source of information on the 18th-century art world.
The Bard by Thomas Jones, 1774, oil on canvas
The second of sixteen children Jones was born in Tredonnen in Cefnllys, Radnorshire. His formative years were spent on his father’s estate at Pencerrig near Builth Wells. He was educated at Christ College, Brecon and later at a school kept by Jenkin Jenkins at Llanfyllin in Montgomeryshire. In 1759 he went to Oxford to study at Jesus College. His university education was funded by an uncle who hoped Jones would enter the church. He dropped out of Oxford in 1761 to pursue his preferred career as an artist.
In 1761 Jones moved to London and enrolled at William Shipley’s drawing school. He remained unconfident in his ability to draw figures despite attending the life class at Martin’s Lane Academy. In 1763 he persuaded the leading landscape painter Richard Wilson to take him on as a pupil. Jones began to exhibit at the Society of Artists (the forerunner of the RA) in 1765.
Rooftops, Naples by Thomas Jones, 1782, oil on canvas
Jones travelled to Italy in 1776 and the works he produced there departed significantly from the example of his master, particularly in his watercolour paintings, where he developed a distinctive pallet of varying hues of blue. He became friendly with fellow expatriate artists such as Jacob More and Thomas Banks. His first commissioned painting in Italy was a landscape entitled Lake Albano – Sunset for the Earl-Bishop of Derry.
In 1778 jones made his first visit to Naples. He returned to Rome and lived in a house near the Spanish Steps. He took on Maria Moncke, a Danish widow, as a servant in 1779 and eloped with her to Naples in 1780. Then the largest city in Italy, Naples offered more opportunities for patronage than Rome, and Jones sought the patronage of the British Ambassador, Sir William Hamilton.
The Outskirts of London by Thomas Jones, 1786, oil on canvas
Upon his father’s death in 1782, Jones returned to Britain. He arrived home in November 1783 to find many of his possessions and painted nature studies had been destroyed by damp during his six years in Italy. In London he attempted to revive his career as a painter, but as his father had left him an annual income of £300 a year, he lacked impetus. He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1784 to 1798, however by 1875 he felt his career was over.
Jones felt increasingly drawn back to wales in his later years, especially Pencerrig. He inherited the estate in 1787. With this newfound financial security he finally married Maria Moncke in 1789. Jones to a great interest in the estate, using his sketchbook to record new agricultural developments. In 1791 he wrote a poem ‘Petraeia’ about his love of Pencerrig and he was also made High Sherriff of Radnorshire.
Pencerrig by Thomas Jones, 1772, oil on canvas
Jones died in 1803 from angina pectoris and was buried at the family chapel at Carbach, Llandrindod Wells, Wales.
Lo! for this dark terrestrial ball
Forsakes his azure-paved hall
A prince of heav’nly birth!
Divine Humanity behold,
What wonders rise, what charms unfold
At his descent to earth!
II.
The bosoms of the great and good
With wonder and delight he view’d,
And fix’d his empire there:
Him, close compressing to his breast,
The sire of gods and men address’d,
“My son, my heav’nly fair!
III.
“Descend to earth, there place thy throne;
“To succour man’s afflicted son
“Each human heart inspire:
“To act in bounties unconfin’d
“Enlarge the close contracted mind,
“And fill it with thy fire.”
IV.
Quick as the word, with swift career
He wings his course from star to star,
And leaves the bright abode.
The Virtue did his charms impart;
Their G—–! then thy raptur’d heart
Perceiv’d the rushing God:
V.
For when thy pitying eye did see
The languid muse in low degree,
Then, then at thy desire
Descended the celestial nine;
O’er me methought they deign’d to shine,
And deign’d to string my lyre.
VI.
Can Afric’s muse forgetful prove?
Or can such friendship fail to move
A tender human heart?
Immortal Friendship laurel-crown’d
The smiling Graces all surround
With ev’ry heav’nly Art
Phillis Wheatley
Poet: Phillis Wheatley
African-American
Born: circa 1753, West Africa
Died: 5 December 1784, Massachusetts, USA
Phillis Wheatley was the first published African-American poet. She was transported to America from Africa after she was sold into slavery at the age of 7 or 8. She was bought by the Wheatley family of Boston and taught to read and write. The family also encouraged her talent for poetry. After the publication of her book Poems of Various Subjects, Religious and Moral she found fame both in the UK and USA.
Phillis was emancipated shortly after the books publication and married circa 1778. She had three children, two of which died in infancy. In 1784 her husband was imprisoned for debt and Phillis was left in poverty. She died in 1874, shortly followed by her surviving son.
Mild is the parting year, and sweet
The odour of the falling spray;
Life passes on more rudely fleet,
And balmless is its closing day.
I wait its close, I court its gloom,
But mourn that never must there fall
Or on my breast or on my tomb
The tear that would have soothed it all
Poet: Walter Savage Landor Romanticism English 1775 – 1864
Walter Savage Landor was a writer, activist and poet. A rumbustious and lively character his work received critical acclaim but little public popularity. His writing and activism reflected his passion for liberal and republican causes. Described as a poet’s poet his work influenced future writers such as Charles Dickens and Robert Browning.
Title: Minuetto Date: 1771 Composer: Luigi Boccherini Movement: Classical Born: 19 February 1743, Lucca, Italy Italian Died: 26 May 1805, Madrid, Spain
Ridolfo Luigi Boccherini was a composer and cellist of the Classical era. His music retained a galante, courtly style even as his maturity in music grew apart from the major European musical centres. Best known for a minuet from his String Quintet in E, Op 11, No.5 and the Cello Concerto in B flat major. Boccherini also composed guitar quintets influenced by Spanish music.
Jezzie G 