A Special Place for Blog Lovers with a Touch of Science!

Image credit: Portrait of Auguste Rodin, John Singer Sargent, 1884; Wikipedia

Auguste Rodin

The French sculptor François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 1840 – 17 November 1917) is considered the founder of modern sculpture as we know it today. He is one of the most famous artists both in the visual arts and intellectual worlds. Although he took classic sculpture education his first notable work Man with the Broken Nose (1863-4) was already a major deviation from the traditional view of the French Salon and caused great controversy and dispute. Rodin is highly appreciated as one of the most talented masters of both clay and bronze figures who demonstrated a unique and original model of these materials with complex forms, elaborated contrast of concavity and convexity, and a deep understanding of the play of lights and reflections.

His Art provoked a lot of discourses among the traditionalist. On the one hand, Rodin was a meticulous craftsman who was able to produce detailed precise rendering and on the other hand, he refused to follow the pieces of advice of the Salon and developed a new "classic" that cut off the threads of the dogmatic traditional views on sculpture. As opposed to the seeking of perfection, balance, completeness, and amplified beauty, the sculptor was now emphasizing the inner expressiveness of the subject matter, of the material itself, as well as the aesthetics of the ugliness, incompleteness, fragmentation, and naturalism. In his book Art: Conversations with Paul Gsell, he goes even furthermore saying that often the uglier something appears in Nature, the more beautiful it could be in the form of Art. Rodin abandoned the traditional use of mythology and allegories to convey the inner meanings of the represented subject and put the accent on the physicality and the individual unique features. He wasn't only an artist but a great thinker, who produced seminal writings on aesthetics and kept communication with some of the most influential intellectuals of his time.

Image credit: Brooklyn Street Art

The Un-Ordinary Art of Michelangelo

We have all heard about David, Pieta, and the Sistine Chapel. Or maybe not all. If you have lived all your life in a cave in the vicinity of an isolated village, where the only electricity around is from the lightnings during a storm, you probably haven't. But then you wouldn't be reading this and would just have the feeling, that you are missing something out. What not many of us have heard about, are two places in Florence, where the Renaissance genius has left his mark in a rather unusual way. This is what we are going to explore today.

Image credit: Théodore Géricault, The Raft of the Medusa, 1819; Wikipedia

A short introduction to Romanticism

We have all heard the words romantic, romance, Romanticism and we have all used them. But what actually they mean, and where do they come from? Do they necessarily refer to some mawkish and sentimental story, or there is something more? If you try to search on the web for information about it, you could spend hours reading tons of it and if you are really keen to know about it go for it. However, it isn't such a bad idea to get a bit more familiar with the subject matter before you invest your time in vast research. What you will find here is a brief but useful explanation of the 19th-century movement with a touch of subjectivity. Just like a romantic author would do. The rest is up to you!

Image credit: Slaves cutting the sugar cane on the Island of Antigua, 1823; unsplash.com; British Library

The formal end of the slave trade in the British Empire

The Committee for Abolition of the Slave Trade, which was formed in 1787, was among the first unions in Britain that organized opposition to slavery in the Empire. Another 20 years passed before they formed a large group of supporters in the British parliament. They gathered around the idea that slavery is a despicable act against humanity and Christian morals.

One of the greatest proponents of anti-slavery ideals was William Wilberforce. More and more MPs in the House of Commons were advocating more humanistic views and expressed deep indignation against the slavery trade. Finally, on 23 February 1807, the House of Commons passed the bill with the striking vote majority of 283 to 16, and one month later, on 25 March 1807, King George III signed the bill and it became law.

Image credit: Pixabay

NO THEY DON'T! .... and other myths

There are many things, that we are told and we accept for granted. But we always forget the most important thing in the world - Science. As an ostrich has its legs to run or fight the threat, we have Science to teach us, how things actually work. So let's stop sticking our heads into the ground and learn the actual truth about some of the most popular myths we believe are true.