The sublime in art by Elisabetta Bernardini

IRENE, DAIANA E AJAD

2017-01-13 08:33:58 UTC

"Vesuvius in eruption" by Joseph Wright of Derby:
-contrast of colors (the warm ones of the volcano on the left and the cold ones of the sea on the right) and between the peace of the sea and the force of the nature represented by the volcano
-there are some tiny people in the foreground (two are carrying a third one on their shoulders and next to them there's a woman). The size of the characters compared to the majestic nature emphasize the limits of humans and their vulnerability.
-there's a contrast between dark and light created with the smoke and the clouds and the light from the volcano and of the moon.

"The Nightmare" by H.Fuseli:
-there are three important figures in the painting: the first one is a vulnerable woman lying down on a bed, the second one is a demoniac figure that's sitting on her lap and the last one is a mysterious dark horse with an empty gaze.

Giada e Lorenzo

2017-01-13 08:34:48 UTC

"Vesuvius in eruption"
Joseph Wright painted the eruption of Vulcano Vesuvius and he has created a dramatic composition.We can see the tranquillity of the sea in contrast to the violence of the volcano,black clouds and smoke.
There are two men in the dark side of the paint, under the eruption, they are carring the lifeless body of one of the volcano's victims.
These subjects are insignificant respect to the force of the nature, a typical subject of the sublime art.
"The nightmare"
We can see a sleeping girl and she draped over the end of a bed with her head hanging down, exposing her long neck. She is surmounted by an incubus.Her brilliant coloration is set against the darker reds, yellows of the background. There are different sublime elements: the frightening creature near the girls; that represent the incubus

Laura Alice G. Sorin

2017-01-13 08:34:54 UTC

The eruption of Vesuvius is a contrast between the tranquillity of the sea and the violence of the volcano. Another contrast is between the light reflected from the moon and the clouds with the fire and the lava.
The element that is the most
highlighted is the volcano.
The technique used in this painting is the "chiaroscuro".

The Nightmare:
It shows a sleeping woman draped over the end of a bed with her head hanging down, exposing her long neck.
Fuseli used a chiaroscuro effect to create strong contrasts between light and shade.
-mara: is a spirit that, in heathen mythology, was related to torment or to suffocate sleepers.
-mare: is an horse.

FEDERICO SIMONA LETIZIA

2017-01-13 08:37:36 UTC

"Vesuvius in eruption" by Joseph Wright:
The red atmosphere around the eruption is wrap in dark clouds of ash. Vesuvius itself is illuminated orange while the night sky is lit by a moon. There is the contrast between the peace of the sea and the violence of the volcano, clouds and smoke. There is also a fantastic display of light and darkness and we can see three men.

"The Nightmare"
- Shocked, titillated, and frightened
- literary character and the various figures

Giulia, Alice P.

2017-01-13 08:40:15 UTC

In "Vesuvius in Eruption", Joseph Wright emphasizes the drama of the erupting volcano, through contrasts:
the serenity of the sea and the violence of the eruption, or the light of the moon ad the fire of lava. Foreground, we can see three men (one of them is death) that highlight the vulnerability of humans in front of nature's power and their limits.
H. Fuseli chose the elemen

Leonardo, Alice M., Rachele

2017-01-13 08:40:33 UTC

"Vesuvius in Eruption"
-painted by Joseph Wright
-the Vesuvius erupts and destroies the valley
-the moon and the scary night
-the moon is hidden in the clouds
-the only point of light is in the center
-two man are taking away a dead man
-the peace of the sea and the contrast between the see and the violence of the volcano
-force of nature
"The Nightmare"
-painted by John Henry Fuseli
-mare = "cavalla"
-mara = "demone" (in the buddhism)
-the mare and the mara represents the nightmare
-the bottle represents a magic potion
-the woman is subjected to dark forces
-the presence of the dark in most of the painting

FEDERICO SIMONA LETIZIA

2017-01-13 16:49:17 UTC

continuation of the paintings description

""The Nightmare"
- in addition to the sleeping woman there are two terrifying figures: the figure that sits upon the woman’s chest and the dark horse on the left, called mare.
-the single light source coming in from the right: darkness prevails

"An Avalanche in the Alps"
- Here de Loutherbourg, who specialised in such landscapes, adds human drama to the avalanche’s progress via the terrified people (foreground) soon to be overwhelmed by nature’s power
- the story takes place in the mountains, in almost complete darkness
- in the paint the dark colors prevail
- single point of light comes from the snow, as if to emphasize the tragic end waiting for the men at the hands of this.

GIADA E LORENZO

2017-01-15 17:16:59 UTC

(CONTINUAZIONE DELLA DESCRIZIONE)
the dark horse, the use of chiaroscuro tecnique, that produces a gloomy impact.
AVALANCHE IN THE ALPS
This paint realized by Philip James De Loutherbourg rapresent the unstoppable force of the nature, he choose the avalance as a destroying natural phenomenon, this subject is typical of the sublime art.
In the painting the sublime effect is reinforced by the use of the color; the artist uses light color for the avalance and dark colors to explicit the frightening emotions of the charachters in the painting, that are scared by this dangerous phenomenon

Giulia, Alice P.

2017-01-15 20:32:32 UTC

"The Nightmare"
-It shows a woman sleeping on her bed, with her arms thrown below her.
- The woman has a ugly incubus on her chest.
-we have two images of the dream: the effect of the nightmare (with the woman that seems lifeless) and, on the other hand, the sleeping vision;
In the background there are red curtains, with the had of a horse with bold eyes emerging from them: Fuseli has been inspired by folklore believes, like Germanic tales, in which men were visited by horses (mares) in the night.
- However the term "nightmare" finds his origins by a Scandinavian mythological term "Mara" (not mare), referring to a diabolical spirit.
-Fuseli uses the technique of chiaroscuro to create the contrast between light and shape.
-The bottles on the table could represent a magic potion or a sort of sleeping peel.
- the dark setting, highlighted by the use of the colors and the supernatural beings are all elements of the sublime.
"An avalanche in the Alps"
- the Alps were very familiar landscapes and in the eighteen century they started to be appreciated for their Sublime.
-the painting in fact shows a contrast between natural power and human vulnerability.
-Foreground, some men are overwhelmed by this natural phenomenus: snow falls violently destroying a bridge. One of them is praying God, with another one running to save his life and a third one who seem not scared at all, but is immobilized and paralyzed by this event: a perfect expression of the idea of the sublime.

IRENE, DAIANA E AJAD

2017-01-15 20:49:45 UTC

"The Nightmare" by H.Fuseli (continuation):
- representing a nightmare, the painting gives a subjective (the woman that seems lifeless due to her hanging head and arms) and an objective (the monsters she's dreaming about) vision of the portrait subject;
- the demon who's sitting on her lap is an incubus, a mythological figure the usually lies upon women in order to engage sexual activity with them;
- ever if the etymology of the word "nightmare" does not relate to horses (the word derives from the Scandivian term mara, a spirit send to torment sleepers), it seems that Fuseli, maybe influenced by his own dreams, saw a connection between the word nightmare and "mare" (female horse);
- there is a strong contrast between light (the woman lying on the bed) and shade (the background) created with the technique of chiaroscuro;
- in the left corner of the painting there a small table with phial on it, which could be full of many things, from perfume to a magic potion, from a medicinal drink to Laudanum, a famous drug largely used in that time period;
- the use of the color and the idea of the vulnerable woman tormented by demoniac figures are typical elements of the sublime.

"An Avalanche in the Alps" by P.J. De Loutherbourg
- the painting shows, as the title itself says, a monumental avalanche in the Alps, which were a familiar landscape for British travellers and started to be appreciated for their characteristics connected with the idea of the sublime in the later part of the 18th century;
- there is a remarkable contrast in the painting between natural power and human vurnerability: the former one is represented by the violence of the avalanche, which is destroying everything in its way while progressing (the snow, indeed, has completely destroyed a wooden bridge while falling), whereas the latter one is represented by the three terrified tiny men in the left corner, that show their helplessness through their actions (one man is raising his joined hands while praying God, another one, who seems to be a woman actually, is running away, scared to death and the third one is peering at the avalanche, petrified by the overwhelming natural phenomenon;
- there's also a contrast of colors in the picture: the bright ones of the avalanche and the tiny men and the dark ones of the rocks; this contrast emphasises the power and violence of nature against human vulnerability and limits by highlighting nature's majesty;
- the subject of the painting, its colors and situation are a magnificent expression of the sublime idea of natural incredible phenomena and their effects on human beings.