An Exploration of Winged Figures

I'm thrilled to be working on a new series of paintings involving winged figures and ballerinas. It was this painting from last year, "Little Warrior," that got the whole thing started: "Little Warrior" (2013) - by Anna Rose Bain - 14.5" x 24"  Oil on linen glued to board - Private Collection Before beginning the series, however, I decided to study up on the history of "winged figures" in art and culture. I realized that I knew quite a bit about angels in the biblical sense, but was at a loss as to how our modern-day image of the angel came to be. In my mind, I needed to justify why I would be taking a deliberately cultural (and not literal) take on angels, knowing that the Bible strictly describes them as masculine beings who serve as either mess… Read more »

An Exploration of Winged Figures

On Medieval Nudity and the Art of the Sensual

I'm back! I wanted to address a couple of questions that were brought up by one of my readers before I continue forward in art history. My friend Matt, a fellow Hillsdale grad, had a two-fold question as follows: "Firstly, if Medieval artists wished to point to genuinely divine things and ultimately to God, using human symbols - Mary, Jesus, the saints, animals, etc., why did they avoid nudity? On the contrary, by and large they piled clothing on their characters. Were all the artists simply prudes? Perhaps the iconographic nude can't and won't open directly up to the contemplation of God. Why is this? Is it something to do with purity? Has it something to do with Him being an infinite person? Secondly, Titian carries this sort-of Platonic Christian humanism, that you desc… Read more »

On Medieval Nudity and the Art of the Sensual

Nudity in Art, Part II

As I mentioned in my last post, nudity in classical art was meant to personify an idea or to reveal certain qualities of the human condition. During the Renaissance, the Catholic Church was still one of the biggest patrons of the arts, and as a result we have such priceless treasures as Giotto's The Life of Christ frescoes in Scrovegni Chapel and Masaccio's Brancacci Chapel. Both painters demonstrated new-found understanding of anatomy, foreshortening, lighting, form and drapery. Images of Christ being taken down from the cross, or being carried to his tomb, depicted Him nude or semi-nude. I find it refreshing to see the physicality of Jesus in Renaissance and Post-Renaissance painting, because the Bible tells us that He was both fully God and fully Man. Giotto di Bondone, Lamentat… Read more »

Nudity in Art, Part II