History of Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

History of Art - Essay Example The British Museum is a house of art that houses a wide collection of world art and artefacts free to all visitors. Giovanni Antonio Canaletto drawing of London at around 1751 Image Location: http://www.britishmuseum.org/images/ps355425_m.jpg The picture shows a favorite eighteenth century view of London from high ground. The cathedral is the tallest building in the drawing, as it is seen high in the sky. The middle ground on the right hand edge of the picture presents a building with its walled forecourt, which the artist calls The Founding Hospital at the north of the tow. These make the landmarks of the town among the mass of smaller buildings surrounded by a number of parish churches. The fact that the drawing served as a model for the engraver explains the careful outlines and the slightly labored appearance of the drawing. Although the artist’s characteristic of penwork is evident in the free drawing of the plants in the foreground, which brings out the liveliness of ske tches and drawings which represented a finished work. The visual evidences the artist presents about London are evident in the drawing. Even the color used represents the period during which the drawing was made. Lucas Van Leyden’s Copperplate Engraving of Christ Presented to the People Image Location: http://www.britishmuseum.org/images/ps141709_m.jpg The engraving shows a group of people gathering in a crowd, with some holding swords. The picture shows dressing codes of people during the era when Jesus was crucified. The buildings too represent palace buildings of the time. To bring out the presentation of the time, the artist has used linear perspective to create a detailed sequence of space between multifaceted and magnificent buildings (Griffiths 1510). The background of the engraving shows a clear appearance of clouds, which show the sky background of any good work of art. This work of art also shows the characteristics of a good picture in the way the grounds are arran ged. The foreground, middle ground and the back ground all show differentiated arrangement of views. The sizes of the buildings differ according to the grounds. The engraving is clearly a representation of the period brought out by the artist. Thomas Gainsborough‘s watercolor of A cart Passing along a winding road Image Location: http://www.britishmuseum.org/images/ps219472_m.jpg The image according to its title shows people with a cart journeying on a road with trees depicting a windy weather. These are visually evident characteristics of the image. The artist has used paint to bring out the theme of the picture in the drawing. The watercolor paint used over black chalk heightened with white bodycolor brings the light and shade, which are the most noticeable features in the picture (Royalton-Kisch 1999). The light pool brings illumination to the road, the horses, and gaps appearing between the trees. The picture shows a clear image of nature as the title depicts. The artist b rings out work of landscape artists who can make a good representation of landscape. Wenceslaus Hollar drawing View of The Tower of London Image Location: http://www.britishmuseum.org/images/ps219443_m.jpg The picture, as is visual has a ship in the foreground, in the middle foreground are small boats and at the background is the tower. This drawing was made in pen and brown ink with watercolor over black lead. The foreground shows