A Tribute

The works illustrated on this page are tributes that I wanted to dedicate to three of the seventeen greatest artists of the past that I have considered my spiritual teachers. The other Greats, with whom I share a bond are: Piero della Francesca , Andrea Montegna, Giovanni Bellini, Albert Durer, H. Bosch, Grunewald, Giorgio Vasari, (beyond the big artist, big reporter and art critic), P.H. Bruegel the old, Caravaggio, Hogarth, Goya (for the serie “Whims” “Disasters of War”),Delacroix, Corot (my first Master), Boccioni (my illustrious countryman), Renoir, Gustave Dore` (the mast genius creation), Daumier; beyond mention (in this page ) : T. Lautrec, Braque, Chagall and F. Leger .

 

 

 

 

MY VIEW POINT

Many Artists, even those from the past, have been inspired by or have copied from artists who have historically preceded them.

For example, two contemporary versions exist of the “Battaglia Nel Mare Degli Dei” (Battle in the Seas of Gods), one signed by Andrea Montagna, the other signed by A. Durer. Who copied whom? It is possible that both copied from some Greco-Roman Bass Relief. Some of the greatest medieval artists drew inspiration from Greek or Roman bass-relief (portals, sarcophagi, or columns, like the Trojan Column). For example, Raphael did so for his work :” Il Judizio di Paride”. The

same Raphael was in turn copied with great skill by Andrea del Sarto. Later, P. Brueghel il Vecchio, was inspired by H. Bosch whom in turn drew inspiration from the work of Jan van Eyck, a great painter from the previous century. Still yet : Botticelli obtained his from mythological decorations painted on ceramics from the Hellenistic Era. William Blake in the opera “The Ancient of Days” was clearly inspired in the work of Tullio Zuccari “La Conversione di San Paolo” (The Conversion of Saint Paul) some 250 years earlier. Renoir himself was inspired by Rubens who in turn was inspired by Leonardo. Witness for example, “La Battaglia di Anghiari” copied from a draft prepared by the great Leonardo. Even more recently (one could fill many pages) we find for example Picasso who in his designs is inspired by Manet. Certain sketches exist signed by Picasso of his work “Collazione sull’Erba” (Lunch on the Green), a work which unequivocally is a modern version of

the work “Il Giudizio di Paride” (The Judgement of Paris) by the artist Marcantonio Raimondi

(circa 1500). He in turn had created this painting taking as an example an earlier work by Raphael. Raphael himself had drawn inspiration from a Bass-Relief – a Roman sarcophagus from the third century AD titled: “River Gods”.

Tito Maan Mangiola