English Romantic Painter, 1775-1851 Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 1775 ?C 19 December 1851) was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker, whose style is said to have laid the foundation for Impressionism. Although Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, he is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting. Turner's talent was recognised early in his life. Financial independence allowed Turner to innovate freely; his mature work is characterised by a chromatic palette and broadly applied atmospheric washes of paint. According to David Piper's The Illustrated History of Art, his later pictures were called "fantastic puzzles." However, Turner was still recognised as an artistic genius: the influential English art critic John Ruskin described Turner as the artist who could most "stirringly and truthfully measure the moods of Nature." (Piper 321) Suitable vehicles for Turner's imagination were to be found in the subjects of shipwrecks, fires (such as the burning of Parliament in 1834, an event which Turner rushed to witness first-hand, and which he transcribed in a series of watercolour sketches), natural catastrophes, and natural phenomena such as sunlight, storm, rain, and fog. He was fascinated by the violent power of the sea, as seen in Dawn after the Wreck (1840) and The Slave Ship (1840). Turner placed human beings in many of his paintings to indicate his affection for humanity on the one hand (note the frequent scenes of people drinking and merry-making or working in the foreground), but its vulnerability and vulgarity amid the 'sublime' nature of the world on the other hand. 'Sublime' here means awe-inspiring, savage grandeur, a natural world unmastered by man, evidence of the power of God - a theme that artists and poets were exploring in this period. The significance of light was to Turner the emanation of God's spirit and this was why he refined the subject matter of his later paintings by leaving out solid objects and detail, concentrating on the play of light on water, the radiance of skies and fires. Although these late paintings appear to be 'impressionistic' and therefore a forerunner of the French school, Turner was striving for expression of spirituality in the world, rather than responding primarily to optical phenomena. Rain, Steam and Speed - The Great Western Railway painted (1844).His early works, such as Tintern Abbey (1795), stayed true to the traditions of English landscape. However, in Hannibal Crossing the Alps (1812), an emphasis on the destructive power of nature had already come into play. His distinctive style of painting, in which he used watercolour technique with oil paints, created lightness, fluency, and ephemeral atmospheric effects. (Piper 321) One popular story about Turner, though it likely has little basis in reality, states that he even had himself "tied to the mast of a ship in order to experience the drama" of the elements during a storm at sea. In his later years he used oils ever more transparently, and turned to an evocation of almost pure light by use of shimmering colour. A prime example of his mature style can be seen in Rain, Steam and Speed - The Great Western Railway, where the objects are barely recognizable. The intensity of hue and interest in evanescent light not only placed Turner's work in the vanguard of English painting, but later exerted an influence upon art in France, as well; the Impressionists, particularly Claude Monet, carefully studied his techniques.  Related Paintings of Joseph Mallord William Turner :. | Leuchtraketen bei hohem Seegang | Roman fire | Canal Grande in Venedig | Dido Building Carthage or the rise of the Carthaginian Empire | Volcano erupt |
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Philipp Peter Roos
(later surnamed Rosa di Tivoli; 1651-1706), was a German Baroque painter. He was born in Frankfurt am Main and learned to paint from his father, the landscape painter Johann Heinrich Roos.He was the brother of the painter Johann Melchior Roos, who briefly worked with him in Italy. As a young man, he painted in the style of his father. He was called to paint for Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, who liked him so much, he gave him a sum of money to travel to Rome with,which he did in 1677. He became a member of the Bentvueghels with the nickname "Mercury" and earned money making small paintings and sketches for tourists. He fell in love with the daughter of Giacinto Brandi, whom he later married. They lived in a large house in Tivoli, near Rome, whence his surname. In Tivoli, they kept a menagerie of various animals so Roos could draw from live poses. This house was called the "Noah's Ark" by their friends. In his Italian style, he painted life-size figures and animals in a broad manner and a heavy brown tone.
Fernando Gallego
1466-1507 Spanish Fernando Gallego Galleries was a Spanish painter, his art is regarded as a gothic style. It is thought that he was born in Salamanca, Spain, an his first knowned works were in the cathedrals of Plasencia and Coria, in Caceres (Spain). His most famous knowned works are: The Retablo of San Ildefonso, in the Cathedral of Zamora The Sky of Salamanca, in the University of Salamanca. The retablo of Ciudad Rodrigo, now in the Tucson Museum, University of Arizona, USA. The Arcenillas panels, placed in Zamora. San Acacio and the 10,000 Martyrs, at the Meadows Museum. The last time that he was named in a document is in 1507, but we do not know the date of the death.
Francesco Caccianiga
Francesco Caccianiga (1700-1781) was an Italian painter and engraver. He was born in Milan. In Bologna, he became a pupil of Marcantonio Franceschini. He afterwards visited Rome, where he established himself under the patronage of Prince Borghese, for whom he executed some considerable works in the Palazzo and the Villa Borghese. His principal works are at Ancona, where he painted several altar-pieces, among them, Marriage of the Virgin and Last Supper.