Art's Last Bow

The red heart is one of the most common emojis ( third most popular in 2022 ). We all use this symbol at some point to show affection, care, or friendliness, no matter whether we choose trendy hearts of all sorts of different colors or simply stick to the conventional red heart emoji. Before the heart became an emoji though, this symbol has been used for centuries. But when did it first appear in the form we’re familiar with? After all, it bears little resemblance to the actual, anatomical human organ that pumps blood throughout our bodies. And when did it start being used in art? While most people associate the heart symbol with mushy Victorian Valentine’s cards (in company with chubby little cupids), it first appears in art in the Middle Ages. The ideals of chivalry and courtly love as developed by the educated scholars and troubadours of the ducal courts of Aquitaine, Provence, and Burgundy required befitting illustrations. The earliest known image of the human heart as a ...

  Henry John Yeend King (1855 - 1924) was a British painter. He mostly captured images of rustic genre scenes set in an idealized past.   The title of this painting is taken from the first line of the poem “ A Visit from St. Nicholas ” by Clement Clarke Moore, but it doesn’t illustrate the poem. It shows a small choir of little boys singing carols in front of a large house. There are lights in the windows, and you can see the silhouettes of two figures standing in the doorway and listening to the music.

  While nobody knows exactly when Titian was born, his active professional life started around 1506 and continued to his death in 1576 – that’s seventy years of painting. Titian may have been close to 90 years old when he died of the plague. He studied art in Venice under Gentile and Giovanni Bellini, and his style was heavily influenced by Giorgione.   Titian became the undisputed master of Venetian painting, receiving orders from the Dukes of Ferrara, Gonzaga, and Urbino, and later from the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V himself. He became the principal painter at the court of Charles V, and later his son, Philip II of Spain. What made Venetian painting stand out even among the other masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance was the Venetian approach of prioritizing color, above the line and drawing. The Venetians favored glowing, jewel-like tones. This was made possible by the fact that Venice was an important center of trade at the time, bringing together wares from al...