St. Ignazio Church Ceiling Fresco

St. Ignazio Church Ceiling Fresco

Andrea Pozzo, a Jesuit lay brother, painted the grandiose fresco that stretches across the nave ceiling (after 1685).[8] It celebrates the work of Saint Ignatius and the Society of Jesus in the world presenting the saint welcomed into paradise by Christ and the Virgin Mary and surrounded by allegorical representations of all four continents. Pozzo worked to open up, even dissolve the actual surface of the nave's barrel vault illusionistically, arranging a perspectival projection to make an observer see a huge and lofty cupola (of a sort), open to the bright sky, and filled with upward floating figures. A marble disk set into the middle of the nave floor marks the ideal spot from which observers might fully experience the illusion. A second marker in the nave floor further east provides the ideal vantage point for the trompe l'oeil painting on canvas that covers the crossing and depicts a tall, ribbed and coffered dome. The cupola one expects to see here was never built and in its place, in 1685, Andrea Pozzo supplied a painting on canvas with a perspectival projection of a cupola. Destroyed in 1891, the painting was subsequently replaced. Pozzo also frescoed the pendentives in the crossing with Old Testament figures: Judith, David, Samson, and Jaele.

Andrea Pozzo's painted ceiling

Pozzo also painted the frescoes in the eastern apse depicting the life and apotheosis of St Ignatius. The Siege of Pamplona in the tall panel on the left commemorates the wounding of Ignatius, which led to the convalescence that transformed his life. The panel over the high altar, Vision of St Ignatius at the Chapel of La Storta, commemorates the vision that gave the saint his divine calling. St Ignatius sends St Francis Xavier to India recalls the aggressive Jesuit missionary work in foreign countries, and finally, St Ignatius Receiving Francesco Borgia recalls the recruitment of the Spanish noble who would become General of the Company of Jesuits. Pozzo is also responsible for the fresco in the conch depicting St. Ignatius Healing the Pestilent.

Sistine Chapel Ceiling Painting

Sistine Chapel Ceiling Painting 

The Sistine Chapel ceiling, painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512, is a cornerstone work of High Renaissance art.

The ceiling is that of the Sistine Chapel, the large papal chapel built within the Vatican between 1477 and 1480 by Pope Sixtus IV, for whom the chapel is named. It was painted at the commission of Pope Julius II. The chapel is the location for papal conclaves and many important services.

The ceiling's various painted elements form part of a larger scheme of decoration within the Chapel, which includes the large fresco The Last Judgment on the sanctuary wall, also by Michelangelo, wall paintings by several leading painters of the late 15th century including Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio and Pietro Perugino, and a set of large tapestries by Raphael, the whole illustrating much of the doctrine of the Catholic Church.

Central to the ceiling decoration are nine scenes from the Book of Genesis of which The Creation of Adam is the best known, having an iconic standing equalled only by Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, the hands of God and Adam being reproduced in countless imitations. The complex design includes several sets of individual figures, both clothed and nude, which allowed Michelangelo to fully demonstrate his skill in creating a huge variety of poses for the human figure and which have provided an enormously influential pattern book of models for other artists ever since.

Portrait Of Terentius Neo and his wife

Portrait Of Terentius Neo and his wife

1st century- Fresco from Pompeii, Italy

1. In,the dry climate of Italy, some Roman frescoes have survived. The ones at Pompeii were preserved when the volcano Vesuvius erupted and buried the city in 79ce.
2. The owner of the house, Terentius Neo was a baker who wanted himself and his wife as successful and clever. He holds a scroll to show he can read.
3. The wife holds a stylus (a writing tool) and an open diptych (an ancient writing tablet) and looks as if she is about to finish off some writing.
4. The strong red colours were made from sienna, a hard red rock found in Italy. 

Fowling in Marshes

Nebamun's tomb painting
Nebamun was a official in ancient Egypt. Around his tomb was a large wall painting.This scene showed Nebamun with his family hunting birds in the marshes of the River Nile. This type of scene, showing the deceased doing something they enjoyed, was very common in tombs. Nebamun wanted this wall painting in tomb so that he could have lots of birds and fishes to hunt in his after life, a place for the dead yo live.






This Painting shows the life of the people of Ancient Egypt and the small details in it. Some of the details are-

1. The eyes and shoulders of Egyptian figures were shown facing the front, but all other parts of the body were shown side on.
2. Can you see the cat balancing on to reeds trying to catch birds? Cats were family pets in ancient Egyptian times but also used as hunting partners.
3. The artists of this wall, Nebamun have managed to show the scaly and shiny skin of the fish.    
4. If a scribe though an illustration needed more explanation then hieroglyphs would be used such as these. Hieroglyphs literally means "sacred carving ". Each symbol represents a different letter or sound. In this painting such symbols are shown which represents different meanings

• The Horned Viper represents the letter F.
• The Egyptian vultures represent the letter A.
• The Eye is said to mean the word I.
• The Quail Chick represents the letter W or U.