Daily Dose of Art

I feel this deeply.

Sometimes you have to burn it all down to light your own way. #artistsoninstagram #independentartist #rant #pixelart #animation

So much beauty!

Detail from the background of “The Unicorn Rests in a Garden” from circa 1495-1505.

This is the millefleur background. Some of the identifiable flowers include violets, lilies, forget-me-nots, thistles, bistort, daffodils, and wild orchids. If you look closely, you can find little hidden details, such as a dragonfly drinking nectar from a lily, and a frog hidden among some violets.

This post taught me the word "millefleur"...

millefleur: having an allover pattern of small flowers and plants

“The Unicorn Rests in a Garden” is a tapestry made from gilded thread, silver silk, and wool. Made in the Southern Netherlands between 1495 and 1505, it is one of the finest pieces of artworks still in existence from the Middle Ages. From the style of art, it is believed to have been designed in Paris, France and created in the vicinity of Brussels, Belgium.

This is one of seven tapestries that make up 'The Unicorn Tapestries', also known as 'The Hunt of the Unicorn'. It is the most well-known of the series. It is still unclear what order the tapestries were intended to be in, but the series details the entrapment of a unicorn by a virgin, which is subsequently hunted, and killed. This tapestry is placed either at the beginning or end of the series. From its docile manner within the fence, many believe it shows the unicorn as tamed.

In this piece, a unicorn is laying down within a wooden fence. It wears a blue color and is chained to a pomegranate tree, also within the enclosure. The tree is ripe with fruit, with some fruit overripe and opening. Some evidence of pomegranate seeds and juice rest on the coat of the unicorn.

The setting is rich and dense with flowers of all kinds and colors, known as the millefleur background style, which was popular from around 1400 to 1550, and which William Morris revived with his tapestries in the late 1800s. Some of the identifiable flowers include violets, lilies, forget-me-nots, thistles, bistort, daffodils, and wild orchids. If you look closely, you can find little hidden details, such as a dragonfly drinking nectar from a lily, and a frog hidden among some violets.

“The Unicorn Rests in a Garden” is currently on display at The Cloisters, a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York City, in the United States.

And now some epic art...

"The Knight at the Crossroads” is an oil on canvas painting by the Russian artist, Viktor Vasnetsov, from 1882. It is one of Vasnetsov’s most famous pieces.

In this painting, Vasnetsov paints a knight atop his white horse. He is dressed for battle, with a helmet, full armor, shield, a quiver full of arrows, and a spear in his right hand. Both the knight and his horse look weary, with slouched positions and their heads angled downwards.

The knight and horse are standing at a crossroads as the knight reads a sign etched upon the stone. The text on the stone, written in archaic Russian in stylized phrasing, reads, “If you ride straight ahead — you will not remain alive — there is no path for the traveler by road, nor for the passerby on foot, nor for the flyer through the air.”

To add to the drama, in a letter he wrote about the painting, Vasnetsov had said that there are two more choices written on the stone, though they are obscured by moss and partially erased by age, so the hero doesn’t see them. The other choices are ride to the right to be married, or ride to the left to be wealthy. The knight only sees the path forward that leads to his death. Does he heed the sign or go forward?

The setting of the painting is the great expanse of the Russian steppe as the sun sets in the distance. The foreboding landscape is riddled with rocks and boulders, along with the bones of humans and animals. Ravens fly nearby and stand upon the rocks, looking at the knight and his horse, adding to the ominous scene. It appears that many have come here only to die.

The knight is believed to be a representation of the folk hero, llya Muromets, who was one of the bogatyrs, or knights from Rus folklore, and was a major character in Russian bylina, or epic poems.

“The Knight at the Crossroads” is part of the collections of the State Russian Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

For more on Viktor Vasnetsov, please visit his short biography here:
https://www.myddoa.com/artists/viktor-vasnetsov/

I love the Last of the Mohicans film from 1992 with Daniel Day-Lewis. And I can't help but think that it was somewhat visually inspired by the illustrations that N.C. Wyeth made for the 1919 publication of the book.

The top is a still from the 1992 film, the bottom is "The Meeting of the Generals" by N.C. Wyeth, from 1919. So good...