Hominis Aevum

Image: La dama dei gelsomini, by Lorenzo di Credi (Pinacoteca Civica di Forlì), presumed portrait of Caterina Sforza

Dancing Bacchante Robert Le Lorrain (French, 1666–1743) Bronze, mounted on base of ebony and gilt bronze

Imported fabrics and rich textiles demonstrated wealth, but not always nobility. More than one complaint was raised against Venetian courtesans for dressing like 'ladies', and visitors remarked that they could not tell the courtesans from respectable women. This was because both categories of women wore similar low-cut dresses and high shoes (pianelle).

John Donne (1572 – 1631) was an English poet and a cleric in the Church of England. He is considered the pre-eminent representative of the metaphysical poets. His works are noted for their strong, sensual style and include sonnets, love poems, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs, satires and sermons. more

Oh do not die, for I shall hate All women so, when thou art gone, That thee I shall not celebrate, When I remember, thou wast one. But yet thou canst not die, I know, To leave this world behind, is death, But when thou from this world wilt go, The whole world vapors with thy breath.

-A Fever, excerpt 

The Paul and Jill Ruddock Gallery

Large-scale works, once part of impressive Renaissance buildings, are displayed in the context of the cityscape. At its heart is the courtyard and the garden, with dramatic sculptures, trees and water. The church interior display, evoked by major altarpieces and stained glass, includes the Renaissance chapel from Santa Chiara, Florence. The choir screen from the Cathedral of St John at Hertogenbosch, one of the largest objects on show, dominates the gallery.

Room 50 is on Level 1 of the V&A South Kensington.

The School of Athens by Raphael

One of four frescoes by Raphael in the so-called Raphael Rooms in the Apostolic Palace in Vatican was painted by the Italian Renaissance artist between 1509 and 1511. The School of Athens revels Raphael’s interpretation of philosophy as a divine form of knowledge, with Plato and Aristotle placed in the center of the scene. 

In total, twenty-one ancient Greek philosophers are painted, engaging in lofty discourse. Raphael’s fresco doesn’t have religious character as such but its location within a Greek cross-shaped building in Vatican has been interpreted as an attempt to reconcile Christianity and pagan philosophy.

1: Zeno of Citium 

2: Epicurus Possibly, the image of two philosophers, who were typically shown in pairs during the Renaissance: Heraclitus, the "weeping" philosopher, and Democritus, the "laughing" philosopher. 

3: Unknown (believed to be Raphael) 

4: Boethius or Anaximander or Empedocles

5: Averroes 

6: Pythagoras 

7: Alcibiades or Alexander the Great

8: Antisthenes or Xenophon or Timon

9: Raphael, Fornarina as a personification of Love or Francesco Maria della Rovere

10: Aeschines or Xenophon

11: Parmenides (Leonardo da Vinci) 

12: Socrates 13: Heraclitus (Michelangelo) 

14: Plato (Leonardo da Vinci) 

15: Aristotle (Giuliano da Sangallo) 

16: Diogenes of Sinope 

17: Plotinus (Donatello?) 

18: Euclid or Archimedes with students (Bramante?) 

19: Strabo or Zoroaster? (Baldassare Castiglione)

20: Ptolemy? 

R: Apelles (Raphael) 

Shrouded within the park of Villa Demidoff, in Medici Villas (Unesco World Heritage List, 2013), Tuscany, just 7 miles north of Florence, there sits a gigantic XVI century sculpture, 14-meter-tall masterpiece - known as the Appennine Colossus. The brooding structure was first erected in 1580 by Flemish sculptor Giambologna, pseudonym of Jean de Boulogne (Douai, 1529 - Florence, 1608).

Reclining Pan, c.1535

Attributed to Francesco da Sangallo, Italian, 1494–1576

St. Louis Art Museum

Pan lies on a rocky bed surrounded by vines, grape clusters, and a slithery salamander. Carved from marble in this sculpture, Pan the satyr, a half-human, half-goat creature of mythology is very well known for his bad behavior. 

Columns and Pilasters

The Roman orders of columns are used:- Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite. The orders can either be structural, supporting an arcade or architrave, or purely decorative, set against a wall in the form of pilasters. During the Renaissance, architects aimed to use columns, pilasters, and entablatures as an integrated system. One of the first buildings to use pilasters as an integrated system was in the Old Sacristy (1421–1440) by Brunelleschi.

In Classical architecture, a giant order is an order whose columns or pilasters span two (or more) stories. At the same time, smaller orders may feature in arcades or window and door framings within the storeys that are embraced by the giant order.

Se mai per maraviglia  (If ever in wonder), was written by Franciscus Bossinensis, or Francis of Bosnia. He wrote many pieces for lute and voice, and this is one his most famous and moving compositions.

This piece of jewelry was one of the most beautiful antiques excavated from the Dingling, one of the Ming Dynasty Tombs.

It was made during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) in China, by using gold, ruby, pearl and other gemstones, and of the size of an adult human's palm. It is of the shape of a Chinese character '心' (read Xin), which literally means heart.